A tale of two cultures: Social networks and competitive advantage

Wang, Haifeng; Tian, Longwei; Li, Yuan

doi:10.1007/s10490-018-9603-y

Cited by 13 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…The comparative study on the different mentor-mentee relationships in the East and the West also lends support for this implication. Finally, the metaanalysis study (Wang et al, 2019) provides some implicit evidence in support of this implication. To various degrees, all articles in the Special Issue, explicitly or implicitly, support the above implication, especially the first five articles (i.e., from the 1st to the 5th articles).…”

Section: The Critical Implications Of the Special Issuementioning

confidence: 89%

“…This sheds light on the ongoing debate over if informal ties and networks will disappear after the solid establishment of formal institutions (Guthrie, 1998;Guthrie, 2002;Nee, 1992;Peng, 2003). For instance, the meta-analysis study in this Special Issue (Wang, Tian & Li, 2019) seems to suggest, in a highly counter-intuitive manner, that informal ties and networks tend to be more effective and more critical concerning competitive advantages in the context of the West where the informal institutions are looser (in contrast to the tighter informal institutions in the East) and individualistic value is stronger (in contrast to the stronger collectivistic value in the East). Further, this meta-analysis also shows that the network structural feature of centrality is more effective than that of structural hole (in contrast to network density or closure).…”

Section: The Critical Implications Of the Special Issuementioning

confidence: 90%

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The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda

Xie

2019

Asia Pac J Manag

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It is our pleasure to introduce the Special Issue of the Asia Pacific Journal Management with the focus on the theme of Informal Social Networks in East Asia. This introduction is organized into three parts, with the first part covering the background and review process of the Special Issue; the second part covering the specific contents of the nine articles included in the Special Issue, and the third part covering the critical implications of the Special Issue.

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Section: The Critical Implications Of the Special Issuementioning

confidence: 89%

Section: The Critical Implications Of the Special Issuementioning

confidence: 90%

The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda

Xie

2019

Asia Pac J Manag

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“…Such inertia may hinder their ability to assimilate new knowledge beyond their familiar subject matters (Perry-smith and Shalley, 2003). Third, the potential for knowledge spillovers improves as a firm's network centrality increases, which may inspire partners intent to imitate the focal firm's technical advantage, potentially ruining the novelty of the focal firm's product development (Wang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extant literature shows the beneficial role of collaborative research in product innovations (Ning and Li, 2018;Wagner et al, 2019). Although taking strategic positions enables firms to access valuable network resources (Andrade Rojas et al, 2018;Dong et al, 2017), focal firms cannot automatically integrate or absorb external knowledge for developing new products, given that taking a strategic position also produces burdens and liabilities (Wang et al, 2018). Based on the recombinant view of knowledge and the theory of absorptive capacity, this study suggests that, besides the strategic network positions, how a firm's knowledge is accumulated can crucially affect the firm's inter-organizational learning effect.…”

Section: Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One possible reason for the inconclusive role of network position in affecting NPD may be due to the fact that access to network resources is not free and can sometimes act as a liability or burden, limiting the firm's ability to gain external knowledge (Wang et al, 2018). Moreover, as Cooper (1983) noted, the NPD process includes two distinct phases, namely, the "idea and concept (generation)" phase and the "development and commercialization" phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From collaborative research to new product development: why a central or brokered network position is not enough

Jian

2021

JKM

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Purpose Although collaborative research is believed to be an important means of accessing external knowledge, research on whether taking a strategic network position benefits new product development (NPD) is inconclusive. This study aims to unravel the conditions under which taking a strategic position within a collaborative research network is conducive for a firm’s NPD. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on social network theory, absorptive capacity theory and knowledge recombinant studies, this study examines how strategic network positions (i.e. degree centrality and structural holes) and knowledge base cohesion (i.e. local and global cohesion) in tandem affect a firm’s NPD. A panel data set of 366 firms in the Chinese automobile sector (2002–2010) is empirically analyzed, using the panel negative binomial approach with random effects and several alternate estimation approaches. Findings This study reveals that, rather than the volume of a firm’s knowledge base, its cohesion determines how it absorbs and uses knowledge accrued from collaborative research for NPD. Specifically, this paper finds that centrally positioned firms have greater NPD when their knowledge bases are locally cohesive, while firms spanning structural holes have more NPD when their knowledge bases are globally cohesive. Originality/value Successfully transferring collaborative research outcomes into product innovation is difficult. This study contributes to the literature on strategic network positions and NPD. The findings advance the understanding of knowledge base cohesion’s moderating role in explaining how firms absorb and exploit external knowledge for internal innovation. The findings also have important implications for managers who wish to promote product innovation by engaging in collaborative research with external partners.

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Breaking out of the pandemic: How can firms match internal competence with external resources to shape operational resilience?

Wang

Gong

et al. 2022

J of Ops Management

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This study explores how firms sought to effectively match their internal competence with external resources from the supply chain network to improve operational resilience (OR) during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Drawing upon matching theory, this study provides an internal–external matching perspective based on flexibility–stability features of OR to explain the operational mechanisms underlying the different matchings between internal flexibility (i.e., product diversity)/stability (i.e., operational efficiency) and external flexibility (i.e., structural holes)/stability (i.e., network centrality). We find that more heterogeneous matchings between internal (external) flexibility and external (internal) stability have a complementary effect that enhances OR, whereas more homogeneous matchings between internal flexibility (or stability) and external flexibility (or stability) have a substitutive effect that reduces OR. This study provides valuable contributions to research focusing on the supply chain, organizational resilience, and operations management.

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A tale of two cultures: Social networks and competitive advantage

Cited by 13 publications

References 121 publications

The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda

The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda

From collaborative research to new product development: why a central or brokered network position is not enough

Breaking out of the pandemic: How can firms match internal competence with external resources to shape operational resilience?

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