Relational Embeddedness Research Articles

Transmission of entrepreneurial values in enterprising families: a systematic literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to systematically review existing literature concerning the transmission of entrepreneurial values within the context of family entrepreneurship. Specifically, the study aims to address two primary inquiries: First, which entrepreneurial values transferred across generations have been discerned in family entrepreneurship literature? Second, what mechanisms for the transmission of these values have been identified within family entrepreneurship literature?Design/methodology/approachWe utilized the Web of Science database to identify relevant articles. We employed a broad set of Boolean search terms related to family, entrepreneurship and values. Ultimately, 77 articles were selected for detailed analysis based on their relevance to the topic.FindingsOur review identified a diverse array of entrepreneurial values that can be categorized into three themes: family values, family business values and societal entrepreneurial values. Furthermore, mechanisms facilitating the transmission of these values were classified into eight distinct types, i.e. relational embeddedness, vicarious learning, explicit communication, imprinting, educating, parenting styles, community-zeitgeist and genetics. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research on entrepreneurial value transmission in enterprising families.Practical implicationsUnderstanding how entrepreneurial values are transmitted within family firms can inform practices such as succession planning, leadership development and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship across generations.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the theoretical development of family entrepreneurship by consolidating and synthesizing existing knowledge on entrepreneurial value transmission. It provides a comprehensive overview that can guide future empirical and conceptual investigations in this field.

WHY SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES DO NOT CONDUCT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT — THE RELATIONAL EMBEDDEDNESS MODEL

Research and development (R&D) represents the strength of corporate innovation; however, many small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not engage in R&D activities. Resource constraints are often cited as the reason; however, no deeper understanding has been provided yet. To fill this gap, we investigated a research model based on the relational embeddedness between customer firms and SMEs (suppliers) using a questionnaire obtained from Japanese manufacturing SMEs. Our findings show that SMEs’ R&D activities are likely to be positively impacted by inter-organisational trust (IT) and negatively impacted by relational inertia (RI) and relational duration (RD). The relationships between the variables behind these impacts were also analysed. This study also highlights the dark side of relational embeddedness. SMEs with the closest and major customer relationships may be hindered in their overall R&D activities by the effects of RI and RD.

Activism of Re-Membering: An Undoing of Museum History and Anthropocentric Ratiocination Through Priya Sarukkai Chabria’s Clone (2018)

The present article examines Priya Sarukkai Chabria’s Clone (2018) as a diffractive reworking of time, a performance of spacetime (re)configuring and speculated im/possibilities. It contests the humanist convictions of relations, time, space, matter and meaning by bringing to the fore an articulation of feminist new materialist time-being and its relational embeddedness, which consolidate the possibility of tracing the practices of historical erasure, cultural amnesia and political avoidance. Probing through the questions of history, memory and materiality, the study posits re-membering as a counterpolitics to museum history and an­­thropocentric ratiocination while it narrativizes re-turning and travel-hopping as the embodied material labor of undoing the hegemonic propensity. The article extends its inquiry beyond the novel’s narrative construct that heightens the idiosyncrasies of a throwaway society, offering insights into state-led biopolitics, neo-cannibalism and consumerist expropriation of the biotechnological beings into disposable trash. By engaging with Chabria’s Clone (2018), this treatise contributes to a relational understanding of multifarious ontological, ethical and existential implications inherent in the post-anthropocentric symbiosis of naturecultures, human-nonhuman and matter-meaning, albeit highlighting the activism of re-membering as equitably about new agentic configurations, new entangled subjectivities, new im/possibilities and ecosystemic inclusive mattering.

