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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify the distinction between the Global Value Chains and selected strands of the business literature; business networks, strategy, and international business. These four research areas have starting questions that are often different and the audiences they address also differ. There have been attempts to establish links across these theories, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. Design/methodology/approach – The basic principles and concepts of the four areas are identified. The results are used to develop a summary matrix of the approaches. The methodological path is inductive and inferential, as the task involves searching for similarities, complementarities, and overlaps across the four social science disciplines. Findings – Literature of the studied fields overlap on the issues they are trying to understand, even if they do not use identical terminology. The four areas advocate the same principle in understanding the organizational field: complexity. Firms are triggered to enter into exchange with other companies. Originality/value – The theoretical contribution of this article is based on the idea that although the four research fields – GVC, Business Networks, Strategy, and International Business - advance independently from each other, common origins can be observed, allowing a set of common propositions. Objetivo – O objetivo deste artigo é esclarecer a distinção entre as cadeias globais de valor e as vertentes selecionadas da literatura sobre negócios; redes de negócios, estratégia e negócios internacionais. Essas quatro áreas de pesquisa têm perguntas iniciais muitas vezes diferentes e os públicos a que se dirigem também diferem. Houve tentativas de estabelecer ligações entre essas teorias, mas isso é uma exceção, e não a regra. Metodologia – Os princípios e conceitos básicos das quatro áreas são identificados. Os resultados foram usados para desenvolver uma matriz resumida das abordagens. Nossa via metodológica é indutiva e inferencial, pois a tarefa envolve a busca de semelhanças, complementaridades e sobreposições entre as quatro disciplinas de ciências sociais. Resultados – A literatura dos campos estudados se sobrepõe às questões que tentam entender, mesmo que não usem terminologia idêntica. As quatro áreas defendem o mesmo princípio na compreensão do campo organizacional: a complexidade. As empresas são incentivadas a realizar trocas com outras empresas. Contribuições – A contribuição teórica deste artigo baseia-se na ideia de que, embora os quatro campos de pesquisa – CGV, redes de negócios, estratégia e negócios internacionais – avancem de forma independente, origens comuns podem ser observadas, permitindo um conjunto de proposições comuns. Objetivo – O objetivo deste artigo é esclarecer a distinção entre as cadeias globais de valor e as vertentes selecionadas da literatura sobre negócios; redes de negócios, estratégia e negócios internacionais. Essas quatro áreas de pesquisa têm perguntas iniciais muitas vezes diferentes e os públicos a que se dirigem também diferem. Houve tentativas de estabelecer ligações entre essas teorias, mas isso é uma exceção, e não a regra. Metodologia – Os princípios e conceitos básicos das quatro áreas são identificados. Os resultados foram usados para desenvolver uma matriz resumida das abordagens. Nossa via metodológica é indutiva e inferencial, pois a tarefa envolve a busca de semelhanças, complementaridades e sobreposições entre as quatro disciplinas de ciências sociais. Resultados – A literatura dos campos estudados se sobrepõe às questões que tentam entender, mesmo que não usem terminologia idêntica. As quatro áreas defendem o mesmo princípio na compreensão do campo organizacional: a complexidade. As empresas são incentivadas a realizar trocas com outras empresas. Contribuições – A contribuição teórica deste artigo baseia-se na ideia de que, embora os quatro campos de pesquisa – CGV, redes de negócios, estratégia e negócios internacionais – avancem de forma independente, origens comuns podem ser observadas, permitindo um conjunto de proposições comuns.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain how ecosystems and platforms have evolved to manage customer information and to identify the management, research and teaching implications of this evolution. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on research and industrial experience of two of the co-authors in customer relationship management, further developed with other co-authors in the field of business models, the research and teaching experience of the university authors and cross-functional literature reviews in the areas of strategy, marketing, economics, organizational behaviour and information management. Findings This paper shows that digitalization, cloud computing and new information-based platforms are beginning to change how customer information is being managed, creating new opportunities for improving marketing, customer relationship management and business strategy. Research limitations/implications The impact of platforms on the management of customer information needs to be confirmed by primary empirical research. Practical implications This paper identifies the need for senior marketing management to examine closely how internal and external/public customer information platforms may enhance their capability for managing customers and setting new strategic directions. Social implications The emergence of giant multi-sided platforms has clear implications for data protection and privacy, which need to be explored more in research. Originality/value This paper highlights the move to customer information platforms and identifies how senior managers should consider them as an option for better customer information management and as a basis for new business strategies.

