Organizational identity and behaviors in strategic networks
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 1 February 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a framework describing the interplay between collective organizational identity, network behaviors and performance in strategic networks.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 141 firms that participated in strategic networks. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
This study demonstrates how a firm’s collective organizational identity directs managerial perceptions toward partner’s opportunism in strategic networks; how these views shape interactions with network partners; and how these interactions facilitate firm adaptations within strategic networks. Moreover, it demonstrates how network adaptations affect the satisfaction with strategic network performance and how this ultimately loops back to influence organizational identity.
Research limitations/implications
Given the limits of quantitative research to capture the mechanisms driving network collaborations, further case-based research on the role of organizational identity for network behaviors is needed.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of collective organizational identity for network behaviors and positive performance outcomes. Firms that intend to engage in strategic networks should develop a collective organizational identity that supports implementing the network strategy. The results emphasize the importance of developing a collective organizational identity.
Originality/value
Organizational identity in facilitating network behaviors.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is a product of the SYSTEMI and FUTIS (Future of Industrial Services) research projects. The financial support of the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), FIMECC and the companies involved in these projects is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support from the Faste Laboratory, a VINNOVA Excellence Center for Functional Product Innovation at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
Citation
Kohtamäki, M., Thorgren, S. and Wincent, J. (2016), "Organizational identity and behaviors in strategic networks", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-07-2014-0141
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited