Social networks as a source of competitive advantage for the firm

Journal of Workplace Learning

Volumn 15, Issue 6, 2003, Pages 248-258

  Van Laere, Kristien ^a   Heene, Aimé ^a  

^a GHENT UNIVERSITY   (Belgium)

Author keywords

Competitive advantage; Competitive strategy; Network operating systems; Small to medium sized enterprises; Social networks; Strategic management

Indexed keywords

EID: 84992975032     PISSN: 13665626     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/13665620310488548     Document Type: Article

References (72)

1. Axelrod, R., Mitchell, W., Thomas, R.E., Bennett, D.S. and Bruderer, E. (1995), “Coalition formation in standard-setting alliances”, Management Science, Vol. 41, pp. 1493-513.
2. Barnard, C. (1938), The Functions of the Executive, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
3. Barney, J.B. (1991), “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, pp. 99-120.
4. Bennis, W. (2001), “Big or small?”, Executive Excellence, Vol. 18 No. 6, pp. 7-10.
5. Bonaccorsi, A. (1993), “What do we know about exporting by small Italian manufacturing firms”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 49-75.
6. Borch, O.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1995), “Strategic networks among small firms: implications for strategy research methodology”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 419-42.
7. Borch, O.J. and Huse, M. (1993), “Informal strategic networks and the board of directors”, Entrepreneurship. Theory & Practice, Vol. 18, pp. 23-36.
8. Borgatti, S.P. (1997), “Clique centrality”, working paper, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.
9. Burt, R.S. (1992), Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
10. Dandridge, T.C. (1979), “Children are not little grown-ups. Small business needs its own organizational theory”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 2.
11. Dierickx, I. and Cool, K. (1989), “Asset stock accumulation and sustainibility of competitive advantage”, Management Science, Vol. 12.
12. Doz, Y. (1996), “The evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances: initial conditions or learning processes”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17, pp. 55-83.
13. Doz, Y.L. and Hamel, G. (1998), Alliance Advantage, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
14. Dubini, P. and Aldrich, H. (1991), “Personal and extended networks are central to the entrepreneurial process”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 6, pp. 305-13.
15. Dyer, J.H. (1997), “Effective interfirm collaboration: how firms minimize transaction costs and maximize transaction value”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 18, pp. 535-56.
16. Dyer, J.H. and Singh, H. (1998), “The relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, pp. 660-79.
17. Freeman, R.E. (1994), Ethical Theory and Business, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
18. French, J.R.P. and Raven, B. (1959), “The basis for social power”, in Ed. Sanchez, R., Ed. Heene, A. and Ed. Thomas, H. (Eds), Dynamics of Competence-based Competition, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
19. Frooman, J. (1999), “Stakeholder influence strategies”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 191-206.
20. Garcia-Pont, C. and Nohria, N. (1998), “Local versus global: the dynamics of alliance formation in the automobile industry”, Strategic Management Journal.
21. Gnyawali, D.R. and Madhavan, R. (2001), “Cooperative networks and competitive dynamics: a structural embeddedness perspective”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 431-46.
22. Golden, P.A. and Dollinger, M. (1993), “Cooperative alliances and competitive strategies in small manufacturing firms”, Entrepreneurship; Theory & Practice, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 43-57.
23. Granovetter, M. (1985), “Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 91, pp. 481-510.
24. Grant, R.B. (1991), “The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation”, in Ed. Sanchez, R. and Ed. Heene, A. and Ed. Thomas, H. (Eds.), Dynamics of Competence-based Competition, Vol. 3 Thomas, H. Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
25. Gray, B. (1989), Collaborating: Finding Common Ground for Multiparty Problems, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
26. Gulati, N. (1999), “Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation”, Strategic Management Journal, pp. 397-420.
27. Gulati, N. and Zaheer, A. (2000), “Strategic networks”, Strategic Management Journal, pp. 203-15.
28. Gulati, R. (1995), “Does familiarity breed trust? The implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 85-112.
29. Hamel, G., Doz, Y. and Prahalad, C.K. (1989), “Collaborate with your competitors and win”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 89 No. 1, pp. 133-9.
30. Hennart, J. (1991), “The transaction costs theory of joint ventures: an empirical study of Japanese subsidiaries in the United States”, Management Science, Vol. 37, pp. 483-97.
31. Heugens, P. and Zyglidopoulos, S.C. (2001), Embedded Competences? The Value-added of a Relational Resource-based Perspective.
32. Hutt, M.D. and Stafford, E.R. (2000), “Defining the social network of a strategic alliance”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 51-63.
33. Hutt, S., Walker and Reingen (2000), “Defining the social network of a strategic alliance”, MIT Sloan Management Review, pp. 51-62.
34. Jarillo, J.C. (1988), “On strategic networks”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 31-41.
35. Johanson, J. and Mattsson, L.G. (1987), “Interorganizational relations in industrial systems: a networks approach compared with the transaction-cost approach”, International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 17, pp. 34-48.
36. Jones, T.M., Hesterly, W.S. and Borgatti, S.P. (1997), “A general theory of network governance: exchange conditions and social mechanisms”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, pp. 911-45.
