Resource interaction in inter-organizational networks: Foundations, comparison, and a research agenda

The focus of this article is on discussing the foundations, conceptual development, and implications of resource interaction in inter-organizational networks. The article conceptualizes and classifies resources before discussing how resource interfaces enable to utilize, manage, and change resources. In doing so it provides a set of basic principles as to how resources interact at a network level, or how firms combine, develop, mobilize, and manage resources over time. This is in strong contrast to a focus on the acquisition, accumulation, and exchange of resources by the firm. The article further provides a comparison with two other research streams, the Resource-Based view (RBV) and the Service-Dominant logic (S-D logic), in order to better position this perspective on inter-organizational resource interaction. It concludes by discussing an agenda for further research.     

Creating and appropriating value in collaborative relationships

Business relationships provide means for creating and appropriating superior value in the marketplace. To date, research pertains almost exclusively to the value after relationship creation and sharing among exchange partners. Consequently, the interaction between value creation and value appropriation remains relatively unknown in collaborative relationships. Drawing on equity theory, this study proposes a conceptual model that positions value creation and value appropriation as focal variables within the nomological net of business relationships. Data collected from industrial customer-supplier projects reveal that value appropriation is the strongest driver of project satisfaction. Customer firms perceive value creation as positive only if they appropriate a larger slice of the bigger value pie. Information exchange moderates customer firms' evaluations of value creation and appropriation efforts. In contrast to the highly competitive nature at the project level, embedding the supplier project in an ongoing sourcing relationship reveals cooperative elements in the customer-supplier interaction. Greater relational satisfaction favors less aggressive value appropriation efforts. These insights help bridge the gap between managerial metrics that focus on successful value appropriation and academic models that attend to variables that capture the quality of ongoing relationships.     

Crowded identity: Managing crowdsourcing initiatives to maximize value for participants through identity creation

In this article, we consider crowdsourcing from the consumer perspective. Specifically, we examine the identity value (i.e., sense of self) that consumers accrue by participating in creative crowds. How can managers structure crowdsourcing initiatives to maximize value for participants through identity creation and expression? We strive to answer this question first by examining the different types of crowdsourcing initiatives from a value co-creation perspective. Then we evaluate how consumers construct identities through consumption and review the literature on identity theory. Finally, we link the identity type—personal, extended, or social—to the management of crowdsourcing ventures and offer suggestions for practitioners.     

Relationship commitment and value creation in sponsorship relationships

Purpose: The sponsorship industry has evolved considerably in recent years due to the strategic business opportunities that it provides. Despite increased interest in sponsorship, analysis of the relationship between relationship commitment and value creation and of relationship commitment as comprising multiple types or components in the context of sponsorship relationships is lacking. To address these gaps, this paper analyzes relationship commitment (in terms of affective commitment and value-based commitment) as a significant mediating variable, and value creation in the context of sponsorship relationships.

Methodology/approach: A questionnaire was sent to Swedish Hockey League sponsors to collect data and to verify the study’s conceptual model and relationships. The response rate for the survey was 19.8%, that is, 122 completed questionnaires out of 616 sent. The respondents represented the most common industries in Sweden, but most of them belonged to the construction, repair, and electronics industries (18.0%), manufacturing and production industry (13.1%), and commerce industry (11.5%). Most sponsoring companies (30.3%) were categorized as medium-sized (50–249 employees). Most respondents (38.5%) had invested EUR 4300–15,000, whereas 11.5% had invested less than EUR 4300. Moreover, we found that most sponsors had been in their sponsorship relationships for more than 10 years (32.8%). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the data analysis.

Findings: This study demonstrates that relationship commitment is an important driver of value creation in sponsorship relationships. Furthermore, the various forms of affective commitment and value-based commitment should not be considered merely components or forms but distinct types. Certainly, there is interaction between the two types, but sequentially in such a way that affective commitment is a prerequisite for value-based commitment. This means that a sponsor must have an emotional relationship with the sponsee in order to understand, perceive, and calculate the sponsorship relationship’s future business value in terms of profits and other benefits. This study also finds that value-based commitment is the most significant type of commitment in sponsorship relationships.

Research implications: The study demonstrates that shared values, trust, and affective commitment are fundamental conditions for value-based commitment. If the parties agree on how they should behave in the relationship, the rules and objectives that apply lead to the emergence of mutual trust, which in turn makes the parties want to continue the relationship for emotional reasons. But this is not enough for value creation; they must also see that there are future business benefits from the relationship. Therefore, the parties more or less explicitly make calculations. If the calculations indicate that the long-term benefits of the relationship outweigh the short-term sacrifices, they are prepared to invest in the relationship, and this may lead to value creation. In other words, there is both interplay and tension between shared values, trust, and affective commitment, on one hand, and value-based commitment, on the other. Another theoretical contribution is that previous research has considered the links between relationship commitment and value but has ignored the different types of commitment that play key roles in the value-creation process; this study has addressed that oversight. The study demonstrates that affective commitment and value-based commitment have different roles and meanings. Affective commitment indirectly affects value creation, while value-based commitment directly affects value creation. Affective commitment has the role of partial mediator, while value-based commitment has the role of full mediator. Furthermore, they differ in their basic characteristics: affective commitment is an emotional aspect, while value-based commitment is a calculative aspect.

