An empirical investigation of Network-Oriented Behaviors in Business-to-Business Markets

This study is concerned with the extent to which network-oriented behaviors directly and/or indirectly affect firm performance. It argues that a firm's interaction behaviors in relation to an embedded network structure are key mechanisms that facilitate the development of important organizational capabilities in dealing with business partners. Such network-oriented behaviors, which are aimed at affecting the position of a company in the network, are consequently important drivers of firm performance, rather than the network structure alone. We develop a conceptual model that captures network-oriented behaviors as a driving force of firm performance in relation to three other key organizational behaviors, i.e., customer-oriented, competitor-oriented and relationship-oriented behaviors. We test the hypothesized model using a dataset of 354 responses collected via an on-line questionnaire from UK managers, whose organizations operate in business-to-business markets in either the manufacturing or services sectors. This study provides four key findings. First, a firm's networkoriented behaviors positively affect the development of customer-oriented and competitor-oriented behaviors. Secondly, they also foster relationship coordination with its important business partners within the network. Thirdly, the effective management of the firm's portfolio of relationships is found to mediate the positive impact of network-oriented behaviors on firm profitability. Lastly, closeness to end-users amplifies the positive effect of network-oriented behaviors on relationship portfolio effectiveness

A Relational Hyperlink Analysis of an Online Social Movement

In this paper we propose relational hyperlink analysis (RHA) as a distinct approach for empirical social science research into hyperlink networks on the World Wide Web. We demonstrate this approach, which employs the ideas and techniques of social network analysis (in particular, exponential random graph modeling), in a study of the hyperlinking behaviors of Australian asylum advocacy groups. We show that compared with the commonly-used hyperlink counts regression approach, relational hyperlink analysis can lead to fundamentally different conclusions about the social processes underpinning hyperlinking behavior. In particular, in trying to understand why social ties are formed, counts regressions may over-estimate the role of actor attributes in the formation of hyperlinks when endogenous, purely structural network effects are not taken into account. Our analysis involves an innovative joint use of two software programs: VOSON, for the automated retrieval and processing of considerable quantities of hyperlink data, and LPNet, for the statistical modeling of social network data. Together, VOSON and LPNet enable new and unique research into social networks in the online world, and our paper highlights the importance of complementary research tools for social science research into the web

Organizational Culture and Network Embeddedness

A question that has been neglected in network research is where differences in network embeddedness come from.The network literature reveals that there are three key characteristics of embedded relationships: trust, open communication, and joint problem solving.On the basis of the sparse empirical studies of factors leading to network embeddedness, we identify organizational culture as a potentially important organizational-level factor.Building on empirical organizational culture studies we select ten dimensions of organizational culture that for theoretical and/or empirical reasons can be linked to network embeddedness, and formulate propositions concerning their effects.corporate culture;networks

Between a rock and a hard place: corporate elites in the context of religion and secularism in Turkey

Drawing on discourse analyses of 36 in-depth interviews with elite business people from Turkey, the study identifies the networking patterns of new and established business elites in the context of economic liberalization and socioreligious transformation of the country. Through a comparative analysis of the so-called secular and religious elite networks, we demonstrate the role of institutional actors such as the government, and identity networks, based on religion and place of birth in shaping the form and content of social networks among business elites in Turkey. In order to achieve this, we operationalize Bourdieu's notion of theory of practice and Granovetter's theory of social networks, illustrating the utility of combining these approaches in explicating the form and content of social networks in their situated contexts, in which power and divergent interests are negotiated.Galatasaray University Research Fund [grant number 12.102.005]

Social Media And Health: Implications For Primary Health Care Providers

This report is the second deliverable of the ?Digital Inclusion and Social Knowledge Media for Health: Frameworks and Roadmaps? project. The first discussed the concept of social and digital exclusion whilst this report focuses on the emerging phenomenon of social media. The report outlines current knowledge on the users and usages of social media for health and goes on to discuss social media in the context of a continuing focus (ref. D1.1) on the areas of mental health, smoking cessation and teenage lifestyles. The report concludes with an outline of an approach to a ?social media strategy? and with suggestions for directions for future research

Desistance, reflexivity and relationality : a case study

This paper presents the analysis of a single life-story drawn from a larger study examining theindividual, relational and structural contributions to the desistance process. The emphasis here is on the contributions of key social relations in ‘Evan’s’ narrative of change. How people relate to one another, and what these relationships mean to them both as individuals and together, are critical aspects of understanding the role of social relations in desistance. This paper concludes by considering how penal practices might generate and sustain the kinds of social capital and reflexive, relational networks relevant to desistance

The co-evolution of emotional well-being with weak and strong friendship ties

Social ties are strongly related to well-being. But what characterizes this relationship? This study investigates social mechanisms explaining how social ties affect well-being through social integration and social influence, and how well-being affects social ties through social selection. We hypothesize that highly integrated individuals - those with more extensive and dense friendship networks - report higher emotional well-being than others. Moreover, emotional well-being should be influenced by the well-being of close friends. Finally, well-being should affect friendship selection when individuals prefer others with higher levels of well-being, and others whose well-being is similar to theirs. We test our hypotheses using longitudinal social network and well-being data of 117 individuals living in a graduate housing community. The application of a novel extension of Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models for ordered networks (ordered SAOMs) allows us to detail and test our hypotheses for weak- and strong-tied friendship networks simultaneously. Results do not support our social integration and social influence hypotheses but provide evidence for selection: individuals with higher emotional well-being tend to have more strong-tied friends, and there are homophily processes regarding emotional well-being in strong-tied networks. Our study highlights the two-directional relationship between social ties and well-being, and demonstrates the importance of considering different tie strengths for various social processes