Networks have become the dominant life form in many organizational settings. Most studies of relationships in networks focus on the dyadic interaction between two agents. However, work on enactment, sensemaking, path dependency, and social figuration processes (by Weick, Elias, and others) suggests that complex networks cannot be exclusively understood in terms of dyadic relationships. This paper therefore explores emergent processes of enactment and sensemaking in network settings by means of an agent-based model. In particular, we develop an agent-based model of a two-tiered supply network of ten firms with heterogeneous dispositions towards partnership. This model serves to explore the interaction between disposition, sensemaking and behaviour in a network. The simulation results exhibit strong path dependency effects and, in a highly stylised manner, capture the emergent process of enactment and retrospective sensemaking. An important finding is that path dependency effects occur in response to so-called life events (e.g. a calamity that disrupts the flow of products). Our findings also imply that inner dispositions may not determine the actual behaviour emerging over time in complex and turbulent (supply) networks. This raises questions regarding network research that focuses on dyadic relationships studied by means of cross-sectional data.
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