Managing personal networks for career advantage

Career advantage may be revealed by individual propensities to propose innovative solutions to organizational problems, receive more positive evaluations and recognition, attain higher compensation, and faster promotions. Managing personal networks for career advantage examines ways in which these correlates of career advantages are intricately tied to the quality of personal and professional networks individuals cultivate over time. The well-known saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” holds true. The course introduces the analytical concepts and practical tools needed for mapping, describing, and understanding how to construct and manage a personal network that is more likely to provide a reliable foundation for a sustainable career advantage. 

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

1. Understand the importance of managing personal networks for advancing their career;
2. Think strategically about constructing and managing their personal network;
3. Identify how relational resources are related to strategic career advantage. 

In presenza

Learning in this course relies heavily on practical examples and hands-on computer sessions based on the analysis of real-life network data that illustrate the theoretical and analytical concepts introduced in the lectures. Participants will also be invited to reconstruct and analyse their own personal network. 

Participants are expected to participate actively in class discussion and the activities proposed in each session. The value of attending this course depends on personal engagement with individual and team activities performed in class.

The following freely available on-line textbook introduces many of the topics that we will be discussing in the course and serves as an extended guide to the software that we will be using throughout the course:

• Hanneman, R.A. and Riddle, M. 2005 (H&R) Introduction to social network methods. Riverside, CA: University of California, Riverside (published in digital form at: http://faculty.ucr.edu/~hanneman/nettext)

To get a general sense of the topics discussed in the course, perspective participants are invited to read the following article:

• Leonardi, P. and Contractor, N., 2018. Better people analytics. Harvard Business Review, 96(6), pp.70-81 

Course work is assessed on the basis of one midterm test (30%), a final exam (60%), and class engagement (10%) as measured by systematic participation in and contribution to class activities.

The midterm test lasts 45 minutes and involves a 15 multiple choice questions based on the lectures and material covered in class up to the test date.

The final exam lasts 90 minutes and involves a mixture of multiple choice questions and the analysis of the participants' own personal network. The final exam will be comprehensive, i.e., based on the readings and material covered over the whole course. The final exam will be based, in part, on individual material that participants will produce throughout the course during class sessions. The course leader will assist participants and work with them throughout the course in developing individual material that will be used in the final exam. Potential participants unable to attend classes on a regular basis are advised not to register for this course.   

Resit exams, or exams that are - for any reason - sustained outside the Fall 23-24 exam session (January-February 2024), will account for 100% of the course grade.