Many incumbent corporations make equity investments in young technological start-ups to enhance their innovation effectiveness, and the great majority syndicate at least some of their investments with other incumbents. While syndication is generally held to benefit incumbent corporations, this study demonstrates that it may also be detrimental to corporate innovation, by elaborating the notion of an information exchange paradox - essentially, that information exchanges within CVC networks must, somehow, be both open and closed at the same time. Corporations must try to appropriate the knowledge championed by their investees and fellow-investors, but also protect their own know-how from leaking to competitors. Unlike prior CVC research, we demonstrate that knowledge sharing in open innovation forums may be counterproductive. Using a unique data set of the investment decisions made by 163 corporations over four years we show that, for some, participating in syndicate networks may involve losses that outweigh their gains. Our analysis establishes two key findings. First, corporations need to consider the trade-off between the number of ventures they support and the position they take in their syndication networks. The best strategies appear to be maximizing isolationist (supporting many ventures but staying away from the network centre) or minimizing centralist (supporting few ventures, but occupying a central network position) - the other two options (maximizing centralist and minimizing isolationist strategies) are far less effective in converting CVC investments into corporate innovation. Second, this picture is particularly applicable to highly concentrated industries dominated by several powerful incumbents: in fragmented industries these strategy differences are far less pronounced, so the choice of CVC syndication strategy will depend on other considerations. This supports a contingency view of syndication, implying that ensuring incumbent corporations really benefit from equity investments in start-ups is a not a trivial task for their managers
To enhance innovation effectiveness, many incumbent corporations make equity investments in young technological startups. Four out of five corporate investors syndicate at least some of their investments with other incumbents. While syndication practices may be beneficial to incumbent corporations, in this study we elaborate on the notion of information exchange paradox to demonstrate that syndication may be detrimental to corporate innovation. Using a unique data set of investment decisions of 163 corporations over four years, we show that for some corporations the losses of participating in syndicate networks may outweigh the gains. In particular, we demonstrate that syndication network centrality negatively moderates the ability of a corporation to benefit from its investments. We also show that the effect is particularly strong in highly concentrated industries but is virtually non-existent in industries with low concentration. This supports a contingency view of syndication and implies that benefiting from equity investments in startups is a non-trivial task for managers of incumbent corporations.
We use a self regulation perspective to argue that entrepreneurial effectiveness is driven by the coping strategies entrepreneurs use to meet expectations of stakeholders involved in the opportunity exploitation processes. As stakeholders advance their expectations and thus impact the roles of entrepreneurs in the process, role related conflicts, ambiguities and overloads, easily emerge. To resolve such conflicts entrepreneurs engage in coping strategies. We posit that four coping strategies are relevant for entrepreneurial effectiveness: structural role redefinition, personal role redefinition, reactive role behavior, and passive role behavior.
This paper analyzes effectiveness of coping strategies that entrepreneurs use to daily manage work related stress. Coping is the process of expending efforts to solve personal and interpersonal problems and reducing stress induced by unpleasant and stressful situations. Two broad strategies of coping are identified; problem-based coping refers to a cognitively-based response behavior that includes efforts to alleviate stressful circumstances while emotion-based coping involves behavioral responses to regulate the affective consequences of stressful events. The purpose of this research is to analyze relationships among the coping strategies used by entrepreneurs and a set of antecedents influencing the selection of coping strategies. The methodology used is based on structural equation modeling and empirical data of 469 entrepreneurs from two European countries. Our results show that problembased coping facilitates well-being and venture performance. In addition, our findings also support interaction effects of founder centrality and contextual conditions of venturing on the extent entrepreneurs engage in coping. We believe that our insights can help in training entrepreneurs in the development of effective coping strategies that are context dependent. In specific, our results suggest entrepreneurs to engage in problem-focused strategies when they want to effectively address the economic aspects of their lives whereas when they engage in emotionbased strategies they seem to increase the self-knowledge they need to start subsequent ventures and facilitate learning from failure. Future studies on coping strategies could study the interplay of coping strategies used to resolve challenging social situations that various stakeholders of practicing entrepreneurs impose.
