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Retailer-brand collaborations (e.g. Target–Lilly Pulitzer) attract media attention and generate excitement, and may encourage buying the product right away rather than waiting until a sale. To clearly establish factors that contribute to consumers' urge to purchase retailer-brand collaborations, the purpose of this study is to test the effects of: (1) collaboration duration (limited edition vs ongoing) and (2) perceived retailer-brand fit (high vs low) on consumers' urgency to buy.

Three experimental studies (n = 499) manipulate and test the effect of collaboration duration (Study 1), perceived retailer-brand fit (Study 2) and the combined effect (Study 3) on consumers' urgency to buy.

Findings indicate that urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations are favourable when products are offered as limited edition versus ongoing (Study 1), when there is high-perceived fit versus low-perceived fit between retailer and brand partners (Study 2) and when both conditions are true (Study 3).

To enhance consumers' urgency to buy retailer-brand collaborations, the partnerships should be limited in duration (vs collaborating in an ongoing fashion). Additionally brands and retailers need to strategically align with well-fitting partners.

Despite the prevalence and success of retailer-brand collaborations in industry, research on such collaboration is surprising scant. Additionally, while previous studies often measure purchase intentions as consumers' response, an understanding of factors that discourage consumers from delaying their purchase (i.e. factors that lead to urgency to buy) help to identify strategies to cultivate greater profits.

This study attempts to use a new source of data collection from open government data sets to identify potential academic social networks (ASNs) and defines their collaboration patterns. The purpose of this paper is to propose a direction that may advance our current understanding on how or why ASNs are formed or motivated and influence their research collaboration.

This study first reviews the open data sets in Taiwan, which is ranked as the first state in Global Open Data Index published by Open Knowledge Foundation to select the data sets that expose the government’s R&D activities. Then, based on the theory review of research collaboration, potential ASNs in those data sets are identified and are further generalized as various collaboration patterns. A research collaboration framework is used to present these patterns.

Project-based social networks, learning-based social networks and institution-based social networks are identified and linked to various collaboration patterns. Their collaboration mechanisms, e.g., team composition, motivation, relationship, measurement, and benefit-cost, are also discussed and compared.

In traditional, ASNs have usually been known as co-authorship networks or co-inventorship networks due to the limitation of data collection. This study first identifies some ASNs that may be formed before co-authorship networks or co-inventorship networks are formally built-up, and may influence the outcomes of research collaborations. These information allow researchers to deeply dive into the structure of ASNs and resolve collaboration mechanisms.

This article aims to explore the role of organisational legitimacy in understanding the emergence and development of “cross‐sector collaboration” between social enterprises and corporations.

An in‐depth case study of a long‐standing but fragile partnership between a UK‐based Fair Trade social enterprise and a large corporate retailer provides exploratory findings on the role of legitimacy at different stages of the collaboration process.

The findings highlight how pragmatic and moral legitimacy are mobilised by the social enterprise to justify collaboration throughout three major stages: the very decision of cross‐sector collaboration; the choice of the partner and the framing of the partnership; and the evolution of the collaboration.

While Fair Trade is not the only sector in which social enterprise‐corporate partnerships take place, it has been a pioneering domain revealing the potential as well as the challenges of such partnerships. Taking into account the role of legitimacy throughout the collaborative process is crucial both for comprehensive research and for informed practice.

Although it is documented by a single case study, this paper opens new research avenues to examine social enterprise‐corporate collaborations by developing a “non‐functionalist” view of such collaborations and showing the importance of legitimacy in understanding why and how they emerge, develop and sometimes fail.

The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically and theoretically collaborations, which small entrepreneurial firms establish with other firms, stemming from innovation processes within the original firm.

The article advances “entrepreneurship as practice” (EaP) using practice theory, employing specifically the concept of constellations. Three specific constellations emerge, each characterized by particular practices, purposes and outcomes. The empirical material stems from a collective case study of 32 entrepreneurial firms regarding 40 innovation projects.

The findings suggest that innovation practices in entrepreneurial firms stimulate new collaborations forming specific constellations, which in turn lead to learning and further innovation.

