Interorganizational Networks Research Articles

Tracing the affective journey of an interorganizational network: Positive and negative cycles of relational energy in a network space

While there is a lot of research on emotions at the small group level, we lack an understanding of the role of emotions at the large group level, including in interorganizational relationships. This study contributes to filling this important gap in the literature by studying the emotions in an interorganizational network longitudinally over a period of six years. The data reveal how the network offers a particular kind of space in which relational energy emerges, amplifies, can deplete, and can be re-set and turned around. The findings show how network emotions are recursively related to network outcomes, specifically the extent to which the common goal is achieved. This paper contributes to the growing literature on emotions in organization studies by shifting attention toward the important role of context, and it theorizes the interorganizational network as a particular kind of context where individuals interact in a semi-structured manner, with important implications for the interdependent relationship between individual emotions, relational energy, and network properties and outcomes.

THE RESEARCH ON AN INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK STRUCTURE USING GRAPH THEORY TOOLS

In the context of the globalisation of society and the rapid spread of information and computer technologies, the achievement of the goals of individual economic structures is achieved through the formation of a new type of organisational resource by introducing the principles of the network effect and the system of network interaction. The network approach is not reduced to a separate disciplinary area, but claims to be universal and independent. to identify unambiguous attributes that collectively define network interaction. The characteristics of networks are legal autonomy of partners, close connection and mutual influence on the basis of partially formalised or trust-based relationships, establishment of medium- and long-term partnerships, decision-making based on a jointly developed system of internal rules and regulations, taking into account the behavioural patterns and interests of network partners. An inter-organisational network is defined by the links between a certain set of independent organisations (network structure) and their interactions within them (network processes). The structure of network ties and positioning in networks are considered as key properties of network agents. The author's approach proposes to focus not on the agents themselves, regardless of their appearance, motives, norms and values that guide their actions, but on the connections between them in the network, which are studied on the basis of graph theory.The article studies a structure of inter-organisational networks and their new structural features on the basis of graph theory mathematical approaches. Extremum parameters of graphs are used to estimate an optimum number of network members. The aim of the investigation is to apply the mathematical tools of a graph theory to study the basic concepts of a network structure, the justification of the optimal number of network participants and the practical implementation of a network concept. On the basis of theoretical studies using graph theory, proposals for the structure of the network can be formulated, which can be used to stimulate sectoral restructuring and change the technological platform of the national economy.

Assessing SDI Implementation Scenarios to Facilitate Emergency Mapping Operations in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic (DR) is a small island developing state (SIDS) highly exposed to disaster-risk phenomena, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. The Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) enables coordination and sharing of spatial information and services from multiple sources, while emergency mapping operations (EMO) help decision-makers build a common operational picture (COP) of impacted communities. Assessment of future scenarios for SDI implementation to meet emergency mapping goals requires the consideration of a wide range of stakeholders with different objectives. We make use of multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) in the case study of DR to evaluate government, private sector, emergency mapping team (EMT), and academia perspectives of three governance scenarios (Going-Concern, Increasing-Hierarchy, and Increasing-Network) for SDI implementation. Our findings suggest that the ‘Increasing Network’ scenario is the most suitable for SDI implementation. A well-coordinated inter-organizational network through a SDI should empower more stakeholders to participate in EMO. This work highlighted the increase of public-private partnerships as a key criterion to share costs and efforts to effectively support emergency mapping tasks. Findings reported herein could assist decision-makers in designing roadmaps to enhance SDI implementation in the DR. This knowledge will also support future studies/practices in other SIDS, which share similar natural hazards and development issues.

Guest editorial: Understanding digital transformation from an inter-organisational network perspective

Guest editorial: Understanding digital transformation from an inter-organisational network perspective

Network governance institutionalization: Creating mutual value by harnessing and avoiding conflicts in interorganizational networks

Interorganizational network governance provides a set of jointly shared principles that affect the interaction among the network actors, and ultimately, the value created in the network. Past research has focused on specific network governance mechanisms and the organizations enforcing those and has paid less attention to the degree of which those mechanisms are institutionalized in the network. To bridge this gap, we develop a conceptual model with regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive dimensions to network governance institutionalization. We hypothesize that these three dimensions have a role in facilitating or suppressing affective and cognitive conflicts, ultimately increasing or decreasing common network benefits. Testing our model on a sample of 145 firms in Germany, we find that affective conflicts are harmful for common network benefits, while cognitive conflicts are beneficial. Furthermore, we find that regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive governance dimensions each play a particular role in facilitating or suppressing both types of conflict.

