Font Size: a A A

Formation And Evolution Of Business Network: A Resource-based View

Posted on:2004-11-08Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:R FuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360122966854Subject:Business management
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
With the development of new economics, more and more business value comes from networks. Dynamic networks, in which both cooperation and competition are popular, is one of the most important organizational form in the new economic environment. Business networking is a complicated and dynamic procedure and the studies of it are full of opportunities and challenges. This paper attempts to explore in this field, focusing on the causes and dynamic evolution of business networks.The research starts from the definition of the business networking. In the prolegomena, some relative experiences and theories of networks are reviewed firstly. Then business networking which this paper emphasizes on is defined clearly, based on the analysis of a series of pairwise relationships, including networking and organizational boundary, networking and governance structure, networking and social networks.Analysis of the causes why business networks comes into being could be resort back to basic viewpoints about the nature of the firms from the resource-based view. The research of causes can proceed from two parts systematically. In one part, the advantages of networks compared to the complete market and hierarch are discussed through the cost-benefit analysis. In the second part, the obvious advantages to perceive and adapt to changeable business environment are analyzed. In conclusion, from the resource-based view, in some specific situation complete market and hierarch are defeated because of the advantages of business networks on both static efficiency and dynamic adapting.Analysis of the business networking in static way is the foundation to study the dynamic evolution of networks. From the resource-based view, business networks could be decomposed statically to several parts as followings, business units as the participants of networks, resources as the flow objects in the networks, business relationships as the connections among business units, the topological structure and the resource structure as the main features of networks. Studies of dynamic networking are about the interaction of the system elements mentioned above.In order to analyze business networking in dynamic way, utility-based network model is expanded as followings. First, the relationships in utility-based model are specified as a series of connecting activities. Second, hetero-resources will be transferred among participants while the connecting activities are undergoing. Third,business units will decide whether they should participate networks or not, by comparing the resources they could obtain from the networks and they need for strategies. In the new model both participants and connecting activities are the most important dynamic elements. Then some basic movement and basic structures including network chains, network deprival structure and so on, are analyzed in the paper. And factors which influence the adjustment of weigh functions are emphasized.Individual activities of business units behave all together as the dynamic evolution from the view of the whole network. If the network structure could be recorded each time, the snapshots along time take shape as an evolution path of the network. The transfer probability which one structure transfer to another along the path can be formulated as the probability that the participants construct or delete the connections. Firstly, a kind of network which the transfer probability meet the need of Stochastic Stability is analyzed and simulated. Since the transfer probability is influenced by resource structure of the network, the relationship between resource structure and network evolution can be clarified. Secondly, the synergic effect of connecting activities is studied with a neural network model which is provided to simulate the interaction of synergic resource in the business networks. Several probable states to which the network may evolve, including the network rigidity caused by the overmuch synergic effect, are discussed in the paper.Although the theory of business networks is of impor...
Keywords/Search Tags:Business network, Evolution, Resource-based view
PDF Full Text Request
Related items