Social Network Analysis

The analysis of social networks made it possible to understand the links among the companies as a whole and the intensity of their relationships. In fact, understanding the links between the actors and knowing how the information propagates in the network can help to improve the understanding of the audience and optimize both the message and the sponsorship of the company. “The existence of a network of relationships influences the creation of value for companies because it enables them to combine the different knowledge assets of the various partners” (Sciarelli & Tani, 2014, p. 88). To investigate the relationships promoted inside Opera Co-Pro community, the analysis of co-production network is performed by means of Social Network Analysis tools (Scott J. , 2000). This analysis describes the partners’ knowledge resources in the co-production network to increase their absorption capacity and the achievement of competitive advantage positions. For this reason, the network analysis could be considered as a strategy to be considered for the development of future marketing campaigns. The study of co-production allows assessing the degree of network connection, the linkages between the countries using the services offered by Opera Co-Pro, and the presence of clusters or communities according to the involvement in specific projects. Studying the connections, it is possible to find out which are the most important countries, sectors, or companies within the network, and which are the most peripheral ones.

The network data here analyzed correspond to the co-production of plays. In order to respect the client’s privacy policy, the name of the theatre or company and the name of the co-produced project are not shown.

The interest in this analysis is to visualize and describe the characteristics of the network according to the kind of relationship among pairs of actors. In our case study, the actors are the different entities that participated in the different projects regarding Prose Theatre, Opera Theatre, Producer, Academy, Orchestra, Concert Hall, Festival, Musical Association, Recorder, and Choir. The links between pairs of actors have derived thanks to the participation in the same project. The co- production network is then defined by starting from the matrix of entities-by- projects (as represented in Figure 1), where two entities can be connected by the number of projects they have participated jointly. Here, the entities are represented by 21 countries and a total of 38 projects realized during the last three years are considered to perform the analysis.

Figure 1, representing the bipartite graph of countries-by-projects, shows the couple of Georgia-Poland countries isolated from the others given that they are involved only in the project P24. Italy and UK are the two countries with the participation of the highest number of projects. Around Italy and United States, a dense and cohesive network is created, represented by the countries collaborating in the same projects.

Starting from the non-directed weighted graph, used to show Opera Co-Pro’s co-production network obtained as a countries-by-countries matrix, it can be seen that the pairs of nations that are closely related because they have co-produced one or more projects are (the average degree is around 4): Italy-Greece, Italy-United Kingdom, Italy-Estonia, Italy-Lebanon, United Kingdom-Estonia. It is necessary to point out that within such couples, there are many states or regions that have co- produced only a project. The United States and Italy play a central role in the network of co-productions (as shown by the degree centrality values in Figure 2), mainly due to the collaboration with countries at the local level, developing an inclusive economy among different performing arts bodies. Italy has collaborated with many European and non-European countries also acting as a broker (betweenness centrality index equal to 90,728, Figure 2) in linking the United
Kingdom and European countries (Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Germany, Sweden), Middle East countries (Lebanon) and East Asian countries (China). In turn, the United Kingdom and Estonia act as a bridge between Italy and America.
The nodes represented by the above-mentioned countries play the role of mediators in the flow of collaborations in connecting countries not directly connected. Poland and Georgia play, instead, a peripheral role as they co-produced a single project, remaining outside the cohesive network of other countries generated by the projects promoted by Opera Co-Pro. The graph visualization in Figure 3 highlights whether the co-production has favored collaborations between countries belonging to different geographical areas (as shown by nodes color).

As can be seen, Opera Co-pro has generated a network of co-productions that goes beyond geographical boundaries and it is able to connect entities located in different parts of the world with different cultures and traditions, generating moments of cultural exchange. In conclusion, Opera Co-Pro has generated a new market around co-productions, promoting the development of a real community among countries and a set of collaborative behaviors.

F. Santoriello