Communication Network Density Research Articles

Effects of voluntary activities of university students on reputation management strategies of universities: Sample of public university

Reputation and reputation management, referred to as evaluations related to organizations, are a compilation of perceptual descriptions that are in relation with nearly all of the concepts included within public relations field at national and international levels, that are impossible to be characterized independently from the notion of society they exist in, that are determined by West centered frameworks, whose conceptual structures change relatively at social and cultural levels, and that are included in social sciences disciplines which have the nature to create the agenda especially after 1990s. In the era of change where preferences, tastes, needs, desires, and daily routines change, reputation and reputation management are considered as a prescription including crucial elements in reaching target groups and having the nature of a key to institutional approach whose conceptual framework cannot be drawn by sharp lines. In today's cyclical structure in which every element the institutions face together with their competitors change rapidly and the process of decision making turns into a complex structure, the efforts of interpreting the complex structures that exceed the national level and tend to institutionalize at global scale have been an issue of discussion questioned, framed, and followed by many social sciences disciplinary, from sociology to anthropology, from marketing to communication sciences. In this manner, reputation and reputation management concepts including emotional and rational aspects are descriptions of information and opinions of individuals with relation to institutions and organizations as well as values. In today's world, in which we experience the age of information, it is impossible to reach the speed and density of communication networks, basic marketing strategies, the fact of globalization, every doctrine, concept and thesis change radically, the reputation and reputation management concepts take over a key role in enabling the institutions to make the highest level of profit, to increase recognition and productivity in terms of products and services they introduce, and they are considered as long term processes composing the whole of current and potential perceptions. The thesis of reputation and reputation management, forming the basic subject of the study and considered as successor of Public Relations disciplinary, have been studies within the scope of public institutions, especially Universities providing Higher Education, questioned within the framework of culture, intercultural communication and organizational culture concepts and theories, and examined in parallel with Public Relations context.

P38 - Obesity-Related Health Statistics Correlate More Strongly to Coalition Network Indices than Typical Effectiveness Evaluations

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): Community health coalitions (CHCs) aim to improve local food/physical activity environments. Traditional CHCs evalutions measure perceived effectiveness, failing to quantify network structures or health outcomes. Thus, we applied a mixed-methods evalution; triangulating the Coalition Self-Assessment Survey (CSAS), social network analysis (SNA), and obesity-related county-level health statistics (ObCLHS). Objective: To improve CHCs evalution by exploring relationships between network structures, perceived effectiveness, and obesity-related social-behavioral factors. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: We administered CSAS and SNA in eight rural CHCs during summer 2017 and accessed the latest available (2015-16) ObCLHS. We conducted factor analysis on CSAS responses and compared ObCLHS, SNA, and CSAS factors using Pearson's correlations. Outcome Measures and Analysis: ObCLHS included adult BMI (aBMI), daily sugar-sweetened soda intake (Soda), daily sugar-sweetened beverage intake excluding soda (SSB), no physical activity in 30 days (noPA), and food insecurity (FoodIns). We conducted SNA on CHCs partnership, trust, and communication networks using the following indices: density (number of actual connections/all possible), eigenvector centralization (presence of a network broker), mean indegree (average number of connections members hold), indegree centralization (whether there is a central person). CSAS factors loaded on leadership, operating norms, actionable outcomes, personal problems for participation (PPP), and lack of common goals (LCG). Results: ObCLHS correlations to SNA: FoodIns negatively correlated to partnership, trust, and communication network density; Soda, aBMI, and noPA positively correlated to partnership, trust, and communication network indegree centralization; SSB and FoodIns negatively correlated to partnership, trust, and communication network mean indegree. ObCLHS correlations to CSAS: Soda negatively correlated to PPP; FoodIns positively correlated to leadership and negatively correlated to LCG. Conclusions and Implications: To assess CHCs impact on health, evalution should include SNA. ObCLHS were more strongly correlated (greater number of and consistently higher correlations) to SNA indices of CHCs than typical effectiveness evalution surveys. We are pursuing statewide evalutions, longitudinally, to clarify trajectories and validate this model for effective and sustainable CHCs. Funding: None.

