Abstract
When an organization pursues the goals specific to its environment, networks are constructed to gain various resources from other collaborators. However, most individual studies on inter-organizational network have taken a simplified view of relationships among member organizations by focusing on a static and single level linkage. This paper proposes a multi-level approach to integrate resource, organization and network levels and explores the relationship between these levels. This enables us to identify a set of important micro, meso and macro linkages between resource, organization and network. Operational measures and results are illustrated via a case study from an incubator system of Xi'an High-tech Park of China. The case study demonstrates that one level triggers the changes of other levels.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahuja, G. 2000. The duality of collaboration: Inducements and opportunities in the formation of inter-firm linkages. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 317–343.
Ahuja, G. 2000. Collaboration networks, structural holes, and innovation: a longitudinal study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45: 425–455.
Ahuja, M. J., Galletta, D.F. and Carley, K.M. 2003. Individual centrality and performance in virtual R&D group: An empirical study. Management Science, 49: 21–38.
Aoki, M. 1994. Monitoring characteristics of the main bank system: an analytical and developmental view. In M. Aoki & H. Patrick (eds.), The Japanese Main Bank System: 109–141, New York: Oxford University Press.
Argyres, N. 1996. Evidence on the role of firm capabilities in vertical integration decision. Strategic Management Journal, 17: 129–150.
Barney, J.B. 1988. Returns to bidding firms in mergers and acquisitions: reconsidering the relatedness hypothesis. Strategic Management Journal, 9: 71–78.
Barney, J.B. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17: 99–120.
Bergh, D.D. 1995. Size and relatedness of units sold: an agency theory and resource-based perspective. Strategic Management Journa, 16: 221–240.
Berglof, E. and Perotti, E. 1994. The governance structure of the Japanese financial keiretsu. Journal of Financial Economics, 36: 259–284.
Borgatti, S.P., Everett, M.G. and Freeman, L.C. 2002. Ucinet for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis. Harvard: Analytic Technologies.
Borys, B. and Jemison, D. B. Hybrid arrangements as strategic alliances: Theoretical issues in organizational combinations. Academy of Management Review, 14: 234–249.
Burt, R.S. 1980. Autonomy in a social typology. American Journal of Sociology, 85: 892–925.
Burt, R.S. 1992. Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Burt, R.S. 1997. The contingent value of social capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42: 339–365.
Chatterjee, S. and Wernerfelt, B. 1991. The link between resources and type of diversification: theory and evidence. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 33–48.
Das, T.K. and Teng, B.S. 2000. A resource-based theory of strategic alliances. Journal of Management, 26: 31–60.
Dierickx, I. and Cool, K. 1989. Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage, Management Science, 35: 1504–1511.
Dyer, J.H. and Singh, H. 1998. The relational view: Cooperative strategy and sources of inter-organizational competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23: 660–679.
Eisenhardt, K.M. 1989. Building theory from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14: 532–550.
Eisenhardt, K.M. and Schoonhoven, C.B. 1996. Resource-based view of strategic alliance formation: Strategic and social effects in entrepreneurial firms, Organization Science, 17: 136–150.
Erramilli, M. K. and Rao, C.P. 1990. Choice of foreign market entry modes by service firms: Role of market knowledge. Management International Review, 30: 135–150.
Feldman, M.P. 1999. The new economics of innovation, spillovers and agglomeration: a review of empirical studies. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 8: 5–25.
Freeman, L.C. 1979. Centrality in social networks: Conceptual clarification. Networks, 1: 215–239.
Friedman, R.A. and Podolny, J. 1992. Differentiation of boundary spanning roles: Labor negotiations and implications for role conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37: 28–47.
Gargiulo, M. and Benassi, M. 1998. The dark side of social capital. In Shaul Gabbay and Roger Leenders (eds) Capital and Liability. Norwell, Mass.: Kluwer.
Granovetter, M.S. 1973. The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78: 1360–1380.
Granovetter, M.S. 1985. Economic action and social structure: A theory of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91: 481–510.
