Social Networking, 2013, 2, 32-41
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/sn.2013.21004 Published Online January 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/sn)
Dyad and Triad Census Analysis of Crisis
Communication Network
Shahadat Uddin*, Liaquat Hossain
The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Received November 11, 2012; revised December 12, 2012; accepted January 11, 2012
ABSTRACT
Dyad and triad census summarize much of the network-level structural information of a given directed network. They
have been found very useful in analyzing structural properties of social networks. This study aims to explore crisis
communication network by following dyad and triad census analysis approach to investigate the association of mi-
cro-level communication patterns with organizational crisis. This study further tests hypothesis related to the process of
data generation and tendency of the structural pattern of transitivity using dyad and triad census output. The changing
communication network at Enron Corporation during the period of its crisis is analyzed in this study. Significant dif-
ferences in the presence of different isomorphism classes or micro-level patterns of both dyad and triad census are no-
ticed in crisis and non-crisis period network of Enron email corpus. It is also noticed that crisis communication network
shows more transitivity compared to the non-crisis communication network.
Keywords: Dyad Census; Triad Census; Crisis Communication Network; Organizational Crisis
1. Introduction
Communication networks are represented as patterns of
contacts which are created due to the flow of messages
among participating actors or communicators through
time and space. The word “message” encompasses eve-
rything (e.g. data, information, knowledge, image and
symbol) that can be co-created by network members and
that can flow from one point of contact to another within
and between networks. In contemporary organizations, a
communication network could take various forms such as
personal contact network, work related contact network,
strategic alliances among various firms, global network
of organizations, and flow of information within and
between groups [1].
By applying dyad and triad census analysis approach
this study explores the changing micro-level structure in
order to investigate patterns associated with the final
stage of a crisis communication network. The dyad cen-
sus seeks the tendency of reciprocity of relations within a
communication network. Frequencies of different micro-
level patterns are examined in triad census analysis. Both
dyad and triad census analysis have gained noticeable
popularity in recent social network research [2,3].
Crisis communication network of an organization is
the context of this study. A crisis communication net-
work can be defined as the network that has been evol-
ved among actors (e.g. staff) during an organizational
crisis period. Organizational crisis has been defined in
many ways by many different researchers such as organi-
zational mortality, organizational death, organizational
exit, bankruptcy, decline, retrenchment and failure to
characterize various forms of organizational needs [4].
Although there is limited consensus among researchers
on the precise definition of organizational crisis, there is
evidence of shared meaning. Hermann [5] defined crisis
as a situation that threatens goals of an organization, sur-
prises the decision makers by its occurrences, put them
under time pressure for appropriate responses and con-
sequently engender high level of stress. Milburn et al. [6]
identified several important elements of an organiza-
tional crisis such as: organizational crisis produces indi-
vidual crisis; crisis can be associated with positive or
negative condition; crises can be situations having been
precipitated quickly or suddenly or situations that have
developed over time; and crises are predictable. Weitzel
and Johnson [7] defined organizational crisis as a state in
which firms fail to anticipate, recognize, avoid, neutral-
ize, or adapt to external or internal pressures that threaten
the organization’s long term survival. Sheppard [8] de-
fined crisis as “a critical and irreversible loss by the sys-
tem” and posited that an organization dies when it stops
performing its expected functions. A drastic form of criti-
cal loss occurs when firms moves into bankruptcy as in
the case of Enron Corporation in the final quarter of 2001.
This study starts with the premise that email networks
*Corresponding author.
C
opyright © 2013 SciRes. SN