La red de co-autores en la Bibliometría mexicana

Se analiza la red de coautorías existentes en las publicaciones sobre las metrías (bibliometría, informetría, cienciometría, patentometría, etc.) en México, desde la década de los 70s hasta diciembre de 2012. Se utilizó el análisis de redes sociales a través del software Ucinet 6.0 y Netdraw. Los análisis muestran una red altamente centralizada. La densidad global de la red indica una red de baja densidad comunicacional que hace una utilización efectiva de una quinta parte de los vínculos reales sobre el total de vínculos posibles entre todos los autores de la red. El grado de centralidad identifica once autores como los componentes estructurales de la red de bibliometría mexicana. Los coeficientes del grado de cercanía indican que tanto la lejanía como la cercanía son homogéneas. En relación con el grado de intermediación se encontró que no existe una red ampliamente extendida sino la dominancia de un pequeño grupo de tres autores. La distancia geodésica identificó un único autor bien conectado a otros autores también muy bien posicionados en la red. No se identificaron cliques ni n-cliques en la red de coautoría de la bibliometría mexicana.

The influence of friendship and communication network density on individual innovative behaviours: a multilevel study

The present study examines whether teams’ friendship and communication network density are related to individual innovative behaviours (IIBs: idea generation, suggestion making, idea promotion and idea implementation). The study sample was composed of 28 teams comprising 101 members. The results obtained by means of multilevel structural equations modelling showed that friendship network density had an indirect positive relationship with the four IIBs through the density of team communication networks.

Epistemic Cultures: Towards a New Sociology of Knowledge

The rapid integration of nations, regions and localities into the world economy, the increasing density of communication networks and the diminishing importance of national boundaries for the flow of commodities, capital, workers, information and knowledge have established conditions for the rise of a knowledge-driven world economy and society. Epistemic cultures of vast knowledge producing and processing organisations increasingly structure society. The old question of classical sociology, initiated by Karl Marx and Max Weber, whether the relations of production or rather knowledge and the spirit of capitalism determine economy and society seems to have been settled once and for all in favour of the Weberian position. Knowledge governs economy and society. But now this process appears to reach a new stage, not thought of by Scheler, where Sein und Bewusstsein merge and knowledge becomes a reality. This is the new reality with which a new sociology of knowledge has to contend.

Public engagement in the Web 2.0 era: Social collaborative technologies in a public sector context

AbstractThis article examines how social collaborative technologies have changed the nature and scope of e‐participation, showcasing several popular modes of engagement. It argues that the main implementation barriers to social media adoption are not technological, but rather organizational, cultural, and administrative. While there is enormous potential for Web 2.0 and associated social media tools to expand public engagement, the design of such initiatives must recognize that in digital environments influence is earned through social reputation, not bureaucratic authority.SommaireCet article examine comment les technologies de collaboration sociale ont changé la nature et l'envergure de la participation en ligne, en mettant en valeur plusieurs modes populaires de mobilisation. Il fait valoir que les principaux obstacles à l'adoption des médias sociaux ne sont pas technologiques, mais plutôt organisationnels, culturels et administratifs. Alors que le Web 2.0 et les outils de médias sociaux connexes présentent un énorme potentiel d'accroître la mobilisation du public, la conception de telles initiatives doit reconnaître que dans les environnements numériques, on acquiert de l'influence grâce à sa réputation sociale et non à son autorité bureaucratique.

The Influence of Differentiated Transformational Leadership on Knowledge Sharing and Team Creativity: A Social Network Explanation

