Business Networking

Innovation and Ideas in Theory and Practice

Catherine O'Sullivan, Terry O'Sullivan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000462784
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

The term 'networking' can mean very different things in different contexts: formal organisational structures, personal or career development, or a technique for increasing sales. This is an approachable book which brings together the basics of all these meanings, underpinned by an overview of multiple theoretical models that support the various approaches to networking.

Drawing on mainstream models in the fields of marketing, employability, innovation and organisational studies, Business Networking provides an integrated overview of the process and structure of networking across a range of contexts. Synthesising theory with practice, features include examples and viewpoints from a range of networking practitioners in each chapter, presented in their own words, as well as chapter summaries and reflective questions. Networking is considered a key skill for students, entrepreneurs and practitioners and, given the explosion of opportunities brought by the digital age for individuals and organisations to operate within a broad and global network, an introduction to maximising the benefits is timely.

This book should be recommended reading for a broad range of postgraduate courses, from relationship marketing and entrepreneurship skills to employability and degree apprenticeship programmes. It should also be useful for reflective practitioners looking to expand and utilise their networks effectively.

1

NETWORKING

Innovation and ideas

DOI: 10.4324/9781003026549-2

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to consider what we mean by networking, and to think about the different ways by which networking may advance ideas and new ways of working. Issues and concepts introduced here will be considered and discussed further in later chapters. Thus, the chapter acts as an overview of some of the salient characteristics, issues and problems of networking in theory and practice.

A significant issue in writing this book is agreeing exactly what networking is and what it is not (Möller and Halinen, 2017). Therefore, this chapter offers our definition of networking, and goes onto discussing the implications and challenges that arise from our definition and the boundaries to what we include within it. Although the term ‘networking’ is in wide general use, it can mean different things to different people. While we wish to encompass as broad a definition as possible in order to facilitate a discussion of what ‘networking’ comprises, we do need to start somewhere. In later chapters, we will problematise some of the ideas contained in our definition and discuss some of its limitations.

Our definition derives in part from our extensive review of the many literatures on networking, which are discussed further below as one of the challenges that arise in this area. We will explain why we consider it neither possible nor desirable to attempt one single theoretical insight into this broad topic. We have also carried out empirical research into the experiences of individuals networking in practice. These enquiries have given rise to our model of Network-IN, which we introduce below and are summarised in our definition. Our definition lays emphasis on both the purpose and the anticipated benefits of networking as an intentional practice; reflecting the ways in which respondents discussed the topic; and what we believe to be the main interest of readers of this book.

Viewpoint 1.1 Why I network

I would like to think that I’m in a lot of networks with people different to me; but I suspect that if you were to view them objectively, they are probably all similar. But there are networks of people – for example, using WhatsApp, I have a group with all the doctors I went to Sandhurst with. We share a common ground of a shared experience six or seven years ago, and now there are 40 people spread across different job roles – doctors, medical surgeons, GPs – in different parts of the UK and overseas. That is a very helpful source of information; be it about the name and contact details of someone I need to speak to, or how to manage a certain medical problem or what the latest update is in a certain area.

Definition

Our definition of networking is:

The purposeful building and managing of relationships to grow or improve business or services; to spread and promote ideas and ideals; or to support personal and career development.

This definition requires some amplification and explanation.

First, the word ‘purposeful’ is important in our definition. The concern of this book is intentional networking. While it is undeniably true that important contacts can come from accidental meetings in a pub or at a party, our concern is with those who knowingly are or intend to be involved in networking for one of the purposes we outline. We are therefore excluding activity which mainly exists for a social or leisure reason, and are confining our definition to a conscious act with an intended end. In its broadest terms, we can say that networks are collectives of individuals around a common purpose. It may be that the end result is not defined, or understood in any detail, prior to starting networking. The potential benefits of networking are discussed in more detail in later sections below, when we set out our network model.

Second, the notion that networking is a purposeful activity implies some management of the process on the part of the individual or the organisation engaging in it. This will vary depending on the kinds of networks which are involved – some may be formal and managed while others may be very local and personal. These latter networks will tend to be managed by the individual personally. Whatever the kind of network involved, it won’t be sustained without some effort. Given that it takes time to build relationships, the various parties involved will need to commit time and possibly resource to that effort (Tamarit et al., 2018). This is made explicit in the phrase we use: ‘building and managing’.