European Smart Specialization (S3) policies aim to mobilize innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities and to deliver job creation and economic growth through inter-regional cooperation. The foundation principles for this policy initiative are an entrepreneurial discovery process that aims to mobilize all stakeholders throughout all stages from conception to strategy implementation; government-led policy initiatives for selecting strategic investment priorities; and building triple helix consensus space for regional policy and strategy implementation. However, the key existing gap resides in a proper investigation of such a consensus space that would fulfill the S3 mission. In this context, this paper outlines the key developments in regional innovation and entrepreneurship that have emerged through the process of S3 development and implementation. The discussion starts with an overview of the challenges and barriers and policy response for building place-based consensus space. We look at critical questions that are addressed by national and regional authorities and the localized mobilization of entrepreneurial and innovation capabilities. Our analysis of the regional innovation and entrepreneurial systems focuses on individual actors within the triple helix model of university-industry and government and their interaction for building a consensus space. We conclude the paper with recommendations for enhanced facilitation and orchestration of inter-regional value chains.

European Smart Specialization (S3) policies aim to mobilize innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities and to deliver job creation and economic growth through inter-regional cooperation. The foundation principles for this policy initiative are an entrepreneurial discovery process that aims to mobilize all stakeholders throughout all stages from conception to strategy implementation; government-led policy initiatives for selecting strategic investment priorities; and building triple helix consensus space for regional policy and strategy implementation. However, the key existing gap resides in a proper investigation of such a consensus space that would fulfill the S3 mission. In this context, this paper outlines the key developments in regional innovation and entrepreneurship that have emerged through the process of S3 development and implementation. The discussion starts with an overview of the challenges and barriers and policy response for building place-based consensus space. We look at critical questions that are addressed by national and regional authorities and the localized mobilization of entrepreneurial and innovation capabilities. Our analysis of the regional innovation and entrepreneurial systems focuses on individual actors within the triple helix model of university-industry and government and their interaction for building a consensus space. We conclude the paper with recommendations for enhanced facilitation and orchestration of inter-regional value chains.

Research at the intersection of industries, regions, cities, clusters and economic growth has populated the academic literature with new concepts such as placed-based policies and strategies. Place-based policy initiatives started with social policies that are trying to address issues of poverty, community development, or social services, enabling local actors to participate in policy development processes and to take greater control of their own destinies. Place-based policies usually evolve specific policy experiments which involve innovation and learning across multiple levels of government (Bradford, 2008)...

This paper reviews the leading scoring systems for measuring innovation capabilities on a global scale providing comparability across developed and developing countries. Each Index is introduced with its background, methodology, and how it reflects on different Triple Helix constituencies. The first OECD framework developed a methodology for measuring business-led innovation, justified with the mid-twentieth century scientific believe, that universities merely supply labour markets, and government is performing a regulatory role, influencing the environment. The World Bank framework on measuring the knowledge Economy brings in a stronger system view with the role of institutions and late 20th century believes. The EU Innovation Scoreboard, while using the OECD methodology and measures for R&D intensity, expands in the direction of enablers from the university education, public sector research, direct and indirect financial support, and the accumulation of broader economic effects from the innovation process. The Global Innovation Index adds little to this portfolio, but offers a simplified version of innovation inputs, outputs and intensity measure, enabling to extend the comparability across countries. Overall the evolution of innovation indexing is moving towards a recognition of the complex and dynamic realities of interactions between university science, business innovation and government investment in system-level policies and projects, but the measurement remains focused on individual helices.

This study aims to explore the relationship between research and development, innovation and economic growth of most innovative countries of the world, where innovation and economic growth are dependent variables and R&D, skills, technological innovation and economic structure are the independent variables. The data analysis is conducted using GMM dynamic panel estimations for finding the relationships among variable of the study for the period of 1990–2016 of the top five most innovative countries of the world. The findings of this study show that larger spending in research and developments, more skilled labour, the efficient economic structure of a country having more employment in industry and services sectors, a rapid increase in the technological innovation are the key factors that boost the innovation and economic growth of these countries. The existence of the strength of the relationship is however contingent country-specific socio-economic characteristics, which affect overall capacity of the country to transform research and development investments into innovation and ultimately into the economic growth of a country. The findings of this study are helpful for other countries which are on the way of innovation. The factors identified by this study are very helpful for governments, researchers and policymakers to pay attention to it for the purpose of creating a country innovative and eventually boosting the economic growth of a country.

