Network Measures for Organizational Learning Subprocesses: Case of a Consultancy Firm

Abstract

A new scholarship has emerged that proposes the use of social network analysis as a tool for measuring organizational learning. O’Reilly’s (1991) remark that organizations are fundamentally relational entities clearly endorses a move in this direction. The key advantage of using social network analysis in organizational learning is the ability to conduct multi-level data analysis (Contractor, 2006), which had been a serious limitation for organizational learning studies till date. This study attempts to take this field forward by developing a multi-level framework for understanding some of the subprocesses of organizational learning based on a social network approach. A detailed field-based case study of a consulting firm was undertaken and results support the merit in using social network analysis for studying organizational learning.