Leveraging on informal networks for organizational change

Abstract

The dynamic and uncertain scenarios that economic organizations have to face force them to deeply rethink themselves and their structure through an internal innovation process aimed at making them more reactive and proactive. Organizations can be viewed as systems whose components (people, team, groups, organizations) are joined by formal and informal relationships, and any process of internal change requires complex negotiations based on them. It is therefore of paramount importance to perceive accurately the network of informal relationships and to actively manage them. On the basis of the concept of distance between individuals and making use of the social network analysis we provide a methodology for determining both the actual network of relationships that links all actors in the organization and an index (IDO, Informality Degree of Organizations) able to measure the level of informality prevailing within an organization. IDO index gives both theoretical and practical indications to the management for successfully implementing an internal change policy.