Associate Professor of Commerce
Director, Network Roundtable

Office phone: 434-924-6475
e-mail: robcross@virginia.edu

Education:

D.B.A., Organizational Behavior, Boston University
M.B.A., Darden School, University of Virginia
B.S. in Commerce, McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia

Areas of Expertise:

Professor Cross specializes in organizational behavior. He conducts research on social networks, knowledge management, organizational learning, and organizational change. Current research projects include a series of studies on the role of social networks in knowledge creation and sharing, a functional theory of work-based relations, assessment of the role of trust in knowledge exchange, modeling cultural consensus as a product of social network position, and emerging work on the role of energy in social networks.

Professional Activities:

Professor Cross directs research into social network analysis for The Network Roundtable. He publishes articles in academic and professional journals, presents papers at scholarly and practitioner conferences, and participates in executive education programs. Recent publications include “What Creates Energy in Organizations?” in Sloan Management Review (2003); “The People that Make Organizations Stop— or Go,” in Harvard Business Review (2002); “The Strength of Weak Ties You Can Trust: The Mediating Role of Trust in Effective Knowledge Transfer,” in AOM Proceedings (Denver Conference) (2002); “Six Myths about Informal Networks — and How to Overcome Them,” in Sloan Management Review (2002); “Making Invisible Work Visible: Using Social Network Analysis to Support Human Networks,” in California Management Review (2002); “Knowing What We Know: Supporting Knowledge Creation and Sharing in Social Networks,” in Organizational Dynamics (2001); “Technology Is Not Enough: Improving Performance by Building Organizational Memory,” in Sloan Management Review (2000); and “How Assumptions of Consensus Undermine Decision Making,” in Sloan Management Review (2001). A book by Professor Cross and A. Parker, The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations, was published in 2004 by Harvard Business School Press. Professor Cross’ work has won awards at the Academy of Management and the International Conference on Work Teams.