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The paper aims to discuss the expected changes 5G will bring to the assessment of active mobile network sharing agreements from a competition policy point of view.

The paper distinguishes between current, early 5G networks and the fully-fledged 5G envisioned for the future, then focuses on the main competition concerns where 5G may bring the most significant changes in the evaluation compared to 4G.

The authors find that while network sharing for early 5G can be evaluated in a similar way to previous generations, fully-fledged 5G can raise new issues. The authors predict these main concerns to be service differentiation, cost commonality between the parties and the parties’ ability and incentives to grant access to critical inputs to downstream competitors. Due to the huge costs of 5G rollout, network sharing is set to become even more widespread than before. For each of the concerns, the authors show that they are not easy to substantiate and they may even become less serious than under 4G.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first contributions to analyse the impact of fully-fledged 5G on mobile network sharing agreements’ competitive assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of current carbon tax (CT) policy on organizations involved in a sharing network relation.

For finding the CT and economic value of the industries connected in a sharing network model a multi-objective multi-integer linear model has been formulated. The data set of the case organization is used for computation. The formulated mathematical model is computed with the aid of GAMS optimization program.

This research paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the sharing network strategy in increasing the economic value and decreasing the CT for industries involved in sharing network. The CT value INR 3,012.694 for the industries in Scenario II which incorporates the sharing network is less than the CT INR 3,580.167 for industries in Scenario I without sharing network.

The data used for the computation is based on a particular sharing network under investigation. The formulated mathematical model can be checked with similar sharing networks by varying the parameters.

This work can aid in gaining complete knowledge on the sharing network strategy which can uplift the resources and the monetary value of the non-efficient industries moving them towards sustainable and greener supply chain practices.

The presented work can impact various industries in developing countries providing them with a strategy to enhance their resources and economic value by maintaining an amicable relation.

This work uniquely was able to validate economic feasibility and CT in accordance with the carbon footprint involved in sharing network. This sharing network also incorporates the concepts of circular economy and reverse logistics for showcasing a better strategy.

Project-based supply networks are an emerging form of organizing used to meet a buying organization's operational and innovation goals. Knowledge sharing among suppliers in the network plays a key role in successful project delivery but is challenging to achieve in practice. The authors draw on self-determination theory (SDT) to examine the interactive effect of incentive provisions (penalties and bonuses) and network governance (lead or shared) on knowledge sharing motivation by individual boundary-spanners within project-based supply networks.

A scenario-based behavioral experiment of 217 professionals within the UK using the online platform, Prolific, was conducted. A Hayes Macro PROCESS model was used to analyze the data. The authors pilot-tested the scenario with project management experts, senior managers, and directors.

The findings highlighted that the effectiveness of incentive provisions on knowledge sharing may be dependent on the mode of network governance. Where suppliers have shared responsibility for managing the network (shared governance), bonuses were more effective than penalties in motivating knowledge sharing through support of boundary-spanners’ autonomy needs. However, where the buying organization has transferred responsibility for managing the network to an external third-party organization (lead governance), the authors found no significant difference between the effectiveness of penalty versus bonus provisions in motivating knowledge sharing.

Prior research in operations and supply chain management (OSCM) has shown the positive effect of incentive provisions on knowledge sharing motivation, but largely overlooked the effectiveness of such incentives when nested within broader governance mechanisms used in projects and their networks. Moreover, while scholars have started to highlight the importance of governance mechanisms in knowledge sharing at the dyadic level, the authors know very little about the impact of network governance.

The present paper aims to explore how to measure trust as a receptivity force in an intra-organisational knowledge-sharing network with the help of self-developed algorithms of modelling percolations.

In this paper, a completely new methodology is applied by using a sample study of an international company’s financial centre as an example. Computer software has been developed to simulate the network and calculate the percolation thresholds by combining its characteristics, thereby revealing what and to what extent connectivity and trust, respectively, influence knowledge sharing.

