Search results

What are organizations? Where do they come from? How are they transformed and adapted to new situations? In the digital age and in the global network society, traditional theories of the organization can no longer answer these questions. Based on actor-network theory, this book explains organizations as flexible, open networks in which both human and non-human actors enter into socio-technical assemblies by constantly negotiating and re-negotiating programs of action. Organizations are not macro social structures or autonomous systems operating behind the backs of individuals. Instead, they are scalable actor-networks guided by network norms of connectivity, flow, communication, participation, authenticity, and flexibility.

to connect to critical stakeholders and, thereby, to integrate into foreign business ecosystems. Reverting to explorative, inductive methodology, the study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by approaching networking from a rare angle; networking as practice. The study examines (i) the precepts and principles that direct the start-ups' networking efforts, (ii) the practices they employ to identify relevant partners and establish connections to them, (iii) the practices they make use of in the interface of newly established connections to sway and commit the respective partners to their cause and network, and finally (iv), the practices that offshore governmental agency nodes apply to help start-ups assimilate to foreign local ecosystems. We found that firms need to embrace and learn how to exploit serendipitous networking opportunities to gain access to stakeholders that purely ansoffian planning approaches could never uncover. The exploitation of serendipity necessitates flexibility with regard to the start-ups' existing product or service concepts, strategies and business plans because in the serendipitous mode these are often re- and co-designed with newly encountered stakeholders. Many of the actual networking practices were found to have evolved together with the progress of other dominant megatrends such as the spread and acceptance of social and other digital media. Such progress seems to have endogenously affected some of the conventional cultural tenets of networking, helping to bypass hierarchical gatekeepers in organizations, for instance. In addition, the diffusion and acceptance of more content- and context-rich communication techniques such as social and mobile video, prototyping and story-telling have made pitching a proposal faster, more holistic, experiential and interactive. We further found that offshore governmental agency nodes can play a decisive role in accelerating and facilitating the integration of foreign newcomers into a local ecosystem. Important prerequisite for the capability to provide such services is a respected and established status within the ecosystem, a vast, cross-sectoral network, and professional employees with hands-on industrial experience in the respective ecosystem.

Spotting Opportunity today and recognizing the same is the vision of the expert. The wireless communication network regime is one such environment that offers such a platform for many working scientific, academic and engineering experts. Henceforth, "Opportunistic-network" is a recent evolution of the above said phenomena in the wireless community. They function by spontaneous cooperation & coordination giving birth to a special type network called wireless-mobile-adhoc-network (W-MAN). As said, these networks are formed instantaneously in a random manner – breaking the conventional mathematically evolved algorithms', and provided the quintessential of a network(s) that exist in neighbourhood(s) or approachable limits. Is more of situational based, exploited for specialized purpose or advantage, which mimics all the characteristic of a well evolved network. Such networks, lack an endto-end path, contact, cooperation and coordination; which is mainly opportunity based, and break or even disintegrate soon after discovery, thus the challenge lay in integration, construction and probable sustenance or even mid-way reconstruction till purpose. One can cite many realistic scenarios fitting to this situation. For example, wildlife tracking sensor networks, military networks, vehicular ad hoc networks to mention a few. To transmit information under such circumstances/scenarios researchers have proposed various efficient forwarding (single copy), replication routing and controlled based schemes. In this paper, we propose to explore, investigate and analyze most of the schemes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and present the findings of the said scheme by consolidating critical parameters and issues and towards the end of this paper, algorithms, possible solutions to deal with such complex and dynamic situations through W-MAN scheme suggested by us.

Social relations are crucial for understanding diverse economic actions and a network perspective is central to that explanation. Simple exchanges involving money, labor, and commodities combine into complexly connected systems. Economic networks span many levels of analysis, from persons (consumers, employees), to groups (households, workteams), organizations (corporations, interest groups), populations (industries, markets) and the rapidly expanding global economic system.David Knoke blends network theories from a range of disciplines and empirical studies of domestic and international economies to illuminate how economic activity is embedded in and constrained by social ties among economic actors. Social capital, in the form of connections to others holding valuable resources, is vital for finding a job, buying a car, creating a new industry, or triggering a global financial crisis. In nontechnical terms the author explicates the core network concepts, measures, and analysis methods behind these phenomena. The book also includes many striking network diagrams to provide visual insights into complex structural patterns.This accessible book offers an invaluable critique for both undergraduate and graduate students in economic sociology and social network analysis courses who seek a better understanding of the multifaceted economic webs in which we are all entangled.

