Catering to Cleantech’s Resource Needs: The Strategic Importance of Board Networks in an Emerging Green Industry
Keywords:
Downloads
Abstract
This paper explores the role of elite networks in shaping business strategies in the cleantech industry. In order to do so, we investigate whether and if so how boards of directors cater to the resource needs of the innovative and expanding cleantech industry. We create a new dataset of the board network of leading cleantech firms that allows us to show how cleantech directors are integrated into the worlds of government, banking, and research. The strategic merits of board networks considered are 1/ the need for operational resources 2/ the need for conducive policies; and 3/ the need for market access. We find that Finance and Innovation are most sought after, and domestic networks remain dominant. While larger firms are well embedded in big business and finance, smaller corporations seek ties with innovation and policy networks. Cleantech firms currently show no significant capacity to reduce dependencies in terms of access to future cleantech markets. The findings suggest that the ‘classic’ resource needs, such as finance, are much better ‘covered’ through the board’s network structures than those resources that would enable a firm to improve its long-standing needs, such as a favourable policy environment and access to future markets.
Downloads
References
Arent, D.J., Wise, A. & Gelman, R. 2011, "The status and prospects of renewable energy for combating global warming", Energy Economics, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 584-593.
Google Scholar CrossrefBathelt, H., Malmberg, A. & Maskell, P. 2004, "Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation", Progress in Human Geography, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 31-56.
Google Scholar CrossrefBergenholtz, C. & Waldstrøm, C. 2011, "Inter-Organizational Network Studies—A Literature Review", Industry and Innovation, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 539-562.
Google Scholar CrossrefBorgatti, S.P., Everett, M.G. & Freeman, L.C. 2002, Ucinet for Windows: Software for Social Network Analysis., Analytic Technologies, Harvard.
Google Scholar CrossrefBuerer, M.J. & Wuestenhagen, R. 2009, "Which renewable energy policy is a venture capitalist's best friend? Empirical evidence from a survey of international cleantech investors", Energy Policy, vol. 37, no. 12, pp. 4997-5006.
Google Scholar CrossrefCarroll, W.K. & Carson, C. 2003, "The network of global corporations and elite policy groups: a structure for transnational capitalist class formation?", Global Networks, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 29-57.
Google Scholar CrossrefChu, J.S.G. & Davis, G.F. 2011, "Who Killed the Inner Circle? The Breakdown of the American Corporate Elite Network, 1999-2009", Proceedings of the 4th political networks conference, Paper 1, 2011.
Google Scholar CrossrefCulpepper, P.D. 2009, "Why Business Wins. Corporate Control and Public Policy in Europe and Japan", Book manuscript, .
Google Scholar CrossrefDavis, G.F. 1991, "Agents without principles? The spread of the poison pill through the intercorporate network", Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 583-613.
Google Scholar CrossrefDavis, G.F., Yoo, M. & Baker, W.E. 2003, "The Small World of the American Corporate Elite, 1982-2001", Strategic Organization, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 301-326.
Google Scholar CrossrefDIREC 2010, DIREC Report 2010 for up scaling and mainstreaming renewables, Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference, New Delhi.
Google Scholar CrossrefDomhoff, G.W. 1967, Who Rules America, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Google Scholar CrossrefDowlatabadi, H. 1998, "Sensitivity of climate change mitigation estimates to assumptions about technical change", Energy Economics, vol. 20, no. 5-6, pp. 473-493.
Google Scholar CrossrefEpstein, M., Berg, B. & Morello, T. 2010, Venture Debt - Another tool for cleantech, Mintz, Levin, Ferris, Cohn, Glovsky and Popeo P.C., Boston.
Google Scholar CrossrefFennema, M. 1982, International Networks of Banks and Industry, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague.
Google Scholar CrossrefGeletkanycz, M.A. & Hambrick, D.C. 1997, "The External Ties of Top Executives: Implications for Strategic Choice and Performance", Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 654-681.
Google Scholar CrossrefGertler, M.S. & Levitte, Y.M. 2005, "Local nodes in global networks: the geography of knowledge flows in biotechnology innovation", Industry and Innovation, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 487-507.
Google Scholar CrossrefGodfrey, B.J. & Zhou, Y. 1999, " Ranking World Cities: Multinational Corporations and the Global Urban Hierarchy ", Urban Geography, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 268-281.
Google Scholar CrossrefGrubb, M., Haduong, M. & Chapuis, T. 1995, "The economics of changing course", Energy Policy, vol. 23, no. 4/5, pp. 417-432.
Google Scholar CrossrefGulati, R. & Westphal, J.D. 1999, "Cooperative or controlling? The effects of CEO-board relations and the content of interlocks on the formation of joint ventures.", Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 473-506.
Google Scholar CrossrefHaunschild, P.R. 1993, "Interorganizational Imitation: The Impact of Interlocks on Corporate Acquisition Activity", Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 564-592.
