Applying SNARE - RCO to Evaluate the Relational Capital of an Organization : The SH Case Study

The authors consider that social networks are important artifacts of organizations. The relational capital of an organization tends to include intangible factors, and consequently, it is not always possible to have this value from accounting systems because it is almost invisible in conventional forms of information systems. There are several evaluation network models, but there is still a need for models to evaluate relational capital tangibles and intangibles. The SNARE (short for “Social Network Analysis and Reengineering Environment”) is now used to evaluate the relational capital of a knowledge-intensive organization. In this case, the authors use the SNARE-RCO model (short for “Relational Capital of Organizations”) as a basis to evaluate the relational capital of an international software-house: the SH company. Analyzing partner-developer SH product improvement requests, the model is used to uncover the relational capital value. This chapter presents the network layout under study and shows how to define Human, Structural and Relational Capital SNARE-RCO properties, aiming at evaluating six months of partner-developer relationships. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-3664-4.ch009