Collaborative Networked Organizations Research Articles

Time inconsistency in sustainable partner selection for vertical collaborative network organizations

AbstractCollaborative Networked Organisations (CNOs) are increasingly recognised for their ability to harness cooperation and complementary competencies, outperforming individual efforts in pursuing business opportunities. However, the criticality of selecting the right long‐term partner for a CNO has been understated, especially considering the evolving landscape of sustainability perceptions. This research addresses the issue of time inconsistency within the context of sustainable CNO partner selection by employing the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process with the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution. Time inconsistency refers to a situation where preferences or decisions change over different points in time, leading to inconsistencies in choices or actions. Specifically, the study focuses on a Swiss Manufacturing CNO, examining how the evaluation of potential partners' environmental criteria changes over time. The findings reveal the presence of time inconsistency in environmental criterion evaluation between two time periods. This inconsistency stems from the evolving perception of environmental conditions and the increasing social and governmental pressures surrounding environmental standards. As a consequence, improper partner choices in CNOs can be made, potentially undermining the collaborative's overall sustainability goals. The study sheds light on the importance of considering dynamic sustainability factors in partner selection for CNOs, emphasising the need for a more comprehensive and adaptive approach to secure fruitful and lasting collaborations.

A Framework to Build a Big Data Ecosystem Oriented to the Collaborative Networked Organization

A Collaborative Networked Organization (CNO) is a set of entities that operate in heterogeneous contexts and aim to collaborate to take advantage of a business opportunity or solve a problem. Big data allows CNOs to be more competitive by improving their strategy, management and business processes. To support the development of big data ecosystems in CNOs, several frameworks have been reported in the literature. However, these frameworks limit their application to a specific CNO manifestation and cannot conduct intelligent processing of big data to support decision making at the CNO. This paper makes two main contributions: (1) the proposal of a metaframework to analyze existing and future frameworks for the development of big data ecosystems in CNOs and (2) to show the Collaborative Networked Organizations–big data (CNO-BD) framework, which includes guidelines, tools, techniques, conceptual solutions and good practices for the building of a big data ecosystem in different kinds of Collaborative Networked Organizations, overcoming the weaknesses of previous issues. The CNO-BD framework consists of seven dimensions: levels, approaches, data fusion, interoperability, data sources, big data assurance and programmable modules. The framework was validated through expert assessment and a case study.

Governance Consulting Services and Tools: Transition Planning and Implementation for Collaborative Networked Organisations in the Cyber Domain

Governance Consulting Services and Tools: Transition Planning and Implementation for Collaborative Networked Organisations in the Cyber Domain

Governance Consulting Services and Tools: Governance Model Design for Collaborative Networked Organisations in the Cyber Domain

Governance Consulting Services and Tools: Governance Model Design for Collaborative Networked Organisations in the Cyber Domain

Sustainable partner selection for collaborative networked organisations with risk consideration in the context of COVID-19

PurposeCollaborative networked organisations (CNO) are a means of ensuring longevity and business continuity in the face of a global crisis such as COVID-19. This paper aims to present a multi-criteria decision-making method for sustainable partner selection based on the three sustainability pillars and risk.Design/methodology/approachA combined analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy AHP (F-AHP) with Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution approach is the methodology used to evaluate and rank potential partners based on known conditions and predicted conditions at a future time based on uncertainty to support sustainable partner selection.FindingsIt is integral to include risk criteria as an addition to the three sustainability pillars: economic, environmental and social, to build a robust and sustainable CNO. One must combine the AHP and F-AHP weightings to ensure the most appropriate sustainable partner selection for the current as well as predicted future period.Research limitations/implicationsThe approach proposed in this paper is intended to support existing CNO, as well as individual firms wanting to create a CNO, to build a more robust and sustainable partner selection process in the context of a force majeure such as COVID-19.Originality/valueThis paper presents a novel approach to the partner selection process for a sustainable CNO under current known conditions and future uncertain conditions, highlighting the risk of a force majeure occurring such as COVID-19.

Business, Organisational and governance modalities of collaborative cybersecurity networks

Countering advanced cyber threats requires investments in awareness and qualified personnel, as well as advanced technological solutions. Very few companies have the competencies and capacity to attempt to provide comprehensive solutions and sustain the technological drive and skill levels. Novel organisational solutions are needed to deliver advantages vis-à-vis both threat actors and competitors. The European Union sees one potential solution in the establishment of a network of cybersecurity competence centres. Starting in the beginning of the centuy, the creation of collaborative networked organisations in other fields demonstrated significant benefits in sharing knowledge, resources, and risk to exploit quickly emerging market opportunities. The major challenge in creating networked organisations is to provide long-term, effective collaboration through adequate governance and management. To support the elaboration of a solid governance model of a cybersecurity competence network in a Horizon 2020 research project, this article presents the results of a study of 92 existing network organisations working in cybersecurity and closely related fields. It presents the implemented methodological approach, the identification of main types of business models depending on funding streams and the degree of coordination among partners, organisational modalities, and prevailing governance models depending on member representation on senior governance bodies.