The theoretical framework developed extends EaP and practice theory by casting light on how constellations are, their forms, shapes and outcomes. The findings extend existing research on collaboration for innovation and contribute to practice theory by modeling different constellations and their structures.

The practical implications of the findings for entrepreneurial firms arise from understandings of how different constellations may influence further learning and innovation.

The originality of the study is the identification and exposition of distinctive constellations of collaboration stemming from entrepreneurial innovation. This study exposes that innovation is differently open, whether the collaboration is interdependent, incorporated into the collaboration or independent from the other collaborative partners, with implications for learning and for innovation outcomes. The findings give insight into the enabling and limiting factors of each constellation, factors which may facilitate or hinder learning and innovation.

This study was steered to establish how buyer–supplier collaboration's commitment attributes serve as an antecedent for procurement performance in large manufacturing entities in Tanzania.

A parallel, concurrent, mixed method was used in the study. Quantitatively, 52 firms were surveyed from Temeke Municipality, Tanzania, using questionnaire that specified 1 procurement manager and 1 store manager from those firms, totaling a sample size of 104 respondents. Qualitatively, expressive opinions to supplement the numeric data were gathered from supply chain managers using the saturation principle. Explanatory design analyzed the existing cause–effect relationship, and the null hypotheses were tested using binary logistic regression at p values < 0.05 and ExpB > 1.

Fidelity and enthusiasm to suggest improvements to suppliers and the duration of the collaboration antecede the procurement performance of the manufacturing firms in Tanzania, while devotion to invest resources and initiatives on joint problem solving have no significant impact.

The causality between buyer–supplier collaboration and procurement performance has been revealed. Since there might be third party logistics in collaborations, future research should center on their moderating effect.

A framework has been developed for liberating procurement performance in the context of large manufacturing firms in Tanzania.

Based on Transaction Cost Economics and Resource Dependency Theories, the study revealed the root cause of procurement performance in the context of Tanzanian manufacturing firms, while also considering commitment to buyer–supplier collaboration as a prerequisit for the commendable target.

This paper aims to increase the understanding of social and technical factors contributing to successful supplier‐retailer collaboration. The objective is to identify the necessary supply chain architecture for supplier‐retailer collaboration, and demonstrate how it influences supply chain performance.

Five pairs of suppliers and retailers in Taiwan were studied with each pair serving as a unit of analysis. In each case, data pertaining to eight relationship variables critical to collaboration between supplier and retailer were collected and analyzed. A comprehensive supplier‐retailer relationship model is developed with five specific research positions: supplier‐retailer business relationship (interdependence, intensity, trust) affects long‐term orientation; supplier‐retailer business relationship affects supply chain architecture (information sharing, inventory system, information technology capabilities, coordination structure); long‐term orientation affects supply chain architecture; supply chain architecture affects the level of supplier‐retailer collaboration; and supplier‐retailer collaboration enhances supplier‐retailer performance.

Overall, with the exception of duration, all variables are found to be critical to supplier‐retailer collaboration. It is the intensity, as opposed to the duration, of the relationship that influences the retailer‐supplier relationship.

The proposed model demonstrates how eight critical social and technical variables are directly and/or indirectly related. This knowledge will enable the management of supplier‐retailer networks to produce better supply chain collaboration and performance.

Commercialization of research projects at the university, in particular, its efficiency and performance, have attracted little attention in the empirical literature to date. This despite the fact that commercialization of university knowledge is increasingly seen as a third task of universities and understanding of what enhances and what blocks the processes involved, is virtually lacking, particularly on the project level. The purpose of this chapter is therefore to identify factors that influence the performance of university-driven knowledge projects, including efficiency, in the context of commercialization of knowledge at universities. In this context, the study employs Data Envelop Analysis combined with Rough-Set Analysis on a sample of 42 projects in the Netherlands. The major factors influencing overall performance in commercialization turn out to be years of collaboration with large firms and efficiency in use of resources in the projects, but the affinity of the project managers at university with the market also plays a role. The best overall results in commercialization (introduction to market in a relatively short time) are gained with a longer period of collaboration with large firms (5–10 years) and a medium level of efficiency. There are also some contradictory trends. The chapter concludes with implications of the results, as well as some future research paths.

