Driving Results Through Social Networks

Rob Cross is associate professor, McIntire School of Commerce at University of Virginia, where he specializes in organizational behavior. He is also the director of The Network Roundtable (www.thenetworkroundtable.org), a consortium of over 100 organizations focused on applications of network ideas that yield measurable business impact and strategic advantage. Robert J. Thomas is executive director of Accenture's Institute for High Performance and a senior executive based in Boston, Massachusetts. He specializes in leadership, organization design, and transformational change.

"... shows executive managers how to obtain substantial performance and innovation impact by better leveraging these traditionally invisible assets." (PublicNet.co.uk, January 22nd 2009)

• Preface ixAcknowledgments xvIntroduction xviiPart One: Alignment 11. Aligning Networks with Strategic Value Propositions 32. Working Through Networks to Align Culture and Strategy 23Part Two: Execution 413. Managing Rapid Innovation Through Effective Networks 434. Driving Financial Return Through Network Investments 695. Delivering Results Through Process Networks 916. Delivering Results Through Project-Based Networks 107Part Three: Adaptation 1297. Driving Performance by Replicating High Performers' Networks 1318. Speeding Productivity in Newcomers and Avoiding Knowledge Drain 1599. The Road Ahead: Emerging Opportunities for the Network Perspective 181About the Authors 193Notes 195Index 211