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Abstract:
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Logically it seems that companies pursuing different business strategies would
also manage their relationships with other firms accordingly. Nevertheless, due to
the lack of research in the field of network strategies, this link still remains
inadequately examined. Based on the well-known framework of organisational
behaviour developed by Miles and Snow (1978), this paper argues that the
patterns of network behaviour practiced by firms greatly depend on the business
typology of the company. That is, a company’s business typology will to a certain
degree dictate the network identity of the company. In this paper evidence is
provided, that the relation between a company’s strategy, structure and processes
in fact have a considerable influence on its pattern of network behaviour. Three
case studies from the Danish biotech industry exemplify and illustrate how a
company’s strategy is directly correlated with how it manages its strategic
network relations, which consequently affects its network identity (Eisenhardt
1999). It is argued in this paper that the level of relational embeddedness,
incentives for establishing strategic relations and the relation between the number
of non-redundant and redundant relations are the most dominant elements
distinguishing the types of network behaviour in relation to the business typology.
The paper thus strives to argue how different business typologies develop a
network identity on the basis of their network behaviour. Due to the correlation
between a company’s strategy, structure and processes and its pattern of network
behaviour, knowing how to manage this relation becomes essential, especially
during the development of new strategies. |
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