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- Andresen, Edith
(författare)
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Dressed for success : designing and managing regional strategic networks
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inter-organizational network initiatives such as regional strategic networks (RSNs) are often used by firms and public agencies to support regional development and competitiveness. RSNs are designed networks managed by a hub and financed by public or private means. RSN management is complex as members are autonomous and initially often loosely connected. The effects of RSNs on regional development are disputed as engineered relationship development may interfere with ongoing business relationships. Despite this, vast public funds are being invested in collaborative initiatives. Identifying factors affecting RSN performance will provide a better basis for evaluating and managing such initiatives.Based on concepts such as actors, resources, and activities findings are reported from longitudinal case-studies built on interviews with 68 members and hubs in four RSNs. Data were also collected through participant observation, conversations, archival data and emails. Findings indicate that factors such as evaluation criteria, member composition, relationships, location, goals, the hub, physical and human resources, knowledge sharing and development, resources, policies and norms, social activities, and communication exert an impact on entrepreneurship and cooperation.The first paper focuses on factors such as actor composition, actor goals, number of actors, and activities facilitating relationship development and commitment. The second paper identifies a framework of seven tasks to be performed by the hub. The effects on development of preferences and atmosphere are dealt with in the third paper. Effects of cooperation between public/private sector and universities are addressed in the fourth paper, and entrepreneurial processes in network contexts are analyzed in the fifth one.The important management role of the hub is emphasized as is carefully considered member composition. Relationships and commitment are found to be crucial. These factors are not covered by national and regional performance criteria. They merit a place of their own.
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- Eklinder-Frick, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Bridging and bonding forms of social capital in a regional strategic network
- 2011
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Ingår i: Industrial Marketing Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0019-8501 .- 1873-2062. ; 40:6, s. 994-1003
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research on networks emphasizes the importance of bonds between actors. Social reciprocity strengthens network bonds, which is assumed to have positive effects on business relationships between firms. However, the importance of weak ties is also stressed in network research. An important policy issue is therefore if more attention should be devoted to the creation of bridges to other social groups and loosening bonds between network actors. The difficulty in doing so is described and analyzed in this article focusing on a regional strategic network, which is viewed in three network perspectives. Interview data were collected from all participating managers in a regional strategic network in 2004 and 2010. The findings shed light upon the paradox of using a regional strategic network to counteract over-embeddedness and freeing the involved actors from existing network lock-ins instead of further strengthening such social institutions.
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- Eklinder Frick, Jens, 1980-
(författare)
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Building Bridges and Breaking Bonds : Aspects of social capital in a regional strategic network
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Investing in cluster formation or encouraging companies to network in regional strategic networks is a common strategy used by municipalities to promote regional growth in peripheral regions. Previous research has investigated the significance of creating regional advantages by building clusters and regional networks, but researchers have not provided much insight into the problems facing the project management trying to implement such collaboration. In my thesis I describe and analyze a network project in order to shed light upon some of the complications that such a collaboration project might entail. My theoretical framework of analysis rests upon the concept of social capital, a concept that investigates the value that social contacts might incur. I have studied a designed network situated in the Swedish municipality of Söderhamn called Firsam. After the closure of the telecommunications factory of Ericsson/Emerson and the military airbase F15 Söderhamn lost 10 % of its local employment in 2004.The need for regional growth programmes therefore became dire. The companies that prior to the closure worked in close collaboration with the Ericsson/Emerson factory were also looking for new revenue streams to compensate for their loss of business. Collaboration with the local manufacturing companies to create innovative projects and to take on joint tenders seemed to be a perfect solution to the problems facing them and the municipality. In this spirit a regional strategic network called Firsam (Företag i regional samverkan) was initiated. I analyze the Firsam project using two different aspects of the concept social capital:”bonding” and”bridging”. The bonding form of social capital is associated with small and homogeneous groups that build prerequisites for long-term collaboration by forming close contacts and building trust. The bridging form of social capital creates an open stance towards social relations that enables new contacts to be formed outside one’s own socially established context. The bonding form of social capital provides prerequisites for close collaboration but can also result in close-mindedness and over-embeddedness in one’s own social context. Building bridging connections outside one’s own social context might encourage innovative thinking and spur entrepreneurship. The somewhat fleeting connections that are associated with the bridging form of social capital might on the other hand make it difficult to cultivate a common sense of trust within an existing group. These different manifestations of social capital create a paradox that might be hard to handle in the design of a regional strategic network. Is it best to support already existing network structures and impose the risk of creating a less innovative environment, or should members from outside the established social context be included in the network design to encourage innovative thinking? There are both positive and negative effects associated with either strategy. I shed light upon this paradox by analyzing the regional strategic network of Firsam.
