From Dyads to Networks: Achieving Theory-Methods Correspondence

(Research Seminar, November 7, 2002)

N. Venkatraman
David J. McGrath Jr. Professor of Management

Boston University School of Management

Abstract

‘Networks’ have been widely invoked to derive theoretical concepts and operational measures in management research. Such work has been mostly focused on social structures and inter-organizational dyadic linkages. As we transition away from an industrial era to a new era—shaped and supported by information and communication technologies, ‘networks’ play a more central role in how companies position for resources and how they deliver superior value to customers. Many markets straddle traditional industry boundaries and exhibit network characteristics that are more complex than dyadic supplier-buyer vertical linkages.

My research during the last decade has focused on business relationships that are enabled by information technology (e.g., electronic integration, IT outsourcing) viewed as dyadic linkages. I am embarking on a research program to understand how companies compete in a network era—where the critical resources are obtained not just within firm boundaries but also through a web of alliances and partnerships. A major goal of the research program is to develop a network-perspective of strategy and management with greater correspondence between theory and methods.

We are building upon recent work in the analytics of complex dynamic networks to derive a set of theories and analytical methods to bring greater clarity to concepts such as ‘platform architecture’ ‘modular integration’ or ‘network effects.’ In this presentation, I will use the video game market as a setting to explicate the rise and fall of different business leaders based on the preferential attachment of key actors over a 25-year period. I will conclude with an outline of the scope of the research program and the intended contributions by our research team.