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The growing number of Science and Technology Parks (STPs) worldwide has generated lively debates among scholars. Among them, the positive emphasize the role of STPs in technology transfer and development of new ventures, while the skeptics consider STPs merely as real estate operations. Recent research has investigated the functions, the drivers and critical factors for STPs development. These studies seem to neglect the effects of interaction among actors inside and outside the park on the park development. In general, how STPs form and develop remain unexplored. The purpose of this paper is to explore the formation of Bioindustry Park located near Turin in Italy between 2004 and 2010 describing the change over time in the main actors involved in the different phases of STP’s formation, their aims, the resources brought in, and the outcomes of their interactions. Our study finds out the underlying conditions that lead to the park’s formation and suggests rethinking the role of the park’s management

Purpose – This paper is aimed at integrating literature on S-D L with the interaction approach by IMP, in order to elaborate a model for representing business interaction in S-D Logic. A particular attention is devoted to the interactive and networked nature of value creation (Gummesson, 2006; Vargo & Lusch, 2008; Cova & Salle, 2008) and to the pivotal role of interactions in reciprocal value-creating processes (Gronroos, 2007; Gronroos & Ravald, 2009). Methodology/approach – Empirically we investigate the Edenred case, the global leader in the meal vouchers service. Edenred expertise in delivering end-to-end solutions for rewards, compensations, incentives, assistance and loyalty programs for employers and citizens is widely recognized worldwide. Through a longitudinal study of Edenred, we focus how actors, activities and resources evolved through the years and identify the main implications in terms of business interaction features according to a service-centered logic. Findings – Results of our study shows that combining recent advancements in the service-centered logic of marketing with the interaction model developed in the industrial network framework (Hakansson et al., 2009), provide a further understanding of interaction processes in service networks. In particular, the case study shows that when the model is applied to a service network context, new dimensions emerge, offering further specifications of the ones presented in the IMP interaction model . Research implications – The study both contributes to literature on service networks (Ford et al., 2009) and on business interaction according to the industrial network approach, especially considering that the interaction model has been mainly derived from observations of relationships between manufacturing firms. Practical implications – In-depth understanding of the features of interaction processes in time and space could support managers in identifying the critical areas for value creation, and how these

The debate around actors‘ network pictures, defined as the cognitive representations of managers‘ business surroundings, has rapidly grown in the latest years. Notwithstanding the increasing interest shown by scholars, some critiques toward network pictures have been also posed, especially with respect to the doubtful utility of knowing how managers interpret the business surrounding. These doubts have been nurtured by the fact that no research existed until now on the relationship between network pictures and the behavior of business actors, i.e. their networking strategies. In this research direction, recently Corsaro et al. (2011) have conducted an experiment with 445 managers in order to show that a correlation exists between certain relevant network pictures characteristics and actors‘ networking strategic decisions. Notwithstanding its originality, this study has two main limitations: first it considers managers as undertaking decisions in isolation rather than collectively and second it tests only the relationship between network pictures and networking strategies leaving out the contrary. The purpose of this paper is therefore address these to limitations by understanding if and how specific pertinent network picture characteristics - namely power and dynamic- are associated with different collective behavioral choices, i.e. collective networking strategies (Hoffman, 2007‘s model). To accomplish this purpose, we carried out an experiment involving 168 experienced managers, divided in 86 groups of two participants each. This study provides important indications on the relevance of network pictures in addressing the decisions of managers in interaction, especially compared to individual decision making processes. Also, it highlights the impact of networking strategies when actors have the same or heterogeneous views of the business surrounding, their perceptions about the other party‘ views (i.e. cross understanding) and the level of agreement with the collect

