Business networks and retail internationalization: A case analysis in the fashion industry

The paper presents different theoretical perspectives on the issue of business networks and their role in the process of internationalization. With regard to methodology, a specific case study is conducted of a vertically integrated firm in the fashion supply chain, which has implemented branding and retailing strategies in international markets. The case analysis, which is the result of a longitudinal study conducted over several years, aims at an in depth analysis of the extent to which business relationships represent a learning context involving opportunities/constraints in the internationalization process. The paper outlines the relationship between the specific business model, the international patterns followed, and business relationships. Three research questions are posed and discussed. Some final remarks on the relationships between business networks and international retail expansion conclude the work.     

Risk averse retail pricing with robust demand forecasting

Good demand estimates are the key to effective pricing decision-making. However, they are subject to a high degree of uncertainty due to various factors that are unpredictable or difficult to model, thus making pricing decisions risky. This research provides a simple proposal for a robust optimization methodology that incorporates both demand uncertainty and the decision maker's degree of risk aversion. Uncertainty is explicitly considered for two coefficients of a linear demand function, price expressions are derived, and a criterion is proposed for defining the degree of risk aversion. The resulting model is also applied to an exponential demand case to better reflect a more realistic retail setting.     

On the interaction between forecasting and stock control: The case of non-stationary demand

The effect of using estimated (forecast) demand parameters on the performance of an inventory control system is an intriguing and important subject. Recent research has been undertaken on this phenomenon assuming stationary demand data. In this paper we extend the research to non-stationary demands, by means of simulation. The case of a periodic order-up-to-level inventory system is considered and the experimental structure allows us to evaluate in a progressive manner the accumulated effect of using the optimal forecasting method, optimal forecast parameters and correct variance expression procedures. The results allow insights to be gained into operational issues and demonstrate the scope for improving stock control systems.     

Modelling and forecasting national introduction times for successive generations of mobile telephony

An accurate prediction of the timing of a country's introduction of a new generation of mobile telephony benefits numerous agents including suppliers of network and consumer equipment, regulators, and network planners. We consider the estimation and prediction of the time interval between the international introduction of a generation of mobile telephony and its introduction into a specific country when a decision maker judges the introduction of a newer technology a worthwhile investment. Using literature-based socio-economic and geographical variables, we examine how well variation in international introduction times of four generations of mobile telephony in 172 countries can be explained and forecast. We model and forecast introduction times at two levels of granularity: we use Cox's proportional hazards model for the introduction time; we partition countries into introduction time-based segments and model segment membership using multinomial logistic regression. Our modelling of each generation considers three subsets of explanatory variables: All variables, socio-economic Covariates only, Regional dummies only. Over successive generations, the Covariates only models reveal the changing relevance of each socio-economic covariate. Model-based forecasting of the introduction time of the next generation is performed under three hypotheses making different uses of the information available at the time the relevant generation is launched internationally. However, changing socio-economic environments coupled with changing models impair forecasting accuracy, the lower accuracy of modelled introduction times is concentrated in 20% of countries. We speculate about the nature of the unobserved factors affecting these countries' decision processes.     

Managing innovation networks: Exploratory evidence from ICT, biotechnology and nanotechnology networks

This study examines the management of innovation networks which has enjoyed increased recognition in the marketing literature due to its growing prominence and relevance. By testing a causal model relating network factors to outcomes, the study contributes to theory development on managing innovation at the net level of analysis. Consequently, it contributes to the respective marketing literatures on new product development, open innovation, industrial marketing and its emerging network management sub-stream. It also offers a methodological contribution as respondents include key players from businesses, government agencies, research organizations and universities rather than from only one focal organization as studies in extant literature have predominantly done. Findings are based on 219 responses from Australian high technology networks, namely, information and communications technology and biotechnology/nanotechnology. The study offers valuable implications for marketing managers involved in new product development and innovation concerning strategies for managing their inter-organizational innovation initiatives effectively.     

Competition in business networks

Most of those who write about marketing or strategy appear to view competition as the overarching logic of business. Commentators have usually associated competition with improved economic efficiency and customer well-being: they have regarded it as “a good thing”, at least in the abstract or when it only affects others. In contrast to the widespread interest of other researchers and the preoccupations of managers with competition, researchers within the IMP tradition have devoted hardly any attention to the issue in over thirty years of research and the term occurs only infrequently in the IMP literature.     