Betting Scenario for the Management of University Professional Practices from the Conformation of Intersectoral Cooperation Networks

The professional practices represent a space for interorganizational and intersectoral alliances that contribute to the development of localities and regions. From this referent, the design and validation of intersectoral cooperation networks is considered pertinent for the effective management of professional practices. Therefore, this article is oriented towards the construction of the ideal scenario where a universitygovernmentcompany intersectoral cooperation network can operate on a horizon of 2030. Foresight is used as a research and planning method, in conjunction with the consultation of experts from different social sectors that lead to obtaining sixteen scenarios of probable occurrence. For this, techniques, such as the prospective workshop, Delphi method, structural analysis (MICMAC) and scenario analysis (SMIC), are used. The results show a bet scenario where the four finally selected events occur, with a probability of occurrence of 35.7%, which would allow establishing future strategies that allow the network to be operational. It is concluded that the formation of a cooperation network for the management of university professional practices represents in itself a strategy to strengthen the curriculum and guide the achievement of common objectives in the intersectoral context studied. The contribution of the article to the study of sustainability sciences stands out, since it addresses a theme that leads to the description, explanation and understanding of the sustainable development of localities and regions from an educational dimension. In this sense, the contribution is synthesized from three planes of reflection and analysis: firstly, the understanding of sustainability as a multidimensional construct, where education is a key dimension to consolidate sustainable development processes; secondly, the management of interorganizational and intersectoral networks as a cooperation strategy that promotes sustainable development; and thirdly, prospective as a planning method that leads to delineating betting scenarios for sustainability management from an educational perspective, more specifically from the university curriculum.

The Roles of Supply Networks and Board Interlocks in Firms’ Technological Entry and Exit: Evidence from the Chinese Automotive Industry

ABSTRACTIn this research, we explore how supply networks and board interlocks – as distinct, yet parallel interorganizational networks – jointly influence firms’ entry into new technology domains and exit from old technology domains. Drawing from the perspectives of social networks and organizational learning we highlight the relevance of the interdependency between these networks for a firm's technological entry and exit decisions. We argue that a firm that maintains a large number of supplier ties is more likely to enter new technology domains and exit from old technology domains instead. We further find empirical evidence that the degree centrality of a firm in its board interlock network strengthens these effects. Our theoretical arguments are supported through stochastic actor-based modeling analysis for the longitudinal and multilevel networks of 86 firms active in the Chinese automotive during 2011–2015. These findings inform the literature on interorganizational network dynamics as we insert relational pluralism to examine the complexities of organizational relationships as antecedents to a firms’ technological entry and exit. Finally, we imagine the implications of our analysis for management as they shed light on how multiple interorganizational relationships affect firms’ decisions on new technology entry and old technology exit.

Family firm network strategies in regional clusters: evidence from Italy

Knowledge networks in regional clusters are fundamental to support innovation and local development. Within clusters, family firms are key in creating business opportunities and supporting the establishment of inter-organizational networks. Yet, their role within regional clusters for knowledge transfers is still not well understood, especially in comparison with non-family firms. This paper applies Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to network data collected from the Parabiago cluster, one of the most important Italian footwear clusters, to contribute to a better understanding of the network strategies of family firms. We identify distinct network strategies associated with the cluster firms, accounting for different knowledge exchange types: technological, market, and managerial. In our modelling, we control for firm-level attributes and dyadic-level attributes, such as geographical distance and cognitive proximity between cluster firms. Our results suggest that the proneness of family firms to grow networks is highly robust relative to non-family firm relationships, irrespective of knowledge types being exchanged. Moreover, family firms tend to establish connections with other family firms, showing the presence of homophily in their networking approach; however, non-family firms are rather different, since they do not have the same homophilous approach when it comes to exchange knowledge with other non-family firms. These results indicate that the nature of ownership is driving knowledge exchange differences. This key feature of family-only relationships in clusters may help managers and policymakers in devising more effective and targeted cluster strategies.

