Interregional trade network analysis for road freight transport in Greece

This paper suggests a flexible decision support framework for the strategic planning of a freight transport hub network in Greece. The proposed methodology treats practical aspects related to the optimal number, location and geographical covering of hubs, through the network analysis of interregional trade, based on original survey data for road freight flows during 2004–2012. The results offer insights into the hierarchical structure of the network and related investment priorities, as the hub role of a prefecture is found to be strongly influenced by high population densities and manufacturing specialization, and its location along highway corridors.     

Stochastic optimization for investment in facilities in emergency prevention

A coordinated approach is developed to integrate three preventive measures (i.e. building reinforcement, reinforcement of road networks, and facility location of relief supplies), with the objectives of minimizing budgets and risk-induced penalties. The Conditional Value-at-Risk is employed as a decision-making tool to evaluate diverse decisions of prevention based on the degree of risk aversion. Based on a real-world case of an earthquake, a series of scenarios were designed, and the applicability of the proposed model was studied. The coordinated approach for investing preventive measures is cost-efficient in helping reduce the impact of disaster on society.     

Analysis of the Chinese Airline Network as multi-layer networks

This paper encapsulates the Chinese Airline Network (CAN) into multi-layer infrastructures via the “k-core decomposition” method. The network is divided into three layers: Core layer, containing airports of provincial capital cities, is densely connected and sustains most flight flow; Bridge layer, consisting of airports in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, mainly connects two other layers; and Periphery layer, comprising airports of remote areas, sustains little flight flow. Moreover, it is unveiled that CAN stays the most robust when low-degree nodes or high flight flow links are removed, which is similar to the Worldwide Airline Network (WAN), albeit less redundant.     

On the multi-dimensionality and sampling of air transport networks

Complex network theory is a framework increasingly used in the study of air transport networks, thanks to its ability to describe the structures created by networks of flights, and their influence in dynamical processes such as delay propagation. While many works consider only a fraction of the network, created by major airports or airlines, for example, it is not clear if and how such sampling process bias the observed structures and processes. In this contribution, we tackle this problem by studying how some observed topological metrics depend on the way the network is reconstructed, i.e. on the rules used to sample nodes and connections. Both structural and simple dynamical properties are considered, for eight major air networks and different source datasets. Results indicate that using a subset of airports strongly distorts our perception of the network, even when just small ones are discarded; at the same time, considering a subset of airlines yields a better and more stable representation. This allows us to provide some general guidelines on the way airports and connections should be sampled.     

江苏网络经济发展现状及对策研究

网络经济在国民经济中正扮演着越来越重要的角色,是我国经济发展新的增长点。江苏省是我国网络经济和电子商务应用较为发达的地区之一,研究江苏网络经济的发展对于江苏乃至全国的网络经济发展都具有重要意义。通过调查江苏省网络经济的发展现状,分析存在的问题,提出了相关改进措施和优化建议,以推动江苏省网络经济更加健康、良好的发展。     

Preparing for distant collaboration: Antecedents to potential absorptive capacity in cross-industry innovation

Cross-industry innovation entails distinctive innovation opportunities and challenges according to the knowledge heterogeneity between the collaborating firms. This heterogeneity yields increases in organizational-level cognitive distance. Whereas recent theory suggests cognitive distance is positively related to exploratory innovation, too much distance can hinder efficient knowledge absorption and results in a reduced effect on novelty value. This paper focuses on the research question of how to build potential absorptive capacity for distant collaboration beyond established industry boundaries to gain radical rather than incremental results. To address this question, we mapped a cross-industry network using survey data on 215 bilateral cross-industry collaborations between firms from a variety of industries and captured cognitive proximity (the inverse of distance) in terms of overall knowledge redundancy between firms. This approach introduces a new method to infer organizational-level cognitive distance from network analysis. Subsequently, based on results from the network analysis, we examined coordination antecedents to potential absorptive capacity for cross-industry innovation with partners at moderate and high distance applying case study analysis. Our study revealed three alternative approaches to coordination antecedents that drive a firm?s potential absorptive capacity for distant collaboration. These findings extend research on absorptive capacity to the field of cross-industry innovation.     

What hurts the dominant airlines at hub airports?

This paper estimates a frequency equation to explain the determinants of network airline service levels at their hub airports. Drawing on European data for 2002–2013, we find that network airlines reduce frequencies when the share of low-cost airlines increases both on the route and at the hub airport. On the contrary, frequency choices of network airlines are not affected by competition from low-cost airlines operating in nearby secondary airports. We also find some evidence that mergers in Europe may result in a re-organization of the route structure in favor of the hubs of the larger airline.     

Identifying new dimensions of business incubation: A multi-level analysis of Karolinska Institute's incubation system

Relying on an in-depth case study of the incubator related to the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institute's (KI), this paper identifies new analytical and strategic dimensions of incubation. Departing from the current literature's prevalent focus on incubators as organizations performing a predefined set of activities for incubatees (facility renting, coaching, training and connecting), we perform a multilevel analysis embracing, next to the organizational and the project-specific levels, also the broader institutional and inter-organizational level. Our analysis relies on seven key components of incubation, namely its time, place, sources, resources, control/governance, activities/services and outcomes. Further, we view incubators as strategic actors engaged in value creation on a broader arena than the strict incubation context, even an international arena, where incubators' choices and interactions can be analyzed with the help of concepts from various streams in the business strategy literature. The specific strategic drivers of business incubation that we identify in the KI incubator's case are six: positioning in the value chain, risk taking/time perspective, revenue model, governance/control, internationalization, and cooperation/competition. The paper concludes with managerial implications urging incubators to take more of a strategic perspective rather than focussing only on the established components of their operations.     

Global engineering services: Shedding light on network capabilities

This paper addresses the operations challenges of effectively managing professional services on a global scale. The specific context for the study is professional engineering services and particularly those that are delivered globally – global engineering services (GES). Estimates suggest that the market for GES was around US$930 billion in 2012, rising to US$1.4 trillion by 2020 (ISG, 2013). Yet this influential sector receives scant attention in the operations management literature. The paper draws on six case studies to explore the operations management challenges of delivering GES. In doing so the paper introduces the concept of network capabilities for GES, highlighting the centrality that: (i) network resources – accessing and deploying dispersed resources, (ii) network coordination – coordinating and integrating network activities, and (iii) network learning – collective learning and knowledge management, all play in enabling the successful operational management of GES.