Knowledge networks in high-tech clusters: a multilevel perspective on interpersonal and inter-organizational collaboration

This study contributes to research on knowledge networks in high-tech clusters by adding a multilevel perspective. We show that while informal individual-level and formal organizational-level knowledge networks created by nested actors partly follow their own structural logic, they are at the same time logically intertwined. Interpersonal knowledge ties influence the maintenance of formal R&D collaborations and vice versa. To fully understand knowledge exchange in high-tech clusters it is therefore necessary to take a multilevel network perspective. Our study shows how these organizational-level and individual-level knowledge networks are mutually influential. Focusing on knowledge networks emerging in the context of regional clusters, we highlight how R&D collaborations among organizations impact the interpersonal exchange of knowledge among managers and researchers and vice versa. Taking a multilevel network perspective, we extend the existing understanding of knowledge networks by demonstrating that individuals who are willing to share their knowledge with colleagues belong to organizations involved in many R&D collaborations. These managers and their organizations thus benefit from each others’ central positions in the networks by having access to extensive sources of external knowledge. However, the opposite holds true when managers and researchers informally ask for knowledge from many of their colleagues. Our results show that extensive knowledge-seekers belong to organizations with fewer formal R&D collaborations. This can either be a sign of them trying to compensate for the lack of organizational-level collaborations or that they are harming their organizations’ chances to find collaboration partners. Finally, if two organizations collaborate on a joint R&D project there is a good chance that their managers and researchers also informally exchange knowledge with each other. Formal and informal knowledge networks thus overlap and open up the potential to realize synergies. We draw conclusions about whether individuals acquire knowledge independent of the opportunity structures provided by their organizations and thus fully exploit the possibilities provided by clusters

Inter-organizational network influence on long term and short term inter-individual relationships: The Case of a Trade Fair for TV Programs Distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa

International audienceIn this chapter we study the influence of inter-organizational relationships on the formation of inter-individual relationships in the context of a trade fair. From a multilevel network analysis perspective (MNA), research often shows that inter-organizational ties have a strong influence on inter-individual relationship formation and vice-versa. This mutual influence can be seen as a process of adjustment between levels of action that Lazega (Chap. 2 of this volume, and forthcoming) calls “synchronization.” Our study provides insights into specific aspects of this synchronization process. Through the study of a trade fair for TV program distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, we study the influence of inter-organizational ties (deals and partnerships) on short-term-inter-individual relationships created during this ‘field-configuring event’ and on long-term relationships created outside the trade fair but reactivated during the event. We try to understand how this event participates in the formation of a social milieu in which the markets for TV programs in Africa are embedded. We argue that the multilevel influences are different for short-term and long-term inter-individual ties. We assume that inter-organizational networks are more stable than inter-individual networks, since individuals can more easily create and destroy ties. Through our case study, we show that while the inter-organizational contract network influences the long-term inter-individual network, it has a weak influence on the short-term relationships, which supports the idea that synchronization of levels is an important social problem, and that trade fairs are a way either to escape from the constraints that come attached in markets, or a way to manage them