Service Intermediaries Research Articles

“Nosotras de robot no tenemos nada”: arreglos intersubjetivos tecnosociales en el trabajo doméstico mediado digitalmente

This article explores the intersubjective relationships between clients and workers on two digital domestic work platforms in Bogotá, Colombia. Drawing on feminist social studies of science and technology, it investigates the control, auditing, and subordination mechanisms affecting workers, with clients playing a key role in setting performance conditions. While much of the literature on digital labor focuses on technological intermediation and algorithmic management—used to track, monitor, and rate domestic workers—this article looks at the relationships with clients and how these shape the work process and technologies involved. Based on over thirty in-depth interviews with workers and clients, the study examines three areas: (i) clients’ expectations of mechanical efficiency; (ii) the use of rating systems; and (iii) domestic work as emotional labor. The article concludes by reflecting on the dual subordination experienced by workers due to digital service intermediaries and emphasizes the need for fair technologies that consider workers’ experiences and perspectives.

Multi-period distribution networks with purchase commitment contracts

Retailers which deliver products directly to their customer locations often rely on Logistics Service Intermediaries (LSI) for order management, warehousing, transportation and distribution services. Usually, the LSI acts as a shipper and subcontracts the transportation to carriers for long-haul and last-mile delivery services. All agents interact and are connected through cross-docking facilities. As the demand from customers may vary significantly over time, the shipper’s requirements for transportation evolve accordingly at the tactical level. This creates opportunities for the shipper to take advantage of medium-term contracts with the carriers at prices lower than those offered by the spot market. The study focuses on the tactical design, through dynamic contracts, of a suitable network of cross-docking facilities and related transportation capacities (belonging to different carriers) to reduce the shipper’s operational costs. In this article, we propose an MILP formulation for the multi-period planning problem with minimum purchase commitment contracts faced by the shipper. We propose exact and heuristic decomposition methods for the the model, respectively, based on combinatorial Benders cuts and on relax-and-repair approaches. The performance of these algorithms is experimentally compared to that of commercial solvers (branch-and-cut and classical Benders). The numerical results show that our methods perform comparatively well for the solution of large size instances and brings economic benefits to the shipper.

Achieving entrepreneurial growth despite resource and capability constraints: the role of service intermediaries

Entrepreneurial growth—firm growth via the introduction of new market offerings or expansion into new markets—is an important topic for entrepreneurship scholars and practitioners alike. Any firm that wants to exploit opportunities for entrepreneurial growth needs resources and capabilities that it can use to develop new market offerings or to enter new markets. However, many firms face resource and capability constraints, and research has shown that strategic partnerships can provide external pathways for firms to exploit growth opportunities despite their resource and capability constraints. All the extant external growth pathways have in common that they require firms to have some resources and capabilities, which are valuable for partners and can be jointly appropriated with them. An alternative pathway for firms to leverage external resources and capabilities—especially knowledge-based ones—that has received little attention in the literature on growth is short-term contracting of professional service firms such as accounting firms, marketing agencies, or R&D consultancies. Hence, we investigate the role of service intermediaries—professional service firms that facilitate the exchange of services among other firms—as external managers who support their clients to access and leverage a broad range of required resources and capabilities from third parties. We conducted a nested multi-case study of two service intermediaries that enabled two small, wineries from North Macedonia to successfully seize entrepreneurial growth opportunities in markets abroad despite their resource and capability deficits. We identify seven support mechanisms—need articulating, social embedding, linking, governing, clarifying, renegotiating, and mediating—through which the service intermediaries orchestrated complementary external resources and capabilities on behalf of the wineries, thereby enabling the two firms to successfully develop two new product lines for and enter two new geographic markets each. We also identify process differences depending on the stage of the opportunity evaluation process, target market characteristics, and external stakeholder involvement for which we postulate three propositions about the influence of mechanisms on the growth opportunity development. Our study offers novel insights and makes a contribution to research on entrepreneurial growth and resource orchestration.

When do close ties to service intermediaries lead to entrepreneurial improvisation?

