Page 49 - The Handbook - Legal and Accounting Networks 81
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Law and Accounting Networks and Associations
about managing information resources. Theories of organizational learning provide a
framework by breaking information management into acquisition, distribution,
interpretation and memory.217
The first two describe the processes of obtaining and sharing information respectively.
Sharing is important not only for completeness of access but also for generating new
information. Interpretation is the process by which shared information acquires meaning
and becomes translated into shared maps, frames, or schema. Organizational memory
describes the storage of information for ready access and future use.218
More learning may then be said to occur when information is shared more broadly, when
more numerous and varied interpretations are developed, when different organizational
members comprehend each other's interpretations — even if their own interpretations differ
— and when latent information is recognized as potentially useful and stored. More
learning does not necessarily imply a larger organizational action set, however, since this
can add constraints to behavior as well as new options. In monitoring itself, an organization
can also engage in single-loop learning by successively comparing itself to its governing
policies and adjusting for mismatches, or it can engage in double-loop learning by
examining and changing its governing values.219
In networks the interaction (of members) runs laterally as much as vertically.
Communication between people of different ranks tends to resemble lateral consultation
rather than vertical command [and] omniscience can no longer be imputed to the head of
the concern.220
The other distinguishing characteristic is that lines of ownership and of group identity, i.e.
boundaries, become ill-defined. This in turn affects operations. This includes the edge
between the network firm and its markets and even the edges of different functions within
the firm.221 The need for boundary-spanning communication intensifies with more
ambiguous roles and objectives.222
Operations – Application to Professional Services Networks
The operative word in networks is collaboration. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines
collaboration as
(1) the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters).
Synonyms are affiliation, alliance, collaboration, confederation, connection, cooperation,
hookup, liaison, linkup, partnership, relation, relationship, tie-up, union (2) the work and
activity of a number of persons who individually contribute toward the efficiency of the
whole. Synonyms of collaboration are: cooperation, coordination.223
217 Id., citing G. P. Huber, Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures. 2 ORG. SCIENCE 88, 88-114 (1991).
218 Id.
219 Id., citing CHRIS ARGYRIS & DONALD A. SCHON, ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A THEORY OF ACTION PERSPECTIVE (1978).
220 Id., citing P. Attewell & J. Rule, Computing and Organizations: What We Know and What We Don't Know, 27 COMM. OF THE ACM 1184, 1184-
1192 (1984).
221 Id., citing W. E. BAKER, THE NETWORK ORGANIZATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE, NETWORKS AND ORGANIZATIONS (1993): “The chief structural
characteristic of network organization is the high degree of integration across formal boundaries.”
222 Id., citing R. G. Eccles & D.B. Crane, Managing Through Networks in Investment Banking. 30 CAL. MGMT. REV. 176, 176-195 (1987).
223 MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY (1999).
37
about managing information resources. Theories of organizational learning provide a
framework by breaking information management into acquisition, distribution,
interpretation and memory.217
The first two describe the processes of obtaining and sharing information respectively.
Sharing is important not only for completeness of access but also for generating new
information. Interpretation is the process by which shared information acquires meaning
and becomes translated into shared maps, frames, or schema. Organizational memory
describes the storage of information for ready access and future use.218
More learning may then be said to occur when information is shared more broadly, when
more numerous and varied interpretations are developed, when different organizational
members comprehend each other's interpretations — even if their own interpretations differ
— and when latent information is recognized as potentially useful and stored. More
learning does not necessarily imply a larger organizational action set, however, since this
can add constraints to behavior as well as new options. In monitoring itself, an organization
can also engage in single-loop learning by successively comparing itself to its governing
policies and adjusting for mismatches, or it can engage in double-loop learning by
examining and changing its governing values.219
In networks the interaction (of members) runs laterally as much as vertically.
Communication between people of different ranks tends to resemble lateral consultation
rather than vertical command [and] omniscience can no longer be imputed to the head of
the concern.220
The other distinguishing characteristic is that lines of ownership and of group identity, i.e.
boundaries, become ill-defined. This in turn affects operations. This includes the edge
between the network firm and its markets and even the edges of different functions within
the firm.221 The need for boundary-spanning communication intensifies with more
ambiguous roles and objectives.222
Operations – Application to Professional Services Networks
The operative word in networks is collaboration. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines
collaboration as
(1) the state of having shared interests or efforts (as in social or business matters).
Synonyms are affiliation, alliance, collaboration, confederation, connection, cooperation,
hookup, liaison, linkup, partnership, relation, relationship, tie-up, union (2) the work and
activity of a number of persons who individually contribute toward the efficiency of the
whole. Synonyms of collaboration are: cooperation, coordination.223
217 Id., citing G. P. Huber, Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures. 2 ORG. SCIENCE 88, 88-114 (1991).
218 Id.
219 Id., citing CHRIS ARGYRIS & DONALD A. SCHON, ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A THEORY OF ACTION PERSPECTIVE (1978).
220 Id., citing P. Attewell & J. Rule, Computing and Organizations: What We Know and What We Don't Know, 27 COMM. OF THE ACM 1184, 1184-
1192 (1984).
221 Id., citing W. E. BAKER, THE NETWORK ORGANIZATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE, NETWORKS AND ORGANIZATIONS (1993): “The chief structural
characteristic of network organization is the high degree of integration across formal boundaries.”
222 Id., citing R. G. Eccles & D.B. Crane, Managing Through Networks in Investment Banking. 30 CAL. MGMT. REV. 176, 176-195 (1987).
223 MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY (1999).
37