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 33
constitute a useful proxy for the underlying communica-
tion networks within organizations. A study by Smith et
al. [9] investigated how different age groups managed
their personal networks and what types of technology-
mediated communication tools they used. They found
that people around their 30s (25 - 35 years) used email
with the most of their social network contacts (81%).
60% of older age groups (50 - 60 years) also tended to
keep in touch with their personal contacts primarily by
using emails. Wellman [10] argued that computer sup-
ported social networks (CSSNs) sustain strong, interme-
diate and weak ties that provide information and social
support in both specialized and broadly-based relation-
ships. CSSNs support and foster both formal and infor-
mal workplace communities. Guimera et al. [11] argued
that the email network provides an inexpensive but pow-
erful alternative to traditional approach of survey which
is expensive and time consuming. Indeed, they found that
the exchange of email between individuals in organiza-
tions reveals how people interact and facilitates mapping
informal networks in a non-intrusive, objective and
quantitative way. Tyler et al. [12] described email com-
munication network as a tantalizing medium for research
which offers a promising resource for tapping into dy-
namics of information within organizations and for ex-
tracting hidden patterns of collaboration and leadership
that are at the heart of informal communities of practice.
As a modern and technologically advanced organization,
it is well known that employees of Enron (i.e. the re-
search subject of this study) used email as a significant
medium of communication.
This paper is organized as follows: in the next two sec-
tions dyad and triad census are discussed as a way to
analyze communication networks. An overview of Enron
email corpus that is analyzed in this study is described in
the subsequent section. This is followed by a discussion
of results and their implications. Finally there is a con-
clusion of this research.
2. Dyad and Dyad Census
A dyad consists of an unordered pair of actors and links
that exist between two actors of the pair. Dyads are
2-subgraphs where a subgraph is a subset of actors taken
from the complete set of network actors and all links
between them [13]. The dyad consisting of actors i and j
is denoted by Dij= (Xij, Xji), for i
 j and where X repre-
sents the sociomatrix of the complete directed network
under consideration. For a network of size g, there are
exactly

*1
2
ggg



 2 dyads.
The dyadic relation between any two actors in a given
network must have one of the three possible states or
isomorphism classes as illustrated in the Figure 1. By
D
ij
= (0, 0) Null Dyad
D
ij
= (0, 1) Asymmetric Dyad
D
ij
= (1, 0) Asymmetric Dyad
D
ij
= (1, 1) Mutual Dyad
n
i
n
i
n
i
n
i
n
j
n
j
n
j
n
j
Figure 1. Three dyadic isomorphism classes or states.
definition, two subgraphs are isomorphic if they are
identical. That means there exists a one-to-one mapping
among actors for these two subgraphs, except the possi-
bility of different labeling of those actors [14]. As pre-
sented in the Figure 1, a mutual relationship, denoted by
i  j, between actor i and actor j exists when i  j and j
 i in the dyad. In the sociomatrix X, the two symmetri-
cal cells (i, j) and (j, i) are unity (i.e. Xij = 1 and Xji = 1)
for this type of dyadic relation. That is why, the mutual
dyadic relation between actor i and actor j is represented
by Dij = (1, 1). The second state is the asymmetric dyad
which can occur in two ways: either i  j or j  i, but
not in both ways. The asymmetric dyadic relation be-
tween actor i and actor j is represented by Dij = (1, 0) or
(0, 1). In the sociomatrix X, one of the two symmetrical
cells (i.e. Xij and Xji) contains a 1 for this kind of dyadic
relation. Since the labeling in the sociomatrix is arbitrary,
it is not possible to distinguish two different forms (i.e. i
 j and j  i) of asymmetric dyadic relations. The third
state is the null dyad, in which neither actor has a tie to
the other. By default, a dyad that is not asymmetric or
mutual must be null. For null dyad, two symmetrical
cells (i.e. Xij and Xji) in the sociomatrix X contain a 0.
That means, for null dyad Xij = Xji = 0, and Dij = (0, 0).
If M, A and N are numbers of mutual, asymmetric and
null dyads in a collection of


g
2 dyads then these three
counts sum to


g
2 because they provide a complete
partition of the collection of dyads for any given directed
network of size g. The triple <M, A, N> is called the dyad
census. The frequencies of M, A and N can be calculated
directly from the element of the sociomatrix X for any
given directed network under study by the following
equations:
ij
ij ji
M
XX



(1)
2
A
M


++
X (2)
g
N2
A
M




 (3)
where, X++ = L, number of links in the network.

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 34
2.1. Katz and Powell Index for Mutuality
In order to measure the tendency for actors in a group to
reciprocate choices more frequently than it would occur
simply by chance, Katz and Powell [15] proposed an
index which was named according to their names—Katz
and Powell Index for Mutuality (kp). Like other statisti-
cal indices, this index is dimensionless and has the range
of − < kp  1; where 0 indicates no tendency for re-
ciprocation, 1 represents maximal tendency for recipro-
cation, negative values indicate tendencies toward asym-
metric and null dyads.
Based on the assumption that choices are made by ac-
tors in some random manner, Kat and Powell [15] nor-
malize this index for two particular network data collec-
tion designs: fixed choice and free choice. While no re-
striction is placed on the number of actors each actor can
relate to in a free choice design, the investigator gathers
data or instructs each respondent to name a fixed number
of others that the actor relates to on the relation under
study in a fixed choice design. For a fixed choice design,
if d is the fixed number of choices made by each of the g
actors then kp can be estimated by the following equa-
tion [15]:


2
21
ˆ1
kp
g
Mgd
gd gd


 (4)
In free choice designs, choices made by different ac-
tors are not necessarily equal. Katz and Powell [15] de-
rived the following equation to estimate kp in a free
choice design:


22
2
22
2
21
ˆ
1
kp
g
ML L
LgL L

  (5)
where, i is the total number of choices, and
i
is the sum of squares of the choices. And,
xi+ represents the number of choices made by the ith ac-
tor.
Lx


2
x

2
L
3. Triad and Triad Census
A triad or 3-subgraph is a set of three actors ni, nj and nk
where i  j  k [14]. While a triad could be without any
tie between its three constituent actors, there could be
links between the three actors of a triad. There are ex-
actly
 
gg*g1 *g26
3




triads for a network of size g.
As three actors constitute a triad and each actor can
relate to other two actors, there are six possible ties or
links between actors. In the mathematical presentation of
a triad, each of these six arcs can be present or absent.
Thus, there are 26 = 64 realizations or possible states for
a triad if node labels are considered. However, some of
these 64 states are isomorphic or structurally indistin-
guishable if node labels are ignored. There are sixteen
isomorphism classes for the 64 different triad states [16],
which are pictured in Figure 2. The triad census consists
of these sixteen isomorphism categories. Like dyad cen-
sus, models based on triad census can be used to test the
presence of configurable biases such as transitivity bias.
4. Research Dataset
This study considers Enron email communication data of
the year 2001 as the data for crisis communication net-
work. In order to fully understand the context of this re-
search, it is required to understand Enron’s organiza-
tional downfall, mostly instigated by the unethical busi-
ness practices of its senior management and overall or-
ganizational culture. Enron was founded in 1985 through
the merger of two gas pipeline companies. Within a de-
cade, this organization became a global player and a
symbol of innovative and progressive business conglo-
merate. It also became actively involved in the area of
metals, pulps and paper, broadband assets, water plants
and financial markets internationally [17]. In the year
2000, Enron’s annual revenue was $101 billion which
made it the seventh largest company in the United States,
bigger than IBM or Sony [18]. On mysterious circum-
stances, Jeff Skilling resigned as CEO on August 14,
1-003 2-012 3-102 4-021D
5-021U 6-021C 7-111D 8-111U
9-030T 10-030C 11-201 12-120D
13-120U 14-120C 15-210 16-300
Figure 2. Sixteen triad isomorphism classes. The number
(i.e. 1 to 16) before the hyphen for each labeling represents
the triad ID number. The characters after the hyphen fol-
low standard M-A-N labeling convention: the first charac-
ter gives the number of mutual dyads, the second character
gives the number of asymmetric dyads, the third character
gives the number of null dyads and the last character (if
present) is used to distinguish further among the types of
classes (“D” for down, “U” for up, “T” for transitive and
“C” for cycle).