Differentiated transformational leadership is an emerging area in leadership studies. The existing studies on this topic are limited to the traditional social-psychological perspectives. Drawing from the social networkperspective, this study aimed to address the puzzling issue of how differentiated transformational leadership would affect team knowledge sharing and thus team creativity. Specifically, we theorized that team communication network density as a shared team property that would mediate the relationship between team-focused transformational leadership and subsequent team knowledge sharing, and the communication network density divergence among team members as a configural team property that would mediate the relationship between differentiated individual-focused transformational leadership and subsequent team knowledge sharing. We also hypothesized that team knowledge sharing would positively influence team creativity. We collected data from an eastern province of People’s Republic of China. Our targeted firms were high-technology firms accredited by the Ministry of Science and Technology . We randomly selected 102 firms from the whole population of 2,043 government-accredited high-technology firms in the province (i.e., 5%). With the help of local government, 65 firms participated in the survey. All measurement instruments were adapted from well-established scales. We collected transformational leadership, work-related communication network, team knowledge sharing, and team creativity data from team members and the human resource manager at each participating firm. 225 teams in 65 firms provided matched observations and were included in the data analyses. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) showed acceptable model fit indices. We also obtained sufficient inter-rated agreement (Rwg) and intra-class correlation (ICC) values to justify the aggregation of shared team-level property, such as team-focused transformational leadership, and team knowledge sharing. We used the structural equation modeling (SEM) with the software of Lisrel to test our hypotheses. Findings generally supported our hypotheses. Results showed that team-focused transformational leadership had a significantly positive effect on knowledge sharing and team communication network density mediated this relationship. Meanwhile, differentiated individual-focused transformational leadership had a significantly negative effect on knowledge sharing and the communication network density divergence among team members mediated this relationship. Also, knowledge sharing had a significantly positive effect on team creativity. Our results revealed that in Chinese context team knowledge sharing is a salient predictor of team creativity. Moreover, team-focused transformational leadership positively influenced team knowledge sharing which was mediated through team communication network density; differentiated individual-focused transformational leadership negatively influenced team knowledge sharing which was mediated through team member communication network density divergence. We highlighted the theoretical and managerial implications of the potential dark side of differentiated transformational leadership behaviors in Chinese context.

Connecting the dots: social network structure, conflict, and group cognitive complexity

The current paper combines arguments from the social capital and group cognition literature to explain two different processes through which communication network structures and intra group conflict influence groups’ cognitive complexity (GCC). We test in a sample of 44 groups the mediating role of intra group conflict in the relationship between communication network density and fragmentation on the one hand and groups’ cognitive complexity on the other hand. The results show that network fragmentation has a positive effect on GCC by fostering task conflict, while network density has a positive impact on GCC by reducing relationship conflict in student groups. The paper makes an important contribution to both theory and practice in the field of collaborative learning, by exploring how groups’ affective and a cognitive dynamics impact on emergent collective cognitive structures.

Communication, advice exchange and job satisfaction of nursing staff: a social network analyses of 35 long-term care units

BackgroundThe behaviour of individuals is affected by the social networks in which they are embedded. Networks are also important for the diffusion of information and the influence of employees in organisations. Yet, at the moment little is known about the social networks of nursing staff in healthcare settings. This is the first study that investigates informal communication and advice networks of nursing staff in long-term care. We examine the structure of the networks, how they are related to the size of units and characteristics of nursing staff, and their relationship with job satisfaction.MethodsWe collected social network data of 380 nursing staff of 35 units in group projects and psychogeriatric units in nursing homes and residential homes in the Netherlands. Communication and advice networks were analyzed in a social network application (UCINET), focusing on the number of contacts (density) between nursing staff on the units. We then studied the correlation between the density of networks, size of the units and characteristics of nursing staff. We used multilevel analyses to investigate the relationship between social networks and job satisfaction of nursing staff, taking characteristics of units and nursing staff into account.ResultsBoth communication and advice networks were negatively related to the number of residents and the number of nursing staff of the units. Communication and advice networks were more dense when more staff worked part-time. Furthermore, density of communication networks was positively related to the age of nursing staff of the units. Multilevel analyses showed that job satisfaction differed significantly between individual staff members and units and was influenced by the number of nursing staff of the units. However, this relationship disappeared when density of communication networks was added to the model.ConclusionsOverall, communication and advice networks of nursing staff in long-term care are relatively dense. This fits with the high level of cooperation that is needed to provide good care to residents. Social networks are more dense in small units and are also shaped by characteristics of staff members. The results furthermore show that communication networks are important for staff's job satisfaction.