Networks within networks - interaction in bioenergy business

Collaboration is seen as one of the most important means for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to compete and innovate in dynamic business environments. This paper approaches this phenomenon by studying a group of Finnish biomass heating firms and their interaction in the bioenergy business. In this paper, two frameworks are combined into a practical two-level tool for relationship and network analysis. This paper offers detailed information on the formation of partnerships and networks around the bioenergy business. Moreover, it speculates about the motives and mechanisms behind an actor's business relations. This study confirms that it is often profitable for SMEs to act simultaneously in different types of networks. In these networks, the firms form relationships that are different in breadth and depth.