The application of computer modelling to build up a percolation network is useful for answering questions about the determinants of knowledge sharing. Arguably, the authors demonstrate how the applied new methodology is superior in addressing how to measure the critical values of trust, connectivity and interaction issues, as well as leading to better insights about how these can be managed. The present paper confirms that trust is an essential factor influencing knowledge sharing and that there is a reciprocal effect between social interaction and trust.

The model provides a useful tool for assessing features of the intra-organisational knowledge-sharing network and thus an important foundation for implementing actions in practice. The findings of this study imply that managers should consider the important role of task-related trust between actors and in general for knowledge sharing. With the help of percolation modelling, the degree of trust in an organisation can be computed, and this provides managers with an approach for managing trust.

The topic of “how can trust be measured” is very important and is becoming even more important now because the financial crisis and other issues are raising questions about trust and moral compass rather than financial data. A percolation-based approach to studying knowledge sharing has not been researched in depth before now, and this study attempts to fill that gap. Fundamentally, this multidisciplinary research adds value to the theoretical foundation of the percolation network and research methodology to be used in social sciences and gives an example of their potential practical implications.

In the context of resource scarcity, the affiliation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to strategic networks has emerged as a fruitful path towards knowledge sharing as a reaction to fierce competition and with a view to enhance their innovative performance. In this framework, this paper aims to investigate the influence exerted by a specific relational design (i.e. types of strategic networks) and methodology (i.e. channels and content) of knowledge sharing on SMEs innovative performance.

A questionnaire-based survey with 102 top managers of European SMEs in the industrial field was conducted from June to August 2019 and a partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was used. The database was initially filtered to ensure the adequacy of the sample and data was analysed using the statistics software package SmartPLS 3.0.

The results concluded that the structural model explains 38.5% of the variance in SMEs innovative performance, indicating the positive effects exerted by offline and online and by competitive knowledge sharing on the dependent variable.

The study has both theoretical and practical implications in that it sets out a reference point for the key performance indicators for strategic networks structure, formation and development and, implicitly, for the selection of the most efficient relational design and methodology.

The pivotal originality elements reside in the advancement of a more comprehensive conceptual and structural model combining a two-fold operationalization of SMEs strategic networks (founded on business abilities or on the personality of the partner) and in the investigation of knowledge transfer processes at the inter-organizational levels within a context-centric approach.

This paper aims to explore participants’ perceived benefits and costs that influence the quantity and the quality of voluntary participation in knowledge networks in a resources-constrained economy.

A conceptual model of perceived benefits and costs of knowledge sharing is designed on the basis of literature. The influence of perceived benefit and cost on perceived quantity and quality of knowledge sharing are assessed on the basis of a survey with 283 participants in a business context within a resource-restrained economy.

The results indicate that reputation, reciprocity and altruism are perceived to benefit quantity of participation, whereas reciprocity, altruism and knowledge self-efficacy are perceived to benefit the quality of participation in knowledge networks. Effort and time have a negative impact on both quantity and quality of participation in knowledge sharing.

This study provides insights into the factors that influence acceptance and use of knowledge networks and can thus influence business policies.

This exploratory study explores both perceived benefits and costs of participation in knowledge sharing in a resource-constrained economy.

This study has adopted theoretical frameworks of social capital, social networks and the Community of Practice to study how different types of relationships influence the knowledge sharing relationship. This paper aims to suggest that building social capital, particularly structural capital, is part of expected key in knowledge sharing networks.

Using social capital theory, through social network analysis of 111 management students in the US business school, identified key social capital dimension in knowledge sharing networks. To incorporate the interdependency among examined relationships, network logistic regression with the quadric assignment procedure was used.

The proposed research model showed that about 98% of the existence of knowledge sharing relationship could be correctly predicted. Among three dimensions of social capital, this study found a superior influence of the structural dimension (i.e. task interdependence) in predicting having a knowledge sharing relationship. The significant effect of trust and friendship network on knowledge sharing was also found. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research were also discussed.

