Inter-organizational Research Research Articles

How gender differences in informal networking result in unequal access to interorganizational R&D projects

Women are underrepresented in interorganizational research & development (R&D) projects. This affects the innovativeness of such projects, the representation of female perspectives in the design of innovations and the career opportunities of women. Such projects often emerge from preceding interorganizational R&D projects and are particularly successful when they do so. We argue that instrumental networking in ongoing projects is constitutive for the formation of such follow-up collaborations and, further, that stereotypical gender roles hinder women’s participation in instrumental interactions with their current project partners. Hence, we assume that unequal opportunities to participate in follow-up projects can be attributed to women’s lesser involvement in instrumental networks. Empirically, we test our argument using data on 2746 directed and weighted personal relationships across 24 interorganizational R&D projects. We show that instrumental interactions are crucial for who initiates follow-up projects with which current partner. Furthermore, we can show that the low participation of women in these activities can be better explained by gender roles than by gender homophily. In doing so, we reveal an important cause of women's under-representation in R&D.

CLIPS: Enriching interorganizational R&D project management by a project culture focus

Project managers still face management problems in interorganizational Research and Development (R&D) projects due to their limited authority. Addressing a project culture which is conducive to cooperation and innovation in interorganizational R&D project management demands commitment of individual project members and thus balances this limited authority. However, the relational collaboration level at which project culture manifests itself is not addressed by current project management approaches, or it is addressed only at a late stage. Consequently, project culture develops within a predefined framework of project organization and organized contents and thus is not actively targeted. Therefore, a focus shift towards project culture becomes necessary. This can be done by a project-culture-aware management. The method CLIPS actively supports interorganizational project members in this kind of management. It should be integrable in the common project management approaches, that with its application all collaboration levels are addressed in interorganizational R&D project management. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the integrability of the method CLIPS and show how it can be integrated in common project management approaches. This enriches interorganizational R&D project management by a project culture focus.

Understanding Business Ecosystems Using a Morphology of Value Systems

Overview: Business ecosystems have become a novel type of value system in all economic sectors. Many of the world’s largest and most valuable companies operate with business ecosystem approaches. The lack of a uniform understanding of business ecosystems’ features and characteristics make it difficult for decision makers in companies to develop and implement effective business ecosystem strategies. We created a morphology that describes all value systems and applied it to business ecosystems. We link business ecosystem characteristics to current interorganizational research and also help practitioners operationalize the concept of business ecosystems. Companies can use the managerial implications we provide to leverage ecosystems and co-create value.

Network growth dynamics: The simultaneous interaction between network positions and research performance of collaborative organisations

The extant literature has long focused on the causality between the research performance of organisations and their network positions in an inter-organisational research collaboration network. However, we still do not know much about the simultaneous bidirectional relationship between network positions and research performance, or how this bidirectional relationship varies with the difference in the intrinsic cognitive characteristics of network nodes. This paper attempts to fill these research gaps, which helps to reveal the network growth dynamics of an inter-organisational research collaboration system by incorporating the concept of cognitive proximity into a systemic analytical framework where network positions and research performance are considered to be mutually correlated with each other. Based on the research sample of an inter-organisational research collaboration ego-network composed of research institutes subordinated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), firms, and universities, the simultaneous bidirectional relationship between network positions and research performance of CAS research institutes is examined by using a simultaneous equation approach, and the moderating effect of cognitive proximity between CAS research institutes and firms (or universities) is further tested. Our results confirm that the collaborative organisations’ network positions and their research performance mutually affect each other in a co-evolutionary process, providing continuous development momentum of an inter-organisational research collaboration system. The simultaneous bidirectional relationship is significantly enhanced by the cognitive proximity between collaborative organisations.

Triadic embeddedness, sources of relational rents, and interfirm performance

Interorganizational research has largely ignored how dyadic relationships are embedded in a wider network context. Responding to this research gap, we study how triadic embeddedness – cooperating firms structurally and mutually embedded in a network of triads – affects the sources of relational rents and interfirm performance. Using a unique combination of interfirm network- and survey data, we find that triadic embeddedness affects two sources of relational rents – relationship learning and trust-based governance. Learning and trust-based governance, in turn, increase two indicators of interfirm performance – cost reductions and end-product enhancements. The study contributes to a broader understanding of the relational view by showing that triadic embeddedness has direct positive effects on the sources of relational rents and indirect positive effects on interfirm performance.

