The organizations operate in an environment structured through productive and technological entailment, established between companies and institutions. Morphologically, the entire network is composed of nodes (activities or companies), position in the network structure, linking and flows between the actors. Starting from both morphological and properties analysis it is possible to understand how privileged positions in the network are reflected in the access to resources, information, norms and legitimacy. This paper analyzes how the structural and relational positioning in the network of auto parts companies affects the levels of knowledge diffusion, control mechanisms and power relations between assembly plant and suppliers. The nature of the research is an exploratory and descriptive study carried out using multi-cases, involving an assembly plant (modular consortium) and two auto parts suppliers (modulists). The primary data collection occurred in loco through in-depth interviews with production directors of the mentioned companies, participant comments and internal document analysis. The conclusions of the research show that dense and cohesive networks have greater possibilities to promote diffusion channels of management and technical knowledge between assembly plants and car spares suppliers in the cases studied. On the other hand, the dense networks generate distinct, highly institutionalized control structures, and redistributes the power to auto parts companies.
Networks; Social network analysis; Structural and relational position; Modular consortium and automotive industry
