Connecting Organizations: Developing the Idea of Network Learning in Inter-Organizational Settings

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a form of analysis that is important in the development of inter-agency working and partnerships. Social network analysis is being seen as increasingly important in understanding inter-organizational life. The paper will introduce the idea of network learning, which is in principle a way of making social networks explicit and using an understanding of them as a part of a learning process for partnership development. The paper will also argue for a practice of network learning which integrates social network analysis with Soft Operational Research. This combination, it will be shown, provides further insights into understanding collaboration (a systems-level phenomena) in inter-agency networks or partnerships. These ideas will be described and reviewed in detail via a case study. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.