An Exploration of Methodologies for Detecting Subgroups, Subsystems and Cliques of Firms in Distribution Channels.

This paper focuses on one type of linkage among firms, that is, subgroups based on other types of linkage, such as communication, conflict and market relations. Subgroups of organizations within larger interorganizational networks such as distribution channels represent an important focus of attention. Subgroups may represent loci of power and bases of competition in a channel that affect channel functioning. Such subgroups may not be readily identifiable from an examination of individual firm characteristics but stem from the patterns of relations among the firms. Subgroups of firms, also termed as subsystems or cliques in this article, are sets of firms within a channel system that have stronger links with each other than they have with other channel members. Many methods have been developed for identifying subgroups. In this paper two important methods are described and used to examine the pattern of subgroups existing in an actual distribution channel.