Performance measurement and management in a collaborative network

This study concerns performance measurement and management in a collaborative network. Collaboration between companies has been increased in recent years due to the turbulent operating environment. The literature shows that there is a need for more comprehensive research on performance measurement in networks and the use of measurement information in their management. This study examines the development process and uses of a performance measurement system supporting performance management in a collaborative network. There are two main research questions: how to design a performance measurement system for a collaborative network and how to manage performance in a collaborative network. The work can be characterised as a qualitative single case study. The empirical data was collected in a Finnish collaborative network, which consists of a leading company and a reseller network. The work is based on five research articles applying various research methods. The research questions are examined at the network level and at the single network partner level. The study contributes to the earlier literature by producing new and deeper understanding of network-level performance measurement and management. A three-step process model is presented to support the performance measurement system design process. The process model has been tested in another collaborative network. The study also examines the factors affecting the process of designing the measurement system. The results show that a participatory development style, network culture, and outside facilitators have a positive effect on the design process. The study increases understanding of how to manage performance in a collaborative network and what kind of uses of performance information can be identified in a collaborative network. The results show that the performance measurement system is an applicable tool to manage the performance of a network. The results reveal that trust and openness increased during the utilisation of the performance measurement system, and operations became more transparent. The study also presents a management model that evaluates the maturity of performance management in a collaborative network. The model is a practical tool that helps to analyse the current stage of the performance management of a collaborative network and to develop it further.

Healthcare Network Modeling and Analysis

Part 20: Health and Care Networks

Mapping the Contemporary Studies on Alliances and Strategic Networks

The competition among the companies depends on the velocity and efficience they can create and commercialize knowledge in a timely and cost-efficient manner. In this context, collaboration emerges as a reaction to the environmental changes. Although strategic alliances and networks have been exploited in the strategic literature for decades, the complexity and continuous usage of these cooperation structures, in a world of growing competition, justify the continuous interest in both themes. This article presents a scanning of the contemporary academic production in strategic alliances and networks, covering the period from January 1997 to august 2007, based on the top five journals accordingly to the journal of Citation Report 2006 in the business and management categories simultaneously. The results point to a retraction in publications about strategic alliances and a significant growth in the area of strategic. networks. The joint view of strategic alliances and networks, cited by some authors a the evolutionary path of study, still did not appear salient. The most cited topics found in the alliance literature are the governance structure, cooperation, knowledge transfer, culture, control, trust, alliance formation,,previous experience, resources, competition and partner selection. The theme network focuses mainly on structure, knowledge transfer and social network, while the joint vision is highly concentrated in: the subjects of alliance formation and the governance choice.

Luottamuksen rooli muutosjohtamisessa

Pro gradu – tutkielman tavoitteena oli tutkia luottamuksen roolia muutosjohtamisessa. Tarkoituksena oli selvittää luottamuksen tukemisen ja rakentamisen keinoja muutosjohtamisen tueksi muutosprosessin eri osa-alueilla. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin kvalitatiivisten teemahaastattelujen avulla. Haastattelujen osiot liitettiin tutkimuksen empiiriseen osaan. Tutkimuksen perusteella saatiin selkeä kuva siitä, mihin luottamus vaikuttaa, miten sitä rakennetaan ja mitkä ovat sen seuraamukset muutosprosessin eri osa-alueilla. Tutkimuksen kohteena oleva organisaatioiden välinen vapaaehtoinen ja sopimuspohjainen verkostoyhteistyö ei olisi onnistunut ilman luottamusta. Luottamuksen merkitys muutosjohtamisprosessissa tulee tiedostaa ja siihen tulee kiinnittää tietoisesti huomiota koko prosessin ajan. Muutos on johdettava ja luottamuksen rakentaminen on osa sitä prosessia.