AbstractResearch SummaryPrior research suggests that the founders of new ventures leverage their existing networks, such as close ties to service intermediaries, as a source of entrepreneurial improvisation. We draw attention to the trade‐off between the benefits (trust and access to information and resources) and the costs (dependence and a constrained growth opportunity), and identify two contingency conditions for using close ties to improvise: a shorter time horizon for failure and less turbulent market. Analysis based on an original survey of founding teams in China in the period 2015–2016 provides empirical support for our argument. Our study contributes to research on entrepreneurial improvisation by exposing the tension involved in working with close contacts and enriches the literature on the role of service intermediaries.Managerial SummaryWe consider the trade‐off involved in relying on close ties to service intermediaries and identify conditions under which founders of new ventures are more likely to rely on such intermediaries to improvise. Although close ties can foster trust and facilitate access to a wide range of information and resources, they may also foster a dependency that could constrain future growth. A survey of founding teams in China from 2015 to 2016 reveals that founding teams leveraged such ties when given a shorter time horizon within which to succeed or fail, and when the market was less turbulent. Our findings can help entrepreneurs decide when to resort to close‐tied intermediaries as an aid to improvisation, that is, when the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs.

Search for exploratory and exploitative service innovation in manufacturing firms: The role of ties with service intermediaries

Although the literature highlights the role of ties with service intermediaries in facilitating firms’ search for innovation, the relationship between these ties and exploratory versus exploitative service innovation remains unclear. In line with the innovation search perspective, we combine search scope and search depth to analyze and examine the mechanism of how ties with service intermediaries influence exploratory and exploitative service innovation differently. We also propose that technological capability and strategic flexibility moderate the impact of the relationships on exploratory versus exploitative service innovation. Using data from a sample of manufacturing firms in China, we find that ties with service intermediaries have a positive effect on exploitative service innovation but an inverted U-shaped relationship with exploratory service innovation. We further find that technological capability strengthens the positive effects of ties on both exploratory and exploitative service innovation, whereas strategic flexibility strengthens the positive effects of ties on exploratory service innovation. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the curvilinear effects of the effect of service intermediaries on exploratory and exploitative service innovation. This study also extends the literature by proposing and empirically confirming that technological capability and strategic flexibility help manufacturing firms take advantage of relationships with service intermediaries.

Factors constraining the role of intermediaries in provisions of storage services for urban fresh fruits and vegetables supply chain in Dar es Salaam

Despite the critical role played by intermediaries in storage services of urban fresh fruits and vegetables, storage services of urban fresh fruits and vegetables in Dar es Salaam are still poorly provided by intermediaries. In this paper, we examine the factors constraining intermediaries in providing storage services in the sector. A qualitative case study was adopted and data were collected using documentary review, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and non-participant observations based on the purposive sample size of 73 respondents. Thematic data analysis strategy was adopted and data were analyzed using MAXQDA 20 software. Findings showed that the intermediaries are generally constrained by technological-related factors, the inadequacy of funds to invest in modern storage, limited knowledge and awareness of modern storage, excessive temperature and atmospheric conditions. We recommend that, in order to improve storage services installation of modern storage facilities in markets and collection centers, providing loans to intermediaries to buy modern packaging and packing facilities, improving market infrastructures, and training intermediaries on the importance of proper storage and how to use contemporary methodology could solve the problem at hand.

Intelligent trademark recognition and similarity analysis using a two-stage transfer learning approach

The ubiquitous and fast-growing e-marketplaces are causing serious concerns of unauthorized trademark usages, especially their pictorial images. There is a significant need for e-commerce service intermediaries and trading sites to actively check whether product images posted online are not infringing upon others’ intellectual property rights (IPRs). To ensure registered trademark (TM) or copyrighted logo-image (logo) protection, this research develops an intelligent system that can detect, locate, and crop (cut) logos posted online and check whether they are substantially or deceptively similar to registered TM logos. This research integrates two deep learning models to achieve the research goal. The first is the logo detection and localization model for cropping trademark like images from complex online merchandise photos, which could have images of many product views and even worn and displayed on a human model. Only the cropped logo image is needed for comparison to a database of registered trademarks. The second model performs TM similarity analysis using the cropped logos compared to the published TM images. Yolo v4 is adopted as the general logo locator for intelligent logo image cropping. The triplet convolutional neural network model is used to fine-tuned for intelligent trademark similarity analysis. The models are trained with an image dataset, combining image samples from LogoDet-3k and images found through web search. The system performance is quantitatively tested using the FlickrLogos-32 dataset and consumer product images extracted from an e-commerce platform. The test results of the system achieve high precision (0.91) for trademark class matching.

