Network Knowledge and Network Routines: Negotiating Activities between Shipowners and Shipbuilders

Gordon Boyce

Business History, 2003, vol. 45, issue 2, 52-76

Abstract: This article extends transaction cost economics by looking in detail at the sharp edge of exchange processes - negotiating activities. It also contributes to the literature exploring the properties of hierarchical organisations and networks. The article suggests that networks possess the equivalent to organisational knowledge. This 'network knowledge' consists of ethical prescriptions which guide behaviour as well as routines that are understood and followed by participants. Evidence drawn from correspondence and contracts between allied shipowners and shipbuilders reveals how they used network knowledge to structure negotiations in order to reduce on time-related expenses. In addition, industry-specific conventions, local customs, and regulations imposed by official and unofficial third parties generated further economies without creating rigidity. These findings arise from subjecting firm-level evidence to phase analysis.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1080/713999312

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