Föreliggande rapport utgör en framåtriktad analys av de regionala förutsättningar som rapporterats inom projektet Regional förnyelse, som finansierats av Länsstyrelsen i Norrbottens län och Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU). Utifrån de studier och rapporter som bidragit till en ökad förståelse kring länets möjligheter och utmaningar resonerar vi i den här studien om möjliga framtidsscenarier för Norrbotten. Vår målsättning är inte att förutspå den regionala utvecklingen utan att i stället lyfta fram ett antal scenarier som det regionala utvecklingsarbetet kan leda till. Syftet blir att skapa ett diskussionsunderlag som kan vara till nytta för framtida utveckling av regionala strategier såsom exempelvis den regionala utvecklingsstrategin och den regionala innovationsstrategin. Regionala strategierDen regionala utvecklingsstrategin ingår i EU:s och Sveriges strategier för hållbar tillväxt och är styrande för de mer operativa programmen i länet. Strategin binder samman planeringsprocesser som har betydelse för en hållbar tillväxt och kan därigenom underlätta samverkan inom och mellan länen. Strategin utgör och ett strategiskt underlag i förhandlingar mellan länet och regeringen och även vid överläggningar på EU-nivå.Den regionala analysen av Norrbottens förutsättningar för utveckling och potential för tillväxt resulterade i fem strategiska områden där ett antal prioriterade åtgärder anges. De största utmaningarna är den demografiska utvecklingen och den framtida kompetensförsörjningen. Avgörande för regionens tillväxt är att det finns arbetskraft och kompetens som matchar arbetslivets behov. Med en allt äldre befolkning ökar försörjningsbördan och det blir allt svårare att upprätthålla välfärden med minskade skatteunderlag.Regionala analyserEtt flertal rapporter och studier har författats inom ramarna för projektet Regional förnyelse. Näringslivsanalyser och analyser av internationell handel stödjer att det finns goda förutsättningar för tillväxt inom länets företag. Företagarna beskriver kompetensförsörjning som en av de största utmaningarna för att uppnå planerad tillväxttakt. Regionala scenarierUtifrån de regionala analyserna har fem scenarier, i form av framtidsbilder, målats upp. Avsikten med scenarierna är att beskriva hur regionala insatser och utveckling kan skapa alternativa framtider för Norrbotten. Avsikten med scenarierna är således inte att förutspå regionens framtida utveckling utan snarare peka på hur olika typer av regional utveckling kan skapa olika förutsättningar. De scenarios som diskuteras i denna rapport är:— Scenario I: Basindustriregionen— Scenario II: Kunskap, kreativitet och kommunikation som regional drivkraft— Scenario III: Förändrat globalt klimat med nya möjligheter— Scenario IV: Smart specialisering baserad på relaterad variation— Scenario V: Diversifiering efter en nationell genomsnittsmodell
There has been a long debate about the role of industry structure in the literature on why some regions successfully achieve economic growth, while other regions stagnate or decline. This paper provides an empirical analysis in which we, based on a cluster analysis, develop a taxonomy for regional growth. In a second part of the study, we explore how specialization and entrepreneurship are meaningful to discriminate between the different types of regions. Our results suggest that regional entrepreneurship and industry diversity characterized by relatedness are key elements in understanding why some regions are leading while others lag behind. The suggested taxonomy is argued to contribute with a nuanced perspective that can enhance discussions about improvements of regional development policies and to further empirical analysis on the topic.
The notion of related variety has proved to be an important contribution to the literature on innovation-enhancing regional knowledge externalities in different industry structures. Related variety provides a disentangled view of diversification based on the technological and cognitive proximity of different industries. The core hypothesis of this concept, which states that related variety fosters innovation and employment growth by facilitating knowledge spillovers, has gained increasing empirical support. To date, a relatively modest number of empirical studies have explicitly linked related variety to enhanced regional innovative output. The role of entrepreneurship has also received little attention in the literature, even though economic theory emphasizes that entrepreneurs have an important role in transforming spillovers of knowledge into innovation and growth. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the extant literature on regional innovation with an analysis that probes deeper into the mechanism by which related variety fosters innovation, and to examine how knowledge appropriation mechanisms affects the entrepreneurial opportunities that external knowledge presents. Our empirical analysis employs a moderated and mediated model with non-linear knowledge spillover effects of related variety. We use panel data on 60 Swedish functional analysis regions for the years 2008–2016 and estimate fixed effects models to examine the relationships between related variety, regional innovation and entrepreneurship. Conceptually, our results disentangle the effects of regional knowledge stocks and related variety on the rate at which new ideas are commercialized through entrepreneurship. We find a substantial direct effect of knowledge stocks, and an important indirect effect via knowledge spillovers between cognitively similar firms. A key contribution of this paper is that we show that this effect is conditional on the extent to which knowledge appropriation mechanisms are implemented, which has not been adressed in the literature on knowledge spillover effects of related variety before. Another novel contribution of this paper is that we find evidence of diminishing marginal returns to related variety with respect to innovation and entrepreneurship.
