Understanding the structural characteristics of a firm’s whole buyer–supplier network and its impact on international business performance

Amalesh Sharma (), V. Kumar (), Jun Yan (), Sourav Bikash Borah () and Anirban Adhikary ()
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Amalesh Sharma: Texas A&M University
V. Kumar: Georgia State University
Jun Yan: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Sourav Bikash Borah: Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Anirban Adhikary: Indian Institute of Management Udaipur

Journal of International Business Studies, 2019, vol. 50, issue 3, No 4, 365-392

Abstract: Abstract Building on the network theory and the concept of organizational ambidexterity, we investigate the impact of structural characteristics of a firm’s whole buyer–supplier network: network density, betweenness centralization, and average clustering coefficient on its international business (IB) performance. We also explore the moderating roles of average path length and PageRank centrality. Using a manually-collected dataset and a robust empirical methodology, we find that, while network density is negatively related, betweenness centralization and average clustering coefficient have an inverted U-shape and a U-shaped relationship with IB performance, respectively. We also find significant moderation effects, and, in the process, we show the economic importance of firms’ whole buyer–supplier network to their IB performance. We contribute to the international business and whole buyer–supplier network literature.

Keywords: whole buyer–supplier network; international business performance; ambidexterity; network structure; curvilinear relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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DOI: 10.1057/s41267-019-00215-x

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