Managing Strategic Nets

This conceptual article focuses on the management of strategic business networks. Networks are seen to offer firms collective benefits beyond those of a single firm or market transaction. We aim to contribute to the development of the emerging theory of network management by integrating notions from the Industrial Network Approach, strategic management, and the Dynamic Capabilities View. Our starting premise is that the characteristics of the task that organizations try to accomplish through forming a specific strategic net, influence the management of that net and thus the capabilities required. In other words, we expect different types of strategic nets to require different managerial skill sets or capabilities. On the basis of this premise, we suggest a classification system for different types of strategic nets, identify key management issues that arise in operating in a network context, and consequently identify the basic capabilities required in managing different types of strategic nets.