Measuring Collaboration in Modern Organizations

Abstract

Internal communication has been a central theme in organizational economics, as employee collaboration provides insight into the structure of firms. Use of electronic communications data can be transformational for organizational economics, as these data provide a standardized way to measure organizational communication patterns and to determine the connection between these patterns and firm performance. We discuss the value of data that capture patterns of employee interactions, the benefits and risks associated with the use of electronic communication data (email and meetings) as empirical proxies for these collaboration patterns, and the research possibilities for studies across larger sets of firms.