Friends or strangers? Firm-specific uncertainty, market uncertainty, and network partner selection
Friends or strangers? Firm-specific uncertainty, market uncertainty, and network partner selection
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DOI：
10.1287/orsc.1040.0065
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发表时间：
2004-05-01
影响因子：
4.1
通讯作者：
Phillips, DJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Beckman, CM;Haunschild, PR;Phillips, DJ
在本研究中，我们通过探索影响联盟和联锁伙伴选择的因素来解决组织间网络变化的问题。虽然许多研究都致力于调查驱动网络合作伙伴选择的各种因素，但在这一工作中也存在一种有趣且未被探索的紧张关系。一方面，许多研究强调社会结构的变化——表明企业通过与新伙伴建立新关系来扩大网络。同时，其他学者强调社会结构的稳定性，表明企业倾向于选择过去的交换伙伴。我们建议公司与新的合作伙伴建立新的关系，作为一种探索的形式，并与现有的合作伙伴建立额外的关系，作为一种剥削的形式，从而寻求调和这种紧张关系（1991年3月）。此外，选择勘探还是开采取决于企业面临的不确定性类型：是企业特有的不确定性还是市场层面的不确定性。我们使用1988-1993年期间美国300家最大公司的联锁和联盟网络数据来检验我们的假设。研究结果提供了一些证据，表明网络是稳定的还是变化的，取决于企业所经历的不确定性类型。
In this study, we address the topic of interorganizational network change by exploring factors that affect the choice of alliance and interlock partners. While many studies have been devoted to investigating various factors driving network partner choice, there is also an interesting and unexplored tension in this body of work. On the one hand, much work emphasizes change in social structure-showing that firms expand networks by forming new relationships with new partners. At the same time, other scholars emphasize stability of social structure-showing that firms tend to choose past exchange partners. We seek to reconcile this tension by proposing that firms form new relationships with new partners as a form of exploration, and form additional relationships with existing partners as a form of exploitation (March 1991). Further, whether exploration or exploitation is chosen depends on the type of uncertainty that firms are facing: whether it is firm-specific or market-level uncertainty. We test our hypotheses using data on both interlock and alliance networks for the 300 largest U.S. firms during the 1988-1993 period. The results provide some evidence that whether networks are stable or changing depends on the type of uncertainty experienced by firms.