This paper offers a synthesis of a new analytical procedure based on the complementary use of a large number of methods and techniques for categorisation of objects, pattern recognition and for structural analysis. It represents an example of a functional clustering [1] and an extension to the ‘posteriori methods’ for clusterisation [2]. We call this approach Multi-Stage Clustering (MSC), as it applies cluster analysis methods at three distinctive stages. We present the MSC and demonstrate its application to a business dataset of 275 multinational corporations (MNCs), aiming to address the inherent weaknesses of existing industrial classification tools designed to capture diversification of firms. We evaluate the outcomes from the MSC using a combination of complementary methods for structural analysis and data visualisation, such as multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), network mapping (NM) and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). The MSC is designed for the analysis of diversification patterns of MNCs, which can enable the measurement of group competitiveness and performance across these patterns, known as industry segments, or strategic industry groups (SIGs).

The present study aimed at verifying how different modes of governance structure are linked to different levels of interorganisational trust. Its theoretical grounding involves Transaction Cost Theory, which studies governance of interorganisational arrangements and research on trust in the business field. A descriptive and quantitative approach has been adopted to describe the relation between trust amongst business network participants and the mode of governance adopted by the surveyed networks. Hence, a detailed questionnaire has been employed, which was answered by 35 real estate agency managers, whose participation was directly linked to 11 business networks. By using Spearman methods of identification of non-parametric correlation and correspondence analysis, it was possible to verify that certain modes of governance structure associate with different levels of trust. Considering the scarcity of quantitative research on the theme, this paper contributes to the field by presenting results which point out that collectively-managed governance of regional cooperation networks is linked to high levels of trust; whereas governance of dispersed networks with the presence of a lead company are linked to low levels of trust. Medium levels of trust were observed in networks governed by an administrative organisation. Considering the practical aspect of administration in networks, one can conclude that the process of governance structure in such interorganisational arrangements should include deliberations about the influence of the adopted mode of governance on trust amongst participants. The paper does not allow generalizations of its conclusions beyond its chosen sample.

This research evaluates the perception of members regarding the value-creation actions offered by a cooperative and whether the characteristics of the member and cooperative affected this perception. A model to measure the perception of the value co-creation activities provided by the cooperative and member characteristics was created. The adopted methodology was a questionnaire and the Partial Least Square method. Value co-creation, professionalization of management, satisfaction and loyalty, and long-term time orientation of the member were measured based on the member's perception. The results demonstrate a significant association between satisfaction and loyalty and perception of value co-creation and a positive association between the long-term time horizon and the perception of value co-creation actions. In other words, perception of the benefits generated by the actions of the cooperative can be influenced by time orientation and level of satisfaction and loyalty. The main contribution is the creation of an instrument that measures the level of perception of value co-creation actions.

This paper introduces the rationale for the special issue and its contributions, which bridge the literature on regional development and the Triple Helix model. The concept of the Triple Helix at the sub-national, and specifically regional, level is established and examined, with special regard to regional economic development founded on innovation and research activities. The discussion on regional competitiveness lays the foundations for the exploration of contrasting environments, sectors and administrations. The authors offer a framework that captures the array of institutions, driving factors, players and powers active at the regional level. This introductory paper presents and summarizes the articles that follow, emphasizing their contribution to the literature. It shows how the various contributions exploit the Triple Helix model to analyse policy delivery at a regional level, and describes how other models and characterizations of interactions and collaborations between institutions are being associated with the Triple Helix concept, highlighting both their shortcomings and the way they enrich its application.

This conceptual paper contributes to the discussion of the role of regional government and regional Triple Helix constellations driving economic development and growth within regional boundaries. The impact of regionalism and subsidiarity on regional Triple Helix constellations, and the questions of governmentality, governance and institutional development at the regional level, were investigated. It is emphasized that the position of regional authorities in the structure of government and policy boundaries is best implemented at the regional level (the principles of regionalism and subsidiarity), and that localized policy practices represent a more precise view of government–industry– university interactions (the principle of governmentality). In addition, the regional Triple Helix context as a prerequisite for stakeholder engagement, enhancing innovation capabilities and entrepreneurial behaviour, was studied. The paper identifies the drivers behind regional competitiveness and economic development and investigates the positive externalities from strong Triple Helix constellations, as well as the impact of government support and institutionalized cooperation on value creation and value capture at the level of the locale. The paper offers a stylized model of the conditions for value creation and value capture, and presents a critical overview of the debates about the rationale for regional governments. Examples are drawn from Scotland, England and other, comparable parts of Europe.

