2. Questions and Challenges
What makes a good network?
How can you use your networks for competitive advantage?
What kind of relationships matter in networks?
3. Themes
Hierarchy and power
Reciprocity, influence and social capital
Network boundaries and connectors
Open and closed networks
Bottle necks and facilitators
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4. Adapted from French and Raven (1984)
POSITION
POWER
PERSONAL
POWER
Reward Power
Legitimate Power
Expert Power
Coercive Power
Where does power lie in organisations?
Informational Power
Referent Power
Indirect
Direct
Bases of power bestowed
by the organization
5. The Limits to Formal Power
Reaction of Less Powerful
Power Gap
Diversity
Interdependency
Solutions?
Develop Soft Power
Law of Reciprocity
Networks
6. Managing Upwards & Sideways
Outsourcing; alliances; matrix structures; working groups;
‘professional’ models of organisations
Most of the time direct power (authority) is not available to managers
in their day-to-day interactions
Managing laterally or upwards is more important than managing
downwards
Influencing others has become one of the key skills for effective
management of organisations
7. Reciprocity
“Although the obligation to repay constitutes the essence of the
reciprocity rule, the obligation to receive makes the rule very
easy to exploit”
“The obligation to receive reduces our ability to chose who we
wish to be indebted to and puts the power in the hands of others”
(Cialdini, 1993)
8. Two contrasting views of ‘the organisation’
Organisation as ‘machine’:
• Rules
• Roles, Responsibilities
• Top down flow of authority
• Human capital
• Rigid
Organisation as sets of inter-related
‘networks’:
• Relationships
• Authority is ambiguous & contested
• Negotiation, advocacy, coalitions
• Social capital
• Fluid
16. Strengths of Network Forms
Clique Networks Boundary-Spanning Networks
Advantages
• High Cohesion
• Loyalty and support
• Increased efficiency of
decision making
• Leverages diversity
• Capitalises on opportunity
• Greater Innovation
• Earlier Promotions
• Higher Salaries
Disadvantages
• Redundant Communication
• Biased Communication
• Groupthink
• Dispensable Members
• Greater conflict in both task and
relationships
• Power Struggles
17. 3 kinds of networks to extend your impact
YOU
Operational
Getting work done
efficiently; maintaining the
capacities and functions
required of the group.
Personal
Enhancing personal &
professional development;
providing referrals to useful
info & contacts.
Strategic
Figuring out future
priorities and
challenges; getting
stakeholder support
for them -- from A McQuater 2007
18. Operational Personal Strategic
Purpose
Getting work done
efficiently; maintaining the
capacities and functions
required of the group.
Enhancing personal &
professional development;
providing referrals to
useful info & contacts.
Figuring out future
priorities and challenges;
getting stakeholder
support for them.
Location
and
temporal
orientation
Contacts are mostly internal
and oriented toward current
demands.
Contacts are often
external and oriented
toward current interests
and future potential
interests.
Contacts are internal and
external and oriented
toward the future.
Players and
recruitment
Less choice in who -
prescribed mostly by the
task and organisational
structure, so it is very clear
who is relevant.
Key contacts are mostly
discretionary; it is not
always clear who is
relevant.
Key contacts follow from
strategic context & org
environment; specific
membership is
discretionary; not always
clear who is relevant.
Network
attributes
and key
behaviors
Depth: building strong
working relationships.
Breadth: reaching out
to contacts who can
make referrals.
Leverage: creating
inside-outside links.
Effective networks for leaders
(Ibarra & Hunter HBR 2007)
19. Networking, Influence and Effectiveness
Networks are key to personal influence and organisational effectiveness
How effective are your networks at:
‒ helping you achieve your professional objectives?
‒ enabling you to implement goals and influence outcomes?
‒ ensuring your organisation is efficient, effective and innovative?
Do you know what your organisational
& personal networks really look like?
20. • Rational analysis may not spur or promote action
• Across networks formal authority is often fragile, incomplete, unavailable
• Major decisions involve hearts and minds and “brokers” need to tailor
communication across boundaries to persuade
Influence and persuasion become crucial tools to accomplish
outcomes….. because
Influence and persuasion in networks
Using ‘soft’ power (relating, persuasion, informal structures) allows
you to influence at different levels of a hierarchy.
21. Networks Basics
Ron Burt et al
• Society is a market in which people exchange all sorts of goods and ideas
in pursuit of their interests
• Some get higher returns than others for their efforts
• Human capital view says individuals with more ability receive greater
rewards.
• Social capital view says individuals who are better connected receive
greater rewards.
• Being more connected makes resources accessible (knowledge, expertise,
ideas, influence)
• Information tends to circulate within groups more than across groups.
• Structural holes are brokerage opportunities to connect different pools of
information and resources (additive not overlapping)
22. Conclusion
• Find ways to invest in building your networks and social capital
• Build goodwill by depositing ‘credits’
• Think more specifically about the different ways in which you use
your different networks
• Take account of process (strategy), skills and your own mindset,
when seeking to exert influence across the wider organisation
• Consciously develop a range of influencing tactics and skills
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