Workflow Knowledge Sharing through Social Networks

Social Network Analysis provides the researcher a means to interpret relationships and in turn the flow of information. What has been less well researched is how such analysis may be used to interpret workflows or business processes and potentially lead to their improvement. This research-in-progress paper explores the comparatively fine-grained social interactions of employees in a company in Sydney. One particular workplace process, namely the use of Oracle Primavera P6 is examined. Following such an approach, attention is turned to exploring the working relationships of employees through Social Network Analysis to determine the closeness of fit of employees against the workflows officially established by management. Such a combination of techniques extends the toolkit of methodological approaches in this space, and from a more practical viewpoint permits the process improvement workflow manager to consider how well matched employees are to their workflows.

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