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 35
2001 and was replaced by Kenneth Lay, the founder.
During the same month, it became slowly evident that,
with the help of Arthur Andersen (Enron’s auditor since
1985), Enron had been grossly overstating its profits and
understating debts for the previous 5 years. On October
16, 2001, Enron disclosed that it had lost $618 million in
the third quarter earnings. On December 2, 2001, Enron
filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York
Bankruptcy court. With $62 billion in assets, this was the
largest bankruptcy in the history of the US up to that time.
By January 2002, Enron stock lost 99% of its value.
Stockholders lost tens of billions of dollars and many of
the company’s 20,000 employees lost their retirement
saving pensions and jobs [17-19]. Since filing for bank-
ruptcy on December 2, 2001, the Justice Department
conducted an ongoing criminal investigation into the fall
of Enron. This investigation had been resulted in a num-
ber of criminal charges including fraud, conspiracy and
insider trading being filed against several top executives.
In May 2002, the US Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) publicly released a large set of
email messages, the Enron corpus. The corpus contains
619,446 email messages belonging to 158 users over a
period of 3.5 years. Shetty and Adibi [20] of University
of Southern California created a MySQL database of this
corpus. They also cleaned the database by removing a
large number of duplicate emails, computer generated
folders, junk data, invalid email addresses and blank
messages. The resulting dataset contains 252,759 mes-
sages from 151 employees distributed in and around
3000 user defined folders. In this study, this database is
utilized to perform required data experiment. In the area
of organizational science and social network research,
the Enron corpus is of great value because it allows aca-
demics to conduct research on real-life organization over
a number of years.
Even though Enron email corpus has the email com-
munication data prior to and after the year 2001, this
study considers data only for the year 2001 since Enron’s
organizational crisis was at its peak during this period
which resulted in the bankruptcy declaration during the
first week of December 2001. UCINET [21] and Pajek
software were used for triad census analysis; whereas, for
dyad census analysis (i.e. Katz and Powell Index) vari-
ables of Equation (5) are first measured in Microsoft Ex-
cel. After that, kp is calculated from these variables.
5. Result
This section presents results of dyad and triad census
analysis of the crisis communication network of Enron.
These results highlight the presence of different struc-
tural patterns of communication structure associated with
the last stage of organizational crisis of Enron.
5.1. Dyad Census
The number of dyads in the communication network for
each of 52 weeks of the year 2001 is first identified. The
result is presented in Figure 3. Then, values for kp of
the same time period (i.e. 52 weeks of the year 2001) are
compared in Fi g u r e 4.
From Figures 3 and 4, it is evident that there is a sharp
increase in the number of dyads and in the value of kp as
the Enron’s crisis communication network moves to-
wards the peak crisis period. Although the trend is not
monotonically increasing, the dramatic increase in dyads
and kp during September, October and November of
2001 are significant.
5.1.1. Testing for the Distribution of Data Generation
Dyadic statistics are used to test hypothesis related to the
process of data generation for weekly networks under
study. It is assumed that weekly networks are distributed
as uniform random directed graph. This assumption im-
plies that elements of the sociomatrix X for each weekly
network are independent and have a constant probability
of 0.5 of being unity. That is, each element of X is a
Bernoulli random variable. Let, L is equal to the count of
how many of these Bernoulli random variables are unity.
Since, the sum of independent Bernoulli variables, with
constant probability P of being unity, is a Binomial ran-
dom variable with parameters equal to number of Ber-
noulli random variables being summed (i.e. g (g − 1)) and
Number of Dyad over Time
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
051015 20 25 30 35 4045 50 55
We e ks of the ye ar 2001
Number of Dya
d
Figure 3. Change of the number of dyads in 52 different
weeks of the year 2001 for the crisis communication net-
work of Enron.
Change of Katz-Powell Index
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
051015 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Weeks of the year 2001
KP Inde
x
Figure 4. Change of kp in 52 different weeks of 2001 for the
crisis communication network of Enron.

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 36
the probability that any one of the variables is unity (i.e.
P), the null hypothesis for L can be represented by the
following equation [14]:



0
H:~Bingg 1,0.5L (6)
As the value for g is high for the Enron email corpus,
L should be approximately Gaussian or normally distri-
buted. Thus, the proposed null hypothesis can be tested
by the following test statistics [14]:




