An application of social network analysis to assess virtual innovation team performance

In this paper we analyze the existing relationship between the structural configuration of a Virtual Innovation Team and its creative performance. The structural configuration of a Virtual Innovation Team is the approach utilised by the group in the management and decision-making phases regarding both the communicative structure and the decisional style. Actually the scientific literature hardly explore the issue of the creative performance in a Virtual Team and contribution regarding Virtual Innovation Team are even more scarce. In order to analyse the structural configuration we consider: average frequency of communication, two parameters of Social Network Analysis (network degree centralization and flow betweenness centralization), variety and variability in the use of ICT and decisional style. The creative performance is measured through fluency (ability to generate various proposals), flexibility (ability to produce versatile solutions), and originality (ability to identify unique solutions). Our analysis is applied to a real case study based on a Finmeccanica project, consisting in a contest between Virtual Innovation Teams with the aim to improve the portal of the corporate.