Alignment Of Actors Research Articles

Navigating Blockchain Adoption: An Examination of Actor Alignment with Diffusion of Innovation Principles

Blockchain technology has garnered substantial interest due to its capacity to transform numerous industries by amplifying transparency and bolstering security measures. Despite the increasing interest, there is a void in existing literature regarding the alignment of actors with the diffusion of innovation principles in the context of blockchain adoption. This gap restricts comprehension of the factors influencing adoption. This research addressed this void by investigating how actors align with the diffusion of innovation principles in making decisions about blockchain adoption. Diffusion of innovation model was combined with the innovation translation concept derived from Actor-Network Theory to explore these complex dynamics in more detail. The results indicate that the decision-making process for blockchain adoption corresponds to knowledge, persuasion, and decision stages, mirroring the phases found in the innovation translation approach. This research offers theoretical insights and practical knowledge that can be beneficial to individuals and organisations looking to promote a successful implementation of blockchain technology.

Intersectoral Collaboration to Promote Child Development: The Contributions of the Actor-Network Theory

An integrated intersectoral care model promises to meet complex needs to promote early child development and address health determinants and inequities. Nevertheless, there is a lack of understanding of actors' interactions in producing intersectoral collaboration networks. The present study aimed to analyze the intersectoral collaboration in the social protection network involved in promoting early child growth and development in Brazilian municipalities. Underpinned by the tenets of actor-network theory, a case study was conducted with data produced from an educational intervention, entitled "Projeto Nascente." Through document analysis (ecomaps), participant observation (in Projeto Nascente seminars), and interviews (with municipal management representatives), our study explored and captured links among actors; controversies and resolution mechanisms; the presence of mediators and intermediaries; and an alignment of actors, resources, and support. The qualitative analysis of these materials identified three main themes: (1) agency fragility for intersectoral collaboration, (2) attempt to form networks, and (3) incorporation of fields of possibilities. Our findings revealed that intersectoral collaboration for promoting child growth and development is virtually non-existent or fragile, and local potential is missed or underused. These results emphasized the scarcity of action by mediators and intermediaries to promote enrollment processes to intersectoral collaboration. Likewise, existing controversies were not used as a mechanism for triggering changes. Our research supports the need to mobilize actors, resources, management, and communication tools that promote processes of interessement and enrollment in favor of intersectoral collaboration policies and practices for child development.

Collaboration and innovation beyond project boundaries: exploring the potential of an ecosystem perspective in the infrastructure sector

Current societal challenges demand enduring engagement and the implementation of innovations. Unfortunately, the project-based nature of the construction industry fails to offer suitable conditions for innovation and change in terms of building long-term relationships and aligning incentives beyond the project scope. In this paper, we explore the potential of an innovation ecosystem perspective to reach sector-wide goals related to societal challenges in the infrastructure sector. Accordingly, five Dutch infrastructure cases were studied in terms of four characteristics: (1) actor heterogeneity; (2) strategic alignment of actors; (3) alignment with respect to a value proposition; and (4) governance structure. We found that the innovation ecosystem perspective has the potential to contribute to innovation in the sector, especially when specific innovations or knowledge building are pursued. In particular, the long-term perspective to collaboration in relation to addressing societal challenges and the shift to more relational ways of governance were found promising avenues for incorporation in the industry. The innovation ecosystem perspective in infrastructure, however, also poses substantial organizational, cultural, and processual challenges, such as adopting novel practices with respect to collaboration and establishing continuing informal relationships beyond the public procurement context.

The role of diversity and coherence in the emergence and consolidation of a regional entrepreneurial ecosystem

ObjetivoExplorar o grau de diversidade e coerência dos componentes do ecossistema empresarial em níveis micro, meso e macro na província de Sabana Centro na Colômbia, com a finalidade de estabelecer os pontos fortes e oportunidades de melhoria do referido ecossistema.MetodologiaAnálise cruzada de casos múltiplos.ResultadosA análise das informações mostra que o ecossistema empreendedor em estudo pode ser categorizado como um sistema em desequilíbrio, devido à grande diversidade que apresenta em termos de seus atores, recursos e programas de apoio. Em termos de coerência, o ecossistema não alcançou um objetivo comum em relação aos processos de empreendedorismo, nem o reconhecimento dos pontos fortes de seus atores e as necessidades específicas dos empreendedores.Originalidade e valorA pesquisa contribui para o desenvolvimento do campo de estudo dos ecossistemas empresariais. O trabalho mostra que nos estágios iniciais de formação de um ecossistema empreendedor é necessária a diversidade de componentes que geram heterogeneidade. Mas esta diversidade tem que ser apoiada por políticas, leis e financiamento, para alcançar a coerência entre os diferentes componentes e níveis.Implicações práticas e sociaisO estudo do ecossistema empreendedor em uma determinada região permitiu: (a) conhecer os pontos fortes do ecossistema, (b) conhecer o grau de alinhamento dos atores, recursos e programas na região (c) identificar a preferência de apoios e programas para determinados tipos de empreendimentos de baixo impacto econômico e social, (d) o ecossistema empreendedor da província tem se caracterizado por sua auto-organização, mas a necessidade de uma liderança institucional que articule esforços para consolidar o ecossistema é evidente.