This study suggests that stressors can be productive for self-efficacy and that the influence of stressors on self-efficacy is nonlinear. Analyses were conducted with ordinary least squares regression on a dataset covering responses from 311 deans in Swedish secondary schools. Results support the hypothesized U-shape relationship between role conflict and self-efficacy and the inverted U-shape relationship between role ambiguity and self-efficacy. Thus, findings offer evidence for nonlinear effects of stressors on the level of incumbents' self-efficacy. This research has implications for further research focused on the association between role stressors and self-efficacy.
The purpose of this study is to discuss and analyze an empirical investigation performed in the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten in Sweden. Specifically, the aim was to identify and value potentials and pitfalls in the development of tourism in the northern part of Sweden. In doing so we, among other things, discuss potential meeting places for interactivities, possibilities for collaboration, problem solutions and need for capacitating expressed from predecessor for officials, non profit organizations, educational sector and industrial life. The study results are based on a textual analysis of strategic documents and interviews with representatives for tourism business, organizations and officials. The content analysis of strategic documents from the municipalities represented in this research contains methods, aims and objectives for developing leisure and tourism. A total of 14 representatives from the county of Norrbotten and Västerbotten were interviewed and thereby contributed to the present study. It is possible to cluster these persons into four distinguished groups: 1) civil servants/destination developers from municipalities, 2) civil servants from county councils/university, 3) companies and 4) associations active with tourism activities. Civil servants from the municipalities Umeå, Skellefteå, Boden, and Piteå were interviewed. Two representatives came from the county of Västerbotten and one from the county of Norrbotten. One researcher from the county of Västerbotten was interviewed as well. Umeå and Skellefteå are situated in the county of Västerbotten and have 110 000 and 72 000 inhabitants respectively. Piteå and Boden with 41 000 and 28 100 inhabitants respectively are situated in the county of Norrbotten. Result from interviews of destination developers as well as entrepreneurs indicate clear possibilities for developing leisure and tourism in both counties. Furthermore, interview results underline that northern part of Sweden is interesting for several tourism groups as the brand has been successfully developed over the last years. However, results from this study also point at some important areas in need of further development. Firstly, this study highlights the importance of developing strategically plans on county and local levels but as well to develop a strategic plan which crosses the boarders of the regions municipalities and counties to avoid sub-optimation and other types of difficulties related to decentralization. Secondly, the region is in need of a joint work force to coordinate an package attractions and experiences for prospective and existing tourists. Thirdly, an increased discussion and work on sustainability and accessibility is needed to prepare the region for future tourist needs. Sustainable leisure and tourism will be more important in the future at the same time as we can expect increases in numbers of tourists, which can be viewed as somewhat of a paradox. Fifthly, this study also highlights the importance of developing a program for education of tourism entrepreneurs. Several of the interviewed destination developers and tourism entrepreneurs mentioned the need to improve the level of education among tourism entrepreneurs as this is viewed important to be able to meet needs and expectations from an increasing amount of tourists. Finally, host ship and services from each citizen in this part of Sweden will be critical factors for success or fail.