37. Kay, J. (1993), Foundations of Corporate Success: How Business Strategies Add Value, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
38. Kogut, B. (1988), “Joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 9, pp. 310-32.
39. Kogut, B. (1991), “Joint ventures and the option to expand and acquire”, Management Science, Vol. 37, pp. 19-23.
40. Kraatz, M.S. and Zajac, E.J. (1998), “How organizational resources affect strategic change and performance in turbulent environments: theory and evidence”, working paper, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School, Evanston, IL.
41. Lando, A.A., Boyd, N.G. and Hanlon, S.C. (1997), “Competition, cooperation and the search for economic rents: a syncretic model”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22, pp. 110-41.
42. Langlois, R.N. (1992), “External economics and economic progress: the case of the microcomputer industry”, Business History Review, Vol. 66 No. 1, pp. 31-41.
43. Larson, A. (1992), “Network dyads in entrepreneurial settings: a study of the governance of exchange relationships”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 37, pp. 76-104.
44. Lorange, P. and Roos, J. (1992), Strategic Alliance: Formation, Implementation and Evolution, Blackwell, Oxford.
45. McEvily, B. and Zaheer (1999), “Bridging ties: a source of firm heterogeneity in competitive capabilities”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 20 No. 12, pp. 1133-57.
46. Macneil, I.R. (1980), The New Social Contract: An Inquiry into Modern Contractual Relations, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, and London.
47. Manoney, J.T. and Pandian (1992), “The resource based view within the conversation of strategic management”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13, pp. 363-80.
48. Mintzberg, H. (1979), The Structuring of Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
49. Mintzberg, H. (1983), Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
50. Nohria, N. (1992), “Is a networks perspective a useful way of studying organizations?”, in Ed. Nohria, N. and Ed. Eccles, R.G. (Eds), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form and Action, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
51. Nooteboom (1994), “Innovation and diffusion in small firms: theory and evidence”, in Ed. Van Gils, A.E.J. (Ed.), Cooperative Behavior in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: The Role of Strategic Alliances.
52. Ohmae, K. (1989), “The global logic of strategic alliances”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 67, pp. 143-54.
53. Pfeffer, J. and Salancik, G. (1978), The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective, Harper & Row, New York, NY.
54. Porter, M.E. (1980), Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, Free Press, New York, NY.
55. Portes, A. and Sensenbrenner, J. (1993), “Embeddedness and immigration: notes on the social determinants of economic action”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 98, pp. 1320-50.
56. Powell, W.W., Koput, K.W. and Smith-Doerr, L. (1996), “Interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: networks of learning in biotechnology”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 41, pp. 116-45.
57. Prahalad, C.K. and Hamel, G. (1990), “The core competence of the corporation”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 68, pp. 79-91.
58. Ring, P.S. and Van de Ven, A.H. (1994), “Developmental processes of cooperative interorganizational relationships”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 19, pp. 90-118.
59. Rumelt, R.P. (1984), “Towards a strategic theory of the firm”, in Ed. Lamb, R.B. (Ed.), Competitive Strategic Management, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 556-71.
60. Sanchez, R., Heene, A. and Thomas, H. (1996), Dynamics of Competence-based Competition: Theory and Practice in the New Strategic Management, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
61. Smith, Y.G. and Grimm, K.G. (2000), “Multimarket contact and resource dissimilarity: a competitive dynamics perspective”, Journal of Management, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1217-37.
62. Stern, L.W. and El-Ansary (1992), “Marketing channels”, in Ed. Sanchez, R., Ed. Heene, A. and Ed. Thomas, R.E. (Eds), Dynamics of Competence-based Competition, Elsevier Science Ltd, Oxford.
63. Uzzi, B. (1996), “The sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: the network effect”, American Sociological Review, Vol. 61, pp. 674-98.
64. Uzzi, B. (1997), “Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: the paradox of embeddedness”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 35-67.
65. Van Gils, A.E.J. (2000), Cooperative Behavior in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: The Role of Strategic Alliances, Rijksuniversiteit, University Press, Groningen.
66. Weitz, B.A. and Jap, S.D. (1995), “Relationship marketing and distribution channels”, in Ed. Hutt, M.D. and Ed. Stafford, E.R. (Eds), Defining the Social Network of a Strategic Alliance, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 41.
67. Wernerfelt, B. (1984), “A resource-based view of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 171-80.
68. Williamson, O. (1985), “The economic institutions of capitalism”, unpublished manuscript, New York, NY.
69. Williamson, O. (1986), Economic Organization. Firms, Markets, and Policy Control, New York University Press, New York, NY.
70. Zaheer, A. and Venkatraman, N. (1995), “Relational governance as an interorganizational strategy: an empirical test of the role of trust in economic exchange”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 16, pp. 373-92.
71. Zajac, E.J. and Olsen, C.P. (1993), “From transactional cost to transactional value analysis: implications for the study of interorganizational strategies”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 30, pp. 131-45.
72. Zukin, S. and DiMaggio, P. (1990), Structures of Capital: The Social Organization of the Economy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.