Session 3 – EN03

Social Networks
Frédéric Godart
Fall 2018
 Sources and Forms of Power
Personal Social Position
Characteristics

Relationships
Place in a social network
The number, variety, and quality of (re)sources
you can access through your relationships
Knowledge of social networks
Knowing the structure of relevant social networks
 Learning Goals for Today
• Understand what social networks are and
why they matter

• Learn how to diagnose and understand one’s

own social networks and those of others

• Experience the power of networks

• Leveraging Networks simulation

• Discuss (some) tools for building your social

networks
 Overview of Today’s Class

LENS 1: POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE: NETWORKS

Part 1. Understanding Social Networks

Part 2. Simulation: Leveraging Networks
Part 3. Developing Social Networks
 PART 1
UNDERSTANDING
SOCIAL NETWORKS
 What are Social Networks?
• Webs of connections between people,
organizations, or other entities through which
important resources are exchanged
 Examples of Social Networks

Bossaert & Meidert (2013):

The student support network at Hogwarts for
the fifth Harry Potter book.
The color indicates the different houses
(red = Gryffindor, yellow = Hufflepuff, blue = 7
Ravenclaw)
 Does social capital affect
managers’performance?
• Social capital matters Social capital matters
Lines represent investment bankers’ Holding human capital constant, a 10 % increase in
performance as social capital social capital of MDs results in a 4.8 % increase in
increases performance
(net of effects of human capital)
Effect of social capital on
performance becomes more
Managing Directors
apparent as bankers have more client
and managerial responsibilities – (i.e.
as their job becomes more complex)
Executive Directors

Performance Directors
Associates
Who is in the network also matter
A 10% increase in the human capital of the people
in the network results on average on a 2.8% 0.1 8.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0 2.0- 4.0- 6.0- 8.0- 0.1- 2.1- 4.1- 6.1-
increase in performance Level of Social Capital

M. Gargiulo, G. Ertug & C. Galunic, “The two faces of control. Network closure and individual performance
among knowledge workers”. Administrative Science Quarterly (2009)
 What drives the creation of
relationships? Actual ties (e.g.,
friends)
Potential ties
A B C D

E
1 2
F
Closure Similarity Brokerage
We like networks to be We like to connect to When we’re proactive and
closed [and balanced] 3 people who are like us strategic we may bridge
(i.e. friends of friends social worlds
should be friends…)
G

Make an argument for why one of these

relationships (1, 2, or 3) will form [shapes/colors
indicate similarity]
 Your Class Networks
• Information and advice network (i.e.,
“Whom do you ask for HEC-related
information and advice, e.g., about
assignments, exams, group projects, etc.?”)
 Your Class Network
• Information and Advice Network
 Other Class Network
• Information and Advice Network
 Your Class Networks
• Friendship network (i.e., “Who do you
consider a friend? A friend is a person you
like, you socialize with outside of class, you
trust and share personal matters with.”)
 Your Class Network
• Friendship Network
 Other Classes
• Friendship Networks
 Your Class Network
• Friendship – By Gender (female = pink…)
 Other Class Network
• Friendship – By Gender (female = pink…)
 Your Class Network
• Friendship – Reciprocated (red) and One-sided (gray)
 Social Networks and Power
• Power is one’s ability to get things done
• Based on dependence
• …and scarcity of resources!

• From a networks perspective, this depends

on:
• One’s own connections
• Connections of one’s connections
 Your Own Connections
• People who have more connections often
have greater access to resources that others
may want

• People perceive others who have more

connections as having more power and
influence
 Degree Centrality
• The number of connections ego has, relative
to the maximum number of connections ego
can have in a given network

cego/n-1
cego: Number of connections ego has
n: Number of nodes (e.g., people) in the network
 Degree Centrality: An Illustration
a b c

0 1 1

d e f

1 .4 .6

Note: degree centrality can be computed as proportion or count.

Degree Centrality: Your Class
 Your Own Connections: A Caveat
• Numerous connections are generally most
beneficial when those connections are
positive
“A man’s stature is determined by his enemies, not his friends”
Al Pacino in City Hall

25
 Your Class Network
• Difficult relationships: Whom do you tend to dislike,
avoid interacting with, or have some issues with?
Your Class Network – Degree Centrality
• Difficult relationships: Whom do you tend to dislike,
avoid interacting with, or have some issues with?
(Positive) Degree Centrality Revisited:
Who is most powerful, b, c, or d?
a b c

0 1 1

d e f

1 .4 .6
 Your Own Connections
• People who connect two or more separated
groups control others’ access to these
separated groups
• This is known as “bridging” or “brokering”
a “structural hole”.

