Title: Start-ups' achievement of competitive advantages through network relations

Authors: Sari Roininen

Addresses: Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences, Lulea University of Technology, SE-97187 Lulea, Sweden

Abstract: Inter-organisational relations are viewed as sources of essential information, resources, and capabilities, improving the innovativeness and performance of small ventures. There is however a lack of research investigating inter-organisational cooperation among new ventures and its effect on firm competitiveness. This study investigates how new ventures achieve competitive advantages through network relations. The results, targeting a sample of 171 Swedish start-ups, highlight the significance of strong ties for new ventures| competitive advantages, especially among complex new ventures: the less familiar methods and the more task variety a new venture has, the stronger the link is between tie strength and achieved competitiveness.

Keywords: start-ups; new venture creation; venture complexity; networks; tie strength; trust; competitive advantage; performance; entrepreneurship; inter-organisational cooperation; inter-organisational relationships; innovation; Sweden; competitiveness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTE.2008.020540

International Journal of Technoentrepreneurship, 2008 Vol.1 No.3, pp.278 - 295

Published online: 29 Sep 2008 *

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