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1 – 10 of over 47000Fenglian Wang, Qing Su and Zongming Zhang
This study is aimed at making an inspection of the effects of collaborative innovation network characteristics on firm innovation performance, and the intermediary roles of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is aimed at making an inspection of the effects of collaborative innovation network characteristics on firm innovation performance, and the intermediary roles of knowledge transfer efficiency is taken into account.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a convenient sampling method to obtain population and samples. Using data obtained by publishing online and paper questionnaires, and using on-site interviews in Anhui Province in the Yangtze River Delta region of China, descriptive analysis, regression analysis and correlation analysis are utilized to study the direct influence of collaborative innovation network characteristics on knowledge transfer efficiency as well as firm innovation performance, and the intermediary roles of knowledge transfer efficiency on firm innovation performance, respectively. In this study, 3,000 questionnaires were distributed to the employees of enterprises engaged in research and development (R&D) activities, of which 2,560 were valid. With the help of SPSS24.0 software, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire was analyzed.
Findings
The results are indicative of that network centrality and relationship strength positively affect knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. Nevertheless, network scale has no significant correlation with knowledge transfer efficiency and enterprise innovation performance. In addition, knowledge transfer efficiency is an intermediary between collaborative innovation network characteristics and enterprise innovation performance, and positively affects enterprise innovation performance, which demonstrated that managers should take advantage of collaborative innovation network characteristics to elevate knowledge transfer efficiency because well-realized transferals of knowledge can help accelerate the coordination of resources in knowledge, and finally bring about the advancement of firm's innovation abilities and performance.
Research limitations/implications
There are few previous studies that fully examined the relationships among collaborative innovation network characteristics, knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. This paper developed previous researches on the relationships between collaborative innovation network characteristics, knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. The mediation of knowledge transfer efficiency on the relationship between collaborative innovation network characteristics and firm innovation performance is analyzed. Further, studies on collaborative innovation network characteristics using data obtained from employees engaged in R&D activities are very limited in the literature. On account of that, the findings in this study may make sense to the innovation ability of innovative enterprise and expand the literature in the field of enterprise strategic management and knowledge management.
Practical implications
This analysis shows that collaborative innovation network characteristics have both positive and negative effects on firm innovation performance. Therefore, business managers should pay attention to their position in the collaborative innovation network and maintain the relationship strength with other innovation subjects. Special consideration should be given to the knowledge transfer of innovative enterprises, so as to improve firm innovation performance practically.
Originality/value
The study may provide additional understandings for researchers, government managers, universities and enterprises with regard to strategic management from the visual angle of innovation ecosystems. It is instrumental in the exploration of the mechanisms enabling firm innovation performance.
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Fengwen Chen, Lu Zhang, Fu-Sheng Tsai and Bing Wang
This study focuses on the self-organized cooperative consumption of platform participants on social media platform, and reveals how the brand owner cooperates with two-sided…
Abstract
Purpose
This study focuses on the self-organized cooperative consumption of platform participants on social media platform, and reveals how the brand owner cooperates with two-sided customers to achieve value co-creation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted a case study approach to explore how a Chinese beauty startup developed collaborative networks from 2013 to 2022, and tracked the the changes of network structure and cooperation mechanism.
Findings
The study finds that the brand owner cooperates with two-sided customers to integrate resources and establish diverse relational trust, which enhances the evolution of a heterogeneous collaborative network for value co-creation.
Originality/value
The study builds upon traditional dyadic actor-to-actor interactions between providers and customers, develops a novel interaction framework of actor-to-network to explain the value co-creation by collaborative networking, reveals the self-organized mechanism of cooperative consumption on social media.
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Weiwei Liu, Yuqi Guo and Kexin Bi
Energy conservation and environmental protection industry (ECEPI) is a strategic choice to promote energy conservation and emission reduction, develop green economy and circular…
Abstract
Purpose
Energy conservation and environmental protection industry (ECEPI) is a strategic choice to promote energy conservation and emission reduction, develop green economy and circular economy. However, China’s ECEPI is still in the stage of rapid development and the overall scale is relatively small, what development periods have the ECEPI experienced? This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of collaborative innovation evolution based on social network analysis from the perspective of multi-dimensional proximity.
Design/methodology/approach
Methodologically, this study uses social network analysis method to explore the co-evolution of multidimensional collaboration networks. It divides China’s ECEPI into four periods based on national policies from 2001 to 2020. This contribution constructs collaborative innovation networks from geographical, technological and organizational proximity.
Findings
The results show that the collaborative innovation network was initially formed in the central region of China, gradually expanded to neighboring cities and the core positions of Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangdong have been continuously consolidated. C02F has been the core of the collaboration networks, and the research focus has gradually shifted from the treatment of wastewater, sewage or sludge to the separation field. Enterprises always occupy a dominant position in the collaboration networks.
Originality/value
This research investigates the dynamic evolution process of collaborative innovation network in China’s ECEPI from the perspective of multidimensional proximity, explores the community structure, important nodes and multidimensional proximity features in the network, expands the research perspective on evolution characteristics of innovative network and the research field of social network analysis. Theoretically, this study enriches collaborative innovation theory, social network theory and multi-dimensional proximity theory.
