Relationship between social network structure dynamics and innovation: Micro-level analyses of virtual cross-functional teams in a multinational B2B firm

The goal of this study was to examine whether social network analysis has a significant effect on new business development (NBD) performance as a key innovation performance index in 10 cross-functional teams in multinational firms, and then determine the ways in which the social network analysis data can be used to maximize NBD performance. This study was based on experimental data from actual teams' communications in a virtual environment via information and communication technology (ICT). We focused on three social indices: network density, clique participation index (CPI) as a modified clique, and the standard deviation of structural holes (SH_SD) measured by effective size. A regression analysis of the experimental data obtained in this longitudinal study demonstrated that CPI and SH_SD had a positive influence on NBD evolution, while network density affected it adversely.