Gulati, R. 1995. Social structure and alliance formation pattern: A longitudinal analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40: 619–652.
Gulati, R. 1998. Alliances and networks. Strategic Management Journal, 19: 293–317.
Gulati, R. and Gargiulo, M. 1999. Where do inter-organizational networks come from? American Journal of Sociology, 104: 1439–1493.
Gulati, R. 1999. Network location and learning: The influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation. Strategic Management Journal, 20: 397–420.
Gulati, R., Nohria N. and Zaheer, A. 2000. Strategic Networks. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 203–215.
Gulati R. and Westphal, J. 1999. Cooperative or controlling? The effects of CEO-board relations and the content of interlocks on the formation of joint ventures. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44: 473–516.
Hagedoorn, J. 1993. Understanding the rationale of strategic technology partnering: inter-organizational modes of cooperation and sectoral differces. Strategic Management Journal, 14: 371–385.
Hagedoorn, J. 2002. Inter-firm R&D partnerships: an overview of major trends and patterns since 1960. Research Policy, 31: 477–492.
Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C. K. 1994. Competing for the future, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Hamel, G. 1991. Competitive for competence and inter-partner learning within international strategic alliances. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 83–103.
Hannan M. and Freeman J. 1989. Organizational Ecology, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Ibarra, H. 1995. Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial networks. Academy of Management Journal, 38: 673–701.
Ibarra, H. and Smith-Lovin, L. 1997. New directions in social network research on gender and organizational careers. In S. Jackson and C. Cooper (eds) Handbook of Organizational Behavior, Sussex, England: J. Wiley.
Jarillo, J. 1988. On strategic networks. Strategic Management Journal, 9: 31–41.
Johnson, S. C. 1967. Hierarchical clustering schemes. Psychometrika, 32: 241–253.
Kenis, P. and Knoke, D. 2002. How Organizational Field Networks Shape Inter-organizational Tie-Formation Rates. Academy of Management Review, 27: 275–293.
Kim, H. Hoskisson, R. E. and Wan, W. P. 2004. Power dependence, diversification strategy, and performance in keiretsu member firms. Strategic Management Journal, 25: 613–636.
Kogut, B., Shan, W. and Walker, G. 1992. The make-or-cooperate decision in the context of an industry network. In N. Nohria and R. Eccles (eds.), Networks and Organizations: Structure, Form and Action:348–365. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Kogut, B. 1988. Joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives. Strategic Management Journal, 9: 319–332.
Koka, B. and Prescott, J. 2002. Strategic alliances as social capital: A multidimensional view. Strategic Management Journal, 23: 795–816.
Krackhardt, D. 1992. The strength of strong ties: The importance of philos in organizations. In N. Nohria and R.G. Eccles (eds) Networks and Organizations: Structure, form and action: 216–239. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Krugman, P. 1991. Geography and trade, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Lambe, C.J. and Spekman, R.E. 1997. Alliances, external technology acquisition, and discontinuous technological change. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 14: 102–116.
Langlois, R.N. 1992. External economies and economic progress: The case of the Microcomputer industry. Business History Review, 66: 1–50.
Lazega, E. and Pattison, P.E. 1999. Multiplexity, generalized exchange and cooperation in organizations: a case study. Networks, 21: 67–90.
Lincoln, J. R., Gerlach M. L. and Ahmadjian, C. L. 1996. Keiretsu networks and corporate performance in Japan. American Sociological Review, 61: 67–88.
Madhavan, R., Koka, B.R. and Prescott, J.E. 1998. Networks in transition: How industry events (re)shape interfirm relationships. Strategic Management Journal, 19: 439–459.
Mahoney, J. T. and Pandian, J. R. 1992. The resource-based view within the conversation of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 363–380.
McGuire, J. and Dow, S. 2003. The persistence and implications of Japanese keiretsu organization. Journal of International Business Studies, 34: 374–388.
Meagher, K. and Rogers, M. 2004. Network density and R&D spillers. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 53: 237–260.
