Analysis, synthesis, and management of organizational networks and systems

Transforming enterprises into “world class” operations requires an approach that utilizes the knowledge and experience diffused throughout the organization and integrates the “voice of the customer” in the design of the enterprise and its core business processes. Analyzing, synthesizing, and managing the organizational networks and system infrastructure to support this objective represents an extraordinary challenge. The process requires the explicit recognition that the networks are task and issue dependent, that the members generally play different roles and exert different levels of influence in each network, and that the modus of interaction can have substantial impact on the operation of the networks. In addition, there is in actuality a hierarchy of networks of decreasing dimension, i.e., communication, influence, and decision networks, and the operation of each and their interaction must be considered. A PC hosted software system, EnCompass^(R), has been developed specifically to address these problems. Information is captured from the members of the organization with regard to their interactions that have significant impact on consequential tasks. This data is integrated into three-dimensional maps that enable groups to interactively analyze the processes and synthesize and manage alternatives. This paper presents the methodology and its application