In the past thirty years, the IMP Group's Interaction and Network Approach has gained its increasing popularity in researching economic behaviours among resource-dependent business actors through relational linkages (Håkansson et al., 2004; Turnbull et al., 1996). Within network research, understanding the dynamics in business networks, in which interfirm relationships are regarded as crucial constituents, has been of particular interest (Johnston et al., 2006; Möller and Halinen, 1999). Moreover, technology has been identified as an important component driving the evolution of a business network, where technological change may bring about positive and negative effects on the relationships embedded in this network, and consequently, results in network dynamics (Afuah, 2000; Christensen, 1997; Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2002b; Lundgren, 1995). A perspective of resource interaction (e.g. Håkansson et al., 2009) suggests that technological change needs to be treated as a process rather than a critical event. However the nature of this process as well as how it impacts on the configuration of a technology-based business net and on dynamics of relationships constituting this net remains under-examined.Based on qualitative research methods, a longitudinal single-case study is chosen to conduct an empirical investigation in the optical recording media industry, in order to address the above research problems. To facilitate the data collection, a focal net perspective and an input-process-output model are employed. The focal net under study is characterised as a value-creating and technology-bundled business net. A total of 72 interviews were carried out in three stages and with the focal actor, its customers, suppliers and a complementor. The empirical data allows the research to reconstruct the evolution of the focal business net, which covers a time-span of more than 10 years from 1998 to 2008, and in which major technological change has taken place three times, from CD-R to DVD-/+R, DVD Double Layer and HD/Blu-ray technologies. In the development of the optical recording technology, the focal net has experienced four net reconfigurations in which radical changes of relationships as well as disturbance in resource interaction are observed. Based on the case study result, empirical observations are offered and new insights into the process of the arrival of technological change and net reconfiguration and relationship dynamics affected by this technological arrival are developed. Moreover, theoretical contribution, managerial implications, limitations and future research directions are provided.

To offer a deeper understanding of how Peruvian firms internationalize this paper aims to throw in an acknowledged theoretical gap in international business research by giving a contribution towards the internationalization of Multilatinas based on a network perspective. The purpose is to investigate what drives Peruvian Multilatina's to internationalize, what market they select, how they enter these markets, and how different network relationships can influence their internationalization. Research question: What does the internationalization process look like for a Peruvian Multilatina? Method: Includes a qualitative research method with the use of semi-structured interviews. A multiple case study was utilized to gain comparative insights into how Peruvian Multilatinas internationalized through their networks relationships. For the analysis, the theoretical framework consisted of: internationalization drivers, market selection, choice entry mode, and importance of networks. Conclusions: The results conclude that Multilatinas do not follow a unique pattern of internationalization, but follow an accelerated expansion strategy based on the context of their political and economic environment. The Multilatinas studied started off by exporting to markets that had similar characteristics to their own. Once they had adequate experience and knowledge of operating there, they followed up with contractual and investment entry modes. The Multilatinas relied on different network relationships in order to internationalize. The most important being the business relationship and institutional relationship in order to gain insidership.

In today’s turbulent business circumstance, organizations’ ability to sustain their growth and competitive advantage depends on how well they manage their capital of knowledge. Recognizing that knowledge is a key factor to the success of the company, companies are evolving practices to facilitate the creation, acquisition, storage, utilization, especially the sharing of knowledge assets.   The theoretical problem of this paper is that the change of organizational model, which is more flexible, team-oriented and more reliant on knowledge assets, has influenced nowadays organizations deeply. Another development is the discovery of the importance of the organizational informal structure, which coexists with the organizational formal structure. Employees within organizations interact with each other not only in a myriad of ways, but also in a way of social relationships. However, with this shift of today’s organizations to more-organic, network-like structures, there is a great need to understand how knowledge is shared within these structures and how to manage it.   The aim of this paper concludes with the insights of how employees’ network positions are related to knowledge sharing within the organization, and how the organization could better leverage individual in these critical positions, so to ensure that knowledge in organization shared with unobstructed communication, cooperation, and reduce the costs of bridging inside the organization.   This study is a case study conducted in a Swedish company with a qualitative research strategy based on the structural holes theory, and 12 employees were interviewed. The empirical findings are that we found senior manager becomes peripheral, fear of losing power makes knowledge sharing baffling, and the hub position in network is a double-edged sword, which means that the employees’ network positions may bring competitive advantages for the employees or the whole organization, but sometimes it may press employees in a hub position too much.

