In van Dijk’s categorisation of social networks supported by media networks ‘group and organisational relations’ are identified as ‘… contemporary groupings supported by telecommunications and computer networks…’ (van Dijk 2006). He goes on to categorise two types of organisational networking as being internal and/or external: ‘Internally, many organisations have become network organisations of largely independent teams and projects. Externally, they assemble to form network organisations cooperating in the execution of a particular task.’ (van Dijk 2006).
Analysing external networking it appears, from my experience and observations, that the underlying motivation to network outside of the organisation is either:
- To stay abreast of issues and remain current in the best practice methods of a particular profession or industry by seeking out professionals, academics and thought leaders of the profession concerned; or
- To partner with an organisation so that services offered to clients are enhanced when neither organisation has the resources to offer the complete service. Examples of this arrangement can be found in the IT industry where, for example, a software company partners with a company specialising in the hardware infrastructure required to support the software.
- As a diffusion strategy where a given product or brand will partner with other organisations with the purpose of reaching a wider market. Again, an example of this exists in the IT industry where Microsoft ‘certifies’ its partners who become recognised as recommended providers of their products.
- For pro-bono purposes.
As the strength of weak ties proclaims, employees should, theoretically, be more innovative in their setting if they are actively involved in expanding their social and professional scope by way of external networking opportunities. Does this compromise confidentiality agreements, or have we arrived at a sophisticated understanding of both organisational and individual networking benefits? As identified by van Dijk (2006) 'At the individual level we are witnessing the rise of networking as an explicit and increasingly systematic method of making contacts and improving social relations....At the level of the organisations, corporations and institutions are no longer working alone. They have become a part of a comprehensive division of labour.'.
References
Dijk, Jan van (2006) The network society: social aspects of new media, London; Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage
