{"id":155,"date":"2017-08-07T17:03:10","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-tc3-management\/?post_type=chapter&p=155"},"modified":"2017-08-07T17:03:10","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:03:10","slug":"how-managers-can-use-social-networks-to-create-value","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/atd-tc3-management\/chapter\/how-managers-can-use-social-networks-to-create-value\/","title":{"raw":"How Managers Can Use Social Networks to Create Value","rendered":"How Managers Can Use Social Networks to Create Value"},"content":{"raw":"
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n
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  1. Understand the roles of reciprocity, exchange, and similarity.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. See how social networks create value in career management.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. See how social networks create value in and across organizations.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\nYou probably have an intuitive sense of how and why social networks are valuable for you, personally and professionally. The successful 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama provides a dramatic example of how individuals can benefit when they understand and apply the principles and power of social networking. In this section, we discuss three fundamental principles of social network theory, then help you see how social networks create value in your career and within and across organizations.\r\n
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    Reciprocity, Exchange, and Similarity<\/h2>\r\nAcross all social networks, performance depends on the degree to which three fundamental principles are accounted for. The first is the\u00a0<\/span>principle of reciprocity<\/span><\/span>, which simply refers to the degree to which you trade favors with others. With the principle of reciprocity, managers have the ability to get things done by providing services to others in exchange for the services they require. For instance, you are more likely to get assistance with a problem from a colleague at work when you have helped him or her out in the past. Although the quid pro quo may not be immediate, over time managers will receive only in proportion to what they give. Unless the exchanges are roughly equivalent over time, hard feelings or distrust will result. In organizations, few transactions are one-shot deals. Most are ongoing trades of \u201cfavors.\u201d Therefore, two outcomes are important: success in achieving the objective and success in improving the relationship such that the next exchange will be more productive.\r\n\r\nThe second principle is the\u00a0<\/span>principle of exchange<\/span><\/span>. Like the reciprocity principle, it refers to \u201ctrading favors,\u201d but it is different in this way: the principle of exchange proposes that there may be greater opportunity for trading favors when the actors are different from one another. In fact, according to network theory, \u201cdifference\u201d is what makes network ties useful in that such difference increases the likelihood that each party brings a complementary resource to the table. Going back to our example where you sought out assistance from a colleague, you probably needed that assistance because that person brought a different skill set, knowledge, or other resources to bear on the problem. That is, since you were different, the value of exchange was greater.\r\n\r\nThe third principle is the\u00a0<\/span>principle of similarity<\/span><\/span>. Psychologists studying human behavior have observed that relationships, and therefore network ties, tend to develop spontaneously between people with common backgrounds, values, and interests. Similarity, to the extent that your network is composed only of like-minded folks, also makes it more likely that an individual may be dependent on a handful of people with common interests.\r\n\r\nWhy is it important to understand these three principles? As a manager, you will find your network useful to the extent that you can balance the effects of the three principles. Because of similarity, it is easier to build networks with those with whom you have various things in common, though this similarity makes the network less useful if you need new ideas or other resources not in the current group. A critical mistake is to become overly dependent on one person or on only a few network relationships. Not only can those relationships sour but also the manager\u2019s usefulness to others depends critically on his or her other connections. Those people most likely to be attractive potential prot\u00e9g\u00e9s, for example, will also be likely to have alternative contacts and sponsors available to them.\r\n\r\nSimilarity also means that you have to work harder to build strong\u00a0<\/span>exchange<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>networks, since their formation is not spontaneous. Most personal networks are highly clustered\u2014that is, your friends are likely to be friends with one another as well. And, if you made those friends by introducing yourself to them, the chances are high that their experiences and perspectives echo your own. Because ideas generated within this type of network circulate among the same people with shared views, a potential winner can wither away and die if no one in the group has what it takes to bring that idea to fruition. But what if someone within that cluster knows someone else who belongs to a whole different group? That connection, formed by an information broker, can expose your idea to a new world, filled with fresh opportunities for success. Diversity makes the difference.\r\n\r\nFinally, for reciprocity to work, you have to be willing and able to trade or reciprocate favors, and this means that you might need access to other people or resources outside the current network. For example, you may have to build relationships with other individuals such that you can use them to help you contribute to your existing network ties.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n
