The Boston Consulting Group and Social Network Analysis

I just found out about the Boston Consulting Group’s activities in the field of social network analysis. It is reported that the strategy consulting firm uses a proprietary software to analyze patent and scholarly databases in order to sort out who is working with whom on which topics. The results seem to be quite useful as the following cite shows.

“[..] Companies and organizations have used the BCG maps to survey the state of research in their fields; to scope out potential acquisition targets; or simply to foster more teamwork across disciplines or among employees. BCG declined to say what it charges for the tool, but the fees typically are included in the cost of a broader consulting service. [..] “(source: businessweek.com)

The software they use now is the subject of a US patent application number.   

~ by Thomas Langenberg on November 19, 2007.