Survival through networks: the 'grip' of the administrative links in the Russian post-Soviet context

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Based on an analysis of the post-Soviet transformation experience of four defence sector organizations in a Russian region where the defence sector occupies a substantial part of the local economy, this article develops a typology of network relationships: Grooved Inter-relationship Patterns (Gr’ip) networks and Fluid Inter-relationship Patterns (Fl’ip) networks. This typology can be applied to a range of transition/emerging market and low system trust contexts. Gr’ip networks, in this case, represent the persisting legacy of the Soviet command-administrative system. Fl’ip networks are here an attempt by the defence companies to link into the civilian supply chains of a developing market economy. This article argues that Gr’ip networks had and still have a crucial role to play in Russian enterprises’ survival and development

Assessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews - Volume III - Responding to the Problem: Coordinating a Continuum of Services

The success or failure of community strategies to address the youth gun violence crisis is often attributed in part to how well the problem is understood and diagnosed. With support from The New York Community Trust, the Crime Commission has undertaken an analysis of youth gun violence and crew activity -- violent turf rivalries among less-organized, smaller and normally younger groups than traditional gangs -- in select New York City communities. Our initial findings from available data, existing research and interviews with stakeholders are presented in a series of papers titled, Assessing New York City's Youth Gun Violence Crisis: Crews

Entrepreneurial Collaboration: Terms of Endearment or Rules of Engagement?

Many potential entrepreneurs face the choice as to whether they should collaborate when setting up in business. Small business research has generated little in the way of information or advice on collaborative entrepreneurship. This paper goes some way towards addressing that lack. The paper reports the findings of a survey of 106 collaborative entrepreneurs and describes their assessments of the benefits and disadvantages of co-ownership and their evaluation of the factors making for its success. Experiences of unsuccessful collaboration are also recounted. The findings illustrate how those involved saw collaborative entrepreneurship in terms of economic, organisational and interpersonal relationships. Whilst the benefits of collaboration were primarily economic, the affective aspects of the close inter-personal relationship provided the 'glue'. The paper makes a contribution to the arguments for a more holistic approach in small business research in general, and the need to take account of the impact of the feelings and beliefs of owner-managers on the 'economic' choices they make.entrepreneurship, collaboration, small businesses, venture teams

Governing network evolution in the quest for identity

This paper provides a managerial account of network governance by exploring how initially non-powerful agents, driven by the quest for distinctive identity, shape the governance of their networks over time. The research design is that of a longitudinal comparative case study of the trajectories of three renowned, Oscar-winning Spanish filmmakers. It scrutinizes data coming from original interviews, as well as from multiple secondary data sources, in order to illustrate the propositions advanced. The paper's contribution is sought: 1) in proposing a micro-level framework for systematic thinking about network governance evolution, distinguishing four dimensions (co-governance, structure, strategy, and pace) and their respective sub-categories; 2) in advancing three peculiar identity profiles with different implications for the evolution of network governance (i.e., a maverick, an integrated professional, and a broker); 3) in bringing together two bodies of literature that have not conversed frequently (i.e., network governance and identity) in a largely overlooked cultural and historical context, that of Spain after the transition to democracy in 1975.Network governance; Management

Software-export strategies for developing countries: A Caribbean perspective

The globalization of the software industry is seen to be driven in part by skill shortages in industrialised economies, the movement of software development practices away from centralised to more distributed modes and the spread of information and communication technologies to less developed economies, where skilled labour is available at lower costs. As such, a software export industry is sometimes seen as a means by which some non-industrialised countries can create competitive advantage. While many studies have explored the software-exporting strategies used by the more successful of these countries, little research has been done in other locations that lack some of the basic resources deemed necessary for success in this area. This paper describes two Caribbean software-outsourcing ventures in order to explore possible software-export strategies available within such atypical contexts. The role of government and degree of integration of the software outsourcer into the local context are found to feature significantly

Integration and Continuity of Primary Care: Polyclinics and Alternatives, a Patient-Centred Analysis of How Organisation Constrains Care Coordination

Background An ageing population, increasingly specialised of clinical services and diverse healthcare provider ownership make the coordination and continuity of complex care increasingly problematic. The way in which the provision of complex healthcare is coordinated produces – or fails to – six forms of continuity of care (cross-sectional, longitudinal, flexible, access, informational, relational). Care coordination is accomplished by a combination of activities by: patients themselves; provider organisations; care networks coordinating the separate provider organisations; and overall health system governance. This research examines how far organisational integration might promote care coordination at the clinical level. Objectives To examine: 1. What differences the organisational integration of primary care makes, compared with network governance, to horizontal and vertical coordination of care. 2. What difference provider ownership (corporate, partnership, public) makes. 3. How much scope either structure allows for managerial discretion and ‘performance’. 4. Differences between networked and hierarchical governance regarding the continuity and integration of primary care. 5. The implications of the above for managerial practice in primary care. Methods Multiple-methods design combining: 1. Assembly of an analytic framework by non-systematic review. 2. Framework analysis of patients’ experiences of the continuities of care. 3. Systematic comparison of organisational case studies made in the same study sites. 4. A cross-country comparison of care coordination mechanisms found in our NHS study sites with those in publicly owned and managed Swedish polyclinics. 5. Analysis and synthesis of data using an ‘inside-out’ analytic strategy. Study sites included professional partnership, corporate and publicly owned and managed primary care providers, and different configurations of organisational integration or separation of community health services, mental health services, social services and acute in-patient care. Results Starting from data about patients' experiences of the coordination or under-coordination of care we identified: 1. Five care coordination mechanisms present in both the integrated organisations and the care networks. 2. Four main obstacles to care coordination within the integrated organisations, of which two were also present in the care networks. 3. Seven main obstacles to care coordination that were specific to the care networks. 4. Nine care coordination mechanisms present in the integrated organisations. Taking everything into consideration, integrated organisations appeared more favourable to producing continuities of care than were care networks. Network structures demonstrated more flexibility in adding services for small care groups temporarily, but the expansion of integrated organisations had advantages when adding new services on a longer term and larger scale. Ownership differences affected the range of services to which patients had direct access; primary care doctors’ managerial responsibilities (relevant to care coordination because of its impact on GP workload); and the scope for doctors to develop special interests. We found little difference between integrated organisations and care networks in terms of managerial discretion and performance. Conclusions On balance, an integrated organisation seems more likely to favour the development of care coordination, and therefore continuities of care, than a system of care networks. At least four different variants of ownership and management of organisationally integrated primary care providers are practicable in NHS-like settings