Originality/value/contribution: Previous studies have not analyzed the relationship between relationship commitment and value creation. However, this study demonstrates that relationship commitment is an important driver of value creation in sponsorship relationships. Furthermore, most previous research argues that relationship commitment consists of various components or forms that interact in parallel with each other. However, this study demonstrates that the various forms of affective commitment and value-based commitment should not be considered merely components or forms but distinct types. Certainly, there is interaction between the two types, but sequentially in such a way that affective commitment is a prerequisite for value-based commitment. Furthermore, previous studies have consistently noted that affective commitment is the most important component, form, or type of relationship commitment. However, this study finds that value-based commitment is the most significant type of commitment in sponsorship relationships.     

Governance mechanisms for mobile service innovation in value networks

Service innovation often requires multiple organizations to work together in complex, dynamic networks. Existing literature shows that mechanisms like trust, power and contracts govern activities in organizational networks. Scholars rarely study how such a mix of mechanisms evolves over time, especially not in relation to different stages of service innovation. This paper connects a phasing model on service innovation to concepts of inter-organizational governance in value networks, by examining what governance mechanisms are in use during service development, implementation and commercialization. This study analyzes an international survey among operators, content providers and application developers in the Mobile Internet services domain, which is noted for its complex inter-organizational networks. The findings suggest that power-based governance is in use in the early stages of developing service concepts and technologies, while trust-based governance is in use during implementation, roll-out and commercialization. Contract-based governance is most common during implementation and roll-out.     

Inter-organizational cooperation in buyer-supplier relationships: Both perspectives

Most empirical investigations of inter-organizational cooperation within channel dyads investigate the phenomenon from the perspective of only one partner. However, because investigating from both partners' perspectives is important especially when interdependencies exist between the channel partners, this study attempts to examine both perspectives in buyer-supplier relationships and explain why differences, if any, arise. The data that this study requires were collected from buyers responsible for supplier relationships in a Korean telecommunication service provider and from their partners. The results show that switching costs and inter-organizational trust are significant determinants of cooperation for buyers; technological uncertainty and the reciprocity of the relationship are significant determinants for the suppliers. In both sample sets, goal consistency significantly affects inter-firm cooperation.     

The new value imperative for privately held companies: The why, what, and how of value management strategy

This discussion describes the why, what, and how of managing for value in privately held companies. Public companies continue to manage for value, a trend that is now pushing its way inexorably into privately held companies. First, we discuss the dynamics that are creating a value-management imperative for these companies. Second, we provide a signaling model to assist management of privately held companies in deciding whether to emphasize (a) revenue growth, (b) the spread between return on invested capital and the weighted average cost of capital, (c) reduction in the cost of capital, or (d) some combination of these three. The key-value-driver model provides guidance in addressing questions such as: Do we have the right to grow? Should we improve profit performance before we grow? What is our performance in relation to our cost of capital? We also describe how to acquire the data necessary to use the model. Third, we present some important but under-utilized tools based upon transactions cost and strategic cost management theories to assist executives in managing for value and discuss when to apply these tools within a strategic context.     

Artificial intelligence and machine learning as business tools: A framework for diagnosing value destruction potential

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) may save money and improve the efficiency of business processes, but these technologies can also destroy business value, sometimes with grave consequences. The inability to identify and manage that risk can lead some managers to delay the adoption of these technologies and thus prevent them from realizing their potential. This article proposes a new framework by which to map the components of an AI solution and to identify and manage the value-destruction potential of AI and ML for businesses. We show how the defining characteristics of AI and ML can threaten the integrity of the AI system’s inputs, processes, and outcomes. We then draw from the concepts of value-creation content and value-creation process to show how these risks may hinder value creation or even result in value destruction. Finally, we illustrate the application of our framework with an example of the deployment of an AI-powered chatbot in customer service, and we discuss how to remedy the problems that arise.     

Mobile marketing: A literature review on its value for consumers and retailers

The article describes the existing knowledge of how mobile marketing can increase the value for consumers and retailers. Mobile device shopping, and consumers' use of mobile devices while shopping is shown to be both an extension of consumers' shopping behaviours developed on Internet-connected desktop and laptop computers (PC), and potentially new behaviours based on a mobile devices' uniquely integrated features such as camera, scanners and GPS. The article focuses on how mobile marketing creates value for consumers and retailers, enabling more precise research and development of managerial concepts and tools while providing both managers and academics with increased understanding of mobile marketing and its value outcomes for retailers.     