Analyzing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Stakeholder Networks: Malaysian rural housing

This article uses the social network analysis to identify resource coordination and information exchange of stakeholders in the inter-organizational network by studying the project-related interactions of rural housing reconstruction in Temerloh, Pahang that were funded by the Malaysian government, His Majesty the King and NGO. The data was collected through content analysis and interviews with 23 government agencies, NGOs, and community stakeholders. Findings from the analysis established that government agencies had the highest actor centralities, with the Rural Development Ministry and the local government level being the most central among the government agencies, whereas the homeowners had the lowest centralities.

SUWAN: A supervised clustering algorithm with attributed networks

An increasing area of study for economists and sociologists is the varying organizational structures between business networks. The use of network science makes it possible to identify the determinants of the performance of these business networks. In this work we look for the determinants of inter-firm performance. On one hand, a new method of supervised clustering with attributed networks is proposed, SUWAN, with the aim at obtaining class-uniform clusters of the turnover, while minimizing the number of clusters. This method deals with representative-based supervised clustering, where a set of initial representatives is randomly chosen. One of the innovative aspects of SUWAN is that we use a supervised clustering algorithm to attributed networks that can be accomplished through a combination of weights between the matrix of distances of nodes and their attributes when defining the clusters. As a benchmark, we use Subgroup Discovery on attributed network data. Subgroup Discovery focuses on detecting subgroups described by specific patterns that are interesting with respect to some target concept and a set of explaining features. On the other hand, in order to analyze the impact of the network’s topology on the group’s performance, some network topology measures, and the group total turnover were exploited. The proposed methodologies are applied to an inter-organizational network, the EuroGroups Register, a central register that contains statistical information on business networks from European countries.

New product development and supplier involvement: the role of R&D collaboration with supporting organisations

Existing research highlights the importance of sourcing external knowledge in manufacturers’ innovative processes. Specifically, supplier involvement in new product development (NPD) has been widely analysed but without conclusive results. To shed light on this matter, this paper provides a deeper insight by analysing the indirect effects in the relationship between supplier involvement and two NPD dimensions (efficiency and effectiveness). In particular, it examines R&D collaboration with supporting organisations as a mechanism by which knowledge provided by suppliers may lead to better innovation performance. This study focuses on 155 high-tech and medium–high-tech Spanish firms to test indirect effects through the PROCESS macro. The results show that while there is a positive and significant indirect effect of supplier involvement on NPD efficiency through R&D collaboration with supporting organisations, that indirect effect is not significant in increasing NPD effectiveness. This research contributes to the literature on inter-organisational networks and NPD by analysing the effects of supplier involvement on NPD through the role played by supporting organisations, with different empirical evidence for each NPD dimension and practical implications.

Impact of state Medicaid expansion on cross-sector health and social service networks: Evidence from a longitudinal cohort study.

To examine the impact of state Medicaid expansion on the delivery of population health activities in cross-sector health and social services networks. Community networks are multisector, interorganizational networks that provide services ranging from the direct provision of individual social services to the implementation of population-level initiatives addressing community outcomes. We used data measuring the composition of cross-sector population health networks 2006-2018 National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems (NALSYS) linked with the Area Health Resource File. A difference-in-differences approach was used to examine the impact of expansion on organization engagement in population health activities and network structure. Stratified random sampling of local public health jurisdictions in the United States. We restricted our data to jurisdictions serving populations of 100,000 or more and states that had NALSYS observations across all time periods, resulting in a final sample size of 667. Results from our adjusted difference-in-differences estimates indicated that Medicaid expansion was associated with a 2.3 percentage point increase in the density of population health networks (p < 0.10). Communities in states that expanded Medicaid experienced significant increases in the participation of local public health, local government, hospital, nonprofit, insurer, and K-12 schools. Of the organizations with significant increases in expansion communities, nonprofits (7.7 percentage points, p < 0.01), local public health agencies (6.5 percentage points, p < 0.01), hospitals (5.8 percentage points, p < 0.01), and local government agencies (6.0 percentage points, p < 0.05) had the largest gains. Our study found increases in cross-sector participation in population health networks in states that expanded Medicaid compared with nonexpansion states, suggesting that additional coverage gains are associated with positive changes in population health network structure.

