Network Environment Analysis

Networks are an important feature of the competitive landscape, providing access to virtual resources and influence in the external environment. This paper presents a model which has been tested based on the limited literature in this area and the author's prior research into industry network effects. The analysis of six cases examining network effects confirms the importance of 11 network factors in determining the influence of networks on an organisation's external environment. The analysis also identified eight relationships across characteristic and scope factors and seven relationships that existed within either characteristic or scope factors. This confirms the importance of network factors as a component of the external environment to be considered in strategic management, and the capacity of networks to create complex external relationships that will influence the external environment.