Social network analysis of change management processes for communication assessment

Abstract

Change management requires effective communication between diverse project participants to control delays and costs. This study applies social network analysis (SNA) to the change order process, mining tremendous volumes of change-order data. Furthermore, this study evaluates change-order related social network characteristics. SNA measures structural characteristics of the communication network at project, inter-organizational, change-order and time-dependent levels. Communication data are extracted from a project and used as a case study. This study describes how individuals are engaged in and impact the communication network, and emphasizes the significance of effective communication in process-efficiency enhancement. The results quantitatively illustrate the communication network and highlight the roles that key participants play. Key participants who influence the social network are revealed at different levels of the study. This research contributes to the literature by applying SNA to discover social networks in the change management process, and to provide better insight into communication network characteristics.