Transferring collective knowledge: teaching and learning in the Chinese auto industry

U.S. for their assistance and insights. We are grateful for thoughtful suggests from Kath

How far do network effects spill over? Evidence from an empirical study of performance differentials in interorganizational networks

Organizations join interorganizational networks in the hope of gaining exposure to learning opportunities, and accessing valuable extramural resources and knowledge. In this paper we argue that participation in interorganizational networks also reduces performance differentials among organizational nodes. We examine three alternative mechanisms capable of sustaining this prediction. The first (strength of ties) operates at a strictly local level defined in terms of dyadic relations linking organizations. The second mechanism (social proximity) operates at an intermediate – or meso level of interdependence defined in terms of membership in overlapping cliques into which interorganizational networks are typically organized. The third mechanism (structural equivalence) is global and pertains to jointly occupied network positions. The objective of this paper is to examine at which of these levels network effects operate to reduce performance differentials among members of interorganizational networks. Our empirical analysis of performance differentials between hospitals in a regional community supports the following conclusions: (i) performance spillover effects are highly differentiated and vary significantly across network levels; (ii) organizations occupying similar positions within the network are more similar in terms of performance; (iii) joint membership in multiple sub-groups (or cliques) reduces performance differentials up to a limit; after this limit is reached, the performance of organizational partners begins to diverge; (iv) the strength of direct collaboration between organizational partners does not necessarily reduce interorganizational performance differentials. The results of the study are new because available research on interorganizational networks says little about the range of network effects, i.e., about how far the performance spillover effects that operate through networks propagate throughout organizational fields and communities. These results are also consequential because they suggest that network effects on performance differentials are sensitive to the specification of network boundaries

Essential Micro-foundations for Contemporary Business Operations: Top Management Tangible Competencies, Relationship-based Business Networks and Environmental Sustainability

Although various studies have emphasized linkages between firm competencies, networks and sustainability at organizational level, the links between top management tangible competencies (e.g., contemporary relevant quantitative-focused education such as big data analytics and data-driven applications linked with the internet of things, relevant experience and analytical business applications), relationship-based business networks (RBNs) and environmental sustainability have not been well established at micro-level, and there is a literature gap in terms of investigating these relationships. This study examines these links based on the unique data collected from 175 top management representatives (chief executive officers and managing directors) working in food import and export firms headquartered in the UK and New Zealand. Our results from structural equation modelling indicate that top management tangible competencies (TMTCs) are the key determinants for building RBNs, mediating the correlation between TMTCs and environmental sustainability. Directly, the competencies also play a vital role towards environmental practices. The findings further depict that relationship-oriented firms perform better compared to those which focus less on such networks. Consequently, our findings provide a deeper understanding of the micro-foundations of environmental sustainability based on TMTCs rooted in the resource-based view and RBNs entrenched in the social network theory. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings, and we provide suggestions for future research

Networks of corporate power revisited

This paper examines developments through the quarter century since the publication of Stokman, Ziegler and Scott's (1985) iconic ten-nation study of the structure of interlocking directorships. The surprising decline of research in the area following the publication of Networks of Corporate Power is in part testimony to the rigour of the comparative methods used, raising the standard of evidence required for subsequent director interlock studies. But it also reflected a critical weakness in director interlock research to that point, the limited ability to answer what Mark Mizruchi has called the “So what?” question. While replicated studies found clear structures in director interlocks, varying from country to country, and there was some speculative fit with the distinctive political economies of these countries, there was little evidence of any effect of these structures on firm performance or activity. The more recent resurgence in director interlock research is in some ways rooted in a second generation of the original drivers; the ready availability of now large masses of data on firm governance and firm level performance and further advances in social network analytical techniques. Where Stokman and his colleagues manually compiled lists of directors scoured from company reports, these data are now routinely collected and compiled in accessible databases by government agencies and business information services in many countries. And there has been a gradual accumulation of advances in addressing the “so what” question

Caregivers\u27 Social Capital and Satisfaction with their Children\u27s Service Providers

