The latest round of quarterly results have recently come out and the likes of Apple and Boeing have announced bumper profits. Others such as Sainsbury’s and Samsung have not fared so well. So what is it that makes some big multinational corporations so successful? One answer can be found in their ability to control networks.
The global economy is made up of a series of networks that link customers with providers from all corners of the world. These networks consist of chains of linked corporations that bring these products to our doorsteps – from coffee growers in Columbia through logistics companies to the coffee burner at Nestle and the shop around the corner. Once companies have gained a strong position in these networks, they can then enhance and modify them to suit their business.
Companies that succeed position themselves at the centre of these networks and then manipulate their structure and foundations. Mostly, entrepreneurship rests on three forms of networking and network building: controlling the network they are part of, bridging it with others and creating new one.
Gaining Control
Good entrepreneurs seek to occupy positions of control and power in the economic networks in which they operate. They do so by occupying the profitable “middleman” position between producers and customers in the networks that make up our global economy.