The question of whether and how research quality should be measured, and the consequences of research audits such as the UK's Research Excellence Framework (REF) – formerly the RAE – are considered in relation to the role of journal ratings such as the Association of Business Schools Academic Journal Quality Guide (the ABS Guide). Criticism of the ABS Guide has distracted attention from the results of successive RAEs, where the panel for Business and Management has been one of the most selective in its allocation of the highest grades, especially when compared with the neighbouring field of Economics. If the ABS Guide had been used to grade outputs submitted for Business and Management in the RAE 2008 then many more outputs would have received the highest grades, especially in accounting where outputs from journals such as Critical Perspectives on Accounting, which are highly rated in the ABS Guide, appear to have been downgraded by the RAE panel. The alleged bias against accounting in the ABS Guide rests on a particular interpretation of citation impact factors for journals, and a narrow definition of subject fields. Critics of the ABS Guide would be better advised to direct their attention to scrutinizing the results of the REF and considering whether it provides an adequate research ranking for UK business schools. 15% of all full time students in the UK study business and management, including accounting and finance, but only 6.7% of the full time equivalent research active staff submitted in the RAE 2008 were in business and management, or accounting and finance. Research audits are therefore forcing the separation of teaching from research in UK business schools. With an estimated ratio of 71 full time students per research active faculty member in UK business schools, it may be time to consider a more appropriate, inclusive, and economical form of ranking for research in business and management.

The performance of clusters has been linked in several studies to their historical and geographical contexts as well as to the drivers that shape the competitive strength of nations. Among these drivers, the human factor and universities play a key role in the competitiveness of nations, as well as that of industries, regions, and firms. In the new knowledge economy, the Triple Helix model is a mechanism of coordination that brings together government, industry and universities. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the Triple Helix influence on the competitiveness factors of clusters as proposed by Zaccarelli, Telles, Siqueira, Boaventura, and Donnaire (2008). An analysis has been performed to verify how the Triple Helix axes influence the competitiveness factors of wine clusters by comparing the Chilean Valle del Maule to the Brazilian Serra Gaucha. The theoretical framework is that of the Triple Helix, coupled to Zaccarelli et al.’s (2008) model. The method employed was the multiple case study and data was collected from secondary sources. The main results indicate that only four out of Zaccarelli et al.’s (2008) eleven model factors of competitiveness are influenced by the three axes of the Triple Helix. The main contribution of this paper is to bring together the Triple Helix and competitiveness. There are nevertheless analytical and methodological constraints.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether formal and relational mechanisms of network governance act as substitutes or are complementary in their relationship with trust in the intermediation activity of real estate transactions. A quantitative research was conducted to test the hypotheses. Data was collected via a survey and the context was Brazilian real estate business networks. A non-parametric approach was used to investigate the associations among the key variables indicated in the theory. The results confirm the hypothesis that formal and relational mechanisms of network governance act as complementary and reject the possibility of substitution between them. Both mechanisms are important to build trust-based relationships between actors, and formal governance mechanisms have a significant positive relationship with interorganisational trust, while relational mechanisms are positively associated with interpersonal trust. This study not only contributes to the discussion of governance mechanisms and their relationship with trust, but also broadens this debate by considering trust at different levels and present in more complex structures where these relationships are still little explored, such as is the case of business networks.

The strategies for smart specialisation platform exhibits an extensive policy framework that aims at stirring regional development and economic growth through integrated efforts of public administration agencies, business leaders and university establishments. Essential elements of the platform are unique clusters of specialised business activities that generate employment and economic growth. The unique blend of cluster activities in each region is among the critical success factors for the longevity and vitality of business clusters. Clusters are focal points where interactions between industry, government and university take place. Yet, cluster research is still lacking coherent theoretical foundations and robust methodologies for comparative empirical investigation. Our research on the health technology cluster in the Greater South East of England (GSE) aims to fill this gap and to demonstrate the advantages of our methodology for cluster mapping and analysis. We engaged in mapping of the research and production activities within the health technology cluster, mapping of the value-chain relationships internalised within mature firms, performance analysis of strategic industry groups, mapping of the geographic distribution of commercial and research establishments and analysis of the pattern of distribution of public funds to centres of excellence in health technology research. We look at the health technology cluster in the GSE from the perspective of strategic management theory and particularly—decisions made by commercial establishments to diversify in particular segments of the health technology sector, decisions made by universities to develop knowledge potential in the health, medical and bio-technology fields and decisions made by the government and public bodies to fund centres of excellence in the region and to support bio-technology and medical research. Our case demonstrates that even under the umbrella of limited government intervention, markets and procurement strategies can drive cluster growth and development.

