Understanding as a Form of Cooperation and Motivation in an Intra-Organizational Network

Background: This study starts with the assumption that institutions need to know their networks by mapping their configurations, seeking efficiency in processing information, and generating knowledge and innovation to provide a superior structuring for learning. Aim: The objective of this research is to analyse the relationship network among the employees of a large national bank branch to understand each employee’s perspective on the importance of the work performed by colleagues in the day-to-day operations of the branch. Setting: The study is carried out in a quantitative descriptive way, defining the participants of a social network and their possible relationships, considering that descriptive research makes it possible to describe the events of a given group. According to Gil (2010), this form of research facilitates descriptions of the attributes of individuals, organisations, and populations, with the employees of a bank branch of a large Brazilian state bank. Methods: The research is carried out using descriptive quantitative methods to define the participants in a social network and their possible relationships. Results: The study found that, within the group, employees who have held certain positions or functions longer have a greater understanding of other activities, as do those who occupy higher positions in the hierarchy. Such employees are involved with all other activities on a larger or smaller scale and, thus, have a greater understanding of these activities. Conclusions: The results allow us to conclude that, for the group studied, there is a certain degree of interaction for which most of the actors understand the activities performed by their colleagues. Thus, we can conclude that this understanding leads to the creation of ties that help in the learning of new activities and finding eventual solutions to problems that arise in the execution of daily activities. VAILSON BATISTA DE FREITAS*, MILTON CARLOS FARINA PhD student Universidade Municipal São Caetano do Sul USCS SÃO PAULO-BRASIL Prof. Phd. Universidade Municipal São Caetano do Sul USCS SÃO PAULO-BRASIL Submission: 25 June 2020 Accepted: 01 July 2020 Published: 30 July 2020 www.ijsrm. humanjournals.com Citation: VAILSON BATISTA DE FREITAS et al. Ijsrm.Human, 2020; Vol. 16 (1): 193-211. 194 INTRODUCTION This study aims to understand how interorganisational networks work. In other words, it investigates how such networks can facilitate the understanding of the process of activities in organisations and map the information identified in secondary areas (support) to develop tasks for employees to perform. This research utilises a survey of the employees of a branch of a national bank regarding their understanding of the daily activities performed by their colleagues and whether this understanding influences their interpersonal relationships. We begin with the assumption that institutions need to understand their networks by mapping their configuration, seeking efficiency in processing information, and generating knowledge and innovation to provide a better structure for learning. Issues related to the creation, propagation, displacement, and archiving of knowledge have become the focus of discussions in the organisational literature on knowledge management. Nonaka and Takeuchi (2008) introduce the subject of knowledge conversion, pointing out that it is generated and disseminated through social media. The dissemination of knowledge is the agent of creation, quality, and renewal of knowledge. Thus, it is important to identify the levels of relationships in an interor intra-organisational social network and understand how the establishment of the network can be used to support knowledge management, considering that people interact and exchange information and understand how their knowledge of their colleagues is important to solve the problems and work-related issues that arise in everyday life. The study focuses on knowledge management and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to provide an understanding of how network participants relate to their colleagues in the search for information to perform their daily activities and find solutions to occasional problems at the branch; how they interact and cooperate with each other to promote the generation of knowledge, in which they play a major role; and how each employee determines whether the work of each colleague is important to the development of the bank branch’s activities. www.ijsrm. humanjournals.com Citation: VAILSON BATISTA DE FREITAS et al. Ijsrm.Human, 2020; Vol. 16 (1): 193-211. 195 The objective of this research is to analyse the relationship network among the employees of a large national bank branch to understand how each employee views the importance of the work performed by their colleagues in the day-to-day operations of the branch. We identify which employees have a better understanding of the knowledge and skills of their colleagues and how this understanding influences the communication among team members. The topic is considered relevant because interpersonal relations, especially those regarding knowledge transfers and solutions to occasional work problems, have become increasingly important for institutions seeking to develop employee qualification and training plans. It is expected that by taking this approach to this topic, this study can lead to complementary studies on this subject because the results are expected to be relevant in academia, business, and the public sector. 1THEORETICAL REVIEW In the theoretical review, the concept of social networks is treated according to the perspectives of researchers on collaborative networks, measures of centrality, and tacit and explicit knowledge. 1.1 SOCIAL NETWORKS Networks are systems comprised of 'nodes' and the connections between them. In the social sciences, they are made up of social actors (e.g. individuals, groups, organisations, etc.) connected by some kind of relationship. Generally, these actors can be studied to understand how they behave and how the connections influence this behaviour, with applications to public health, information technology, sociology, economics, and applied mathematics (Watts 1999). Some studies that serve as basis for these categories are found in the SNA literature, such as studies addressing the concept of network centrality proposed by Freeman (1979). According to Freeman (1979), the centrality of a network can be divided into three basic categories: a) degree centrality (measured by the number of links that an actor has with other actors in the network), b) closeness centrality (based on the proximity or distance of an actor to other www.ijsrm.humanjournals.com Citation: VAILSON BATISTA DE FREITAS et al. Ijsrm.Human, 2020; Vol. 16 (1): 193-211. 196 actors in a network), and c) betweenness centrality (referring to the intermediate links that connect other actors who are not directly connected). Brazil (Marteleto 2001; Pinto & Junqueira 2009; Rossoni, Hocayen-Da-Silva & Ferreira Jr. 2009). Freeman's (1979) concept of centrality has become the focus of many international studies (Everett & Borgatti 2005; Hanneman 2001; Hanneman & Riddle 2005; Scott 2000; Wasserman & Faust 1994) as well as studies focused on. One way to carry out studies in applied social sciences is to analyse social networks to understand the relationships between the various actors that compose them (Farina 2014). This process, referred to as SNA, focuses on the study of small groups in the sociometry of relationships between people, as is verified by Harvard researchers, and the relationships between groups, as are observed by anthropologists in Manchester (Scott 2000). SNA has been increasingly used in studies of social phenomena as an alternative to atomistic and subject-centred approaches. Unlike in Anglo-Saxon academic world, however, this approach is not yet widespread in Brazil. This approach focuses on social relationships, reflecting the perception of inseparability between economic actions and the search for approval, status, socialisation, and power (Marques 2006). Marques (2006) also considers that social networks structure various dimensions of society and that the relationships and positions in these networks constitute organisational structures that determine choices, providing differentiated access to goods and instruments of power. This access makes certain alliances and conflicts more or less possible, influencing the results of institutional policies. The universe of social networks generates connections between their members through the creation of common goals and coexistence in the same (geographical) environment. The use of social networks can be related to resource acquisition in addition to providing an opportunity to connect new participants and, thus, share goals with them (Silva et al. 2006). To understand social networks, it is necessary to study their various relational possibilities, that is, the relationships practiced between the members of a network. Thus, studies that focus on social networks consider groups of companies and people to understand their actions www.ijsrm. humanjournals.com Citation: VAILSON BATISTA DE FREITAS et al. Ijsrm.Human, 2020; Vol. 16 (1): 193-211. 197 and movements, such as commercial operations between the participants that form the network and generate links between them (Wasserman & Faust 1994). For Ahuja (2000), these links can be understood as cooperative actions between the organisations that generate knowledge and skills (know-how) to be divided among the participants. Through databases, information technology has made the growth of studies related to SNA possible (Silva et al.2006). Nelson (1984) explains that social networks can be seen as groups of links between participants. These links can be formal or informal, weak or strong, and occurring sporadically or frequently. For Castells (1999, p. 498), social networks are like a set of interconnected nodes tha