Social networks at Sempra Energy's IT division are key to building strategic capabilities

Abstract

How does an IT division, faced with new and challenging strategic goals, get technical people to understand and appreciate the impact of human relationships on individual and organizational performance? It turns to social network analysis (SNA) - a nifty tool for quantifying and visualizing the number and strength of connections between people. Taking advantage of a large menu of SNA's analytical options, this organization learned how it could better identify succession candidates, build social capital, lessen dependence on the senior leadership team, and improve interdepartmental collaboration and communication - in short, move to the next level of organization effectiveness. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.