In the last three decades, issues concerning the role and influence of business social networks have sprung up as the main focus of debate amongst academics and professionals from the Business Area. Although there have been many theoretical backgrounds bounded to Network Theory, the Actor-Activities-Resources model (AAR model) developed by IMP-Group has been mostly adopted in a wide array of organizational contexts. Bearing this in mind, the AAR model was used to investigate how business opportunities are identified by the CEOs of High-Tech Firms. This is an exploratory investigation that follows a basic qualitative orientation. The data collection was taken from in-depth interviews with CEOs. Content analysis was used as the interpretation method for qualitative interviews in this paper. The main finding of this research points to a collective dynamic developed within business network relationships. Besides this, sensemaking principles are deeply embedded in the praxis of CEOs within such relations. Theoretical reflections on these findings are discussed. Implications for marketing theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are considered.
AAR Model; IMP-Group; Sensemaking; Opportunity findings; High-tech firm