• People perceive those who are connected to

others whom they cannot reach as having
more power and influence
 Betweenness Centrality
• The number of instances in which ego
controls the connection between two other
people, relative to the maximum number of
connections ego could control

bego /max(bego)
bego: Number of connections between other people that ego
controls
max(bego) = Maximum number of connections between other people
that ego could control
max(bego) = (n-1)(n-2)/2. So, for example, if n = 6, max(bego) = 10.
 Betweenness Centrality:
An Illustration
a b c

0 1 .6

d e f

0 .6 0
 Betweenness Centrality vs.
Degree Centrality (red)
a b c

0 (0) 1 (1) .6 (1)

d e f

0 (1) .6 (.4) 0 (.6)

Betweenness Centrality: Your Class (friendship)
Degree vs. Betweenness (Your Class)
 Degree Centrality vs.
Betweenness Centrality
• Both are beneficial. People with high
centrality are more likely to:
• receive promotions and advance in their careers
• show better job performance
• have higher salaries
• be seen as more effective leaders

• People perceive others with high

betweenness centrality as having more
power than others with high degree centrality
 Social Networks and Power
• Power is one’s ability to have one’s way
• Often based on dependence

• From a networks perspective, this depends

on:
• One’s own connections
• Connections of one’s connections
 Connections of Your
Connections
• People who are connected with powerful
figures can control others’ access to the
powerful

• People perceive others who are connected to

important others as having power and
influence
 Eigenvector Centrality
• Degree centrality weighted by the centrality of
ego’s connections

• An indication of how powerful ego’s contacts are

 Eigenvector Centrality:
An Illustration (n=25)

Higher degree centrality, Lower degree centrality,

higher betweenness centrality, lower betweenness centrality,
lower eigenvector centrality higher eigenvector centrality
Eigenvector Centrality: Your Class
 Who Has Power? – Your Class

Red: Degree; Green: Betweenness; Orange: Eigenvector

 Who Has Power? – Other Classes

Red: Degree; Green: Betweenness; Orange: Eigenvector

 How (Not) To Read the Preceding Network
Graphs
• The graphs are a snapshot of the network in the first week of
class. They might look different now.

• Difficulty ties do not mean that students are enemies or hate

each other. Also, these ties might have changed.

• One-sided friendship ties are common in organizational groups.

A one-sided tie does not mean that the other person has a
difficult relationship or does not care. The other person might
just have a different threshold of what constitutes friendship and
sees it more as a friendly work relationship (related to culture for
example)

• If you tried to figure out where you were (or someone else was)
on a map, you were probably wrong. We’ve seen generations of
students fail to identify specific individuals.
43
 Another Key Network Attribute:
Strength of Connections (Tie Strength)
• Your connections may vary in terms of how
strong or weak they are
• Amount of time spent together
• Emotional intensity
• …
 The Strength of Strong Ties

F B

Why would you be likely to

You trust person C in a closed
network?
E C
Truffle traders in Dordogne

Two types of trust

Moral trust: You believe another person will act in your best interest regardless of th
e circumstances (e.g., your grandmother).
Rational trust: You are willing to collaborate with another person without an explicit
guarantee of how that person will behave (e.g., your colleague).
Closure: trust & reputation as
primary benefits

F B

Why would you be likely to

You trust person C in a closed
network?
Credible E C
information
D
C

Threat of punishment
 The Weakness of Strong Ties
• Strong ties tend to have redundant,
overlapping information
• Strong ties can result in a fragmented
network with isolated groups
• People cooperate within groups but not across
groups (“silo effect”)
• Between-group fighting becomes more likely
• Information is not shared freely throughout the
organization
 The Strength of Weak Ties
• Weak ties are better at
• Soliciting unique, new information
• Facilitating creativity and innovation

Mark Granovetter’s classic study

of job seekers in a Boston suburb (1973):