Empirical forecasting of slow-onset disasters for improved emergency response: An application to Kenya’s arid north

Mitigating the negative welfare consequences of crises such as droughts, floods, and disease outbreaks, is a major challenge in many areas of the world, especially in highly vulnerable areas insufficiently equipped to prevent food and livelihood security crisis in the face of adverse shocks. Given the finite resources allocated for emergency response, and the expected increase in incidences of humanitarian catastrophe due to changing climate patterns, there is a need for rigorous and efficient methods of early warning and emergency needs assessment. In this paper we develop an empirical model, based on a relatively parsimonious set of regularly measured variables from communities in Kenya’s arid north, that generates remarkably accurate forecasts of the likelihood of famine with at least 3 months lead time. Such a forecasting model is a potentially valuable tool for enhancing early warning capacity.     

Satellite data networks for national development

This article assesses the telecommunications needs of developing countries and the possibility of using satellite communications to meet those needs. Three primary technological factors provide a guide to this application: small inexpensive satellite earth stations can provide a solution to the problem of limited ground facilities; satellites can operate in a broadcast and multiple acess mode as well as in a conventional point- to-point mode; and, the capacity required to support a single interactive digital terminal is about 1000 times less than that required to support a voice telephone and abput 1 000 000 times less than that required for video transmission. These factors lead to consideration of new forms of national networks based on satellites, microprocessors and small earth stations which do not follow the North American model. These new advanced forms of networks can co-exist with conventional voice networks, and can provide a realistic alternative for consideration by national telecommunications authorities.     

Strategizing in industrial networks

This paper provides an overview of the implications for strategizing offered by an industrial network perspective and a comparison of this view with strategic management thinking. We argue that it is crucial for a company to relate its activities to those of other firms in order to enhance its performance, and it is through the continuous combining and recombining of existing resources that new resource dimensions are identified and further developed within business relationships. From the standpoint of a single company, strategizing from an industrial network perspective implies that the heterogeneity of resources and interdependencies between activities across company boundaries, as well as the organized collaboration among the companies involved, must be considered simultaneously.     

International research teams as analysts of industrial business networks

This paper analyzes case studies in the context of industrial business networks, and in particular from the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group) perspective. Two features have been prominent in this research tradition: collaboration in international research teams and interest in business between international customers and their suppliers. Still, researchers seldom discuss the challenges with the international aspects of the research team (as the subject of study) or of the business relations (as the object of study). This paper shows the complications of analyzing international business relations, namely, relations that cross national boundaries, and investigates how an international research team can tackle the challenges of international business network studies. The key contributions are, firstly, to indicate the lack of attention on the methodological requirements and opportunities that the international features create for the analysis of business networks and, secondly, to investigate how collaboration in an international research team may advance the analysis of both international industrial marketing relations and broader business networks.     

Machine and labor flexibility in manufacturing networks

Many industrial companies today operate under strict employment legislation and work agreements. Since flexible capacity has been widely recognized as an important hedge against uncertain demand, there exist strong efforts to introduce more flexible workforce models. In this paper, we investigate the benefits of such labor flexibility and its interplay with machine flexibility from a network capacity investment perspective.We consider a firm that has to invest simultaneously in labor and machine capacity under uncertain demand and a given network configuration while anticipating the deployment of labor flexibility after demand has been realized. Instruments of labor flexibility range from temporary employment to personnel transfers between plants. The underlying decision problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic program with recourse.Based on numerical studies and the analysis of a stylized model, we demonstrate the impact of labor flexibility on the optimal levels of machine and labor capacity. We compare the benefits obtained by personnel transfers with those of temporary workers and find that temporary employment always decreases the number of permanent workers, while personnel transfers may even allow for a larger workforce. Our results further indicate that personnel transfers are more effective in larger manufacturing networks although these benefits are decreasing when most plants in the network are capable of producing more than one product (machine flexibility). Finally, we present evidence for the efficiency of a combined usage of personnel transfers and temporary workers.     

A note on international market leaders and networks of strategic technology partnering

Interfirm partnering has become a familiar aspect of corporate behavior as it is found in a large number of industries with many Companies participating in strategic alliances. This paper focuses on questions that are related to market structural issues of this phenomenon in an international context. It raises the question whether alliances establish stable networks of firms, and whether market leading firms dominate the world of strategic partnering. Our contribution stresses the need for a further understanding of cooperative behavior in terms of the increase of corporate flexibility and the extension of core competences of companies.     

Relating in business networks: Innovation in practice

Few studies have looked at the innovation process in the early stages of new business ventures in the context of business networks. Reporting on eight years of development of a new venture, we examine how the development of initial business relationships in an ever-changing business network affects technological innovation. We conclude that technological innovation is contingent on the development of business relationships that are a critical mechanism permitting a new venture not only to access but also to produce knowledge essential for innovating. For management this implies the need to strike a judicious balance between internal focus and closure to produce novel solutions and external focus and openness to experiment in business relationships.     

