Driving Results Through Social Networks shows executives and managers how to obtain substantial performance and innovation impact by better leveraging these traditionally invisible assets. For the past decade, Rob Cross and Robert J. Thomas have worked closely with executives from over a hundred top-level companies and government agencies. In this groundbreaking book, they describe in-depth how these leaders are using network thinking to increase revenues, lower costs, and accelerate innovation.

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.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction xvii

Part One: Alignment 1

1. Aligning Networks with Strategic Value Propositions 3

2. Working Through Networks to Align Culture and Strategy 23

Part Two: Execution 41

3. Managing Rapid Innovation Through Effective Networks 43

4. Driving Financial Return Through Network Investments 69

5. Delivering Results Through Process Networks 91

6. Delivering Results Through Project-Based Networks 107

Part Three: Adaptation 129

7. Driving Performance by Replicating High Performers' Networks 131

8. Speeding Productivity in Newcomers and Avoiding Knowledge Drain 159

9. The Road Ahead: Emerging Opportunities for the Network Perspective 181

About the Authors 193

Notes 195

Index 211