The origin of strong ties: the role of weak ties in the evolution of alliance networks

Abstract

Studies on the structure of alliance networks have explained how the formation, maintenance, and decay of local within cluster ties and shortcuts with semi-distant and distant organizations drive the emergence and evolution of small world architecture in such networks. Interorganizational ties are distinguished into strong and weak on the basis of their strength. Nonetheless, by focusing mainly on strong alliances ties, previous research has fallen short to explain the role of weak ties among organizations for the evolution of alliance networks. With the aim of scrutinizing the role of weak ties in the establishment, maintaining, and transforming of alliance ties, we develop a conceptual framework that looks at networks of interorganizational weak ties as conduits for the dissemination of information about knowledge sets that supports the processes of opportunity discovery and/or creation. The exploitation of the discovered or created opportunities leads to the activation of strong alliance ties and, hence, feeds into the evolution of alliance networks’ structure.