Networking network studies: an analysis of conceptual configurations in the study of inter-organizational relationships

There has been an impressive accumulation of studies focusing on interorganizational relations and networks during the last decade. However, the growth in the number of these studies seemingly does not ensure a clear accumulation of knowledge or even conceptual consolidation. To the contrary, the increase in the number of studies has contributed to a rather messy situation marked by a cacophony of heterogeneous concepts, theories, and research results. Other scholars in their reviews of research on interorganizational relations and networks tend to agree (Powell and Smith-Doerr 1994). Nohria (1992: 3), for example, states: 'Anyone reading through what purports to be network literature will readily perceive the analogy between it and a "terminological jungle in which any newcomer may plant a tree".'

Indeed, the richness and variety of research that has been devoted to the analysis of inter-organizational relations and networks over recent years is breath-taking (for overviews and reviews see Alter and Hage 1993; Auster 1994; Axelsson and Easton 1992; Burt 1992; Contractor and Lorange 1988; Ebers 1997; Ebers and Jarillo 1998; Gulati 1995; Grabher 1993; Grandori and Soda 1995; Hakansson and Snehota 1995; Jarillo 1993; Mizruchi 1994; Mizruchi and Galaskiewicz 1993; Nohria and Eccles 1992; Osborn and Hagedoorn 1997; Powell and Smith-Doerr 1994; Staber et al. 1996; Swedberg 1997; Sydow 1992, 1996).

Yet is the field really as fragmented and disjointed as the above citation suggests? Or are there some common themes, perspectives and research agenda that unite the apparently disparate contributions? Are there some substantive or structural beacons within the field that can provide orientation when studying the messy landscape of inter-organizational relations and pertinent research? And have these beacons - should they exist - led researchers to devote more attention to some areas of inquiry while leaving others in the dark?

This paper attempts to answer these questions and thus to contribute to overcoming the rather 'messy situation' now confronting us. We intend to develop a somewhat clearer and less complex picture of the state-of-the-art of research on inter-organizational relations and networks. In contrast to earlier reviews of the field, we pursue this end by applying an innovative methodology by which we analyze the forest of research on interorganizational relations and networks rather than its individual trees. More specifically, we present a network analysis of studies of inter-organizational relations and networks. That is, we literally 'map' research on interorganizational relations and networks and explore the patterns that underlie this research by means of network analytical and other methods. As a result of our empirical analysis of the literature, we outline the core theories and concepts that have been employed in past research and their interrelations. At the same time, we point out some peripheral or even deserted areas of research interest that remain to be filled. In this way, we can provide orientation for researchers who are not entirely familiar with the field of study, its main schools of thought, its core concepts and their inter-relations. Moreover, by identifying areas of common research interest, overlap and conceptual inter-relations, our analyses offer a point of departure for an intensified dialogue among specialized research interests and schools of thought. This could possibly trigger some potentially fruitful cross-fertilization among different research perspectives, and identify new avenues for future research.

The paper is organized as follows. First, we broadly define and characterize what we see as the field of inter-organizational network research in order to develop some criteria for the selection and analysis of our empirical sample. Second, the method section describes our data base and the variables we analyze, as well as the analytical techniques that we employ to provide answers to these questions. Third, the results section presents some descriptive statistics of our findings, as well as the results of our network and configurational analyses. Fourth, we discuss these results and outline some implications. In concluding, we summarize and address some shortcomings of our study.

The Object of Enquiry: Research on Inter-organizational Relations and Networks

If one wants to analyze the field of research on inter-organizational relations and networks, it is necessary to somehow determine which individual pieces of research are part of it, and which are not. Given the impressive variety of research that we indicated at the outset, and the blurred boundaries of the field, this is not an easy task. Obviously, what all pertinent studies should share is that they should somehow focus on inter-organizational relations or networks. While both these strands of the literature choose different research loci and have taken distinct developments, they also share important research interests, which is why, for the purposes of our analyses, we shall view them together. Generally stated, both focus on sets of recurring ties (e.g. resource, friendship, informational ties) among a set of actors (e.g. individuals, groups, organizations, etc.); and both aim at identifying why actors forge which specific linkages under different circumstances, and what consequences entail from the inter-organizational links and the positions of actors within their relationships (Fombrun 1982; Mizruchi 1994; Powell and Smith-Doerr 1994; Stinchcombe 1990). Based on this general characterization, for the purposes of our study, we intend to cover all research that focuses on how organizational actors (be they individuals, collectives, or corporate actors), from different organizations, are linked with one another. Accordingly, the population of our study is defined as 'all studies dealing with any type of inter-organizational relations', which thus excludes intra-organizational studies. Only for ease of parlance, shall we refer in the following to this body of research as 'interorganizational network research', and subsume under this label both studies of bilateral inter-organizational relationships (for example joint ventures between two parties) and of networks among multiple actors.