Dominant metaphors in the IMP network discourse: 'the network as a marriage' and 'the network as a business system'

Kimmo Alajoutsijärvi, Päivi Eriksson and Henrikki Tikkanen

International Business Review, 2001, vol. 10, issue 1, 91-107

Abstract: As the wide use of the network concept within and outside marketing implies, the term may be filled with different meanings depending on the textual and disciplinary context. This is true especially as far as the currently popular IMP (Industrial/International Marketing and Purchasing) group interorganisational networks research is concerned. Building on earlier contributions on the metaphorical nature of networks, we find it relevant to extend the scholarly discussion of how various network metaphors and the meanings attached to them are able to guide the current research in industrial and international marketing. In this article, we identify and explore two network metaphors that organise the research questions and subsequent research contributions within the research field. We name the two metaphors 'the network as a marriage' and 'the network as a business system'. Furthermore, we show evidence of how metaphors guide us towards asking specific questions and giving specific answers. It is our argument that these two metaphors leave certain, less-obvious or taken-for-granted aspects unexplored.

Keywords: Metaphors; Relationships; and; networks; research; Industrial/International; Marketing; and; Purchasing; group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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