臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.1

The Moderating Effects of Firm Capabilities and Governance Modes on the Network-Performance Relation 160 The Moderating Effects of Firm Capabilities and Governance Modes on the Network-Performance Relation 1. Introduction Why and how external networks affect firm performance have been important questions in the fields of strategy management and organization theory (Das, Sen, and Sengupta, 1998; Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1996; Pfeffer and Salancik, 1978; Powell, Koput, and Smith-Doerr, 1996). However, the link between external networks and firm performance has no clear-cut empirical support. On the one hand, some scholars argue that external networks could enhance firm performance when the external networks complement internal firm capabilities (Cassiman and Veugelers, 2002; Huang, 2010; Lee, Lee, and Pennings, 2001). On the other hand, some scholars emphasize the impact of transaction costs on the relation between external networks and firm performance, suggesting that external networks may not deliver expected benefits due to the costs involved (Goerzen, 2007; Lavie, 2007; Luo and Deng, 2009). To bridge the research gap, this study draws on both resource dependence and transaction cost theories to examine how a firm’s external networks affect its performance, focusing on potential moderating factors on the relation between external networks and firm performance. More specifically, based on the resource dependence theory, this study argues that firm capabilities could negatively moderate the relation between external networks and firm performance. Drawing on the transaction cost theory, moreover, this study asserts that the governance mode of a firm’s networks also matters, and expects that equity-based governance modes would positively moderate the relation between external networks and firm performance. Yi-Ju Lo , College of Management, Yuan Ze University