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The purpose of this paper is to develop the concept of a high performance alliance macro-culture as a multilevel construct reflective of resilient collaborative systems of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop the concept of a high performance alliance macro-culture as a multilevel construct reflective of resilient collaborative systems of exchange within strategic alliances and explores the distinct capabilities of this multilevel approach in predicting alliance outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses developed in this study are tested using primary data collected from 650 members of 15 non-profit organizations in two multi-organizational collaborative networks. Considering the multilevel nature of the study the structural hypotheses are tested using a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and the predictive hypotheses are tested using multilevel structural equation modeling.
Findings
All but one structural hypothesis are supported and all predictive hypotheses are supported suggesting that a multilevel macro-cultural conceptualization is effective in exploring the relationship between collaborative exchange systems and their outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations stem from the generalizability of the data collected as the alliances formed by non-profit firms may not be wholly reflective of the alliance structures and goals of other firm types.
Originality/value
This study primarily contributes to multilevel study of strategic alliances and the study of collaborative norms and structures of allied groupings. The results of this study lend support to the importance of taking a network governance perspective and illustrate the limitations of traditional single-level approaches when studying interfirm collaborative networks and structural resilience therein.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how a performance measurement system (PMS) can be designed for a collaborative network and to identify which factors affect such a design.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how a performance measurement system (PMS) can be designed for a collaborative network and to identify which factors affect such a design.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a single-case study of a collaborative network. The data have been collected from semi-structured interviews conducted during 2008-2009 and after the design process in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Findings
The research results present a five-step process model for designing a PMS for a collaborative network. The findings show that a participatory development style that enhances socialisation, the positive development of a network culture and an outside facilitator all have beneficial effects on the design process.
Practical implications
The practical contribution of this study is related to knowledge about the PMS design process for a collaborative network to support its measurement-related development projects. This knowledge involves the phases of such a process as well as the various factors supporting or hindering it.
Originality/value
The study presents a PMS design process for the case network, which can be utilised in other collaborative networks in a similar context. It also highlights the most essential practical experiences related to this process.
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Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji, Khalid Hafeez, Ali Asghar Abbasi Kamardi and Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes
This paper proposes a multi-layer hybrid decision-making approach to evaluate the capability alternatives for developing a collaborative network to operate in the international…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a multi-layer hybrid decision-making approach to evaluate the capability alternatives for developing a collaborative network to operate in the international market.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study is contextualised in the Iranian pistachio export industry. An extensive review of the state-of-the-art literature on supplier collaboration was conducted to identify key capabilities that are essential to establish a collaborative network. The set of defined capabilities were then optimised through interviews with 14 experts from the relevant industry, academics and export authorities. A combination of the fuzzy Delphi method and the best–worst method (BWM) approach was, respectively, used to reduce the number of capability alternatives and assign priority weights to these alternatives. Subsequently, a weighted aggregated sum product assessment method (WASPAS) was employed to rank and evaluate the ability to creating a collaborative network for the export of pistachio.
Findings
From the extant literature review, 18 capabilities for the formation of coordination networks in the international markets were identified. Then, the prominent indicators in forming a global network were extracted. After ranking the top pistachio export countries/regions to formalise an efficient collaborative network, it was revealed that although Iran exports approximately 30% of the global market, it falls behind the USA and European Union. The competitors have scored higher in critical criteria, including “trust and commitment”, “strategy and management”, “managerial control and standardization” and “financial resources”.
Originality/value
The proposed hybrid approach encompassing fuzzy Delphi–BWM–WASPAS offers to solve the capability evaluation and selection as well as ranking the possible alternative to formalise a collaborative network in an integrated fashion. This combination of methods is capable to first identify the most important factors, then measuring their importance and eventually rank the possible alternatives. The suggested framework provides an approach to deal with the uncertainty of global collaborative network formation.
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Rob Dekkers and Hermann Kühnle
Progress in theory building in the field of collaborative networks in manufacturing is preponderantly seen in contributions from disciplines outside manufacturing science…
Abstract
Purpose
Progress in theory building in the field of collaborative networks in manufacturing is preponderantly seen in contributions from disciplines outside manufacturing science. Interdisciplinary research is one way of accelerating the development of appropriate theory for this emerging domain where industrial practice has moved beyond the state of the art of scientific knowledge for establishing workable, competitive solutions. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent interdisciplinary research has contributed to a better understanding of collaborative (manufacturing) networks.
Design/methodology/approach
To find out more about provenances of on‐going studies, to identify clusters of contributions and to provide direction for future work of researchers in this domain, publications of the past 22 years have been evaluated. To retrieve these contributions, a structured literature review has been undertaken by applying keywords to selected databases and using a strictly defined stepwise procedure. In total, 202 publications of all kinds have been evaluated.