Ethnoecological Analysis for Implementation of Inter-organizational Networks in Forest and Land Fires Policy

Forest fires are the most detrimental cause of forest destruction because in a short time, they can cause economic, ecological, aesthetic, and political losses. The purpose of this study is to analyze forms of biodiversity conservation carried out by local communities (ethnoecology) of people living in peat areas. This research was conducted in Riau Province, and the method used was qualitative. The unit of analysis in this study is the people who are considered to have knowledge about the implementation of inter-organizational networks in forest and land fire control in Riau Province. The results showed that forest and land fires that occurred in Riau Province were more common in company plantations and the rest occurred in community plantations. Implementation of inter-organizational networks in forest and land fire control in Riau province in the form of standards and objectives, resource policies, inter-organizational communication, and disposition (characteristics of implementing agencies). The recommendation from this research is to control forest and land fires in Riau Province starting from prevention and extinguishing to post-fire recovery, the local government massively socializing land clearing by burning to clear land without burning, as well as providing facilities and infrastructure for prevention, control, and repair after forest and land fires.&#x0D; Keywords: peatland, policy Implementation, inter-organizational network ethnoecology, forest and land fires

Network Effectiveness in Context

Abstract Increasingly, scholars and practitioners are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of interorganizational networks. We use a configuration approach to study network effectiveness. This research is a mixed-method study of 26 education networks in the United States. We measure network effectiveness by comparing 4th-grade literacy, 8th-grade literacy, and high-school graduation rates. We compare these scores with all school districts in the state using interrupted time series or parametric difference-in-differences approaches. Then, drawing from qualitative data from interviews and archives, we investigate the network governance, environmental characteristics, and theories of change associated with greater student achievement. We find three configurations associated with network effectiveness using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. One configuration combines decentralized governance with a project theory of change in the context of resource munificence. A second configuration associated with network effectiveness is to combine learning and systems alignment theories of change with smaller network size and resource munificence. The final configuration combines decentralized governance, a learning theory of change, less resource munificence, and larger network size and does not use a systems alignment theory of change. The results support the configurational approach, which suggests multiple configurations of factors in combination may result in network effectiveness.

Recent trends in interorganizational deal networks in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

While there have been trends in drug discovery from small molecules to new chemical modalities since the large mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of pharmaceutical companies in the late 2000s, trends in interorganizational deal networks have not been well addressed. We investigated the changing trends in interorganizational deals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The results demonstrated that there have been changing trends, including a growing number of spinouts from academia and M&A in the United States and Europe. These findings indicates that the traditional network in which large pharmaceutical companies drove drug discovery output has changed, and interorganizational deals among diverse players have become more active.

Barriers to service transition in an innovation ecosystem: a qualitative study

PurposeThis study arises from the need to understand the servitization or service transition process in non-manufacturing firms and sets out from a taxonomy proposed in the literature (Lütjen et al., 2017). This study aims to identify the barriers to service transition in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) participating in an innovation ecosystem and how these small firms can benefit from this strategy to develop in this scale.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study was carried out based on multiple case studies, data being collected through semi-structured interviews with service business-people belonging to a science and technology park situated in an inland region of Portugal.FindingsFrom content analysis, the results obtained indicated a lack of specialized personnel as the main barrier and as a strategy to overcome this situation these companies turned to business cooperation. This means that good management of this cooperation increases the quality of the services provided, as inter-organizational networks, through participation in ecosystems, can secure a wider set of resources and capacities.Practical implicationsThis study shows that firms try out different service offers simultaneously and that innovation capacity increases constantly during service transition. Secondly, the study emphasizes the importance of innovation ecosystems, entrepreneurship, servitization and cooperation networks in promoting resilient and small ventures. Thus, this study can help owner-managers, SMEs and political decision-makers to make better informed decisions, which can be particularly relevant in scenarios of uncertainty and crisis.Originality/valueThis study draws conclusions in a little explored empirical area in the literature, challenging the widespread understanding that service transition is used only in manufacturing firms. This study provides clearer conceptual understanding of service transition from a network and relational perspective which, despite the perspective's relevance, still lacks research in the context of servitization.