A Governance Model of a Collaborative Networked Organization for Cybersecurity Research

A Governance Model of a Collaborative Networked Organization for Cybersecurity Research

Collaborative framework for virtual organisation synthesis based on a dynamic multi-criteria decision model

ABSTRACTGlobalisation and increased competition pushes companies to grow outside political and geographical boundaries, frequently forcing them to increase product diversification and optimise their relation with potential and effective partners and customers. In this scenario, implementing agile collaboration networks with business partners is a requirement. In this article the authors propose a collaborative framework based on a model for Historical, Present and Future evaluations, which in turn is based on a Dynamic Multi-criteria Decision Method using software agents and the Cloud for Collaborative Networked and Virtual Organization Synthesis. The model uses a dynamic decision approach for supplier and business partner evaluation, enabling software agents to autonomously capture business opportunities, select business partners/suppliers, award and process associated orders.

A Cloud-based solution/reference architecture for establishing collaborative networked organizations

Collaborative networked organizations (CNOs) have been proposed as a response to the characteristics of highly competitive global business environments. So far, many projects have been funded to establish CNOs, however, most of these efforts have been done with traditional strategies. To move from the traditional methods of creating and operating inter-organizational collaborations towards Cloud-based solutions, we first adapt the Scrum methodology to being usable with specific characteristics of Cloud-oriented collaborations. In the following, we present a reference architecture for a system deployed on a Cloud provider offering the Creation phase of CNOs life cycle as a service. The goal is to show that Cloud is a potentially reliable, scalable, and cost-effective IT solution for exploitation of external knowledge resources, skills, and production facilities in CNO domain, where using traditional solutions were more challenging.

Collaborative service-component integration in cloud manufacturing

The Industrial Internet technologies are anticipated to enable agile manufacturing processes in response to the growing demand for personalised products/services with shorter lifecycles. This trend has resulted in a gradual transformation of traditional ‘tree-like’ and monolithic systems into complex networks of self-contained and autonomous ‘components’ (a.k.a., Internet of things) and ‘services’ (a.k.a., Internet of services). Cloud Manufacturing is an emerging concept that enables modularisation and service-orientation in the context of manufacturing, in which systematic orchestration, matching, and sharing of services and components are the key. This work develops a framework for dynamic integration of manufacturing services and components in a collaborative network of organisations. The framework dynamically recommends the best matching of services, components and organisations, as well as the best collaboration decisions in terms of sharing (shareable) services and/or components between organisations. The problem is formulated as a bi-objective mixed-integer program, and solved via an efficient socio-inspired tabu search. The objectives of the model are to increase service level and enhance collaboration through maximising service fulfilment and minimising unnecessary sharing of services/components, respectively. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the benefits of the developed framework for efficient and optimal (re)configuration of collaborative networked organisations, addressing the Industry 4.0 demand for agility through modularisation and service-orientation.

Collaborative network organisations as platform for value co-creation in tourism destinations: an analysis of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

This study investigated the co-creation of value in tourism by the collaborative network organisations (CNOs). The objective was to verify the degree of co-creation of value in the plans generated by participatory planning process in Foz de Iguacu city, and to confirm that this process forms a platform to value co-creation in tourism destinations. The used methodology was a content analysis of a technical report and other documents related to the process of strategic-participatory assessment of Foz do Iguacu city. This city is located at the three border zone between Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay, thus it is a shared tourism destination. The results indicated that the process of participatory planning, conducted by CNOs, can be a way to consumer-to-business-to-consumer (C2B2C) co-creation of value in tourism. Besides, the participatory planning is a tool of tourism governance, in which the CNO represents a hub between the relationships B2B, B2C, C2C, C2B2C, public-private sector and community, i.e., a platform with high capacity of value co-creation.

Collaborative network organisations as platform for value co-creation in tourism destinations: an analysis of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Collaborative network organisations as platform for value co-creation in tourism destinations: an analysis of Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Collaborative networks as incubators of dynamic virtual organisations: a case study of the emerging MAP sector

This research explores development requirements and policy arguments in the emerging medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) sector. Supported by a reference model adapted from the European Collaborative networked Organisations LEADership (ECOLEAD) project, the creation of a virtual organisation (VO) breeding environment (VBE) is also assessed using a qualitative exploratory case study involving an EPAM (Entrepreneurship-in-MAP project) IT-platform, where data was collected from the EPAM website and from multiple secondary sources. Contributions to practice include the setting of critical success factors, the assessment of management roles and the discussion of the MAP-VBE positioned within the scope of EPAM. While the introduction of a 'neutral mediator' role constitutes a contribution to theory, innovative insights into MAP structuring promotes operations management research on VO incubation/formation in nascent and emerging industry contexts.

Management of Risks in Export Networks

The globalized economy is increasingly affecting small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). As markets and growth are moving outside Europe, SMEs need to find new global customers and build their market entries through export networks to remote locations which often have different cultures, regulations and practices. This paper discusses the risks and challenges related to this transformation, based on observations from Finnish SMEs. Previous research on risk management in the context of export networks and collaborative networked organizations is utilized in the work. Using information collected from Finnish SMEs, the paper analyses the risk factors and risk management methods in export networks. The role of collaboration is discussed, both as a source of risk and as a measure to decrease the risks. Based on the analysis, companies appear to value the risk management methods including collaborative actions with partners, but the use of these methods in practice is low.

