The Network Paradox

摘要

The cooperative model of "network organization" has been recently advanced as the ideal model of business practice in the so-called information age. Most often, the picture portrayed of this model is one of a multiply nested organization in which every network is reliably embedded in a larger network that supports, and is supported by, its operation. While this picture might be faithful for some network enterprises, it is certainly not accurate about others. It is too simplistic compared to heterogeneous character and complicated dynamics of network organizations, as is evidenced by recent failures of some of them. The situation, in terms of the mismatch between the actuality of network organizations and their conceptual characterization is puzzling enough to be labeled a paradox. This paper seeks to examine different manifestations and explanations of this paradox as a preliminary step toward a comprehensive model of network organizations.