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In recent years, the network perspective has become highly influential in the strategy research. A number of strategic phenomena and outcomes have been studied successfully by adopting the methodology of social network analysis and taking a relational perspective on firm behavior and outcomes. However, while the social network methodology provides a powerful research tool for strategy researchers, it is fraught with both theoretical and methodological challenges. In this paper, we argue that many of the issues related to using the social network approach in strategy research derive from the use of an essentially individual level methodology being applied to the level of the organization. Organizations being large, complex, and nested entities, the social processes that are implied in network research at the level of the individual are often questionable at the interorganizational level. We identify ten specific issues, grouped under three major heads: issues relating to network structure, to network ties, and to network actors and action. We discuss the theoretical and methodological challenges associated with each issue and conclude with some suggestions for using the network perspective in strategy research.

Organizational networks are generally considered major antecedents of mutual influence in adopting similar practices, typically via a structure of dense ties, or closure. We propose that under conditions of competitive interdependence, closure may be associated with links established to access resources and knowledge and become a possible source of differentiation rather than imitation. We test these and other antecedents of imitative behavior and performance in the Italian TV industry with 12 years of data on 501 productions. We find that network closure is associated with lower imitation, centrality, but not status, leads to imitation, and that imitation lowers performance.

Two core assumptions set network theory apart from other perspectives and direct research into specific strategic and organizational topics.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, students were subjected to high pressure when they were forced to move to distance learning in a lockdown environment. Such a drastic move for communities living in groups with solid relationship ties comes at a price. This study aims to investigate the acceptance of distance learning amongst Omani higher education institutions (HEI) students during COVID-19 lockdown.

This is a quantitative research based on an online survey designed to study participants’ acceptance of distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown.

A sample of 757 Omani students was selected, of which 81.2% were female. About 60% of the students’ Age lies 15–20 years. The highest percentage (38.8%) of students belongs to the College of Arts and Humanities. A total of 80% of the students reported a moderate level of information technology skills, and also more than 80% of the students had never attended eLearning calls. Most of the students affirm the eLearning acceptance (students’ willingness to use eLearning tools for the tasks they are designed for), eLearning usefulness (using eLearning would enhance students’ performance), eLearning ease of use (the degree to which a student believes that using eLearning tools are free from effort), learning from home during COVID-19 and eLearning effectiveness (student’s satisfaction and the benefits student will gain from learning via online platforms). Multiple regression analysis confirms that more than 81% of the variation in the eLearning acceptance was explained by eLearning usefulness, eLearning ease of use, learning from home during COVID-19 and eLearning effectiveness independent variables. Moreover, these independent predictors have a positive association with eLearning acceptance.

This research intends to fill the gap in Omani HEI students’ acceptance of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to investigate the moderating effects of subsidiary size on the association between institutional distance and subsidiary’s access to complementary local assets (ACLA) in a transition economy.

The data of 1,027 subsidiaries located in Vietnam were extracted from the survey of General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Hausman’s test shows that random effect model is appropriate to estimate the moderating effects of subsidiary size on the association between the institutional distance and subsidiary’s ACLA.

The findings revealed that the greater formal and informal institutional distances between home and host countries, the lower a subsidiary’s ACLA in a transition economy. In addition, larger subsidiaries’ ACLA in a more formal and informal institutional distant country are higher than smaller subsidiaries.

Multinational enterprise (MNEs) have a continuous need to use their foreign subsidiaries operating in host countries, particularly those with transition economies, to overcome institutional differences to ACLA in a transition economy. In addition, subsidiaries should be invested with greater resources to collaborate with local partners to serve for accessing to complementary local assets in transition economy characterized by an uncertainty institutional environment.

By integrating the institutional theory and the resource-based view, the study developed a theoretical model about the moderating role of subsidiary size on the association between institutional distance and subsidiary’s ACLA in transition economy. The findings confirmed that simultaneously applying the institutional theory and the resource-based view to investigate location-specific advantages exploitation of subsidiaries is relevant not only in developed economies but also in a transition economies.

Acquisitions are complex and ambiguous events fraught with information asymmetries emphasizing market failure before an acquisition or organizational failure during integration. While often treated in isolation, market and organization failure are intertwined in acquisitions as integration planning starts before a deal is closed. Effective integration begins with a deep understanding of the target to be able to share assets and knowledge. However, acquiring firms currently have limited solutions to address information asymmetries. Most remedies primarily aim at market failure using due diligence and external advisors, leaving information asymmetry due to organizational failure primarily unattended. The authors develop a typology that leverages informal and formal social ties to address information asymmetries across the acquisition process that jointly considers market and organizational failure. The typology of this study combines existing research to develop how social ties with stakeholders influence acquisitions and can increase their success.