Verna Allee and Value Networks (KMWorld & Intranets 2005)

Verna Allee's workshop on value networks in San Jose at KMWorld & Intranets 2005 attracted a fairly large number of people (around 25/30 or so which was a lot compared to other workshops). The participants, from what I could tell, ranged from neophytes to experienced network type people.
Verna made a big hit when she passed her USB jump drive around the room and invited us to copy her files. Nice move!
Her message includes the following points:

• The network IS the new business model, not just the support for it. Today's economic model is no longer based on the organisation nor on the nation state.
• The key is organisational network analysis, not social network analysis
• How influential is this person, really...? One question when you do network analysis is "After you talk with this person, how energised do you feel?"
• Be careful not to analyse your networks based just on output. You may miss a lot of people who spend their time making connections - which is the heart of the social fabric of an organisation.
• An organisation's core excellence is revealed in how they manage their intangible assets.
• The right question is "how do you convert intangibles into financial value", and not "how to do measure intangibles".

Verna, I invite you to respond if you have comments on my short, inadequate notes (not summary!) of your workshop.

Comments

[Verna Allee]

We have been using the term networks for quite awhile now - as if all networks are alike. We are now beginning to distinguish between different types of networks. Informal informational networks are quite different from the purposeful value creating networks we call organizations. Value network analysis is a way to understand organizations as value creating networks.

Value network analysis combines the strengths of Social network analysis (some refer to this now as organizational network analysis) and process engineering, but expands capability beyond both. Social network analysis is useful for showing knowledge and information flows, but does not show us business transactions. Process analysis shows business transactions but does not show criticial knowledge and information flows.

When we look at organizations with a value network approach, we focus on both types of exchanges -tangible business transactions and intangible exchanges of knowledge, benefits and support. This helps us appreciate dynamic relationships and interdependencies. These network approaches build our capacity for dealing with the complexity of both the work environment and our organizaitons.

[Bruce Lewin]

Hi there Jane,

This post really helped me in researching and writing a piece on collaboration – thank you very much! I’ve tried to ping this post from my own blog, but I’m not sure how reliable pingback/trackback is, so I thought I’d say hello the old fashioned way!

btw, my piece is called 'The Tension in Collaboration’ and is online at;

http://www.fourgroups.com/blog/archives/24/the-tension-in-collaboration/

Best wishes,

Bruce