Abstract

Whereas most research on social business networks applies quantitative methods to examine the structural aspects of networks, the present study used in-depth interviews with Dutch book publishers to explore the relational aspects and motives for the formation of personal ties. To book publishers as cultural intermediaries, dealing with a mix of ties that range from professional to private is essential for the creation of cultural value. Informal networking is not primarily based on sociality ties and mutual exchange, as is often assumed; instead, publishers use informal contacts to keep an eye on each other, they share communalities with authors in more private settings and they exchange specific content in more formal ways. Personal ties involve different loyalties and motives, and this increases tensions between career and firm and culture and commerce. These tensions indicate that sociality ties are not the only mechanism behind the clustering of cultural product industries.

Introduction

The structure of social networks is an extensively studied subject in economics and organization sciences. Most of this research is quantitative in nature and provides an insight into the structural aspects of networks (Borgatti & Foster, 2003; Jack, 2010). Many studies have examined the importance of strong and weak ties (Granovetter, 1973) and of bridging and bonding ties (Burt, 1992) in business networks, but less is known about the relational aspects or the multiplex motives for the formation of personal ties. Qualitative research is needed to examine the relational and affective dimensions of different personal network ties (Jack, 2005; Daskalaki, 2010). This paper adds to the existing knowledge by presenting a qualitative exploration of personal ties in book publishing, a sector in which multiplex network ties are fundamental to the creation of cultural value. Publishers function as cultural intermediaries between authors, designers, booksellers and the press. They must simultaneously stimulate creativity and implement this creativity into a product that sells well, and this calls for different network ties.

This paper contributes to the understanding of personal network ties in three ways. First, it provides an insight into the motives and affective nature of personal ties and moves beyond the strong versus weak ties dichotomy. Second, it shows that personal ties are not always positive and are never neutral.