The emergence of complex adaptive response networks in China: A case study of four disasters.

This study aimsto identify the driving forces behind interorganizational networks in China following disasters. Using the theory of complex adaptive systems, we identified the self-organization process of disaster response as the network formation process. We identified interorganizational networks that emerged in response to two natural hazards and two technical disasters by collecting data from multiple sources. The exponential random model analysis is performed to analyzethe effects of structures and organizational attributes on network formation. In structuring networks for disaster response, findings demonstrate thatbonding structures take precedence over bridging structures for organizations. Meanwhile, the sector and jurisdiction-based homophily effects facilitate network formation in disaster response. On the basis of research findings, five propositions describing the network formation process in China's disaster response are proposed. Such a theoretical model is essential for advancing research and practice in complex disaster network management.

Network dynamics and its impact on innovation outcomes: R&D consortia in the Dutch water sector

In this study, we explore the relationship between inter-organizational network dynamics and innovation outcomes. We focus on node turnover and argue that both cluster and broker dynamics can range from low (stable) to high (volatile), resulting in differentiated outcomes. The data comprises 318 consortium members participating in 104 R&D consortia forged in a 23-year period in the Dutch water sector. Our analysis reveals two equifinal combinations (stable brokers – volatile clusters and volatile brokers – stable clusters) that both generate significantly higher innovation outcomes compared to networks with low, moderate, or high dynamics across the entire network.

Applying an ecosystem lens to low-carbon energy transitions: A conceptual framework

Business model innovations aiming at systemic change influence the speed and direction of low-carbon transitions, thus supporting public decarbonization policies. However, their potential is often limited by institutional settings or a lack of alignment with potential partners. Therefore, to exploit the potential for systemic change of business model innovations in socio-technical systems, it is necessary to consider their interactions with their wider environment. In this conceptual study, we explore the mechanisms through which business activities interact with public policy goals under low-carbon energy transitions. We take an ecosystem lens to analyze value creation at the levels of customers, business, inter-organizational networks and the public. Based on an integrative literature review, we build a conceptual meta-model specifying the constitutive elements, dynamics and environmental dimensions describing regional energy ecosystems under transition. The main constitutive element of the ecosystem is the value network, i.e. the interlinked business models of collaborating organizations exchanging money, goods, services, information or intangible benefits. The value network interacts dynamically with a pool of resources (assets, capabilities and intangible resources) that improves the ecosystem's ability to enact systemic change. Orchestration is a crucial process to steer the ecosystem's development towards creating value for customers as well as for the public. Finally, the relevant environmental dimensions include policy, culture, markets, industry structure as well as potential future members or resources. We illustrate our conceptual model with the case of the development of low-carbon district heating to decarbonize space heating in a Swiss city. This illustrative case study shows that the ecosystem perspective combined with public value theory is well suited to describe the dynamics of a low-carbon energy transition and provides valuable insights on the prospects of novel business models.

Innovation and Inter-organizational Network: Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

This article presents a systematic review and bibliometric analysis of research linking the inter-organizational business network and innovation research. It also discusses previous research on the subject and identify gaps for future studies. A review was done using the dimensions database. This was undertaken using specific keywords search in the title, abstract, and keywords of papers. The review revealed that the research in the field is growing fast. In fact, the paper has established that the UK, the US, and Italy respectively, have dominated publications in terms of the most influential countries for research in the field of inter-organizational business networks. The content review of papers showed that the papers were mainly trying to address the phenomena (the antecedents, management of the network, and network performance outcomes). These categories are not mutually exclusive but would help us to organize the fragmented literature on the topic. This article reviews and discusses the empirical literature on inter-organizational innovation networks and shows that the field is highly fragmented. While some areas have gained considerable research attention, others have experienced a relative paucity of research, and thus topics for future research are discussed.