This paper is aimed at exploring how relationship value can be conceptualized in the context of market practices. Recent research on value has highlighted the importance of how actors‘ interpret and frame value, i.e. value representations. It is evident that value representations are pivotal for value creation processes in business relationships. Surprisingly, however, the two streams of literature remained unrelated; there is no research, neither theoretical nor empirical, which attempted to establish a connection among them. In a parallel stream of research debate around market practices- exchange, representational and normalizing practices - and their role in shaping markets, is growing rapidly. Eventhough, attention has been devoted more on the practices that contribute to create shared ideas of market, i.e. representational practices, rather than to representations in themselves. In this paper we integrate the two streams of literature on relationship value and market practices in order to provide an explanation of value related processes in business network. Empirically we studied the case of the formation of a new actor, a distributor, in the ICT Security industry. In order to explore the different actors‘ value representations and the value practices involved in the formation of the new actor, we carried out 17 interviews with vendors, distributors, system integrators, resellers and final customers. We also attended a meeting where the two main actors involved in the project discussed the setting of the new distributor. We find out that to explain value creation in networks both value practices and value representations should be jointly considered, due to mutual influences between them. It follows that market practices literature should take much more into account the role representations along with practices in the formation of markets and literature on value should better understand how actors‘ representations of value are linked to practices aimed at val

A growing body of scholars are advocating a better understanding of how value is created in innovation networks, i.e. the configurations of strategic entrepreneurial nets aimed at improving the effectiveness of innovation performance. However, research that explicitly connects value considerations with innovation network configurations is still in its infancy, with empirical evidence being notably scarce. This study is aimed at identifying if and how network configurations affect value constellation aspects in business networks. We interviewed key informants representing 46 high-technology entrepreneurial firms co-located in an innovation network (Daresbury Science and Technology Park - UK). We identify that different network configurations can co-exist in the same overall network; these, nevertheless, are not alternative independent structures, but rather they interact with each other through actors spanning their boundaries. Our study thus provides an understanding of network configurations relating to specific value consequences, but also provides evidence relating to the interactions between different configurations.

Innovation has seen a considerable increase of academic and managerial interest over the last decades, with more and more scholars and managers recognizing its importance. Similarly, a growing interest in the role of business relationships and networks can also be observed. The concept of innovation networks (INs) is positioned at the interface of these two trends. At the base of its development is the awareness that to reach better success rates, companies ought to utilize relationships with others as part of their key innovation activities. However, research on INs does not provide enough insights on the interplay between the processes of organizing for interaction and the development and implementation of innovation in networks. To cover this research gap, an exploratory case study research was conducted, which analyses two service innovations in a district within a municipality of a North European country. Our study shows that the development and implementation of an innovation will depend more on the actors’ perceptions of the network rather than on the planned structure of the interaction system. The way actors behave in interaction, based on their perceptions and interpretations, is particularly relevant for the organizing process and effectiveness of change processes; it follows that the network structure appears to be more an outcome of the innovation process rather than its determinant. By grasping how communication influences actors’ subjective perceptions, the study also sheds light on the relevant role of communication in the processes of organizing for innovation in networks, also highlighting the critical link between the internal organizational structure of each actor and the process of organizing within a network.

A growing body of scholars are advocating a better understanding of how value is created in business networks, rather than merely in business relationships or at the level of single actors. Among such networks, innovation networks, i.e. the configurations of strategic entrepreneurial nets aimed at improving the effectiveness of innovation performance, have come under scrutiny in the business marketing literature. However, research that explicitly connects value considerations with innovation network configurations is still in its infancy, with empirical evidence being notably scarce. This study is aimed at identifying if and how network configurations affect value constellation aspects in business networks, in terms of value recipients and value outcomes. We interviewed key informants representing 46 high-technology entrepreneurial firms co-located in an innovation network (Daresbury Science and Technology Park - UK). Our study identifies that different network configurations can co-exist in the same overall network; these, nevertheless, are not alternative independent structures, but rather they interact with each other through actors spanning their boundaries. Our study thus provides an understanding of network configurations relating to specific value consequences, but also provides evidence relating to the interactions between different configurations. By doing this, we establish a bridge between a business marketing and a strategy perspective on value in networks. Important managerial implications and implications for policy makers also emerge from our study.

