Strategic Network Research Articles

Utilizing Social Networks to Improve Success Metrics in Social E-Commerce

Social e-commerce highlights the current trend of companies strategically using a multi-platform approach for their marketing plans and selling needs. This approach often consists of a company utilizing one or more social networks, along with a social e-commerce, to create an online community around their products. However, there is limited holistic research on how companies use social networks to maximize their branding and marketing efforts. This study theorizes the strategic social network actions of a social e-commerce platform. We collected data from a random sample of 1,458 social e-commerce users and their chosen social networks, including Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter). This unique data set and analysis assessed the impact of social network marketing from firms across a wide variety of industries and platforms. The study provides empirical evidence on follower growth and sales and identifies impactful marketing strategies in a multi-platform web environment.

Building back better: Modeling decentralized recovery in sociotechnical systems using strategic network dynamics

The ability of sociotechnical systems to recover from disruptions through decentralized, bottom-up processes is a crucial element of their overall resilience, but it is also among the most overlooked in resilience research. This paper proposes a computational framework leveraging dynamic multi-agent networks to conceptualize, model, and quantify multi-agent, decentralized recovery process building upon strategic network formation methods. This innovative approach addresses limitations in conventional strategic network formation models by accounting for the fluidity of structural shifts induced by the strategic behaviors of individual agents, and by acknowledging the inherent heterogeneity within agent populations. The central objective of this study is to highlight the critical role of bottom-up recovery and present a systematic, adaptable framework for modeling these processes in diverse real-world scenarios. We achieve this through four key elements: modeling post-disruption responses, exploring their interdependencies, accommodating multiple equilibria, and generating metrics for scenario comparison and forecasting. Our dynamic strategic network formation model offers valuable insights into crucial trade-offs in decentralized recovery processes and facilitates the integration of both bottom-up and top-down resilience strategies. Furthermore, it could serve as a predictive tool informing initial network architectural decisions by estimating likely post-disruption equilibrium states based on the initial network structure. Ultimately, this study provides a robust platform for analyzing network efficiency and resilience trade-offs, setting the stage for more informed decision-making in complex sociotechnical systems.

Optimization of news dissemination push mode by intelligent edge computing technology for deep learning

The Internet era is an era of information explosion. By 2022, the global Internet users have reached more than 4 billion, and the social media users have exceeded 3 billion. People face a lot of news content every day, and it is almost impossible to get interesting information by browsing all the news content. Under this background, personalized news recommendation technology has been widely used, but it still needs to be further optimized and improved. In order to better push the news content of interest to different readers, users' satisfaction with major news websites should be further improved. This study proposes a new recommendation algorithm based on deep learning and reinforcement learning. Firstly, the RL algorithm is introduced based on deep learning. Deep learning is excellent in processing large-scale data and complex pattern recognition, but it often faces the challenge of low sample efficiency when it comes to complex decision-making and sequential tasks. While reinforcement learning (RL) emphasizes learning optimization strategies through continuous trial and error through interactive learning with the environment. Compared with deep learning, RL is more suitable for scenes that need long-term decision-making and trial-and-error learning. By feeding back the reward signal of the action, the system can better adapt to the unknown environment and complex tasks, which makes up for the relative shortcomings of deep learning in these aspects. A scenario is applied to an action to solve the sequential decision problem in the news dissemination process. In order to enable the news recommendation system to consider the dynamic changes in users' interest in news content, the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient algorithm is applied to the news recommendation scenario. Opposing learning complements and combines Deep Q-network with the strategic network. On the basis of fully summarizing and thinking, this paper puts forward the mode of intelligent news dissemination and push. The push process of news communication information based on edge computing technology is proposed. Finally, based on Area Under Curve a Q-Leaning Area Under Curve for RL models is proposed. This indicator can measure the strengths and weaknesses of RL models efficiently and facilitates comparing models and evaluating offline experiments. The results show that the DDPG algorithm improves the click-through rate by 2.586% compared with the conventional recommendation algorithm. It shows that the algorithm designed in this paper has more obvious advantages in accurate recommendation by users. This paper effectively improves the efficiency of news dissemination by optimizing the push mode of intelligent news dissemination. In addition, the paper also deeply studies the innovative application of intelligent edge technology in news communication, which brings new ideas and practices to promote the development of news communication methods. Optimizing the push mode of intelligent news dissemination not only improves the user experience, but also provides strong support for the application of intelligent edge technology in this field, which has important practical application prospects.

