Netzwerke in der Biotechnologie

Abstract

Interorganizational networks in knowledge-intense industries have gained increasing academic attention within the last years. It has been suggested that the structural embeddedness of firms into corporate networks boosts the transfer and exchange of information and knowledge across corporate borders and hence forms the basis for competitive advantages. Gaining a favorable position within the network is proposed to be critical to corporate success. Thus in many cases, the propositions about interorganizational networks are vague and empirically poorly founded. Building on a thorough literature research, we derive hypotheses about the structure of interorganizational knowledge networks. Using a network analytical approach, we test our hypotheses for a corporate network in biotechnology. The results of the study reveal several inconsistencies between the theoretically derived assumptions and the reality of the interorganizational exchange of knowledge and information within corporate networks.