Research on sustainability and innovation-driven economic growth has exposed a lack of sufficient knowledge in the governance literature about the appropriate extent of government involvement. This paper focuses on the governance of innovation and the intermediary role of the state. The author synthesizes the literature on governance and regulation and introduces the concept of intermediation in the innovation process. The paper employs the Triple Helix model, which describes interactions and intermediation between government, industry and universities, and extends it by looking at the role played by intermediaries, including public and private institutions, government bodies and independent organizations. A new theoretical framework for the analysis of intermediation and the governance of innovation is developed and applied to four case studies of intermediaries in the health technology cluster in the Greater South East region of the UK. The empirical findings demonstrate the heuristics of the intermediation concept and the application of the intermediation framework.

PurposeThe paper discusses the new concept of “Multinational Investment Projects” (MIPs) and its application in the context of international business operations in China. The petrochemical industry in China is used as the industrial context in which we investigate the interplay between the Chinese government, which encourages growth and investment activities in the sector, and the multinational petrochemical firms competing for global market share in this sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper investigates the nature of the petrochemical value chain and the investment activities in all of its segments. Using an originally created database of the top 180 MIPs in the petrochemical industry in China and additional context information the business environment in China, the paper reviews the investment strategies of multinational petrochemical corporations, and discusses their strategic choices for mode of entry in China, geographic location and location within the value chain.FindingsThe overview of MIPs in the Chinese petrochemical industry confirms the theoretical expectations of the critical impact of Chinese Government policies. The paper explains the emerging shape of international competition in this sector of the Chinese economy.Originality/valueThe main contributions of this paper are the new conceptual framework for analysis of the drivers for strategic investment choices, the assembly of a database with the top 180 MIPs in the petrochemical industry in China, and the analysis of the relationships between the regional endowments, concentration of value‐chain activities and location choices by multinational firms from different countries of origin. The results demonstrate the factors that drive growth in a knowledge‐, technology‐ and capital‐intensive sector.

Victoria de Grazia’s book is at the centre of two related debates in innovation studies.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

This paper examines the arguments raised by scholars on the comparative advantages of the stock-market capitalism and Anglo-American ‘shareholder’ system for corporate governance and the ‘relational-insider’ system of the welfare capitalism in Germany and Japan, and whether the ‘superiority’ of the former may be based on false assumptions of the sources for productivity growth and managerial efficiency. It is an established fact in the literature that specific governance relations exist in different markets, and the mechanisms for financing and co-ordination of business operations and control of assets and resources are shaped by the local institutional environment. The modern corporation in its present organisational form is a multinational enterprise that in most cases controls assets in multiple markets, and is therefore tied in contractual relationships with local governments, suppliers, customers, and institutions beyond the reach of its home governance structure. The adversarial competitive relationships in one market are not replicated in another, where different context of the competitive environment applies. The paper offers two cases of corporate networks (the Japanese Keiretsu and Sogo Sosha ) that differ from the multidivisional form (M-form) of organisation. The analysis of the cases tests some of the premises established in the corporate governance debate and leads to conclusions that governance, control and co-ordination mechanisms focused on interdependent relationships and optimisation strategies generate a specific advantages in the value-creation process.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to engage in a comprehensive review of the research on strategic alliances in the last decade.Design/methodology/approachAfter presenting a typology of diverse alliance governance forms, reviews recent analyses of alliance formation, implementation management, and performance outcomes of collaborative activities.FindingsStrategic alliances developed and propagated as formalized interorganizational relationships. These cooperative arrangements represent new organizational formation that seeks to achieve organizational objectives better through collaboration than through competition.Practical implicationsThe paper provides future research directions on partner selection, networks patterns and processes, understanding the integration in alliances through fusion, fission, and how to manage developmental dynamics.Originality/valueConcludes with some future directions for theory construction and empirical research.

Our study aims to analyze the relation between the insertion of cluster firms into global value chains (GVC) and the cluster competitiveness. For this purpose, we developed a model on cluster compe...