Transferring and creating technological knowledge in interfirm R&D relationships: The initiation and evolution of interfirm learning.

In this study, we examine the initiation and evolution of interfirm learning in interfirm R&D relationships. Based on in-depth case studies, we suggest that the process of learning in interfirm R&D relationships consists of different challenges: 1) initiating technological knowledge transfer, 2) continuing technological knowledge transfer, and 3) moving towards the joint creation of new technological knowledge. Our findings identify conditions needed to initiate knowledge transfer: the presence of legal knowledge transfer clauses, overlapping skills and equipment, fragile trust and organizational similarity. The continuance of knowledge exchange implies complementary modes of collaborating characterized by sharing technologies which are oriented towards different applications. Joint knowledge creation implies convergence on the level of applications which only becomes feasible when prior knowledge exchange processes have generated resilient levels of trust. These observations point to the relevance of conceiving and organizing interfirm R&D relationships in a timephased, differentiated manner.Applications; Case studies; Convergence; Exchange; Interfirm learning; Interfirm R&D; Knowledge; Knowledge creation; Knowledge transfer; Learning; Processes; R&D; Similarity; Studies; Technology; Trust;

Attitudes of Undergraduate Social Work Students Toward Interprofessional Health Care Practice and Interprofessional Health Care Education

In 2005, the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education at Memorial University in Canada commenced an inquiry into the interprofessional education (IPE) of social work students. In the 2005/2006 academic year, undergraduate social work students were introduced to an IPE program at Memorial University for the first time. This interdisciplinary initiative brought together students from pharmacy, nursing, medicine, and social work to develop and encourage interprofessional educational activities with the purpose of increasing collaborative patient-centered practice competencies of students and professionals (Sharpe & Curran, 2006). In the subsequent three academic years (2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008) Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students explored a variety of IPE modules. This paper summarizes the available literature on the topic of IPE and reports on data collected from three cohorts of undergraduate social work students regarding their attitudes toward interdisciplinary team practice. Data collected are in relation to the Health and Wellbeing of Children module, one of the five module topics in which these students participated over the three-year period. It is proposed that by understanding student attitudes as they are evidenced at this early stage of professional development, valuable information will be provided to educators to inform best practices in the teaching and learning of interprofessional practice skills within the discipline of social work. Finally, the authors provide suggested directions for future research

Inter-organisational projects in french innovation clusters: the construction of collaboration

Having received considerable attention from central government and local authorities, French innovation clusters (the so-called ‘pôles de compétitivité') are beginning to be studied by academic researchers and evaluated by consultants. The core of their activity consists of collaborative projects, which are characterised by specific management and HR practices located at the junction of different cultures and employment statuses. Almost four years after they were launched, what can we say about the dynamic of these collaborative projects? What is the reality of such collaboration when it involves multiple partnerships bringing together employees from different occupational cultures and HRM systems? The aim of this longitudinal research, which is based on observation of two collaborative projects in one of the most largest clusters in France,is to discuss management and HR issues in such a setting. A literature review highlights the need to open up the ‘black box' of collaboration within projects and encourages examination of both manager's coordination efforts and the actors' motivation to cooperate, as well as the role played by HRM practices. Thus observation of the conduct of the projects over two years reveals that collaboration, far from being a given within these projects, is the product of a process of social construction that might be fostered by better managerial support.innovation cluster ; collaborative project ; coordination ; cooperation ; learning ; competences

Opportunities for information sharing: case studies

Personal information provided to government and non-government service providers is highly sensitive. Appropriate collection, management and storage of personal information are critical elements to citizen trust in the public sector. However, misconceptions about the frameworks governing sharing personal information can impact on the coordination of services, case management and policy development.   The NSW Department of Premier & Cabinet engaged the Social Policy Research Centre to develop three case studies that identified the challenges to sharing information appropriately, and the opportunities for better personal information sharing between government agencies and non-government organisations. Improved sharing of personal information in these areas can support more effective policy development, leading to improved service delivery performance and coordination.   The Social Policy Research Centre identified the legislative and policy framework for each case study, conducted qualitative research on the interpretation of this framework, and developed three case study reports