12
14
l
lELlgg
zVar Lgg


 (7)
where,
gg
i1j1
l
ij
x


is the number of links actually observed in the weekly
directed network under study.
Although there is a sharp increase in the zl values dur-
ing the crisis period, as pictured in Figure 5, it is noticed
that the corresponding p values for all weekly networks
are nearly 0. Thus, it is highly unlikely that the data for
Enron email corpus have been generated by the Bernoulli
process. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is no
significant difference in the data generation process dur-
ing crisis and non-crisis period for Enron.
5.2. Triad Census
Using UCINET and Pajek, frequencies of sixteen iso-
morphism classes of triad census are measured for each
of 52 weeks of the year 2001 of the Enron communica-
tion network. As the first three isomorphism classes of
triad census (i.e. the first three structures in Figure 2) are
considered in the dyad census analysis, the triad census
analysis is represented in the Figure 6 by considering the
rest thirteen isomorphism structures. The triad census
analysis in Pajek produces both frequencies of isomor-
phism classes and their expected numbers. Before pre-
senting the triad census output, it is required to normalize
frequencies of triadic isomorphism classes for each
weekly network by subtracting the expected number of
Z statistics for different week ly network s
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
04812 16 20 2428 32 36 40 44 48 52
Weeks of the year 2001
z valu
e
Figure 5. Zl statistics for 52 weekly networks of 2001 of the
crisis communication network of Enron.
the frequency from the real number of frequency for each
isomorphism class. In Figure 6(a), results of those struc-
tures for which there is an absent link between actors (i.e.
structures 4 to structure 8 and structure 11 in the Figure
2) are presented. The results for the rest isomorphism
classes (i.e. structure 9 to structure 16 except structure 11
in Figure 2) are illustrated in Fi gu r e 6 (b).
From Figures 6(a) and (b), it is revealed that there is a
sharp increase in frequencies during the crisis period of
Enron for all isomorphism classes. In some cases, as like
for the isomorphism class of 16 - 300, evidences of high
frequencies are noticed during the normal time (i.e. non-
crisis period).
5.2.1. Testing for Transitivity
The results from the triad census analysis are further
utilized to test the structural hypothesis about transitivity.
Three actors (say A, B and C) are transitive if whenever
A is linked to B and B is linked to C, then A is also linked
to C. The three actors of any transitive structure are re-
ferred as a transitive triple [22].
Out of thirteen isomorphism classes for triad census,
as pictured in Figure 4, six of them have at least one
transitivity configuration. They are illustrated in Figure
7. Isomorphism class 9 - 030 T and 14 - 210 have one
transitive triple; 12 - 120 D and 13 - 120 U have two
transitive triples; 15 - 210 has three transitive triples; and
16 - 300 has six transitive triples. In order to count the
total transitive configurations for a given directed net-
work from its triad census, it is required to multiply the
frequency of each isomorphism class by the number of
transitive triple(s) being presented in its structure. For
instance, if frequencies of 9 - 030 T, 12 - 120 D, 13 - 120
U, 14 - 210, 15 - 210 and 16 - 300 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
respectively then the total number of transitive configu-
ration will be 66 (i.e. 1  1 + 2  2 + 3  2 + 4  1 + 5 
3 + 6  6 = 66). Frequencies of transitive configurations
for 52 weeks of the year 2001 of Enron email corpus are
compared in Figure 8.
From the Figure 8, it is evident that there is a signifi-
cant increase in the number of transitive configurations
in the Enron email corpus during the crisis period. There-
fore, it can be concluded that crisis communication net-
work of an organization becomes increasingly transitive
as that organization experiences crisis.
6. Discussion
Dyad and triad census analysis have been conducted to
explore 52 weekly networks of Enron email communica-
tion network. Both dyad and triad census output revealed
notable changes in the pattern of communication struc-
ture during the organizational crisis period. More spe-
cifically, they showed significant increases in the occur-
rences of different micro-level structural patterns in

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 37
communication network as Enron approached disintegra-
tion during the last quarter of 2001. It is important to
note that this was the time during which Enron was in
complete turmoil. Jeff Skilling resigned as CEO on Au-
gust, 14 2001. After some time, during mid October, the
company announced that it had lost $618 million dollars
in the third quarter earnings which eventually lead to the
bankruptcy declaration on December 2, 2001. The bank-
ruptcy declaration and subsequent departure of many
employees lead to the reduction in the number of differ-
ent micro-level dyad and triad census structures in late
December.
exchanges of resources, both psychological and econo-
mical, between each member of the dyad. Social Support
Theory, which was proposed by Kadushin and Kadushin
[25] and Lin and Ensel [26], can explain theoretical
mechanisms behind actors’ getting closer in the commu-
nication network during crisis. According to this theory,
intimate relations with others whom one might confide
and receive various forms of feedback may significantly
affect one’s well-being. Murshed et al. [27] described
how the formation of transitive structure, which has a
striking resemblance to the concept of Balance Theory,
in the communication network during crisis can be ex-
plained by the Balanced Theory. They argued that people
prefer balanced structure in their day to day lives. If the
structure is not balanced then people experience various
psychological effects such as “strain” and “tension”. As
organizations go through the state of crisis, people also
experience “strain” and “stresses”, which will ultimately
lead actors to form a balanced state within the communi-
cation structure.
The high frequencies of micro-level structures for
dyad and triad census indicate that actors or individuals
within Enron had come closer during its crisis period.
The reason behind this can be explained by several ex-
isting theories. For example, Social Exchange Theory
can be employed to vindicate the reciprocity within com-
munication network. This theory, which was originally
introduced by Homans [23,24] seeks to explain the like-
lihood of a reciprocal or dyadic relationship based on the There are also many well-known and highly cited
I somorphism class: 4-021D
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
048 1216202428323640444852
W ee k s of th e year 2001
Number of 021D
Isomorp hism class: 5-021U
0
100
200
300
400
500
048 1216202428323640444852
Weeks of the year 2001
Number of 021U
Isomorphi sm class: 6-021C
0
500
1000
1500
2000
048 1216202428323640444852
W ee ks of th e ye ar 2001
Number of 021C
Isomorphism class: 7-111D
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
048 1216202428323640444852
W eeks of the ye ar 2001
Number of 111D
Isomorphi sm class: 8-111U
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
04812 1620 24283236 40 4448 52
W eeks of the year 2001
Number of 111U
Isomorphi sm class: 11-201
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
04812 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52
Weeks of the year 2001
Number of 201
(a)