n sales management literature different orientations of sales managers have been explored: hard selling, up-selling, consultative selling, relationship selling, customer-oriented selling, adaptive selling, among others. All of them share the idea that salesmen should act in order to satisfactorily meet and match the customer expectations and desires. However an in depth understanding of how sales managers interpret and frame this ―matching‖ with customers‘ needs/requirements is still missing. For such a reason, in this paper we will integrate the concepts of alignment and misalignment in sales management literature, in order to investigate if and how sales managers‘ interpretations of alignment and misalignment toward customers affect their orientation. This integration seems to be relevant, for a series of reasons. The first is that there is a growing body of literature in business to business marketing which asserts that managers‘ interpretations are relevant and strongly interlinked with their behaviors. Second, recent research is affirming that alignment and misalignment states may have an impact on the relationship development. Third, some scholars, even if indirectly, have started to implement the concept of alignment in the context of business relationships. In this paper we want to move the attention from how sales managers behave (their orientation), to how they think and interpret their relationships with customers. In this study we will adopt a multi-methods multi-stages approach. First of all we analyzed written narratives by 60 sales managers operating in Poland in order to investigate the meaning of alignment and misalignment, their objects (content), the effects as in the sales managers‘ perspectives and their dynamicity. This exploratory phase has addressed a second one, during which we interviewed 30 sales managers operating in Poland and in Italy, 15 for each Country.

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The interest in the concept of value is high in both economics and management studies. In marketing in particular the diffusion of a relational view of markets has lead to a renewed debate on value creation. The present argument is that value in this context is phenomenological and interactional. However, even though there is an agreement among scholars that value perceptions matter for the behaviour of actors, both individuals and firms, the notion of value seems to remain ambiguous. Specifically, it is not clear how value perceptions emerge. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for analysis of value formation which builds on the value perceptions and interpretations. Drawing on empirical observations of how actors perceive value elements in btob and btoc service markets we discuss the concept of value as a mental experience that results from framing the context of action and propose a conceptual framework for modelling value formation.

Interaction is becoming more and more a central concept in service research, both in business to consumer and in business to business. Scholars recognize interaction as the key process for transferring value between customers and suppliers, and also in the broader network in which they are embedded. However, notwithstanding the numerous attempts to define and describe interaction in service research, a clear modeling of what interaction is, especially in service networks, lacks. This paper is aimed to understand how interaction between actors occurs in service networks and which are the main implications deriving from it. The study integrates insights from the service-centered logic of marketing with the interaction model developed in the industrial network framework (Ford et al., 2008; Hakänsson et al. 2009). Empirically, it analyzes in depth the service network of Accor Services, a leading global company expert in delivering end-to-end solutions for rewards, compensations, incentives and loyalty programs to employers and citizens; many interviews have been carried out with the main actors of the network. Results of our study shows on one side that a further understanding of interaction processes in service networks can be obtained by applying the interaction model to these contexts; on the other side this model can be better characterized when looking at service network contexts. In doing this, our study both contributes to the debate on service networks and develops the idea of interaction as in the industrial network approach.

In this study we will discuss the interaction capability concept in order to catch the complex features of business interaction in business relationships. The aim of our study is to understand how interaction capabilities emerge and develop in business relationships.

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Il saggio analizza l'evoluzione del ruolo del venditore nelle imprese italiane

There is considerable evidence that in business markets relationships matter. Firms tend to depend on a limited number of relationships to customers and suppliers. Coping in these involves costs but relationships can result in significant benefits. That has lead to the great effort recently put by scholars in conceptualizing and assessing the “value” of business relationships. Yet, the conceptualizations of relationship value remain elusive and their impact on the practice has only been limited. In this paper we return to the concept of relationship value. We report results from two studies of value perceptions by customer and suppliers in the ICT Security market. On bases of these we argue that value judgments by the parties involved are situation specific, subjective and changing as interaction between the parties unfolds and their context perceptions evolve. Consequently we argue that the main factor of the perceived relationship value is the cognitive elaboration by the parties involved rather than the actual characteristics of the relationships and their content.

There are no doubts that change processes in business networks have been of growing interest by both academicians and managers. Notwithstanding the consolidated body of literature and the richness of perspectives through which the phenomenon has been analysed, there is no agreement on how and why change occurs in business networks. The impression is that the attention has been more on the search for external or internal change drivers, rather than on the change processes. This study provides evidences of the interactive nature of change as actors perceptions and interpretations of both problems and solutions modify in time. It also sheds some light on the role of actors explanations of changes rather than the drivers which are supposed to cause them.

