Creating a Strategic Center to Manage a Web of Partners

Miles R. Snow C. , “Network Organizations: New Concepts for New Forms,” California Management Review (Spring 1992); Handy Charles , The Age of Unreason (London: Business Books, 1989); Johnston R. Lawrence P. , “Beyond Vertical Integration—The Rise of the Value-Adding Partnership,” Harvard Business Review, 66 (July/August 1988): 94–101; Rappaport A.S. Halevi S. , “The Computerless Company,” Harvard Business Review, 69 (July/August 1991): 69–80; Norman R. Ramirez R. , “From Value Chain to Value Constellation: Designing Interactive Strategy,” Harvard Business Review (July/August 1993), pp. 65–77.

Snow C.C. Miles R.E. Coleman H.J. , “Managing 21st Century Organizations,” Organizational Dynamics (Winter 1992), pp. 5–20.

These firms include: Benetton, Apple, Corning, and medium-sized Italian food machinery producers Sasib, GD, and Ima. We also conducted interviews in organizations that had tried but (as yet) were less successful in managing webs of partnerships, including several Scottish knitwear firms, a major European appliance firm, a European aerospace defense contractor, and a major European computing firm.

See, for instance, Quinn J.B. , The intelligent Enterprise: A Knowledge and Service Based Paradigm for Industry (New York, NY: Free Press 1992).

Reich R.B. Mankin E.D. , “Joint Ventures With Japan Give Away Our Future.” Harvard Business Review (March/April 1986), pp. 78–86.

Bleeke J. Ernst D. , “The Way to Win in Cross Border Alliances,” Harvard Business Review, 69 (November/December 1991): 127–135.

Hamel G. , “Learning in International Alliances,” Strategic Management Journal, 12 (1991): 83–103.

Badaracco J.L. , The Knowledge Link: How Firms Compete Through Strategic Alliances (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1991).

The importance of competence-based approaches has been stressed by Teece D.J. Pisano G. Shuen A. , “Firm Capabilities, Resources and the Concept Of Strategy,” Center for Research in Management, University of California at Berkeley, December 1990.

Houghton J.R. , Chairman of Corning, September 24, 1988, The New York Times.

Derived from secondary sources.

Fruin M. , The Japanese Enterprise System, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).

Imai K. Yonekura S. , “Network and Network-In Strategy,” Institute of Business Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo.

Cohen W.M. Levinthal D.A. , “Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation” Administrative Science Quarterly, 35/1 (March 1990): 128–152.

Prahalad C.K. Hamel G. , “The Core Competence of the Corporation” Harvard Business Review (May/June 1990), pp. 71–91.

Ibid.

See, for instance, Quinn J.B. , Strategies for change: Logical Incrementalism (Home-wood, IL: Richard Irwin, 1980).

A point frequently made by Williamson , developing a theme originated by Coase Ronald .

Trust and reciprocity can be defined as: “I trust you to take the decision that I would take if I were in your circumstances.” Thorelli H.B. , “Networks, Between Markets and Hierarchy,” Strategic Management Journal, 7/1 (1986): 37–51.

Kawasaki G. , The Macintosh Way (Glenview, IL: Scott, Freeman and Co., 1990).

Baden-Fuller C. Stopford J.M. , Rejuvenating the Mature Business (London: Routledge 1992).

The innovating aspects of these organizations is in many ways evolutionary. As we have pointed out, much of what they do has a history. Those who wish to trace some of these antecedents are advised to read Aoki M. , “Towards an Economic Model of the Japanese Firm,” Journal of Economic Literature, 28 (March 1990): 1–27. Their management of webs of partnerships can also be seen as part of an emerging pattern. See, for instance, Jarillo J.C. , “On Strategic Networks,” Strategic Management Journal, 9/1 (1988): 31–42.

Ring Van de Ven provide a framework which allows the reader to trace how central firms have created a new form of governance. Ring P.S. Van de Ven A.H. , “Structuring Cooperative Relationships between Organizations,” Strategic Management Journal, 13/7 (1992): 483–498.

Johanson J. Mattsson L.S. “Networked Positions and Strategic Actions—An Analytical Framework,” in Axelson B. Easton G. , eds., Industrial Networks—A New View Of Reality (London: Routledge, 1992).

Miles R. Snow C. , “Causes of Failure in Network Organizations,” California Management Review (Summer 1992), pp. 53–72.

Imai K. , “A Network View of the Firm,” Hitotsubashi-Stanford Conference, March 1987.

Eisenhardt K. , “Making Fast Track Decisions in High Velocity Environments,” Academy of Management Journal, 32/3 (1989): 543–576.

Imai K. Nonaka I. Takeuchi H. , “Managing the Product Development,” in Clark K. , eds., The Uneasy Alliance: Managing the Productivity-Technology Dilemma (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 1985); and Clark K. Fujimoto T. , Product Development Performances: Strategy, Organization and Management in the World Automobile Industry (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 1990).

Sculley J. in McKenna R. , Who's Afraid of Big Blue? How Companies Are Challenging IBM—And Winning (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1989). We also note that Apple has been accused of missed opportunities. Rappaport and Helevi , op. cit.