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The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of customer-supplier interaction and integration from a resource perspective. In economic terms, a fish may be seen as a more or less homogeneous resource. If the herring is seen as a homogeneous resource, a market should be the best way to handle the selling and buying. However, if the herring is seen as a heterogeneous resource, a more extensive type of interaction is needed. One interesting aspect with herring is that different business actors apparently see this resource in different ways. Thus, the authors will have a mixed situation, creating possible difficulties for the actors involved.

The authors start this study in Germany, one of the most important export markets for Norwegian herring. Today, Norwegian legislation hinders the possibility of vertical integration and cooperation at the supply side of the network. However, the industry sees opportunities for growth and integration on the marketing side. To examine this issue, the study uses a qualitative design methodology, incorporating personal in-depth interviews with selected respondents in Norway and Germany. Secondary data is also used. To analyse the data, the authors introduce five interaction and integration patterns termed pure exchange – no integration; limited interaction and integration; extensive interaction and developed integration and; indirect interaction and structural integration; and full integration.

The findings suggest that there is a link between how the actors perceive herring as a resource and how they interact with counterparts. The authors find that the actors who see the resource as homogeneous have limited interaction and little or no integration, whereas the actors who see the resource as heterogeneous have a much more extensive interaction and closer ties.

The paper is an investigation of the link between the resource heterogeneity and the patterns of customer-supplier integration.

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirically based discussion of how cooperation between higher education institutions and work organisations (WOs) can increase graduate learning experiences and employability.

Data are based on an electronic and mail-based graduate survey among Norwegian master’s degree graduates six months after graduation. 2,232 master degree graduates responded to the survey, giving a 54 per cent response rate. All subject fields were represented.

77 per cent of the graduates have some forms of interactions with WOs during their studies. The level and mode of participation differ, however, very much, and the benefits of participating differ by mode of interaction. Project-based interaction is positively and significantly associated with completing studies on time. Further, graduates who have participated in either project-based interactions or practice periods have better labour market situation after graduation than their peers. The results hold also when controlling of subject field differences and students’ abilities.

The study indicates that it is important to look at a wide range of interaction activities and look at the benefits from these activities both in terms of effects on the quality of the learning experience, as well as benefits realised in the transition to work. The data on learning benefits of interaction with WO during higher education are, however, limited, and further studies are needed on this issue in particular.

The study indicates that only certain forms of interactions between students and WOs have benefits for students; namely the ones that involve a certain degree of time and commitment. Programme officers in higher education should target more committed interaction forms, because the added value is significantly higher for the students.

The study contributes new knowledge about the external networks of higher education institutions, by looking at the role of students in such networks and by measuring the benefits by using a representative sample of students.

The purpose of this paper is to address three aspects of the managerial challenge that arises from the process of business interaction: the diversity of interaction; the dynamic effects of interaction; and the integration of interaction into company operations and strategy. The paper develops a typology which characterizes different types of interaction in order to identify the managerial issues they represent.

The paper is based on the empirical research programme of the IMP Group (impgroup.org) and on a recent large scale research project within that programme.

The paper seeks to identify the dynamic effects of each type of interaction on the resources and activities involved in it and address the implications that these effects have for management. Finally, the paper discusses how the challenges and opportunities presented by business interaction can be integrated into the general management of a company.

The paper is mainly based on detailed empirical observations focusing some special features. Focusing other aspects would give another result.

Important for all companies having important business relationships.

Gives a new view of managerial challenges related to the variety in business relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a seller can use interactions to respond to public procurement needs for innovation when the buying side is restricted by public procurement regulations.

The authors collected data using qualitative semi-structured interviews of different empirical examples, in which private–public interactions of four different high-technological products are studied. Two products belong to the defence industry and two to the civil industry.

The findings point to three types of innovations in public procurement: product, service and business model. The empirical examples further indicate, as suggested in previous studies, that innovation is hindered by regulations that limit interaction between suppliers and the public. In addition, the empirical examples indicate that firms mobilize actors in their network when the buyer is restricted in regard to interaction. The findings also add to the IMP literature by comparing interactions in the three types of innovations in the public procurement context.

Public procurement is an area where innovations are lagging behind, compared with private procurement. Research points to limited interaction between actors as an obstacle to innovation in public sector collaborations. This paper extends the literature on how organizations interact in the setting of public procurement. The authors identify demand and supply triggers for three types of innovations: product, service and business model innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers and challenges to international interactions of the faculty members in Iran.

To achieve the purpose, a qualitative phenomenological approach was used. The research population was all experts in the field of higher education in Iran, it included 17 experts who were selected through purposeful sampling by snowball method and based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used and for the data analysis, an inductive content analysis was applied.

The findings showed that the barriers and challenges to faculty members’ international interactions can be defined through three main barriers: inside university barriers, outside university barriers, and individual barriers.

This research identified the barriers and challenges of faculty members’ international interactions in Iran. The method of this study can be applied in other applied fields as well.

This study adds to the authors’ knowledge about international interactions of the faculty members and also the barriers and challenges of these interactions, so to have more interactions of faculty members at the international level, universities should make an effort to identify barriers and eliminate them, more than ever.

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for empirically studying knowledge creation (KC) with phenomenological approach and propose that understanding interaction as play conceptualized by Hans-Georg Gadamer allows examining KC starting from the idea of a human being interacting in the events of co-creation. The presented framework is used to examine KC in a community of librarians and teachers collaborating to promote children’s joy of reading.

