Networks are a practical and simple solution to complicated problems. They provide the opportunity to share knowledge, skills, and resources in ways that are unmatched by more traditional institutions. Networks allow for creative collaboration and strategy development across borders, industries, and disciplines – strengthening networks of trust.
The following are ten advantages of networks:
1. Resources
Networks allow for the sharing of resources, including talent and information. For example, most businesses in developed countries do not have the financial or technical means to make extensive use of video conferencing. However, they can share these resources with other companies in their network.
Another advantage is that networks foster innovation by bringing together specialists in diverse fields. For example, engineers working on an irrigation project might be able to benefit from the expertise of a non-governmental organization working on health issues related to suitable water supply.
2. Multiple Perspectives
Global sales of Ethernet switches generated more than 27 billion dollars in revenue in 2020.
Sharing knowledge across different projects and organizations is a unique advantage that only networks can provide. The sharing of information creates a pool of knowledge that can be drawn upon by all who participate.
3. Access And Influence
Networks give access to new kinds of information and allow for people to influence the decisions made by others. Even though there is no formal hierarchy among members, networks provide a mechanism for individuals to communicate their views across the network, which results in more diverse perspectives being used in decision-making.
4. Industry Research
Networks are often able to use resources more effectively than other organizations that use their own resources only. For example, Sierra Leonean engineers have used the Internet to carry out research on water management while they were building an irrigation system.
5. Continuous Learning
Networks can help strengthen the learning process by drawing on input from as many different sources as possible, which increases the richness of knowledge-building. The ability to tap into multiple perspectives also means that there is less need to reinvent the wheel, saving time and money while expertise grows over time.
6. Innovation And Creativity

Collaboration across organizations creates a diversity of ideas, which contributes to innovation and creativity across industries, disciplines, age groups, and geographic regions. It is easy to think of examples in business where key information was shared between countries without anyone realizing its significance until after it had been shared.
In addition, networks can act as a source of inspiration that galvanizes groups toward change. Networks are also a catalyst for creativity in the areas of advocacy, campaigning, and social activism.
7. Speed In Decision Making
In a networked society, speed is often essential in decision making and networks can help facilitate this process. For example, a farmer may receive information on a new variety of crop to try based on the successes of other farmers with the same crop in a neighboring country. This allows them to experiment more quickly than if they had to wait for their own government to put together an expensive agricultural program to learn more about the crop.
8. Grassroots Participation
Networks can help galvanize consumer power by allowing people access that they may not have been able to achieve on their own. For example, the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has been in the forefront of efforts to ban bovine growth hormone.
The OCA has played a major role in publicizing this problem and helping to coordinate efforts to demand that genetically engineered food be labeled in the US market.
9. Multi-Cultural Awareness
Cisco Systems Inc., the market leader, held a roughly 50% share of the global Ethernet switch market.
The ability to share information across cultural boundaries increases understanding and builds tolerance toward other peoples. This is particularly important as cultures continue to merge under globalization.
10. Public Policy Development
Networks can work together to develop more effective strategies for influencing public policy development at national and international levels. For many grassroots groups, influencing public policy is the most direct way to achieve their goals.
This can be done through direct lobbying, taking political action and getting information in front of the media. Public policy is particularly important for environmental issues, since an increasing number are global problems that require action at a national and international level.
Risks Of Network
A computer network is a system of multiple computer networks connected together to share data and resources. The most common type of computer network is the on with internet access, which allows multiple users to access local area network.
The global market for software-defined networking, which supports operators in effectively designing, constructing, and maintaining their networks, is anticipated to surpass 43 billion US dollars in 2027.
A virtual private network (VPN) is a file sharing, file server, bridging device, and entire network that uses a public network, usually the Internet, to connect securely to a private network, such as a company’s internal network.
A VPN can be used to allow remote users to securely connect to a private network, such as a corporate network, or to extend a private network across a public network, such as the Internet.
1. Diversity
Networked organizations are made up of members with differing perspectives and ways of doing things. This diversity can lead to conflict and struggles for power. Members may have different priorities, which means that they sometimes may not agree on how best to achieve a common goal.
2. Collaboration
Working in collaboration with other groups requires time, energy, and resources; all of which can be scarce for NGOs. In addition, the more organizations involved in a project or campaign the higher chance of miscommunication or conflicting messages being delivered to the public.
Each organization can also be at risk of losing its own identity in the process. In the absence of a clear vision and mission it is possible that groups will lose their way or sidetrack each other.
3. Size

