LEARNING BY CONNECTING

SOCIAL CAPITAL AS A LEARNING LANDSCAPE

by

Lidewey van der Sluis Phd ¹ and Tjip de Jong Msc ²

Paper presentation at the

XXVI International Sunbelt Social Network ConferenceApril 24-30, 2006 Vancouver, Canada

28th of April 2006

¹ Lidewey van der Sluis is an Associate Professor in Business Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

² Tjip de Jong is a consultant and researcher at Kessels & Smit The Learning Company, The Netherlands.

Course of Action

(1) The growing interest in social capital and learning processes

(2) Conceptual framework of learning and social capital

(3) Methodology and data collection methods

(5) Conclusion of this study

(6) Discussion

(1) The growing organizational interest in social capital and learning processes

Seen from an academic perspective

– A knowledge economy results in a shifting competitive advantage of organizations.– Human Resource Development (HRD) is moving from human capital to social

capital theories.– Educationalist view the acquirement of skills and knowledge as a social process. – Empirical findings suggest linkages between social capital and learning.

Seen from a social perspective

– Social capital spill beyond people immediate involvement of the network.– Society benefits enormously from social capital (Putnam, 2000).– Getting connected affects communities, society and social life.

How do we see this in a larger organizational context?

Organization

Working environment

Individuals

Connections

Illumination

(2) Conceptual framework of learning and social capital (I)

Bridging views– Social networks with a focus on the structural element (embeddedness)– Brokerage opportunities that draw on network concepts– E.g. Burt (1997)

Bonding views – Linkages among people, with a focus on opportunity and action orientation– Social capital is defined by its function: opportunity and action (access and use)– E.g. Coleman (1988)

Double view (which we will call linking connections)– Structural element (embeddedness) and opportunity and action oriented element

(access and use)– E.g. Kostova & Roth, 2003)

(2) Conceptual framework of learning and social capital (II)

Organization A

Organization B

Teams

Individuals

Bridging Connections

Linking Connections

Bonding Connections

(2) Conceptual framework of learning and social capital (III)Types of social capital Possible effects on learning Characteristics

(1) Network-oriented: bridging

- Shared norms and common goals

- Reciprocity and trust are limited

- Mutual attractiveness plays a dominant role

Intra contact learning: level α

- Relatively free exchange of skills and knowledge

- Knowledge sharing is highly context dependent (risk for the individual)

- Instable connections: searching for balance

- Trust influences reciprocity of information

- Norms of reciprocity are unstable

(2) Relation-oriented: bonding

- Dense and bounded networks

- Homogeneity of membership

- Reciprocity and trust are high

Intra contact learning: level β

- Free exchange of skills and knowledge

- Trustworthiness is created via reciprocity and trust

- Stability

- Strong norms of reciprocity

- Vision and identification plays a dominant role

- Group think

- Danger of limited access to new and varied skills and knowledge

(3) Cross-oriented: linking

- Reciprocity and trust are context dependent

- Loose and open-ended networks

- Connections are based on urgency or curiosity

Inter contact learning: level γ

- Connections outside the organisation or paradigm

- Leveraging a far wider range of resources

- Possible re-balancing of existing inter-relationships

- Provides a rich set of additional meaning and sense-making to actors

(3) Methodology and data collection methods (I)

With teams reflecting on successes in order to gain insight in:

– An individual learning process that took place

– The acquirement of specific skills and knowledge

– The role of social learning (connections of individuals)

On which aspects of social capital did we pay attention?

(3) Methodology and data collection methods (II)Playing a game of story telling

(3) Methodology and data collection methods (III)Overarching research methodology

Composition of social capital

Characteristicsof connections

Realisation of learning processes

Effect on skills &knowledge

Enrichment Recognition Reflection

Conclusion

Bridging connections– Connections depends on mutual attractiveness

– They facilitate the creation and exchange of tacit intellectual assets, specifically skills

Bonding connections– Norms of teams facilitate homogeneity of membership

– A priori norms affect and limit learning opportunities

– Regulation of social behaviour (stable social context)

Linking connections– Connections stretch outside the organizational paradigm

– Individuals highly appreciate linking connections as reflection opportunities

Conclusion of this study (I)Caught in a scheme

Type of social capital Possible effects on learning Characteristics

(1) Network-oriented: bridging

- Mutual attractiveness plays a dominant role

- Level of trust plays a dominant role

- Norms of reciprocity is limited

- Moderate degree of shared vision

Intra contact learning: level α

- Free exchange of skills

(exchange of experiences)

- Knowledge exchange is limited

- Instable connections

- Bridging enables individual access to a ‘new’ social network

- Level of reciprocity is unstable

(2) Relation-oriented: bonding

- Dense and bounded networks

- Homogeneity of membership

- High interpersonal norms

- High level of interpersonal trust

Intra contact learning: level β

- Free exchange of information and knowledge

- Skills exchange is limited

- Stability

- Group think

- Strong norms of reciprocity

- Limited access to new skills and knowledge

(3) Cross-oriented: linking

- Loose and open-ended network

- Based on urgency and relevance

- Reciprocity and trust is context dependent

Inter contact learning: level γ

- Connections outside the organisation or paradigm

- Leveraging a far wider range of resources

- Re-balancing of existing inter-relationships

- Provides a rich set of additional meaning and sense-making to actors

- Facilitates the process of reflection

Conclusion of this study (II)Overarching themes

Social capital is a learning landscape of different connections individuals realise

Organizational learning heavily depends on linking connections to reach learning embeddedness

Illumination is reached by the succesfull leveraging of all three different connections