Publication
Title
What makes you more central? Antecedents of changes in centrality in technology-based alliance networks
Author
Abstract
Although central network positions have been associated with above average performance effects, an important void that still remains is how firms come to occupy a more central position in the first place. Whereas recently made exogenous explanations have shed some more light on aggregate changes in centrality, they remain silent on an endogenous understanding of how individual firms can come to occupy a more central position. To address this, we argue and demonstrate how heterogeneity in firm-level attributes formed by their possession of pioneering technology, alliance portfolio size and choice for alliance organization drives differences among firms in becoming more central. Based on a sample of technology-based alliances in two different high-tech industries (pharmaceuticals and the broader ICT industry), we find evidence for most of our hypotheses. We contribute to the standing literature by considering changes in position as a dependent variable, which goes beyond the dominant approach in which network structural properties have mostly been treated as independent variables. In this way, we contribute to an emerging literature in which the focus shifts away from how network embeddedness enables and constrains action towards what factors affect and shape a firm's network embeddedness through the lens of its structural position.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Proceedings of the 9th international conference on innovation and management
Source (book)
9th International Conference on Innovation and Management, NOV 14-16, 2012, Eindhoven Univ Technol, Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS
Publication
2012
ISBN
978-7-5629-3854-5
Volume/pages
(2012) , p. 78-97
ISI
000313020500016
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Publication type
Subject
Law 
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 06.11.2013
Last edited 19.10.2024
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