Local political representation as a pathway to power: A natural experiment in India

AbstractWhat drives the career advancement of female politicians in opaque selection environments where party activists hold sway? I argue that women's higher presence in local politics not only improves party elite responsiveness to greater talent supply (top‐down mechanism) but also expands women's capacity to organize grassroots activist networks to influence party‐nomination decisions (bottom‐up mechanism). Using the natural experiment of gender quotas in Delhi, which cause as‐if‐random variation in the number of local reserved seats within state constituencies, I estimate a novel effect of gender quotas. In state constituencies with women's higher presence in local politics, local female politicians are more likely to be promoted, and senior female politicians are more likely to get renominated. Qualitative evidence shows how women leverage grassroots networks and forge informal connections across party hierarchies. The findings emphasize the pivotal role of women's strategic political networks and grassroots organizing in shaping their political careers.

How strategic alliances shape problemistic search intensity: Evidence from responses to social and historical underperformance

Taking a social networks approach to the performance feedback model from the Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTOF), we examine how a firm’s position within a strategic alliance network—and the structure surrounding that position—creates distinct pressures that differentially impact decision makers’ problemistic search intensity to social and historical underperformance. We test our predictions on a sample of 32,780 observations of the alliance networks of 4,726 firms and their R&D intensity from 2000–2015 and find results robust to numerous alternative specifications. Results indicate that highly centralized firms search more intensely in response to social underperformance and less intensely in response to historical underperformance. However, structural holes in the network reduce response intensity to social underperformance but increase response intensity to historical underperformance. We posit this is due to how altering one’s network cognitively shapes the perceived threat of status loss. Our study is both managerially and theoretically important, since firms increasingly rely on strategic alliances in the face of major disruptions including globalization, economic crises, and pandemics, and since strategic alliances are instrumental in shaping how firms set and respond to aspirational benchmarks.

Features of the highway road network that generate or retain tyre wear particles.

The environmental accumulation of microplastics poses a formidable global challenge, with tyre wear particles (TWPs) emerging as major and potentially harmful contributors to this particulate pollution. A critical pathway for TWPs to aquatic environments is via road drainage. While drainage assets are employed worldwide, their effectiveness in retaining microplastics of highly variable densities (TWP ~ 1-2.5g cm3) remains unknown. This study examines their ability to impede the transfer of TWPs from the UK Strategic Road Network (SRN) to aquatic ecosystems. Samples were collected from the influent, effluent and sediments of three retention ponds and three wetlands. The rate of TWP generation is known to vary in response to vehicle speed and direction. To ascertain the significance of this variability, we further compared the mass of TWPs in drainage from curved and straight sections of the SRN across eight drainage outfalls. Pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) was used to quantify tyre wear using benzothiazole as a molecular marker for TWPs (with an internal standard benzothiazole-D4). Tyre wear was present in drainage from the SRN at concentrations of 2.86 ± 6mg/L and was found within every sample analysed. Drainage from curved sections of the SRN contained on average a 40% greater TWP mass than straight sections but this was not significant. The presence of wetlands and retention ponds generally led to a reduction in TWP mass (74.9% ± 8.2). This effect was significant for retention ponds but not for wetlands; most probably due to variability among sites and sampling occasions. Similar drainage assets are used on a global scale; hence our results are of broad relevance to the management of TWP pollution.

Strategic Network Management for Modern Campuses: A Comprehensive Framework

Campus handling of networks has become critical in the continuously changing world of higher education. This paper offers a thorough method for managing and safeguarding networks in a campus setting with multiple departments. Our approach focuses on four departments: the administrative, civil, computer science and engineering (CSE), and electrical and electronics engineering (EEE) departments. It combines multiple networking technologies to improve security and maximize speed. Network division using virtual LANs (VLANs), efficient IP address allocation using Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM), simplified network configuration using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), dynamic routing using Routing Information Protocol version 2 (RIPv2), granular access control using Access Control Lists (ACLs), enhanced security using Network Address Translation (NAT), secure remote access using Secure Shell version 2 (SSHv2), and improved network resilience through Link Aggregation are the main components of our system.

Strategic Manufacturing Network Performance Assessment Tool

Abstract The long-term configuration of the production network includes the allocation of products and processes. Numerous, sometimes conflicting objectives are pursued, such as market access, economies of scale and risk mitigation. However, in order to systematically configure the network, it is necessary to strategically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the sites. This article presents a fuzzy inference-based approach for the holistic evaluation of the production networks. The tool was applied in two practical case studies. The results and implications are also presented.