The authors examine children\u27s access to and caregiver\u27s satisfaction with organizations that provide leisure time activities for children on Saturdays. The authors argue that access and satisfaction are a function of familie\u27s financial, cultural and social capital. Using data on 1,036 households in the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2003-04, the authors found that families\u27 financial and cultural capital affected whether or not children participate din activities organized by organizations, but family ties to the organization directly (e.g., either worked there, volunteered, donated) resulted in caregivers being more satisfied with the services. The authors also found that the benefits of network closure (caregivers knowing the parents of other children on site) were greater the riskier the activities of the child (e.g., sports or cheerleading). Contrary to the authors expectations, having family or friends in the area did not affect caregiver\u27s satisfaction with the child\u27s provider

Corporate-Nonprofit Linkages in Minneapolis-St. Paul: Findings from a Longitudinal Study, 1980-1988.

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation, the Program on Nonprofit Organizations at Yale University, and the University of Minnesota. The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs provided funding for the reproduction and distribution of the r

Choosing how to choose : Institutional pressures affecting the adoption of personnel selection procedures

The gap between science and practice in personnel selection is an ongoing concern of human resource management. This paper takes Oliver´s framework of organizations´ strategic responses to institutional pressures as a basis for outlining the diverse economic and social demands that facilitate or inhibit the application of scientifically recommended selection procedures. Faced with a complex network of multiple requirements, practitioners make more diverse choices in response to any of these pressures than has previously been acknowledged in the scientific literature. Implications for the science-practitioner gap are discussed

A Study of Change in a Regional Corporate Network

1 online resource (PDF, 22 pages

Institutional Strategies in Emerging Markets

We review and integrate a wide range of literature that has examined the strategies by which organizations navigate institutionally diverse settings and capture rents outside of the marketplace. We synthesize this body of research under the umbrella term institutional strategies, which we define as the comprehensive set of plans and actions directed at strategically leveraging and shaping the socio-political and cultural institutions within an organization’s external environment. Our review of institutional strategies is focused on emerging market contexts, settings that are characterized by weak capital market and regulatory infrastructures and fast-paced turbulent change. Under such challenging conditions, strategies aimed at shaping the institutional environment may be especially critical to an organization’s performance and long-term survival. Our review reveals that organizations engage in three specific and identifiable sets of institutional strategies, which we term: relational, infrastructure-building, and socio-cultural bridging. We conclude by highlighting fruitful avenues for cross-disciplinary dialogue in the hope of promoting future research on emerging markets and defining the next frontier of institutional theory in organizational analysis

From global to local: reshoring for sustainability

The UK clothing industry has seen the extensive offshoring of manufacturing, which has created fragmented global supply chains; these present a range of supply issues and challenges, including many related to sustainability. Reshoring is a reversion of a previous offshoring decision, thereby ‘bringing manufacturing back home’ (Gray et al. J Supply Chain Management 49(2):27–33, 2013), and can be motivated by increased costs and supply management problems. While not a new phenomenon, the reshoring of activities is growing in practice and there is an imperative for academic research (Fratocchi et al. J Purch Supply Manag 20:54–59, 2014). Through an in-depth longitudinal case study, this paper explores how sustainability can be addressed through reshoring; the studied UK-based clothing SME has strong principles and is explicitly committed to bringing its supply chain ‘home’. There is a recognised need for more OM research using a social lens (Burgess and Singh Oper Manag Res 5:57–68, 2012), so Social Network Theory (SNT) is employed to examine the reshoring decision-making process. SNT applies a relational, qualitative approach to understand the interactions between network actors, and focuses on the types and strengths of relationships and how they provide context for decisions (Galaskiewicz J Supply Chain Manag 47(1):4–8, 2011). The findings demonstrate the importance of socially complex, long-term relationships in managing a sustainable supply network. These relationships contribute to the resources that a firm can harness in its supply practices, and SNT extends this with its emphasis on the strength of ties with suppliers, and the trust, reciprocity and shared meanings it engenders. For the studied firm these advantages are derived through its localised supply chain, and collaborative supplier relationships, and its progressive reshoring of activities is integral to achieving its sustainability principles