Toward temporally complex collaboration in an interorganizational research network

Prior research suggests interorganizational collaboration faces temporal challenges and also opportunities yet is scarce on the role of time enabling—more often deterring—collaboration for collective benefit. Our contribution is highlighting how a large industry–academic research network developed temporally complex collaboration through varying temporal rules and relationships. The three network-developed collaborative repertoires, with their particular temporal rules and relationships, complemented the externally imposed calendar repertoire: (1) sprint repertoire, following a familiar agile method for joint research, (2) narrative time repertoire, enabling sharing research results across various events at the program level, and (3) “right” time repertoire that turned research results into action in emerging business ecosystems. With these collaborative repertoires, both the temporal diversities of home organizations and the asynchronies of the network activities were resolved for collective benefit. We contribute to the intersection of the literatures on interorganizational network collaboration and temporality.

What do you know and how much does it matter? A QCA/NCA study of knowledge and supplier performance

While interorganizational research has emphasized the role of governance mechanisms in managing the performance of suppliers that provide critical input components, scholarship consistently assumes that these governance mechanisms work independent of how much the supplier knows or how much the buyer knows. Contributing to this body of work, we explore two important boundary conditions to the association between governance mechanisms and supplier performance: the buyer’s knowledge of the outsourced component and the supplier’s technical expertise. In doing so, our theory integrates recent insights from the literature on concurrent sourcing, which acknowledges that firms often make and buy the same input. Methodologically, we draw on configurational methods of fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and Necessary Conditional Analysis (NCA), given that conventional regression techniques fall short in analyzing the complex interrelationships predicted by our theory. Our analysis provides interesting and novel insights. Broadly, we find that deploying concurrent sourcing in conjunction with formal and relational governance mechanisms leads to high supplier performance, even when the supplier himself is less technical capable. However, concurrent sourcing is no guarantee for high performance, as a concurrent sourcing firm who deals with a non-expert supplier is doomed to low performance when relational governance mechanisms are absent. Overall, our analysis of firm and supplier knowledge in orchestration with established governance mechanisms underscores the value of configurational approaches to management research.

Two decades of the Journal of Marketing Channels’ research: Providing direction for the future of inter-organizational research

For over 25 years, the Journal of Marketing Channels was a hub for marketing channel research. Today, over 4,000 citations of the JMC’s exist in periodicals and publications from the field of marketing and beyond. In this work, we conduct a citation analysis of the most cited articles published in JMC and how the topics they reflect have changed throughout the years of the journal’s existence. We then thematically review the areas in which the journal has had the greatest influence, drawing both from specific works as well as the overall trends in research appearing in JMC since its inception. We then determine how some of the overall trends can guide researchers as they begin the transition into inter-organizational research. Five major themes have been identified including franchising, multichannel marketing, supply chain management, online environment, and international channels. Major obstacles in marketing channels have been addressed in this analysis. We conclude with a look toward shaping our understanding of various inter-organizational research in marketing channels and directions for future research in the inter-organizational behavior of these channels.

Leader identification in a research collaborative network

There is considerable empirical evidence on the advantages of interorganizational research collaborative networks across societies and research institutes such as research and development (R&D) centers and universities. Identifying a leader in this contexts is important both theoretically for doing leadership studies, and practically for effective governmental funding allocation and private investments. Inconsistent definitions and non-homogeneous attributes with unidimensional measurement approaches such as subjective measuring of power or considering a central company as the leader made the previous efforts inefficient for identifying leaders in an interorganizational setting. This research aims to identify a leading organization among a set of homogenous R&D centers in a research collaborative network context through implementing the main leader’s attributes in different dimensions. The article presents a multidimensional common weight model based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach in a parallel system with several operational dimensions each of which consumes a set of inputs (budget, lecturers, and students) to produce a set of outputs (scientific meetings and conferences, national and international papers). Centrality and visibility are two main leaders’ attributes combined with efficiency influence the contributions and outcomes of each collaborative network partner. It is demonstrated how the proposed model performs its high-efficiency score in the most influential R&D center named the “leader” among 47 R&D centers in medical universities in Iran. The comparative analysis of managerial results showed that reputation has a greater impact on leader identification than centrality. The results based on mathematical calculations showed a robust discriminating power for efficiency measurement of the proposed model.