An Appraisal of the Challenges and Limitations of Developing African Countries in Negotiations with Multinational Entities and Developed Nations: Proposed Interventions

The paper takes a look at the limitations and challenges that negotiators of developing African countries encounter with multinational entities and developed nations. It identifies that negotiators of multinational and advanced economies appear to be very competitive and confrontational as against negotiators of developing African negotiators, who appear cooperative and collaborative, a soft-styled approach to negotiations, these disparities arise from power, network and resource imbalance. Some of the challenges encountered by African negotiators include aggressive demands, unilateralism and setting self-serving agendas, negative impact of demographic variables as well as intercultural challenges. Others include inadequate cultural intelligence, negotiating process fatigue, political interest and inadequate competent and experienced human resource and financial limitations among others. The Doha declaration points to the fact that weak nations such as African countries and partners, even though may appear as weaker actors can attain a successful negotiated outcome, when in strategic partnership and networks with identified mutual interest and benefits. The paper recommends the need for the establishment of a networked governance strategy, a more formidable one to the TRIPs network, which delivered a BATNA. Within the state and regional levels, African countries must consciously endeavor to provide their domestic institutions such as Foreign Ministries, Trade and Industry Ministries, national negotiation agencies, with the requisite capacities and expertise needed to be very effective and competitive. Good political well of governments is central in avoiding conflict of interest and corruption at the expense of the State for a BATNA. This would enable them to be better prepared with the requisite confidence, knowledge, and skills to negotiate for a better outcome with multinational corporations and nations.

Winning the race to customers with micro-fulfillment centers: an approach for network planning in quick commerce

In 2020, the first quick commerce businesses in grocery retail emerged in the European market. Customers can order online and receive their groceries within 15 min in the best case. The ability to provide short lead times is, therefore, essential. However, the ambitious service promises of quick deliveries further complicate order fulfillment, and many retailers are struggling to achieve profitability. Quick commerce retailers need to establish an efficient network of micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs) in customer proximity, i.e., urban areas, to master these challenges. We address this strategic network problem and formulate it as a location routing problem. This enables us to define the number, location, type, and size of MFCs based on setup, replenishment, order processing, and transportation costs. We solve the problem using a cluster-first-route-second heuristic based on agglomerative clustering to approximate transportation costs. Our numerical experiments show that our heuristic solves the problem effectively and provides efficient decision support for quick commerce retailing. We generate managerial insights by analyzing key aspects of a quick commerce business, such as lead times and problem-specific cost factors. We show, for example, that allowing slightly higher delivery flexibility (e.g., offering extended lead times) enables bundling effects and results in cost savings of 50% or more of fulfillment costs. Furthermore, using multiple small MFCs is more efficient than larger, automated MFCs from a lead time and cost perspective.

РИСКИ В СТРАТЕГИЧЕСКОМ НЕТВОРКИНГЕ ДЛЯ РУКОВОДИТЕЛЕЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ИЛИ ПРОЕКТА

The article is devoted to the consideration of the risks associated with the use of strategic networking in an organization or project. The paper analyzes the main causes of risks, describes methods and tools that can help manage risks in networking. In conclusion, recommendations for managers of organizations and projects on risk management in strategic networking are presented. The work is relevant and useful for specialists involved in project management and organizations.

Global Cybersecurity Resilience: Advanced Strategies and Emerging Technologies for Protecting Critical Digital Infrastructure

Ensuring the protection of those strategic systems and networks from constantly emerging threats in the contemporary context of globalization is crucial to maintaining states’ security and economies. This paper focuses on how organizational cybersecurity readiness can be improved and ways of putting up good defense mechanisms. These are Threat Intelligence Systems including AI & ML Systems for detecting advanced threats as well as Endpoint Solutions including Endpoint Security and Networks that are fortified through Firewalls, VPN & Zero Trust Architecture. Pivotal to these activities are information protection measures such as encryption and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), to safeguard the confidentiality of the data. IAM solutions that incorporate MFA and RBAC also help reduce threats of unauthorized access by controlling user account privileges. That is why adherence to the national and international cybersecurity standards with the help of governmental directions and legal laws such as NIST or GDPR makes organizational security positions more stable. Currently, new technology solutions like Artificial Intelligence, Quantum computing, and Blockchain provide better threat analytical systems and enhanced encryption methods which are necessary for safeguarding main digital assets in today’s environment.

