Page 67 - The Complexity Perspective 20 02 18

The Idea of Networks

What is a Network?

A network is an agglomeration of nodes and the links between them
across which information flows.

Networks and Business

Networks for most business people are thought of as 'networking'.
Attending cocktail parties, meeting people, and a host of social

interactions that are typically pursued to advance one's career or
promote/socialize an idea or offering. Through this interaction process,
word-of-mouth recommendations or warnings are spread, orders are

transmitted, information is transferred.

All Human Systems and Contexts Have Embedded Networks.

Every human system, including every business system and the
business context, contains within it a network of interactions that
support (formal) operations and the (informal) social intercourse that
characterizes all human groupings.

In complexity thinking, such interactions underpin the process of

Emergence and the subsequent diffusion/adoption of ideas, as well as
facilitating the daily operations of a system.

By examining networks, we can understand and computer-model how
ideas are spread, promoted or blocked (including the phenomenon of

virality), and examine patterns of power, alliances and supply
structures, and such economic phenomena as how labor markets work.

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