Relações entre trabalho, consumo e criação de valor para as organizações: o caso Trendwatching

O objetivo desta tese é compreender, a partir das categorias trabalho e consumo, como se constituem as relações das redes de colaboração da empresa de tendências de consumo Trendwatching. No âmbito acadêmico, literatura recente revela o aparecimento de novos conceitos, como prosumer, co-criação e públicos produtivos para explicar as transformações no mundo do trabalho que envolvem cada vez mais a participação do consumidor para que o valor se realize. Dessa forma, os fundamentos teóricos que embasam esta tese providenciam elementos sobre os conceitos de valor, trabalho imaterial, consumo e suas interrelações. A coleta de dados ocorreu, em sua maior parte, na matriz da empresa em Londres durante o ano de 2015, sendo composta por: (1) realização de 31 entrevistas semi-estruturadas com spotters, funcionários e clientes da empresa; (2) observação em campo durante 3 meses, período este registrado em um diário de campo; (3) dados obtidos por meios virtuais, através do site da Trendwatching. Os dados foram analisados por meio da Análise de Conteúdo, onde, a partir de um processo de derivação, foram encontradas 49 categorias iniciais, 10 intermediárias e 3 finais. Por meio de um processo de derivação, chegou-se em 10 categorias intermediárias: (1) quem é o spotter; (2) busca de informações pelo spotter; (3) motivação e recompensa dos spotters; (4) spotters e a comunidade TW:IN; (5) formação dos spotters; (6) imagem da Trendwatching; (7) Ambiente de trabalho; (8) O que a Trendwatching vende; (9) base de dados; (10) tendências. Com estas categorias intermediárias em mãos, realizou-se novamente um processo de derivação para chegar nas categorias finais, que são: (1) spotters; (2) trabalho; (3) informação. Os resultados da pesquisa permitem mostrar que o spotter – assim chamado o indivíduo que compõe a rede a colaboração da Trendwatching – é o principal produto/serviço vendido pela empresa. A partir das categorias finais, retorna-se à pergunta de pesquisa, de modo a providenciar contribuições da tese para o campo, que são: (a) ampliar a discussão sobre criação de valor em Estudos Organizacionais, identificando diferentes conceitos e novas formas de apropriação do valor pelo capital implicados nas interações e interfaces entre trabalho e consumo; (b) demonstrar como a operacionalização da Análise de Conteúdo pode auxiliar na organização de dados empíricos virtuais (análise do site); (c) estimular que Estudos de Caso sejam, com mais frequência, realizados em organizações cujo trabalho seja imaterial por excelência.

Scientific authorships and collaboration network analysis on Chagas disease: papers indexed in PubMed (1940-2009)

Chagas disease is a chronic, tropical, parasitic disease, endemic throughout Latin America. The large-scale migration of populations has increased the geographic distribution of the disease and cases have been observed in many other countries around the world. To strengthen the critical mass of knowledge generated in different countries, it is essential to promote cooperative and translational research initiatives. We analyzed authorship of scientific documents on Chagas disease indexed in the Medline database from 1940 to 2009. Bibliometrics was used to analyze the evolution of collaboration patterns. A Social Network Analysis was carried out to identify the main research groups in the area by applying clustering methods. We then analyzed 13,989 papers produced by 21,350 authors. Collaboration among authors dramatically increased over the study period, reaching an average of 6.2 authors per paper in the last five-year period. Applying a threshold of collaboration of five or more papers signed in co-authorship, we identified 148 consolidated research groups made up of 1,750 authors. The Chagas disease network identified constitutes a "small world," characterized by a high degree of clustering and a notably high number of Brazilian researchers.

The Finnish National Digital Library: a national service is developed in collaboration with a network of libraries, archives and museums

Insight-lehden numerossa 26 (Maaliskuu 2013) julkaistu artikkeli.

Mapping the Value Network Potential in Cross-sector Collaboration: Case welfare Services for Elderly in Finland

Value network has been studied greatly in the academic research, but a tool for value network mapping is missing. The objective of this study was to design a tool (process) for value network mapping in cross-sector collaboration. Furthermore, the study addressed a future perspective of collaboration, aiming to map the value network potential. During the study was investigated and pondered how to get the full potential of collaboration, by creating new value in collaboration process. These actions are parts of mapping process proposed in the study. The implementation and testing of the mapping process were realized through a case study of cross-sector collaboration in welfare services for elderly in the Eastern Finland. Key representatives in elderly care from public, private and third sectors were interviewed and a workshop with experts from every sector was also conducted in this regard. The value network mapping process designed in this study consists of specific steps that help managers and experts to understand how to get a complex value network map and how to enhance it. Furthermore, it make easier the understanding of how new value can be created in collaboration process. The map can be used in order to motivate participants to be engaged with responsibility in collaboration and to be fully committed in their interactions. It can be also used as a motivator tool for those organizations that intend to engage in collaboration process. Additionally, value network map is a starting point in many value network analyses. Furthermore, the enhanced value network map can be used as a performance measurement tool in cross-sector collaboration.

