Strategic Alliance Analysis from Positional Perspectives

This paper aims to survey the various measurements of firms’ position in their partnership network. Network studies measure features of social structure by identifying regularities and patterns in relationships among interrelated social units. Those relationships include interdependence, communication, membership, solidarity and affect. Moreover, a firm’s position can be seen as a kind of capital embedded in its relational portfolio. It’s locations in networks can be sources of power and signals of a unit’s social standing. However, position analysis can be varied depending on the views of network perspectives. Social networks provide an ideal environment in which to formalize the theoretical concepts of role and position. The location of a firm in a network is given by the row and/or column corresponding to that firm in the relational matrix. The location is the set of ties to and from all other firms in the network. Changes in network positions, through establishing new or disbanding old ties, cascade through the network and may trigger counter partnering actions. These constant changes in relationships are the engine behind network position dynamics. Recent research in strategy has called attention to the fact that particular positions in inter-firm networks may serve as a source of competitive advantage for the firms occupying them. People devote much of their time to maintaining relationships with each other. In addition to having certain qualities independent of their social position, some aspects of what a person has to depend on who their acquaintances are.