Abstract
Ratajczak-Mrozek presents results from case studies of three companies representing furniture and IT industry: IKEA, nSense Poland, and Flow. The study focuses on the effect of embeddedness in business and personal relationships on companies’ internationalization and the effect of embeddedness on companies’ domestic and foreign activity . After identification of similar patterns in all cases, chapter summarizes positive and negative outcomes of social and interorganizational network embeddedness from the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises and business units of multinational companies. The chapter concludes with managerial implications arranged in the form of a pyramid of recommendations and provides answer to the question, how to manage in a network and exploit embeddedness for companies’ better performance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andersson, Ulf, Peter Ekman, and Cecilia Erixon. 2015. Internal MNC Structures’ Bearing on Externally Embedded Subsidiaries’ Organizational Performance. In Handbook on International Alliance and Network Research, ed. Jorma Larimo, Niina Nummela, and Tuija Mainela, 155–170. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Andersson, Ulf, Mats Forsgren, and Ulf Holm. 2001. Subsidiary Embeddedness and Competence Development in MNC’s—A Multi-Level Analysis. Organisation Studies, 1013–1034.
Collinson, Simon C., and Rowena Wang. 2012. The Evolution of Innovation Capability in Multinational Enterprise Subsidiaries: Dual Network Embeddedness and the Divergence of Subsidiary Specialisation in Taiwan. Research Policy 41 (9): 1501–1518.
Coviello, Nicole, and Hugh Munro. 1997. Network Relationships and the Internationalisation Process of Small Software Firms. International Business Review 6 (4): 361–386.
Ellis, Paul D. 2011. Social Ties and International Entrepreneurship: Opportunities and Constraints Affecting Firm Internationalization. Journal of International Business Studies 42 (1): 99–127. (Palgrave Macmillan).
Fletcher, Richard, and Nigel Barrett. 2001. Embeddedness and the Evolution of Global Networks: An Australian Case Study. Industrial Marketing Management 30 (7): 561–573.
Forsgren, Mats, Ulf Holm, and Jan Johanson. 2005. Managing the Embedded Multinational. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Granovetter, Mark. 1985. Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness Mark Granovetter. American Journal of Sociology 91 (3): 481–510.
Hadjikhani, Amjad, Pervez Ghauri, and Jan Johanson. 2005. Introduction: Opportunity Development in Business Networks. In Managing Opportunity Development in Business Networks, ed. Pervez Ghauri, Amjad Hadjikhani, and Jan Johanson, 1–24. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hung, Humphry. 2006. Formation and Survival of New Ventures: A Path from Interpersonal to Interorganizational Networks. International Small Business Journal 24 (4): 359–378.
Ikea. 2015. IKEA Group 2015 Yearly Summary. http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/this-is-ikea/newsroom/reports-downloads/.
Johanson, Jan, and D. Deo Sharma. 1987. Technical Consultancy in Internationalization. International Marketing Review 4 (4): 2–29.
Johanson, Jan, and Jan-Erik Vahlne. 2009. The Uppsala Internationalization Process Model Revisited: From Liability of Foreignness to Liability of Outsidership. Journal of International Business Studies 40 (9): 1411–1431.
Johnsen, Rhona E., and David Ford. 2008. Exploring the Concept of Asymmetry: A Typology for Analysing Customer-Supplier Relationships. Industrial Marketing Management 37 (4): 471–483.
Kaats, Edwin, and Wilfrid Opheij. 2014. Creating Conditions for Promising Collaboration. Alliances, Networks, Chains, Strategic Partnerships. Heidelberg: Springer.
Karlsen, Tore, Pål R. Silseth, Gabriel R.G. Benito, and Lawrence S. Welch. 2003. Knowledge, Internationalization of the Firm, and Inward-Outward Connections. Industrial Marketing Management 32 (5): 385–396.
Manolova, Tatiana S., Ivan M. Manev, and Bojidar S. Gyoshev. 2010. In Good Company: The Role of Personal and Inter-Firm Networks for New-Venture Internationalization in a Transition Economy. Journal of World Business 45 (3): 257–265.
Mitręga, Maciej, and Judy Zolkiewski. 2012. Negative Consequences of Deep Relationships with Suppliers: An Exploratory Study in Poland. Industrial Marketing Management 41 (5): 886–894.
Moran, Peter. 2005. Structural vs. Relational Embeddedness: Social Capital and Managerial Performance. Strategic Management Journal 26 (12): 1129–1151.
Ratajczak-Mrozek, Milena. 2014. The Importance of Locally Embedded Personal Relationships for SME Internationalisation Processes—from Opportunity Recognition to Company Growth. Journal of Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation 10 (3): 89–108.
Ratajczak-Mrozek, Milena. 2015a. On the Way to Being a Micromultinational-Hindrances and Success Factors. Progress in International Business Research 10: 295–311.
Ratajczak-Mrozek, Milena. 2015b. The SME Perspective on Motives and Success Factors in Cross-Border Mergers: The Importance of Network Position. IMP Journal 9 (2): 136–162.
Ratajczak-Mrozek, Milena, and Magdalena Herbeć. 2016. To Be Independent or Balance Interdependence? IMP Journal 10 (2): 260–275.
Ratajczak-Mrozek, Milena, and Paweł Mielcarek. 2016. The Importance of Social Factors for Rapid Internationalisation—The Case of a High-Tech Company. Studia Ekonomiczne. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Katowicach 271: 115–125.
Schweizer, Roger, Jan Erik Vahlne, and Jan Johanson. 2010. Internationalization as an Entrepreneurial Process. Journal of International Entrepreneurship 8 (4): 343–370.
Welch, Lawrence S., and Reijo K. Luostarinen. 1993. Inward-Outward Connections in Internationalization. Journal of International Marketing 1 (1): 44–56.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ratajczak-Mrozek, M. (2017). Positive and Negative Outcomes of Embeddedness for the Domestic and International Activity—Case Studies Analysis. In: Network Embeddedness. Palgrave Studies of Internationalization in Emerging Markets. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56511-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56511-8_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56510-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56511-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)