Publications

Research Summary

Dynamics of Network Formation

By: Ranjay Gulati

An ongoing research project with my doctoral students extends my previous line of inquiry by examining some of the evolutionary dynamics of small-world networks. Diverging from recent research that has analyzed static small worlds, we have adopted a dynamic view of the... View Details

September 16, 2022
Article

A Causal Test of the Strength of Weak Ties

By: Karthik Rajkumar, Guillaume Saint-Jacques, Iavor I. Bojinov, Erik Brynjolfsson and Sinan Aral

The authors analyzed data from multiple large-scale randomized experiments on LinkedIn’s People You May Know algorithm, which recommends new connections to LinkedIn members, to test the extent to which weak ties increased job mobility in the world’s largest... View Details

Keywords: Job Mobility; Social Networks; Social Ties; Networks; Personal Development and Career

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29 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Firsthand Experience and the Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration

Keywords: by Mark Mortensen & Tsedal Neeley

Article

Past, Present and Future Research on Multiple Identities: Toward an Intrapersonal Network Approach

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan

Psychologists, sociologists, and philosophers have long recognized that people have multiple identities—based on attributes such as organizational membership, profession, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and family role(s) and that these multiple identities... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Research; Organizations; Identity

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2017
Simulation

Global Collaboration Simulation: Tip of the Iceberg

By: Tsedal Neeley

This online simulation teaches students about the difficulties in cross-cultural communication and managing global teams. Communicating via chat, teams of 4 or 5 students race against the clock to prepare a VC presentation. Students are assigned the role of a native... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Interpersonal Communication; Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks

January 2009
Background Note

Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides an analysis of why informal financial networks and institutions still play an extremely important role in China's economy in the 21st century. Although China has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it still suffers from a weak... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Banks and Banking; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; State Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Networks; China

2011
Chapter

Collaborative Implementation: 'What If,' Asked George?

By: Leslie Perlow

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Cooperation

January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy

04 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

The Money Connection—Understanding VC Networks

essential to the functioning of VC and the technology-based industries in which VCs often invest. And in addition to person-to-person social networks, firm-to-firm View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

14 Apr 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces

Keywords: by Jesse Shore, Ethan Bernstein & David Lazer

December 2022
Article

Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo

By: Stefan Dimitriadis and Rembrand Koning

Recent field experiments demonstrate that advice, mentorship, and feedback from randomly assigned peers improve entrepreneurial performance. These results raise a natural question: what is preventing entrepreneurs and managers from forming these peer connections... View Details

Keywords: Social Skills; Business Performance; Entrepreneurs; Peer Relationships; Field Experiment; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Relationships; Interpersonal Communication; Togo

August 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Background Note

Take Advantage of Your Diaspora Network

By: William R. Kerr and Daniel J. Isenberg

Diaspora networks (DNs) are an important resource for global entrepreneurs. Discusses several features of DNs, combining both academic and practitioner perspectives. Describes the history and prevalence of DNs in many ethnicities, documents the broad resources DNs can... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Markets and Industries; Social and Collaborative Networks

January 2014
Case

Social Strategy at Cisco Systems

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Daniel Malter and Aaron Smith

In April 2013, Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager for Learning@Cisco Systems, was planning the future of the Cisco Learning Network, an online platform hosted at Cisco.com. Since its launch in 2008, the Cisco Learning Network provided content to... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Competency and Skills; Learning; Web Services Industry

Research Summary

On the Origins of Brokerage in Intraorganizational Networks

While we have ample empirical evidence linking brokerage in intraorganizational social networks to both individual and firm-level benefits, we know little about its origins. Prior research describes correlations between rough demographic categories and network... View Details

March 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Green Dot Public Schools: To Collaborate or Compete?

In order to execute a strategy to transform the entire 768-school Los Angeles public school district, Green Dot Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school management organization with 10 high-performing high schools around Los Angeles, is faced with a crucial choice... View Details

Keywords: Secondary Education; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Cooperation; Los Angeles

Article

The Global Rise of Democracy: A Network Account

By: Magnus Thor Torfason and Paul Ingram

We examine the influence of an interstate network created by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) on the global diffusion of democracy. We propose that IGOs facilitate this diffusion by transmitting information between their member states and by interpreting that... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Networks; Society; Transformation; Power and Influence; Country; Globalization