Search results
1 – 10 of over 176000Miguel Linhares Pinheiro, José Carlos Pinho and Cândida Lucas
The purpose of this paper is to draw insights from the actors-resources-activities (ARA) model and social capital literature to identify relevant activities shared by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw insights from the actors-resources-activities (ARA) model and social capital literature to identify relevant activities shared by university-industry (U-I) actors prior to R & D cooperation.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a qualitative methodology, a series of interviews were carried out with researchers from the biological sciences domain.
Findings
This study found that, at the outset of U-I links, companies’ motivations are strongly organizational, while academics are motivated at a personal level. The interactions grow from low-risk activities to partnerships on complex tasks, and depend on relational resources framed within the ARA and social capital theories. Results showed that shared interests are present at the outset of U-I links and grow thereafter. Trust and commitment were not ubiquitous at the outset, but rather at later stages of the cooperation, as a result of the developed interdependencies.
Research limitations/implications
The combination of the ARA model and social capital in U-I links highlighted the different relationship levels (individual vs organizational), the disparities between early and established ties, and the interplay between low- and high-investment activities underlying researchers’ relationships. Several managerial contributions are presented for universities to promote greater integration with industry partners.
Originality/value
A new direction of research is presented towards lower levels of U-I cooperation, taking into account the relational resources and the activities shared in each level. This work distinguished the different actors’ motivations and clarified the role of trust and commitment at the outset of U-I links. This first assessment of Portuguese U-I interactions within the biological sciences provided valuable insights for both academics and practitioners.
Details
Keywords
Wieland Schwinger, Werner Retschitzegger, Andrea Schauerhuber, Gerti Kappel, Manuel Wimmer, Birgit Pröll, Cristina Cachero Castro, Sven Casteleyn, Olga De Troyer, Piero Fraternali, Irene Garrigos, Franca Garzotto, Athula Ginige, Geert‐Jan Houben, Nora Koch, Nathalie Moreno, Oscar Pastor, Paolo Paolini, Vicente Pelechano Ferragud, Gustavo Rossi, Daniel Schwabe, Massimo Tisi, Antonio Vallecillo, Kees van der Sluijs and Gefei Zhang
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at…
Abstract
Purpose
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full‐fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model‐driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in‐depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability.
Findings
The results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta‐models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self‐contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility.
Originality/value
Different from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well‐defined as well as fine‐grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.
Details
Keywords
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network…
Abstract
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.
Details
Keywords
Malena Ingemansson Havenvid, Håkan Håkansson and Åse Linné
The authors argue that the construction industry is characterised by a fragmented business context with three main features: the project-based character, the strong focus on price…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors argue that the construction industry is characterised by a fragmented business context with three main features: the project-based character, the strong focus on price in all parts of the supply chain along with the great importance of suppliers. This fragmentation has been identified as problematic for the industry’s ability to innovate and engage in renewal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this further by focusing on how construction companies manage renewal in a fragmented business context.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use an in-depth case study of a housing project in Sweden to discuss how firms manage renewal in a fragmented type of business environment. The authors identify the challenge of achieving renewal in an individual construction company as an issue of handling intra- and inter-organisational issues in both intra- and inter-project environments.
Findings
The case study indicates that renewal can be partly handled and managed through long-term business relationships and partly through opening up to new business relationships. Moreover, innovations and learning developed in other projects can be used in the focal project, and due to a repetitive task it is possible for the construction company to use a core network of individuals and organisations to enhance overall renewal among actors.
Research limitations/implications
The study needs to be supported by further empirical observations. The paper encourages IMP scholars to further investigate projects from an industrial network approach.
Practical implications
The study shows that the internal resources of firms can be used systematically to create continuity in a multi-project organisation, and that relationships can be used to bridge learning and innovation among actors across projects.
Originality/value
The paper addresses why firms in fragmented (project-based) businesses might struggle with achieving renewal in a novel way by outlining and investigating four organisational challenges they must handle.
Details
Keywords
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
Details
Keywords
Xueji Liang, Lu Dai and Sujuan Xie
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is a widely accepted procedure for firms to disclose their performance in multiple domains, including environmental protection…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is a widely accepted procedure for firms to disclose their performance in multiple domains, including environmental protection, labour welfare, protection of human rights, community services, contribution to society and pursuit of product safety. This study aims to investigate whether and how board interlocks affect firms’ decisions with respect to CSR reporting. This study argues that board interlocks act as an important source of social pressure and firms are influenced by their peer firms to adopt CSR reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper sampled listed companies on China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2009 to 2015. The data were collected from Runling database and China Stock Market and Accounting Research database. A multi-period logit model was used to conduct the main regression analysis and the propensity score matching method was used in the robustness checks.
Findings
A study based on a sample of Chinese publicly listed firms from 2009 to 2015 confirms the argument and shows that sharing a common director on the board with a previous CSR reporter facilitates the firm’s engagement in CSR reporting. Furthermore, this study shows that the influence of board interlocks on CSR reporting depends on the following three characteristics: status of the interlocking director, size of the linked CSR reporter and performance implications of previous CSR activities.
