A tale of two cultures: Social networks and competitive advantage

Abstract

To study how firm networks function in different cultures, we employ meta-analysis methods to examine the impacts of tightness-looseness and individualist-collectivist cultures on the links between network centrality/structural holes and competitive advantage. Based on a sample from 74 studies encompassing 30,930 samples, we find that network centrality has a stronger positive impact on competitive advantage than structural holes. In addition, the findings indicate that the positive impacts of both network centrality and structural holes on competitive advantage are higher in loose cultures than in tight cultures. We also find that the positive impacts of both network centrality and structural holes on competitive advantage are higher in individualist cultures than in collectivist cultures.