Changing Structures of SME Networks: Lessons from the Publishing Industry in Taiwan

Abstract

This study uses the publishing industry to illustrate how Taiwan`s small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) modified their network structures to meet the requirements of the changing environment in the past 20 years. Based on interviews with 21 high-level managers in the top publishers and three network experts, six patterns of network structures were observed and the nature of network structural change was uncovered. By moving from ‘Centre-Satellite Structure’ to ‘Co-opetition Structure’ and then to ‘Spider-Web Structure’, the networks became more strategic, aggressive and flexible. The study suggests that for SMEs in a fiercely competitive industry the best way to survive is to form a network at the strategic level, while keeping relative independence at the operational level. This study also suggests that scholars and practitioners need to understand networking behaviours from multiple perspectives of economic, social, cultural and industrial factors.