Research limitations/implications
The interpretation of the current findings should be considered in light of these limitations. First, while board interlocks are an important social aspect of institutional pressure, other types of social pressure exist. Second, the focus is on CSR reporting decisions. However, CSR reporting can also be symbolic, with little substantive quality to improve CSR-related activities. Third, this study argues that both regulatory and social pressures influence the decision to report on CSR. However, this study was unable to determine the weight of each pressure. Future research should follow this direction. Finally, the influence of certain behaviours through interlocks is stronger in the initial stage of the institutionalisation process.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have important implications for practitioners. First, the messaging role of interlocking directors suggests that director selection should consider the effectiveness of information transfer. Knowing and analysing specific interlock and its links with the firm’s strategy is very important. Meanwhile, firms should be vigilant that the balance between the access to information and loss of autonomy because searching for information related to firms’ strategic decisions might challenge current strategy. Second, the results of the study suggest that to effectively urge companies to engage in CSR reporting, government and policy makers should consider beyond institutional pressure, but also be sensitive to the social pressure exerted upon the companies.
Social implications
The positive role of board interlocks on corporate voluntary CSR reporting can not only make valuable contributions to the Chinese society but also, as an important participant of global economy and trade, the Chinese interlocking directors’ contribution to CSR reporting have global benefits.
Originality/value
This study extends the institutional perspective on CSR reporting by uncovering the effect of social pressure. It advances the literature on the antecedents of CSR reporting by linking board interlocks to CSR reporting. Finally, the study enriches the broader interlock literature by delineating three specific characteristics of interlocks that influence CSR reporting.
Details
Keywords
Jens Laage-Hellman, Frida Lind and Andrea Perna
This paper aims to explore the role and meaning of openness for the purpose of enhancing the understanding of collaborative innovation from an industrial network perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the role and meaning of openness for the purpose of enhancing the understanding of collaborative innovation from an industrial network perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework is based on the Industrial Network Approach, and the concepts of activity links, resource ties and actor bonds are used as a starting point for capturing the content and dynamics of the interaction. The empirical part consists of five case studies: two historical and three contemporary cases dealing with collaborative innovation projects. The cases are analyzed with regard to openness in business relationships and their connections in the network.
Findings
The main contribution is a conceptualization of openness in business relationships and relationship connections. The paper describes various forms and contents of openness – and closeness. It is postulated that the concept of openness can be used as an analytical tool for digging deeper into relationship and network-related issues of relevance to firms’ behavior in the context of collaborative innovation. Openness, as it is defined in this paper, is also put forward as an explanation of why (or why not) collaborative innovation projects become successful.
Originality/value
The conceptualization of openness differs from openness as it is commonly described in the open innovation literature. There, openness is the opposite of closeness, that is, a pattern where the innovation activities take place internally within the company. In this paper, openness, instead, has to do with how firms interact with other network actors in the context of collaborative innovation.
Details
Keywords
Bernadett Csurgó, Imre Kovách and Nicole Mathieu
The chapter focuses on rural-urban food links in the context of governance. We seek to understand a rural-urban innovator mechanism is emerging through the food system and the…
Abstract
The chapter focuses on rural-urban food links in the context of governance. We seek to understand a rural-urban innovator mechanism is emerging through the food system and the renewed question of proximity and relative autonomy in the alimentary supply of this type of space and local society. We present case studies from Paris and Budapest metropolitan rural areas exploring institutional and private actors of governance, their power networks, food and related cultural components of rural-urban relations, the function of food links and the way in which they are governed. We have found several differences in governance methods between the Paris and Budapest metropolitan ruralities. The areas surrounding Paris are characterised by multi-level governance methods. However, an isolated form of rural governance of the rural-urban local food link can be identified in Budapest’s rural areas. Understanding the complex and dynamic interaction of food links and related activities within metropolitan areas offers the possibility of a far greater understanding of the complex and multiple links between sustainability, renewal of social interaction and cohesion.
Details
Keywords
Caroline Cheng and Malena Ingemansson Havenvid
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the strategic management concept of “strategy tools” (STs) can be reinterpreted from an industrial network perspective. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the strategic management concept of “strategy tools” (STs) can be reinterpreted from an industrial network perspective. It considers how STs are used to influence the substance of relationships and how firms engage in strategic action by using such tools.
Design/methodology/approach
Using case study research involving three focal firms, the paper scrutinizes use of selected STs to examine how they are used to systematically relate to others and create benefits and affect development paths in business relationships.
Findings
STs can be viewed as an integrated part of a networking pattern of mobilizing resources, linking activities and relating actors. Seen in this manner, use of STs can be interaction-facilitating or interaction-creating.
Research limitations/implications
In an interactive approach, STs must be seen in relation to others as they are used in strategic (co-)action to engage and involve others. In this view, tools are strategic when used to affect the long-term development of important business relationships.
Practical implications
Practitioners should acknowledge that the use of a ST to handle counterparts is emerging, and valuable only in relation to specific others. Because the value of STs is unknowable until it is revealed how they can affect the substance of a specific relationship, there is no best-practice or one-size-fits-all approach.
Originality/value
This paper illuminates the phenomenon of “strategy tools” by considering it from both sides of the business exchange interface.
Details