Google Scholar CrossrefHeemskerk, E.M. 2007, Decline of the Corporate Community. Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.
Google Scholar CrossrefHenriques, I. & Sadorsky, P. 2008, "Oil prices and the stick price of alternative energy companies", Energy Economics, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 998-1010.
Google Scholar CrossrefHillman, A.J., Withers, M.C. & Collins, B.J. 2009, "Resource Dependency Theory: A Review", Journal of Management, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1404-1427.
Google Scholar CrossrefHuggins, R., Johnston, A. & Thompson, P. 2012, "Network Capital, Social Capital and Knowledge Flow: How the Nature of Inter-organizational Networks Impacts on Innovation", Industry and Innovation, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 203-232.
Google Scholar CrossrefKogut, B. 2012, The Small World of Corporate Governance, MIT Press, Boston.
Google Scholar CrossrefMarques, A.C. & Fuinhas, J.A. 2011, "Drivers promoting renewable energy: A dynamic panel approach", Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1601-1608.
Google Scholar CrossrefMendonca, M., Lacey, S. & Hvelplund, F. 2009, "Stability, participation and transparency in renewable energy policy: Lessons from Denmark and the United States", Policy and Society, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 379-398.
Google Scholar CrossrefMizruchi, M.S. 1996, "What do interlocks do? An analysis, critique, and assessment of research on interlocking directorates", Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 271-299.
Google Scholar CrossrefNeal, Z.P. 2008, " The Duality of World Cities: Comparing Networks, Hierarchies, and Inequalities in the Global Economy", Global Networks, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 94-115.
Google Scholar CrossrefPfeffer, J. 1972, "Size and Composition of Corporate Boards of Directors: The Organisation and its environment", Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 218-228.
Google Scholar CrossrefPfeffer, J. & Salancik, G.R. 1978, The external control of organizations: A resource dependency perspective, Harper & Row, New York.
Google Scholar CrossrefRagnitz, J., Schmalholz, H., Triebswetter, U. & Wackerbauer, J. 2009, "Cleantech in Ostdeutschland: Bestandsaufnahme und Entwicklungsperspektiven", IFO Dresden berichtet, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 3-10.
Google Scholar CrossrefRao, H. & Sivakumar, K. 1999, "Institutional sources of boundary-spanning structures: the establishment of investor relations departments in the Fortune 500 industrials", Organization Science, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 27-42.
Google Scholar CrossrefRoland Berger 2009, Clean Economy, Living Planet: building strong clean energy technology industries, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, Amsterdam.
Google Scholar CrossrefSchweitzer, F., Fagiolo, G., Sornette, D., Vega-Redondo, F., Vespignani, A. & White, D.R. 2009, "Economic networks: The new challenges", Science, vol. 325, no. 5939, pp. 422-425.
Google Scholar CrossrefScott, J. 1997, Corporate Business and Capitalist Classes, Oxford University Press, New York.
Google Scholar CrossrefStearns, L.B. & Mizruchi, M.S. 1993, "Board Composition and Corporate Financing: The Impact of Financial Institution Representation on Borrowing", The Academy of Management Journal, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 603-618.
Google Scholar CrossrefStokman, F.N., Ziegler, R. & Scott, J. 1985, Networks of Corporate Power, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Google Scholar CrossrefTaylor, P.J., Penfei, N., Derudder, B., Hoyler, M., Huang, J. & Witlox, F. 2011, Global Urban Analysis. A Survey of Cities in Globalization , Earthscan Publishers, London.
Google Scholar CrossrefUNEP SEFI & New Energy Finance 2007, Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007, UNEP, Paris.
Google Scholar CrossrefUNEP, S. & New Energy Finance 2009, Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009: Analysis of Trends and Issues in the Financing of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency , Paris.
Google Scholar CrossrefUseem, M. 1984, The Inner Circle: Large Corporations and the Rise of Business Political Activity in the US and UK. Oxford University Press, New York.
Google Scholar CrossrefVan Ees, H., Gabrielsson, J. & Huse, M. 2009, "Toward a Behavioral Theory of Boards and Corporate Governance", Corporate Governance, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 307-319.
Google Scholar CrossrefWatts, D.J. 1999, "Networks, dynamics and the small-world phenomena", American Journal of Sociology, vol. 105, no. 2, pp. 493-527.
Google Scholar CrossrefWestphal, J.D. 1999, "Collaboration in the boardroom: The consequences of social ties in the CEO/board relationship", Academy of Management Journal, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 7-24.
Google Scholar CrossrefWindolf, P. 2002, Corporate networks in Europe and the United States, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Google Scholar CrossrefDownloads
Published
Almetric
Dimensions
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
All articles are published under Creative Commons copyright (CC BY). Authors hold the copyright and retain publishing rights without restrictions, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles as the original source is cited.
