To hinder the high failure rate of strategic networks, recently scholars have concentrated on behavioral aspects such as trust, conflict management, resolution and commitment as fundamental antecedents of strategic network performance. Within this context, this paper focuses on the antecedents of affective commitment, based on the rationale that an increasing affective commitment cannot occur naturally during network evolution. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to understand how affective commitment is achieved along the development process of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) strategic networks.,To address the aim of the paper, a qualitative approach based on multiple case studies was used. Two case studies of Italian SME strategic networks having an increasing and decreasing level of affective commitment were selected to have a base of comparison, following a “polar types” theoretical sampling approach.,By comparing two cases in which partners show a different affective commitment along the network development process, this study allows providing a twofold contribution. The former is to unveil the most relevant elements partners may rely on to achieve an increasing affective commitment and the latter is to propose a dynamic approach toward the study of affective commitment in SME strategic networks.,Considering the limited generalizability of this exploratory study due to the analysis of two cases, future studies with a larger number of strategic multipartner networks can expand the understanding of the dynamics leading to increasing commitment.,The paper provides a series of practical guidelines for managers to create a trusting environment with a high level of affective commitment within the context of SME networks, which can contribute to their survival.,The originality of the study consists in having adopted a dynamic approach toward studying affective commitment in the context of SME networks, which resulted in the identification of relevant factors that can lead to increasing affective commitment.

中文翻译：

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致力于提高中小企业战略网络中的情感承诺

为了阻止战略网络的高失败率，最近，学者们将注意力集中在行为方面，例如信任，冲突管理，解决方案和承诺，这是战略网络绩效的基本前提。在此背景下，本文将基于情感承诺的前因，即在网络进化过程中，情感承诺不能自然发生的基本原理。因此，本文的目的是了解在中小企业战略网络的发展过程中如何实现情感承诺。为解决本文的目的，一种基于多案例研究的定性方法被使用了。根据“极性类型”理论抽样方法，选择了两个具有情感承诺水平增加和降低的意大利中小企业战略网络的案例研究，作为比较的基础。通过比较两个伙伴在合作伙伴方面表现出不同情感承诺的案例在网络开发过程中，这项研究可以提供双重贡献。前者是为了揭示合作伙伴可能依赖以实现的越来越多的情感承诺，而后者则是提出一种动态方法来研究中小企业战略网络中的情感承诺。考虑到该探索性研究的局限性在于两种情况的分析，