Serial crowdfunding in start-up development: a business network view

PurposeEven though the crowdfunding (CF) literature is rapidly reaching its maturity phase, the topic of serial CF (i.e. the participation in more than one CF campaign) is as much promising as still largely under explored. This study thus aims to offer a thorough view of the dynamic and complex processes characterizing the participation of the start-ups to more than one campaign adopting a business network perspective.Design/methodology/approachIn line with an explorative research aim, a multiple case study analysis is performed by taking into consideration four start-ups engaged in more than one CF campaigns with different combinations of equity and non-equity CF, adopting the actor–resource–activity (ARA) model as theoretical framework.FindingsMultiple CF campaigns are embedded in the overall changing startup’s network and are affected by the concurrent and overlapping startup’s development processes. From this standpoint, the adoption of the ARA model suggests to reconsider the “serial” dimension of multiple CF campaigns. These processes can be more or less “linear” as they could be affected by the combination of CF schemes and by the degree of alignment of actors, activities and resources, whose “assembly” can be facilitated by learning processes and impaired by unexpected circumstances.Originality/valueThis paper explores in depth the startup’s serial CF journey, building on recent studies calling for stronger analyses of the directions and outcomes of innovative funding trajectories pursued and implemented by new business ventures. From this standpoint, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to consider a complete spectrum of combinations between CF schemes within serial CF, thus allowing for a better understanding of the role of such a factor within a dynamic and contextual view, that is, that offered by the business network perspective. This paper also contributes to the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing research on start-ups.

Knowledge translation in project portfolio decision-making: the role of organizational alignment and information support system in selecting innovative ideas

PurposeThe present study aims to describe the micro-dynamics of decision-making that refer to knowledge translation pursued by organizational actors to see how they affect the travel of new ideas within the managerial practice of Project Portfolio Management (PPM). The study focuses on how the alignment of actors' meanings is reached at the organizational level and how they move towards a common direction by synthesizing information and negotiating meanings across the activities that constitute PPM. The study also investigates the intermediation function of information support systems in knowledge translation, which brokers information among those involved in the PPM practice.Design/methodology/approachThis piece of research uses an inductive, qualitative research approach and a methodological combination of case study research and grounded theory to investigate and explore the processes of knowledge transfer and translation enacted by the organizational actors (both human and non-human) involved in innovation portfolio decision-making.FindingsThe findings of this research reveal the sequence of portfolio decision-making process that confirms that PPM occurs not only in a single hierarchical level or meeting, but that decisions are made across different organizational levels in a complex network of relationships where many actors are involved. We also show that the technological artefacts have an intermediate role in knowledge translation.Research limitations/implicationsDespite referring to a single case study, the results discussed in this piece of research provides insightful evidence for academics and practitioners alike. In fact, the paper discusses organizational pre-alignment and alignment as a crucial enabler of knowledge transfer. Moreover, the intermediate role of an information support system is discussed.Practical implicationsOur study highlights the positive effect on actors' meaningful participation in PPM associated with the adoption of information support systems in PPM. Moreover, our results highlight the importance of considering a horizontal perspective in the decision-making process, so that knowledge translation occurs by leveraging on all the actors' breadth of experience and expertise.Originality/valueThis research emphasizes two organizational routines termed as decision- making preparation processes that were identified as key enablers of portfolio decision-making: cross-functional pre-alignment and an information support system.

Trust Can Blind and Distrust Can Aid: Watchful Blindness Under Interpartner Uncertainty

Although studies on trust as an organizing principle have advanced our understanding of organizing in the context of interdependency and uncertainty, research has not yet explored the distinct roles of trust and distrust, and how they simultaneously, and synergistically affect interorganizational interactions under interpartner uncertainty. We enrich the theorizing based on a case study of the Swedish robotics and automation ecosystem where interpartner uncertainty—due to complex interdependencies, frequent coopetitive interactions, and temporal alignment of actors in multiple projects— is a key organizing challenge. We identify distinct orienting and enabling mechanisms of trust and distrust respectively, which both individually and synergistically support firms in maintaining fruitful interactions in the face of uncertainty. Furthermore, we integrate the mechanisms of trust and distrust into a model explaining how trust and distrust as organizing principles interact to give rise to watchful blindness.

