• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Networking Performance: A study of the benefits of business networking in the West Midlands Roy M Broad A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton Degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2012 Statement of Copyright This work and any part thereof has not previously been presented in any form to the University or to any other body whether for the purposes of assessment, publication or for any other purpose (unless otherwise stated). Save for any express acknowledgments, references and/or bibliographies cited in the work, I confirm that the intellectual content of the work is the result of my own efforts and of no other person. The right of Roy Broad to be identified as author of this work is asserted in accordance with ss.77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. At this date, copyright is owned by the author. Signature: Date: Acknowledgments There is no such whetstone to sharpen a good wit and encourage a will to learning as is praise; Robert Asham 1515-1568 In researching and writing this thesis I have been fortunate in the wise advice, patient guidance and steadfast encouragement I have received from many people on the way to completing this study. In particular, I am extremely grateful to my supervisors, Dr Silke Machold, Professor Les Worrall and Professor Phil Dawes for their unstinting patience and wise council in guiding this research towards its conclusion. Thanks are due to the officers of the regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands, who enthusiastically supported the project and generously sponsored the cost of implementing the postal survey. I am grateful to the many marketing professionals, suppliers and customers who have so generously donated their time and assisted in the development of this project by sharing their networking experiences. Sincere thanks are also due to the participants in the pilot study and all the respondents to the main survey whose experiences have influenced the direction and findings in this study. A number of organisations, including the Chambers of Commerce, Birmingham Forward, Coventry First, Alliance 4 the Black Country, FineST, Success, Telford Business Partnership, 4 Networking, NRG Networks and Business Network International, who together have supported this study and kindly provided access to their respective memberships for this research. I am indebted to research colleagues at Wolverhampton Business School and members of the Industrial Marketing & Purchasing Group, who have knowingly or unknowingly inspired and influenced this research. Finally, I must thank my wife Catherine, daughter Shonagh and son Christopher, for their unfailing support and enduring encouragement throughout my doctoral candidacy. Roy Broad 1 Networking Performance: A study of the benefits of business networking in the West Midlands Abstract Research on business networks has traditionally focussed on understanding the nature of relationships in networks but seldom the outcomes from business networking activities. This thesis examines the benefits from business networking from the perspective of firms in the West Midlands and explains the factors which improve networking performance. Networking is hailed by academics and marketing practitioners as a way to improve business performance. Firms are encouraged to invest resources in networking activities, without necessarily being able to measure the result. Researchers following in the ‘markets as networks’ tradition have identified understanding the benefits from business networking activities as a subject for further investigation. Using survey data from 298 firms in the West Midlands, the findings show that strength of relationship, planned networking behaviour and networking intensity to be significant indicators of networking performance. Analysis also shows degree of embeddedness to have a mediating effect on networking performance. This study provides empirical support for the idea that firms which adopt a systematic approach to business networking achieve better outcomes in terms of networking performance when measured as a percentage of sales turnover, compared to firms adopting an ad-hoc approach to networking. This study contributes to the marketing and markets as networks literature as well as advancing the conceptualisation of networking performance measured in terms of sales turnover. The thesis offers insights from the focal firm’s perspective as to why business networking is important and identifies factors which contribute to positive networking outcomes and a measure of networking performance. 