THE ENTREPRENEUR’S PERSONAL NETWORK MULTIPLEXITY AND VENTURE GROWTH
Bostjan Antoncic, University of Ljubljana
Principal Topic
The entrepreneur’s social network is important for acquisition of resources and performance of his or her company. Ties forming an entrepreneur’s network may consist not only of separate exchanges of goods, services, information, ideas, influence and affect, but also of some combination of different ways of connection, referred to as multiplexity. This study focused on the role of the entrepreneur’s personal network multiplexity in his or her venture growth. The main objective was to propose and test hypotheses linking the structural network element of multiplexity to growth.
Method
The research design was a cross-sectional, structured questionnaire, administered through face-to-face interviews in Slovenia. Detailed questionnaires included three ego-centered personal network matrices (acquisition of resources, acquisition of information and advice, and friendship ties) and questions on growth of the firm in financial and subjective terms. Twenty-two entrepreneurs provided complete responses. A multiplexity measure was developed on the basis of data from the three network matrices. Hypotheses were tested by comparing multiplexity levels between groups with different levels of financial growth and between groups with different levels of satisfaction.
Results and Implications
Findings indicate some support for the positive relationship between the level of multiplexity and the level of sales growth and no support for the association between multiplexity and the overall satisfaction. Despite limitations of this research related to the smallness of the sample and the non-random data collection, this study provides some evidence that formation of the multiplex social network structure can be beneficial for the entrepreneur’s venture growth.
CONTACT: Bostjan Antoncic, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, Kardeljeva pl. 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; (T) +386 1 5892-576; (F) +386 1 5892-698; bostjan.antoncic@uni-lj.si
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