Enhancing value creation of device vendors in the medical service industry: a relationship perspective

Around the world, hospitals receiving government funding and insurance payments are under increasing pressure to cut costs. Based on the literature in relationship value and transaction cost economics, long-term relationships between suppliers and customers can be beneficial to cost reduction and value creation. This study explores the value of long-term relationships between medical device vendors and hospitals from the hospital perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted employing a grounded theory approach. The results show that in addition to product benefits/costs and supportive services, vendor reputation and sales personnel specificity are most influential towards the value of their long-term relationships.     

Disruptive framing in value creation and price setting: Transforming value with strategic frames of reference

Framing in business is frequently found in the digital economy with dramatic and innovative new products and disruptive value propositions. However, framing in business is not an exclusively digital economic strategy. Creating or revising frames of reference, value propositions, and pricing based on either new or newly framed offerings is a basic strategy skill that brings new differential value creation to customers and new price-setting models to firms. In this article, I define framing and explain its influence on managerial cognition as well as its application to value-based marketing and price setting. Using economic value theory and behavioral economics, I propose steps managers and decision makers can take in an effort to achieve framing innovation as a way to leverage the disruptive competitive advantages that flow from strategic frames of reference in the marketplace.     

Safeguarding investments and creation of transaction value in asymmetric international subcontracting relationships: The role of relationship learning and relational capital

This study examines how suppliers who do not have bargaining power to protect relationship-specific investments (RSIs) can use safeguarding mechanisms to create transaction value in the context of asymmetric international subcontracting partnerships. From a supplier perspective, two different types of bilateral safeguarding mechanisms, relationship learning and relational capital, play discrete roles in the process of creating transaction value. Drawing on a resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, this study proposes that RSIs (a firm's resources), can enhance relationship learning (capabilities), which in turn, facilitates dyadic capability enhancing (joint competitive advantage). In addition, from a social capital perspective, relational capital facilitates relationship learning and strengthens the positive relationship between RSIs and relationship learning. Relationship learning plays the key role, and acts as the catalyst in transforming RSIs and relational capital into dyadic capability enhancing. The hypotheses are tested using data from a survey of 118 Taiwanese supplier–international buyer relationships in information technology industries. The study finds that relationship learning mediates the relationship between RSIs and dyadic capability enhancing, and that relational capital moderates the relationship between RSIs and relationship learning.     

Uncovering the value of planning in new venture creation: A process and contingency perspective

Researchers are engaged in a major debate on the value of business planning in new venture creation. This study suggests a potential resolution by applying a process and contingency perspective. The results indicate that planning is beneficial, yet planning processes need to be governed by different planning regimes depending on the type of founding environment. In highly dynamic environments, entrepreneurs will get most value from planning when they focus on select planning activities, and speed up the planning task. In less dynamic environments, they are better of pursuing a munificent approach to planning. The analysis thus reveals a major component of theorization on business planning that has been neglected in previous discussions. As for entrepreneurship teaching and practice, the findings suggest the importance of an adaptive, “toolkit” approach to business planning. Hypotheses were developed based on information-processing and decision-making theory and were tested with an ordered probit analysis on a sample of 100 start-ups backed by venture capital.     

Knowledge creation capability in MNC subsidiaries: Examining the roles of global and local knowledge inflows and subsidiary knowledge stocks

Grounded in knowledge-based theories of the multinational corporation (MNC) and building on organizational learning literature, this paper develops and tests a model of MNC subsidiaries’ knowledge creation capability as a joint function of knowledge inflows to subsidiaries and their knowledge stocks (i.e., subsidiaries’ internal human, social, and organizational capital). Survey-based data from 106 subsidiaries located in the U.S. suggests that local (i.e., host country) knowledge inflows to a subsidiary are more effective in enhancing a subsidiary's knowledge creation capability compared to global knowledge inflows from other units of the same MNC. Furthermore, results point to a not-invented-here syndrome in the exploitation of knowledge sourced from the parent company; such that when a subsidiary's internal social capital is high, the relationship between global knowledge inflows and knowledge creation capability is negative and when it is low, the relationship becomes positive.     