The role of communities in innovative water management: Sustainability governance in the emerging country

South Africa’s municipalities have been called upon to provide potable clean water and to empower local communities to participate in water supply management in view of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. However, despite such efforts, access to piped water is dwindling and disparities in the distribution of water are growing (Mkize, 2021). This paper aimed to explore the existing policy and institutional frameworks that enhance or inhibit communities’ roles as water services intermediaries in the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces of South Africa. This article adopted the qualitative research methodology in presenting the findings and the analysis of data from communities and government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) officials’ narratives on the factors that enhance or inhibit communities’ participation in water management. The findings highlight that, despite South Africa’s elaborate legal frameworks for water governance, South Africa has not managed to achieve water equity or to engage meaningfully with beneficiary communities as part of water management. Water inequalities are still predominantly characteristic of formerly excluded areas in the villages, townships, and informal settlements, and have grown in tandem with overall social and economic inequalities that are making South Africa the most unequal country in the world.

Regulating the global illicit economy: Singapore's role in United States' spatial financial surveillance

Illicit transactions are increasingly integrated to legitimate financial flows between international financial centers (IFCs) and offshore jurisdictions (OJs). The United States (US) is actively engaged in regulating illicit transactions through anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regulations backed by economic sanctions statutes. In this paper, I show how US sanctions regulatory capacity has developed by scaling out compliance and enforcement functions to state regulators and advanced business services (ABS) intermediaries in Singapore. Scaling out draws on a relational scale framework that locates the multiscalar surveillance of IFCs and OJs' entangled financial networks as an instrument for governing the illicit global economy. At the same time, Singapore's enrolment in US financial surveillance benefits the financial center by strengthening the city-state's regulatory functions. Using cases of high-profile illicit financial activities as well as interviews with regulatory agents in Singapore and to a lesser extent the US, the paper shows how multiscalar compliance and enforcement practices support US′ extra-jurisdictional discipline of rogue actors and jurisdictions while augmenting Singapore's stature as a clean and trusted financial center.

Realising the right of access to water for people living on farms: The impact of the KwaZulu-Natal High Court decision in Mshengu v uMsunduzi Local Municipality

SUMMARY Access to water is a constitutionally-protected right in South Africa and an energetic flow of laws, policies and programmes have been initiated to address historical inequalities in the supply of water since the dawn of democracy. Yet despite this, millions of people living in South Africa still have inadequate access to water. Access to water is a particular challenge for people living on farms. By providing an analysis of the case of Mshengu & Others v uMsunduzi Local Municipality & Others, decided by the High Court of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal Division, Pietermaritzburg, this article seeks to make two key contributions. First, it highlights the challenges experienced by farm dwellers in realising their right to water and locates these challenges within a legal framework which places obligations on both municipalities and private land owners to provide access to water on farms. In particular, the mechanism of water services intermediaries envisaged in the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 is explored as a way to delineate and facilitate the role of private land owners in realising the right to water for farm dwellers. Second, drawing on debates around how the value of public interest litigation can be understood, the article interrogates the value of the litigation in the Mshengu case. Key words: right to water; water services intermediaries; farm workers; labour tenants; public interest litigation

