Networks increase interdependencies, which creates challenges for managing risks. This is especially apparent in areas such as security and enterprise risk management, where the actions of a single player in an interconnected network can wreak havoc on everyone in the network. The network, in this case, is only as strong as its weakest link. There are related problems in encouraging investments for prevention and protection, because the expected payoffs from such measures by one player are affected by the actions of other players in the network. This chapter examines the challenges of interdependent security (IDS) and strategies for addressing these, including coordination with broader networks such as industry organizations and government.

Modern financial systems exhibit a high degree of interdependence, with connections between financial institutions stemming from both the asset and the liability sides of their balance sheets. Networks--broadly understood as a collection of nodes and links between nodes--can be a useful representation of financial systems. By modeling economic interactions, network analysis can better explain certain economic phenomena. In this chapter, Allen and Babus argue that the use of network theories can enrich our understanding of financial systems. They explore several critical issues. First, they address the issue of systemic risk, by studying two questions: how resilient financial networks are to contagion, and how financial institutions form connections when exposed to the risk of contagion. Second, they consider how network theory can be used to explain freezes in the interbank market. Third, they examine how social networks can improve investment decisions and corporate governance, based on recent empirical results. Fourth, they examine the role of networks in distributing primary issues of securities. Finally, they consider the role of networks as a form of mutual monitoring, as in microfinance.

In an environment of rapid and discontinuous change, managers have turned to alliances to access the resources they need. But research on alliances shows that more than half fail, demonstrating the difficulty of managing these relationships. Based on their extensive research on alliances, the authors explore the relational capabilities needed for building and managing successful alliances. Using the case of Royal Philips, they explore the role of strategy, structure, systems, people, and culture in alliance success. They also discuss the need for ongoing adaptation and renewal of relational capabilities as the business and its environment change.

Social networks and word-of-mouth marketing are increasingly important, yet few current practices are based on a deep understanding of how the structure of networks can affect customer behavior and marketing outcomes. This chapter offers some critical observations on current word-of-mouth marketing practices and identifies four key questions that managers need to ask themselves before engaging in campaigns designed to leverage customer networks: Can we be confident that interpersonal influence or social contagion is really important? Why exactly would social contagion occur? Should we target key influentials? Can we identify and target those influentials? The answers to these questions cannot be taken for granted.

Logistics is at the center of network-based manufacturing strategies, linking manufacturing sources with intermediate and final markets. As global logistics networks have grown and developed, they also have presented new challenges in managing risk and volatility across these broad, global networks. In this chapter, Kleindorfer and Visvikis discuss changes in logistics and financial instruments such as derivatives that have emerged to value and hedge the cost of capacity and services in these markets. They trace the recent history of maritime logistics and describe the convergence and integration of the physical and financial networks that underlie the valuation and use of logistics services. Global logistics illustrates how network-based strategies have integrated financial and physical networks. It also shows the emerging tools and competencies that have been needed to manage new risks arising from these broader networks.

The locus of innovation is shifting from the firm to the network. In contrast to developing standalone products, innovators are drawing together networks that deliver a personalized, co-created experience to the customer. This chapter describes a model in which nodal firms link communities of customers with communities of prequalified vendors. It examines cases from cardiac pacemakers to addressing diabetes and explores the implications of this shift for product and service innovation, value creation, and new sources of competitive advantage.

Information about life-and-death matters such as ways to attain good health or prevent disease is often diffused through informal social networks. Network-based strategies and competencies are probably even more important in poor societies with limited means of communication and less effective formal structures than in developed economies. In this chapter, the authors explore the nature of and impacts of informal social networks in reducing fertility and HIV infection in Kenya and Malawi, using longitudinal quantitative and qualitative data that they and their collaborators have been collecting and analyzing for more than a decade. They find that social networks and informal interactions are relevant for many different health domains in developing countries. Their research shows that network effects may be nonlinear, that there may be multiple equilibria, and that networks may either reinforce the status quo or help diffuse new options and behaviors. They show that both the context (e.g., the degree of market development) and the density of networks matter (possibly interactively), as well as the endogeneity of network partners. Their work demonstrates that multiple approaches, including both qualitative and quantitative analyses, can be informative in providing greater understanding of what networks do and how they function.