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This study aims to investigate how companies’ understanding of the business network influences the creation of value in business-to-business relationships. The authors do this by analysing dimensions in actors’ “network pictures” and illustrating how value perception and network understanding influence actors’ mutual effort to create value. Approaching relationship value from the point of actors’ cognitive understanding of their business network has so far been largely overlooked in relationship value research.

This study applies a qualitative case study methodology whereby dyadic data from a well-established business-to-business relationship is collected from 18 company representatives through personal interviews and group interviews supplemented by participant observations and company data.

The findings contribute with new insight into how companies’ understanding of their surrounding network influence (facilitates or limits) relationship value creation. The authors find that companies continuously reflect on changes in their networks and the related changes in partners’ value perceptions. Through value articulations, companies seek to explicitly express their value perception. Value reflections and value articulations create a dynamic process formed not only by the individual actor but also through their relationship and engagement in their network environment. This requires companies to develop their networking capabilities.

This paper presents findings, insights and contributions limited to a case study of a particular business relationship within an industrial setting. Although the findings and contributions are valid and in line with the criteria for rigorous qualitative research, the authors advocate and call for additional studies that investigate relationships value creation and address the interplay between actors’ network understanding and their actions and behaviour. One way to approach this would be to test the four propositions derived and presented as part of the present study.

The findings imply that management needs to be aware not only of the value created and delivered to a specific partner but also of how the partner’s understanding of the wider network will influence the value delivering and capturing process.

This study contributes to the growing literature on relationship value creation by outlining a dynamic process where relationship partners reflect upon and articulate value. Such activities are influenced by the partners’ network understanding and form the basis of the mutual relationship value creation effort. The findings also contribute to the network pictures literature by emphasizing insights into the formation of value perceptions through actors’ understanding of their surrounding networks.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of FinTech companies in SCF. The application of digital technology in supply chain activities has facilitated the evolution of supply chain finance (SCF) to a new level. However, how financial technology (FinTech) companies promote this evolution has not been thoroughly examined.

This research used the multiple-case study approach and social network analysis method to explore how FinTech companies influence SCF networks.

The results reveal that FinTech companies play the crucial role of a signaling intermediary by facilitating interactions among relevant parties, accelerating the flow of information and reducing information asymmetry arising from data smog. Moreover, FinTech companies make SCF information networks more equitable and promote the performance of SCF.

This study deepens the conversation at the nexus of signal theory and SCF and provides managerial implications for alleviating information asymmetry between borrowers and lenders to solve the difficulty and high-cost problems of obtaining financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an innovative construction material that provides a balanced mix of structural stiffness, fabrication flexibility and sustainability. CLT development and innovation diffusion require close collaborations between its supply chain architectural, engineering, construction and manufacturing (AECM) stakeholders. As such, the purpose of this study is to provide a preliminary understanding of the knowledge diffusion and innovation process of CLT construction.

The study implemented a longitudinal social network analysis of the AECM companies involved in 100 CLT projects in the UK. The project data were acquired from an industry publication and decoded in the form of a multimode project-company network, which was projected into a single-mode company collaborative network. This complete network was filtered into a four-phase network to allow the longitudinal analysis of the CLT collaborations over time. A set of network and node social network analysis metrics was used to characterize the topology patters of the network and the centrality of the companies.

The study highlighted the scale-free structure of the CLT collaborative network that depends on the influential hubs of timber manufacturers, engineers and contractors to accelerate the innovation diffusion. However, such CLT supply collaborative network structure is more vulnerable to disruptions due to its dependence on these few prominent hubs. Also, the industry collaborative network’s decreased modularity confirms the maturity of the CLT technology and the formation of cohesive clusters of innovation partners. The macro analysis approach of the study highlighted the critical role of supply chain upstream stakeholders due to their higher centralities in the collaborative network. Stronger collaborations were found between the supply chain upstream stakeholders (timber manufacturers) and downstream stakeholders (architects and main contractors).

The study contributes to the field of industrialized and CLT construction by characterizing the collaborative networks between CLT supply chain stakeholders that are critical to propose governmental policies and industry initiatives to advance this sustainable construction material.