Quantized Hopfield networks and tabu search for manufacturing cell formation problems

The use of neural networks in the design of cellular manufacturing system is not new. This paper presents an application of modified Hopfield neural networks in order to solve cell formation problems: the quantized and fluctuated Hopfield neural networks (QFHN). This kind of Hopfield network combined with the “tabu search” approach were primarily used in a hybrid procedure in order to solve the cell formation for big sizes industrial data set. The problem is formulated as a 0/1 linear and integer programming model in order to minimize the dissimilarities between machines and/or parts. Our hybrid approach allows us to obtain optimal or nearly optimal solutions very frequently and much more quickly than traditional Hopfield networks. It is also illustrated that the fluctuation associated with this quantization may enable the network to escape from local minima, to converge to global minima, and consequently to obtain optimal solutions very frequently and much more quickly than pure quantized Hopfield networks (QHN). The effectiveness of the proposed approach is flexibility it gives us, for example, in time problem-solving for large-scale and speed of execution when we apply it.     

Best-matching protocols for assembly in e-work networks

Assembly networks pose many challenges to the comprising businesses due to their ever-growing distributed nature. This article explores the benefits of incorporating best-matching protocols (BMP) into the principles of design for assembly (DFA) to make better use of already existing information on equipment, parts and suppliers. Best-matching protocols for cooperation requirement planning (BMP-CRP), for part matching (BMP-part) and supplier selection were developed. A case study for the matching of parts and suppliers is provided. The results of the case study corroborate the benefits in quality and costs that the best-matching protocols can yield for businesses in an assembly e-work network.     

The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm

This paper addresses whether cohesive networks of socially embedded ties or sparse networks rich in structural holes are more conducive to the success of new firms. We propose that the networks of emerging firms evolve in order to adapt to the firm's changing resource needs and resource challenges. As firms emerge, their networks consist primarily of socially embedded ties drawn from dense, cohesive sets of connections. We label these networks identity based. As firms move into the early growth stage, their networks evolve toward more ties based on a calculation of economic costs and benefits. This shift from identity-based to more calculative networks is manifested in the evolution of the firm networks: (1) from primarily socially embedded ties to a balance of embedded and arm's-length relations; (2) from networks that emphasize cohesion to those that exploit structural holes; and (3) from a more path-dependent to a more intentionally managed network. Thus, this paper suggests that both cohesive and sparse networks are conducive to firm performance when they are aligned with and address firms' evolving resource challenges. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How companies strategise deliberately in networks using strategic initiatives

In this paper we contend that there is little idiographic empirical research that considers the issue of deliberate networking action in full-faced network contexts. We address the issue through the use of strategic initiatives as a form of deliberate networking action. IMP research argues the ability of an organisation to manage in a network context that involves the pull of the network and the action of the individual organisation (Håkansson & Ford 2002; Möller & Halinen 1999; Möller & Svahn 2003; Ritter, Wilkinson & Johnston, 2004; Zolkiewski 2007). Yet the paradox logic reminds us that a firm still needs to act, to try and control and influence, to suggest ideas and initiatives, to set limits and to seek opportunities. Strategic initiatives allow for conscious strategising at the same time as ongoing adaptations in activities and resources occur. Based on two complementary case studies we suggest five approaches for deliberate strategising in full-faced network contexts. These are i) strategising based on network pictures in the absence of direct interaction, ii) strategising in the presence of a network audience, iii) strategising among deliberate equals, iv) strategising among imaginative equals, and v) strategising as open and absorptive bystander. The five approaches can be used separately or in combination.     

Global alliance networks: A comparison of biotech SMEs in Sweden and Australia

The role of networks in business operations is widely recognized. We discuss social network theory, identify its main constituents, and outline a methodology and procedure that enable the identification and valuation of informal networks in an international business-to-business environment. Research is carried on informal Internet networks among firms in the biotechnology industry from Sweden and Australia. We use the methodology to recognize salient nodes, determine prominence and identify structural holes that allow the unveiling of brokerage opportunities that lie latent in networks. Global firms and suppliers of industrial products that are or can position themselves effectively in a social network are in a position to leverage considerable value.     

Circulation of autonomous agents in production and service networks

The inherent complexity characterizing production and/or service networks strongly favors decentralized and self-organizing mechanisms to regulate the flows of matter and information in circulation. This basic observation motivates us to study the flow dynamics in queueing networks roamed by autonomous agents which, at a given time and at a given vertex location, select their routing according to (individual) historical data (such as waiting times) collected during their past progression in the network. For several simple network configurations and despite the intrinsically non-Markovian character of the dynamics, we are able to discuss analytically the emerging collective dynamics that such a circulation of autonomous agents generates. Feedback loops in the network topology coupled with the presence of delays in the routing selection mechanisms produce a wealth of dynamical phenomena like self-sustained generically stable oscillations, spatio-temporal patterns, stabilization by noise phenomena and oscillator synchronization that are explicitly discussed in this paper.