Third, while our definition may seem to imply that there are three reasons why people engage in networking and that these are mutually exclusive, in reality this is not the case. Individuals or organisations may start networking for one reason and find it leads to something else (Van Baalen et al., 2005). Equally, things change over time and the nature of networking activity, being relatively informal, makes it peculiarly able to adapt or morph as the individuals within the network change, develop new interests or face new challenges and opportunities. While we wanted to make it clear that all these forms of networking fall within the scope of our interest – networking for economic advantage; or around shared purposes or ideals; or for personal and career development – it is quite possible that all these issues may apply to individuals who make up the network. Furthermore, these three broad categories apply equally both to individuals’ motivation for joining a network initially and to the benefits they may realise as outcomes of their networking activity. The initial motivation for joining a network may change over time, as differing outcomes start to be realised. For example, someone might be sent to a regional development network by their firm to build collaborative relationships with competitors, but may find the network a source of excellent career development opportunities too.

Less obvious ties may link members of a network, and these may not be consciously understood by individual actors and may operate on a different level to the formal and overt reason for the existence of the network. These more complex motivations for forming strong network relationships may be voiced or unvoiced. Varying examples of the motivation for networking are found, for example, among business leaders in South Brittany (Box 1.1) and among young entrepreneurs in Turkey (Box 1.2).

Box 1.1 Territory and solidarity in the Brittany region of France

A case study of 25 small or medium enterprise (SME) business leaders in the Brittany region of France examined the social embeddedness of companies in their local region. In their responses, they tended to conflate their own actions with the value of the actions to their company, making little distinction between their business reasons for networking and a far wider social dimension which the researcher attributes to the notion of ‘solidarity’:

the concept of solidarity [is] defined as a situation of dependence between people or between two or more organizations, but it can also be regarded as a social process facilitating collective action… Most of the time, solidarity requires a sense of belonging to a common entity such as a territory. In particular, this type of solidarity encourages the questioning of links that exist between local companies and their territory.

In the research that explored this idea of solidarity, the business leaders came up with a number of explanations of their motivations for networking. The most significant were:

• Sharing experiences
• Industry animation and events organisation
• Knowledge transfer
• Leaders’ competencies development
• Business creation process
• Links with local government

The respondents described a mix of motivations, from straightforward business growth to a more complex identification with their local territory. The linkages to the territory often started in the names of the different networks, which were strongly tied to the town or the region. Thus the networks became places of encounter and interactions which utilised social relationships as a key mechanism in co-building a strong region with a buoyant economy. While this clearly made business sense, the SME leaders talked too about the value of giving back to the community and the importance of the region to their own sense of identity.

As one of them put it, ‘We need to have roots in order to have wings’ (adapted from Marinos, 2018).

Box 1.2 Spirituality and network commitment

The term ‘Anatolian Tigers’ is applied to groups of successful and outward-looking young entrepreneurial businesses in Turkey. In examining reasons for their success, researchers identified that members of these firms were highly likely to engage in local networking activity which added considerable value to their regional economies.

The common factor which built trust and commitment to shared networking activity proved to be a common spirituality. Here, the authors defined spirituality as:

the effort to find one’s ultimate purpose in life to develop a strong connection to co-workers and other people associated with work, and to have consistency (or alignment) between one’s core beliefs and the values of their organization.

In their work, the authors argue that if spirituality is important in an organisation, as research indicates it is, then this definition applies even more at the level of the network, where shared spirituality is a common bond to bring unlike actors together. They demonstrate that as networks are entered into on a voluntary basis and have more scope to be driven and shaped by individuals, spirituality acts as a ‘common bonding mechanism’, which drives rather than follows trust and commitment.

Shared spiritual beliefs and values foster a sense of community and place. Shared spirituality, for these companies and their workers, is more important than the more obvious economic motivations for participating in the network such as winning resources or gaining business (adapted from Kurt et al., 2016).

It is possible too that emergent networking practices may change more rapidly in more informal economies (e.g. see an interesting case study from Ghana, reported by Darbi and Knott, 2016). They conclude:

This study reveals the extent to which strategists may bring noneconomic and ‘non-rational’ personal and social considerations to bear on strategic decisions they make on behalf of the organisation. Full understanding of the strategy practices of informal businesses is unlikely without accounting for these kinds of influences.

(Darbi and Knott, 2016, p. 411)

Thus, while our definition of networking lays emphasis on the intention of the network actor, it is important to remember that intention may be a shifting and somewhat opaque concept, not fully understood at an individual level, explained in different ways in different contexts and subject to change over time.

Boundaries to the definition

The definition above intentionally excludes networking activity, which results from relationships that were primarily entered into for social or leisure reasons. This is a delibe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• About the authors
• Introduction
• 1 Networking: innovation and ideas
• 2 The ethics of networking
• 3 Networking across organisational boundaries
• 4 Networking for business growth
• 5 Networking for social change
• 6 Networking and personal growth
• Index