This paper examines the main theoretical frameworks for analysis comparative cultural attitudes. A critical discussion of the work by Kluckhohn Strodtbeck, Hofstede and Trompenaars leads to a new theoretical approach for study the national cultural attitudes and norms of behaviour. A methodology based on research is designed to compare the 'internalized' norms of behaviour with 'perceived' norms. Two different but complementary techniques are applied to a sample of Polish students to investigate Polish cultural attitudes using Hofstede's dimensions. Significant discrepancy is found between what people perceive communicate in public as the 'national cultural norm', and what they have internalized cultural attitude and norm of behaviour. The findings from this exploratory research indicate that there are different levels of internalization of cultural attitudes, and respondents express different cultural values in response to different research tools.

This research addresses the question of whether the rise of blogs as a rich information source may create new opinion leaders that transform and challenge the traditionally held public views on drugs and European health care. We investigate blogs that discuss issues related to European health care and European pharmaceuticals for a selected 6 month period. In our approach of the blog space, we take a sociological perspective and design a multistage methodology for data collection and data analysis that differs from the traditionally used crawling techniques by computer scientists.

Complexity of the organizations has created an immense diversity of approaches for research and consultancy. Based on a review of previous work, proposes a new theoretical model for organizational analysis which examines three levels of organizational consultancy. The first level is the level of business organization. The second level focuses on the internal management and organization of resources. The third level examines the individuals and the human behaviour at work. Presents the situational analysis in organization as an evaluation procedure allowing in‐depth analysis of problems in work situations. The ultimate goal of this procedure is to enable consultants to map out the key elements for evaluation in work situations and to test existing relationships between different factors considered in organizational re‐design. The proposed methodology has been developed as part of a consultancy project based on participant observation and conducted by the author in Bulgaria in 1988.

This article provides a critical review of the Socialist Management System with a profile of management practices in the centrally planned economies in Eastern Europe. It draws on the work by Komai and Chavance, exploring the economic reforms in Eastern Europe pre-1989 and the typical management behaviour in response to administrative changes in that time. The profile of the Socialist Management System is compared with the changes in management practices in the construction industry in Bulgaria in 1994-95. The comparative analysis includes two case studies one state firm 'Metal Design and one private firm !Apolos ' representing the changes in management under the pressure of market reforms.

We investigate the relational dynamics in supply chains focused on three questions. The first question relates to the initial strategic choices of suppliers; the second relates to the impact of interactions between buyers and suppliers, or how suppliers manage buyer's initiative; the third relates to the pre-requisites to forming successful supplier networks such as the enablers and inhibitors factors to strategic integration of the supply chain, or other context factors affecting suppliers networks. This paper builds upon business network theory and an extensive empirical research on two cases of supply chain networks. Our theoretical framework for the comparative case research derives from the conceptualisation of relational dynamics and the impact of individual strategies employed by relational partners to manage the evolution of the exchange [35]. Our conclusions confirm that stronger strategic alignment, resource integration and intensive knowledge transfer facilitate more successful supply networks.

PurposeThe paper seeks to explore Kant's formulations on universal good will, perfect moral order, and universal peace, and the notion that the world's citizenship should be organised in a federated system of states, free to choose their own universal laws.Design/methodology/approachThis theoretical discussion is pursued in two separate sections. The first section reviews leading regulation theories that explain how governments in their decision‐making capacity engage in regulation at macro‐level of the entire socio‐economic system. The second section follows from this argument and discusses the governance theory and alternative governance mechanisms designed and employed by governments to manage the strategic behaviour of the individual economic actors at mezzo‐ and micro‐level of contract relationships.FindingsThe paper discusses some of the current theories that underpin the analysis and interpretation of public administration practice, or public governance in different socio‐economic systems. The paper looks at some of the dominant postulates of regulation and governance, and question to what extent they can be accepted as universal principles in line with Kant's argumentation. Different types of governance mechanisms are compared and contrasted in the context of strategic actors such as: the public government as a regulating authority and the firms as regulated economic actors.Originality/valueThe argument in this paper is that governments as regulators of national socio‐economic systems are strategic actors in their capacity to actively shape the regulatory environment, implementing various coordination mechanisms that facilitate the functioning of the economy and the society. The paper attempts to make some ethical judgements on market imperfections and government imperfections in line with Kant's concept of universal moral order.

The hypothesis behind this research was that the rise of blogs as a rich information source may provide a challenge to the traditionally held view of a ‘key opinion leader’ in the drugs and health public domain. We have employed network analysis methods to determine the emergent connectivity in the self-publishing domain of the internet (known as blogs), the referral links between individual blogs, and the semantic context of blog text. The results reveal that inspite of high volume of blogs, only a small number are interlinked, and the emerging network configuration is a small core component with a large number of dyads, or short tails. The public opinion broadcasted in blogs shows differentiation related to specific health issues or pharmaceutical companies. Our findings support the conclusion that inspite of the high technical connectivity provided by the search engines and internet crawling tools, social connectivity is limited.

