Relations and Networks of Organizations
Lecture 1
Understanding relations & networks or organizations
• What are IORs and IONs? Why are they important?
• Overview of ‘classic’ approaches and studies about IORs and IONs
• Social network analysis (SNA)
• Empirical analyses of causes and consequences of IORs and IONs
• Management of IORs and IONs
Main aim of this course:
To recognize, describe, analyze, explain and assess relations between organizations and of
organizational networks
Learning goals:
1. Describe and explain the concept of social capital and apply the theoretical ideas to
empirical settings.
2. Know the basic concepts in social network analysis, explain their meaning and apply them
to analyze social network structures.
3. Describe, explain and compare determinants of IORs and IONs.
4. Describe, explain and differentiate consequences of relationships and networks at the
organizational level and be able to link consequences to characteristics of IORs and IONs.
5. Describe, explain and apply concepts with regard to the management of IORs and IONs.
6. Relate concepts of IORs and IONs to the field of organization studies.
7. Use and combine theoretical concepts in the area of IORs and IONs to analyze and
interpret specific organizational, societal or economic problems.
8. Apply a number of analytical tools in the context of the study of inter-organizational
relations and networks.
,Social capital helps Dutch Entrepreneurs adapting the COVID-19 pandemic
→ Entrepreneurs from Brabant
→ People collect information from trusted network
→ Sharing new regulations
The myth of individualism & the relational basis of success
• “Social”: resources are available in and through personal and business networks.
• “Capital”: it is productive, it creates value e.g., information, business opportunities,
financial resources, power, emotional support, trust, cooperation, and so on.
→ Emotional support is crucial
• Social capital is not a feature of an entity (attribute variable), but it is a feature of a
relationship (relational variable)
• Relational variables often have an equal/higher explanatory power than attribute
variables.
• “The friction is that society consists of a set of independent individuals, each of whom acts
to achieve goals that are independently arrived at, and that the functioning of the social
system consists of the combination of these actions of independent individuals.” (James
Coleman)
→ E.g. in different culture/country, who do you need to reach out to? In Tilburg Uni,
who do you need to reach out to?
,IORs and IONs: A relational view of organizations
• Social capital and IORs and IONs (Baker, 2000)
• Interorganizational networks are “relatively enduring transactions, flows, and linkages that
occur among and between an organization and one or more organizations in its
environment” (Oliver 1990: 241)
• Relationships and networks of organizations are about the exchange and flow of resources
between organizations.
→ Not one transaction but exchange sources multiple times
• For an individual organization, relations and networks mean access to and dependency on
resources (e.g., information, ideas, reputation, trust).
• The notion of ‘social capital’ captures the resources available through relationships and
networks, i.e., relational view of organizations.
Social capital and success: Multi-level effect (not for the exam, just to make a point)
Individual success and performance:
• Talent: nature or nurture? Relations are important for developing talents
• Intelligence: genetically determined but also developed and strengthened by relations
(social interactions, quality of education)
• Education: writing and reading skills are a result of social interaction
• Dedication: supportive settings (e.g., friends and family)
• Chance? the importance of ‘spider web networks’
Social capital and individual’s quality of life
• Well-being: sensemaking work and social relations are important predictors of well-being
• Health: networkers are often healthier
• Life expectancy: networkers live longer
→ Not only about firms but e.g. wellbeing of students in corona: offline lectures
, Social capital in the economy
• Payment and career development: people who are strongly embedded tend to earn
higher salaries and experience faster career development (“structural holes”, Ronald Burt)
• Raising financial capital: informal financial capital market.
• Learning in organizations: informal relations and learning.
• Marketing: verbal advertising, importance of social networks for diffusion of new products
• Strategic alliances: importance of relationships between organizations (learning and
reputation effects)
IORs & IONs are the lifeblood of business
→ Working together with aligns
→ Book at KLM, fly with Delta, Airmiles on al companies/partners
→ There are cultural differences e.g. about profit making/capitalism
→ Cars are complete except in development, no profit on cars but on leasing the
trucks/delivery/transport
→ No one know which business model is right, what’s next? What is the winning
solution?
→ Many aligns with different partners, investment/money is important
→ The future solution is why to work together
Lecture 2
Rating agency: give your country a score if good or not to buy from
Organization & Environment: A manager’s perspective
Lecture 1
Understanding relations & networks or organizations
• What are IORs and IONs? Why are they important?
