MNL Kgaka 09k1402 Group 1A HSS: Zikhona Hange

Diversity within social networks and its impact on social bonds: A workplace perspective

May 26

2011
Information Systems 301 Research Project

Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Organisational consequences of corporate social networking technologies ............................................... 3 Disparity in the literature ......................................................................................................................... 4 Research Contributions ........................................................................................................................... 5 Infrastructure and accessibility ................................................................................................................ 6 The application of social network analysis as an assessment tool in the field of diversity and inclusion .... 6 The Model .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Value of Social Network Analysis for diversity ....................................................................................... 7 The legal perspective............................................................................................................................... 7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Reference List ......................................................................................................................................... 9

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Introduction
The purpose of this literature review is to research and develop the idea of diversity within social networks and comment on how such networks could affect social relationships in an organisational context. The review focuses on three primary sources, however is supported by the insights of other pieces of literature (identified in the reference list and references of the primary authors) that were observed in the research; so as to fill in gaps where the main articles have not correlated precisely with the research question.

Organisational consequences of corporate social networking technologies

M.H Jarrahi (2011:688-690), a masters graduate of science in Information systems (London school of economics) and a PhD candidate at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University; focuses on the broader roles, uses and effects of social networking technologies (SNTs) in formal organisations as outlined within his research proposal. In the proposal, the increase in global usage of social networks is identified; this correlates to an increased interest/use of social networks by knowledge workers in an organisation. Furthermore the author highlights that social networks would give insight into informal structures within the organisation and indicate the structure of work relations as well as the flow of information (Jarrahi , M.H., 2011:688). The focus on the mutual structure of social networks (from a behavioural science perspective) and social networking technologies in Jarrahis proposal (2011,688) stems from the fact that organisations are increasingly finding information sharing activities highly significant to their knowledge management activities. Social networking has been the most accessible method of doing so as illustrated by the findings of Andrew McAfee (2009:1) in his literature Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization's Toughest Challenges. Jarrahis statement is grounded in this literature that introduces the concept of Web 2.0 the segment of the internet interactively produced by networks of people; with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook categorised into this definition. McAfees book provides examples of where online communities have shown unexpected levels of innovation, collaboration, collective intelligence and knowledge accumulation. McAfee further describes how the realisation from Web 2.0 has resulted in organisations harnessing the successes of internet tools such as social networks in order to demonstrate how new technologies are not only successful with regards to socialising
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but also aid organisations (when properly applied) in solving problems; capturing dispersed, rapidly changing information; leveraging expertise; and in generating and honing in on ideas from a vast pool of human resources.

Disparity in the literature

In his research Jarrahi (2011:688) found that albeit increasing usage of SNTs and the increasing uptake of corporate social network technologies (cSNTs); research on the effects of such technologies on organisations is insignificant; in that academics and managers in such organisations cannot provide detailed or agreeing information of such implications. Acquiring research for this investigation has proven to be difficult within the realms of a multitude of academic databases. By assessing the results of Google Scholar a database that searches for scholarly literature across a myriad of disciplines and sources; a search for social networks and impact of social networks did not return any results relating to the topic. While a more specific search social networks AND the organisation returned one result that related to organisations but on the basis of economic outcomes. Further, social networks AND the workplace yielded a more promising result of 5 out of 9 near successful results. By near successful the concept social network relates to the definition described by behavioural sciences networks of social relationships (as opposed to digital networks). This evidence supports the statement that most modern research on the uses of SNTs focuses on predominantly social or non-organisational contexts, with particular emphasis on the use of SNTs amongst the youth (students and teenagers). Jarrahi (2011:688) further states that research regarding SNTs within a workplace context is directed at individual-level or group level perspectives which implies that the study of organisational implications of SNTs is developed through speculation within business literature. Jarrahi gives reference to the work of Richard McDermott and Douglas Archibald (2009), associates at the Warwick business school, when addressing speculation in business literature on the organisational impacts of SNTs. McDermott and Archibald provide a case study of the rise and fall of a formal group of experts at a water-engineering company, kept anonymous for confidentiality reasons (McDermott, R., and Archibald, D., 2009:83). These experts would meet informally to discuss strategies for designing new water treatment facilities. The authors attribute
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the initial success of the community to their informal structure and shared goals and further suggest how their efforts in pooling resources and recycling already existing ideas helped them cut costs and design time. The authors further describe that the informal structure in itself eventually rendered the community to be obsolete as networking technologies were provided. Increased global connectivity drew in a greater population into the community; thus the engineers were found to be spending increased amounts of time collecting this information and managing remote contacts which resulted in less intimate relationships within the network. Members of the original community were less inclined to feel obligated to their peers and the engineers could not justify meeting as regularly and informally as they had before. The community and their successful prospects eventually dissolved. McDermott and Archibald (2009: 84-85) indicate a range of similar networks that have failed for the same reasons. Successful communities are attributed to management intervention, according to the literature. The concept is that the presence of managers or active inclusion of social networks within the organisation facilitates growth incrementally and maintains the anchoring factor of shared goals. The inclusion of human systems therefore allows for the maintenance of social relationships across a network.

