A Manager who has no money
Process centric applications, ERP, CRM, SCM, SOAP, WDSL, UDDI…my head is aching and burning, and I feel as if I just came back from a journey on the moon where I had to learn extraterrestrial language. Back on earth now, in my tiny little office all I can think about is that I threw away my money for this fancy information systems seminar my very successful CEO friend Kana dragged me in. I cannot afford any of these sophisticated technologies, anyway! What is behind the rush about all these applications? To be honest, most of them sound like common sense applied for computer geeks. Why do they have to complicate things so much? Isn’t it in the end all about managerial good practices adapted to technology? Communication, orchestration all these words that end with –ion, welcome back to business school.
I have to admit, though, that I did never thought as much about optimizing processes, effective communication, or even the impact of the relationships that my employees have between each other on this company. Apart from the gossip in front of the coffee machine about the other’s new pink skirt…? I don’t know if they even have any. Or if I have any relationship to them apart from the monthly salary check, that by the way – in my humble opinion – is much too high.
Before this seminar, I never thought of search engines being part of the information system ‘gang’, either. True, I spend hours searching for an old clients file in the attic, but all I could always think of is: I need to get a secretary, so I do not have to waste my time searching these things anymore. Never came the idea to my mind to acquire – as this nice dressed up IT salesperson used to kindly express – a personalised Knowledge Management Tool, worth more than my annual turnover. I certainly cannot afford that. Still, it is a good idea to think of a system to bring back order into the chaos on the attic. I could hire my daughter for that. She is looking for a summer job. For the rest of our searching/seeking of meaning, let’s just make a small effort to read through the guide to Google search (http://www.google.co.uk/support/?hl=en) during the next coffee break.
Or – process centric applications. It just sounds too familiar with operations management. Don’t you think? Listen: analyse business processes, find the most efficient one, keep it until you know better and let everybody know. Totally copied! Ha! Nevertheless, we do forget that. It is so simple to note what every employee considers best practice for each situation they encounter, and it makes it so much easier for new members of the organisation to integrate effectively! Post-it on my desk: ask everybody to update their respective how-to guide. No special technology needed. No fancy information system.
However, one of the classes we were able to enjoy explained Social Network Analysis (SNA) Systems. They measure flows between people, groups, organisations, computers, websites, and all kinds of other information and knowledge processing ‘entities’. To sum it up, it is a visual and mathematical analysis of human relationships. Applied, one can figure their degree of connectivity; identify central ‘nodes’ in the social network. Basically, this SNA helps to visualise what is going on? Who knows? Who are the ‘key connectors’ in the network? The principle is very easy. Ask everybody who they communicate with, who they socialise with and draw up your little network.
I do not need a mathematical analysis for that. We are only a team of 12. I could easily figure it out myself, even without sending questionnaires to everybody or analysing their e-mail communication flows. Still, it makes sense. Imagine you are the newly recruited manager of a large organisation (in terms of employees) and you have no idea about the informal organisation in your company. This kind of social network analysis might actually accelerate your effective integration into the team, as well as help you shape your future strategic management decisions. Ron Burt, Professor of Sociology and Strategy at the Chicago Graduate School of Business, points out in his article “Structural holes and good ideas” (2004), that source of innovation can be found with the help of such SNA. He explains that people, who are connected across groups, are more likely to have new ideas, due to their larger information access. According to him we manager should appreciate more our social capital. So, I should perhaps reconsider to fire that girl who never talks to anybody, and is always on the telephone with her boyfriend… Theoretically, she is the definition of a bridge over the hole between two networks – her boyfriends’ and ours! I could even go further and follow Steward’s advice who argues that: (Explanation: le vide = emptiness, hole, silence)
(Stewart 1996, p. 165): “Le vide has a huge function in organizations. (…) Shock comes when different things meet. It’s the interface that’s interesting (…) If you don’t leave le vide, you have no unexpected things, no creation. There are two types of management. You can try to design for everything, or you can leave le vide and say, ‘I don’t know either; what do you think?’”
Imagine her shock if I ask her that question? Seriously, I should consider that.
On the other hand, such social networks can influence the implementation and adaptation process of change. And believe me, I do want to change the way of doing things here. I do want to be able to buy a new plant for my office without thinking: can I afford that? Do I really need that?
According to Krackhardt and Stern’s findings in 1988 (a long time ago already!), “(…) friendship ties within an organisation will help generate positive response to change in organisations by fostering trust and shared identity.” Very wise, indeed! So, by analysing how my company is organised informally, I can identify information flows between the people and then take appropriate measures to enhance each others understanding and – if not already existent – create shared values, and in the best case: trust. Thereafter, decisions inspired by the social capital of my company, that will imply change might be adopted more easily. So nice!
I have to say, that I am amazed. Did you ever think that computer geeks – enclosed, un-socialised, supposedly uncivilised freaks could think of such social networking theories?
The whole story becomes even better when I tell you that such social network systems are available for free – online. All the skills you needed to access them are simple internet-user skills, and of course you need to know they exist. Facebook and Myspace apart, there is a long list of network systems, that apply these Social Network Analysis mathematics, available for nearly every industry sector, business sector, type of organisations. Our beloved geeks developed algorithms, that would analyse and count the interconnectivity of each and everyone on the network, helping us end-users to find the specific node in the network – the source of information – we need more quickly and easier. My dear friend Kanako described in the post before the risks that are still implied with such information systems, everybody knows the horror story of ID-theft. Still, these are very useful inventions indeed.
How couldn’t I know about that? My life could be so much easier by now! Connectivity is key in business! It is not for nothing that the Germans call it “Vitamin B”. Cheers Kana, your seminar wasn’t that bad after all!
(If you are interested further, you can find links to such organisational social networks on our “search” tap under http://www.netvibes.com/scriptwriters2008#search).
Christine Weingut
