How Network Topologies Impact Project Alliance Performance: Evidence from the Movie Industry

Abstract

In many industries, partners are interconnected in project alliances that have limited lifespans and clearly-defined boundaries. The transparency of the movie industry provides a unique opportunity to study how alliance network topologies impact the performance of project alliances from the perspectives of social networks and organization theories. In this work, we compiled a massive movie dataset and constructed alliance networks for both movie production and distribution companies. Using the box office as the proxy for the financial performance of a movie project alliance, this research investigates how the two alliance networks impact the box office. We introduce the social network properties of degrees, centralities, and structural holes as alliance network variables into empirical regression models. The results show that alliance networks have a significant influence on the box office. The degrees of production companies and the structural holes of distribution companies are especially important to achieve success in the box office. The results add new evidence for the study of the movie economy and alliance networks. Meanwhile, this work also provides implications for the movie industry by revealing that it is essential to wisely choose partners that are appropriately embedded in alliance networks for the success of a movie project.

Keywords

• social network analysis
• sociophysics
• movie project
• box office
• alliance network
• centrality
• structural holes