A scoping review of social network analyses in interorganizational collaboration studies for child mental health

Twenty percent of children in the U.S. experience mental illness; yet, only 30% receive treatment. These disparities are exacerbated by barriers to access and resources. Interorganizational collaboration of community-based organizations (CBOs) can help minimize these barriers, but challenges to accessing treatment remain persistent. Social network analysis (SNA) offers a systems-level approach to address issues related to existing service fragmentation and service silos in CBOs. However, SNA is not fully realized in interorganizational research with CBO systems involved in child MH services. A scoping review was conducted on a subset of empirical studies (n = 28) utilizing SNA to assess interorganizational collaboration among CBOs involved in child MH. Guided by the PRISMA, the study aimed to (a) describe the state of the existing literature and (b) identify outcomes affiliated with using SNA in these contexts. Whole network studies were synthesized based on primary interorganizational network outcomes, highlighting the advantages of using SNA to map interactions in collaboration, drive decisions for resource distribution and funding allocation, and explain the underlying processes in access to resources and power. There is a need to better support CBOs and a need to identify strategies that can inform ongoing efforts implementing child mental health practices. SNA is a promising approach that provides practical insights into how CBOs can leverage networks to support collaborative efforts to improve child MH access and outcomes.

Corporate acceleration process: a systems psychodynamics perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the emotional dynamics of the corporate acceleration process, using the systems psychodynamics perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies inductive multiple case study of embedded 10 cases of corporate acceleration, covering both incumbent and startup perspectives, occurring in the context of a corporate accelerator.FindingsWe find that (1) the process of corporate acceleration involves three phases, each of them is dominated by a different emotional state (hope, anxiety and acceptance), triggering different behavioral responses; (2) as a means to deal with negative emotions, entrepreneurs and corporate acceleration program's team members develop different mechanisms of dealing with contradictories in subsequent acceleration phases (defense and copying mechanisms), which are reflected in their behaviors. Coping mechanisms with goal reformulation (i.e. refocus from the officially declared “open innovation” goals toward mainly symbolic ones) is an effective strategy to manage negative emotions in third phase of the acceleration.Research limitations/implicationsOur sample is limited to two relatively similar accelerators established by telecom companies, and therefore, our theoretical and practical conclusions cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsWe supplement the studies of corporate accelerators that imply how to design them better and improve decision-making rules with recommendation that in order to improve their effectiveness in terms of learning and innovations, their managers need not only to learn how to manage structural and procedural differences but also how to overcome social defenses triggered by corporate–startups cooperation.Originality/valueBy documenting a multidimensional impact of acceleration process, and especially shedding light on psychodynamic aspects behind such liaisons, this paper contributes to richer understanding of corporate–startup relationships, typically examined through a rationalistic lens of strategy literature. The study contributes to interorganizational research and open innovation literature, by showing that corporate acceleration process is marked by phases based on the type of emotions intertwined with the nature and dynamism of its life cycle. It indicates how these emotions are managed depending on their type.

Integrating Research on Interorganizational Networks and Ecosystems

Organizations are simultaneously embedded in inter-organizational networks and ecosystems, yet research on networks and ecosystems developed in isolation. The aim of this partial integration is to bring new energy into maturing research on organizational networks and greater structure to the burgeoning research on ecosystems. In this article, we underlie similarities and differences between networks and ecosystems; bring the ecosystems’ focus on modularity and complementarity at the forefront of inter-organizational research while enriching ecosystems scholarship with systematic applications of network analytic tools to map the patterns of component interdependencies.

Tenure trumps title: Assessing the logic of informant selection in inter-organizational network research

AbstractResearchers collecting survey data on inter-organizational networks typically choose a single informant with the most senior job title in each organization from whom to obtain a report of the organization’s inter-organizational ties. This approach to informant selection is based on the logic that greater seniority confers greater knowledge of inter-organizational relationships. The present study investigated the wisdom of this logic, using data in which multiple informants’ reports of inter-organizational network ties were collected for each organization. We calculated the degree of agreement in network reports between the informant with the most senior job title and a second informant in the organization. To determine if alternative criteria to seniority serve as better approaches to informant selection, we assessed other potential predictors of agreement in informants’ reports. Results indicated that (1) informants’ perceptions of the network differed significantly according to job title, suggesting little agreement between senior informants and their more junior colleagues; and (2) greater informant tenure in the network and industry were associated with greater agreement among informants. These results call a common data collection practice into question and suggest that tenure may trump title as a criterion for informant selection in inter-organizational network research.

