On the locality of virtual networks: Informal Learning in the San Francisco Bay Area

Dagstuhl Seminar “Digital Social Networks“, 24-29 January 2010Dr. Julia Maintz, Maintz Research maintz@maintz-research.com

Research Project“Learning in personal networks: Collaborative knowledge production in virtual forums“, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Joint project withProf. Gernot Grabher, Urban and Regional Economic Studies, HafenCity University Hamburg, previously Socio-Economics of Space, University of BonnProf. David Stark & John Kelly, Center on Organizational Innovation, Columbia University

Innovation Linear model of innovation until the late 1980s Freeman 1974; Malecki 1979, 1980; 1981

Innovation as interactive concept Kline und Rosenberg 1986; Aoki und Rosenberg 1987

Networks and innovation• Relevance of network structures for innovation processes

• Strategically positioned individuals mediate information Allen 1977; Tushman 1987; Tushman und Scanlan 1981; Katz und Tushman 1981; Burt 1992; 2004 • Weak network ties as bridges for new information Granovetter 1973

Learning dynamics in Internet-based networks

• Active network participation of individuals in innovation processes • Learning dynamics in informal and personal networks

• Potential of the Internet: Connectivity of previously unconnected or rarely connected individuals and communities of practice • Latent social network ties as reservoirs for learning and innovation, which can potentially be activated by Internet communications

Key research questions

1. How does the usage of business networking software affect personal networking behavior?

2. Which relevance does virtual versus face-to-face interaction have in informal learning processes?

Business networking software LinkedIn: User interface

LinkedIn search

Empirical procedure

• 25 semi-standardized interviews with LinkedIn users in communication and computing industries in the San Francisco Bay Area

• Interview topics: Motives for the usage of business networking software, contact management approaches, exchanged contents, interrelation of online and face-to-face networking

• Interviews were transliterated and analyzed by computer-assisted coding

Business networking as reflexive behavior

• Strategy 1: Interpretation of the social context and identification of key actors and activities

• Strategy 2: Structuration of the social reality by growing and maintaining personal networks

• Strategy 3: Investment of ressources in network contacts with generative potential

Governance of LinkedIn networks • Governance mechanisms of LinkedIn networks: Professional ethos, trust, reciprocity

• Knowledge transfer across structural holes Burt 1992; 2004

• Tertius iungens prototypical behavior of LinkedIn users

• Tertius iungens (‘the third who joins‘) connects alters and mediates information without being motived by a direct personal interest Obstfeld 2005; see also Simmel 1923

“You know, these are strategic thinkers who are looking for the connections, who [are] analyzing and making sense of their world in order to both gain benefit for themselves, but also deliver benefit and who believe, I think at some level, that other humans can either help them or they can help (Senior Research Scientist, social computing corporate research center).“

Tertius iungens

LinkedIn networks as “security nets“ and opportunity pools

Social network filtering productive for

• identification of new professional opportunities,

• qualified and well-connected (project) cooperation partners/ employees, • awareness of industry trends and gossip,

• competitor activitities.

Multi-connectivity and affinity to physical places

• Multi-connectivity as an expression of individual professional interests and peer practices

• Local clustering of network contacts

• Persistence of the region for innovation processes

• Electronic networking adds communicative and symbolic layer to face-to- face networks.

References Allen, T.J. (1977). Managing the flow of technology. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.Aoki, M., Rosenberg, N. (1987). The Japanese firm as an innovating institution. Center for Economic Policy Research, Publ. no. 106, Stanford. Burt, R.S. (1992). Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.Burt, R.S. (2004). “Structural holes and good ideas.“ American Journal of Sociology 110(2): 349-399.Freeman, C. (1974). The economics of industrial innovation. Harmondsworth, UK, Penguin.Granovetter, M. (1973). “The strength of weak ties.“ American Journal of Sociology 78(6): 1360-1380.Katz, R., Tushman, M.L. (1981). “An investigation into the managerial roles and career paths of gatekeepers and project supervisors in a major R&D facility.“ R&D Management 11: 103-110. Kline, S., Rosenberg, N. (1986). An overview of innovation. In: Landau, R. und N. Rosenberg (eds.) The positive sum strategy. Washington, National Academy Press: 275-305.

References/ 2 Malecki, E.J. (1979). “Agglomeration and Intra-Firm Linkage in R&D Locations in the United

States.“ Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 70: 322-332.Malecki, E.J. (1980). “Corporate Organization of R & D and the Location of Technological Activities.“ Regional Studies 14: 219-234.Malecki , E.J. (1991). Technology and Economic Development: The Dynamics of Local, Regional, and National Change. Burnt Hill, Longman. New York, Wiley.Obstfeld, D. (2005). “Social networks, the tertius iungens orientation, and involvement in innovation.“ Administrative Science Quarterly 50: 100-130.Simmel, G. (1923). The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York, Free Press.Tushman, M.L. (1987). “Special boundary roles in the innovation process.“ Administrative Science Quarterly 22: 587-605.Tushman, M.L., Scanlan, T.J. (1981). “Boundary spanning individuals: Their role in information transfer and their antecedents.“ Academy of Management Journal 24: 289-305.