This is often the case when, for example, managers profit from access to a partner’s resources (within the context of the cooperation), adopt opportunistic behaviour, such as imitation of a product, and go so far as to nullify their partner’s competitive advantage. The literature on single firm governance often focuses on financiers’ expectations. It says that financiers’ decisions are based on economic criteria and influenced by their perceptions of the capacity that the governance of the financed firm has to guarantee returns on their investment. We adopt a wider perspective that looks at the importance that the participation in a network has for a firm in terms of financial capital. This is representative of the situation for any other limited resource, for instance an entrepreneurial idea, knowledge or technology, in the hands of a (potential/actual) partner that the firm wants to acquire through the collaborative relationship. The contribution of financial capital is not necessarily a, or the only, source of power which can influence a firm’s governance given that the contribution of any limited resource necessary to a specific organisation can also be relevant.
Author(s) Details:
Francesco Napoli,
Faculty of Economics, Università degli Studi, E-Campus, Como, Italy.