Hidden Power Of Social Networks - BAKER & TAYLOR

In today ́s flatter organizations, collaboration in employee networks has become critical to innovation and to both individual and companywide performance. Executives spend millions on new organizational designs, cultural initiatives, and technologies to promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise across functional, hierarchical, and divisional lines. Yet these efforts have achieved disappointing results. Rob Cross and Andrew Parker argue that ́s because most managers have little understanding of how their employees actually interact to get work done. In fact, formal ́org charts ́ fail to reveal the often hidden social networks that truly drive-or hinder-an organization ́s performance. In this eye-opening book, Cross and Parker show managers how to find, assess, and support the networks most crucial to competitive success. Based on their in-depth study of more than 60 informal networks within organizations around the world, Cross and Parker show how managers can implement a wide range of specific and inexpensive actions to enhance the powerful impact networks can have on performance and innovation. Rob Cross is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia ́s McIntire School of Commerce and a research fellow with IBM ́s Knowledge and Organizational Performance Forum. Andrew Parker is a research consultant with IBM ́s Knowledge and Organizational Performance Forum.