New knowledge networks of small-scale farmers in Europe’s periphery

In this paper we assess the types of knowledge networks utilised by small-scale farmers in four case studies (located in Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). We focus on knowledge acquired to inform three new activities being undertaken by study participants: agricultural production, subsidy access and regulatory compliance, and farm diversification (specifically agritourism). Findings demonstrate that the new knowledge networks are dominated by different forms of expertise: formal ‘agricultural advisors’ identified in the case studies primarily offer codified managerial knowledge through centralised networks, suggesting that state-funded services for small-scale farmers are largely embedded in traditional, linear models of knowledge transfer. Production and diversification knowledge is exchanged through ‘distributed’ and ‘decentralised’ networks, where a range of actors are involved across varying geographical distances. Findings highlight issues associated with the quality and independence of both ‘free’ and paid advice, as well as the importance of combining tacit and codified knowledge for credibility. In all four cases, we found that small-scale farmers utilise formal advisory services primarily for accessing subsidies (e.g. completing application forms), rather than acquiring production knowledge. The authors argue that by utilising the state funding allocated to advisory services for small-scale farmers primarily to enable these farmers to access subsidies, important opportunities for innovation by both advisors or farmers can be lost.     

Processes and structures of networks: reflections on methodology

While social capital has been applied in a variety of contexts, the nature, role and application of social capital in an entrepreneurial context have not been extensively explored. The nature of social capital presents a conceptual puzzle in that it is said to be both glue, which forms the structure of networks, and at the same time a lubricant that facilitates the operation of networks. Using techniques of participant observation and interviews, this paper attempts to resolve this enigma. It finds that social capital is not a thing, but a process that creates a condition of social capital. The structural and relational aspects are found to be dimensions of this process. Interestingly, the data also demonstrates that there are successful etiquettes of social capital formation. These etiquettes provide the rules and framework for the interactions.     

Small firms and networks in capital intensive industries: The case of Spanish steel wire manufacturing

This article uses an interdisciplinary approach to gain a better understanding of the organization of the Spanish industry in a long-term perspective. Sociological concepts about networks, and studies about family firms from management and business history literatures, are combined to illuminate the dominance of family ownership in capital intensive industries. Popp, Toms and Wilson's work on the spatialization of resource distribution and resource dependence has been used to understand the dominance of small family firms co-ordinated by networks in the particular case study of the Spanish steel wire manufactures. The article also has important implications for questioning Casson's interpretation about the difficulties dynastic family firms may have in science-wire rod industries.     

均衡视角下产学研合作形成过程机理及仿真--基于新兴古典经济学的解释

针对产学研合作如何形成专业化分工和均衡合作模式的问题,运用新兴古典经济学的两阶段均衡理论剖析产学研合作形成过程机理,运用超边际分析方法探寻角点均衡下的产学研自给自足、局部分工（Ⅰ和Ⅱ）和完全分工组织结构,并运用Agent建模理论和Netlogo仿真平台构建产学研合作形成的仿真模型,模拟研究产学研均衡合作模式的形成。研究表明：产学研合作均衡是一个递进、演化和失效的动态循环过程;分工组织结构是产学研合作网络形成的基础,且产、学、研合作分工越完全,二分网络结构越复杂;产、学、研交易效率越大,合作网络整体的均衡效用越大。     

日本企业系列与国际化战略

本文在专用性资产投资、长期交易关系和战略网络等方面对日本企业系列进行了经济学分析,讨论系列制在日本企业国际化战略中的作用,指出系列制是日本企业文化和产业组织内生的和具有独特竞争优势的制度安排,在国际化的制度环境中将对改进网络绩效发挥着更大的作用,同时也将接受更大的挑战。     

非线性电阻网络灵敏度的计算

本文提出一种计算非线性电阻网络灵敏度的新方法.和伴随网络法相比,在多端口情况下,它具有计算量小和易于编程等特点.     

Managing The Environment

Abstract

The literature on network management in the public sector reports positive effects of network activity on agency performance. Current studies show however no differences between specific types of contacts in an agency's environment. The present article adopts an explorative design to study the different types of environmental actors in the networks of nine colleges for nursing studies in the Netherlands. A typology of environmental ties is introduced, and applied to the nine cases. It appears that contacts to different types of actors reflect different levels of ambition in the network management of the colleges. The level of ambition in network management appears to be associated with two indicators for college performance: it is positively associated with diploma rate, and negatively associated with drop-out rates among freshmen. These results are discussed with reference to the current literature in public network management.     

Complex event processing in enterprise information systems based on RFID

Enterprises have to be increasingly agile and responsive to address the challenges posed by the fast moving market. With the software architecture evolving into service-oriented architecture (SOA), and the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID), event processing can fit well in enterprise information systems in terms of facilitation of event aggregation into high level actionable information, and event response to improve the responsiveness. To make it more applicable, the architecture of event processing in enterprise information systems is proposed; event meta model and context serve as the solid basis for event processing; the rules, operators and keys of complex event processing are defined. Especially, workflow model is firstly used to extract complex event pattern. We have implemented the event processing mechanism in enterprise information systems based on RFID, including the architecture, data structures, optimization strategies and algorithm. The performance evaluations show that the method is effective in terms of scalability and the capability of event processing. Complex event processing can improve operational performance and discover more actionable information, which is justified by application. Finally, lessons learned from the application are presented.     

Networks for the commercialization of innovations: A review of how divergent network actors contribute

Successful commercialization is of great importance to innovative firms, and the recent literature has increasingly acknowledged that networks make a contribution not only to research and development but also to commercialization. However, research on networks facilitating the commercialization of innovations is scattered across divergent disciplines. A single company is rarely capable of generating successful diffusion in the commercialization of an innovation; success often requires cooperation between individual actors and organizations, and support from stakeholders. Consequently, the network aspect of commercialization is crucial. The aim of this study is thus to integrate the knowledge on how current research and business has employed the network approach in commercialization, and how contributors external to the innovator firm can facilitate the commercialization of innovations. On the basis of an extensive metatheoretical literature review and a qualitative and quantitative content analysis on articles linking networks explicitly to commercialization, this study produces a conceptual synthesis on network actors' contribution potential to commercialization. The analysis identified divergent network approaches to commercialization and gathered extant knowledge on “commercialization networks” from the multidisciplinary literature of innovation management, marketing, management, technology, entrepreneurship, and other relevant disciplines. Networks for commercialization have been linked to divergent network approaches, such as industrial networks, social networks, strategic networks, and entrepreneurship networks. According to the findings, customers and users, distributors, complementaries, suppliers, investors, associations, public organizations, and policy makers and regulators can support commercialization by performing practical commercialization tasks, facilitating innovation adoption/diffusion and creating markets. We also identified four modes of contribution. In terms of methods, qualitative research dominates current examinations on the topic while longitudinal research and investigations from multiple network actors' perspectives are almost absent. The results also indicate a need to develop coherent conceptualizations and accumulate knowledge that would strengthen the theoretical basis of the research. A pivotal contribution of this article is that it is the first to generate an integrative framework and a research agenda on networks for commercialization — a theme that is emergent, multifaceted, and crucial to innovative companies.