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    Social Networks and Careers<\/h2>\r\nWe owe our knowledge about the relationship between social network characteristics and finding a job to Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter. In a groundbreaking study, Granovetter found that job seekers are more likely to find a job through weak ties than through strong ties. He demonstrated that while job hunters use social connections to find work, they don\u2019t use close friends. Rather, survey respondents said they found jobs through acquaintances: old college friends, former colleagues, people they saw only occasionally or just happened to run into at the right moment. New information, about jobs or anything else, rarely comes from your close friends, because they tend to know the same things and people you do.\u00a0<\/span>Strong ties<\/span><\/span>, as you might expect, exist among individuals who know one another well and engage in relatively frequent, ongoing resource exchanges.\u00a0<\/span>Weak ties<\/span><\/span>, in contrast, exist among individuals who know one another, at least by reputation, but who do not engage in a regular exchange of resources. In fact, Granovetter showed that those who relied on weak ties to get a job fared better in the market in terms of higher pay, higher occupational status, greater job satisfaction, and longer job tenure. While much in the world has changed since Granovetter\u2019s 1974 research, subsequent studies continue to affirm his basic findings on the consequences of social network structure.Goleman. D. (2006).\u00a0<\/span>Social intelligence<\/em>. New York: Bantam.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As you might expect, for weak ties to be effective though, there must be some basis for affinity between the indirectly connected individuals, but this affinity can simply be having the same birth month or high school or college alma mater.\r\n
    \r\n\r\nFigure 9.8<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Value of Weak Ties\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe value of weak ties is highly counterintuitive; we tend to think of relationships being more valuable when we have strong ties to others. However, if you think about it, the value of a weak tie lies in the fact that it is typically a\u00a0<\/span>bridging tie<\/span><\/span>, that is, a tie that provides nonredundant information and resources. In the case of a job search, the weak tie serves as a strong bridge. \u201cSocial Networking as a Career-Building Strategy\u201d suggests some personal strategies you might consider with your own social networks.\r\n
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    Social Networking as a Career-Building Strategy<\/h3>\r\nPenelope Trunk, author of \u201cThe Brazen Careerist\u201d column and blog (blog.penelopetrunk.com<\/a>), views job hunting not as an event but as a lifestyle. She advises that in today\u2019s business environment, people change jobs so often that they need to keep their eye on the market even if they just started a new job. In her view, \u201cthe people who control their destiny most effectively leave their job when they find a better one, not when they are tossed out because of layoffs or reorganizations.\u201d This also means that social networking should be a central element in any job-search strategy. And because many jobs are filled by knowing someone who knows about an open position, Trunk argues that it\u2019s more important to network than it is to read the want ads. Trunk evokes the principle of reciprocity when she says, \u201cbuilding a network is adding value to lots of peoples\u2019 lives so that they, in turn, will want to add value to yours.\u201d Another useful strategy is to network proactively rather than reacting to concerns about your present job or news of a possible opening. By being proactive, you will increase your chances of being in the right place at the right time.\r\n\r\nCareer networking opportunities are plentiful; regardless of where you live, you can use the Internet to read blogs, subscribe to e-mail newsletters, and make friends on social networking sites. When you consider the principle of exchange, you realize that your networking possibilities are not limited to people in your chosen field\u2014you can actually gain more by networking with those in related fields, or even in jobs far removed from yours. With the exchange principle in mind, even residents of sparsely populated rural areas can network with their neighbors a few miles down the road.\r\n
    \r\n\r\nAdapted from Trunk, P. (2008, March 1). Take control of your career destiny.\u00a0<\/span>Wisconsin State Journal<\/em>, B1.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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    Use LinkedIn to Find a Job\u2014or Have a Job Find You<\/h3>\r\nLinkedIn (http:\/\/www.LinkedIn.com<\/a>) is the largest online network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. Other business networking sites include Plaxo.com, Ryze.com, and Xing.com (primarily Europe and China). Here are eight effective networking job-hunting tactics to employ with LinkedIn (or with any networking site):\r\n