The virtual private network (VPN) market is anticipated to grow to over 75 billion dollars in size by 2027.
Larger networks are often more diverse than smaller networks, which can lead to increased complexity and challenges with communication, coordination, and collaboration. It can become much harder for network leaders to respond quickly to challenges when a network is large because there are so many voices that need to be heard before decisions can be made.
4. Competition
Networks often suffer from collective action problems wherein members compete rather than cooperate with one another. When there are multiple organizations working to achieve a common goal, they can sometimes find themselves engaged in high-stakes competition rather than collaborating to overcome their differences.
5. Legal Structure
In addition to the risks of high-stakes competition, networks also run the risk of becoming organizations with no legal structure. Case studies on a project may become so complex that organization members have trouble understanding the problems and issues being addressed by each other and thus lose sight of their goals and mission. This can lead some members to be unable or unwilling to provide information requested by other members.
6. Power
Networked organizations often struggle to construct a role for themselves in their relationships with other organizations and power distribution remains an issue. In some cases, the relationships are informal, while in others they are more formalized through contracts or memoranda of understanding.
7. Funding
Networks can be more dependent on funding from outside sources than more centralized organizations because they have not yet become self-sufficient in terms of generating resources for their own operations and programs.
This can make them extremely vulnerable to external changes, such as changes in donor priorities or budget cuts by donor agencies or governments that affect agencies providing funding to the NGOs.
8. Governance
Networks are often more dependent on leaders than centralized organizations, and these leaders may be more prone to make decisions that are not in the best interests of the network. To help mitigate this risk, networks can form strong relationships with the donor community through formalization of agreements in contracts or otherwise.
9. Coordination
In some cases, a group can become highly decentralized and thus difficult to coordinate at the organizational level because there is little face-to-face contact between its members. In other cases, decision making becomes difficult because members must make decisions and pass them along to others before they have been fully understood and evaluated by all participants.
10. Counteraction
Networks can also be easy to counterattack. For example, there are numerous examples of NGO projects being sabotaged by government officials and members of the local community. It may be difficult for a network leader or member to determine the best response if such a situation should arise.
Types Of Network

Most households have several connected computers computers these days, each with its own storage capacity and internet connection. A central linking server would allow all of the computers in a household to be connected and share a single internet connection. This would be a more efficient use of resources and eliminate the need for multiple internet connections.
By the end of 2027, it is anticipated that the global network management market will be worth over $12 billion in terms of services.
There are advantages and disadvantages of computer networking. The main advantage is that it allows users to free access files from a central server. This can be very convenient for users, as they can access the files from anywhere in the world.
The main disadvantage of computer networking is that it can be difficult to acquire personal responses from users. This is because users can be located anywhere in the world, and it can be difficult to track them down.
1. Interest Networks
Interest networks are loose coalitions of people who share common beliefs or interests. These networks can also be called issue-oriented communities. Interest networks are often based on common values, such as environmentalism or a commitment to social justice.
They may be well organized and highly active, following a clear agenda and carrying out well-defined programs. Interest networks often look to public policy for solutions to their problems; they seek out the support of political parties, the courts, and government agencies to help achieve their aims.
2. Information Networks
Information networks are more diffuse than interest networks because they lack a single focus or purpose. They tend to occur among people who have an interest in sharing and exchanging information.
Members of information networks are interested in breaking down walls that separate them from others, such as those created by age, region, religion, or other differences. These networks often include government officials, journalists, academics and others who share information in the news media or on the internet with their audiences through blogging or web-based communication tools.
3. Networking Networks
In addition to information networks, there is a growing trend for what are being called “networking networks” that involve not only networked individuals but also networked organizations.
These networks involve organizations that have joined together for the purpose of building and strengthening their relationships with one another. Examples of networking networks include government ministries, public and private corporations, research institutions, trade unions and advocacy groups.
4. Social Networking
Social networking sites allow virtually anyone to create a profile describing who they are, what they like to do in their spare time, how they look and how they interact socially. The number of social networking sites has exploded in recent years; many were set up by individuals as a way to promote their own professional and personal interests without any formal training or background in computer programming or database management.
Social networking sites have become enormously popular, particularly among young people who use them to create their own communities of interest that can often be shared with a much wider online audience than those physically present in their high schools and colleges.
5. Hybrid Networks
By 2022, it is anticipated that the global market for corporate online security would generate more than 5 billion US dollars in sales.
Hybrid networks are networks that include elements from more than one category of network, such as interest and information networks, or social and networking networks. Hybrid networks can also involve more than two types of network, as when a traditional interest network recruits members from a social networking site who then form an information network around a shared interest or cause.
Final Note
What does the future hold for networks? Mapping the past onto the present suggests that networked organizing will become more widespread and powerful in the coming years. How so? For one thing, we are becoming a much more networked culture, thanks to globalization, new technology, and the proliferation of mobile communications devices.
We use e-mail, text messaging and chat rooms to communicate with our friends and family. Online communities are forming around common interests such as gardening and raising pets.
We fix problems in our computers via online help forums and share information about everything from recipes to travel tips with each other on blogs or through social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. Networks are everywhere around us; they are woven into our daily lives.
Last Updated on October 10, 2023 by Priyanshi Sharma