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Book part
Publication date: 8 April 2005

Ricardo Madureira

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of…

Abstract

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.

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Managing Product Innovation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-311-2

Book part
Publication date: 8 April 2013

Steve McDonald, S. Michael Gaddis, Lindsey B. Trimble and Lindsay Hamm

Purpose – The introductory chapter to this special issue highlights contemporary scholarship on networks, work, and inequality.Methodology – We review the last decade of research…

Abstract

Purpose – The introductory chapter to this special issue highlights contemporary scholarship on networks, work, and inequality.Methodology – We review the last decade of research on this topic, identifying four key areas investigation: (1) networks and hiring, (2) networks and the labor process, (3) networks and outcomes at work, and (4) networks and institutional dynamics.Findings – Social networks play an important role in understanding the mechanisms by which and the conditions under which economic inequality is reproduced across gender, race, and social class distinctions. Throughout the review, we point to numerous opportunities for future research to enhance our understanding of these social processes.

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Networks, Work and Inequality
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-539-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 18 February 2013

Pauric McGowan, Sarah Cooper and Alison Hampton

The ability to develop and manage effective networks is a crucial entrepreneurial competence, allowing entrepreneurs to share experiences, ideas and knowledge to improve business…

Abstract

The ability to develop and manage effective networks is a crucial entrepreneurial competence, allowing entrepreneurs to share experiences, ideas and knowledge to improve business performance. Despite growing recognition of the value of networks and networking, there has been little comparative research performed to explore ways in which male and female entrepreneurs develop and utilise networks. This chapter considers the development and use of networks in technology-based sectors, seen as important for wealth and employment creation, where women represent an underutilised source of entrepreneurial potential. An enhanced understanding of the issues surrounding male and female venturing, particularly within this sector, could offer opportunities to identify how levels of both genders’ entrepreneurial engagement might be increased. Also, if, for example, research identified that men and/or women network in ways which could limit enterprise development, this is of importance at both the micro and wider macro-policy levels. A qualitative methodology is used to explore the nature and dynamics of male and female entrepreneurial networks. Discussion of the findings focuses on the aspects of network quality where it has the potential to impact upon its value to the entrepreneur and his/her business. Patterns identified in the networks developed by male and female entrepreneurs are explored, and implications for policy and practice are considered.

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New Technology-Based Firms in the New Millennium
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-315-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2017

Catherine Tucker

When considering whether to adopt a network technology, how does uncertainty about whom a potential adopter might interact with affect their adoption choice? On the one hand…

Abstract

When considering whether to adopt a network technology, how does uncertainty about whom a potential adopter might interact with affect their adoption choice? On the one hand, uncertainty about potential network partners might enhance adoption incentives, as increased uncertainty induces the potential for economies of scope across the potential network. On the other hand, uncertainty may reduce the expected value of any particular connection, and reduce adoption incentives. Since this is a theoretical puzzle, this chapter presents empirical evidence to help illuminate it. It presents evidence the destabilizing of a social network may increase the scope of network externalities, using data on sales of a video-calling system made to an investment bank’s employees and subsequent usage by these customers. The terrorist attacks of 2001 led potential customers in New York to start communicating with a new and less predictable set of people when their work teams were reorganized as a result of the physical displacement that resulted from the attacks. This did not happen in other comparable cities. These destabilized communication patterns were associated with potential adopters in New York being more likely to take into account a wider spectrum of the user base when deciding whether to adopt relative to those in other cities. Empirical analysis suggests that the aggregate effect of network externalities on adoption was doubled by this instability, and that for those with diffuse networks, this more than compensated for the negative baseline effects of the instability.

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Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-080-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 2 March 2020

Ufi Cullen and Chris Archer-Brown

The small size of female founded and owned businesses is discussed as a weakness towards business survival and growth and also as a solid foundation for sustainable innovation…

Abstract

The small size of female founded and owned businesses is discussed as a weakness towards business survival and growth and also as a solid foundation for sustainable innovation (SI) through maintaining stronger ties with suppliers and customers. In smaller businesses, the closeness to the key stakeholders facilitates knowledge transfer and internalisation of knowledge which leads to faster decision making and creating SI. This paper aims to examine networking strategies of established female entrepreneurs and to develop better insights into the extent of social dialogue, collaboration and cooperation maintained between the entrepreneur and her network contacts towards SI and value generation. Successful business sustainability strategies and subsequent outcomes of established female entrepreneurs are also examined. This paper presents the findings from quantitative survey-based research conducted with 240 established female entrepreneurs from the UK and Turkey (120 from each). The respondents were selected on the basis of business survival and success. National culture is used to identify the established authoritative guidelines for social behaviour. Hofstede’s Culture Model is applied to the case countries to describe the sociocultural institutional context. From the business sustainability strategies (BSS) perspective, the findings show that the studied elements of established female entrepreneurs vary between two different cultural environments. And yet, the both group reported a high level of social dialogue, collaboration and cooperation with their network contacts although they demonstrated fundamentally different networking patterns within the context of type of contact; networking motivation; frequency of contact; and helpfulness of contact. Also established female entrepreneurs’ business sustainability strategies show significant differences between the case countries linked to the level of power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance culture dimensions. The paper generates valuable insights into internationalisation strategies for female entrepreneurs and possible areas for facilitation for policy makers.

