The People who Make Organizations Go – or Stop!

Group 2

Anuj MahajanApurv Kumar

Christoph ZiegnerHemant Yadav

Indrashish GhoshalJaya Sharma

Informal Networks

The Central Connector

The Central Connector

• The go-to people• Research study: Spend more than an hour a

day helping others• Important for company to recognize and

acknowledge their efforts• Can be negative influences by being the

bottleneck, hoarding information or playing politics

The Boundary Spanner

The Boundary Spanner

• The Roving Ambassadors• Important role in sharing expertise and

establishing strategic alliances across different informal networks

• Requires breadth of intellectual expertise, contacts and high sociability

• Positive role in coordination

The Information Broker

The Information Broker

• Connectors of sub-networks

• Disproportionately important- role similar to central connector with fewer direct links

• Too much reliance can cause dependence- departure of the broker can tear the network apart.

The Peripheral Specialist

The Peripheral Specialist

• The Outsiders

• Possess very specific technical knowledge or skill

• Forcing them to socialize often has adverse effects since they tend to lose focus

Personal Network Management

• Tool to promote connectivity• Four dimensions to measure a network• Extent to which managers seek out people

within or outside their functional areas• Degree to which hierarchy, tenure and location

matter• Length of time of connections• How much the connections depend on the

manager’s schedule

Thank You!