Table of Contents
Preface ix
Chapter 1 A Jungle or a Rainforest? 1
Business in Practice and in Theory 2
The Need for and Danger of Metaphors 4
Business in Practice: Recognizing and Using the Characteristics of the Rainforest 7
Content and Organization of this Book 9
Part I Business Networks in Action 11
Chapter 2 Interaction as a Way of Dealing with Relatedness, Variety and Motion 13
The Need for a Different Theoretical Approach 13
A Business Landscape Populated by Interacting Companies 17
Interaction and the Larger Business Landscape 26
Chapter 3 Analysing Business Interaction 27
The Idea of Business Interaction 27
Interaction Processes Between Companies 29
An Initial Conceptualization of Interaction 30
ARA Model 33
Interaction and Time 35
Interaction and Space 38
A Model of the Interaction Process 41
Conclusion 45
Chapter 4 Doing Business: Exploiting Time and Space 47
Taking Advantage of Development over Time 48
Taking Advantage of Spatial Development 53
The Company in the Interactive Business Landscape 62
Part II Elements of Business Networks 63
Chapter 5 Interaction and Resources 65
Economic Resources in the IMP Framework 65
A Business Landscape Full of Resources 68
Resources and Business: Basic Propositions 69
An Interactive World Full of Resources 71
Combining New and Existing Resources 73
Resources and Multiple Contexts 76
Tensions Between Resources 80
Business Relationships and Resource Development and Use 81
Resources in Time 84
Resources in Space 87
Conclusion 90
Chapter 6 Interaction and Activities 93
A Business Landscape Full of Activities 93
Activities: Basic Propositions 96
The Activity Layer 98
Activities in IMP Research 99
The Activity Pattern Around 101
Central Features of Activities 103
A Framework for Activity Pattern Analysis 111
Balancing Activity Patterns: Three Illustrations 121
Conclusion 128
Chapter 7 Interaction and Actors 131
A Business Landscape Full of Actors 132
Actors in the IMP Framework 134
The Idea of the Business Actor 137
Distinctive Features of Actors in Interaction 140
Analysing Interacting Actors 150
Challenges in Conceptualizing Actors 153
Conclusion 159
Part III Business Networks as an Analytical Tool 161
Chapter 8 Management and Business Relationships 163
Introduction 163
When Management Theory is Coloured by the Idea of a Market 164
The Nature and Task of Managing in Markets 165
Relationships Observed from a Market-Based Management Perspective 166
Conclusion 179
Chapter 9 Managing in the Business Network 183
Introduction 183
The Relationship as a Unit of Analysis 185
How Do Companies Interact? 187
How Should Companies Interact? 190
Managing and the Interacting Company 193
Networking in Business Networks 198
Conclusion 205
Chapter 10 Evolution of the Business Landscape 209
Introduction 209
Time and the Business Landscape 210
Narrative of the Evolution of Economic Organization 212
Re-interpreting Business Evolution 217
Network View of Business Evolution 224
Conclusion 232
Chapter 11 Networks and Industrial Policy 235
Network - One Word but Many Meanings 235
On What Principles Do Network Policies Rest? 237
Taiwanese Semiconductor Development - From Virgin Land to a Successful Business Network? 240
The Heaviness of Business Networks 245
What Is in the Shadow of a Successful Network? 250
Light Side and Dark Side of Networks 253
What Can Policy-makers Do for Innovation? 254
Conclusion 259
Chapter 12 Living in the Business Rainforest 261
The Rainforest Metaphor 261
Living in the Rainforest 264
The Entrepreneur in the Business Rainforest 265
The CEO in the Business Rainforest 267
The Financial Accountant in the Business Rainforest 269
The Consumer in the Business Rainforest 270
The Politician in the Business Rainforest 272
Conclusion 273
Appendix: Dissertations related to IMP 275
References 279
Index 299
