Page - (000281) - in Knowledge and Networks

278 the German e-commerce business until the New Economy’s bubble burst in 2003. The upheaval led to mass dismissals of employees, many of whom eventually found new jobs through a transfer company. The head of the human resources department at that time wanted to offer the former employees new perspectives and encourage them to form their own companies. The easy access to infrastructure (e.g., office rentals and state-of-the-art communication technology) and continual professional exchanges were particularly important in this regard. From the outset, these activi- ties took place in a highly concentrated geographic area, a common office building that also houses SellSoft. In 2005 the firms then officially adopted the legal form of a cooperative, and the network was formed as an organization. By 2010, Comra. de had grown from the initial 26 employees to 351 employees. Over the same period, SellSoft shrank from more than 1200 to 275 employees, making Comra. de larger than its former parent. Comra.de was created without public subsidies, purely on the private initiative of the shareholders. As a type of network organization, the cooperative offers the advantages of binding its members more strongly than an association, but it is not as hierarchically structured as a GmbH (German public limited company). The net- work is formally governed by the executive and supervisory boards. A member company takes on the role of network spokesperson, and membership is due to the purchase of units in the cooperative. Each member has one vote, which means they have equal voting rights. This formal governance structure guarantees the members sufficient flexibility and independence. In addition to the cooperative rental of the office property, the individual companies reap collective benefits from bundling specialist expertise to solve complex tasks and from pooling capacity to process larger orders. As a result, the cooperative can work on the market as an end-to-end provider with the greatest possible bandwidth and, for example, pursue joint mar- keting activities and receive improved purchasing conditions. Within the cooperative the member firms specialize in different areas of compe- tence, such as developing software for online shops, mail-order solutions, mobile applications, online marketing, and Web design. These competencies are offered to SMEs and large enterprises alike. In addition, the network operates as an e-business service provider for other cooperatives. In 2007, Comra.de recorded revenues of €17.5 million, up 80 % from the previous year. This figure was the largest percent- age increase in revenues the network had yet achieved. In the following year, reve- nues totaled €18.1 million; in 2009, €19.2 million (Beck, 2011). Method Comra.de agreed to participate in a network case study from May 2010 to September 2011. In preliminary discussions the spokesperson reported a series of problems and challenges for work in the network, which finally led him to agree to a scientific investigation of organized networks as part of the research consortium krea.nets (Glückler et al., 2012). The method for the study was based on the J. Glückler and I. Hammer