• Overview of ‘classic’ approaches and studies about IORs and IONs
• Social network analysis (SNA)
• Empirical analyses of causes and consequences of IORs and IONs
• Management of IORs and IONs
Main aim of this course:
To recognize, describe, analyze, explain and assess relations between organizations and of
organizational networks
Learning goals:
1. Describe and explain the concept of social capital and apply the theoretical ideas to
empirical settings.
2. Know the basic concepts in social network analysis, explain their meaning and apply them
to analyze social network structures.
3. Describe, explain and compare determinants of IORs and IONs.
4. Describe, explain and differentiate consequences of relationships and networks at the
organizational level and be able to link consequences to characteristics of IORs and IONs.
5. Describe, explain and apply concepts with regard to the management of IORs and IONs.
6. Relate concepts of IORs and IONs to the field of organization studies.
7. Use and combine theoretical concepts in the area of IORs and IONs to analyze and
interpret specific organizational, societal or economic problems.
8. Apply a number of analytical tools in the context of the study of inter-organizational
relations and networks.
,Social capital helps Dutch Entrepreneurs adapting the COVID-19 pandemic
→ Entrepreneurs from Brabant
→ People collect information from trusted network
→ Sharing new regulations
The myth of individualism & the relational basis of success
• “Social”: resources are available in and through personal and business networks.
• “Capital”: it is productive, it creates value e.g., information, business opportunities,
financial resources, power, emotional support, trust, cooperation, and so on.
→ Emotional support is crucial
• Social capital is not a feature of an entity (attribute variable), but it is a feature of a
relationship (relational variable)
• Relational variables often have an equal/higher explanatory power than attribute
variables.
• “The friction is that society consists of a set of independent individuals, each of whom acts
to achieve goals that are independently arrived at, and that the functioning of the social
system consists of the combination of these actions of independent individuals.” (James
Coleman)
→ E.g. in different culture/country, who do you need to reach out to? In Tilburg Uni,
who do you need to reach out to?
,IORs and IONs: A relational view of organizations
• Social capital and IORs and IONs (Baker, 2000)
• Interorganizational networks are “relatively enduring transactions, flows, and linkages that
occur among and between an organization and one or more organizations in its
environment” (Oliver 1990: 241)
• Relationships and networks of organizations are about the exchange and flow of resources
between organizations.
→ Not one transaction but exchange sources multiple times
• For an individual organization, relations and networks mean access to and dependency on
resources (e.g., information, ideas, reputation, trust).
• The notion of ‘social capital’ captures the resources available through relationships and
networks, i.e., relational view of organizations.
Social capital and success: Multi-level effect (not for the exam, just to make a point)
Individual success and performance:
• Talent: nature or nurture? Relations are important for developing talents
• Intelligence: genetically determined but also developed and strengthened by relations
(social interactions, quality of education)
• Education: writing and reading skills are a result of social interaction
• Dedication: supportive settings (e.g., friends and family)
• Chance? the importance of ‘spider web networks’
Social capital and individual’s quality of life
• Well-being: sensemaking work and social relations are important predictors of well-being
• Health: networkers are often healthier
• Life expectancy: networkers live longer
→ Not only about firms but e.g. wellbeing of students in corona: offline lectures
, Social capital in the economy
• Payment and career development: people who are strongly embedded tend to earn
higher salaries and experience faster career development (“structural holes”, Ronald Burt)
• Raising financial capital: informal financial capital market.
• Learning in organizations: informal relations and learning.
• Marketing: verbal advertising, importance of social networks for diffusion of new products
• Strategic alliances: importance of relationships between organizations (learning and
reputation effects)
IORs & IONs are the lifeblood of business
→ Working together with aligns
→ Book at KLM, fly with Delta, Airmiles on al companies/partners
→ There are cultural differences e.g. about profit making/capitalism
→ Cars are complete except in development, no profit on cars but on leasing the
trucks/delivery/transport
→ No one know which business model is right, what’s next? What is the winning
solution?
→ Many aligns with different partners, investment/money is important
→ The future solution is why to work together
Lecture 2
Rating agency: give your country a score if good or not to buy from
Organization & Environment: A manager’s perspective