Study on the Relationship Between Dual Network Embeddedness and Subsidiary Innovative Performance

This article explores the relationships between the dual network embeddedness of subsidiaries (group internal network embeddedness and group external network embeddedness) and subsidiary innovative performance in emerging economies within the context of the digital economy. Using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) to analyze survey data from 182 subsidiaries of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. The findings of the study reveal the effect of the two dimensions (structural embeddedness and relational embeddedness) of intra- and extra-group network embeddedness on the two dimensions of absorptive capacity, and innovative performance at the subsidiary level. It clarifies the chain mediating effects of the two dimensions of subsidiary absorptive capacity on subsidiary innovative performance, as well as the direct impact of subsidiary potential absorptive capacity on subsidiary innovative performance.

The bounded intelligence of AI: Superficiality and deceivability

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is typically designed to replace or augment human beings in making and executing decisions. In the domain of organizational management, AI has already found wide applications in many areas such as HR functions, marketing campaigns, competitive analysis, and strategy formulations, exerting increasing impacts on a host of executives and management professionals. Accurate and timely replicating or capturing the know-how of human decisions and actions becomes imperative, as AI has to be, at least as intelligent as, or even more intelligent than, those human actors whose data are being fed to AI during its training and learning iterations. Just as human beings are subject to bounded rationality due to their limited capacities in information processing, AI, too, is subject to bounded intelligence, in the sense that it could appear not as smart as expected, due to its limited capacities in replicating and capturing human expertise, to say nothing of augmenting or extending it. Such bounded intelligence of AI hinges on two underlying factors: superficiality and deceivability. Superficiality refers to the inability of AI to fully replicate human expertise during its learning process due to natural or technical barriers such as imperfect capturability, relational embeddedness, and time sensitivity. Deceivability refers to the inability of AI to accurately capture human expertise during its learning process due to human-actor-created barriers such as passive evasion, deliberate manipulation, and malicious sabotage. Understanding such boundedness of AI and the specific mechanisms of superficiality and deceivability will help us better appreciate the usefulness and limitations of AI and take measures to both remedy and utilize the bounded intelligence of AI.

The mechanism of relational embeddedness affecting the management ability of farmer: the mediating effect of knowledge learning and resource acquisition

The mechanism of relational embeddedness affecting the management ability of farmer: the mediating effect of knowledge learning and resource acquisition

Party organization embeddedness and corporate green innovation

This study examines the influence of party organization embeddedness of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on corporate green innovation from two perspectives: structural embeddedness and relational embeddedness of the party organization, and analyzes the mediating role of internal control in both. The findings suggest that party organization embeddedness can promote corporate green innovation. Moreover, internal control serves to mediate this relationship partially, as party organization embeddedness enhances the effectiveness of corporate internal controls, which in turn, promotes green innovation.

Ambicultural sensitivity and relational embeddedness in fostering B2B relationship

PurposeThis study aims to explore the interplay of ambicultural sensitivity and relational embeddedness in the quality of B2B relationships. Specifically, it examines how these factors contribute to enhancing the adaptability, collaboration and competitive advantage of multinational corporations and institutions operating within diverse cultural landscapes.Design/methodology/approachUsing an abductive qualitative case study methodology, this study engaged professionals from three diverse multinational corporations in Indonesia − an energy services provider, a logistics services company and a not-for-profit institution. The objective was to explore the integration and implications of ambicultural sensitivity across varied cultural and industry settings.FindingsThis study demonstrates that ambicultural sensitivity − the ability to understand, appreciate and integrate diverse cultural values − enhances B2B relationships through its manifestation in individual and organizational practices. It facilitates a dynamic merging of cultural perspectives and management approaches within intercultural interactions. Furthermore, relational embeddedness is identified as crucial for successful cross-cultural collaboration and innovation. These insights highlight the strategic value of cultural integration and sensitivity in maintaining a competitive edge in the global marketplace.Originality/valueThis study adds to the B2B marketing literature by providing a nuanced understanding of how ambicultural sensitivity and relational embeddedness operate in the context of B2B relationships.

