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Book part
Publication date: 16 August 2014

Anne-Maria Holma

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

Deep Knowledge of B2B Relationships within and Across Borders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-858-7

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Book part
Publication date: 13 December 2017

Qiongwei Ye and Baojun Ma

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to…

Abstract

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.

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Internet+ and Electronic Business in China: Innovation and Applications
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-115-7

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2011

Tamyko Ysa and Marc Esteve

The increase in the variety and complexity of forms of collaboration between public, private and non-profit actors (OECD, 2005; Skelcher, Mathur, & Smith, 2005) is laying the…

Abstract

The increase in the variety and complexity of forms of collaboration between public, private and non-profit actors (OECD, 2005; Skelcher, Mathur, & Smith, 2005) is laying the groundwork for a future scenario in which governments must effectively manage all the necessary networks to develop the relational state (Mendoza & Vernis, 2008). When we analyse the specific intergovernmental issues leading to this future scenario, one of the most important is the issue of effective management. This is true for the networks in which the government participates or leads, and also true in terms of ‘network portfolio’, a concept we introduce in this chapter. Our study is based on an analysis of 44 local intergovernmental networks. It serves as the basis to illustrate different ways in which the network portfolio concept can contribute to improving our understanding of network management within public management. In other words, the question we aim to answer is: how can a ‘network portfolio’ focus help to improve our understanding of network management within public management? Actively incorporating this perspective will help public decision-makers strategically manage the global set of networks in which they participate and help these decision makers make better decisions about collaborative public networks.

Details

New Steering Concepts in Public Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-110-7

Book part
Publication date: 31 July 2020

Laurie W. Ford and Jeffrey D. Ford

We have been working together as husband and wife, as management professor and management consultant, and as coauthors for over 30 years. During that time, we have tailored an…

Abstract

We have been working together as husband and wife, as management professor and management consultant, and as coauthors for over 30 years. During that time, we have tailored an operations research–based approach to represent the functional infrastructure of organizations as networks of agreements for the transfer of deliverables, e.g., products, services, and communications, which connect internal organizational units and also their external relations. The network model is useful to understand organizations, support organization change, and develop management practices that improve efficiency, teamwork, and effectiveness. Throughout the application of this approach, we have observed often that “management is missing,” in organizations in general and in organization change management in particular, where managers and change agents may underestimate or fail to recognize the productive relationships at the foundation of performance in organizations, that these relationships are different from authority or social/affinity relationships, and that they require management. In this chapter, we distinguish the network approach that is fundamental to our work and the “missing” elements of management that are recognizable by using that approach. We then examine how “management is missing” in change management and how it might be restored.

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Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-083-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 November 2021

Christina Öberg

This chapter describes and discusses how the notion of network pictures would contribute to the literature on management cognition. Network pictures, as conceptualized in…

Abstract

This chapter describes and discusses how the notion of network pictures would contribute to the literature on management cognition. Network pictures, as conceptualized in business-to-business marketing, refer to managers’ sensemaking of the context and put focus on the interconnectivity among firms, along with managers’ subjective idea about what parties would be relevant for the firm. A systematic literature review on network pictures shows that network picture research focuses on how managers may have difficulties comprehending parties beyond present business partners, while the theoretical conceptualization emphasizes interdependences and prioritization and reprioritization among relevant parts of the limitless network. These latter ideas add to current research on managerial cognition. They do so through introducing a different notion of the context – or environment – and thereby raising the awareness of its complexity. Albeit the network picture literature focuses on how managers’ network pictures affect their strategizing in the network, the core idea entails how reactions and partners strategizing in parallel describe an ever-changing context but not the less important for any manager to comprehend.

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Thinking about Cognition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-824-2

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Book part
Publication date: 19 August 2021

Kristin L. Cullen-Lester, Caitlin M. Porter, Hayley M. Trainer, Pol Solanelles and Dorothy R. Carter

The field of Human Resource Management (HRM) has long recognized the importance of interpersonal influence for employee and organizational effectiveness. HRM research and practice…

Abstract

The field of Human Resource Management (HRM) has long recognized the importance of interpersonal influence for employee and organizational effectiveness. HRM research and practice have focused primarily on individuals’ characteristics and behaviors as a means to understand “who” is influential in organizations, with substantially less attention paid to social networks. To reinvigorate a focus on network structures to explain interpersonal influence, the authors present a comprehensive account of how network structures enable and constrain influence within organizations. The authors begin by describing how power and status, two key determinants of individual influence in organizations, operate through different mechanisms, and delineate a range of network positions that yield power, reflect status, and/or capture realized influence. Then, the authors extend initial structural views of influence beyond the positions of individuals to consider how network structures within and between groups – capturing group social capital and/or shared leadership – enable and constrain groups’ ability to influence group members, other groups, and the broader organizational system. The authors also discuss how HRM may leverage these insights to facilitate interpersonal influence in ways that support individual, group, and organizational effectiveness.

