Discovering market networks

Abstract

PurposeIn 1982 two books published in Sweden suggested a network perspective on markets and marketing. The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence in Sweden of the network perspective.Design/methodology/approachProvides an examination of research in industrial marketing and related fields during the 1970s and the roles of the societal and academic contexts for the research.FindingsClose relations between academic research and business was particularly crucial since it provided access to industry on all organisational levels and business relevance of the research. Three areas of research seem to have been especially important in the development: supplier‐customer interaction, strategy and organisation of the firm and the interconnectedness between markets. The emergence of the network perspective is seen as a result of a conceptual compromise between a group engaged in dyadic business relationship research and another group that had a wider systems interdependence view on markets. The paper shows that the development can be regarded as a discovery process.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to the development in Sweden during the 1970s and leading to the publication of two books that suggested a network perspective. A result of the paper is that the development during the period is only the first phase in the discovery of market networks. This suggests that analysis of the later development may be fruitful.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates the roots of the network perspective on markets and marketing and contributes to the understanding of the development of new paradigms in general.