Personalising haemodialysis treatment with incremental dialysis for incident patients with end-stage kidney disease: an implementation study protocol

IntroductionIncremental dialysis is a personalised dialysis prescription based on residual kidney function that allows for the initial use of shorter duration, less frequent and less intense dialysis. It has been...

Embracing Supply Chain Complexity for Enhanced Viability: The Influence of Strategic Information Flow and Network Capability

Embracing Supply Chain Complexity for Enhanced Viability: The Influence of Strategic Information Flow and Network Capability

Social Networks and Graduate Entrepreneurial Success: A Conceptual Exploration

This paper develops the Comprehensive Graduate Entrepreneur Network (CGEN) model, a conceptual framework designed to guide graduate entrepreneurs in overcoming the unique challenges they face, such as social isolation, financial constraints, and limited access to resources. Drawing on Social Network Theory (SNT), the Resource-Based View (RBV), and Institutional Theory, the CGEN model offers a structured approach comprising four components: Network Assessment, Network Building, Network Leverage, and Network Evaluation. These components collectively facilitate the transition from isolation to integration within the entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling graduate entrepreneurs to systematically develop, optimize, and utilize their social networks. The model addresses the need for both strong and weak ties, highlighting how diverse connections can be leveraged to access critical resources such as funding, mentorship, and business partnerships. This paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the CGEN model, suggesting its potential to inform entrepreneurship education, policy design, and support programs. While the model provides a robust theoretical foundation, future empirical research is needed to validate its applicability across various contexts. The CGEN framework represents a significant contribution to the literature on graduate entrepreneurship, offering practical guidance for enhancing the success of graduatepreneurs through strategic network development.

Organizational learning, strategic guanxi networking, co-creation marketing strategy and B2B export performance: evidence from emerging market export venture

PurposeDrawing on the organizational learning and relational governance literature, this study aims to advance a theoretical model to explain the export performance of emerging market export ventures.Design/methodology/approachThis study selects quantitative methodology because the main objective of this study is to explore the role of export ventures’ performance (past) on guanxi networking, co-creation marketing strategies and present performance.FindingsThe empirical evidence suggests that guanxi networking and co-creation strategy can mediate the relationship between export venture performance in the preceding year and export venture performance in the following year. In addition, this study also provides some guidance for emerging market export ventures on how to build a strong guanxi networking and create opportunities for collaboration when the effect of export performance in the preceding year on current performance is absent.Originality/valueThe authors propose the inclusion of strategic guanxi networking-related factors (e.g. top executives’ ties with business-to-business customers, such as distributors in the host market) in the prior performance-current performance paradigm. The outcomes of this study also contribute to extant organizational learning theory research by integrating preceding performance research with the co-creation theory. The study offers new insights into organizational learning and relational governance from the emerging market perspective.

Developing a new procurement model, using behavioural economics, to enable continuous improvement of productivity and better value in large UK infrastructure projects.

Global construction has been blighted by productivity inertia caused by behavioural bias for decades. While other industry sector productivity has grown more than fifteen-fold since 1960, construction has stagnated with no more than a seven to ten percent overall growth. McKinsey Global Institute’s report Reinventing Construction: A Route to Higher Productivity, reported infrastructure construction amongst a small group of outperforming market sub-sectors at 15 to 20 percent. This paper, which charts the development of a unique procurement model designed for high productivity, builds on that performance using behavioural insights to counter damaging and habitual biases. The new model changes trading relationships using a nudged ‘opt-out’ contract structure creating a different responsibility dynamic between client and supplier. A recognisable but different infrastructure construction procurement model to improve productivity using recognised behavioural economics and construction economics. Highways England was set up to run England’s strategic road network in 2015. The procurement model that resulted, Regional Delivery Partnerships can be refined for any infrastructure sector construction environment and sets up a key step forward in contracting based on integrated project delivery. Using a combination of counter bias strategies built from loss aversion and nudge theory this new construction procurement model uses ‘opt-out’ from lean construction to drive higher productivity. By setting up an integrator, to create an integrated project team, Regional Delivery Partnerships uses loss aversion as the motivational key to better innovation. It empowers the integrator to counter uniqueness bias and find and eradicate waste (process time and money) to enhance productivity. Reward is aligned to both optimised efficient design and high productivity working. As 100% of budget underspend can be kept rewarding the integrator, the potential of not achieving this triggers loss aversion and motivates change using the principles of escalation of commitment in favour of the client. Performance data is also used to motivate using reduced acquisition costs from secondary competition, long held as an inefficient market overhead.Using recognised pragmatic academic techniques, and constructionism; choice architectures were remodelled into a new outcome and value focused procurement model. Using applied research, the team used processes and techniques to develop, build, test, and deploy the model in open market competition. It can be used by any infrastructure sector construction client to replicate a sector specific version of Regional Delivery Partnerships that changes trading choice architecture towards higher productivity.