An ethnographic approach is applied to investigate knowledge-creating interaction in a working community. The triangulated data consist of ethnographic observations and video recordings of the community’s gatherings, its members’ interviews and produced documents.

The phenomenological conceptions of temporality of a human being and play are suitable for understanding being in the knowledge-creating interaction, as they give means to understand the meaningfulness of the past experiences, but promote an open attitude toward the future possibilities in a way which promotes KC. Studying interactive events allows understanding how KC can be examined as a collective accomplishment. The playful mode of being in the event was seen as a way to use the limited time available for interaction effectively.

The empirical study was conducted in one community, and further research is needed to test the developed approach in other contexts.

The results may be utilized to develop organizational circumstances, which promote KC by acknowledging the meaningfulness of interaction.

The study presents a novel way to conceptualize and examine KC as an experience and an event with phenomenological approach.

This paper aims to investigate how various organizational interfaces between firms, units and functions, and the interplay between them, are developed and mobilized in product development processes.

The theoretical framework is based on the industrial network approach, including interactive resource development and the concept of organizational interfaces. A single case study is conducted at a world-leading industrial tool manufacturer, illustrating how resources are combined over time, crossing boundaries of firms, units and functions in the development of a hand-held digitalized tool for quality assurance in the production of cars. Data have been collected through semi-structured interviews, with additional data in the form of project reports, internal documents and practices for external collaboration.

In addition to inter-organizational interfaces, the study identifies a typology of scouting, embarking and integration interfaces at unit level (geographically spread units of one multinational corporation) and interpretation and reciprocal interfaces at function level. The conclusions show that these interfaces affect the outcome of three aspects of the product development process: product characteristics and functionality features, system integration and organizational network extent. Existing interfaces serve as a platform for developing interaction further and provide the interfaces with new content, thus moving between different types of interfaces. Product development processes also involve new interfaces where there was no previous interaction between the parties.

This research has implications for the interplay between interfaces in cases involving multiple external and internal actors in resource combining efforts.

External interactions between firms influence and impact internal activities and resources. Managers need to be aware of the complex interdependencies between external and internal interfaces and resources. Managing organizational interfaces is about both exploiting established interfaces and developing new ones. Consequently, existing interfaces may be activated differently to align with new interaction purposes, which, in turn, requires efforts to combine resources according to the new conditions.

Previous research contains a typology of organizational interfaces between customers and suppliers. The study expands on this research by identifying internal interfaces between units and functions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature and extent of interaction and the relationship between internal auditors (IAs) and external auditors (EAs) from the perspective of the IAs in a developing country, Zimbabwe.

This study was carried out by soliciting the opinions of chief audit executives (CAEs) in Zimbabwe through an online survey that was distributed via e-mail.

The study finds that the interaction between the IAs and EAs is limited and that EAs may not be making full use of the internal audit function (IAF). Findings also suggest that the relationship between the auditors is, in some instances, strained and that the actions of management do not always facilitate the fostering of a good, productive relationship between the auditors.

Results of this study contribute to the understanding of the nature and extent of interaction between the IAF and EAs in an African setting. The study also solicits qualitative data about the relationship between IAs and EAs where previous research has largely focused on objective measures, failing to take into account factors such as attitudes and biases, which can affect this relationship. Finally, the results of this study bring to light important, previously under-explored issues, which provide opportunities for future research.

Most existing classifications of business services have taken the perspective of the supplier as opposed to that of the buyer. To address this imbalance, the purpose of this paper is to propose a classification of business services based on how the buying company applies the service with respect to its own business processes.

The paper considers some specific aspects of the process of buying and exchanging business services, focusing on the everyday production and consumption of services as opposed to the initial purchasing and negotiation phases.

Earlier literature has developed similar, albeit less elaborate classifications, but does not provide detailed insight into how such classifications are related to differentiated buyer‐supplier interaction. This classification distinguishes between four business service applications; as a component, semi‐manufacture, instrument or consumable. For each of these four types of services, interaction has to achieve different objectives and consequently they differ with regards to required organizational resources in terms of required capabilities and buyer‐supplier interfaces.

Primarily conceptual and exploratory in nature, this paper is intended as a review of existing literature and possible starting point for further empirical validation and theoretical refinement. The paper contends that the differences in application have a significant impact on interaction patterns, but this is not to say that other variables have no impact on buyer‐supplier interaction patterns. Subsequent research should seek to control for those other possible sources of variation.

The overall implication of this classification is that for different services, the buying company should assess how they are applied. Subsequently, it is relevant for firms to consider what functional aspects are crucial and who are likely to become, or who should be involved and to what extent, in the purchasing decision process and in the interactions that take place after the decision has been made.

While scaling is a viable approach to respond to growing demand, service providers in contact-intensive services (CIS) – such as education, healthcare and social services – struggle to innovate their offerings. The reason is that the scaling of CIS – unlike purely digital settings – has resource limitations. To help ease the situation, the purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the practices used in scaling CIS to support ICT-enabled service innovation.

The research draws on an in-depth analysis of three CIS to examine service innovation practices. The analysis informs model development for service scaling.

The analysis uncovers three practices for service scaling – service interaction analysis, service pivoting and service validation – and their related activities that are applied in a cyclic and iterative logic.

While the findings reveal that the scalability of CIS is limited and determined by the formative characteristic of personal interaction, this study and its findings describe how to leverage scalability in CIS.

The insights into the practices enable service providers of CIS to iteratively revise their service offerings and the logic of creating value with the service.

This research identifies and describes for the first time the practices for the scaling of CIS as an operationalisation of ICT-enabled service innovation.