New Relationships and Network Contexts

Sammanfattning: As companies do business with each other they establish a number of close and longstandingrelationships. These relationships act as a source of stability and therefore become more andmore integrated into each other. Over time a set of interconnected relationships are formedand actor is viewed as being a part of a business network. The company however regards few ofthese relationships as most important and these companies make up what is called the actor’snetwork context. This context however changes over time as a result an actor’s interaction withother companies. This study examines the changes that take place in a company’s networkcontext as it enters into new relationships. The company ‐ Radi Medical ‐ referred to as theactor in this case has recently entered into two major relationships that have and will continueto result in a number of changes in its network context. From the accounts given by managerswithin the company we find that different new relationships depending on their nature, do havevarying impacts on an actor’s network context. Ultimately, the study indicates that no onecompany can with all certainty foresee or determine the outcome of any new relationship on itsnetwork context.