The importance of policy networks has long been emphasized within the field of policy analysis. However, few attempts have been made to investigate the explanatory power of policy networks using the tools and theoretical concepts provided by social network analysis (SNA). This paper aims to address this need by determining if a relationship exists between the structural features of policy networks, their organizing capacities, and their performance. A comparative case study of four networks within the higher education policy sector confirms the assumption related to the existence of such a relation. It is proposed that an efficient and innovative policy network consists of a heterogeneous set of actors that are centrally and densely integrated. Furthermore, while the level of network heterogeneity is positively related to the function of resource mobilization in the process of policymaking, the level of centralized integration promotes the function of prioritizing. These findings are believed to contribute to our understanding of policymaking in contemporary society. The current paper indicates that a significant explanatory power exists in the concept of policy networks and that SNA is one way of advancing its possibilities. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract Cognitive Radio (CR) was designed to support flexible spectrum usage by adding spectrum sensing facilities and decision making logic to the radio devices. Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) is an extension of the CR concept to enable holistic end-to-end optimization of the network operation and services. We discuss CRN management issues in the context of military and tactical operation environments, where the key feature is the temporal nature of the network installations. Our special interest is in the wireless ad hoc network solutions. The network lifetime may extend from just hours to several days. The limited lifetime of the networks makes it both possible and necessary to define the management functionalities with respect to different mission phases. Traditional FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Administration, Performance, and Security) functions and their required actions are therefore detailed to some level at each operational phase (before, during and after mission). We will emerge the idea that, as the cognitive and autonomous technologies will be developed to operate communication networks and become trustworthy enough to be applied also in tactical context, they will most likely first be applied in the during mission phase. Of course, this phase is also the most critical in the sense that it is here that lives are at stake. To answer this critical issue, the policy management must be seen as an equally critical functionality. It is necessary to develop the interconnection between mission goals and defined policies so that the Cognitive Network Engine (CNE) determining the operational parameters of the network, in all situations provides a reliable and failsafe communication solution to be utilized.

1. Introduction -- 2. Technological Networks -- 3. Social Networks -- 4. Networks of information -- 5. Biological Networks -- 6. Mathematics of Networks -- 7. Measures and Metrics -- 8. The Large-scale Structure of Networks -- 9. Basic Concepts of Algorithms -- 10. Fundamental Network Algorithms -- 11. Matrix Algorithms and Graph Partitioning -- 12. Random Graphs -- 13. Generalized Random Graphs with general degree distributions -- 14. Models of Network Formation -- 15. Other Network Models -- 16. Percolation and Network Resilience -- 17. Epidemics on Networks -- 18. Dynamical Systems on Networks -- 19. Network Search -- References -- Index

"Networks are everywhere, from the Internet, to social networks, and the genetic networks that determine our biological existence. Illustrated throughout in full colour, this pioneering textbook, spanning a wide range of topics from physics to computer science, engineering, economics and the social sciences, introduces network science to an interdisciplinary audience. From the origins of the six degrees of separation to explaining why networks are robust to random failures, the author explores how viruses like Ebola and H1N1 spread, and why it is that our friends have more friends than we do. Using numerous real-world examples, this innovatively designed text includes clear delineation between undergraduate and graduate level material"--Page [4] of cover

