November 23, 2019
nPP = 97, nOO = 105
Lazega, Emmanuel, Snijders, Tom A.B. (Eds.): Multilevel Network Analysis for the Social Sciences: Theory, Methods and Applications. Springer, 2016. MLNA
On page 253 we have: … we study network formation at each level of a specific market. We show that inter-individual and inter-organizational networks are partly interdependent but also that different processes emerge at each level. Our empirical case is a trade fair for television programs in Eastern Europe. In this trade fair sellers and buyers of TV programs (distributors and TV channels) meet once a year to discuss contracts, make deals, keep informed about new films, series, and game shows, and observe market evolution. We study the informal exchange of information between trade-fair attendees and formal deal ties between their companies by examining network formation at each level. We find that these networks are heavily interdependent but that each level has its own specific processes. We emphasize that the process of tie formation between two organizations has a different context than that between two individuals in terms of temporality. We conclude by showing that, in spite of different temporalities, the two levels coevolve.
A deal between two companies can be looked at as a set of relationships between individuals. Let us imagine two organizations of significant size in a market, represented respectively by a sales manager and an acquisition manager. These two individuals have the opportunity to meet and agree on the object of a transaction, the main aspects of the contract, and possibly the price. The contract will then be submitted to the higher-level management of their respective companies for approval. The legal department will define the details of the contract; the technical department will manage the dispatching of the product; the finance department will bill and track the payment; and so on. It will obviously be the same on the buyer’s side. In short, once an agreement is reached between a buyer and a seller, organizational machinery is set in motion, and we are no longer able to assign this relationship to the sales and acquisitions managers. The personal relationship between the buyer and the seller does not disappear. These individuals will keep in touch. They initiated the contract and it is often likely that, if it were to be renewed, it would be at the initiative of one of them. However this relationship moves on to a different level and becomes inter-organizational because it involves other actors and their hierarchical organizations. In the meantime, this inter-organizational relationship could become a context for other members of both organizations to create inter-personal relationships – as described by concepts such as extended relational capital and embedded brokerage (Lazega et al. 2013). Therefore, it is necessary to examine this duality between inter-individual and interorganizational relationships in order to understand these transactions, to look at both levels in the same socio-economic space, without conflating them.
To formulate further hypotheses and illustrate this approach, we use the case of a trade fair for the distribution of television programs in Eastern Europe. Fairs can be considered as small market arenas in which sellers and buyers can meet through face-to-face contact. These events are temporary organizations where knowledge about the market emerges and circulates among attendees and enables a collective learning process between firms (Bathelt and Schuldt 2008). These events also play a crucial role in the construction of markets by fostering the emergence of a social environment and the production of specific norms and values (Aspers and Darr 2011).
The trade fair that we study focuses on the distribution of TV programs. Sellers are the sales managers of TV program distributors and producers who come from diverse parts of the world (especially from Western Europe, Asia, Northern and Southern America). They attend the event to sell copyrights for broadcasting of TV programs to acquisition or programming managers from regional and local TV channels (Central and Eastern European). Concretely, the event is organized once a year in a prestigious hotel in Budapest (Hungary). Sellers sit in booths with television sets to present their catalogues of films, series and shows. The buyers’ goal is to select programs that will match their audience and perhaps bring new viewers. Theywalk around the location to visit sellers and choose in which programs to invest. Some companies are represented by several sellers or buyers who each specialize in a particular type of programs (for example: animation, series, or documentaries) and/or specialize in a specific geographic area (for example Balkan countries, central Europe, central Asia). Such companies are international media groups or the most important TV channels in specific countries. Generally only one employee interacts with each commercial partner.
The work of these sales and acquisitions representatives is clearly relational. Relationships between buyers and sellers are very personalized; they know and meet with each other regularly (or at least try to). Once a contract is signed, the relationship is often reactivated in order to renegotiate the rights, or prepare for a new transaction. These partnerships are often repeated until a distributor becomes an official supplier of a channel. Their job consists also in being aware of international and local trends in audiovisual markets: which are the successful programs? What are the latest deals? What is broadcast in which country? and so forth.
For sellers (but also for buyers), obtaining informal information is strategic because it is a good way to target potential clients and to understand their needs, their resources, their reliability, and their purchasing and bargaining power. For buyers, trade fairs are an opportunity to obtain information about market trends, new programs and new technologies. Generally, informal information is a good way to identify new commercial opportunities. As a consequence, to explore the construction of partnerships and deals between organizations it is necessary to take into consideration relationships between individuals and especially informal information exchanges.
The data that we present here were collected during the 2011 trade fair. Officially, 911 individuals were present – 451 buyers and 337 sellers – affiliated to 510 companies. Because it was impossible for us to collect the responses of 911 individualswith questionnaires during the 3 days of the trade fairs, we chose to focus on the animation segment of this market (buyers and sellers of animated programs).
PP ← advNetPre2012
PO ← tmPre2012
OO ← contOrgPreSymNet2012
> wdir <- "C:/Users/batagelj/work/projects/BM/indirect"
> setwd(wdir)
> source("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bavla/Linked/master/source/Pajek.R")
> load("multilevelBraillysDataPre2012.Rdata")
> PP <- advNetPre2012
> PO <- tmPre2012
> OO <- contOrgPreSymNet2012
> mat2Pajek(PP,"PP.net")
> mat2Pajek(OO,"OO.net")
> bip2Pajek(PO,"PO.net")
>
> Per <- CategoryPersonsPre2012
> Org <- TypoValChainOrgPre2012
> Per
[1] SELLER SELLER BUYER BUYER SELLER SELLER SELLER SELLER BUYER ...
...
[91] BUYER SELLER BUYER SELLER BUYER BUYER BUYER
Levels: BUYER SELLER
> Org <- factor(as.vector(TypoValChainOrgPre2012))
> Org
[1] INDEPENDENT BUYER MEDIA GROUP DISTRIBUTOR BROADCASTER ...
...
[103] DISTRIBUTOR DISTRIBUTOR INDEPENDENT BUYER
Levels: BROADCASTER DISTRIBUTOR INDEPENDENT BUYER MEDIA GROUP
> clu2Pajek(as.integer(Org),Clu="Org.clu")
> clu2Pajek(as.integer(Per),Clu="Per.clu")
> Typ <- TypoValChainPersonsPre2012
> Typ
[1] DISTRIBUTOR DISTRIBUTOR INDEPENDENT BUYER ...
...
[97] BROADCASTER
Levels: BROADCASTER DISTRIBUTOR INDEPENDENT BUYER MEDIA GROUP
> clu2Pajek(as.integer(Typ),Clu="Typ.clu")
> diag(PP) <- 1 > diag(OO) <- 1 > Q = PP %*% PO %*% OO > t <-hclust(dist(Q)) > plot(t,hang=-1,cex=0.2,main="Persons") > u <-hclust(dist(t(Q))) > plot(u,hang=-1,cex=0.2,main="Organizations") > bip2Pajek(Q,"Qdiag.net") > clu2Pajek(t$order,"orderPdiag.per") > clu2Pajek(u$order,"orderOdiag.per") > POo <- PO[t$order,u$order] > bip2Pajek(POo,"POoDiag.net") > Qo <- Q[t$order,u$order] > bip2Pajek(Qo,"QoDiag.net") > plot(t,hang=-1,cex=0.2,main="Persons") > p <- cutree(t,k=10) > clu2Pajek(p,"Pdiag.clu")