Business
商業版塊
Bartleby
巴托比職場專欄
Network effects
網絡效應
The modern economy depends on how well people connect with others
現代經濟的發展取決于人們與他人的關系
Success in manufacturing depends on physical things: creating the best product using the best equipment with components assembled in the most efficient way. Success in the service economy is dependent on the human element: picking the right staff members and motivating them correctly. If manufacturing is akin to science, then services are more like the arts.
制造業的成功取決于物質因素:使用最好的設備,以最有效的方式組裝部件,才能創造出最好的產品。服務經濟的成功取決于人的因素:挑選合適的員工并正確地激勵他們。如果說制造業類似于科學,那么服務業更像是藝術。
Motivating people has an extra complexity. Widgets do not know when they are being manipulated. Workers make connections with their colleagues, for social or work reasons, which the management might not have anticipated.
對人的激勵分外復雜。而小部件的操縱也時機未知。員工與同事之間會出于社會或工作原因建立聯系,而管理層可能對此始料未及。
Marissa King is professor of organisational behaviour at the Yale School of Management, where she tries to make sense of these networks. She attempts a classification in her new book, “Social Chemistry: Decoding The Elements of Human Connection”.
瑪麗薩·金是耶魯大學管理學院的組織行為學教授,她一直致力于研究關系網課題。她試圖在新書《社會化學:解讀人際關系要素》中對關系網進行分類。
The term “networking” has developed unfortunate connotations, suggesting the kind of person who sucks up to senior staff and ignores colleagues who are unlikely to help them win promotion. Ms King cites a study which found that two-thirds of newly promoted professionals were ambivalent about, or completely resistant to, thinking strategically about their social relationships.
“人際關系網”這個詞已經發展出了貶義含義,指的是討好上司,忽視不能幫助自己升職的同事的那類人。金女士在書中引用了一項研究,該研究發現,有三分之二的新升職的專業人士對戰略性地看待自己的社交關系充滿矛盾,或者完全抗拒。
From the point of view of productivity, the most important networks are those formed by employees from different parts of the company. Diverse viewpoints should lead to greater creativity. They are good for workers, too. A study found that catching up with colleagues in different departments was linked to salary growth and employee satisfaction.
從生產力的角度來看,最重要的關系網是同公司不同部門的員工之間形成的網絡。不同的觀點應該會碰撞出更大的創造力。這種關系網也有利于員工本身。一項研究發現,不同部門間的同事競爭與薪資增長和員工滿意度有關。
Some employers had the bright idea of encouraging this co-operation by moving to open-plan offices. But research suggests that workers in open-plan layouts are less productive, less creative and less motivated than those in offices with a traditional, room-based design. The quality of interactions is more important than the quantity. The pandemic, by forcing many people to toil away at home, has probably corroded some of these co-operative arrangements.
一些老板想出了一個聰明的主意,即搬到開放式辦公室辦公以鼓勵不同部門之間的合作。但研究表明,與傳統的、隔間式的辦公室相比,采用開放式布局會降低員工工作效率、創造力和積極性。交際的質量比數量更重要。這次疫情迫使許多人在家里辦公,可能已經影響了一些合作安排。
Ms King says that people tend to construct three types of network. “Expansionists” have a wide set of contacts but their relationships tend to be shallow. “Conveners” have a small number of relationships, but these are more intense. “Brokers” link people from different network types.
金女士說,人們傾向于構建三種類型的關系網。“擴張主義者”的關系網龐大,但關系往往膚淺。“召集者”的關系網小而更密切。“經紀人”把不同關系網中的人聯系起來。
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