| 1. |
- Ebadzadeh Semnani, Sedigheh Sarah
(författare)
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Trust in Different Types of Organizational Relationships : A Social Capital Perspective
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to expand the understanding about the concepts of trust and social capital, and to explore their role in achieving desired organizational outcomes. The research followed a multiple case study approach, focusing on Iranian service providers. The reason for this focus is the insufficient scholarly contribution about social capital in developing countries. Moreover, considering the significant role of trust in social capital generation according to many scholars, this study seeks to understand how the issue of lack of trust in developing countries can influence social capital generation in these nations. In order to address the criticisms in the literature, this research first attempts to study the concepts of trust and social capital in different types of organizational relationships separately. There are, therefore, different levels of analysis in this study. The three types of organizational relationships which are the focus of this research are intra-organizational, organization-customer and business cluster.An intensive literature review was carried out on trust and social capital to build an overall theoretical picture of the problem at hand. The next step was to analyse the findings of this study by engaging both empirical and theoretical findings simultaneously. This was carried out with the aim of achieving answers to the research questions through theory matching and elaboration.The result of this study, in general, supports both the positive role of trust and social capital in achieving desired organizational outcomes. The empirical data and literature, therefore, seem to be in line with one another to a large extent. However, in several cases of this study the issue of lack of trust at the Iranian companies did in fact hinder the achievement of their desired outcomes. Moreover, the findings from the organization-customer and business cluster relationships showed that several of these Iranian companies are indeed already benefiting from social capital. However, they mostly benefit from the type of social capital arising from information flows. What they are missing, and are in fact in great need of, is the type of social capital associated with the benefits of trust. In other words, they were unsuccessful in bringing forward the benefits of the relational dimension of social capital. The study has also contributed towards refining the literature by showing that there are differences in the connotation of both “trust” and “social capital” when they are studied under different types of organizational relationships. Simply using these terms without specifying the type of relationship, or level of analysis, does not bring forward a clear understanding. Furthermore, the findings had pointed out the important difference between a contributing factor to a phenomenon and the phenomenon itself, which in this case were trust and social capital, respectively.Last but not least, the results of the cross-case analysis identified certain patterns and differences in the role of trust and social capital in different relationship types. These findings were summarized in the form of a proposed model and a matrix. The proposed model started with the development of trust in organizational interpersonal relationships, and ended with the creation of two different types of social capital that can benefit both the organization and its customers. The matrix, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of keeping a balance between different types of social capital, depending on the organizational requirement, in order to achieve the best desired outcomes.
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| 2. |
- Leite, Emilene, 1976-
(författare)
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Complexity in the 'Extended' Business Network : A Study of Business, Social, and Political Relationships in Smart City Solutions
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis an 'extended' business network is investigated. The ‘extended’ view refers to the inclusion of socio-political actors in the firm’s business network. Building on a business network perspective, the thesis’ purpose is to understand how interactions between business, social, and political actors influence the development of smart city solutions. Based on the findings from the four articles included in the thesis, a complexity lens for further understanding of interaction with socio-political actors is presented. It argues that reaching success in the relationship entails finding a balance between economic and social needs.Through the analysis of two smart city projects developed in Brazil, this study investigates the influence of socio-political actors on firms’ cooperative and competitive behavior as well as their decisions relating to resource allocation. The findings illustrate that decisions to cooperate or compete are associated with centrality. The firm’s willingness to be a central actor, i.e., a project leader, places traditional buyer-supplier partners in competition. In addition to this, resource allocation is closely linked to customization. In cities demanding a high level of customization of the smart city solution, companies will be encouraged to allocate resources to exploitation, while in cities requiring a low level of customization, exploration will be chosen instead. But knowledge about how to allocate resources is closely linked to the centrality issue, since a central actor may enjoy better access to a large pool of resources and information. Consequently, the final outcome in relational terms can lead to win-lose rather than a win-win situation if rivalry for centrality between business partners intensifies over time.The study of such complex interaction contributes to the industrial marketing and business network literature by providing a practical perspective and showing how socio-political actors can be a source of competitive advantages for companies. In addition, this thesis suggests that managers need to cope with the complexity inherent in such type of relationships, primarily due the fact that interaction with socio-political actors has important competitive implications for firms. Ultimately, the thesis offers a framework for investigating complexity in actors’ interactions and resource heterogeneity that complements our understanding of intraorganizational relationships, opening opportunities for a new perspective and better comprehension of the influence of socio-political actors in firms’ business networks.
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| 3. |
- Sundberg, Klas, 1967-
(författare)
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Strategisk utveckling och ekonomistyrning : Ett livscykelperspektiv
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation synthesizes previous research and develops a model for the study of strategic development, strategic congruence and management control. The model is used to analyze a longitudinal case study of the Swedish engineering company Atlas Copco.Employing contingency theory, the study confirms that long-term survival of a company requires adaption to contingencies. Three levels of strategy are examined: corporate, business and functional. Previous research suggests that consistency between these levels (strategic congruence) is necessary for a company to be competitive. The dissertation challenges this proposition by using a life-cycle perspective and analyzes strategic congruence in the different phases of a life cycle. It also studies management control from a life-cycle perspective. In this context, two types of management control are examined: formal and informal. From a longitudinal perspective, the study further discusses how these types interact during organizational life cycles.The dissertation shows that strategic development is more complex than previous studies have indicated. It is a long, complex and non-linear process, the results of which cannot always be predicted. Previous models for strategy and management control are based on simple relationships and rarely take into account the fact that companies often go through different phases of strategic development. The case study shows that strategic incongruence may occur at times during organizational life cycles. Furthermore, the use of management control varies over time. In the maturity phase, formal control is in focus, while the use of informal control has a bigger role in both the introduction and decline phases.Research on strategy and management control has intensified in recent years. Still there is a gap regarding the coordination of complex corporate structures. The present study contributes with further knowledge on how companies manage long-term strategic development. Few studies deal with more than two levels of strategy. Moreover, the present study addresses the need to understand strategic congruence from a life-cycle perspective. This is particularly relevant in practice, when management in large companies face difficult issues for which they expect business research to assist them in the decision-making process.
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