10.12 Key Terms

Actors in social networks include all of the individuals, groups or organizations that make up the network.

Access network shows who has access to whose knowledge and expertise.

Activity gauges how active a person is in the network.

Access tells you how easily a person in the network can get the resources that he or she needs to be successful in the organization.

Bridging tie is a tie that provides non-redundant information and resources.

Career network reflects those individuals in your network who are likely to be helpful in your search for a new job or quest for a promotion.

Control gauges how much control a person has over the flow of information in the network.

Conflict can be due to a communication breakdown, competing views or goals, power struggles, or conflicts between different personalities.

Centrality is the extent to which a given actor is in the middle of the network.

Communication network is the informal structure of an organization as represented in ongoing patterns of interaction, either in general, or with respect to a given issue.

Density reflects how many people in a network are connected (usually directly) to each other.

Direct ties are those in which a single link spans two actors.

Indirect ties are where connections exist between actors, but only through other actors.

Information network shows who goes to whom for advice on work-related matters.

Knowledge network captures who is aware of whose knowledge and skills.

Network tie is each connection, or relationship, between actors.

Nodes are each actor, or point on the network.

Networking is the range of activities you might engage in to build your social network.

Problem-solving networks indicate who goes to whom to engage in dialogue that helps people solve problems at work.

Principle of reciprocity refers to the degree to which you trade favors that are of relatively equal value with others.

Principle of exchange refers to trading favors with those who are different from you and provides greater value due to the differences in resources such as knowledge, capabilities, skill sets, etc.

Principle of similarity refers to the fact that relationships and network ties tend to develop spontaneously between people with common backgrounds, values, and interests.

Social network can be characterized as a patterned set of relationships between two or more people.

Social capital includes the resources available in and through personal and business networks such as ideas, information, money, and trust.

Social network analysis (SNA) is mapping and measuring relationships and flows among people, groups, organizations, computers, websites, and other actors.

Strong ties exist among individuals who know one another well and engage in relatively frequent, ongoing resource exchanges.

Weak ties exist among individuals who know one another, at least by reputation, but who do not engage in a regular exchange of resources.