Hamburger Kaffeehändler, 1886–1955. Eine Fallstudie zum Netzwerkmanagement

This case study deconstructs a network of coffee merchants, „Verein der am Caffeehandel betheiligten Firmen“, that was located in Hamburg 1886-1955. In which way and how successfully did the directorate as focal management committee use the network management instruments selection, allocation, evaluation, regulation and management of boundary spanning units? It will be shown that the two latter ones became vital for the network’s resilience, whereas selection, allocation, and evaluation had no such key position. In addition, the paper provides an analysis of internal communication, a factor that accelerated the network’s disaggregation. As an overall result, the case study shows that the focal management committee has to detect changes in the network’s environment and adapt the network management instruments properly to ensure the viability of the network.