What is missing in the literature on industrial clusters is the quantitative and empirical statement of the network structure of industrial cluster. In order to further the research of the structure of cooperative and coordinated relations among all kinds of organizations in cluster, the paper presents a research design which employs some quantitative measures and mapping tools from the theory of social network analysis. Using the cluster of electrical equipment and component manufacturing cluster in Liu Shi town, Yue Qing city in Zhe Jiang province in China as a pratical example, the paper mappes and measures the network structure of this cluster and discusses the disequilibrium and variability are important structure properties of interfirm networks. The research also presents the interaction and integration of social network and economic network in the typical Chinese industrial clusters.

This paper aims to engage the relational perspective in network theory into analysis of the dynamics of networking. After reviewing a number of concepts that map the emergence and evolution of business network relationships, the paper proposes a model with the leading relational dimensions that frame transactions and exchanges in business networks. The evolution of business network relationships is explained with decisions and choices made by individual actors in a context of resource constraints and opportunities. The paper distinguishes between human and non-human actors and we accept objects (technologies and cultural artifacts) as actors in heterogeneous networks. Each relationship is framed by eleven leading relational dimensions or relational properties that can be used for comparisons across dyadic business relationships, or for projecting relational outcomes in a network context. Finally we employ an extended framework of the Actors-Resources-Activities model by Hakansson & Johanson (1993) to explain the evolution and dynamics of the business relationship through interconnected activities and resource flows, where overlapping interests of business actors produce shared resource flows and network activities. This model demonstrates the multiplexity of network relationships and the need for multi-level analysis of business networks.

“Crossing the river by touching stones” (- Deng Xiaoping, speaking of the reform policy.) This paper describes the history of the Petrochemical industry in China after the Second World War. Analysis of the political foundations for the regulatory policies that shaped the industry is followed by a detailed review of the role and responsibilities of various government bodies in the decision making process. The paper refers to the three fundamental political decisions in China, related to the political system, the macroeconomic policy, and the crude oil prices. A critical analysis of the price reforms in the 90’s, and the alterations in the corporate structure and the distribution system, leads to conclusions on the effectiveness of regulatory policies at different stages of planned industrial development.

This paper examines networks as structures of relationships between heterogeneous actors. The heterogeneity of actors refers to business organisations, individuals within them, institutions, technologies and other artefacts that participate in the development of business projects, or in supplier networks. A business project is considered to be any business activity related to production, distribution, or accumulation of resources, including tangible and intangible assets, knowledge, shared meaning and values. The paper attempts to conceptualise also the heterogeneity of processes in business networks, such as: enrolment and network construction, ‘translation’ and the normative activities within networks, competition, co-operation, selection and ‘displacement’ of other members, as well as repositioning through strategic behaviour. This intra-organisational dynamics is analysed in the context of structural characteristics of the network, such as: configuration, size, density, cohesion, connectedness, range, multiplexity, and heterogeneity, structural autonomy, structural equivalence, and the division of labour within business networks. The intra-organisational dynamics in our analysis emerges as a result of all co-operative and competitive efforts of the network members in fulfilling their contracts and pursuing their interests. The relational dynamics within networks is determined therefore by the position of the actors, by the contracts between them, by their individual interests and preferences, and their knowledge of the preferences of the others. The endogenous structural characteristics of the network not only determine the network dynamics, but lead to self-regulation and self-coordination activities, that increase further the division of labour within a business network.

The aim of this paper is to look at the results from the mass privatisation in Bulgaria as one of the basic pillars of structural reform. A database from the first wave of the mass privatisation was used for the secondary analysis of the investment strategies of the Bulgarian privatisation funds. We grouped the 82 Privatisation Funds registered in Bulgaria in 4 groups according to their invested capital: Large Funds, Medium, Small and Micro Funds, and we analysed their investment strategies, employed during the three auctions for mass privatisation. Particular attention was paid on the analysis of their industrial and locational participation, along with their interest in firms of different size and varying control opportunities. A typology of privatised firms by size, main shareholders, market share and industries reveals a complex picture of restructuring of ownership and industrial linkages. Special attention is placed on the analysis of the use of specific financial instruments, such as privatisation bonds. Our comparrison of the mass-privatisation programmes in Poland, the Czeck Republic, Russia and Bulgaria reveils similarities and unique features in each country.