Aiming at fostering the transition towards a sustainable knowledge-based Bioeconomy (SKBBE), the German Federal Government funds joint and single research projects in predefined socially desirable fields as, for instance, in the Bioeconomy. To analyse whether this policy intervention actually fosters cooperation and knowledge transfer as intended, researchers have to evaluate the network structure of the resulting R&D network on a regular basis. Using both descriptive statistics and social network analysis, I investigate how the publicly funded R&D network in the German Bioeconomy has developed over the last 30 years and how this development can be assessed from a knowledge diffusion point of view. This study shows that the R&D network in the German Bioeconomy has grown tremendously over time and thereby completely changed its initial structure. While from a traditional perspective the development of the network characteristics in isolation seems harmful to knowledge diffusion, taking into account the reasons for these changes shows a different picture. However, this might only hold for the diffusion of mere techno-economic knowledge. It is questionable whether the artificially generated network structure also is favourable for the diffusion of other types of knowledge, e.g. dedicated knowledge necessary for the transformation towards an SKBBE.

Today, interest in networks is growing by leaps and bounds, in both scientific discourse and popular culture. Networks are thought to be everywhere - from the architecture of our brains to global transportation systems. And networks are especially ubiquitous in the social world: they provide us with social support, account for the emergence of new trends and markets, and foster social protest, among other functions. Besides, who among us is not familiar with Facebook, Twitter, or, for that matter, World of Warcraft, among the myriad emerging forms of network-based virtual social interaction? It is common to think of networks simply in structural terms - the architecture of connections among objects, or the circuitry of a system. But social networks in particular are thoroughly interwoven with cultural things, in the form of tastes, norms, cultural products, styles of communication, and much more. What exactly flows through the circuitry of social networks? How are people's identities and cultural practices shaped by network structures? And, conversely, how do people's identities, their beliefs about the social world, and the kinds of messages they send affect the network structures they create? This book is designed to help readers think about how and when culture and social networks systematically penetrate one another, helping to shape each other in significant ways.

International audience ; Networks have become the de facto diagram of the Big Data age (try searching Google Images for [big data AND visualisation] and see). The concept of networks has become central to many fields of human inquiry and is said to revolutionise everything from medicine to markets to military intelligence. While the mathematical and analytical capabilities of networks have been extensively studied over the years, in this article we argue that the storytelling affordances of networks have been comparatively neglected. In order to address this we use multimodal analysis to examine the stories that networks evoke in a series of journalism articles. We develop a protocol by means of which narrative meanings can be construed from network imagery and the context in which it is embedded, and discuss five different kinds of narrative readings of networks, illustrated with analyses of examples from journalism. Finally, to support further research in this area, we discuss methodological issues that we encountered and suggest directions for future study to advance and broaden research around this defining aspect of visual culture after the digital turn.

International audience ; Networks have become the de facto diagram of the Big Data age (try searching Google Images for [big data AND visualisation] and see). The concept of networks has become central to many fields of human inquiry and is said to revolutionise everything from medicine to markets to military intelligence. While the mathematical and analytical capabilities of networks have been extensively studied over the years, in this article we argue that the storytelling affordances of networks have been comparatively neglected. In order to address this we use multimodal analysis to examine the stories that networks evoke in a series of journalism articles. We develop a protocol by means of which narrative meanings can be construed from network imagery and the context in which it is embedded, and discuss five different kinds of narrative readings of networks, illustrated with analyses of examples from journalism. Finally, to support further research in this area, we discuss methodological issues that we encountered and suggest directions for future study to advance and broaden research around this defining aspect of visual culture after the digital turn.

International audience ; Networks have become the de facto diagram of the Big Data age (try searching Google Images for [big data AND visualisation] and see). The concept of networks has become central to many fields of human inquiry and is said to revolutionise everything from medicine to markets to military intelligence. While the mathematical and analytical capabilities of networks have been extensively studied over the years, in this article we argue that the storytelling affordances of networks have been comparatively neglected. In order to address this we use multimodal analysis to examine the stories that networks evoke in a series of journalism articles. We develop a protocol by means of which narrative meanings can be construed from network imagery and the context in which it is embedded, and discuss five different kinds of narrative readings of networks, illustrated with analyses of examples from journalism. Finally, to support further research in this area, we discuss methodological issues that we encountered and suggest directions for future study to advance and broaden research around this defining aspect of visual culture after the digital turn.