Hybrid Metrics of Performance Measurement in Communities of Practice

This paper proposes a methodology to integrate methods of Social Network Analysis, Business Scorecards and Intellectual Capital. To test the methodology and verify the managerial implications, we applied hybrid indicators to monitor three communities of practice within an aerospace and defense industrial group. We integrated their performance monitor system – based on a Balanced Scorecard - with the network metrics based on the communication frequency among members. First, we systematically reviewed strategic tools such as Skandia Navigator, Intangible Assets Monitor, IC-Index™, Balanced Scorecard; Intangible Value Framework. Second, we identified the dimensions of analysis that are common to each of these tools and we built a matrix composed of four dimensions: people, processes, innovation and financial. Third, we combined network indicators with metrics describing the four dimensions, creating a list of 46 hybrid indicators, 22 at actor’s level and 24 at community level. A preliminary result is this validation of the hybrid indicators. For example, the index ABC/Pe might help identify employees with key connections to clients, as it combines values of Actor Betweenness Centrality and the number of new clients contacted by the employee. This integration provides opportunities to complement Business Scorecard approaches to take into account the evolution of social capital and the community’s dynamics; it also helps SNA to better qualify members through the application of metrics describing organizational performance.