Paper info

Value creation in foreign network relationships and its impact on the company’s operations

Aleksandra Hauke-Lopes and Krzysztof Fonfara

The paper was published at the 35th IMP-conference in Paris, France in 2019.

The aim of the paper is to analyse value creation processes that take place in foreign network relationships and their impact on company’s operations during new, foreign market entry. Important elements that impact value creation were proposed (trust and conflict handling) as well as managerial competencies. The results of in-depth interviews with key informants in 10 Polish-based companies show that in the majority of situations, value creation took place in the foreign relationship with company’s distributors. Value creation in foreign network relationships had a positive impact on operations during the internationalisation process. Value creation activities included improvements in operational activities in a new market, or adaptations and innovations in products dedicated to the specific foreign market.