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Development of interfirm network management activities: The impact of industry, firm age and size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2015

Maria Ripollés  and
Andreu Blesa
Maria Ripollés
Affiliation:
Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
Andreu Blesa*
Affiliation:
Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Universitat Jaume I, Av. de Vicent Sos Baynat, Castelló de la Plana, Spain
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article investigates the structural characteristics of firms that promote activities involving partners who coordinate with each other to achieve common or individual goals. The article also aims to verify empirically whether these activities generate advantages for companies embedded in relationships by examining the effects of industry, age and size on interfirm network management activities in a sample of Spanish companies operating in several industries and belonging to networks. The results show differences according to the life cycle stage: growth or maturity. Only the relation between interfirm network management activity and performance has been confirmed in both samples. The findings point to the need to consider the industrial environment when analysing firms’ networking decisions because the situations they face differ in mature or growing industries.

Keywords

industryagesizeinterfirm network management activities
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 186 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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