When is it more profitable for multinational manufacturers to manufacture in high-cost environments and when in low-cost environments? While the literature offers many cues to answer this question, too little empirical research directly addresses this. In this study, we quantitatively and empirically investigate the financial effect of companies' production footprint in low-cost and high-cost environments for different types of production networks.

Using the data of 770 multinational manufacturing companies, we analyze the relationship between production footprints and profitability during four calendar semesters in 2018 and 2019 (N = 2,940), investigating the moderating role of companies' production network type.

We find that companies with networks distinguished by both high levels of product complexity and process sophistication profit the most from producing to a greater extent in high-cost countries. For these companies, shifting production to low-cost countries would be associated with negative performance implications.

Our findings suggest that the production geography of companies should be attuned to their network type, as defined by the companies' process sophistication and product complexity. Manufacturing in low-cost countries is not always the best choice, as doing so can adversely affect profits if the products are highly innovative and the production processes are complex.

We contribute to the scarce empirical literature on managing global production networks and provide a data-driven analysis that contributes to answering some of the enduring questions in this critical area.

This paper proposes the “fields and weapons of the competition model applied to business networks” – CAC-Redes (in Portuguese, Campos e Armas da Competição – Redes de negócio), an extension of the fields and weapons of the competition model (CAC) – to study the competition and competitiveness of companies operating in business networks in a competitive environment while integrating organizational competencies, interorganizational ties and company positioning to provide competitive advantage.

CAC-Redes is born from the cross-fertilization process of various theoretical perspectives, namely, industrial organization, traditional view of operational activities and resources, relational view, strategic alignment, transaction cost theory and social perspectives in networks, structured according to systems theory and under the mantle of competitive advantage theory. To discover the structure of existing models of competitiveness in networks, a bibliographic search was conducted in the Scopus database. Quali-quantitative empirical research was undertaken in companies from six different economic sectors through structured questionnaires and personal interviews to understand how companies competed and discover the determining factors of their competitive advantage.

Only seven models of competitiveness in network were found, and their structures and characteristics are quite different from those of CAC-Redes. Empirical research confirms all the hypotheses that support CAC-Redes, which, combined with those of CAC, indicate the CAC-Redes corroboration.

CAC-Redes does not apply to networks without intercompany competition, studies on network governance and corporate strategy formulation.

CAC-Redes is effective in studying complex competitiveness phenomena because it considers multiple influences; provides a process based on qualitative and quantitative variables that increase the probability of formulating successful competitive strategies; simplifies the differentiation of skills from core competencies and determines them; proposes a competitive advantage criterion to select suppliers; creates a unifying language to represent the different strategic specificities of companies, competitors, suppliers, customers and the company environment and provides a library containing 181 weapons (resources) and dozens of interorganizational ties that can be used in empirical studies with other methodologies.

CAC-Redes, due to its originality and peculiarities, theoretically contributes to theory of resources because it dispenses with the assumption, “unique resource, source of competitive advantage”; to relational view because it considers interorganizational relationships as a competence and treats it quali-quantitatively and to core competencies because if the strategy changes, different core competencies will be needed. Furthermore, it is an alternative to the dynamic capabilities perspective, and it transforms the five manufacturing performance objectives into nine for the entire company.

CAC-Redes is an original model because its structure and characteristics comparatively differ from those of existing models, and 14 singularities are detected.

The paper explores how social networks influence Cameroonian consumers' buying behavior. Then, the authors examine customers' advertising perceptions and psychological dispositions to explain their purchase intention and behavioral consumption.

The research framework is developed based on Nelson's theory of advertising by studying advertising perceptions, consumer psychological dispositions associated with social network characteristics and behavioral consumption. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the validation takes support from 231 responses collected with an online questionnaire from Cameroun.

The study reveals three critical results: (1) consumers' perceptions of advertising significantly influence their psychological disposition, (2) consumers' psychological dispositions and the social network significantly influence their intention to purchase and (3) consumers' intention to purchase significantly impacts their behavioral consumption.

