What is it about?

The paper addresses the challenges regarding the governance of small-firm networks. Some of these networks are composed of dozens of small firms and the network managers need to find the right set of governance mechanisms to make the cooperation work effectively. Our study shows that the right governance mechanisms may have important impacts on the performance of network members.

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Why is it important?

The design of a governance system is a critical success factor of cooperative endeavors such as small-firm networks. In this paper we show that the centralization of decision-making and the incentives to avoid free-riders directly influence the outcomes provided by a business network. This result is important because it helps business networks to succeed and support their members' competitiveness.

Perspectives

There are more than 1,000 small-firm networks (SFNs) operating in Brazil. Such networks play an important role by supporting their members against multinational companies and big players. On the other hand, it is a big challenge to govern a network composed by dozens of independent members. Our paper sheds light on this issue and offers insights to network managers that need to design an appropriate governance system.

Dr Douglas Wegner
UNISINOS

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This page is a summary of: The influence of network governance mechanisms on the performance of small firms, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, January 2016, Inderscience Publishers,
DOI: 10.1504/ijesb.2016.075015.
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