Innovation has been widely recognized as the key strategic activity for growth and success of small firms. However, small firms due to internal barriers (e.g. financial and human resources) and external barriers (e.g. external environment) are obstructed in developing innovation. Thus, it is critical to increase the understanding of how small firms can attain innovation. One perspective in the literature is the resource-based view of the firm. In this perspective it is generally proposed that a firms potential to be innovative lies in its ability to utilize different organizational capabilities. We follow this logic and propose two externally oriented capabilities that promote (Network capability) and facilitate (Information and communication technology capability) social networking practices. We argue these capabilities to be of importance especially in a small firm context and we hypothesize that their individual and joint effects on innovation are positive. We further acknowledge recent developments in the literature which suggest that capabilities are dependent on firm internal conditions such as flexibility and production. We therefore also include organizational slack and consider a three-way interaction effect between slack and the two proposed capabilities. Our basic argument is that capabilities will pay off for innovation when firms have slack resources. We also test howincreases in innovation influences firm performance. As such we suggest that innovation has a mediating role between capabilities and performance. We test the hypotheses based on a two year longitudinal dataset of Swedish technology-based small firms (less than 50 employees). In total 291 full responses were included out of the originally 1471 firms surveyed, for a response rate of 20%. Main analyses are lagged regression with control for the dependent variables influence at t-1. Results show innovativeness to be positively and significantly related to performance, even when performing controls for previous years of performance. We find a significant three-way interaction effect between the two suggested capabilities and slack on innovation, and support that innovation mediates the influence between capabilities and performance. As such, we find evidence that externally oriented capabilities in conjuncture with organizational slack are important for the level of firm innovation, and that their influence on renewal through innovation also help determine future performance.
This study examines the influence of network capability (the ability to use external relationships), information and communications technology (ICT) capability (the ability to strategically use ICT for business purposes), and financial slack (unused and uncommitted financial resources) on the innovation performance of small firms. This extends the current resource-based view and small firm innovation management literatures by proposing the direct and interactive effects of organizational capabilities and financial slack. The results of regression analysis based on survey data from technology-based Swedish small firms show that the three-way interaction involving network capability, ICT capability, and financial slack influences innovation performance.
Does expected partner or task related criteria affect how trust and loyalty is developed between tourism firms? This paper poses a model developed on the assumption that well defined partner and task related partner expectations and experienced trust build loyalty between tourism firms. The model provides a more precise assessment for scholars that believe trust is related to the risk associated with personal relationships between two or more firms, and that risk depends on expectations derived from personal relationships. The model also integrates the role of experienced trust in transforming different partner selection criteria into loyalty. The contribution of the model is that it provides insights into cooperative relationships by examining the role of trust between small tourism firms when cooperation is being established. Data from a sample of 99 tourism firms in the Northern U.S. is used to test the model. The findings provide implications for tourism scholars and policymakers interested in developing managerial strategies based on personal relationships.
Studies on Product–Service Systems (PSS) are emerging as a growing body of literature driven by the desire to combine economic prosperity and sustainable resource management. However, knowledge about how companies can adopt and implement PSS has remained limited. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted related to understanding implementation of PSS business models and five sets of tactical practices. Based on an in-depth analysis of 67 articles, it was found that PSS is increasing rapidly as a research field, which is spread across a variety of disciplines and research domains. More specifically, research findings were accumulated from the field to present a framework supporting the implementation of well-established categories of PSS business models, that is, product-oriented, use-oriented, and result-oriented business models. Each business model category is linked to five operational-level tactics that ensure the model can be implemented successfully and subsequently generates value. These tactical sets include 1) contracts, 2) marketing, 3) networks, 4) product and service design, and 5) sustainability operational practices. This study concludes by proposing suggestions for future research.
Product- Service Systems (PSS) and business model share the emphasis on value creation. Still PSS literature uses the term business models vaguely without being clearly understood. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to develop a framework that structures and integrates the various ways the term business model is used in PSS literature by pointing out the connection to strategy and tactics. This is done by conducting a systematic literature review. The findings are aggregated in a framework that proposes that a business model is chosen based on the strategy and that tactics are the residual choice after the business model is chosen. Four tactical sets, contract, marketing, network and product design, have been identified from the literature to be most relevant for PSS business models. The analysis of the tactics relates them to the PSS categories.
Despite the possibility of burnout resulting from dynamics in firms' upper echelons, little if any work has focused on chief executive officer's (CEO's) burnout and firm performance. Drawing on managerial discretion theory, this article analyzes the influence of CEO burnout on firm performance and the moderating roles of the individual (CEO locus of control), structural power (CEO duality and CEO tenure), and organizational characteristics (size, age, and resource availability) related to managerial discretion. Using a sample of 156 CEOs in Swedish firms, we find a negative association between CEOs who report higher burnout and firm performance. Our results confirm that CEO duality and resource availability ameliorate and firm size exacerbates the negative association between CEO burnout and firm performance. Contrary to our expectations, CEO locus of control, CEO tenure, and firm age do not influence this relationship. We discuss the implications of our research for upper echelons theory and strategic leadership theory.
