Paper info

Getting into the established network – logic barriers for young, innovative firms

Christina Öberg and Tommy Shih

The paper was published at the 28th IMP-conference in Rome, Italy in 2012.

This paper discusses the difficulties for young, innovative firms to establish relationships with other companies based on differences in logics among firms. Logics refer prioritizations and interests that underpin interaction decisions. In the paper we make a distinction in logics between orientation to technology advancements and to present structures, and in terms of timeframes. The empirical part of the paper consists of two case studies. Differences in logics inhibit the establishment of relationships, and four parameters have consequences for the young, innovative firm and the possibility to establish business relationships: (i) its lack of present or inherited network ties: (ii) its logic towards technology rather than marketing: (iii) the structure of established firms, and (iv) the difference in logics between established and young, innovative firms. We conclude that divergences in orientation to technology advancements or present structures hinder the establishment of relationships. Such orientations may however shift during the course of their present interactions. Differences in timeframes do not hinder the establishment of relationships, but continue to be a conflicting issue once the relationship is established. The paper contributes to research on innovations in networks through highlighting issues of differences in firms’ logics and their effects on the likelihood for establishing relationships among them. It further indicates that similarities in logics is not only a consequence of interaction, but is also widely decisive for the choice of interaction partners