Is perceiving the same as believing? The minds of women and men on networking behavior

Strategic networking behavior of SMEs is an issue that has not yet been thoroughly studied in the context of emerging market economies in Eastern Europe. No doubt, through strategic networking, SMEs could gain access to valuable resources – information, know-how, technologies, finance, etc., needed for strategy development, and building and maintaining competitive advantages. In addition, the networking of Bulgarian firms operating in a limited domestic market can be viewed as a tool for gaining access to external markets. On the other hand, intensive collaboration and networking creates problems and challenges for the SMEs and places new requirements to their strategic management. Therefore, this chapter draws upon the data and results of three researches which investigated strategic networking behavior of Bulgarian SMEs in order to reveal the specific benefits and challenges of SMEs involved in networks and to examine the impact of networking activities on SMEs strategic development. Finally, recommendations for the strategic networking behavior of Eastern European SMEs are formulated with a view to improve their results from networking and hence their competitiveness.

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Internal and external networking behavior

Career Development International ◽

10.1108/cdi-08-2013-0101 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 595-614 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Shelly Y. McCallum ◽

Monica L. Forret ◽

Hans-Georg Wolff

Keyword(s):

Organizational Commitment ◽

Affective Commitment ◽

Single Point ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Future Research ◽

Normative Commitment ◽

Continuance Commitment ◽

Content Type ◽

External Networking ◽

Networking Behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of internal and external networking behaviors of managers and professionals with their affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 335 managers and professionals of a health system who completed a survey on networking behavior and organizational commitment. Correlation analyses and multiple regressions were performed to test our hypotheses. Findings – The results showed that networking behavior focussed within an individual's organization was positively related with affective commitment and normative commitment. Networking with individuals outside of an individual's organization showed a significant negative relationship with normative commitment. Contrary to expectations, networking externally was not related to affective commitment, and neither internal nor external networking behaviors were related to continuance commitment. Research limitations/implications – Because data were collected at a single point in time, no statements can be made about causality. Future research is needed assessing both internal and external networking behavior and the three types of organizational commitment across time to help determine direction of causality or whether reciprocal relationships exist. Practical implications – Organizations that encourage internal networking behaviors may see individuals who are more connected with their colleagues and affectively committed to their organizations. However, encouraging external networking behavior may result in a drop in normative commitment as individuals might identify more with their profession than their employer. Originality/value – Although previous research has shown that networking behavior is related to job performance and career success measures, the research extends the literature by investigating whether networking is related to attitudinal variables such as organizational commitment. The paper explores whether differential relationships exist between internal and external networking behavior with three types of organizational commitment.

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