Corporate acquisition networks and organisational performance: a dynamic model of partner selection and network influence

Abstract

This paper combines theory and empirical evidence to develop an analytical framework examining the dynamic relationship between organisational performance and patterns of change in inter-organisational network ties. My framework posits that organisational performance is influenced by patterns of network relations among organisations. For these reasons, organisations are likely to take into account performance considerations when establishing or changing their network ties. But if organisational performance is influenced by network ties, and at the same time, performance is a basis for partner selection then inter-organisational network structures and individual organisational performance are only sub-components of a more general evolutionary process linking network structure and individual behaviour over time. In this paper, the hypotheses tested and the results found reveal the presence of a complex dynamism of mutual dependence between acquisition network structures and individual organisational performance.