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Commercialising innovation internationally: A case study of social network and relationship management

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of network participants when commercialising high-technology innovation internationally and specifically how the participants establish and manage their respective network relationships. This case study focuses on an international new venture based in the South Pacific and some of the actors and brokers it touched and interacted with on its journey to commercialise a high-technology innovation internationally. How participants established and managed network relationships was found to vary. New venture managers were open and freely engaging in new relationships, whereas brokers were reserved and constrained in their establishment of relationships. Brokers emphasised the need to qualify benefits arising from relationships and protect their reputations and moderate the demands made of their contacts. In some cases, international new ventures were deemed not ready for the services provided by a broker. The study has implications for research as similarities and contrasts between participants are identified. For practitioners, the study stresses the need to be aware of the potential costs and risks that their actions may have on brokers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank JIE’s reviewers and Hamid Etemad, the editor, for their helpful suggestions on this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Tony Thistoll

  2. Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    David Pauleen

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  1. Tony Thistoll
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  2. David Pauleen
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Correspondence to Tony Thistoll.

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Thistoll, T., Pauleen, D. Commercialising innovation internationally: A case study of social network and relationship management. J Int Entrep 8, 36–54 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-010-0047-9

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