Holonic Ontology and Interaction Protocol for Manufacturing Network Organization

The aim of this paper is to form the best collaborative networked organization of small manufacturers to fulfill a production plan. Manufacturing networks can be formed using two approaches. The conventional approach is the formation of networks by the grouping of the best manufacturers based on multiple criteria. The proposed approach is the formation of all feasible networks followed by the grouping of the best networks based on multiple criteria. The hypothesis of this paper is that the better group of manufacturing networks may not be the result of the selection of the best available manufacturers to form each network, based on the same criteria. The research methodology employed involves techniques such as interaction protocol development, ontology engineering, and principles from concepts such as the contract net protocol, the product-resource-order-staff-architecture, the auctioning process, agent-based modeling, and rule-based programming. Results from the proposed approach were compared to the conventional approach on multiple criteria namely lead time, quality, cost, and delivery reliability. On the basis of the results, the hypothesis was not rejected.

Collaborative e-work parallelism in supply decisions networks: the chemical dimension

In today’s increasingly networked and interconnected environments, business processes and associated decisions tend to span across organizational boundaries, making traditional centralized coordination impractical and/or unfeasible. Furthermore, collaborative networked organizations need to be able to respond to rapidly changing demands and requirements, under uncertain conditions and without centralized control. This situation emphasizes the need for adaptive, distributed, and self-coordinated supply network decisions models. This study focuses on the efficient coordination of parallel, reconfigurable, inter-organizational supply operations. The chemical dimension of collaborative e-work parallelism is introduced, including a novel market-based mechanism that supports supply networks’ parallel and decentralized reconfiguration. The newly developed approach is illustrated by examples from a global industry network, demonstrating its advantages, and identifying its limitations.

Using CNOs in international marketing and outbound logistics

AbstractThe paper analyses if the collaborative networked organisations (CNO) concept can bring advantages in organising the international outbound logistics for SMEs. In the manufacturing domain, the European CNO research has identified benefits from using the concept in traditional supply chains, collaboration in various inbound networks and business ecosystems. Less focus has been on outbound logistics for delivering products and related service to customers at remote locations. The analysis is based on conducted company interviews. The interviewed companies have a good record of successful international operations. The used international delivery models are mapped into taxonomy of well-known outbound logistics models. The paper proposes a customer interface network model, based on the CNO concept to tackle problems encountered.

Managing information for collaborative networks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the orientations of collaborative networks (CNs) for managing integrated information flow. It seeks to analyse and shed light into the main priorities of firms for sharing and coordinating information with CN partners. These priorities are needed to enhance practices to trade-off and integrate flows where appropriate for maximising profits and performance. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, inductive multiple-case logic is applied to research how six industrial firms manage integrated information flow in relation to their collaborative networked organisations (CNOs). Guided by an interpretivism epistemology, 22 face-to-face and 13 telephonic semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 key informants in six industrial firms. Interview data were analysed in line with the research agenda to understand orientations for integrated information flow. Findings – The research finds that CN management is enhanced when flow integration for industrial firms is skill, project, agreement and relationship oriented. The investigation also finds that CNO flow integration could be enhanced when industrial firms confront and prioritise schemes for fluidity prevention, systematised templates, procedural prompts, implementation checklists, confidence building, issuance policies and concern separation. Originality/value – The major contribution of this paper is an exposition on priorities for integrated information flow within CNs. It also offers insights that suggest industrial firms can boost the performance of their CNOs by: working in small knit highly skilled teams, tactically implementing manufacturability and marketability programmes, strategising their production contracts and strengthening their company-customer-supplier ties.

Modelling information for collaborative networks

In this article, an approach for modelling snapshots of information is proposed for a form of complex networks known as a ‘collaborative network’. The approach consists of an information structure for collaborative-networked organisations modelled using complex network theory and information behaviour for collaborators in terms of a ‘decision-making factor’ and an information generation engine that evaluates the generation of information. Case scenarios within a multinational corporation are presented and analysed to demonstrate the use of the proposed approach and to discuss some uses of the approach for improving the management of collaborative networked organisations.

Readiness assessment of collaborative networked organisations for integrated product and service delivery

More and more firms are entering into alliances and coalitions to deliver competitive customer solutions, and there is a need to establish a common and recognised methodology in order to evaluate and qualify the impact of such company partnering on collaborative networks. These measures are necessary for informing decisions to admit/omit partners, for the delivery of integrated products and services, i.e. a product-service system, and for enhancing operational efficiency and competitiveness in the rapidly changing and dynamic global environment. In this article, a conceptual model is proposed for assessing the readiness of collaborative networked organisations for product-service system delivery. The model consists of a structural assessment of collaborative network topologies and densities, and a behavioural assessment of partner delivery competences and performance. Based on these concepts, an assessment process model was developed and used in case studies across industrials, consumer goods, health care, and utilities industries. The resulting implications of the assessment for researchers and practitioners are then highlighted and discussed.