ABSTRACT
Many organizations are embarking on applying social or organizational network analysis in order to better understand the knowledge flows and knowledge gaps in their organization and to inform their knowledge retention strategy. Organizational network analysis (ONA) can identify these knowledge flows and “structural holes,” as well as uncover certain types of brokering roles that individuals play in a given network. The central connector is the individual to whom people come often for advice. The liaison is the individual who spans between two groups. The peripheral specialist is the individual who is “outside” (on the periphery) of the network and is often isolated and unconnected from the network. Each of these brokering roles can be influential in the creation, sharing, transfer, and management of organizational knowledge.