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- Eklinder-Frick, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of social capital on processes in a regional strategic network
- 2012
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Ingår i: Industrial Marketing Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0019-8501 .- 1873-2062. ; 41:5, s. 800-806
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the role of social capital is vital for implementing cluster policies as regional strategic networks and cluster initiatives are influenced by the local socio-economic context and its social capital. Social capital can create value for companies by closure of the network structure (bonding), which maintains internal mutual trust but bonding can also over-embed companies in their social context, whereas sparse networks that provide links to other parts of relevant business networks (bridging) often provide greater innovation benefits. We provide a conceptual framework applied to a case study of a Swedish regional strategic network, and examples mostly of positive effects of bridging social capital and negative effects of the bonding form are identified. This is interpreted against the background of the regional dependence-oriented culture.
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| 6. |
- Eklinder-Frick, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Multidimensional social capital as a boost or a bar to innovativeness
- 2014
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Ingår i: Industrial Marketing Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0019-8501 .- 1873-2062. ; 43 3:3, s. 460-472
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Innovation does not only demand new ideas, financial resources, and knowledge of supplier and user systems. Social capital also influences the innovativeness in business networks. However, social capital is often vague, at times described as a “catch-all notion”. In this paper definitions of social capital are suggested to support the management of innovation in networks. Three dimensions of social capital are applied in a case study of a regional strategic network – the socio-economic, the structural and the actor-oriented dimensions – while focusing on the last one. Data were collected at two points in time, at the start of the regional strategic network in 2004 and at the end of the project in 2010. The application of the concepts and the comparison between these two points in time highlight the influence of social capital and how it can hinder or be used to promote innovation processes.
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- Eklinder-Frick, Jens, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Multidimensional Social Capital as a Boost or a Bar to Innovation
- 2012
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Ingår i: Combining the social and technological aspects of innovation.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Innovation does not only demand new ideas, financial resources, and knowledge of supplier and user systems, but also social capital. Social capital facilitates interaction in business networks. However, social capital is often vague, at times described as a “catch-all notion”. In this paper an operational definition of social capital is suggested to enable network management of business innovations. Three underpinning dimensions of social capital are empirically tested in a regional strategic network – the socio-economic, the network and the actor-oriented dimensions with a focus on the latter one. Empirical case data were collected in 2004 and 2010. The application of the concepts and the comparisons between these two points in time enhance understanding of how social capital can be used to promote innovation processes.
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| 9. |
- Eklinder-Frick, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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Negative effects of the bonding and bridging form of social capital in a regional strategic network
- 2011
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Ingår i: The 27th IMP conference, 31 Aug 2011-03 Sep 2011; University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose of the paper and literature addressedUnderstanding the local socio-economic context is considered by Koschatzky and Kroll (2007) as a precondition for a well designed regional strategic network (RSN). Social capital is often used in research when analyzing such socio-economic contexts (Adler and Kwon 2002, Westlund 2009), and understanding the function and creation of social capital is therefore vital for implementation of policies on cluster initiatives and RSN.Adler and Kwon (2002) claim that there are two different ways of creating valuethrough social capital. These approaches are attributed to James Coleman and Ronald Burt, two key contributors within the field. Coleman (1988) claims that closure of the network structure (bonding) facilitates the emergence of effective norms maintainingthe trustworthiness of others. In contrast to Coleman, Burt (1992) does not stress the utility of consistent norms as the main usage of social capital. He argues that a sparse network including few redundant ties (bridging) often provides greater benefits. Social capital may involve norms and trust, but can also serve as a lock-in that isolates from the outside world by over-embedding a network in its own social context (Uzzi 1997, Gargiulo and Benassi 2000, Parra-Requena et al 2009, Molina-Morales and Martínez-Fernández 2009).Social capital might therefore not only bring positive effects to regional development, as its drawbacks under some circumstances might outweigh the benefits. Slotte-Kock (2009) argues that all network researchers agree that networks of social or business contacts provide both opportunities and constraints.Main contributionMolina-Morales and Martínez-Fernández (2009) and Adler and Kwon (2002) claim that there is a lack of empirical research particularly on the negative effects of social capital. The paper adds to the discourse through a case study focusing on the negative influence of social capital on the RSN process.Research methodRepresentatives of the 15 companies included in an regional strategic network (RSN) project were all interviewed prior to the formation of the project in 2004 and interviewed again six years later (2010) when the formal network project was about to end. The longitudinal aspect of the RSN process is portrayed.Research findingsThe organizational lock-ins and network over-embeddedness that the bonding form of social capital might impose upon a network is exemplified in the studied RSN. It is also evident that existing social norms dominate the decision process within the studied RSN more than economic rationality. The creation of bridging linkages imposed by the management group resulting in low relevance of shared information.
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