Is this network for you or for me? The pursuit of self and collective interests in a strategic network

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute by providing a more comprehensive understanding of the inter-relatedness of business goals among firms in strategic networks by exploring the following research question: How do different business goals coexist in networks? When joining a strategic network, firms are likely to pursue goals of self–interest, as well as those of collective interests. Goal formulation and joint network activities provide vital information toward investigating how firms utilize their network for the purpose of accessing, capturing and integrating the efforts of others to achieve their own goals. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical basis is a case study of a strategic network of food producers in Denmark. Twenty qualitative face-to-face interviews with strategic network member firms constitute the empirical data that are analyzed using the software Leximancer. Findings – This research combines the goal formulation and business of a single firm with the collective and joint effort of a strategic network to help broaden our knowledge of how different goals and strategies coexist in networks. A typology of business goals in networks is developed. Appellations of “Achievers”, “Wishers” and “Harvesters” help to characterize the different types of goal formulation strategies in these networks. Research limitations/implications – It is not appropriate to make statistical generalizations based upon this study. Originality/value – This research aims to contribute by providing a more comprehensive understanding of the inter-relatedness of formulated goals, choices and interactions among firms in a strategic network context.