Schlagwort-Archive: Network

Properties of a network

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The boundaries of companies dissolve in favor of cross-border networks. Actors and relationships, interests and data, expectations and information, business models and knowledge find their way on the Internet. Joining an online community can make the difference for individuals and groups. Whether private or business – it is helpful to know the new realities, the properties of a network.

The effects of the net can be better exploited, if you know its characteristics.

  • Size
    The number of actors/nodes amount to the size of the network. The more participants, the greater the benefit of the network. Additional offers, which exceed the actual purpose, expand the scope of application. A historical example illustrates the importance of size: the more people with a telephone, the more people can be reached, the more people have a telephone and the more services (e.g. information, routing, wake-up calls, telephone counseling) can be marketed. Based on the Dunbar number, the natural limit of social relationships is 150 persons, between 100 and 250. Based on the average number of Facebook friends per user of over 300 (between 250 and 500) you can presume that in the social networks of the Internet the Dunbar number doubles.
  • Density
    The actors become interconnected with one another to a more or less close meshed network. The number of actual relationships between the actors/nodes together with the possible number of connections determine the density of meshing. If the resulting connectivity is very dense, the network has a great impact on each individual. Loose attachment appears in the lack of social relationships and subsequently with frustration as well as isolation. The density can be represented by the number of relationships in respect to the possible relationships – e.g. a network of 8 people has (8-1) * (8/2) = 28 possible relationships; in this example all people are centrally only linked to one person, but not to each other, resulting in 7 relationships; this corresponds to a density of 0.25.
  • Openness
    The relationships that get out of the network determine the degree of openness. Prerequisite is the definition of the network boundaries. In companies, they are today much more permeable due to partnerships, joint ventures and outsourcing. The project relationships lead to frequent changes of the network members. The openness results from the number of external relationships in respect to the possible relationships. They are double-edged. On the one hand, a network gains new ideas and members through openness. On the other hand, experiences and insights unintentionally flow out of the network, and people get the opportunity to exert undesirable influence through openness.
  • Perseverance
    Networks have a certain life of their own because of the large number of actors. Perseverance describes the degree of stability. It results from the increase of members and relationships, the changing degree of formal structure, and the general direction, i.e. growth, consolidation or shrinkage of the network Too much change endangers the perseverance and results in the formation of new networks or internal group building.
  • Speed
    The time it takes to bring insights to all nodes defines the speed. This information flows through the relationships. With respective channels, actors can communicate in different ways, such as email, intranet, or by exchanging ideas. The distribution can take place by pull or push principle. The pull principle is based on information needs – knowledge is obligation to search; trigger is the target audience; mostly bottom-up. The push principle is aligned to the needs for informing – knowledge is an obligation to deliver; triggers are the information sources; mostly top-down. Built-in feedback, such as receipt confirmation or collection of comments, allow assumptions about the speed.

Bottom line: The network is the most likely organizational format in times of VUCA. The membership benefits are determined primarily by the number of users. Other characteristics are the density, openness, perseverance and the speed of the information flow. Although the network properties allow a better control, it is still necessary to continuously observe and evaluate the network due to the self-organizing members.

Ingredients of a network

With the new millennium, a new sphere of relationships to one another has emerged – the Internet. Thus, the material hurdles for contacts continued to decrease. Companies like Facebook & Co. create the bedrock for networking across national and geographic borders. On Facebook alone, over 2 billion users have registered. The social networks call users differently – friend, follower, contact, subscriber. The relationships are usually made by invitation and confirmation. Due to these new opportunities, it is helpful to realize what the ingredients of a network are.

In addition to the offerings of a network, its complexity results from the set of actors and the number of relationships.

Actor (Node)
The acting entity in a network is the actor, or node. On the one hand, these can be individuals and groups, or even automated actors in the form of IT programs. The effect of a network is created by the diversity of the actors that constitute the network. This system lives on the interests and the resulting solutions, decisions and implementations. In order to be able to participate, the parties involved must perceive their environment, integrate the observations into their thinking models, then exchange and enrich each other as well as act on the world with initiatives. The actors can be reduced to a few basic types.

  • Reactive actors act in a situation instinctively and without thinking.
  • Forward-thinking actors think through a situation and then follow prepared plans and intentions.
  • Business actors mix spontaneous reaction with planned action.
  • Prosaic actors additionally assess the situation and then act on business.
  • Altruistic actors assess social compatibility and behave accordingly.
  • Autonomous actors are software-based solutions that execute simple rules and plans.

When looking at a network, it is essential to have a list of all stakeholders and their expectations.

Relationship (Edge)
The connection between the actors is the relationship, or edge. It is used to exchange among the doers material and immaterial things, such as artefacts, data, information and knowledge, and to create results together. The strength of the relationship stems from mutual commitment, trust, reciprocal benefits, and time spent together. There are four different types of relationships.

  • Supportive relationships exist when the actors are helpful, responsive and benevolent.
  • Opposing relationships become visible when the participants are reluctant, dismissive and disapproving of each other.
  • Indifferent relationships exist when the persons affected are not interested, unemotional and distant.
  • No relationship means that people do not have contact with each other.
  • Ambivalent relationships exist when the actors happen to switch back and forth between the previous ones.

The conscious classification of relationships enables selected control of the network.

Network itself
The sum of actors and relationships create a network or system. It has a purpose, a clear structure and certain procedures. In case of tree, ring or line structures, actors are connected in a row, one behind the other. Only the meshing makes the network – i.e. actors are connected to several actors. If a network exceeds a certain size, subnetworks or completely new networks evolve.

  • The purpose of a network is described by stakeholder expectations, the derived strategy, and the long-term strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
  • The composition of the network is determined by the actors and relationships as well as the aspects of the governance, the distribution of power, the leadership and the internal and external image.
  • The procedures of a network are determined by the cooperation, the social interactions among each other, the balanced give and take as well as the effects and their qualities that result.

The cohesion of the network offers all participants a great benefit.

Bottom line: The fabric that will dominate the business world in the future is the network – open, dynamic and complex. The difficulties in a VUCA world are the heavily to understand interactions between the components – the actors, relationships, and the resulting networks. It is no longer enough to build up internal organizational structures and processes. Skills are required to deal with the dynamics of overarching networks – holistic thinking, critical thinking, and change competence. For this purpose it is useful to gain as soon as possible an understanding of the ingredients of a network