Formal and Informal Organization Structure' Social Network Analysis: An Example of Advice and Trust Networks

The main purpose of this study is to put forward the advice asking networks in an educational organization, compare the formal structure and the informal structure, identify the position of appointed leaders in the network within the social network, the divisions within the network and the informal leaders. This study which is of survey model has been conducted at a higher-education organization in Turkey during the 2014-2015 academic year through the social network analysis approach. In the study, the main data of the analysis has been collected from the web site of the organization and through the semi-structured interview method. Data collected from 41 participants has been analyzed with UCINET 6.0 and presented visually in the graphics. According to the findings of the study, in the formal structure 41 actors and 102 connections, and in the informal structure 46 actors and 424 connections have been identified. The findings revealed that only 4 of the appointed administrators are informal leaders as well within the network. A total of 45 cliques have been identified within the network, the smallest one consisting of 3.