Concentric characterization and classification of complex network nodes: Application to an institutional collaboration network

Differently from theoretical scale-free networks, most real networks present multi-scale behavior, with nodes structured in different types of functional groups and communities. While the majority of approaches for classification of nodes in a complex network has relied on local measurements of the topology/connectivity around each node, valuable information about node functionality can be obtained by concentric (or hierarchical) measurements. This paper extends previous methodologies based on concentric measurements, by studying the possibility of using agglomerative clustering methods, in order to obtain a set of functional groups of nodes, considering particular institutional collaboration network nodes, including various known communities (departments of the University of Sao Paulo). Among the interesting obtained findings, we emphasize the scale-free nature of the network obtained, as well as identification of different patterns of authorship emerging from different areas (e.g. human and exact sciences). Another interesting result concerns the relatively uniform distribution of hubs along concentric levels, contrariwise to the non-uniform pattern found in theoretical scale-free networks such as the BA model. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scientific collaboration network among Brazilian universities: an analysis in Dentistry area

This paper analyses the scientific collaboration network formed by the Brazilian universities that investigate in dentistry area. The constructed network is based on the published documents in the Scopus (Elsevier) database covering a period of 10 (ten) years. It is used social network analysis as the best methodological approach to visualize the capacity for collaboration, dissemination and transmission of new knowledge among universities. Cohesion and density of the collaboration network is analyzed, as well as the centrality of the universities as key-actors and the occurrence of subgroups within the network. Data were analyzed using the software UCINET and NetDraw. The number of documents published by each university was used as an indicator of its scientific production.

An actor-network theory study of public sector inter-organisational collaboration

EMBARGOED The literature on inter-organisational collaboration, although wide-ranging, offers little guidance on collaboration as process. It focuses in the main on human attributes like leadership, trust and agency, but gives little consideration to the role of objects in the development of inter-organisational collaborations. A central aim of this thesis is to understand the interaction of objects and humans in the development of a particular health and social care partnership in the North East of England. This socio-material perspective was achieved through actor-network theory (ANT) as a methodology, in which the researcher is equally sensitised to the role of human and non-human entities in the development of a network. The case study is that of the North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus (CTP). This was a unique health and social care collaboration arrangement between North East Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust, setup to address heath inequalities in the region. The CTP was conceived and developed at a local level by the respective organisation’s decision makers in the face of considerable opposition from regional policy makers and national regulators. However, despite this opposition, the directors eventually achieved their goal and the CTP became operational on 1st September 2007. This study seeks to understand how the CTP was conceived and developed, in the face of this opposition. The thesis makes a number of original contributions. Firstly, it adds to the current body of literature on collaboration by identifying how objects can help problematize issues and cement inter-organisational collaborations. Secondly it provides a novel account describing how two public sector organisations created a unique collaboration, despite pressing resistance from the regulatory authorities; and thirdly it extends Callon’s (1996) notion of problematization to examine how, what is rather vaguely described as ‘context’ in the literature, becomes enmeshed in decisions to collaborate. UNTIL 03/02/2016 THIS THESIS IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

Collaboration intensity in the Brazilian supermarket retail chain

Purpose - This paper seeks to identify collaboration elements and evaluate their intensity in the Brazilian supermarket retail chain, especially the manufacturer-retailer channel. Design/methodology/approach - A structured questionnaire was elaborated and applied to 125 representatives from suppliers of large supermarket chains. Statistical methods including multivariate analysis were employed. Variables were grouped and composed into five indicators (joint actions, information sharing, interpersonal integration, gains and cost sharing, and strategic integration) to assess the degree of collaboration. Findings - The analyses showed that the interviewees considered interpersonal integration to be of greater importance to collaboration intensity than the other integration factors, such as gain or cost sharing or even strategic integration. Research limitations/implications - The research was conducted solely from the point of view of the industries that supply the large retail networks. The interviews were not conducted in pairs; that is, there was no application of one questionnaire to the retail network and another to the partner industry. Practical implications - Companies should invest in conducting periodic meetings with their partners to increase collaboration intensity, and should carry out technical visits to learn about their partners` logistic reality and thus make better operational decisions. Originality/value - The paper reveals which indicators produce greater collaboration intensity, and thus those that are more relevant to more efficient logistics management.