During the last three decades, different models of portfolio analysis have been proposed in the business-to-business marketing literature, each of which promotes its own level of aggregation, perspective of analysis, and context of application. Nevertheless, portfolio analyses have not experienced much diffusion in business practice, mainly due to their excessive simplicity (which could make them meaningless) or their high level of complexity (which could make them useless). Analysing literature on both portfolio and relationship value, we discuss the conceptual basis underlying the creation of a portfolio in relationship value perspective as well as the consequences on portfolio, theorising about the possibilities that arise from the situational, interdependent, and dynamic nature of the value of business relationships. These features may explain why the portfolio concern has had a relatively small following in managerial practices.

Numerous empirical studies have highlighted the economic consequences of customer-supplier relation- ships, particularly those in business markets, as such relationships give rise to various costs and benefits for the companies involved. These costs and benefits have spurred an effort to conceptualise and assess the value of business relationships. The growing amount of literature on the issue of relationship value contains several interpretations of value with some marked differences. However, the interest in this topic seems to be ebbing and, despite all the efforts, the concept of the relationship value has had little follow- ing in practice. By reporting the findings of a bilateral in-depth study of fourteen buyer-seller relation- ships in the business security market, this study captures the dimensions of relationship value as it is per- ceived by both suppliers and customers. The conclusion is that, if the conceptualisation and assessment of relationship value are to be advanced, the actors’ perspectives and the time dimension of relationships, both of which have been undervalued in past research, should be taken into account.

There is substantial evidence that relationships matter, both in b-to-c and in b-to-b markets. Recognizing the relational nature of markets leads to some problems in the conceptualizing of value creation. S-D Logic emphasizes the centrality and complexity of value co-creation. If value is idiosyncratic and is always determined by the beneficiary, we need a more developed value concept that takes into account the role of interdependence and interaction. In this paper we address some issues on value in business markets that may contribute to develop a more robust conceptual framework. We have chosen business markets as in these relationships for the parties are amplified. We report findings from a study of 25 key informants involved as customers or suppliers in 14 relationships. The study was aimed at identifying various elements that actors claimed to be of value when dealing with each other in the ICT Security business. We provide evidences on the relativity, subjectivity, dynamicity and context dependent nature of value creation, which should be accounted for when we conceptualize the interactional value creation.

The concept of value has been studied from many different perspectives within economics and business management studies. Literature on value can be traced back to the areas of strategy, of organisational behaviour, of finance, of bookkeeping, and even of marketing. Particularly, studies on value verification have a long tradition in business marketing contexts, but they have mainly focused on the value of tangible goods, leaving out relationship dimensions. In the last years, this limit has partly been gone over with the introduction of the relationship value construct and the consequent revival of the interest in the concept of value. But despite the recent attention by scholars in this area and the growing body of literature, there is no shared view about its definition and a generally accepted conceptualisation of its dimensions. Starting from these premises, this paper aims at understanding what relationship value consists of both for customers and suppliers and how it can be represented. As for methodology 8 dyads and 3 triads (25 in-depth interviews) in the ICT Security Industry have been analysed. The output is the identification of the Relationship Value Areas model, within which a business relationship can be positioned on the basis of the desired, perceived and generated value by actors.

Retailers’ sustainability, although being an extremely topical issue, does not seem to have been fully examined yet, neither as regards its conceptualization, nor with reference to the dynamics which distinguish its sustainable actions. Despite the extreme heterogeneity of the definitions and interpretations related to the concept of sustainability, this dimension does not seem sufficiently investigated in the supply chain. In this regard, retailers are acquiring a critical position in the value chain, as actors in charge of transferring material flows and also concepts and values related to the offer. For these reasons, a sustainable dimension is no longer a possible option but becomes an inescapable perspective for these operators, an active stand in the supply chain in terms of capability to orientate sustainable development policies. In literature several are the approaches to the analysis of the sustainability issue: determinants, motivations, operation methods, implications on the company’s image and on purchase behaviours. However, few are the contributions which aim at investigating this issue from a management perspective, with particular reference to retail companies. Considering such aspects, this paper aims at understanding the meaning of sustainability according to retail operators and how it affects business actions, focusing both on the influence of sustainability on the adopted business formula and on the supply chain dimension. On a methodological level, exploratory research was carried out in a sample of retailers, completed by three case studies concerning three leading retailing companies.