Internationalization of Japanese Business Groups – Literature Review

AbstractThe internationalization of Japanese business groups (JBG) have been subject to intense scrutiny since JBG shot to world stage in the 1980’s. Studies on the internationalization of JBG have been fragmented in scope and have mainly focused on specific behaviors e.g. mode of market entry, knowledge creation, knowledge flows between headquarters and overseas subsidiaries, overseas market development and sales strategies, to name a few. Little attention has been paid, however, to explaining the reasons behind these behaviors. This literature review aims to contribute to filling this gap by recognizing the internationalization’s embeddedness in the country’s institutional environment, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of the drivers behind these behaviors as well as the intrinsic obstacles that may hinder the outcomes of these internationalization efforts. This study also hopes to answer the theoretical question called for by (Zaheer, Gözübüyük and Milanov, 2010) in their excellent work “It’s the connections: The network perspective in interorganizational research: “How do organizations balance the benefits of trust and embeddedness with the costs of lock-in and inflexibility with the same set of partners?” The holistic perspective of this review has wide ranging managerial implications in terms of effective intra-organizational dialogue, stakeholder management, organizational knowledge management, among others.

Do research institutes benefit from their network positions in research collaboration networks with industries or/and universities?

There is scarce empirical evidence on the impact of inter-organizational collaboration across research institutes, industries or/and universities on the scientific performance of research institutes. This paper fills this gap by examining how the research institutes’ bilateral/trilateral collaborations with industries or/and universities influence their research outputs from a network perspective. We construct a unique dataset based on the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ inter-organizational research collaboration networks with industries or/and universities, which enables us to build three homogeneous, heterogeneous and hybrid inter-organizational research networks as our multi-scenario sample. Our study confirms that the scientific performance of research institutes is significantly affected by their network positions in the research collaboration networks with industries or/and universities. Specifically, in the homogeneous “University-Research Institute” (UR) collaboration network, the degree centrality and the structural holes of the research institutes affect their scientific performance respectively in an inverted U-shaped manner and a positive linear one. By contrast, in both the heterogeneous “Industry-Research Institute” (IR) and the hybrid “Industry-University-Research Institute” (IUR) collaboration networks, the degree centrality and the structural holes of research institutes affect their scientific performance respectively in a positive linear manner and an inverted U-shaped one. Our findings indicate that the impact pattern of the network positions of innovative organizations on their performance likely varies with the network structure and composition in different inter-organizational contexts.

The structure and change of the research collaboration network in Korea (2000–2011): network analysis of joint patents

This study is to examine the structure, characteristics, and change of a research collaboration network using co-assignee information of joint patents in Korea. The study was conducted in three stages: data collection, network construction, and network analysis. For network analysis, network topological analysis, node centrality analysis, and block modeling were performed in sequence. The analysis results revealed that the network has small-world properties. The results also showed that while government-sponsored research institutes (GRIs) played a role as a hub and bridge in the network in the early 2000s, universities gradually took their place to play a key role as a hub and bridge in the network. In addition, the block modeling analysis indicated that while, in the early 2000s, GRI-centered network density was shown to be high, the network density became concentrated around universities after 2004, and this tendency intensified after 2008. Bearing in mind a lack of empirical studies on inter-organizational research collaboration networks using patent data, this study made an academic contribution by specifically analyzing the structure and change of research collaboration networks by targeting Korea's major innovative actors. From the policy perspective, it provides important implications for figuring out the effects of university---industry---GRI (UIG) collaboration policies implemented so far, and can be of assistance for making evidence-based policies to build up a more effective UIG collaboration network or establish a new national science and technology innovation system.