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Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-430-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 October 2016

Erik Groeneveld and Leon van den Dool

The research problem investigated in this paper addresses how love can intentionally be reflected in decision-making processes. The study is built on a theoretical and a practical…

Abstract

The research problem investigated in this paper addresses how love can intentionally be reflected in decision-making processes. The study is built on a theoretical and a practical foundation. The theoretical foundation comprises two parts with perspectives from theology and organizational theory. The practical foundation is derived from field research in the area of public administration and church leadership. Examples from field research indicate that trust and building of relationship will change adversarial behaviour into cooperative behaviour. Three network strategies are identified to make decision-making intentionally relational. The conceptual contribution is original, although the authors draw on existing insights from theology and public administration.

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The Contribution of Love, and Hate, to Organizational Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-503-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2011

Breda Kenny and John Fahy

The study this chapter reports focuses on how network theory contributes to the understanding of the internationalization process of SMEs and measures the effect of network…

Abstract

The study this chapter reports focuses on how network theory contributes to the understanding of the internationalization process of SMEs and measures the effect of network capability on performance in international trade and has three research objectives.

The first objective of the study relates to providing new insights into the international market development activities through the application of a network perspective. The chapter reviews the international business literature to ascertain the development of thought, the research gaps, and the shortcomings. This review shows that the network perspective is a useful and popular theoretical domain that researchers can use to understand international activities, particularly of small, high technology, resource-constrained firms.

The second research objective is to gain a deeper understanding of network capability. This chapter presents a model for the impact of network capability on international performance by building on the emerging literature on the dynamic capabilities view of the firm. The model conceptualizes network capability in terms of network characteristics, network operation, and network resources. Network characteristics comprise strong and weak ties (operationalized as foreign-market entry modes), relational capability, and the level of trust between partners. Network operation focuses on network initiation, network coordination, and network learning capabilities. Network resources comprise network human-capital resources, synergy-sensitive resources (resource combinations within the network), and information sharing within the network.

The third research objective is to determine the impact of networking capability on the international performance of SMEs. The study analyzes 11 hypotheses through structural equations modeling using LISREL. The hypotheses relate to strong and weak ties, the relative strength of strong ties over weak ties, and each of the eight remaining constructs of networking capability in the study. The research conducts a cross-sectional study by using a sample of SMEs drawn from the telecommunications industry in Ireland.

The study supports the hypothesis that strong ties are more influential on international performance than weak ties. Similarly, network coordination and human-capital resources have a positive and significant association with international performance. Strong ties, weak ties, trust, network initiation, synergy-sensitive resources, relational capability, network learning, and information sharing do not have a significant association with international performance. The results of this study are strong (R2=0.63 for performance as the outcome) and provide a number of interesting insights into the relations between collaboration or networking capability and performance.

This study provides managers and policy makers with an improved understanding of the contingent effects of networks to highlight situations where networks might have limited, zero, or even negative effects on business outcomes. The study cautions against the tendency to interpret networks as universally beneficial to business development and performance outcomes.

Details

Interfirm Networks: Theory, Strategy, and Behavior
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-024-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2011

Erik-Hans Klijn, Bram Steijn, Jurian Edelenbos and Brenda Vermeeren

Governments face many complex problems that require collective solutions involving multiple actors who often disagree both on the nature of the problem and on the necessary…

Abstract

Governments face many complex problems that require collective solutions involving multiple actors who often disagree both on the nature of the problem and on the necessary solution (Rittel & Webber, 1973). The difficulties are often exacerbated because actors tend to have insufficient or incorrect knowledge of the problems at hand.

Details

New Steering Concepts in Public Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-110-7

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2014

Huub Ruël, Tanya Bondarouk and Lena Dresselhaus

Current global business challenges and circumstances are responsible for the need for global talent management (GTM) within multinational corporations (MNCs). Social media and…

Abstract

Purpose

Current global business challenges and circumstances are responsible for the need for global talent management (GTM) within multinational corporations (MNCs). Social media and networks are becoming key channels for global communication and collaboration. For GTM in MNCs, an effective usage of social media can potentially result in a competitive edge and create value. The purpose of this study is to answer the question of how.

Design/methodology/approach

By means of the Delphi method, three groups of experts were interviewed with questionnaires in two rounds: HR managers, HR researchers, and students following a Master of Science program in Business Administration.

Findings

The findings show that all groups assessed the necessity of GTM in MNCs. The HR managers and HR researchers agreed on the areas of focus and instruments that are essential for a successful GTM system. But concerning the application of social networks, the groups have different views. The graduate students are especially open-minded about social networks, and therefore they advocate the use of this tool. The HR managers, however, are skeptical toward this new media and even now have not integrated social networks into GTM to a great extent.

Originality/value

This study presents a GTM model for MNCs based on the combined findings from the literature review and the Delphi study. To our knowledge, this is a new approach. The model helps researchers and practitioners to align GTM in MNCs with the support of social media.

Details

Social Media in Strategic Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-898-3

Keywords

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