The proposed and validated model contributes to understanding the influence of social network communication on customers' buying behavior on social s-Commerce platforms of developing country enterprises.

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of organizational networks in organizational performance is relatively rich; less understood are processes in organizational networking that entrepreneurs and organizations use in making sense of rapidly changing contexts for organizational performance.

This study conducts an exploratory organizational-level narrative analysis into firms’ experiences in two major emerging markets (EMs), namely, Russia and India – to identify organizational networking processes in the midst of institutional upheavals. The study is based on in-depth case studies of firms in EMs sourced from interview data from senior management and consolidated with secondary data.

The authors find that initially firms rely on informal networks (including blat/svyazi and jaan-pehchaan/jan-pehchan) and later formal (in the form of bureaucratic followed by proprietary) networks to make sense of the changes and uncertainties in turbulent environments. The authors also demonstrate the cyclical nature of strategic sensemaking in the process of developing organizational networks for performance.

The study has a number of theoretical and practical contributions. First, it extends the well-established business networking construct to a more inclusive organizational networking construct. Second, it demonstrates that sensemaking is dependent on interorganizational networking from the outset and throughout the growth of an organization in turbulent markets – from informal to formal bureaucratic and proprietary networks. Finally, this study is unique in documenting the entire process of sensemaking from scanning to performance as well as successfully demonstrating the cyclical nature of sensemaking.

The purpose of this study is to explore the antecedents of digital technology adoption by firms, specifically the role of strategic leader social ties such as board networks and executive academic connections in promoting digital transformation. Moreover, the authors also aim to examine the moderating effect of exploratory innovation strategy on the relationship between board networks, academic connections and digital transformation.

This study uses the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019. Through text analysis of data such as company annual report, media interaction, asset annotation and International Patent Classification, the authors measure degrees of digital transformation from four dimensions: management attention, media discussion, digital input and digital output. Further, this study employs social network analysis and instrumental variable method to examine the causal relationship between strategic leader social ties and digital transformation.

The study finds that an expansive board network can significantly promote the digital transformation process of companies, in which academic connection of senior executives plays a positive synergistic role with board network. Additionally, firms with exploratory innovation strategies are more likely to utilize board networks to accelerate their digital transformation process.

One limitation of this study is the use of Chinese A-share listed companies as the sample, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other contexts. Additionally, the study focuses only on two types of strategic leader social ties and does not consider other potential antecedents of digital transformation.

This research provides insights for governments to promote digital economy and industrial upgrading. Policymakers can facilitate industrial digital transformation by creating a supportive policy environment that encourages university–industry collaboration. By fostering academic entrepreneurship and cross-border knowledge transfer, governments can create a thriving ecosystem for digital innovation, thereby enhancing industrial competitiveness and economic growth.

This study helps to improve social welfare. By reducing production costs and enhancing customer experience, digital transformation increases economic surplus for both consumers and manufacturers, enabling society as a whole to benefit from the digital dividend. By promoting collaboration across borders and embracing a digital-friendly culture, businesses and governments can achieve long-term success in the digital age and contribute to building more prosperous and sustainable societies.

This research makes several contributions to the literature on digital transformation and leadership. Firstly, this paper empirically examines the role of board network and executive academic connection in promoting the adoption of digital technology, filling the research gap of leadership antecedents of digital transformation. Secondly, the authors put forward a relatively comprehensive measure for digital transformation, which could help to advance the literature on digital transformation and provide a more nuanced perspective on this topic. Finally, the paper enriches the theoretical understanding of board network and executive academic connection from the perspective of social capital theory and organizational learning theory.

This study aims to determine how the most sustainable brands in Italy and Spain developed communication and awareness-raising actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether these companies were truly involved in raising public awareness of the pandemic. The authors specifically focus on sustainable companies, as health communication is considered to be an important corporate social responsibility task.

To answer these questions, the authors have used data on the social media activity (Twitter and Instagram) of these brands in Spain and Italy, extracting the posts and associated hashtags that each of them has published throughout the pandemic to be processed using social network analysis and visualization techniques.

