Networks capital analytic lens: moving towards the concept of the value drivers

Abstract

The networks capital is generated outside and partially within the company by the wide range of the corporate interactions and cooperation with external stakeholders of business networks. Obviously, the networks management can increase the corporate value significantly, but unbalanced inner-isolated managerial decisions cannot. As of day, it is not an easy matter to assign the key analytical substance of the business networks structure and the networks capital features as the value drivers of the company. The range of applied and empirical papers of the networks intuitive phenomenon and the possibility of the development of those new unique value drivers especially networks based, preliminary force out researchers to find the common concept of the analysis. The networks value drivers are to be unique and thus to be sustainable under up-to-date rival competition and even under the conditions of the distressed world economy. Recently the original notion of networks capital is of genuine interest of various scientists of different academic fields: finance, management, sociology, psychology, anthropology, mathematics, etc. According to this widespread academic heritage, it is possible to distinguish networks capital as the part of the intellectual capital of the company. The main distinctive feature is that the networks capital is accumulated mostly by the interactions of the company with the external business environment. The main issue in this case is that the company is quite limited in leveraging the business environment and is stint in resources to manage the external counterparts’ interactions in contrast to internal corporate processes. Networks capital intensifies the effective cooperation, knowledge, competences and information flows sharing decrease the transaction costs, and results in the majority of many other positive effects. However, unbalanced networks investments can lead towards losses and obstacles to achieve the strategic goals. In this case, it is worth to mention the features of the value creation process. It should be noted that the goal of the strategic management is to create value for its stakeholders inclusive all the external counterparts, but with no doubt mainly for its shareholders - the counterparts of the inner networks of the company. Results of analytical investigation of the networks capital groundwork according to the specifics of the value creation approach are reviewed in this paper. In addition, the possibility for the networks capital concept implementation over the forthcoming empirical research is discussed.