Findings
From the analysis of the results, it appears that most interdisciplinary contributions to collaborative (manufacturing) networks rely on one original outside discipline for either developing solutions or advancing theoretical insight. Consequently, and after further analysis, it seems that researchers in collaborative networks hardly resort to multi‐disciplinary approaches, unless “natural”; further advances might arrive from stimulating these multi‐disciplinary avenues rather than sticking to more mono‐disciplinary, and less risky, takes on both applications and theoretical insight. A more detailed investigation of the value of contributions reveals that efforts to make interdisciplinary advances are either difficult or limited. Also, the findings indicate that researchers tend to follow a more “technical” approach to decision making by actors in networks rather than searching for a shift in paradigm.
Originality/value
While setting out these directions for future research and guiding research, this first‐of‐its‐kind review introduces the collaboration model as a systematic approach to collaborative (manufacturing) networks. This model might serve as a reference model to integrate disciplines for addressing the characteristics of Collaborative Networks. Its use in the review led to the finding that typical traits of networks, such as changeability, supplementary assets and decentralisation of decision making, are under‐researched.
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Margaret Stout, Koen P. R. Bartels and Jeannine M. Love
Governance network managers are charged with triggering and sustaining collaborative dynamics, but often struggle to do so because they come from and interact with hierarchical…
Abstract
Governance network managers are charged with triggering and sustaining collaborative dynamics, but often struggle to do so because they come from and interact with hierarchical and competitive organizations and systems. Thus, an important step toward effectively managing governance networks is to clarify collaborative dynamics. While the recently proposed collaborative governance regime (CGR) model provides a good start, it lacks both the conceptual clarity and parsimony needed in a useful analytical tool. This theoretical chapter uses the logic model framework to assess and reorganize the CGR model and then amends it using Follett’s theory of integrative process to provide a parsimonious understanding of collaborative dynamics, as opposed to authoritative coordination or negotiated cooperation. Uniquely, Follett draws from political and organizational theory practically grounded in the study of civic and business groups to frame the manner in which integrative process permeates collaboration. We argue that the disposition, style of relating, and mode of association in her integrative method foster collaborative dynamics while avoiding the counterproductive characteristics of hierarchy and competition. We develop an alternative logic model for studying collaborative dynamics that clarifies and defines these dynamics for future operationalization and empirical study.
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Haiyi Zong, Guangbin Wang and Dongping Cao
As the foundation of social and economic development, infrastructure development projects are characterized by large initial investment, high technical requirements and thus…
Abstract
Purpose
As the foundation of social and economic development, infrastructure development projects are characterized by large initial investment, high technical requirements and thus generally delivered through complex contractor–subcontractor collaboration chains. This study aims to characterize the complexity of collaborative networks between contractors and subcontractors for infrastructure development through comparing the structural characteristics and the formation mechanisms of contractor–subcontractor collaborative networks for the following two different types of infrastructure: public works (PWCN) owned and operated by government agencies, and public utilities (PUCN) owned and operated by nongovernment agencies.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the method of stochastic actor-oriented models and the longitudinal dataset of National Quality Award Projects in China during 2001–2020, this study compares how the structural characteristics of project-based collaborative networks between contractors and subcontractors for the two types of projects are different and how related micro-mechanisms, including both structure-based endogenous network effects and attribute-based exogenous homophily effects (institutional, organizational and geographical homophily), collectively underpin the formation of the networks.
Findings
The empirical results provide evidence that while the two networks are both characterized by relatively low levels of network density, PWCN is more globally connected around a minority of superconnected contractors as compared with PUCN. The results further reveal that compared with PUCN, the formation of PWCN is more significantly related to the structure-based anti in-isolates effect, suggesting that PWCN is more open for new entrant subcontractors. With regard to the attribute-based homophily effects, the results provide evidence that while both significantly and positively related to the effects of organizational (same company group) and geographical homophily (same location), the formation of PWCN and PUCN is oppositely driven by the institutional homophily effect (same ownership type).
Originality/value
As an exploratory effort of using network perspective to investigate the formation mechanisms of contractor–subcontractor relationships in the infrastructure development domain, this study contributes to a network and self-organizing system view of how contractors select subcontractors in different types of infrastructure projects. The study also provides insights into how contractor–subcontractor collaborative relationships can be better manipulated to promote the development of complex infrastructure in different contexts.
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Rubén Martínez-Alonso, María J. Martínez-Romero and Alfonso A. Rojo-Ramírez
The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between heterogeneous collaborative networks and firm performance, using the resource-based view (RBV) and its extension…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between heterogeneous collaborative networks and firm performance, using the resource-based view (RBV) and its extension through the knowledge-based view (KBV) as theoretical lens. Moreover, the authors examine family management and intellectual property rights (IPRs) as contingent factors that enhance the effectiveness of heterogeneous collaborative networks in achieving superior firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are developed and checked by using a panel data sample of 10,985 firm-year observations from 1,766 Spanish manufacturing firms over the period 2007–2016.
Findings
The results indicate that heterogeneous collaborative networks positively influence firm performance. Furthermore, the positive impact of these innovation networks on firm performance is reinforced by high levels of family management, and such effect is even stronger when there exists high levels of IPRs.
Originality/value
This research is the first, to our knowledge, to provide important new insights into the manner in which the effect of both family management and IPRs have the potential to amplify the performance gains attained from heterogenous collaborative networks.
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