Category: Uncategorized

Based on our experience working with 30 companies in the United States and Europe, we recently concluded that some, but not all, types of decisions benefit from democratization. Enabled by enterprise social software (ESS), online corporate communities are shaking up the management world by revolutionizing many core organizational activities. Indeed, by creating new channels of …

Read more “Democratic decision making? When online platforms matter (and do not matter)”

Part of organization analytics is to unearth the mechanism at play when considering a major strategic decision. A typical example of such a strategic decision is the consideration to build, buy borrow or buy.  According to Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell, both INSEAD faculty, and authors of the book – Build, Borrow or Buy  It is even one of the …

Read more “Organization analytics: understanding technological acquisitions”

Social networks are an important driver for successful innovation, both at the individual level as well as the organizational level. Recent research has also shaped that networks within teams can enhance performance. Innovative project teams are embedded in an organizational context, however, and teams typically consist of people with expertise from diverse backgrounds, and from …

Read more “When hierarchy matters”

Innovation  When it comes to innovation, its importance to success is by no means new. Already in the ‘60s and ‘90s, managers and researchers have given innovation a key role at the forefront of successful entrepreneurialism, yet with the rise of the above trends its importance over the years has accelerated. Its importance can be …

Read more “The inner workings of any business model: human interactions”

Recent work on intra organization dynamics has started to approach organizations as complex systems in which different networks may be discerned (Borgatti and Halgin 2011; Aalbers et al. 2013). The basic idea is derived from the observation that people have a tendency to combine different possible aspects of a relation into a single tie with …

Read more “Layered networks: piling it up”

The ‘creative sector’ is an important driver of ongoing innovation and economic growth (Cooke & Lazzeretti, 2008; Jaw, Chen & Chen, 2012). A recent study with Annemarie Kamp (currently with PWC) focused  on ‘modern architecture’ as an exemplary creative segment within the creative sector, characterized by its plurality of strongly networked organizations with ties to both arts and engineering and …

Read more “Stakeholder Positioning and Cultural Diversity In The Creative Sector”

Knowledge flowing across firm-internal (unit) boundaries is an essential contribution to an organization’s innovative performance. Knowledge, unfortunately, does not cross firm-internal boundaries as a matter of course. The different contacts an individual maintains in a firm’s instrumental-formal and expressive-informal networks defines their personal communication profile – a profile that may or may not match their …

Read more “Bridging firm-internal boundaries for innovation”

Innovation Networks: Managing the Networked Organization (2015) explains networks and how managers and organizations can navigate them to produce successful strategic innovation outcomes. This concise book is vital reading for students of business and management as well as managers and executives. It draws on on insights from social network theory; insights sharpened by research in a number …

Read more “Innovation Networks: Managing the Networked Organization (2015)”

Orchestration of downsizing is a delicate and crucial task for management. Employee reactions to layoff have been found to vary considerably depending on how the employees felt about management conduct. Given the speed with which a downsizing event typically unfolds, management often communicates poorly and not pro-actively, something that has been linked to lowered morale …

Read more “innovation despite reorganization?”

Organizations are complex social systems that are not easy to understand, yet they must be managed if a company is to succeed. My research explains networks and how managers and organizations can navigate them to produce successful strategic innovation outcomes. Although managers are increasingly aware of the importance of social relations for the inner-workings of …

Read more “Why organization network matter”