Dependency relationships that arise when creating joint investment institutions

Relevance of the problem. Economic (financial) dependence of legal entities today is manifested either in the control of their activities by another person so that they take into account its interests and will [1], or in the form of participation in the statutory fund and/or management of the legal entity. However, the lack of comprehensive and systematic research on the problems of dependence of economic entities does not allow to properly assess the compliance of those methods that are regulated by law and implemented in practice, turning an independent legal entity into a dependent. In addition, there are other types of dependencies that need to be studied, in particular, the dependence that arises when creating mutual investment institutions. Target of research. To analyze the current legislation on those methods (techniques) of legal regulation that are used in the creation of mutual investment institutions – corporate investment and mutual investment funds, creating a special relationship of interdependence between these institutions and asset management companies, in order to assess their compliance (sufficiency). Analysis of recent researches and publications. In the domestic scientific literature, the problem of dependence of legal entities has been studied by such scientists as V. I. Borisova [1], E. M. Dyadyuk [2], K. A. Karchevsky [3], Ya. V. Klimenko [4], from foreign – O. G. Sergeev [5], V. V. Tikhonov [6] and other scientists. At the same time, as already mentioned, a comprehensive, systematic study of the problems of dependence of economic entities of various types and forms, in particular, holdings, subsidiaries, as well as the application of these institutions in practice, has not been conducted in domestic science. There are no studies and relationships of dependence in the creation of collective investment institutions. In view of this, the study of problems of essential understanding of the relationship of dependence that arise when creating such intermediaries in the financial services market as mutual investment institutions. Article’s main body. The author investigates the essence of dependence relations arising in the creation of joint investment institutions – corporate investment funds and mutual investment funds in comparison with the dependence relations of business entities. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The concept of «dependence» in domestic law is not generalizing, because to characterize economic (financial) dependence, along with it, other concepts are used, in particular, «affiliate», «related person», «associates» and so on. In addition, the methods (techniques) of legal regulation used in the creation of mutual investment institutions – corporate investment and mutual funds, create a special relationship of interdependence between the CIF, which is a legal entity, and AMC, as well as between the mutual fund, who is not a legal entity is recognized as a quasi-subject that has incomplete (partial) legal personality, acts in economic turnover separately from other entities using corporate mechanisms of capital formation from the issuance of securities, and has a property separation from the AMC, which performs management functions about him.

Open Data Impact Narratives – Stories of Impact of Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

The GODAN Action project examined the current state of the art of impact evaluation in the field of open data, developed an impact evaluation framework accounting for the specifics of open data use in developing countries, and performed a mix of desktop research and empirical work on case studies to test and underpin its research. This document describes the outcomes of these case studies, examining the potential of open data through the analysis of impact narratives in three thematic topics: weather data, land data and nutrition data. Three use cases per thematic topic have been selected that best illustrated the contexts, impact mechanisms, main actors and barriers towards the achievement of impact. Each thematic topic describes their use cases following a different structure adapted to the specifics of the domain. All cases, however, show the pathways to impact within the different topics and contexts of study, and specific Theories of Change have been developed for each of them. For the weather data case studies, the focus was on the important role of information and service intermediaries as key value chain partner to achieve impact. These case studies are: NOAA Open weather data (United States), a portal that provides weather data information and forecasts including yield predictions; the CommonSense project, which provides Ethiopian farmers with weather forecasts and farm management advice (e.g. based on earth observations and geographic data), to help them make more informed decisions on farming activities; and the GEOBIS project, which provides farmers in Bangladesh with weather related information and advice on farm management (usage of seeds, sowing, irrigation, fertilizers, among others). Land data impact narratives are described according to the different data aggregator levels: local, regional and global. On the global level and working towards a more inclusive data ecosystem, it analyses the work between Land Portal (a free online platform working towards a more accessible land governance information landscape) and Land Conflict Watch (a research-based data journalism project in India). At a regional level and related to the ‘enabling’ factor of data ecosystems, the impact narrative focuses on the Open Development Mekong, an open knowledge platform that advocates for transparency and promotes debate over basic data. Data mapping is described at a grassroots level through the example of NRMC, an advisory firm in India that attempts to bridge information gaps, create evidence-based advocacy and build platforms for connection among land stakeholders. Open nutrition data impact pathways have been assessed by examining the work of an open data intermediary, the Global Nutrition Report (GNR) and its relevance for national and regional policy actors. The GNR is a flagship publication which weaves together (open) data from a variety of sources to create a snapshot of the state of nutrition worldwide and capture progress towards the SDGs. The examination of GNR’s work highlights some additional opportunities and challenges of placing open data at the heart of sense-making and action. The cases of two national/regional initiatives, the Tanzanian Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) illustrate how such initiatives use data of global aggregators in the work they undertake.

Face and facework in ethnic Chinese shopping-intensive package tours: Dynamics and outcomes

Face is self-reflection through another's gaze, facilitated by face strategies (“facework”) to regulate social dignity. Despite the phenomenal growth of Chinese tourism, the culturally central concepts of face and facework have been investigated mainly as explanations and not as subjects of their own. This study utilises social exchange theory to understand these concepts in a group tour setting, investigating their role in interactions between Chinese diasporic tourists and service intermediaries. Under an interpretive paradigm emphasizing participant observation, findings suggest diverse facework strategies adopted in between- and within-group interactions. The study also identified influencing factors including actor types and background, visibility and persistency of pressure as well as reciprocal compromises.