Recalibrating the anti-corruption, transparency, and accountability formula to advance public health

ABSTRACTPolicy-makers, implementing organizations, and funders of global health programs aim to improve health care services and health outcomes through specific projects or systemic change. To mitigate the risk of corruption and its harmful effects on those initiatives, health programs often use multiple anti-corruption mechanisms, including codes of conduct, documentation and reporting requirements, and trainings. Unfortunately, the introduction of anti-corruption mechanisms tends to occur without an explicit consideration of how each mechanism will affect health services and health outcomes. This may overlook potentially more effective approaches. In addition, it may result in the introduction of too many controls (thereby stymying service delivery) and a focus on financial or procurement-related issues (at the expense of service delivery objectives). We argue that anti-corruption efforts in health programs can be more effective if they prioritize addressing issues according to their likelihood and level of harm to key program objectives. Recalibrating the anti-corruption formula in this way will require: (i) extending responsibility and ownership over anti-corruption from subject experts to public health and health system specialists, and (ii) enabling those specialists to apply the Fraud Risk Assessment methodology to develop tailored anti-corruption mechanisms. We fill a documented gap in guidance on how to develop anti-corruption mechanisms by walking through the seven analytical steps of the Fraud Risk Assessment methodology as applicable to health programs. We then outline best practices for any anti-corruption mechanism, including a focus on quality health delivery; the alignment of actors’ incentives around the advancement of health objectives; and being minimally corruptible by design.

The importance of internal alignment in smart city initiatives: An ecosystem approach

Within the growing literature on smart cities, much research has focused on issues related to the formation stage of these initiatives. After initial subsidies expire, however, a number of smart city initiatives face problems with respect to value creation and value capture. To analyse these processes, the paper links value creation (i.e. activities focusing on innovation challenges) to value capture (i.e. activities referring to actual individual firm-level profit generation) in smart city initiatives. Based on an in-depth survey of the literature, the purpose of the paper is to better understand how processes of internal alignment foster value creation and value capture during the growth of smart city initiatives. By focusing on the determinants of internal alignment facilitating value creation and value capture, the paper examines these determinants in the context of four smart city initiatives in the Netherlands in 2016. The paper shows that internal alignment of actors aimed at integrating joint and business objectives is critical for the growth of smart city initiatives. From the theoretical view point, the paper points at challenges concerning internal alignment of different actors in the smart city initiative after the formation stage. From the managerial point of view, it becomes increasingly important to manage expectations of different partners and their learning efforts to account for internal alignment during the growth of the smart city initiative.

A multi-level perspective on innovation ecosystems for path-breaking innovation

Path-breaking innovations are increasingly developed and commercialized by networks of co-creating actors, called innovation ecosystems. Previous work in this area demonstrates that the ‘internal’ alignment of actors is critical to value creation in the innovation ecosystem. However, the literature has largely overlooked that the success of an innovation ecosystem also depends on its ‘external’ viability, determined by the broader socio-technical environment. That is, path-breaking innovations inherently challenge the prevailing socio-technical regime in a domain (e.g., established rules, artifacts and habits) that tends to be resistant to change. Overcoming this resistance is a major challenge for ventures pioneering path-breaking innovations. The paper contributes to the literature on innovation ecosystems by explicitly considering the socio-technical viability of the innovation ecosystem around a path-breaking innovation. In particular, we theorize about the objects of manipulation in an innovation ecosystem and discuss the strategies that a focal venture, orchestrating the innovation ecosystem, can employ in manipulating these objects so as to increase the socio-technical viability of the ecosystem. We arrive at a multi-level perspective on innovation ecosystem development that integrates internal alignment and external viability and informs a research agenda for future studies in this field.

Innovating for ‘active ageing’ in a public–private innovation partnership: Creating doable problems and alignment

By focusing on different constructions of the elderly and how these definitions are aligned within a Danish public–private innovation partnership called No Age, the article examines how various understandings of ‘the elderly’, ‘active ageing’ and ‘health’ clash and entangle in innovation work. The ambition of No Age is to create welfare technologies for elderly people. The authors were invited to contribute ethnographic insights to the partnership. We argue that the No Age's innovation process creates doable problems by co-producing technological solutions, their users and the health issues the products are designed to address. Furthermore, we argue that the specific constellation and alignment of actors in such a partnership define how and what kinds of users are constituted, as the target groups and success criteria for the development of welfare technologies are shaped throughout the innovation process rather than decided at the beginning. This has implications for the role of ethnographers as providers of user-insights in health-related innovation projects.

Seizing Center Stage: Ecosystem Services, Live, at the Convention on Biological Diversity!

