We develop theory to better understand the role of networks in accessing the entrepreneurial competencies required to create new ventures within the academic environment. We follow the initiation and early development of four university spin-offs within the UK and Norway. Following a competency perspective, we observed how each nascent venture relied on strong and weak network ties to access th...

Although network ties are crucial for firm performance, the strategies by which executives actually form ties are relatively unexplored. In this study, we introduce a new construct, tie formation efficiency, and clarify its importance for superior network outcomes. Building on fieldwork in 9 Internet security ventures seeking investment ties, we unexpectedly identify two equifinal paths for how...

Previous studies have investigated alliance networks primarily from two alternative views, a relational view that focuses on the “strength of strong/weak ties,” or a structural view that refers to a firm’s position and structural embeddedness. We posit a firm’s network architecture, i.e., the portfolio of strong/weak ties, influences its conduct and performance. From a resource-based view, the ...

In Italy young people leave home at a high age. After leaving, they usually live close to their parents and receive strong support from them (both material and affective). These behaviours are not homogenously spread across the country and important regional differences can be found. According to the familistic theoretical approach, such patterns come from strong intergenerational ties. Proximi...

A relationship between people's mobility and their social networks is presented based on an analysis of calling and mobility traces for one year of anonymized call detail records of over one million mobile phone users in Portugal. We find that about 80% of places visited are within just 20 km of their nearest (geographical) social ties' locations. This figure rises to 90% at a 'geo-social radiu...