Keterlekatan Budaya dan Ekonomi pada Industri Tahu Rumahan di Kecamatan Arjasa, Jember

This research examines the influence of relational embeddedness and social networks on economic behavior in the home-based tofu industry in Arjasa District, Jember. The research focuses on how relational embeddedness influences the acquisition of business capital, work management, and conflict resolution within the business, as well as how home-based tofu industry owners strategize to develop their businesses amidst intense competition by utilizing their social networks. This research employs a qualitative approach with an ethnographic approach. The informants of this research are the owner of the AJ home-based tofu industry, workers who have kinship ties, and workers who do not have kinship ties. Data collection techniques utilize three components: observation, interviews, and documentation.

Who is recommended matters: an investigation from a relational perspective

ABSTRACT Since the performance of the platform can be largely influenced by the relationships between users, it is important to consider the effect of recommender systems from a relational perspective, which is overlooked in the literature. Our study complements the literature by distinguishing recommended candidates as either familiar or unfamiliar based on relationship embeddedness. Using a recommender system’s launch on a freight exchange platform as a natural experiment, we employ difference-in-differences estimations to quantify the effects of recommending diverse candidates on user’s acceptance and overall transaction frequency. Results show that recommendations with familiar candidates are more likely to be accepted, but lead to a lower user’s overall transaction frequency. On the contrary, recommendations with unfamiliar candidates result in a higher user’s overall transaction frequency, suggesting that the positive effect of the recommender system is primarily driven by recommendations with unfamiliar candidates. We attribute these findings to informative signals of more matching opportunities conveyed by recommendations with unfamiliar candidates, which elevate user’s evaluation of the platform and stimulate more transactions. Our work contributes to the literature by highlighting a relational perspective in the design of recommender systems and the importance of diversity rather than accuracy.

Network embeddedness, entrepreneurial bricolage, and family farm sustainability

Family farm sustainability is an essential guarantee for increasing the resilience of food systems. Based on the network embeddedness theory and entrepreneurial bricolage theory, an exploratory longitudinal case study was adopted. The value-creating behaviors of family farms in different entrepreneurial periods were described and a process model of family farms sustainability with network embeddedness and entrepreneurial bricolage was constructed. The study revealed that family farms faced resource constraints such as shortage of element resources, insufficient market resources and lack of knowledge resources during the induction, start-up, and growth periods, respectively. In order to overcome resource constraints in different entrepreneurial periods, family farms employed multiple network embeddedness ways including relational embeddedness, structural embeddedness and cognitive embeddedness to seek help from actors in the rural social network. Family farms embedded in multiple networks used the entrepreneurial bricolage strategy of “element bricolage – market bricolage – institutional bricolage” to continuously acquire production elements, improve brand awareness, optimize processing techniques and promote the convergence of three industries. Family farms benefited from a win-win result with actors through network embeddedness and entrepreneurial bricolage, and created economic, social and ecological values eventually. The study offers fresh insights into the dynamics of rural entrepreneurship.

Using Crowdsourced Data to Assess the Impact of Shelter-in-Place Orders (SIPO) during COVID-19: Lessons from a Small Island Developing State

Without the availability of a vaccine (at the time of writing) to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, countries must rely largely on lockdown measures to limit population movement and community spread. The case of COVID-19 in small island territories is particularly important given their vulnerabilities to external shocks, limited capacity to prepare for and respond to a health crisis, and a population susceptible to non-communicable diseases. This article utilise novel crowdsourced cell phone data gathered by Facebook Data for Good and difference-in-differences estimation as well as event studies to examine the effectiveness of shelter-in-place orders (SIPOs) on population movement patterns across Trinidad and Tobago. We find that most SIPOs result in reductions in population movement patterns across the country, the most effective being the closure of all public places and non-essential businesses. Also, the relaxation of these measures does not readily result in increasing population movement patterns, indicating relative embeddedness in population movement. Our results further suggest that voluntary compliance, adaptive behaviour among citizens, government transparency and public information can also be important motivations for reduced population movement during the pandemic.

