This paper explores the importance of nurturing informal inter-organizational communities. Supported by real cases of informal communities created in different industries, this paper describes communities as a flexible answer to the growing uncertainty of the business landscape. We combined and applied methodologies of Social Network Analysis and Content Analysis to understand the communities’ structure and their evolution over time. We based our research on a multiple case study exploring the informal communities nurtured by a multinational consulting company and two US-based Swiss Consulates. We gathered data through web-surveys, from archival data (e-mail archives) and direct observation/interviews to key individuals. We conclude that successful informal communities emerge in presence of a core group of individuals acting as energizers of the community.

Inter-organizational communities as the emerging organizational form: empirical evidence from different industries

CORALLO, Angelo;DE MAGGIO, MARCO;GRIPPA, FRANCESCA
2009-01-01

Abstract

This paper explores the importance of nurturing informal inter-organizational communities. Supported by real cases of informal communities created in different industries, this paper describes communities as a flexible answer to the growing uncertainty of the business landscape. We combined and applied methodologies of Social Network Analysis and Content Analysis to understand the communities’ structure and their evolution over time. We based our research on a multiple case study exploring the informal communities nurtured by a multinational consulting company and two US-based Swiss Consulates. We gathered data through web-surveys, from archival data (e-mail archives) and direct observation/interviews to key individuals. We conclude that successful informal communities emerge in presence of a core group of individuals acting as energizers of the community.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11587/337731
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 1
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 1
social impact