The value of general models is the role they play in integrating knowledge from conceptually different worlds, bridging gaps. In a system, the parts tend to get lost in the whole. It's the whole that's important. A network is a naturally transparent and open system. Its parts, the nodes, the objects, are clearly differentiated and have an internal integrity.
Relationships are a fully visible and acknowledged part of tying the nodes together as a whole.
And through its multiple communications loops, a network has natural feedback characteristics and cybernetic goal-seeking abilities, purposefulness even at the level of thermostat in a house. When the network model is used to describe associations of people, it is the centers of activity and the communications patterns that predominate. This is not to say that authority structures and policy patterns are not important, only that the network viewpoint provides additional value and another way to grasp the complexities of human beings working together. Flexible networks address core human resource issues. Networks provide a way of designing and managing distributed work, finding and using people and skills where they are and when they are needed, load-balancing and reducing relocation stress.