Networks in engineering: an emerging approach to project organization studies

Abstract

The field of social science has introduced a number of qualitative and quantitative approaches that have been adopted in the engineering project organization research domain. One such approach that is receiving increasing attention is social network analysis (SNA). Introduced in the 1930s and refined in multiple domains since the introduction, SNA has become a fundamental tool for social scientists over the past eight decades. Recently, engineering project organization researchers have begun to explore the application of this tool within the engineering project domain. This paper introduces both the historical development of SNA within the social science community and the recent adoption of this approach within the engineering community. The paper traces the recent trend in papers published by the engineering community to illustrate the increasing attention paid to SNA by researchers and the evolution of its use. This background is used to propose several paths forward for future researchers to expand and...