Research of social networks has revealed that certain components of network position can have an impact on organizational effectiveness, yet relatively little research has been conducted on network position and individual performance. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between an employee's social network position and an individual's job performance. The participant organization was a network of individuals within an Information Technology (IT) department at a major defense company. A social network analysis (SNA) was conducted to determine the employee's network position, measured by centrality and constraint. Centrality refers to the extent to which an individual is connected to others. Constraint refers to how constrained or inhibited an individual is within the network. Performance was measured by annual appraisal ratings provided by the employee's supervisor. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to determine relationships between the dependent variable (performance) and independent variables of centrality and constraint. Secondary variables also studied in relation to the model included education level, service years (tenure), job grade, and age. The overall model revealed 17% of variance explained. The primary predictors of network position, centrality and constraint, were not statistically significant predictors of performance ratings. Three variables, job grade, tenure and age, were found to be statistically significant predictors of employee performance. Further research is suggested to provide additional insight into the predictive value of these variables.

The purpose of this study was to clarify and document the member perspective of leadership networks in terms of how members’ attitudes toward, and underlying reasons for participating in, leadership networks can be explained. This purpose was fulfilled by asking and answering the questions of how member attitudes toward, and underlying reasons for participating in, leadership networks can be explained. The study was conducted via a pre-research study of one network organization as well as interviews with two other network organizations. In total, the study investigated three network organizations, including 19 respondents, 13 for the survey and six for the interviews. It was concluded in both the pre-research as well as the main research, that expectations from the members’ perspective had a tendency toward organizational outcomes in the pre-consumption phase, and that the expectations on the network were mainly focused on individual outcomes in the post-consumption phase. The study also demonstrates that there are factors outside of the study’s analytical framework, such as the network position, the ego network structure and the whole network structure, that affect the network outcomes, and thus potentially the explanation for the members’ attitudes toward, and underlying reasons for participating in, leadership networks.

近年來，研究廠商創新之觀點，從以往之產業群聚移轉至網絡演化，然而，影響網絡形成與演化之因素於以往探討廠商創新能力的相關文獻中較少受到關注，而合作，即為網絡關係的一種型態。從個體的角度觀之，廠商的合作行為往往面臨資訊不對稱的情形，因此本研究從廠商資訊不對稱的觀點出發，引入管理學門中訊號理論(signaling theory)的觀點，解構廠商訊息以及廠商過去所累積的社會資本與研發合作網絡建立之關聯性。並探討不同型態的空間地域屬性對於合作網絡的形成是否有所影響。 本研究以台灣ICT廠商為研究對象，該產業不僅在我國經濟發展的過程中扮演重要的角色，於世界的資訊科技產業鏈中亦占有一席之地。並且有著技術上需要持續創新，並且注重分工合作的特性。資料蒐集採用二手資料的方式，建立近似於整體性的廠商技術網絡資料以及廠商基本屬性資料，分析方法以社會網絡分析法、Pair-t檢定以及卜瓦松迴歸模型進行假說驗證。實證分析結果顯示廠商訊息的揭露對於合作網絡的建立有正面影響效果，並且廠商對於研究發展的相關訊號-研發資產的投入，有助於吸引其他廠商和其建立合作網絡的關係；而廠商於過去累積的網絡地位亦有助於合作網絡的形成。最後在空間地域屬性方面，實證結果顯示空間地域屬性對於廠商合作網絡的建立存在影響效果，創新氛圍較強的產業地域有助於廠商研發合作網絡的建立；此外，廠商若位於高網絡密度的產業群聚內部亦有助於其建立合作網絡，顯示廠商區位的挑選對於其外部網絡關係存在影響效果。 / In recent year, the research topic of firm's innovation is transformed from industry cluster to network evolution. However, the factor of network evolution was less mentioned in past research , and the cooperation activity is one type of network relationship.From the perspective of the individual , firm often faces the condition of information asymmetry , while cooperating with others. So our research begin with this problem, and we introduce signaling theory to understand the relation between R&D alliance and firm’s signal or social capital and also discuss whether different types of geography character have the effect on R&D alliance formation. This research concerns Taiwan’s ICT industry as study object. Taiwan’s ICT industry not only plays an important role in Taiwan’s economic development but also is a key part of the global ICT industry chain. Besides, ICT industry has the character of technical innovation and work division, so the firm’s cooperation behavior is important.We use secondary data to build the database, using SNA, pair-t test and poisson regression to analyze. The result shows that the information reveals a positive effect on alliance formation. In addition, firms investing in the property of research and their accumulating of network position in the past have the positive effect on R&D alliance formation. Finally, the result also shows that firm located on high-innovation and high network density environment is more easily to help them find the R&D alliance partner. It shows that firm’s choice of location affects the outside network relation.