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 38
I somorp hism class: 9-030T
0
50
100
150
200
04812 16 20 2428 32 36 4044 48 52
W ee k s of the ye ar 2001
Number of 030T
Isomorphism class: 10-030C
0
1
2
3
4
5
0481216 20242832 364044 48 52
W ee k s of the ye ar 2001
Number of 030C
Isomor phism cl ass: 12-120D
0
5
10
15
20
048 1216202428323640444852
Weeks of th e year 2001
Number of 120D
Isomor phism c l ass: 13-120U
0
100
200
300
400
048 1216202428323640444852
W ee k s of the year 2001
Number of 120U
Isomorphi sm class: 14-120C
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0481216202428323640444852
W ee k s of the ye ar 2001
Number of 120C
I somorphism class: 15-210
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
048 1216202428323640444852
W ee ks of the ye ar 2001
Number of 210
I som orphism class: 16-300
0
5
10
15
0481216202428323640444852
We eks of the ye ar 2001
Number of 300
(b)
Figure 6. (a) Changes of the number of different isomorphism structures for which there is an absent link between actors (i.e .
structure 4 to structure 8 and structure 11) over the 52 weeks of the year 2001 of the crisis communication network of Enron;
(b). Change of the number of different isomorphism structures having at lest one link between actors (i.e. structure 9 to
structure 16 except structure 11) over the 52 weeks of the year 2001 of crisis communication network of Enron.

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 39
12-120D
13-120U
9-030T 14-120C
15-210
16-300
1 transitive triple
2 transitive triples
2 transitive triples
1 transitive triple
2 intransitive triples
3 transitive triples
1 intransitive triple
6 transitive triples
Figure 7. Statistics about transitive and intransitive triples for each of the six transitive configurations that are members of
sixteen triadic isomorphism classes.
Frequency of transitive configurations
0
200
400
600
800
1000
048 1216202428323640444852
Weeks of the year 2001
# tr ansitive c onfigu r ation
s
Figure 8. Frequencies of transitive configurations for 52 weeks of the year 2001 for crisis communication network of Enron.
studies in the current literature which argued that during
crisis: there is a decrease in interpersonal friction and an
increase in collaboration [28]; an increased cohesion
among actors and a high possibility to bring people to-
gether who would otherwise have nothing to do each
other [29]; an increased tendency of seeking company of
others [30]; and a reduction in inter-group conflicts [31].
All of these impacts of crisis bring actors or individuals
within organizations closer, which eventually make the
communication network among them denser as noticed
from the dyad and triad census analysis for Enron email
communication data in this study.
7. Conclusion
This paper compares frequencies of different micro-level
structures of dyad and triad census for Enron email com-
munication network of the year 2001. Associations of
different patterns with the Enron crisis period, which
mainly started at the beginning of last quarter of 2001,
have been noticed in this study. In dyad census analysis,
higher value for Katz and Powell Index for Mutuality is
observed during the organizational crisis period. Higher
frequencies of different isomorphism classes of triad
census are noticed during the Enron crisis period. Hy-
potheses related to data generation process and tendency
to certain structural patterns are further tested using re-
sults from dyad and triad census analysis respectively.
The methodological contribution of this study is wor-
thy of note. This study utilizes dyad and triad census
analysis to explore crisis communication network of or-

S. UDDIN, L. HOSSAIN 40
ganizations. With the increasing popularity of email as an
interaction medium and increased popularity of social
network analysis methods and tools, it is expected that a
deeper understanding of the various social and organiza-
tional phenomena using further concepts of dyad and
triad census analysis such as subgraph analysis, distribu-
tion analysis and stability analysis could be developed.
Unlike studies that explored structural behaviors such as
power-law behavior [32] and longitudinal topology of
network dynamics [33,34], this study explores the pre-
sence of different micro-structures of dyad and triad cen-
sus analysis for a crisis communication network.
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