Facilitator: Dott. Vojkan Nedkovski Workshop on Social Network Analysis [3 ECTS] Participants: the workshop is dedicated to students enrolled in one of the following Master s degree programs: MLS, LAV and COM (both first and second year). The maximum number of participants to the workshop is limited to 30 students, and in the case of exceeding the number of applicants, the priority will be given to the 30 students that have applied in primus. Application: Send an e-mail to mara.borgia@unimi.it Objectives of the workshop: - The main objective of the workshop is to familiarize the students with the theory, methodology and research associated with social network analysis in organizational contexts. - Upon completion of the course, the students are expected to obtain basic skills and competences in assembling, organizing, and analyzing network data by utilizing UCINET software package. Short description: Social network analysis (SNA) emphasizes the importance of relationships among social units at different levels of analysis and centers on the ideas of embeddedness, structural patterning, and usefulness of social connections. Unlike the traditional social and behavioral science approaches, which focus on characteristics, behaviors and choices of independent social units without taking in consideration the behavior of others, SNA views characteristics, behaviors and choices of the social units as interdependent, that is, arising from the structural patterns and relational processes that depict given social structural environment in which these social units are embedded. Recognizing its importance for a more profound understanding of various behavioral phenomena of interest, the organizational science scholars have been increasingly applying SNA in their research. This workshop is structured in a way to cover the fundamental aspects underpinning social network research and its combination with the traditional social science approaches. For this purpose, a number of selected academic articles will be reviewed and discussed in the classes. Moreover, the students will be offered the opportunity to familiarize with the standard tools applied in SNA by using the UCINET software. Requirements for the workshop: The students are required to bring with them laptops on classes in order to install and use the UCINET software. The software is free of charge for the first 90 days after the installation, which is a sufficient period for covering the whole duration of the course. Duration of the workshop: Five meetings of four hours. Schedule to be still decided.
Evaluation method: Class contribution and homework (group presentations, homework and involvement in class discussions) 50% Final exam 50% *Required attendance for eligibility to take the final exam: at least 80% of the meetings The workshop will require students to read academic articles prior to the meetings and to prepare classroom group presentations. The composition of the groups will be arranged during the first meeting of the workshop. Depending on the number of students enrolled into the workshop, each group should present and discuss the assigned articles at least once during the course of the workshop. The articles that are going to be presented by students are under the lines of required readings. On the other hand, suggested readings are optional and students may decide to read them or not depending on their interests. Moreover, students will be given homework exercises for practicing the application of basic SNA tools in UCINET. The final exam will be in a form of a written test. Language: The workshop will be entirely held in English. Program of the workshop: 1 st Meeting - Presentation of the workshop, and assigning articles to be presented by groups of students - Introduction to social network analysis, its relevance in contemporary social science research, and particularly, in organization science research. - Formal vs. informal relations Suggested readings: Kilduff, M. and Brass, D.J. (2010). Organizational social network research: Core ideas and key debates. The Academy of Management Annals, 4(1), 317-357. Soda, G. and Zaheer, A. (2012). A network perspective on organizational architecture: Performance effects of the interplay of formal and informal organization. Strategic Management Journal, 33(6), 751-771.
2 nd Meeting - Basic concepts in SNA and graph theory - The strength of weak ties vs. strong ties perspective of social capital - Social network methods and data collection o Installing UCINET o Creating working folder in UCINET o Importing data o Visualization using NetDraw o Basic network matrices transformations o Exercises Required readings: Coleman, J.S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, 95-120. Granovetter, M.S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. 3 th Meeting - Intra-organizational social/relational capital and its impact on individual performance o Basic network metrics (Cohesion, sub-groups and clusters)
Required readings: Baer, M. (2010). The strength-of-weak-ties perspective on creativity: A comprehensive examination and extension. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3), 592-601. Moran, P. (2005). Structural vs relational embeddedness: social capital and managerial performance. Strategic Management Journal, 41, 464-476. Perry-Smith, J.E. (2006). Social yet creative: The role of social relationships in facilitating individual creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 85-101. Oh, H., Myung Ho, C. and Labianca, G. (2004). Group social capital and group effectiveness: the role of informal socializing ties. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 860-875. Suggested readings: Nahapiet, J. and Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266. 4 th Meeting - More advanced centrality measures (closeness and betweenness centrality) and structural holes - The concept of small-world - Application of social network analysis in human resource management o Network metrics (Centrality and power)
o Ego-network centrality Required readings : Burt, R.S. (2004). Structural holes and good ideas. American Journal of Sociology, 110, 349-399. Carboni, I. and Ehrlich, K. (2013). The effect of relational and team characteristics on individual performance: A social network perspective. Human Resource Management, 52(4), 511-535. Carnabuci, G. and Dioszegi, B. (2015). Social networks, cognitive style, and innovation performance: A contingency perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 58(3), 881-905. Uzzi, B. and Spiro, J. (2005). Collaboration and creativity: The small world problem. American Journal of Sociology, 111(2), 447-504. 5 th Meeting - Antecedents of network variables - HR practices that may shape the interpersonal relations in workplace o Exercises Required readings:
Ahuja, G., Soda, G. and Zaheer, A. (2012). Genesis and dynamics of organizational networks. Organization Science, 23, 434-448. Oh, H. and Kilduff, M. (2008). The ripple effect of personality on social structure: Selfmonitoring origins of network brokerage. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1155-1164. Tasselli, S., Kilduff, M. and Menges, J.I. (2015). The microfoundations of organizational social networks: A review and an agenda for future research. Journal of Management, 41(5), 1361-1387. Zaheer, A. and Soda, G. (2009). Network evolution: The origins of structural holes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(1), 1-31. Suggested readings: KaŠe, R., Paauwe, J. and Zupan, N. (2009). HR practices, interpersonal relations, and intrafirm knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive firms: A social network perspective. Human Resource Management, 48(4), 615-639.