2 Table of Content Chapter Content Page Chapter 1 Introduction 1.0 Introduction 10 1.1 Research Objective 14 1.2 Network Theory 15 1.3 Implications for Management 22 1.4 Contribution to the Research 27 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 30 1.6 Conclusion 34 Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.0 Introduction 36 2.1 Definition of networking terms 43 2.2 Social Networks Theory 43 2.3 Interorganisation Theory 47 2.4 Network Organisation Theory 51 2.5 Markets as Networks 56 2.6 Relationships in Networks 65 2.7 Actors’ Network Therories 71 2.8 Benefits of Networks 74 2.9 Limitations of Networks 79 2.10 Unit of Analysis in the Network Approach 81 2.11 Networking Performance 85 2.12 Concluding summary 92 Chapter 3 Conceptual Framework 3.0 Introduction 95 3.1 Theoretical Concepts 99 3.2 Developing a Theoretical Framework 106 3.3 Conceptual Framework 127 3.4 Discussion 130 3 Chapter 4 Method 4.0 Introduction 132 Stage One: 4.1 Qualitative Phase 137 4.2 Sample Characteristics and Method 140 4.3 Discussion 146 4.4 Conceptual Model 148 Stage Two: 4.5 Quantitative Phase 148 4.6 Sample Characteristics 152 4.7 Questionnaire Design 158 4.8 Data Collection 164 4.9 Data Evaluation 166 4.10 Conclusion 166 Chapter 5 Qualitative Study Findings and Hypotheses Development 5.0 Introduction 169 5.1 Qualitative Phase - findings 170 5.2 Conceptual model refinement 192 5.3 Hypotheses 194 5.4 Conclusion 207 Chapter 6 Results 6.0 Introduction 208 6.1 Development of Measures 210 6.2 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations 238 6.3 Hypotheses Testing and Model Estimation 234 6.4 Further Analysis – Interaction effect 255 6.5 Model Presentation 256 6.6 Theoretical Implications 267 6.7 Summary and Conclusion 272 Chapter 7 Discussion 7.0 Introduction 274 4 7.1 The purpose of this research 275 7.2 Summary of Research Findings 276 7.3 Theoretical Implications 279 7.4 Implications for Managers 302 7.5 Implications for policy makers 309 7.6 Reflection on the research process 313 7.7 Summary 320 Chapter 8 Conclusion 8.0 Introduction 322 8.1 Research Conclusions 324 8.2 Contribution to Knowledge 328 8.3 Limitations and areas for future research 335 8.4 Final Conclusions 341 References Table of References 343 5 List of Figures Figure Ref: Description Page Figure 1.1 Structure of the Thesis 31 Figure 2.1a A Comparison of Network Approaches 39 Figure 2.1b A Comparison of Network Approaches - continued 40 Figure 2.2 Example of a Sociogram 44 Figure 2.3 The interrelationships among Networks, Marketing and Relationships 65 Figure 2.4 Network Pictures 72 Figure 3.1 Development of a Conceptual Model 97 Figure 3.2 Conceptual Framework 129 Figure 4.1 Research Process 133 Figure 4.2 Research Strategy 137 Figure 4.3 The Survey Process 151 Figure 4.4 Map of the West Midlands with Postcodes 153 Figure 5.1 Conceptual Model Refinement 193 Figure 5.2 Conceptual Model 205 Figure 6.1 Q7 Distribution of Responses 211 Figure 6.2 Network Atmosphere – Scree Plot 215 Figure 6.3 Networking Environment – Scree Plot 224 Figure 6.4 Networking capability – Scree Plot 229 Figure 6.5 Network Characteristics 234 Figure 6.6 Sample Profile – geographic postcodes 239 Figure 6.7 Sample Profile – respondents’ ages 240 Figure 6.8 Sample Profile – job titles 241 6 Figure 6.9 Measuring the Moderation Effect 258 Figure 6.10 Measuring the Mediation Effect 260 Figure 6.11 A model of Networking Performance 266 Figure 7.1 The mediation effect of Degree of Embeddedness on PNB and NP 289 Figure 7.2 The mediation effect of Degree of Embeddedness on NI and NP 290 Figure 7.3 A model of Networking Performance 298 7 List of Tables Chapter Description Page Table 3.1 Network concepts associated with networking performance 100 Table 4.1 Coding Schedule 173 Table 4.2 Qualitative Study Respondents 144 Table 5.3 Qualitative Study Findings 173 Table 5.4 Summary of the findings from the Qualitative Study 179 Table 5.6 Statement of Hypotheses 206 Table 6.1 Q7 Descriptive Statistics 212 Table 6.2a Exploratory Factor Analysis – Network Atmosphere 214 Table 6.2b Exploratory Factor Analysis – Network Atmosphere 215 Table 6.3a Exploratory Factor Analysis – Networking Environment 221 Table 6.3b Exploratory Factor Analysis – Networking Environment 222 Table 6.4a Exploratory Factor Analysis – Networking Capability 228 Table 6.4b Exploratory Factor Analysis – Networking Capability 229 Table 6.5a Exploratory Factor Analysis – Network Characteristics 233 Table 6.5b Exploratory Factor Analysis – Network Characteristics 234 Table 6.6 Mean and Standard Deviation for Key Constructs 243 Table 6.7 Descriptive Statistics and Inter-correlations 244 Table 6.8 Bivariate Regression Results 245 Table 6.9 Assessment of Research Hypotheses 251 Table 6.10 Regression Model A – relationship between variables 251 Table 6.11 Regression Model B – relationship between variables 253 Table 6.12 OLS interaction results for moderation 259 8 Table 6.13 OLS interaction results for mediation 261 Table 6.14 Mediation Test – Step 3 262 9 Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter Content 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Research Objective 1.2 Networking Theory 1.3 Implications for Management 1.4 Contribution to the Research 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 1.0 Introduction Networking is a phenomenon that has invaded the business lexicon over recent years but despite its twenty-first century credentials, networking for business is not new.

Load more

  366

Copy Link