Question 1

Developing and protecting social capital requires independence,in which individuals must spend most of their time working individually.

Accepted Answer

Developing social capital requires interdependence among group members. Social capital erodes when people in the network become independent. Increased interaction between members aids in the development and maintenance of mutual obligations in a social network.

Question 2

The use of email can be distracting to employees.Some firms limit the time that employees spend using email.

Accepted Answer

Email is an effective means of communicating a wide variety of information. It is quick, easy, and almost costless. Of course, it can become a problem when employees use it extensively for personal reasons.

Question 3

In social network analysis,a person who has no linkages to others in the network is labeled a conformist.

Accepted Answer

There may be some individuals with literally no linkages, such as Fred. These individuals are typically labeled isolates.

Question 4

Burt studied several hundred managers in the Raytheon supply chain group and asked them to write down ideas to improve the company supply chain management.Then he asked two Raytheon executives to rate the ideas.The conclusion: The best suggestions consistently came from managers who discussed ideas outside their regular work group.This is an example of a structural hole.

Accepted Answer

Bridging relationships, in contrast to closure, stress the importance of ties connecting people. Employees who bridge disconnected people tend to receive timely, diverse information because of their access to a wide range of heterogeneous information flows. Such bridging relationships span a number of different types of boundaries.

Question 5

In bridging relationships in social networks,one member is central to the communication flows in a group.

Accepted Answer

In closure relationships one member is central to the communication flows in a group. In bridging relationships, one person bridges or brings together groups that would have been otherwise unconnected.

Question 6

Deliberate actions to reduce email output consist of forwarding all messages,but limiting the number of recipients.

Accepted Answer

Despite a few misgivings, the executives at London-based International Power underwent training to reduce their email output by taking more deliberate actions. These included not forwarding messages unless strictly necessary, limiting message recipients, and choosing the most efficient form of communication to accomplish the task at hand.

Question 7

John wanted to set up a nurse-led preoperative assessment service intended to free up time for the doctors who previously led the assessments,reduce cancelled operations (and costs),and improve patient care.Carol,a well-respected nurse,had less seniority than John,but many colleagues relied on her advice about navigating hospital politics.She knew many of the people whose support John needed and she eventually converted them to the change.This is an example of a connector.

Accepted Answer

A connector is a person who has used many ties to different social worlds. It is not the number of people that connectors know that makes them significant. Rather, it is their ability to link people, ideas, and resources that would not normally bump into one another.

Question 8

The role of technology in the recruitment of human capital has lowered individual reliance on the use of social networks.

Accepted Answer

Technology can be used to leverage human capital and knowledge within organizations as well as with customers and suppliers beyond their boundaries, but social networks are still important for sharing information.

Question 9

Social networks such as Facebook do not facilitate increased interactions between members in a social network via Internet-based communications.

Accepted Answer

Social networks such as Facebook may facilitate increased interactions between members in a social network via Internet-based communications.

Question 10

Phone calls can be better than emails for providing real-time feedback on whether a message is being understood.

Accepted Answer

A phone call provides real-time feedback on whether a message is being understood. This is something that is missing with low-bandwidth email channel.

Question 11

Technology can be used successfully to leverage human capital and knowledge within organizations as well as with customers and suppliers beyond their boundaries.

Accepted Answer

Technology can be used to leverage human capital and knowledge within organizations as well as with customers and suppliers beyond their boundaries.

Question 12

Effective collaboration requires overcoming four barriers: the not-invented-here barrier,the hoarding barrier,the search barrier,and the place-setter barrier.

Accepted Answer

Effective collaboration requires overcoming four barriers: the not-invented-here barrier (people are not willing to provide help); the hoarding barrier (people are not willing to provide help); the search barrier (people are unable to find what they are looking for); the transfer barrier (people are unable to work with the people they do not know well).

Question 13

Top executives should use email for monthly blasts to employees to discuss company health and other specific issues.

Accepted Answer

Email can be a means for top executives to communicate information efficiently. For example, Martin Sorrell, chairman of WPP Group PLC, the huge 17 billion USD advertising and public relations firm, is a strong believer in the use of email. He emails all of his employees once a month to discuss how the company is doing, address specific issues, and offer his perspectives on hot issues, such as new business models for the Internet.

Question 14

Facial expressions and body language make in-person meetings a rich method of communication,but not significantly better than email in most cases.

Accepted Answer

Executives at London-based International Power underwent training to reduce their email output by taking more deliberate actions. These included making more in-person meetings in order to capture facial expressions and body language that are a richer method of communication than email.

Question 15

From the individual perspective,social networks deliver three unique advantages: private information,access to diverse skill sets,and power.

Accepted Answer

Effective social networks provide many advantages for the firm. They can play a key role in the career advancement and success of an individual. A social network potentially can provide three unique advantages: private information, access to diverse skill sets, and power.

Question 16

Connectors are people to have a unique ability to link people,ideas and resources and are rarely useful for business because they maintain only personal connections that are not transferable.

Accepted Answer

Connectors are people who have the ability to link people, ideas, and resources that would not normally bump into one another. In business, connectors are critical facilitators for collaboration and integration.

Question 17

One potential downside of building social capital in an organization is groupthink.This means everyone in the group thinks on his or her own and comes up with new ideas.

Accepted Answer

Some firms have been adversely affected by very high levels of social capital because it may breed groupthink, a tendency not to question shared beliefs. In effect, too many warm and fuzzy feelings among group members prevent people from rigorously challenging each other.

Question 18

Email can cause embarrassment,as explained by Marshall Goldsmith,executive coach.

Accepted Answer

Email can also cause embarrassment, or worse, if one is not careful. Consider the plight of a potential CEO, as recalled by Marshall Goldsmith, a well-known executive coach: He witnessed a series of emails between a potential CEO and a friend inside the company. The first email to the friend provided an elaborate description of why the current CEO is an idiot. The friend sent a reply. Several rounds of emails followed. Then the friend sent an e-mail containing a funny joke. The potential CEO decided that the current CEO would love this joke and forwarded it to him. The CEO scrolled down the email chain and found the idiot message. The heir apparent was gone in a week.

Question 19

Sharing knowledge and information throughout the organization is important for conserving resources,developing products and services,and thwarting new opportunity creation.

Accepted Answer

Sharing knowledge and information throughout the organization can be a means of conserving resources, developing products and services, and creating new opportunities.

Question 20

Closure,in contrast to bridging relationships,stresses the importance of ties connecting heterogeneous people.

Accepted Answer

Bridging relationships, in contrast to closure, stresses the importance of ties connecting people. Employees who bridge disconnected people tend to receive timely, diverse information because of their access to a wide range of heterogeneous information flows.

Quiz 4: Recognizing a Firms Intellectual Assets: Moving Beyond a Firms Tangible Resources