This document discusses research on creativity and creative industries using a social network analysis perspective. It examines different definitions of creativity and creative industries. Specifically, it looks at how individual creativity relates to social networks and the creative workforce. The document also reviews literature that has applied social network analysis to study various creative industries, finding more research in design and fewer papers considering crafts. Overall, the methodology and definitions used in creative industries research are challenging and can provide varying results depending on the approach.

1. Sian Joel-Edgar (Exeter University)
Kai Lui (Greenwich Univesity)

2. Creativity
"There is a broad consensus that creativity is the capacity to
produce things that are original and valuable" (Gaut, 2010 p 039)
- Creativity as individual cognitive attributes and traits ( Sternberg 1985,
Tardif and Sternberg 1988, Glynn 1996)
- The network side of individual creativity (Perry-Smith and Shalley 2003,
Burt 2004, Perry-Smith 2006)
- "Creative individual be placed within a network of interpersonal
relationships” (Simonton 1984a, p. 1273). Creativity “is all in your social
network” (Brass 1995)
Creative labour force
- Creative Class (Florida, 2002 & 2005)
- Freelancers and flexiable labour (O’Connor, 2007)

3. Social network in CIs
• End of Fordism and “The Rise of the Network Society”
(Castells, 1996)
• Social Capital (Lin, 1999; Bourdieu 1986)
• Social network market (Potts, J., Cunningham, S., Hartley, J., &
Ormerod, P. 2008) and the role of network to reduce
uncertainty and risks (Banks et al, 2000; Raffo et al, 2000;
Shorthose, 2004; Bilton, 2007).
• Project-based and networked organisations (Christopherson,
2004; Grabher, 2004)
• Freelancers and Micro business (Banks, 2010)
• Creative city and Clusters (Lazzeretti, 2008; Landy, 2012)

4. Define Creative Industries
UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as:
• “…those industries which have their origin in individual
creativity, skill and talent which have a potential for job and
wealth creation through the generation and exploitation of
intellectual property” (‘Creative Industries Mapping
Document’, DCMS, 2001)
• Advertising, Architecture, Crafts, Design,
Film/TV/Video/Radio/Photography, I.T./Software, Publishing,
Museums/Galleries/Libraries - DCMS 2015
• In 2012 8.5% of total U.K. workforce was employed in CI
• £71.4 billion and 5.2% of U.K. economy

5. What are the major themes being used by CI
research using SNA
Are some CIs using Social Network Analysis
more than other CIs

6. • Literature review: Creative & Cultural Industries
research using SNA perspective
• Bottom up approach: looking at individual
industrials
• Top down approach: looking at Creative and
Cultural industries as a whole

7. • Decision criteria used:
• 1) "design" + "social network analysis”
• 2) Advanced search [CI + social networks] - Title only
• Search engines used: 1) Google Scholar 2) Science Direct
• Issues of this approach
• CIs terms as verbs: e.g. design
• CIs terms that are the application or tool rather than industry. SNA
software, not the software industry

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Design Designer

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2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Advertising
Architecture
Arts
Culture
Craft
Design
Film
Museum
Libraries
Library
Galleries
Gallery
Music
Publishing
Software

10. • Advanced search [CI + social networks] - Title only
• 38 papers (across disciplines)
• Qualitative analysis approach: looking for themes
• Diffusion and adoption, team collaboration, learning/skills
and social media

11. • Decision criteria used:
- Identify the application of SNA in the cultural and creative
industries
- All the papers published which explicitly methioned “social
network analysis”, “creative industries” and “cultural industries”
- Quality control by only looking at peer reviewed journals
- Initial number of papers 528
- 145 cleaned papers, of which 100 had keywords listed
• Search engines used: Google Scholar (title, abstract and full text)
• Issues of this approach
• Doesn’t look at specific industries

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10
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60

15. Journal Number
of papers
Creative
Industries
Journal
9
Cultural
Sociology
7
International
Journal of
Cultural Policy
6

16. • Bearing in mind that the DCMS definition of Creative Industries
is very U.K. Centric and controversial , and each data collection
method has its flaws:
• Varying and conflicting results between two methodological
approaches
• Is the software industry a "creative" industry?
• Some industries are under-represented e.g. craft.
• Does the craft industry not utilise social capital in the same way
other creative industries do?

17. • What defines a creative network?
• What techniques are used and what are found in creative
networks?
• Look at abstract and title as well as keywords
• Discover themes from each paper found through the top down
approach.

18. Sian Joel-Edgar (Exeter University Business School)​
s.joel-edgar@exeter.ac.uk @kurtesysian
Kai Liu (University of Greenwich)
k.liu@greenwich.ac.uk.