Over the past decade, the concept of ecosystem services has become a central guiding framework for environmental conservation. Techniques of valuation, payments to protect ecosystem services, and efforts to put a price on nature increasingly characterize environmental policy. We analyze the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP-10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as a critical moment in the production of ecosystem services as a discourse. Through analysis of specific examples of the rollout, performance, and strategic deployment of ecosystem services, particularly as embodied in The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project (TEEB) at CBD/COP-10, we illustrate how arguments justifying ecosystem services became persuasive and compelling in the social space of the meeting. We examine the prevalence of a narrative that relies on three successive claims: (1) conservation has failed to conserve biodiversity, which has catalyzed a pending ecological crisis; (2) this crisis is caused by incorrectly priced nature and insufficient financing for conservation; and (3) the economics of ecosystem services provides the means to attract new financial flows, to neutralize political opposition, and to save biodiversity. The CBD/COP-10, we argue, provided a stage for the performance of this narrative, the alignment of actors from the private, public and non-profit sectors around ecosystem services, and the institutionalization of its tenets in policy documents and project financing— all of which worked to constitute the hegemony of ecosystem services. We conclude by asserting that, as conservationists embrace ecosystem services, at the expense of alternative models, they reproduce it as a discourse, thus constituting and reinforcing its hegemony, and the conditions that originally limited their choices.

Agri-food in search of sustainability: cognitive, interactional and material framing

Abstract The agri-food sector is under pressure to move towards sustainability and broad socio-technical changes are needed. In such encompassing innovation processes that concern the whole agri-food chain, actors with different institutional backgrounds are confronted with each others interests, ideas and perspectives. Framing, then, may both support and hinder the alignment of actors and interests. In this paper we investigate how framing occurs in multi-actor innovation projects and how it facilitates or hinders the continuity of these projects. We first review the broad literature on framing, which leads to a typology of three levels of framing: face-to-face interaction (between individuals), global discourse (within society) and localised collective (in projects). In addition, we add a third category to the traditional distinction between ‘cognitive’ and ‘interactional’ framing. We argue that in socio-technical innovations also ‘material’ framing occurs. In an empirical case study, based on in-depth interviews and document analysis of the Roundel project (2004-2010), a Dutch innovation project aimed at sustainable egg production and marketing, we trace and analyse these different forms of framing. The project survived several critical episodes, due to changes in framing. Our study yields general lessons about framing in complex innovation projects, both conceptual and practical.

Multi-path mapping for alignment strategies in emerging science and technologies

Roadmapping serves both short and long term (strategic) alignment in science and technology (S&T). Forecasts of the likely future development of S&T are generated; then research and development (R&D) efforts necessary to realize various goals are backcast. But for new and emerging S&T this trusted principle does not work: the likely products are not articulated yet. A promising approach however is building mapping tools based on underlying patterns and indicators of the dynamics of emergence. This paper discusses, based on a first round application in the field of micro and nanotechnologies for single cell analysis, the methodology of such a new approach. The work is linked to a programme of Future oriented Technology Assessment (FTA) activities coordinated within a European nanotechnology research network. Our paper addresses well-known lacunae of alignment tools from the viewpoints of the path creation/dependency literatures. We then apply these insights to lab-on-a-chip devices for cell analysis. Dynamics of emerging paths can be used to articulate a future structured in terms of prospective innovation chains and potential paradigms. We demonstrate a plausible variety of paths, which provides a broader set of strategic choices. This enables management of expectations and hype by which emerging S&T are characterised, and leads to alignment of actors. Our tool can be applied in strategic management of research and R&D at the level of science-to-industry networks. These are becoming an important element in European S&T policy but will only be successful if ways are found for closing gaps in the innovation chain.

Response to Galam's Comment

Landscape theory proposed a model of the alignment of actors (such as nations) based upon the importance of individual actors and their pairwise relationships. The model was implemented in simulation software and its predictions compared favourably with empirical reality given several input situations. The model successfully predicted the alignment of seventeen European nations in the Second World War alliance patterns since the Cold War.

WATER RESOURCES POLICY: OLD MODELS AND NEW REALITIES1

ABSTRACT: Policy models are designed to help describe the principal actors and processes by which decisions are made, but they also have prescriptive roles. They advance some interests over others and reflect policy biases about the nature of the desired policy outputs. Historically, federal water resources development policy could be most easily explained by reference to subsystem government (or iron triangles), a policy model that describes how local water interests, federal water construction agencies, and public works committees coalesce to effectively dominate the decisionmaking process by which water projects are authorized and funded. Using the programs and activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, this paper explains how prescriptive elements of two other policy models, administrative rationality and market allocation, have affected the traditional alignment of actors and policy outputs.