Traditionally, the economic literature has argued that regional economic success requires physical proximity of actors, close access to larger markets/ customers, and availability to utilise different kinds of knowledge and support resources. Previous research, such as Michael Porter’s studies on clusters or Richard Florida’s studies on the creative class, have underpinned an understanding that metropolitan areas (and metropolitan areas only) possess the conditions required for developing into hubs for a dynamic development and highly specialised activities. The concept of geographical proximity is defined by the absolute and relative spatial or physical distances between economic actors (Boschma, 2005). In previous research, it has been claimed that spatial concentration could lead to enhanced knowledge development. Close distances make information contacts and exchange of tacit knowledge easier, and the opposite - larger distances - makes such transfer more difficult (Howells, 2002).
Participating in inter-firm networks has become increasingly popular to enhance corporate entrepreneurship. Trust, relationship diversity and knowledge transfer are considered some of the prominent cornerstones of well-functioning networks. Using longitudinal survey data covering a population of 41 firms operating in two SME networks, we examine cause-effect relationships between interorganizational trust, relationship diversity and knowledge transfer, and corporate entrepreneurship among networking firms. We found a causal influence of knowledge transfer and relational diversity on corporate entrepreneurship. Our approach also identified self-enforcing spirals between network constructs and corporate entrepreneurship. Firms displaying high corporate entrepreneurship may stimulate the creation of relationships such as those characterized by high knowledge transfer that, in turn, are relationship characteristics that stimulate corporate entrepreneurship.
Strategic SME networks have received significant policy attention, yet a review of the current literature reveals limited attention to the factors that contribute to network innovation. This study examines the influence of the number of member firms (network size), the extent to which a network is based on firm incentives (bottom-up formation), and the extent of development of the governance structure (size of administrative function) on a network's innovative performance. Latent growth modeling with longitudinal data from 53 networks reveals that larger networks and bottom-up formed networks achieve greater innovative performance, and that the administrative function partially mediates these effects.
Strategic small and medium-sized enterprise networks have received significant policy attention for their potential role in improving innovation, but a review of the literature reveals merely anecdotal evidence. This article extends previous findings by researching the influence of network size, bottom-up formation, and size of administrative function on network innovative performance. By using longitudinal data from 53 strategic SME networks and latent growth modeling, we find that larger networks and networks formed by members achieve greater innovative performance and tend to enlarge their administrative function more rapidly, which also influences the level and growth of network innovative performance.
This cross-lagged longitudinal study investigates relationships between a firm's relational characteristics (knowledge transferability, trust, and diversity) and corporate entrepreneurship. We use survey and interview material covering an entire population of firms in two strategic small firm networks. Structural equation modeling is used to compare four competing causal models: (1) a stability model without cross-lagged structural paths, (2) a regular causation model (relational characteristics influences corporate entrepreneurship), (3) a reverse causation model (corporate entrepreneurship influences relational characteristics), and (4) a reciprocal causation model (both regular and reverse causation combined). We found support for the reciprocal causation model.
An increasing number of firms participate in inter-firm networks to improve their innovation, renewal, and venturing; efforts that can be termed ‘corporate entrepreneurship’. This article contributes to the literature by developing and testing explanations for how partner fit (that is, complementary capabilities and organizational compatibilities) influences networking firms’ corporate entrepreneurship. Using survey data on SMEs engaged in strategic networks with multiple partners, we found support for an argument suggesting that partner fit requires mediating variables to unleash the potential synergies of partner fit for corporate entrepreneurship. Specifically, our results suggest partner fit triggers resource leverage through processes of both combining resources and accumulating resources from interaction with network partners. Thus, a positive indirect relationship between partner fit and corporate entrepreneurship is present.
