Transformations  in
Business & Economics

THE INTENSITY OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND THE STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY OF NODAL ORGANIZATIONS
Janusz M. Lichtarski, Katarzyna Piorkowska, Krzysztof Cwik

ABSTRACT. The aim of the paper is to present the results of empirical studies (quantitative and qualitative ones) on the intensity of organizational relationships (network embeddedness) and the flexibility of organizational strategy (strategic flexibility) in enterprises operating in networks. Interestingly, having identified correlations between investigated variables: network embeddedness as an aggregated construct, and the particular dimensions of organizational strategy (strategic flexibility), the finding is that the higher intensity of inter-organizational relationships, the longer time horizon, the higher congruence between actions and plans, and the higher level of specificity and formalization of strategy. It highlights that a strategy becomes rigid under a high level of inter-organizational relationships intensity (network embeddedness) what partially contradicts the hypothesis formulated. The qualitative field survey revealed the mechanisms and causality regarding the constructs examined. Intentionally two contradictory cases were presented and as a result the complexity and contextualization of the inter-organizational networks field was emphasized.

KEYWORDS:  inter-organizational networks, intensity of relationships, network embeddedness, strategic flexibility, quantitative and qualitative studies.

JEL classification:  L14.