A dyadic perspective on retailer–supplier relationships through the lens of social capital

Social capital theory has received increasing attention as a lens through which to examine supply chain relationships and the value creation process. Despite the growing application of social capital and its three dimensions, namely cognitive, structural and relational capital, to inter-organizational research, few studies in reality have taken a dyadic perspective. Using a paired sample of retailer–supplier relationships from Korean fast-moving consumer goods sector, we explore the configuration of social capital dimensions, and the impact on strategic and operational performance. The results suggest three clusters of relationships, which differ significantly on at least two of the dimensions of social capital. Furthermore, these clusters show considerable differences with respect to both operational and strategic performance, particularly at the lower levels of social capital. We also examine the impact of a disparity between the retailer and supplier with respect to different dimensions of social capital, henceforth called dissonance. Of the four clusters that emerge, interestingly, only dissonance on the cognitive dimension is related to lower operational and strategic relationship performance. In investigating the implications of dissonance for the retailer and supplier individually, our results suggest that performance differs based on the magnitude and direction of the dissonance. Our results show that consequences of having social capital or not are not necessarily the same for the retailer and the supplier.

Collaborative innovation with suppliers in a turbulent market

This study investigates benefit sharing practices in supplier networks as a new incentive scheme that manufacturers can use to gain suppliers’ active participation in collaborative innovation. Based on observations from the case study, Samsung’s benefit sharing practices are analysed and their featured characteristics and the requisite conditions extracted. The findings illustrate the operating mechanisms of benefit sharing practices. The findings also demonstrate the requisite infrastructure that manufacturers should build to ensure the success of benefit sharing. This study, the first examination of the mechanisms of benefit sharing in the context of a rapidly changing industry, not only enriches inter-organisational learning research but also provides new insights into collaborative-innovation for companies and government authorities.

Relationship Quality in Tourism: A Case of Local Tourism Cluster in Lithuania

Relationship quality is usually studied only in terms of a few tourism subsectors, and the quality of buyer-seller relationship is revealed in the context. The dimensions of interorganizational relationships are analyzed only in a fragmentary manner; only a few separate dimensions, as opposed to their entirety, are evaluated. There is a lack of studies that would reveal the relationship quality of tourism cluster participants and its impact on tourism cluster performance. Thus the purpose of the paper is to identify the quality dimensions of interorganizational relationships in a tourism cluster and to verify their expression using a local example of Kedainiai region tourism cluster. The paper contributes to the domain of interorganizational relationships quality research through the analysis of in-depth interview with participants of Kedainiai region tourism cluster.

The Precursor Role of Cooperation, Coordination, and Relationship Assets in a Relationship Model

ABSTRACTPurpose: The primary purpose of this study is to test the importance of activity-oriented precursors in a relationship model. This study supports the theoretical view that firms create trust and knowledge through activities and these activities make a commitment decision less risky (Johanson & Vahlne, 2009). The secondary purpose of this study is to collect and examine data from interorganizational relationships in both Sweden and the United States. By including data from two countries, results will be more generalizable. Results can also lead to several managerial implications.Methodology/approach: This study focuses on a sample of distributors from both the United States and Sweden. One hundred sixty-one usable surveys were returned from the U.S. survey, for a response rate of 27%. One hundred twenty-four usable surveys were returned from the Swedish survey, for a response rate of 21%. The PLS-SEM method was used to examine the model’s constructs.Findings: Similar to past research results show that trust and commitment have a direct positive influence on satisfaction, and that trust also has a direct positive influence on commitment. However, this study uniquely supports four out of six newly tested hypotheses. Both cooperation and relationship assets have a direct positive influence on commitment. Cooperation has a direct positive influence on trust and commitment. Relationship assets have a direct negative influence on trust but a direct positive influence on commitment. Surprisingly, two hypotheses were not supported: Coordination did not have a significant relationship with either trust or commitment.Research implications: Managers who want to achieve a satisfactory relationship based on trust and commitment need to prioritize their attention toward cooperation. They should also be aware that participation in joint activities (i.e., coordination and relationship investments) does not guarantee higher levels of trust or commitment in the relationship. It is the quality of the joint activities and the how dependent firms are on each other and not just participation in joint activities that are likely to create higher levels of trust or commitment. The quality of coordination and manageable levels of dependence may counteract the higher costs associated with joint activities compared to the costs associated with cooperation. Managers may be wise to not make major commitments to other firms unless high quality joint activities have created knowledge and trust between firms.Originality/value/contribution: The model adds the joint activity-oriented antecedents associated with collaboration which is essential to a successful relationship. Because of the high failure rate of collaboration may be due to cooperation and coordination failures and because these two constructs are underspecified in interorganizational research, this study is unique in examining activity-oriented antecedents in a trust/commitment model of relationship satisfaction in a cross-cultural context (i.e., with U.S. and Swedish samples).