Relational Pluralism in De Novo Organizations: Boards of Directors as Bridges or Barriers to Diverse Alliance Portfolios?

This paper develops relational pluralism as a collective construct whose dimensions are heterogeneity, multiplexity, and asymmetry. Relational pluralism is instantiated in the board of directors, whose network of relationships influence a new venture's ability to establish external links beyond the networks of the founding team. We argue that relational pluralism speeds the establishment of a diverse alliance portfolio, which, in turn, speeds...