9.4: How Managers Can Use Social Networks to Create Value
- Page ID
- 4817
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Learning Objectives
- Understand the roles of reciprocity, exchange, and similarity.
- See how social networks create value in career management.
- See how social networks create value in and across organizations.
You probably have an intuitive sense of how and why social networks are valuable for you, personally and professionally. The successful 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama provides a dramatic example of how individuals can benefit when they understand and apply the principles and power of social networking (Cox, 2008). In this section, we discuss three fundamental principles of social network theory, then help you see how social networks create value in your career and within and across organizations.