• Job seekers found their jobs through

personal contacts

• More than 80% of those personal

contacts were mere acquaintance,
whom these job seekers met
occasionally or rarely

• Weak ties – or non-friends – can provide

unique information that can be a source
of competitive advantage
 The Weakness of Weak Ties
• Weak ties tend to be
• Difficult to create and maintain
• Lacking trust and thus vulnerable to
disconnections
• Hard to use as a basis for cooperation
 PART 2a
SOCIAL NETWORK SIMULATION
 In This Simulation…
• You are a member of a network. You know
who you are connected to, and whether the
people you know are connected among
themselves, but you don’t know who their
other connections are
• Your goal is to get the resources you
need as quickly as possible. You start with
some resources that may or may not be what
you need. You may use what you have to get
what you need
Please log in or register to access this coursepack:

https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/586732
 Rules and Reminders
• Your goal is to get the resources that you need as quickly as
possible.
• To get resources, you can reach out to others who may help you.
• You can only communicate with people with whom you have direct
ties, but they can communicate with others on your behalf.
• You can only communicate in the simulation, no talking or visual
cues.
• Note that it may not always be in your best interest to share
information with others.
• To gather resources, you can ask people in your network and offer
to trade resources in your possession.
• Once you have the resources you need, the simulation will lock
those resources and record your finishing time.
• After you finish you may, but don’t have to, continue to participate
by passing on messages and resources with your direct ties.
 Example Network
• Here is an example of Player 2’s network.
This is an example for illustrative purposes, it
does not represent Player 2’s actual network.
 PART 2b
SOCIAL NETWORK SIMULATION
DEBRIEF
 Network Simulation
• How did this go for you?

• What worked well?

• What didn’t work well?

• Who was fastest? Why?

7-Person Network
8-Person Network
9-Person Network
10-Person Network
 Network Simulation
• How would you have played differently
if you knew what your network looked
like?

• What lessons from this simulation can

you use with your real-life network?
 PART 3
DEVELOPING
SOCIAL NETWORKS
 Three Types of Networks

YOU
Sparse Centralized Dense
Contacts are Everybody is Contacts are
not connected connected to one connected
to each other central contact to each other
(brokerage (note: sometimes (high closure)
network) sign of a mentor
network)
Is There an Optimal Network?
Senior managers Junior managers

Research Evidence (Burt,

1992)

In Western firms…

> Some managers benefit

from the social capital they
can access through a
strategic partner (sponsor
or mentor).

> For example, on average,

junior managers with this
type of network are
promoted 1.4 years earlier
than their cohort.

In some contexts,
however… brokerage
seems to be detrimental
vs. closure
Brokerage Closure Centralized
 Learning about Social Capital
Matters!
It does
Executives who took a
training in social capital
were …
• 35 % more likely to
be evaluated as
exceeding expectations
• 43% more likely to be
promoted …
…than peers in a matched
control group
R. Burt and D. Ronchi, “Teaching executives to see social capital: results from a field experiment,“
Social Science Research (2007).
 How to Develop Your Networks
• Look for brokerage opportunities
• Are there disconnected groups and people you
can bridge?
• Identify your super-connectors
• Who are/would be your most important contacts?
• Understand the network around you
• Are your friends connected to each other?
• Diversify your connections and value your
weak ties
• Connect to people that are outside of your social
circle and your comfort zone
 Know Your Style and Context
• Networking strategies do not work for everyone
at all times
• Know your style
• Some people feel uncomfortable seeking out
instrumental ties
• Find the networking (relationship building) style that
feels right for you
• Being authentic and comfortable with what you’re
doing matters
• No one likes to feel manipulated, and most people
don’t like to feel they are being manipulative
• Know the context
• E.g., “Divide and conquer” strategy doesn’t work in
collectivistic cultures
 Social Network: Summary
• Power arises from…
• Your connections and the connections of your
connections
• Knowledge of network landscape
• Develop your own network
• Understand different routes to gain power and
influence
• Mix strong and weak ties and maintain them
• Understand yourself
• What you feel comfortable with, where you are
 Next Class
• Strategic Design Lens
• How organizations are structured, how to design
organizations to achieve their goals and
objectives, how to motivate employees
• Reading journal
• Read “The Strategic Design Lens” and “The
Ambidextrous Organization”
• Read the Stone Finch, Inc. Case