The concept of value has been studied from many different perspectives within economics and business management studies. Literature on value can be traced back to the areas of strategy, of organisational behaviour, of finance, of bookkeeping, and even of marketing. According to Anderson and Narus (1999; 2004), value «is one of the cornerstones of business market management», and with reference to the importance that the theme of value holds within the branch of industrial marketing, it has not been properly analysed thoroughly yet both as far as the meaning of the word is concerned and the way in which it is produced, transferred, consumed and, at the same time, perceived by actors. This limit was partly gone over with the introduction of the concept of relationship value and with attempts of value measurement which took into account also relationship dimensions as well as more traditional ones concerning exchange and transaction. Starting from these premises, this paper aims at understanding what relationship value represents both for customers and suppliers and how it can be represented. As for methodology 8 dyads and 3 triads (25 in-depth interviews) in the ICT Security Industry have been analysed. The paper is the result of a comparison between a literature review on relationship value and the evidences coming from the empirical study. The output is the identification of a Relationship Value Areas model, within which a business relationship can be positioned on the basis of desired, perceived and generated value concepts.

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The chapter analyses and discusses most important models used to study customer satisfaction and customer value in business markets. It then stresses points of strength and points of weaknesses of each of them and debates how to overcome difficulties in their implementation in business markets.

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La complessità d’impresa e di mercato risulta una delle tematiche attualmente più dibattute sia a livello accademico, che nella pratica di management. Se per un verso si riscontra un certo allineamento tra le diverse definizioni e accezioni proposte in letteratura, legate in particolare alla varietà e variabilità degli elementi considerati, per il verso opposto rimangono ancora numerosi quesiti aperti circa le modalità più efficaci per gestirla. Le realtà con cui l’impresa entra quotidianamente in contatto presentano infatti esigenze e peculiarità differenti. La varietà di prodotti, clienti, concorrenti, fornitori, tecnologie e processi ha portato ad un aumento esponenziale del livello di complessità tale da rendere i modelli del passato inadeguati a rappresentarla e gestirla. A ciò si aggiunge l’interdipendenza, la reciproca connessione causale secondo cui un fenomeno è legato a molti altri (Vicari, 1991). Con tali presupporti ci si prefigge di indagare il ruolo delle relazioni di impresa come fattore generatore e, al contempo, espressione della complessità ambientale. Perseguendo l’obiettivo di indagare gli effetti della complessità sulla struttura dei mercati e delle imprese, verranno analizzate le diverse forme collaborative (consorzi, network, alleanze strategiche...) e le loro determinanti. L’effetto di tali fenomeni contrapposti verrà studiato attraverso una review bibliografica e lo sviluppo di case histories.

In contexts characterized by a high level of complexity the individual strategy of a company is overcome by cooperative agreements (Teece, 1989), that express the growing necessity for a collective strategy and for conjoint strategic action. Every relationship is interconnected in a complex way and each node of the network develops interactions with other companies in order to exchange information, share experience and develop the properties of their own resources. Among their resources knowledge plays a key role. Knowledge is considered the strategic asset of a company (Grant, 1996); it is the result of the collaborative behaviour of companies and it cannot be created in isolation. Through interaction, the accumulation of knowledge based on the strategy and history of a company can be integrated with other companies’ knowledge and experience. In this perspective a close relationship between knowledge and innovation emerges: complementary knowledge is required to breed innovative ideas for products and services. In complex, dynamic and uncertain contexts, particularly, collaboration capability plays an important role as strategic asset, as it helps companies create and transfer knowledge in order to innovate, thus improving economic performance (Miles et al. 2000, 2004). Collaboration among actors could also compensate companies that try to innovate from a technological point of view without the necessary technological resources (Tyler, 2001). Starting from these considerations, the aim of this working paper is to understand if, and at what conditions, knowledge sharing can generate innovation in networks. Two industries characterized by a high level of complexity, uncertainty and dynamism have been chosen for this study: the industries of Teledomotics and ICT Security. This study highlights that, when competition is considered more important than cooperation, trust and commitment, facilitating communication flows and inter firms information exchange, don’t represen

Il capitolo propone un modello di portafoglio basato sulle relazioni quale evoluzione dei più tradizionali modelli di portafoglio clienti

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