362 Revista Observatorio Calasanz Año 3-2012, Vol. III, No.6 pp. 362-378 Social Networks: A strategy for non-profit organizations Osmar Arandia Pérez 1 Luis Portales Derbéz Abstract: On recent years, researchers in management and strategic management have developed a common interest in social capital, and social network, as a possibility for the organizations to enhance their performance. The strategic network perspective avers that the embeddedness of firms in networks of external relationships with other organizations holds significant implications for firm performance (Zaheer & Bell, 2005). Zaheer and Bell (2005) suggest that firms with superior network structures may be better able to exploit their internal capabilities in order to enhance their performance. Also we can consider that the level of maturity of the organizations enhances their centrality degree, and in addition of this idea, we can assume that an organization at the center of a network is a better performer than organizations located in the structural holes of the network (Ahuja, Galleta & Carley, 2003). Our aim is to understand the influence of the maturity of a non-profit organization in its position on a network, and to determine whether or not this position affects the performance of the organization. Key terms: Social network, Strategy, Non-profit Organizations CLAVE UCC: AEA2.9 1 Los autores agradecen a la UCC por su apoyo en los trabajos de revisión de este artículo. Emails: oarandia@gmail.com ; portales.luis@gmail.com . Colaboradores en el área de posgrados UCC I. INTRODUCTION According with Witold Henisz (2009), the development of social networks as a strategy under the sociology vision have become a recently approach to study the strategy phenomena. “Actors are connected via myriad economic, political and social ties. Those ties alter their beliefs and behavior” Henisz (2009). The “building blocks” of this particular field can be found in several disciplines such as economics, law, international business, political economy, development, social movement theory, sociology, communications, psychology and corporate social responsibility (Henisz, 2009). Some approaches to the study of the social network of an organization and its influence on the strategy design, have taken a particular place on the management strategy studies. Furthermore, the structural analysis of a social network can help us to predict how a firm interacts with its external stakeholders (Rowley, 1997). As an example, we find that economic institutions can be considered as social constructions (Granovetter, 1992). Considering economic institutions as social constructions allow us to use tools like social networks to understand how economic institutions build their strategies and achieve their goals.