THE EVOLUTION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGIC NETWORKS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS—A LONGITUDINAL STUDY
Nils Naujok, Exist-HighTEPP, University of Bamberg, Germany
Principal Topic
High bandwidth technologies and communication standard have further increased innovation rates in the telecommunications industry. To enable and to cope with the increasing product differentiation, telecommunications service providers (TSPs) develop strategic networks of entrepreneurial start-up companies to complement their product portfolios. In this networking process, TSPs exchange commercial and technical resources with their partner companies through inter-organizational learning and initially develop network management resources.
Method
So far, the process of generating valuable, scarce, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable resources has received limited attention in the resource-based view of the firm. The process of sharing resources through interfirm arrangements is part of an only nascent stream of research. In particular, the operationalization of technical and commercial resources, their mutual relationships and impact on company performance has not yet been fully explored. Research on organizational learning of resources has so far mainly focused on the individual firm. A network of companies—in this case new ventures—remains an under-explored unit of analysis for understanding focal company learning.
Strategic network research suffers from the deficiency that the process of network formation and transformation has not been fully addressed. Although recent studies have focused on process issues, they have predominantly applied sociological arguments to explain their transformation. Next research steps should include additional and complementary factors influencing network transformation. These factors can be explored by elaborating more on the role of resource requirement and availability of individual firms in the network.
This paper explores the longitudinal resource development and network formation of entrepreneurial strategic networks of TSPs in multiple case studies across Europe. Multiple case studies completed in April 2002 monitor initial focal company resources, explore options for their operationalization and track their development over time. Initial focal company resources and their longitudinal development are compared with corresponding structural network changes.
Results and Implications
The expected contributions of this research include case study hypotheses which further extend and integrate the resource-based view of the firm and the strategic network theory. A unified longitudinal model on the dynamic interaction between resource development and network transformation allows for both descriptive and normative propositions for successful set-up and development of entrepreneurial strategic networks.
CONTACT: Nils Naujok, Exist HighTEPP, 96052 Bamberg; (T) +49 951 863 2792; Nils.Naujok@exist-hightepp.de
2002 Babson College. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated March 2003.