Moody, J. and White, D. R. 2003. Structural cohesion and embeddedness: A hierarchical concept of social groups. American Sociological Review, 68: 103–127.
Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.G. 1982. An evolutionary theory of economic change, Cambridge, MA: Bellknap Press.
Nohria, N. and Garcia-Pont, C. 1991. Global strategic linkages and industry structure. Strategic Management Journal, 12: 105–124.
Okubo, Y. and Sjoberg, C. 2000. The changing pattern of industrial scientific research collaboration in Sweden. Research Policy, 29: 81–98.
Peteraf, M.A. 1993. The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 14: 179–191.
Pfeffer, J. and Nowak, P. 1976. Joint ventures and inter-organizational interdependence. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21: 398–419.
Pisano, G. 1990. The R&D boundaries of the firm: an empirical analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35: 153–176.
Powell, W.W. 1990. Neither Market nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 12: 295–336.
Powell, W. W., Koput, K. W. and Smith-Doerr, L. 1996. Inter-organizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41: 116–145.
Provan, K.G. and Sebastian, J.G. 1998. Network within networks: Service link overlap, organizational cliques, and network effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 41: 453–463.
Reagans, R. and McEvily, B. 2003. Network structure and knowledge transfer: The effects of cohesion and range. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48: 240–287.
Rice, R.E. and Shook, D.E. 1990. Relationships of job categories and organizational levels to use of communication channels, including electronic mail: A meta-analysis and extension. Journal of Management Studies, 27: 195–229.
Rousseau, D.M. 1985. Issues of level in organizational research. In B.M. Staw and L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, 7: 1–37. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Russo, M. 1985. Technical change and the industrial district: the role of interfirm relations in the growth and transformation of ceramic tile production in Italy. Research Policy, 14: 329–343.
Santoro, M.D. 2000. Success breeds success: the linkage between relationship intensity and tangible outcomes in industry-university collaborative ventures. Journal of High Technology Management Research, 11: 255–273.
Santoro, M.D. and Chakrabarti, A. K. 2002. Firm size and technology centrality in industry-university interactions. Research Policy, 31: 1163–1180.
Saxenian, A. 1994. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Scott, W.R. 1995. Institutions and Organizations, Sage, CA: Thousand Oaks.
Shan, W., Walker G. and Kogut, B. 1994. Inter-firm cooperation and start-up innovation in the biotechnology industry. Strategic Management Journal, 15: 387–394.
Stephenson, K. and Zelen, M. 1989. Rethinking centrality: Methods and examples. Networks, 11: 1–37.
Stork, D. and Richards, W.D. 1992. Nonrespondents in communication network studies: Problems and possibilities. Group and Organization Management, 17: 193–209.
Stuart, T. 1998. Network positions and propensities to collaborate: an investigation of strategic alliance formation in a high-technology industry. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43: 668–698.
Teece, D. J. 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. Research Policy, 15: 285–305.
Tsai, W. and Ghoshal, S. 1998. Social capital and value creation: the role of intra-firm networks. Academy of Management Journal, 41: 464–476.
Useem, M. 1982. Classwide rationality in the politics of managers and directors of large corporations in the United States and Great Britain. Administrative Science Quarterly, 27: 199–226.
Von Hippel, E. 1988. The sources of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wasserman, S. and Faust, K. 1994. network analysis. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Wellman, B. and Wortley, S. 1990. Different stroke from different folks: Community ties and social support. American Journal of Sociology, 96: 558–588.
Wellman, B. and Berkowitz, S.D. 1998. structures: A network approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wernerfelt, B. 1984. A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5: 171–180.
Westphal, J., Gulati, R. and Shortell, S. 1997. An institutional and network perspective on the content and consequences of TQM adoption. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42: 366–394.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tang, F., Xi, Y. Exploring dynamic multi-level linkages in inter-organizational networks. Asia Pacific J Manage 23, 187–208 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-006-7166-9
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-006-7166-9