The detailed analysis of both the levels of activity and the content of the messages provides interesting insights into the communication models of the companies and the influence of factors such as time, country and the specific social media platform used.

The authors analyze the communication of the most sustainable businesses on social media during the pandemic, adopting a highly innovative approach. The particular originality of this study lies in the parallel analysis of two different countries that were simultaneously shaken by the pandemic in very similar circumstances. This study also presents a novel use of graphical representation tools in terms of companies’ behavior for health communication on social media.

El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar cómo las marcas reconocidas como las más sostenibles en Italia y España han desarrollado acciones de comunicación durante la pandemia del Covid-19 y si estas empresas se han involucrado realmente en la sensibilización pública de la pandemia. Nos centramos específicamente en las empresas sostenibles dado que la Comunicación en Salud se considera una tarea importante de responsabilidad social corporativa.

Para responder a estas preguntas, hemos utilizado datos de actividad en medios sociales (Twitter e Instagram) de estas marcas en España e Italia, extrayendo los posts y hashtags asociados que cada una ha publicado a lo largo de la pandemia para procesarlos usando técnicas de análisis y visualización de redes sociales.

El análisis detallado tanto de los niveles de actividad como del contenido de los mensajes permite obtener conclusiones interesantes sobre los modelos de comunicación de las empresas y la influencia de factores como el tiempo, el país y el medio social concreto utilizado.

Analizamos la comunicación realizada por las compañías más sostenibles en medios sociales durante la pandemia, adoptando un enfoque muy innovador. La particularidad de este estudio radica en el análisis paralelo de dos países diferentes que fueron sacudidos simultáneamente por la pandemia en circunstancias muy similares. Este estudio también conlleva un uso novedoso de herramientas de representación gráfica en términos del comportamiento de las empresas para Comunicación en Salud en medios sociales.

本研究的目的是确定在意大利和西班牙被认为是最可持续发展的品牌在Covid-19大流行期间是如何开展传播行动的, 以及这些公司是否真正参与了提高公众对该大流行病的认识。我们特别关注可持续发展的公司, 因为健康传播被认为是企业社会责任的一项重要任务。

为了回答这些问题, 我们使用了这些品牌在西班牙和意大利的社交媒体活动数据（Twitter和Instagram）, 提取了每个品牌在整个大流行期间发布的帖子和相关标签, 并使用社交网络分析和可视化技术进行处理。

通过对活动水平和信息内容的详细分析, 可以得出关于这些公司的传播模式以及诸如时间、国家和所使用的特定社交媒体等因素的影响的有趣结论。

我们分析了最可持续的公司在大流行期间在社交媒体上进行的传播, 采取了一种非常创新的方法。这项研究的特殊性在于对两个不同国家的平行分析, 这两个国家在非常相似的情况下同时受到大流行病的冲击。这项研究还包括在社交媒体上对公司健康传播行为的图形表示工具的新颖使用。

This paper aims to investigate which network relationships foster the early development of a sustainable new venture (SNV) and how sustainability as the core characteristic of the new venture shapes those network relationships.

This paper relies on a qualitative approach. The primary data source is 25 interviews with 18 key informants of 15 Italian SNVs. The fashion industry is the empirical setting due to its negative environmental and social impacts and shifts toward sustainability during the past decade.

The paper identifies six types of network relationships that affect the development of fashion SNVs. It proposes sustainability-enhanced and sustainability-enabled network relationships and relates them to trust and legitimation in the network.

The study enriches the theoretical debate on networks, new ventures and sustainability by dealing with the case of SNVs in a traditional sector. This paper presents managerial implications for entrepreneurs and policymakers.

This paper contributes to the debate on society’s sustainable development by emphasizing how networks can affect the growth of SNVs.

This paper fills a research gap in a novel manner. The paper contributes to the recent debate on new ventures and sustainability from the market as network approach. It identifies relevant networks, their contribution and the role of sustainability. The study refers to SNVs in traditional nontechnological industries.