computer science

Organizational network analysis

Organizational network analysis is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Organizational network analysis rather than just read about it. In short: Organizational network analysis (ONA) is a method for studying communication and socio-technical networks within a formal organization. This technique creates statistical and graphical models of the people, tasks, groups, knowledge and resources of organizational systems.

Key takeaways

Organizational network analysis belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Organizational network analysis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Organizational network analysis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Organizational network analysis (ONA) is a method for studying communication and socio-technical networks within a formal organization. This technique creates statistical and graphical models of the people, tasks, groups, knowledge and resources of organizational systems. It is based on social network theory and more specifically, dynamic network analysis.

Applications ONA can be used in a variety of ways by managers, consultants, and executives.

Network visualizations There are several tools that allow managers to visually depict their employee networks. Most of the tools are built specifically for researchers and academics who study Network theory, but are relatively inexpensive to use, as long as the leaders are well-versed on how to capture the information, feed it into the tool in the correct formats, and understand how to "read" and translate the network graphs into business decisions. Several software platforms have emerged to support ONA in corporate settings, including OrgMapper and Beetrics, among others.

Innovation gauge Several studies and research has highlighted that 'Psychological Safety' is one of the key markers for an innovative team. This has been studied and published first by Google, in their Project Aristotle work as well as highlighted in New York Times and other research publications. Amy Edmondson is one of the preeminent scholars and researchers in this field who has worked across various industries to identify the benefits and even the characteristics of 'Psychological Safety' in teams. ONA is now increasingly being used in this context to analyze the relationships developed within a given team, and for understanding how that team works as a unit to create this psychological safety for its members. This technique is more thorough than the traditional surveys.

Employee engagement Engagement surveys and other such culture surveys have become a mainstay of the workplace. However, one of the largest complaints from such surveys are that once managers see the results, often the aggregated sentiments of their employees, they are unsure of next steps and actions. Organizational Network Analysis, when combined with such engagement surveys, however change the way that leaders use and leverage these results. Because ONA allows managers to see the context behind the sentiments, they can actually understand how to correct or sustain these results. For example, if a company's engagement survey said 30% of the employees felt they are inadequately trained for their jobs, a manager would be perhaps inclined to either do nothing, or invest more in comprehensive training programs. However, doing an ONA alongside this might reveal to managers that employees are unhappy with training because they have limited access to institutional knowledge at the company. Then, instead of a training program, managers might simply work on ensuring their top knowledge hubs share their knowledge broadly, and have a longer, more sustainable improvement to the team's level of information and training.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Organizational network analysis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Organizational network analysis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Organizational network analysis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Organizational network analysis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Organizational network analysis

In research: Organizational network analysis appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Organizational network analysis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Organizational network analysis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Social networks, Systems theory, Workplace, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Organizational network analysis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Organizational network analysis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Organizational network analysis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Organizational network analysis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Organizational network analysis in simple terms?

Why does Organizational network analysis matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Organizational network analysis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Organizational network analysis.