Using Social Network Analysis to Examine Leadership Capacity within a Central Office Administrative Team

Robert M Hill, Barbara N Martin

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which Social Network Analysis (SNA) could inform leadership capacity within a small, Midwestern school district. Four findings were identified. The first was that hierarchical or formal structures continue to hold sway within educational institutions. The second was that “birds of a feather†or people of common interest or equivalent status within the hierarchy do indeed flock together. The third was that collaboration, trust, and transparency are inter-dependent and undergird capacity. The fourth was that social networks are the organization, making SNA an essential diagnostic and decision-making tool. The findings led to a number of implications for practice, which were framed by Information Age imperatives arising from the literature.


Keywords


Leadership; social network analysis; leadership capacity

Full Text:

PDF

References


Andriani, P., & Passiante, G. (2004). Complexity theory and the management of networks. In P. Andriani & G. Passiante (Eds.), Complexity theory and the management of networks (pp. 3-19). London: Imperial College Press.

Barabási, A. (2002). Linked: The new science of networks. Cambridge, MA: Perseus.

Bar-Yam, Y. (2004). Making things work. Cambridge, MA: NECSI Knowledge Press.

Bensimon, E. M., Neumann, A., & Birnbaum, R. (1989). Making sense of administrative leadership: The ―L‖ word in higher education. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1. Washington, DC: School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brafman, O., & Beckstrom, R. A. (2006). The starfish and the spider: The unstoppable power of leaderless organizations. New York: Penguin Portfolio.

Carley, K. M., Columbus, D., DeReno, M., Reminga, J., & Moon, I. (2008). ORA user’s guide (CMU-ISR-08-125). Pittsburg, PA: Carnegie Mellon University Institute for Software Research. 191

Cilliers, P. (2004). A framework for understanding complex systems. In P. Andriani & G. Passiante (Eds.), Complexity theory and the management of networks (pp. 23-27). London: Imperial College Press.

Clinton, H. R. (2006) It takes a village (10th anniversary ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Cross, R., & Parker, A. (2004). The hidden power of social networks: Understanding how work really gets done in organizations. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Drath, W. H. (2003). Leading together: Complex challenges require a new approach. Leadership in action, 23(1), 3-7. Retrieved , from http://www.ccl.org/leadership/lia/2003/v23n1.aspx?pageId=638.

Foster, W. (1986). Paradigms and promises: New approaches to educational administration. Buffalo: Prometheus Books.

Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (2003). How to design and evaluate research in education (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Greene, M. (2002). Forward. In Lambert, L., Walker, D., Zimmerman, D. P., Cooper, J. E., Lambert, M. D., Gardner, M. E. et al. The constructivist leader (pp. vii-ix). New York: Teachers College Press.

Kelly, K. (2003). Out of control: The new biology of machines. Retrieved

from http://www.kk.org/outofcontrol/index.php.

Krebs, V. (1996). Visualizing human networks. Release 1.0: Esther Dyson’s monthly report (12 Feb 96). Retrieved from http://www.orgnet.com/cases.html.

Krebs, V., & Holley, J. (2006). Building smart communities through network weaving. Retrieved

from http://www.orgnet.com/BuildingNetworks.pdf

Lambert, L. (2002). Leading the conversations. In Lambert, L., Walker, D., Zimmerman, D. P., Cooper, J. E., Lambert, M. D., Gardner, M. E. et al. The constructivist leader (2nd ed., pp.34-62). New York: Teachers College Press.

Lambert, L. (2002). Toward a deepened theory of constructivist leadership. In Lambert, L., Walker, D., Zimmerman, D. P., Cooper, J. E., Lambert, M. D., Gardner, M. E. et al. The Constructivist Leader (2nd ed., pp. 34-62). New York: Teachers College Press.

Lambert, L. (2003). Leadership capacity for lasting school improvement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Lambert, L. (Spring 2005). What does leadership capacity really mean? Retrieved from http://www.nsdc.org/members/jsd/lambert262.pdf

Lencioni, P. M. (2002). The five dysfunctions of a team: A leadership fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Martin, A. (2007). The changing nature of leadership: A CCL research white paper . Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/leadership/research/sharing/index.aspx#whitePapers

McKelvey, B. (2004). ―Simple rules‖ for improving corporate IQ: Basic lessons from complexity science. In P. Andriani & G. Passiante (Eds.), Complexity theory and the management of networks (pp. 39-52). London: Imperial College Press.

Morgan, G. (1997). Images of organization (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Pierce, M. K. (2007). A determination of the reliability and construct validity of the Leadership Capacity School Survey. Retrieved from edt.missouri.edu/Fall2007/Dissertation/PierceM-111907-D8644/research.pdf

Walker, D. (2002). Constructivist leadership: Standards, equity, and learning—weaving whole cloth from multiple strands. In Lambert, L., Walker, D., Zimmerman, D. P., Cooper, J. E., Lambert, M. D., Gardner, M. E. et al. The Constructivist Leader (2nd ed., pp. 1-33). New York: Teachers College Press.

Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994) Social network analysis: Methods and applications. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Watts, D. J. (2003). Six degrees: The science of a connected age. New York: W. W. Norton.

Weick, K. E. (2008). Leadership when events don’t play by the rules. Retrieved from http:www.bus.umich.edu/facultyresearch/research/TryingTimes/Rules.htm

Wheatley, M. J. (1999). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Wilson, T. D. (2002). Philosophical foundations and research relevance: Issues for information research. Keynote address delivered to the Fourth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science: Emerging Frameworks and Method. University of Washington, Seattle. Retrieved from http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/papers/COLIS4.html#spec62

Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in organizations (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493