Loosely Defined Partnerships: A Case Study of Three Refugee-Serving Nonprofit Organizations

This article uses a case study approach to explore how U.S.-based nonprofit organizations collaborate to serve immigrants and refugees and identifies characteristics that are essential to successful partnerships. While other studies have documented the challenges immigrants and refugees face in relocating to a new community and the ways community-based organizations help them through the integration process, this project brings together migration studies and nonprofit management studies to interrogate the concept of partnerships based on the lived experiences of organization staff. Partnerships are essential to providing programs and services, and this project seeks to explore the tension inherent in partnering with other organizations that have similar missions and goals. This project captures the stories of three refugee-serving nonprofit organizations in a midsouth city. Utilizing in-depth interviews to analyze the interorganizational collaborations that the three organizations have formed to provide holistic support to immigrants and refugees, the findings here suggest that partnerships are essential but often fraught. These organizations, like many nonprofits, face limited capacity and form community partnerships to alleviate these limitations. As defined by improving an organization’s ability to fulfill its core missions, successful partnerships rely on relational embeddedness and a shared mission. Findings demonstrate the necessity and benefit of a network of partnerships to meet the needs of this unique population.

The effect of relational embeddedness on transparency in supply chain networks: the moderating role of digitalization

PurposeAn emerging body of literature has pinpointed the role of supply chain structure in influencing the extent to which supply chain members disclose information about their internal practices and performance. Nevertheless, empirical research investigating the effects of firm-level relational embeddedness on network-level transparency still lags. Drawing on social network analysis, this research examines the effect of relational embeddedness on supply chain transparency and the contingent role of digitalization in the context of environmental, social and governance (ESG) information disclosure.Design/methodology/approachIn their empirical analysis, the authors collected secondary data from the Bloomberg database about 2,229 firms and 14,007 ties organized in 107 extended supply chains. The authors employed supplier and customer concentration metrics to measure relational embeddedness and performed multiple econometric models to test the hypothesis.FindingsThe authors found a positive effect of supplier concentration on supply chain transparency, but the effect of customer concentration was not significant. Additionally, the digitalization of focal firms reinforced the impact of supplier concentration on supply chain transparency.Originality/valueThe study findings contribute by underscoring the critical effect of relational embeddedness on supply chain transparency, extending prior literature on social network analysis, providing compelling evidence for the intersection of digitalization and supply chain management, and drawing important implications for practices.

Demystifying the Chinese local state: Planning and contesting urban growth at Hexi New Town, Nanjing

Taking note of the limitations of previously dominant political economy perspectives on China’s urban transformation, and inspired by recent works calling for “beyond-growth” and “micro-level” studies of the Chinese state, as well as ethnographic approaches to the state, this paper aims to explore the often-untold everyday politics of decision-making processes in China’s state-led urban development. Using an urban design project at Hexi New Town in Nanjing, China, as an empirical lens, the article makes three main contributions. Firstly, it reveals how the Chinese local state is constitutive of and lived through intense negotiations and contestations over urban visions, subjectivities, and rules of practices in everyday life. Secondly, building upon existing ethnographic approaches to the state, which focus primarily on state-society dynamics, this paper develops a framework to re-conceptualize the power topology within the Chinese local state as a field of relational modalities (ruling power relations (re)enacted in everyday practices) and relational embeddedness (situated positionalities and subjectivities of state actors). Thirdly, it further shows how the power modalities (the interplay of political-economy power vs technical-power, territorial power vs trans-territorial power) of the Chinese local state are constantly reworked, sometimes re-enacted, sometimes challenged, through both formal and tacit rules in the state’s everyday life. As such, the article provides a new set of entry points to open the black-box of the Chinese local state and to explore the relational nature and an ethnographic perspective of the local state and urban politics in China and beyond.