Existing literature as to how people learn through knowledge sharing is limited in at least two important ways. First, scholars of knowledge management acknowledge that organizational knowledge originates from dyadic relationships between or among individuals at work. However, prior research has heavily relied on survey responses from one’s perception of knowledge sharing experience, viewing as unidirectional. Second, substantial attention of prior research has been devoted to the factors of individual attributes. Emphasizing individual interactions as the fundamental building blocks of learning, this study focuses more on relational characteristics of knowledge sharing based on social capital theory.

This paper aims to clarify how organizations manage their participation in networks to share and jointly create knowledge but also risk unwanted knowledge spillovers at the same time. As formal governance, trust and observation are less applicable in informal networks, the authors need to understand how members address the need to protect knowledge by informal practices. The study aims to investigate how the application of knowledge protection practices affects knowledge sharing in networks. The insights are relevant for organizational and network management to control knowledge risks but harvest the benefits of network engagement.

The authors opted for an exploratory study based on 60 semi-structured interviews with members of 10 networks. In two rounds, network managers, representatives and members of the networks were interviewed. The second round of interviews was used to validate the intermediate findings. The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including network descriptions.

Through analyzing and building on the theory of psychological contracts, two informal practices of knowledge protection were found in networks of organizations: exclude crucial topics and share on selected topics and exclude details and share a selected level of detail. The authors explored how these two practices are enacted in networks of organizations with psychological contracts.

Counter to intuition that the protection of knowledge can be strengthened only at the expense of knowledge sharing and vice versa, networks benefitted from more focused and increased knowledge sharing while reducing the risk of losing competitive knowledge by performing these knowledge protection practices.

Despite the significance of knowledge sharing for competitive advantage in networked businesses like franchising systems, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the strategic value of knowledge sharing in the context of franchising. In particular, the specific contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in facilitating interorganizational knowledge exchange among franchising members remains inadequately understood, particularly in emerging economies. Therefore, this study aims to explore the mechanisms involved in the knowledge-sharing process facilitated by a virtual learning environment (VLE) within franchising networks and examine the role of VLEs in facilitating knowledge.

This study uses a multiple-case study approach involving 24 franchisees and the franchisor within a Brazilian franchising network operating in the furniture market to examine the role played by a VLE.

The results of the study reveal that the introduction of a VLE has played a significant role in fostering enhancements in the knowledge-sharing process among the franchisor and franchisees in the network. Moreover, the results indicate that VLEs play a significant role in overcoming geographical obstacles, thereby enabling efficient knowledge sharing between franchisees and franchisors operating in extensive territorial contexts. Finally, findings indicate that intracommercial competition acts as a prominent barrier, leading to low levels of cooperation and knowledge-sharing intent among franchisees within the network.

This study contributes to the existing knowledge by enhancing the understanding of how ICTs can facilitate knowledge sharing in organizations operating within franchising systems. Furthermore, this paper advances the comprehension of the role of networking franchising configuration and governance in supporting organizational improvements. Additional actionable insights are provided.

5G systems will enable an improved transmission performance and the delivery of advanced communication services. To meet the expected requirements, operators will need to invest in network modernisation, with the radio access network being the most expensive network component. One possible way for operators to reduce this investment would be via sharing of resources by means of a multi-tenancy concept. This implies that a mobile service provider may use the common infrastructure of one or various infrastructure providers, whereby it provides services to multiple tenants. This paper aims to study the expected cost savings in terms of capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational expenditures (OPEX) that can be achieved when using a cloudified 5G multi-tenant network.

A cost model was used. The study period is 2020-2030 and the study area consists of three local districts in central London, UK.

This paper describes that the total cost reduction achieved when using multi-tenancy for a 5G broadband network in comparison with the case where operators make the investment independently ranges from 5.2% to 15.5%.

Further research is needed to assess the cost implications of network sharing for 5G on a regional or nationwide basis.

Very little quantitative research about the cost implications of network sharing under 5G networks has been published so far. This paper sheds light on the economic benefits of multi-tenancy in a 5G broadband network.