The power of embeddedness: how nodal power affects the value appropriation potential of firms in economic networks?

PurposeThis paper explains why some firms manage to capture disproportionate value from their network of relationships, leading to superior performance. The paper examines how a firm's dependencies affect its value appropriation potential (VAP) in economic networks.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows the axiomatic method and the embeddedness perspective of firms to develop an index called nodal power, which captures the power that accrues to a firm in exchange-based economic networks. Thereafter, using the formal method and simulation, it shows nodal power reflects a firm's VAP in economic networks.FindingsThe study analysis and findings prove that a firm's dyadic level exchange relations and the embedded network structure determine its VAP by affecting the nodal power. A firm with lesser nodal power is likely to appropriate less value from its relations even if it equally contributes to the value creation. This finding explains how the structural and relational characteristics of a firm's network enable disproportionate value appropriation.Practical implicationsNodal power furthers the scope of analyzing firms' economic relationships and changing power equations in dynamic networks. It can help firms build optimal strategic networks and manage the portfolio of relationships by predicting the impact of changing relations on firms' VAP.Originality/valueThe paper's original contribution is to explain, through formal analysis, why and how the structure and nature of relations of firms affect their VAP. The paper also formalizes the power-dependence principle through a dependency-based index called nodal power and uses it to show how interfirm dependencies are key to value appropriation.

B2B service sales on a digital multi-sided platform: Transformation from value chains to value networks

Business-to-business (B2B) service suppliers mobilize a platform approach to enhance their competitive advantage, service selling, and long-term relationships. These emerging platforms in established value chains have been insufficiently studied on a strategic level, especially regarding value orchestration. The aim of this article is to examine how digital multi-sided platforms (DMSPs) change platform owners' value chains toward joint value creation from a sales approach, including sales strategy, sales structure, and customer relationships. Our longitudinal multiple case study was conducted on four platform owners adopting a DMSP as part of their service selling. The findings show how the transition from value chain toward value orchestration in a network shifts the platform owner's focus to develop a common sales strategy with strategic network actors. The restructuring of sales with platform resources allows platform owners to manage larger networks with fewer resources and utilize enhanced interaction to create commitment in network relationships. We put forward three propositions and a framework to illustrate the interdependence of the value chain changes under examination. Additionally, this study offers various managerial implications for companies when utilizing platforms and provides avenues for further research.

Designing electricity distribution networks: The impact of demand coincidence

With the global effort to reduce carbon emissions, clean technologies such as electric vehicles and heat pumps are increasingly introduced into electricity distribution networks. These technologies considerably increase electricity flows and can lead to more coincident electricity demand. In this paper, we analyze how such increases in demand coincidence impact future distribution network investments. For this purpose, we develop a novel model for designing electricity distribution networks, called the distribution network reconfiguration problem with line-specific demand coincidence (DNRP-LSDC). Our analysis is two-fold: (1) We apply our model to a large sample of real-world networks from a Swiss distribution network operator. We find that a high demand coincidence due to, for example, a large-scale uptake of electric vehicles, requires a substantial amount of new network line construction and increases average network cost by 84% in comparison to the status quo. (2) We use a set of synthetic networks to isolate the effect of specific network characteristics. Here, we show that high coincidence has a more detrimental effect on large networks and on networks with low geographic consumer densities, as present in, e.g., rural areas. We also show that expansion measures are robust to variations in the cost parameters. Our results demonstrate the necessity of designing policies and operational protocols that reduce demand coincidence. Moreover, our findings show that operators of distribution networks must consider the demand coincidence of new electricity uses and adapt investment budgets accordingly. Here, our solution algorithms for the DNRP-LSDC problem can support operators of distribution networks in strategic and operational network design tasks.