Entrepreneurial Networks: Their Emergence in Ireland and Overseas

SUE BIRLEY IS PROFESSOR OF management at Imperial College, London, England, Stanley Cromie is professor and director of the Centre for Management Education at the Ulster Business School, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, and Andrew Myers is with the Cranifield School of Management, England. This paper discusses the need for information in organisations and the particular relevance of non-documented data which is gathered by managers from a network of personal contacts. It examines some of the issues involved in assessing the characteristics of personal networks and proposes that network activiety, density and diversity are the crucial features of business networks. The paper suggests that personal networking is a particularly appropriate mechanism for information gathering by owners/managers of small organisations, examines the personal networks of 274 business proprietors and compares the findings of this study with similar ones conducted in the United States of America, Sweden and Italy. Results indicate that entrepreneurial networks in Northern Ireland are smaller than elsewhere and that little zeal is displayed in increasing their size. However, considerable energy is devoted to maintaining existing networks and they are of relativly high density. Northern Irish networks are quite heterogenous with business associates, family, friends and professionals to the fore but the dearth of owner/managers and employees in the personal contact networks is quite surprising.