Exploring the effects of inter-firm linkages on SMEs' open innovation from an ecosystem perspective: An empirical study of Chinese manufacturing SMEs

In this paper, we study the effects of inter-firm linkages on the open innovation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from an innovation ecosystem perspective. Based on resource dependence theory and the bipartite structure of business ecosystems, we divide a SME's external linkages with its partners in an innovation ecosystem into two types (i.e. the Linkages of a SME with its Prominent Organizations (LPO) and the Linkages of the SME with its Service Intermediaries (LSI)). We then examine the relationships between LPO (and LSI) and the SME's innovation performance and analyze the influences of the SME's absorptive capacity on the two relationships. Research results support a positive relationship between LPO and SMEs' innovation performance, and a positive relationship between LSI and SMEs' innovation performance and a positive relationship between LSI and LPO. In addition, research results show that when measured by R&D intensity, SMEs' absorptive capacity weakens the positive effects of LPO (and LSI) on SMEs' innovation performance, whereas when measured by IT adoption, SMEs' absorptive capacity strengthens the two positive relationships. Relevant theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.

Innovation in service industry: the role of consultants

Much of the existing literature on innovation intermediaries is focused on manufacturing, and limited scientific knowledge has been developed about the role of intermediaries in services. This paper aims to expand and test an existing framework on the roles and functions of intermediaries in services, focusing specifically on consultancies. Furthermore, it is investigated to what extent services and manufacturing are perceived as different clients, and what represents the added-value of consultancies. Using a case study approach, consultancies´ activities are analysed and compared within services and manufacturing contexts. Findings indicate that while consultancies do not consider manufacturing companies different from service companies, during the collaboration process several differences do exist in terms of their role in these two types of companies, mainly due to different degrees of development of the corresponding innovation strategies and to different perspectives regarding the use of technology.

Built to Last? The Changing Role of Ocean Transportation Intermediaries: Disintermediation and Reintermediation

Introduction Ongoing changes in the maritime container shipping industry and the introduction of new technologies are dramatically changing the role of the ocean transportation intermediary (OTI’s). Full service intermediaries can secure space with ocean carriers, offer customer transloading, consolidation, trucking, freight forwarding, customs brokerage and a range of other services that are crucial to the movement of goods. In high volume markets such as the Transpacific trade lane, the role of intermediary has grown as the liner shipping firms utilize mergers, alliances, vessel sharing agreements and mergers in an effort to remain financially viable. Approximately 42% of Transpacific moves are handled by NVOCCs at the time of this writing (Mongelluzzo, 2016). Delayed vessel calls, poorly aligned chassis supply and changing carrier alliances have provided an opening to OTI’s to sell themselves as supply chain experts who help their shipper customers navigate the complexities of international shipping by providing more value added services than the liner shipping operators (Landon, 2015). As the need for skilled intermediaries has grown, new online platforms from advanced technology firms have the potential for disintermediation- ‘cutting out the middle man’ from transactions for a variety of core ocean freight processes like procurement, forwarding, and supply chain visibility (Steele, 2009). This has long been predicted since the advent of the Internet but has only now reached the critical mass of advanced technology programming and large scale equity investment that will lead to a similar software revolution in logistics as has transformed other aspects of the economy. The advent of new freight technologies will most likely lead to the demise of many OTI’s who are not scaled to be able to utilize the software but also possibly create the formation of new skilled intermediaries (i.e. reintermediation) that create markets and enhance value to customers through innovations to produce customized lines of supply in an increasingly complex global distribution network. For example, a data aggregator firm such as Haven http://haveninc.com/ reintermediates freight logistics as a ‘fare aggregator’ similar to services set up for the passenger industry such as Kayak (https://www.kayak.com/). The purpose of this study is to look at how the changes outlined above are impacting ocean freight intermediaries in the high volume Transpacific market through a study of OTI’s; in particular the operations in the Chicago, Illinois transportation hub of the United States. A number of intermediaries were created in the Chicago area over the last 30 years to take advantage of changes in U.S. regulation of ocean transportation as they related to less than container load (LCL) shipments. While intermediaries are commonplace in Europe and port cities, the growth of intermodal movements, particularly to and from Asia into U.S. inland hubs such as Chicago resulted in the creation of many intermediaries to service the trade. Over the last decade there has been a winnowing out of these firms. Some have left the industry, some have merged or been acquired by larger firms and some have remained in business largely intact. We will look at overall statistics on firms in the United States area from data provided by the Federal Maritime Commission. Evidence suggests that there is a constant flow of new entrants into the marketplace as well as firms that have achieved some longevity. In this paper we demonstrate that in the US, OTI firms locate in clusters, near to air and ocean ports, and identify the clusters via analytics. Why is this so, if advanced IT and technology, which are mostly location independent, are driving the disintermediation and reintermediation of the business? We suggest that while technology may be important there is another factor in terms of expertise that intermediaries provide that is not so well captured by technology today. What is necessary for OTI firms to survive in the new era of shipping may be more than technology, despite how new technologies will change their role in the maritime industry. Section 2 provides some background on freight forwarding and the OTIs. Section 3 discusses two types, Ocean Freight Forwarders (OFF) and Non-Vessel Owning Common Carriers (NVOCC) and major players and introduces their technology positions. Section 4 covers the economic geography of the OTIs registered with the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and uses analytic techniques to identify geographical clusters, which seem to be in ocean and airport areas. Section 5 remarks on the Chicago area as an example port area cluster, and Section 6 draws some conclusions regarding the persistence of these clusters in port areas despite technology.

