AN IMPACT OF RESOURCE PORTFOLIO ON NETWORKING TENDENCIES – EVIDENCE FROM BIOENERGY BUSINESS

TitleAN IMPACT OF RESOURCE PORTFOLIO ON NETWORKING TENDENCIES – EVIDENCE FROM BIOENERGY BUSINESS
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2013
AuthorsKokkonen, K, Lehtovaara, M, Rousku, P, Kässi, T
JournalProblems of Management in the 21st Century
Volume6
Start Page15-30
Date PublishedApril/2013
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN2029-6932
Other NumbersICID: 1044640
Keywordsassociability, networking, resources
Abstract

Indisputably, networking offers many benefits in business. However, at the same time, it may also restrict the freedom of its actors. The aim of the paper is to complement the knowledge on the benefits and delimitations of networking by a two-step process. Firstly, the actors’ aims for independency and associability in their business relations are examined and based on these aims, different tendencies for networking are found. Furthermore, the paper discusses the resource portfolios of actors, and searches linkages between the actors’ resources and their networking tendencies. The research question of the paper is: “How the resource portfolio of an actor correlates with its tendency to form networks?” Case study research is used as the research strategy. A group of Finnish biomass heating enterprises is studied as the case, and four groups with different networking tendencies are recognized and further assessed. The results provide evidence that the actors tend to form different networks which differ from each other by the power relations and the openness of sharing social capital. In addition, it is noted that the actors differ in their resource portfolios. That creates dissimilar motives for cooperation and networking which are well-reflected with the four networking types found in the study.

URLhttp://oaji.net/articles/2014/450-1392545887.pdf
DOI10.33225/pmc/13.06.15
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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