Social Networks As A Conceptual and Empirical Tool

Social Networks as a
Conceptual and Empirical

Tool to Understand and “Do”
HRD
Miss
Angela
Mr.
Braid
Mr.
Allen
Mr.
Peter
Contents
 Introduction
 Clarifying concept definitions
 Integrating the social network/social capital and
HRD literatures
 Understanding how HRD adds value from a social
capital perspective
 A social network perspective on the practice of
HRD
 HRD at the individual level
 HRD at the team
 HRD at the organization
 Connecting social network research with HRD
practice
 Implications
Introductions
 From this title, we know that this article will tell us the
roles of the social network which can help us to
understand and “Do” the HRD.
 Management and HR experts recognize the importance

of the relational to effective practice and scholarly
inquiry
Graen , Bien and Scandura(2000)argued that effective

organizational functioning required employees to be in
the right place, doing the right things, at the right
time.
Hall(2003)added that it is also about having “the right

people having the right relationships”, doing the right
things at the right time.
Introduction
 The HRD field also recognizes the importance of
relationships for HRD practitioners in performing their
role and for successful change interventions.
Harrison and Kessels(2004)argued that the emerging

challenges facing in HRD include developing human
capital of organizations and the social capital
This article will answer two questions:

a: how can a network perspective explain or help us
understand more about the process of achieving the
outcome of HRD? B:given the network perspective,
how should we practice HRD?
Clarifying concept definitions:
HRD, Social network, Social capital

HRD: is responsible for learning and performance
that is strategic and operational, and that crosses
the multiple levels of organizations including
individual, team (group/process),
organizational( Yorks, 2005).
 Social network was definited as consisting of lines

and nodes( actors, groups, etc.)that can be
described in mathematical terms(Scott, 2001)
 Social capital is a way to describe the value that

can accrue through the network.
Integrating the social
network/social capital and HRD
literatures
 A network perspective provides a framework and methods for
understanding the multilevel phenomena relevant to HRD
research and practice.
 A social network perspective permits conceptualizing the whole

rather the part. It is also provides analytical tools and theoretical
assumptions function in typical quantitative or qualitative
research methods.

Yorks(2005) pointed that a social network perspective offers one
way to meet the diverse responsibilities.

Using the social network perspective changes the research and
practice of HRD because change is explained in terms of the
social relations between people.
Integrating the social network/social
capital and HRD literatures

An alternative perspective suggests that team performance
is a function of the relationships not of the characteristics.

Empirical network research relies on measures that identify
specific relationships that can contribute toward desired
outcome.

A social network perspective on HRD gives HRD scholars
and practitioners’ new way to frame issues, pose questions,
conduct research and design interventions.

Clearly, integrating the social network and HRD literatures
enable HRD scholars and practitioners to design
interventions that are effective, targeted and beneficial.
HRD adds value form a social
capital perspective
 Typical measures of how ass value from an
economic perspective can include system, financial,
learning, and perceptual outcomes
 The mechanisms that generate these value-added

outcomes are diverse and grounded in the theory
base of HRD. For performantive HRD the theory
base is likely to include system theory,
psychological theory, and economic theory.
Three theories borrowed from
sociology
First, Burt's theory of structural holes combines with
Granovetter’s theory of weak ties.
HRD interventions can add value because they
changed the social relationships that bridge different
people or group to another.
Second, Coleman‘s and Putnam’s closure theories.

HRD interventions can add value because they
changed the social relationships that bond people
together in groups.
Third, Lin’s theory of social structure and action

HRD interventions can add value because more or
different resources are exchanged
HRD adds value form a social
capital perspective
HRD interventions add value because

they either leverage social capital
and/or change social network to align
them with organizational goals. The
alignment of network with
organizational goals is the key to
organizational success.
A social network perspective on
the practice of HRD
 The social network perspective suggest

that HRD should focus on developing
appropriate network structures and/or
appropriate opportunities and conditions
for action.
 On the other hand, a large structure of

bridging, while less costly in terms of times
and effort, are not as useful for mobilizing
complex types of information
A social network perspective on
the practice of HRD
 How should we practice HRD at the
individual, team/group, and
organizational levels?
How to practice HRD at those
three level
• The individual level
• The team/group level
• The organization level

HRD at the individual level
 Individual level HRD is usually focused
on developing human capital through
training and development.
 HRD at the individual level research

suggests that diverse networks are
associated with early promotion,
career mobility, and managerial
effectiveness.
Individual work performance is
found to vary:
1. by interaction patterns
2. by network centrality
3. by ties that cross organizational,
departmental, and physical
boundaries
4. by number of ties in the network
Learning at the
individual level

Social learning theory proposes that
individual learning occurs through
processes of social interaction and
participation with others.
HRD at the Team/Group
Level
 At the team or functional
level of analysis, a social
network perspective also
provides some insight on the
practice of HRD.
HRD at the Organization
Level

At the organizational level,
organizational social networks can
contribute toward a learning
culture and help an organization’s
capacity to respond to
environmental changes.
Connecting Social Network
Research with HRD Practice
The importance of Social network analysis
 reveal patterns of connectivity
 reveal the success or failure elements of a social

network
 Make the social network maps
 Location actors and analyzing their relationships
 The identification of these actors can help
determine appropriate ways

 Identification of key players in social networks
Connecting Social Network Research
with HRD Practice
The advantage to HRD practitioner

 By understanding the network structure, the HRD practitioner
will be able to identify the opportunities for or constraint on
individual performance and learning.
 By identifying the facilitators and inhibitors to knowledge

sharing, learning, and performance improvement, the HRD
practitioner can devise ways to manage the individuals or
change the organization, functions, or processes to facilitate
individual, team/process, and organizational success.
What we learn from this article
 At the begin of this article, it tells us this article will answer two
question a: how can a network perspective explain or help us
understand more about the process of achieving the outcome of HRD?
B:given the network perspective, how should we practice HRD?
 After we learn this article, we know that the social network plays an
important role in HRD and it can help us to understand and “Do” HRD
practice. This article tell us clarifying concepts definitions of HRD, social
network and social capital; and a network perspective provides a
framework and methods for understanding the multilevel phenomena
relevant to HRD research and practice, for example, team performance
is a target of HRD research focus and HRD practitioners should help
the manager or create teams, and tools often used in this type of
intervention focus on the characteristics of the team members. These
tools generated from HRD research that examined how individual
characteristics impacted group performance.

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Social Networks as a

Conceptual and Empirical

 Management and HR experts recognize the importance

Graen , Bien and Scandura(2000)argued that effective

Hall(2003)added that it is also about having “the right

Harrison and Kessels(2004)argued that the emerging

This article will answer two questions:

 Social network was definited as consisting of lines

 Social capital is a way to describe the value that

 A social network perspective permits conceptualizing the whole

 The mechanisms that generate these value-added

Second, Coleman‘s and Putnam’s closure theories.

Third, Lin’s theory of social structure and action

HRD interventions add value because

 The social network perspective suggest

 On the other hand, a large structure of

• The team/group level

• The organization level

 HRD at the individual level research

 reveal the success or failure elements of a social

 Location actors and analyzing their relationships

 The identification of these actors can help

determine appropriate ways

The advantage to HRD practitioner

 By identifying the facilitators and inhibitors to knowledge

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