To reach the global sustainability goals, multinationals, regardless of origin, play a significant role. Given their market power and globally distributed operations, they have the position to either accelerate or inhibit sustainability changes. Knowledge about how corporate sustainability (CS) develops within internationalization strategies such as post-acquisition integration is, however, sparse. The purpose of this paper was to analyze and evaluate the development of CS strategies of originally distant companies within an international post-acquisition context. The paper drew on the resource-based view (RBV) to provide a holistically integrated framework for the systematic evaluation of CS strategies and applied the framework to a longitudinal in-depth case study. Findings indicated that long-term perspective, partnering approach and, emphases on learning positively influenced the integration process and the maturity level of the common corporate sustainability strategies. In contributing with an in-depth understanding of strategic CS integration within a post-acquisition case, the study generated implications for proactive management in similar post-acquisition contexts. While the focus of this paper was neither on the differences in legislations and regulations as influencing factors nor on the national and organizational culture and their impact on the integration of strategic CS, these are relevant areas of interest, and future research could consider incorporating those into the new evaluation framework.
Principal Topic Innovation goes hand in hand with creativity and freedom. Yet, with separation of ownership and governance, too much freedom might invoke a host of issues associated with the agency problem. Monitoring has been cited as one of the universal cures against agency-related issues. Though effective in most cases, whether or not (and to what extent) monitoring is beneficial when tasks in question are highly innovative remains under-researched. We explore relationships between monitoring and innovative performance in the context of Swedish strategic small- and medium-size networks (SME networks). Strategic SME networks consist of geographically proximate independent but related small- and medium-sized firms that cooperate to improve their innovative stature by means of multilateral intra-network technology and know-how exchange. As the degree of intra-network cooperation differs between the membership firms, and there is a possibility for free-riding, the networks often establish boards responsible for monitoring network innovative activities. Effects of such monitoring are the main focus of our study. MethodTo tackle the questions posed by the study, we used five-year panel data on 53 Swedish networks collected through extensive telephone interviews and questionnaires from network representatives and policy makers responsible for the network support throughout the country. Both linear and non-linear effects were examined. Given the nature of our data, we employed a within estimator with first-order autoregressive disturbance term as suggested by the appropriate econometric tests.Results and ImplicationsOur results indicate that having board members compensation determined by the outcomes of the innovative activities of the member firms significantly improves network innovative performance. At the same time, relationships between network board independence and size, and innovation performance are more complex. While remaining positive, effect of the network board size on innovative performance diminishes. Effect of the board independence, on the other hand, remains positive only up to a certain threshold beyond which board independence actually hampers network innovative performance. Our findings help resolve some of the controversies reported by the previous literature, suggest several areas for future work on network board composition in strategic SME networks context, and contribute to entrepreneurship, agency, and networks literatures.
With growing public and private support of networks of small and medium-sized firms, many networks rely on network boards to ensure effective governance. By integrating agency and embeddedness reasoning, this article argues that network board composition aimed at effective monitoring may be at the cost of lost ability to strategize. In this study, longitudinal data of Swedish government-supported innovation networks demonstrate that network innovation improves as network board size increases, but that returns to such increases diminish when boards become overly large. Similarly, network board independence is beneficial up to a certain threshold, after which further increases in independence become detrimental. The study clarifies how agency and embeddedness theory can be combined to explain boards’ abilities to combine monitoring and strategizing at the network level in increasing the levels of network innovation
This article examines the effects of network board capital (i.e., human capital and relational capital) on total, radical and incremental network innovative performance. Results from a five-year longitudinal study of network boards in 53 strategic networks suggest that a network board's diversity, education level, and interlocking directorates with other such networks affect network innovative performance. The degree of board diversity and interlocking directorates primarily influence incremental innovation, whereas education level influences radical innovation. The study finds that a network board's diversity of expertise and education level are important for improving all components of innovative performance (total, radical and incremental) in smaller networks. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
This paper elaborate upon how cooperate problems with partners can restrict a firm's ability to extract value from network ties when in a strategic network. In a four-year study based on 82 observations of 41 firms, we find support for that the interaction between cooperativeness among the partners that a focal firm is tied to (i.e., positive orientation toward resource contribution) together with network tie properties (i.e. strength of ties and betweenness centrality) improves firm performance. No influences were found for the interaction involving degree centrality and partner cooperativeness. We discuss implications and provide suggestions to further research.
In this paper we extend previous research by combining network structural and network process approaches. Specifically, in a six-year, three-wave study of 41 firms in two strategic networks, we found that the interaction between generalized reciprocity among a focal firm's partners and network tie intensity and betweenness centrality improved firm performance. No influences were observed for the interaction involving degree centrality and generalized reciprocity. Our research suggests that managers in strategic networks may need to consider the balance between relationship-extensive and relationship-intensive strategies