The Paradox of Spatial and Relational Embeddedness: Tie Reinitiation after a Trust Violation

The Paradox of Spatial and Relational Embeddedness: Tie Reinitiation after a Trust Violation

The interplay between product development failures and alliance portfolio properties in the formation of exploration versus exploitation alliances

We investigate the role of product development failure as an important behavioral driver of explorative (vs. exploitative) search in interfirm collaborations. We also suggest that the effect of product development failure on the level of exploration in subsequent alliances hinges on the properties of the firm’s existing alliance portfolio. We suggest and show that the positive association between a firm’s product development failures and the level of exploration alliances is mitigated when the firm faces a high level of relational embeddedness. We also demonstrate that the positive association is amplified when the firm has a low level of technological diversity in its current alliance portfolio. We test our hypotheses using established firms’ alliances in the biopharmaceutical industry and find evidence that supports our arguments.

The transformative potential of inward investment on industrial cluster development: the case of the semiconductor industry in Wales

ABSTRACT This paper examines the transformative potential of inward investment on cluster development. It undertakes this through the lens of the evolving semiconductor cluster in South Wales (UK) and within a context whereby the semiconductor industry is under pressure with government interventions to improve prospects being implemented at a time of increasing global tension in the industry. The paper reveals the potential of inward investors as agents of regional economic change and cluster development. It shows that the emerging South Wales cluster distinguishes itself in terms of investment motivation, commodities and services produced. These factors result in growing embeddedness in relation to elements such as joint research with higher education and intra-firm collaboration to develop new products and processes. The paper concludes that investments based on risky and fast-changing technologies in industries such as the semiconductor sector necessarily create challenges for policy makers. These are best managed by placing greater emphasis on developing the conditions to satisfy the needs of such knowledge-intensive industries in relation to labour market conditions, factor conditions and market access.

Domesticating Paralinguistic Digital Affordances in Adolescent Romantic Relationships and Parent-adolescent Relationships: A Relational Perspective

Paralinguistic digital affordances (PDAs; e.g., the Like button on social media platforms) are becoming increasingly popular for adolescents to manage online relationships. Domestication theory focuses on the taming process of technological use. To reconsider the approach of domestication in the mediascape with diversified types of relationships, this paper analyzes how Chinese adolescents domesticate the PDAs in romantic relationships and parent-adolescent relationships. Based on focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with 23 Chinese adolescents, this study uses thematic analysis and identifies adolescents’ relational domestication of PDAs in accordance with relationship contexts—relational closeness, relational norms, relational dynamics and relational embeddedness. Specifically, the exchange of PDAs with romantic partners and parents has a sense of closeness. However, the different relationship norms determined that PDAs are differently domesticated in a romantic style or authoritative style in romantic relationships and parent-adolescent relationships. Furthermore, adolescents domesticate the dynamic sense of PDAs in an interactive way. Given the existence of real or imagined audiences, adolescents domesticate PDAs within a larger social network. Implications for understanding how the domestication of PDAs intersects with cultural context are discussed.

Rethinking Conversation Styles of Chatbots from the Customer Perspective: Relationships between Conversation Styles of Chatbots, Chatbot Acceptance, and Perceived Tie Strength and Perceived Risk

Grounded in the Stereotype Content Model, Risk Perception Theory, Technology Acceptance Model, and Relational Embeddedness Theory, this research delves into the relationship between chatbot conversation styles, customer risk, and the mediating role of chatbot acceptance and tie strength in online shopping. A 2 (warm vs. cold) * 2 (competent vs. incompetent) between-subjects experiment is conducted on 320 participants and the results obtained from two-way ANOVA and PROCESS macro revealed that: (a) customer-perceived risk decreases with conversation warmth rather than conversation competence; (b) customer acceptance of chatbots improves with conversation competence rather than conversation warmth, while not acting as an intermediary factor between the conversation styles and customer-perceived risk; (c) customer perceived tie strength increases with both conversation warmth and conversation competence. The findings contribute to the existing literature about the impact of chatbot anthropomorphism on customer cognitive processes and offer executives insights into the design of customer-friendly chatbots.