This paper represents a comparative analysis of seventeen case studies from Central and Eastern Europe, selected from different published sources. The analysis of these business cases is used to highlight the typical strategic responses of firms to the unstable business environment in the region. It is argued in the paper that the transition to market economy is accompanied by multiple business risks to firms, and these risks have obstructed the adjustment, re-positioning, and restructuring of firms and their business networks. Our selection of cases demonstrates the strategic attempts by firms to transform their relationships not only with buyers and suppliers, but also with foreign partners, financial institutions, and governmental bodies. As a result of our comparative analysis, a new typology of business networks is developed, including transformed business networks, and newly established business networks.

This paper builds upon the advancements in structural analysis (Wellman and Berkowitz, eds. 1988), network analysis (Nohria & Eccles, eds. 1992, Knoke and Guilarte, 1994), and a range of Economic, management, and strategy theories, that have discussed the behaviour of interlinked economic agents. We discuss the nature of the business actors and the factors that determine their behaviour in interconnected chains. The preferences, goal setting, and decision making of economic actors are critical in terms of how they position in relational context, and how they control and manipulation of the external and the internal environments. We look at different strategic behaviour such as: accumulation of heterogeneous resources, minimising costs and maximising payoffs and benefits, bargaining and negotiating contracts, co-operating and forming coalitions, acquiring and maintaining power, mimicry and normative compliance. Entrepreneurship and initiation of new transactions and contacts are examples of network behaviour that lead to the self-co-ordination of the network vs. the strategic coordination by a co-ordination agency.

This paper discusses the enterprise behaviour that was observed in the economies in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period. It analyses the factors that determine the company performance particularly relating to government policies, industrial structures and managerial strategies for survival. As a result of our comparative analysis of published cases, a classification of the firms responces is proposed. It includes three main groups: a) 'transformed business networks,' b) 'newly established business networks,' and c) 'firms unable to transform their business networks.' In addition, the companies' linkages are grouped into national and international networks following Stephen Young's classification of international modes of market entry.

The theoretical conceptualisation of management has produced a vast number of categories that have been used to underpin a variety of interpretative frameworks. This paper is a continuation of the efforts to create management models as simplified representations of the reality and as comprehensive cognitive maps (Todeva, 1996). An attempt is made to reconcile different paradigms and to establish a conceptual framework for management system analysis. The model is used to interpret the changes in management practices in Bulgaria during the period of economic and political transformation.

This paper discusses the mechanisms of corporate governance in a centrally planned economy, following Kornai’s classical work on the Socialist system. We evaluate the role of different co-ordination mechanisms used in central and east European countries. A critical analysis of the five co-ordination mechanisms proposed by Kornai (bureaucratic, market, self-governing, ethical and family co-ordination) reveals well established institutions in East European societies and their failure to facilitate efficient economic transactions. A model of corporate governance in a socialist economy is proposed. An examination of managerial strategies in the centrally planned economies considers the dynamic system of negotiation and bargaining between firms and governmental agencies that characterised the system in the past. The uncertainty of outcomes of these former negotiation practices is compared with the uncertainty of the business environment during the current transition period. A thorough discussion of the elements of business environment in transition economies is based on the work of Frydman and Rapaczynski (1994), which highlights the contradictions in the effort of governments to design markets. The macro-economic instability as a result of these efforts is discussed as a major factor in determining firms’ strategic responses. Business risks in Central and Eastern Europe are compared with business risks in developed market economies. Intra- and inter-firm dependency on resources and information is highlighted as an important factor determining managerial strategies and relationships. The concept of business networks is introduced as a strategic solution to high risk, uncertainty and dependency. The evolution of business networks is linked with the former professional and political structures, used as a vehicle for information supply, influence on decisions, and the control of behaviour. The vertical subordination in decision making and the top control of information from the past, has generated a framework for the establishment of new co-operative relations. A secondary analysis of published business case studies from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania is conducted. Some of the findings show that the main risks that companies face are related to inadequate information, rapid changes with uncertain implications, lack of (or inability to identify) alternative solutions and contradictory objectives that have to be satisfied. The co-operative strategies of managers aim to increase the information supply about market opportunities, and to secure financial resources from government funds or banks. These strategies are facilitated by former links and relationships but are applied at the cost of reaffirming former dependencies.