Title: An examination of a reciprocal relationship between network governance and network structure

Authors: Carsten Bergenholtz, Rene Chester Goduscheit

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Aarhus University, Haslegaardsvej 10, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark. ' Integrative Innovation Management, Department of Marketing and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Niels Bohrs Alle 1, 5230 Odense M, Denmark

Abstract: In the present article, we examine the network structure and governance of inter-organisational innovation networks over time. Network governance refers to the issue of how to manage and coordinate the relational activities and processes in the network while research on network structure deals with the overall structural relations between the actors in the network. These streams of research do contain references to each other but they mainly rely on a static conception of the relationship between network structure and the applied network governance. Based on a case study of a loosely coupled Danish inter-organisational innovation network, the proposition is that a reciprocal relationship between network governance and network structure can be identified. Such a reciprocal relationship involves theoretical and practical implications for how to govern an inter-organisational network.

Keywords: network governance; network structure; inter-organisational networks; network change; case study; innovation networks; Denmark.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSBA.2011.040885

International Journal of Strategic Business Alliances, 2011 Vol.2 No.3, pp.171 - 188

Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

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