Method of analysis of information social networks associated with organizational processes

Abstract

This theoretical work proposes a method of analysis and visualization of information social networks applied to the diagnosis of organizational processes. It is based on a model of information social network (ISN) whose elements – people, documents, systems and their arrangements (i.e., organizations, groups, and events) – relate to each other through the flow of information via channels. Such model permitted the adoption of theories, concepts and mathematical foundations originated in social network analysis (SNA) studies, among which the concepts of centrality, density, clustering, and graph visualization were given special attention. In order to identify the attributes that must be considered in data collection from real networks, this article proposes an ad hoc faceted classification. Based upon such classification, the values associated with the attributes of the elements can be drawn from unstructured and semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and email system logs. The snowball selection method is used in the interviews. Finally, an organizational process is adopted in order to set the network boundaries. This work intends to contribute with a generic descriptive method for the analysis of information in organizations, together with a network model designed for the use of SNA in information flow studies from the perspective provided by Library and Information Science (LIS).