The Importance of Social Networks for Small Firms : A Theoretical Perspective

Résumé

Two concepts characterize our age: the information society and the network society. This article deals with the second concept. This is for two reasons. The first reason concerns the definition of the two concepts.  Following Manuel Castells, knowledge and information have always existed ; they were, “central in all societies”. What is important is not the ‘Information Society’ (Castells, 2000, pp.9-10)[6]. In the course of social development, the internet becomes a major tool of communication. Consequently, “we shift from computer-centred technologies to network-diffused technologies, as we make progress in nanotechnology” (p.10)[6]. Hence,  in the concept of a network society, attention shifts to the changing organizational forms of societies (p.19)[6]. In the second reason, two approaches are prevalent. The first takes the organizational and infra-structural dimensions of network society; this is the approach adopted by Castells.  The second emphasizes the (inter) subjective characteristics of the use of these dimensions, mainly as a reaction to the first approach, as exemplified in the works of Jan Van Dijk. The importance of networks, as entrepreneurial activities for entrepreneurship in general and small firms in particular reflect upon the dynamics of such dimensions.