Network management and associated firms’ outcomes: multilevel analysis in the southern Brazilian context

Abstract

This article seeks to provide theoretical and managerial insights with respect to the following questions: What is the effect of network management on the outcomes of associated firms? Do these effects on outcomes vary among small-firm networks (SFNs)? Do these outcomes vary among associated firms within the same SFN? Which management elements are most influential in the variation of these SFN outcomes? To answer these questions, this study adopts a multilevel analytical approach using SFNs in southern Brazil that benefit from the Cooperation Networks Program, a local public policy initiative that supports the formation, development, and consolidation of SFNs. The findings suggest that the outcomes provided by the networks differ between networks but are similar for firms in the same network. They also indicate that strategy and processes at the network level are related to firms’ outcomes. These findings show that the influence of structure on firms’ outcomes varies among networks and that the market segment is the only network-level variable that is significantly related to firms’ outcomes.