The role of strategy in business network

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the conceptualisation of strategy and strategy development in the philosophy of IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) Group - a research group which examines business organizations from the network theory perspective. The most important factor of the IMP strategic approach is that it talks about actors embedded in business networks through their business relationships and therefore they’re in mutual dependence. The main purpose of the paper is to better understand the strategy, namely, ‘strategizing’ activity through using the mentioned theoretical approach and analysing two customer relationships of a Hungarian contract manufacturer by using case study research. After the theory interpreting the paper is presenting a research framework which is adapted to the empirical findings. In the strategy of contract manufacturer it is important to realize how partners are able to synchronize key activities, resources and actors while taking the network of the companies into consideration.