Title: Diagnosing entrepreneurial networks: using failure mode and effect analysis

Authors: Mohammad Zarei; Sayed Mohammed Talebi; Behrouz Zarei

Addresses: Department of Corporate Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Farshi Moghadam (16 St.), North Kargar Ave., Tehran 14174-66191, Iran ' Department of Business Creation, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Farshi Moghadam (16 St.), North Kargar Ave., Tehran 14174-66191, Iran ' Department of Corporate Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Farshi Moghadam (16 St.), North Kargar Ave., Tehran 14174-66191, Iran

Abstract: While entrepreneurial networks are crucial for entrepreneurs in terms of acquiring resources and recognising opportunities, a few practical tools have been introduced to diagnose such networks. Using a longitudinal action research as a methodology during a six-month period we attempted to analyse and improve an entrepreneurial network. For this aim a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) from Iranian floral industry was chosen to be closely investigated. We contributed to the field by employing failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) as a technique for discovering potential failures in the entrepreneur's network. The results showed that, not only FMEA has a great potential to be employed by entrepreneurs for analysing their business networks, but also the technique can help entrepreneurs to increase the overall performance of their businesses by predicting and avoiding failure risks. Furthermore, the results declared that, FMEA can also help entrepreneurs to manage their business relationships with their key actors in an efficient way.

Keywords: entrepreneurial networks; business networks; social capital; entrepreneurship; egocentric studies; ties in social networks; network visualisation; action researches; failure mode and effect analysis; FMEA; potential failures risks; risk priority number; RPN.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2019.097960

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2019 Vol.17 No.3, pp.361 - 383

Received: 31 May 2017
Accepted: 21 Jan 2018
Published online: 25 Feb 2019 *

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