Book part
Publication date: 18 July 2006

Sarah Drakopoulou Dodd, Sarah Jack and Alistair Anderson

Although the literature addressing entrepreneurial networking is reaching a fairly high degree of sophistication and scope, there are certain critical areas where important…

Abstract

Although the literature addressing entrepreneurial networking is reaching a fairly high degree of sophistication and scope, there are certain critical areas where important questions remain unanswered. Specifically, research into the processes of entrepreneurial networking has been hindered by a paucity of longitudinal studies. Thus, the consideration of change over time is de facto limited. Moreover, accounts of how individuals actually use networks to learn about entrepreneurship, its practices and processes remain sparse. Yet, we know that learning is a social process, so the research gap lies in relating networks, as social contexts to the entrepreneurial learning process. Furthermore, since social relations are fundamental to everyone's life, and emerge, develop and change throughout their life course, people are embedded in social situations that put them in touch with others (Kim & Aldrich, 2005). Consequently, learning is often “located in the relations among actors” (Uzzi & Lancaster, 2003, p. 398). As well as direct learning through network contacts, network transitivity also facilitates learning by one embedded network member, through the knowledge held by a second member, about a third, as shown in Uzzi and Gillespie's (2002) study. Accordingly, in many ways how entrepreneurs go about using their networks and with whom they network may be critical for entrepreneurship and thus warrants investigation. It is to this end that we now consider the shape, content and process of entrepreneurial networking.

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Entrepreneurship: Frameworks And Empirical Investigations From Forthcoming Leaders Of European Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-428-7

Abstract

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Reflections and Extensions on Key Papers of the First Twenty-Five Years of Advances
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78756-435-0

Book part
Publication date: 25 January 2021

Desalegn Abraha and Akmal S. Hyder

In this chapter, each case is analyzed in phases to reflect on the development of the business process between Swedish firms and local partners from the transitional emerging…

Abstract

In this chapter, each case is analyzed in phases to reflect on the development of the business process between Swedish firms and local partners from the transitional emerging economies. Initially 20 cases were studied but the final number was 10 cases as other alliances or their continuation in some other forms cannot be traced. Transformation of the alliances shows how the partners have gained experience and grown over the years. Out of the 10 cases, three phases in eight of the cases can be identified. Only two phases are found in the remaining two cases. The analysis is done in such a way that cases can be compared in terms of the variables of the conceptual framework, which includes motives, resources, learning, network, performance, and business environment prevailing in the case countries. The analysis is in two steps: first, each case is discussed in different phases and second, all cases are compared together, also in separate phases. The result of the analysis is the starting point of the next chapter where general findings are discussed and related to the relevant literature.

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Transformation of Strategic Alliances in Emerging Markets, Volume II
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-748-7

Book part
Publication date: 15 October 2013

Muh-Chung Lin

Marriage is a social institution that integrates individuals to form families. Yet, the social embeddedness of married couples is surprisingly rarely examined, particularly for…

Abstract

Marriage is a social institution that integrates individuals to form families. Yet, the social embeddedness of married couples is surprisingly rarely examined, particularly for remarriage. Drawing from multiple datasets, this chapter shows that before marriage, remarried dyads are socially less embedded than their continuously married counterparts; after marriage, their social relations rely more on the spouse. First, with the attrition of close associates over the life course and the disruption in social network due to divorce, individuals tend to look outside their networks and at less conventional venues, and to adopt dating strategies involving fewer contacts from existing network, resulting in greater socio-demographic heterophily in remarriage. Second, such dating strategies and the greater socio-demographic heterogamy imply socially invisible wedding ceremonies for remarried couples. Third, remarried individuals’ social networks, in the absence of spousal ties, remain as fragmented as those of the divorced in terms of network characteristics such as density, volume of contacts, and emotional closeness. A remarried individual’s network is akin to that of the divorced plus a spouse. Compared to first marriage, the spouse is much more prominent in the social relations of remarried individuals.

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Visions of the 21st Century Family: Transforming Structures and Identities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-028-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 July 2008

Ronald S. Burt

What is the scope of brokerage network to be considered in thinking strategically? Given the value of bridging structural holes, is there value to being affiliated with people or…

Abstract

What is the scope of brokerage network to be considered in thinking strategically? Given the value of bridging structural holes, is there value to being affiliated with people or organizations that bridge structural holes? The answer is “no” according to performance associations with manager networks, which raises a question about the consistency of network theory across micro to macro levels of analysis. The purpose here is to align manager evidence with corresponding macro evidence on the supplier and customer networks around four-digit manufacturing industries in the 1987 and 1992 benchmark input–output tables. In contrast to the manager evidence, about 24% of the industry-structure effect on industry performance can be attributed to structure beyond the industry's own buying and selling, to networks around the industry's suppliers and customers. However, the industry evidence is not qualitatively distinct from the manager evidence so much as it describes a more extreme business environment.

Details

Network Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1442-3

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