STRATEGIC NETWORKS Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, Akbar Zaheer ...

generating resources would not only include elements such as brands, technologicalcapabilities, management talent, and so forth, but would also include the networkresources or social capital of the firms. The relationships a firm has are a unique andinimitable asset. Both the specific network to which a firm belongs and also its relativelocation in that network are likely to be important. Firms whose relationships allow themto occupy a more central place in the strategic networks they are a part of enjoy superiorreturns because of access to better information and opportunities than those firms that aremore peripheral.A network perspective is also useful to strategy scholars who focus on contractingand governance issues and how these choices influence firm performance. A networkperspective suggests that both contracting and coordinating costs can be influenced byviewing each transaction as simply an event in an evolving network of relationships. Anew transaction with someone with whom one has a history of prior relationships or whohas ties with others to whom one is also connected poses far lower transaction andcoordination costs than might be expected within a more traditional analysis.Finally, we also showed the promise of a network perspective in the dynamics orevolution of firms and industries over time. There has been a great deal of attention paidrecently to how disruptive technologies or other shocks can alter the competitivelandscape of industries over time. A network perspective can provide important insightsto better comprehend these dynamics because they provide a way of understanding why24