A framework for understanding strategic network performance: Exploring efficiency and effectiveness at the network level

There are currently limits in our understanding of strategic network performance due to the complexity of the underlying processes involved. Improving our understanding of performance is critical if we are to improve network functioning, an important managerial problem. This paper addresses a research gap in strategic network performance by investigating: efficiency and effectiveness at the network level of analysis. A multiple case study methodology is used to investigate two Australian agri-business strategic networks. The cases suggest that processes relating to building actor webs and collective sensemaking are crucial for improving strategic network effectiveness, whereas network efficiency is influenced by developing activity patterns and utilizing resource constellations. The cases also highlight potential trade-offs between network effectiveness and efficiency in relation to performance at the network level. The paper contributes an empirically informed theoretical framework for understanding how network level processes influence network performance.