Social Network Analysis as a Tool for Knowledge Management for Innovation

In today’s changing environment, the competitiveness and sustainability of a modern organisation, be they global large scale enterprises (LSE’s) or local small to medium scale enterprises (SME’s), depends on its ability to innovate. Innovation can be viewed as the combined activity of generating creative ideas and the subsequent successful exploitation of these concepts for benefit. Access to relevant and up to date information provides a critical competitive edge for organisations innovation efforts. Given that social relationships are key to enhancing the ability to gather knowledge and that creation of knowledge is primarily a social process among individuals, organisations’ need to optimise the supporting mechanisms by which its people and processes accumulate, structure, and transfer knowledge effectively. Mechanisms such as social networks promote both organisational and collective learning and participation in these social networks are a significant source of knowledge, which subsequently leads to innovation. Consequently, this chapter will outline the innovation process with its knowledge management phases and extrapolate the role of social networks in this process. It will then outline the steps of the social network analysis tool and illustrate how it can be used to enhance knowledge management for innovation efforts.