ABSTRACT
Objective:
Institutionalism as an adaptation theory has contributed to the understanding of the changing characteristics in governance structures. At the same time, community ecology, as an evolution theory, has enhanced not only the study of relations across a collective of interacting populations within a region, but also the evaluation of change within organizational communities. The objective of this research is to analyze the relations and interactions of a business network using institutional ecology concepts.
Design/methodology/approach:
We applied the methods of institutionalism, as an adaptation theory, and community ecology, as evolution theory, in a network comprised of 45 businesses. Data for the flow of resources and institutional ecology were obtained using two separate instruments (designed by the researchers). Netdraw was used to graphically represent the various layers of the network and Ucinet 6 to generate the matrices.
Findings:
While theory identifies information, services, decisions, solutions and money as resources, as far as the workers in the businesses researched are concerned, the first four flow naturally within the business network, but money is perceived as a resource that should always originate in the other nodes of the ecosystem.
Practical implications:
Network stakeholders will make decisions that both strengthen relations among the members of the institutional arrangement and support the selection of institutional contexts more favorable to perform their activities.
Originality:
This is the first work to apply economic-evolutive theories in order to analyze the relations and interactions in a business network.
Keywords:
Institutional ecology; Institutional mapping; Business networks; Network analysis