Financial crime compliance in securities custody and settlement: ISSA’s principles and their implementation

Until recently, the regulatory burden laid on the securities services industry was relatively light. Post financial crisis, a myriad of regulatory initiatives were taken impacting the securities services intermediaries. In August 2015, ISSA issued 17 Financial Crime Compliance Principles providing global guidance on the establishment and maintenance of cross-border securities custody relationships. ISSA is about to publish additional documents supporting the implementation of the principles with a view to cross-market adoption by the end of 2019.

The effects of ties with service intermediaries on service and product innovations in Chinese manufacturing firms: the mediations of innovation search

Drawn on the resource-based view, this study examines the relationships of ties with service intermediaries to service innovation and product innovation and the mediations of innovation search on these relationships among Chinese manufacturing firms. It finds that ties with service intermediaries have positive relationships with both service innovation and product innovation, and technology search and market search mediate these relationships. Moreover, technology search has a stronger impact on product innovation than on service innovation, but the effects of ties with service intermediaries and market search on service innovation are not different from those on product innovation. The findings enrich our knowledge on the antecedents of service innovation and provide some insight into the debate on whether the antecedents of product innovation can be generalised to service innovation. Moreover, they draw a more comprehensive picture on how a firm's external ties affect innovations.

Optima: a domain-specific model for prioritization and conflicts management in requirements engineering for services intermediaries

New business models are set up, thanks to Web technologies. In this work, we focus on services intermediary companies. They generate value through the (automatic) selection of third-party services and the (automatic) delivery of the combinations of these services to consumers. Such companies face the problem of deciding which services to select and deliver in order to maximize their profit. The two main paper objectives are (i) to design the generic business model of services intermediaries and (ii) to propose an optimization model. The latter enables to choose the consumer requirements that will be satisfied in order to maximize profit. This model ranks implementable solutions based on various financial aspects. They are related to cost and revenue information that is associated with the requirements. It can support the decision-making process that aims at selecting a profit-maximizing set of requirements for services intermediaries' system-to-be. Indeed, the proposed model solves the conflicts between requirements and prioritizes the optional requirements. We argue for the relevance of the optimization model via an example and simulations.

Knowledge networks and technological capabilities of SMEs: the role of technology strategies and its implications for knowledge service intermediaries

By conducting an empirical survey of 177 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from China, this study explores the role of SMEs’ technology strategies in the relationship between knowledge networks and technological capabilities and its implications for knowledge service intermediaries. The results indicate that (1) the scale, openness and duality of knowledge networks increase technological capabilities regardless of the role of technology strategies. However, a dense knowledge network increases technological capabilities only when an SME uses an exploitative technology strategy, and a thin knowledge network increases technological capabilities only when an SME uses an explorative technology strategy. (2) The effects of knowledge networks on two different technological capabilities – search and application – are different due to technology strategies. An SME's explorative technology strategy focuses on strengthening its technological search capability, and its exploitative technology strategy helps it to acquire a balanced development of the two technological capabilities. (3) The implications for knowledge service intermediaries are discussed. Knowledge service intermediaries should help SMEs to leverage knowledge networks depending on their specific technology strategies to acquire specific technological capabilities.