The political embeddedness of international business networks

The concept of “embeddedness” is central to industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) theories. This paper is concerned with one form of embeddedness, namely the political embeddedness of business networks. Existing IMP literature on political embeddedness is reviewed and four dimensions of political embeddedness identified: political institutions, political actors, the political activities of firms and political resources. Research into each of these dimensions of political embeddedness is extended in this paper by analysing the findings from a longitudinal case study of the networks of an exporting firm. The case contributes to a deeper understanding of the “political embeddedness” concept, and suggests that the interpenetration of marketing and policy exchange is a feature of networks in “politically salient” industries.