Organizational learning in inter‐firm exchange relationships poses a double‐edged sword. On one hand, inter‐firm learning is a desirable extension of organizational learning, developing a firm’s knowledge base, and providing fresh insights into strategies, markets, and relationships. On the other hand, inter‐firm learning can lead to unintended and undesirable skills transfer, resulting in the potential dilution of competitive advantage. This risk can be exacerbated by disparities in inter‐firm learning, resulting in uneven distribution of benefits and risks in the collaborative relationship. This paper articulates these two different views on inter‐firm learning, and second, develops a framework for the role of governance in regulating knowledge transfer. In particular, appropriate governance mechanisms must be crafted which match the learning intentions of the partners, the type of knowledge sought, and the designed duration for the collaboration, so as to maximize the benefits of learning while minimizing the risks. Implications for strategy and future research are offered.

Partnerships between luxury brands and mass-market retailers, termed masstige collaborations, are the last frontier of promoting brand popularity. The new products launched during these partnerships are offered at premium prices and characterized by limited duration and supply, and hence rapid stock-out. Given the importance of this practice and the predominant focus in the literature on the managerial aspects, this study aims to investigate consumer reactions to masstige collaborations, especially in the case of missed purchases because of stock-out.

This paper analyzes how consumers evaluate masstige collaborations in the fashion industry using a mixed-method research design, triangulating data from different sources, analyzing Twitter comments and press articles, and then conducting different experiments to replicate the main findings.

Results reveal that missed purchases of masstige collaboration products lead to feelings of frustration (vs regret). In addition, they show that these reactions are stronger in the case of masstige (vs non-masstige) collaborations, especially when consumers experience stock-out. Different themes emerge that trigger regret and/or frustration, suggesting some frustration recovery strategies.

This work provides a new consumer perspective on the masstige collaboration branding practice, especially after missed purchases. The study offers insights on the critical pitfalls of this practice to help managers leverage this popular form of alliance.

This study aims at exploring the characteristics of the Temporary Project Networks (TPNs) in small and medium‐sized wine producing enterprises, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. It aims to discuss different types of temporary inter‐firm collaboration clusters both in terms of structural/organizational features and in terms of innovation tasks development. It also aims to develop an empirically derived taxonomy of TPNs within the Sannio wine industry.

The paper focuses on the literature supporting the argument that the act of innovating is related strongly with the creation of new knowledge. In particular, the knowledge‐based theory places primary emphasis on inter‐organizational knowledge exchanges in explaining enhanced knowledge creation toward better innovative outcomes. The design of forms of coordination between companies is investigated with reference to TPNs, a form of collaboration that has been less investigated in the literature, especially with respect to small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The survey concerned 40 SMEs operating in wine production in Sannio, one of the most promising areas of the Campania region and the entire Italian economic system. The research is based on the use of different quantitative instruments (administration of structured questionnaires and statistical analysis) and qualitative instruments (semi‐structured interviews of management, analysis of information material, reports as well as planning documents of the companies involved in the analysis). A cluster analysis has been carried out to identify TPN typologies.

The study finds that the different kinds of inter‐organizational collaborations lead to two‐cluster solutions that refer to two of the TPNs models formalised by Bakker et al. The findings add to the view that there is variation in types of project network and go against the often held idea that temporary projects are by definition short‐termed and focused on non‐routine tasks.

The study was able to expand the understanding of TPNs and innovation in two respects. First, it should be noted that only a few studies have adopted the TPN framework to investigate the inter‐organizational coordination mechanisms among SMEs. This study could usefully find its place in this literature gap, thus contributing to develop a typological research in order to identify TPN clusters with homogeneous distinctive characteristics. Secondly, the study has an explorative role of analysis, which can be useful for generating research hypotheses in future works, connecting the features of TPNs with the development of innovation processes.