我国公共危机管理法制建设存在的问题与对策思考

2007年,我国人大常委会审议通过的《中华人民共和国公共危机事件应对法》,是新中国第一部应对各类公共危机事件的综合性法律,标志着我国规范应对各类公共危机事件共同行为的基本法律制度已经确立,但还存在着法规体系不健全、应急法制的实施环境有待进一步改善、应急管理的法制执行不到位等问题。我国应不断地修订和完善危机管理法律体系、营造良好的法制环境、加大职能部门执法监管力度,使危机管理工作逐渐进入了制度化、规范化和法制化的轨道。     

The real dollar-yen exchange rate,asymmetries in trade flows and the current account in a perfect-foresight model for developing East Asia

This paper explores permanent, unanticipated shocks in the yen-dollar exchange rate in a perfect-foresight, infinite-horizon, representative-agent model for an open, semismall economy that produces a single good, imports intermediate inputs and investment goods from Japan and competes with Japan in external markets. Therefore, the model captures some of the features of the developing countries of East Asia. External debt is constrained by a country-risk premium that depends on the level of external debt. The capital stock is maintained and incremented by an endogenous mixture of Japanese and home goods. An appreciation of the dollar against the yen is neutral for external indebtedness and the trade account in the long run, but raises the capital stock, consumption and hence welfare in the long run; the home currency depreciates against the dollar but appreciates against the yen. Whether a cycle of current account surpluses followed by current account deficits or vice versa is generated depends on the initial response of the shadow value of external debt.     

The role of self selection, usage uncertainty and learning in the demand for local telephone service

Telephone services are often characterized by the presence of ‘fixed’ plans, involving only a fixed monthly fee, as well as ‘measured’ plans, with both fixed fees and per-unit charges for usage. Consumers are faced with the decisions of which plan to choose and how much to use the phone and these decisions are not, in general, independent. Due to the presence of a time lag between plan choice and usage decisions, consumers are uncertain about usage at the plan-choice stage. We develop a structural discrete/continuous model of plan choice and usage decisions of consumers that accounts for such uncertainty. Prior research has also found that consumers switch less often from fixed plans to measured plans to gain from potential savings than vice versa. Consumer uncertainty regarding their mean usage levels and different rates of learning by consumers in the two plans is a potential explanation for this phenomenon. We extend our discrete/continuous model to account for consumer learning about their mean usage and estimate different rates of learning for the two types of plans. We estimate our model using data from the 1986 Kentucky local telephone tariff experiment. Even in the absence of any price variation over time, we are able to measure the price elasticities both of usage and of choice of plan. Using our parameter estimates, we simulate the effects of the introduction of a metered plan in a market with only a fixed plan and vice versa, on both firm revenues and consumer surplus. We also find that consumers learn very rapidly if they are on the measured plan but learn very slowly when they are on the fixed plan. We investigate an alternative assumption on the nature of the learning process in which only consumers in the measured plan have an opportunity to learn. We find that our empirical results are robust to this change of specification. We conduct counterfactual simulations to simulate enhanced calling plans from the firm and consumer points of view. Additional simulations to measure the value of information in this category are also carried out. We compute the value of both complete information, where the entire uncertainty about future usage is resolved, as well as that of limited information, where the consumer's uncertainty about mean usage is resolved, but the uncertainty about specific month-to-month usage remains. We find that the value of information is modest. We also find that a large proportion of the value of information is that about the mean usage, with the value of the information about a specific month's usage being relatively small.

三明市木材加工企业的物流管理现状与对策

随着经济全球化的发展,制约木材加工企业发展的问题日益突出。与此同时,由于物流管理在木材加工企业中所占的比重不断增加,木材加工企业物流管理水平的提高迫在眉睫。本文主要阐述了三明市木材加工企业物流管理现状并就此现状分析讨论了对策。     

The impact of R&D on value added for domestic and foreign firms in a newly industrialized economy

This study compares the impact of R&D on value added between domestic and foreign firms in Singapore. The analysis is based on a comprehensive panel database from 1993 to 1999 provided by the Singapore Government. Our results found that R&D investments of foreign firms generated higher value added than those of domestic firms, and that the difference in value added contributed by R&D was moderated by the type of R&D and the technological level of industry. The study supports the argument that the ownership advantages possessed by foreign firms, relative to domestic firms, have positive effects on R&D performance.     

Strategies,technologies, and organizational learning for developing organizational innovativeness in emerging economies

Innovativeness is an important organizational capability for competitive advantage sustainability in the dynamic environment of Asia's emerging economies. Drawing upon dynamic capability theory, this study develops a research model of organizational innovativeness development for firms in emerging economies. The proactive strategic orientations reflected by entrepreneurship and technology oriented strategy provide important visions for organizational innovativeness. Further, the utilization of knowledge management systems and organizational learning are identified as intervention processes that translate these strategic orientations into real innovation capability. A survey involving 114 firms operating in China was conducted for hypothesis testing. The empirical results provide strong support and advance the knowledge of organizational innovativeness development for firms in Asia's emerging economies.