Research Contributions
Jarrahi (2009:688) drew upon three main streams of literature to describe broad implications of social networks on the organisation. The first stream being social network literature. This is described as the informal organisational structures or social relationships among employees that facilitate the exchange of knowledge , a process which organisations are increasingly trying to improve upon through management efforts. This perspective is highlighted in McDermott and Archibalds (2009: 84-88) research. The second source being from information sharing literature that focuses on informal communication channels within an organisation. Such as digitally supported networks like the intranet. This literature also looks at the structure of these digitally supported networks among colleagues, based on shared interests and background. The third source of research is derived from social media literature which discusses social activity and underlying social structures of social network technologies .

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Infrastructure and accessibility

Jarrahi(2011:689) states that SNTs are the most realistic platform from which informal networks within an organisation can be developed. He bases this statement on the existence of in-built SNTs such as Beehive at IBM, PeopleConnect at Proctor and Gamble and D Street at Deloite. The statement is also based on the premise that some organisations have active networks within social media platforms such as Facebook (groups) as identified by Kane G.C., Fichman, R.G., Gallaugher, J., and Glaser J. (2009).

The application of social network analysis as an assessment tool in the field of diversity and inclusion
The research of Stephen Garcia, Edward Shin and Alicia DSouza , employees and academics at the consulting firm Philosophy IB, discusses a tool that enables organisations to assess how their diverse set of employees interact. The tool is also stated to determine if change is needed to create a more inclusive/integrated workforce ( Garcia, S., Shin, E. & D'Souza, A. 2008:1). The purpose of the research is to propose social network analysis (SNA) as an instrument for evaluating and developing diversity within the workplace. It is a methodology for assessing the arrangement of communication and interaction within a group of people where diversity already exists. It assesses the degree to which diversity efforts are effective by means of a systematic method (Garcia, S., Shin, E. & D'Souza, A. 2008: 2,5). Although the context of social networks in this literature is one of behavioural science, a key element from the research topic is diversity within social networks, and further its impact on social bonds or rather the interaction of people within such a social network. The authors also state that SNA is a tool used to evaluate general diversity efforts, whether affirmative action programs, mentoring programs etc. Therefore the implication is that such a tool can be used to observe the diversity implications of digital social networks within an organisation. Three areas of congruence are thus identified within this literature in relation to the topic: the measurement of diversity in social networks, the workplace perspective, and the impact of such diversity on social bonds.

The Model
The model assumes that the structure of the network has a crucial effect on the level of performance of the organisation. This is based on the idea that social bonds serve as channels for the transfer of interpersonal ideas such creative ideas, emotional support and knowledge. The
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assumption is enhanced by the views of Jarrahi (2011:688-689). He states that formal structures are often ill equipped to transmit knowledge and expertise and explains that informal networks of people operate as effective conduits for the transferral of organisational knowledge across business units. It follows that a dense network of social bonds will be more likely to collaborate the expertise of its workforce as compared to a sparse network. The model collects a variety of data in both quantitative and qualitative forms. Such data would be observations of e-mails, network density and the degree of network connectivity. These observations are then graphically represented by network diagrams; followed by statistical analysis; sub-group analysis such as analysis of relationships at a gender level; and interventions and follow-up.

Value of Social Network Analysis for diversity

SNA surpasses measuring the amount of diverse employees within a business but rather determines the quality of interaction between all diverse employees within the organisation. It also helps to determine which subcultures exist and whether they affect interaction. SNA is effectively a tool that enables managers to evaluate the success and potential of their informal social networks, which implies that at some level, management needs to be involved in facilitating social networks as indicated by McDermott and Archibald (2009:83-84) cited in Jarrahi (2011:688-689).

The legal perspective

John E.Lyncheski (2010: 32-35) provides a legal perspective (based on U.S. laws) about social media in the workplace. His literature is on the premise that unintended consequences of the usage of social media are as a result of the absence of management/formal intervention in the use of social media. Though this particular piece of literature does not align much with the topic, it reinforces some main ideas highlighted in the above literature. That is: management intervention. Lyncheski (2010:34) explains that 1 in 5 organisations have social media policies and provides examples as to how the absence of such policies allows for negative impacts on the part of employees (whether amongst each other or from an employee-client perspective) with regards to their work and social networks (whether social or organisational). A range of issues that Lyncheski has pointed out, which can be applied to many different countries are: the ability of conflicting parties to utilise an employees social media postings (whether it be a customer or colleague); employee postings which put the organisation in a
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position of liability; and larger cases that address questions of discrimination. Either way, the impact of such networks is detrimental to the individual bonds of employees. If there are loopholes that allow for employees using social networks to be vulnerable to the law, the element of reliability and safety are removed from social networks and likelihood of growth or collaboration are reduced (Lyncheski, J.E., 2010: 32-34).

Conclusion
The common thread amongst all these sources of literature was organisational realisation of the importance of managing social networks; whether through policy in the case of the utilisation of social media; or by managing diversity and social bonds within informal social networks. The ultimate reason is that management provides shared goals in the case of knowledge management and enforces accountability and responsibility in the case of social media in the workplace. Either view promotes positive social bonds but taking into consideration the needs of employees in the context of the organisational needs.

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Reference List
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