The impact of central government steering and local network dynamics on the performance of mandated service delivery networks: the case of the Primary Health Care networks in Flanders

This paper focuses on the impact of central – local relations on the performance of local service delivery networks set up by central government. Analyzing network literature leaves us with some questions about the impact of coordination strategies of central government as a possible determinant of network-level effectiveness for this type of network and the possible interaction between central government coordination (as part of the network context) and internal network dynamics and the combined effects hereof on the effectiveness of mandated service delivery networks in particular. Our analysis shows that both levels are important to explain the outcomes of the Primary Health Care networks in Flanders. Our study also leads to some important observations about the meaning of ‘central government coordination’ in this context

Modeling social information skills

In a modern economy, the most important resource consists in\ud human talent: competent, knowledgeable people. Locating the right person for\ud the task is often a prerequisite to complex problem-solving, and experienced\ud professionals possess the social skills required to find appropriate human\ud expertise. These skills can be reproduced more and more with specific\ud computer software, an approach defining the new field of social information\ud retrieval. We will analyze the social skills involved and show how to model\ud them on computer. Current methods will be described, notably information\ud retrieval techniques and social network theory. A generic architecture and its\ud functions will be outlined and compared with recent work. We will try in this\ud way to estimate the perspectives of this recent domain

The Community Structure of R&D Cooperation in Europe. Evidence from a social network perspective

The focus of this paper is on pre-competitive R&D cooperation across Europe, as captured by R&D joint ventures funded by the European Commission in the time period 1998-2002, within the 5th Framework Program. The cooperations in this Framework Program give rise to a bipartite network with 72,745 network edges between 25,839 actors (representing organizations that include firms, universities, research organizations and public agencies) and 9,490 R&D projects. With this construction, participating actors are linked only through joint projects. In this paper we describe the community identification problem based on the concept of modularity, and use the recently introduced label-propagation algorithm to identify communities in the network, and differentiate the identified communities by developing community-specific profiles using social network analysis and geographic visualization techniques. We expect the results to enrich our picture of the European Research Area by providing new insights into the global and local structures of R&D cooperation across Europe

Factors Influencing the Performance of German Food SME Formal Networks

The food sector in Europe can be characterized as a complex, global and dynamically changing network of trade streams, food supply network relations and related product flows which offers a big spectrum for economic output and employment. Innovation is important for the competitiveness of the food industry that is to a large extent comprised of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). For them, innovation has grown extremely subordinate to interaction in networks. Network initiatives that could provide appropriate support involve social interaction and knowledge exchange, learning and competence development, and coordination (organization) and management ofimplementation. This paper is designed to assess the factors that affect the performance of German food SME formal networks. It also addresses the consequences at the network and macro level. The analysis was explored by using the laddering technique based on the means‐end chain theory. The findings will help to build up a “network learning toolbox” that is adapted to the particular requirements of the different target groups such as of SMEs, network managers and policy makers. The “network learning toolbox” should improve network learning, which is adriver for improvements in innovation, economic growth and sustainable competitive advantage for food SMEs

Factors Influencing the Performance of German Food SME Formal Networks

The food sector in Europe can be characterised as a complex, global and dynamically changing network of trade streams, food supply network relations and related product flows and offers a big spectrum for economic output and employment.Innovation is important for the competitivenessof the food industry that is to a large extent comprised by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore innovation has grown extremely subordinate to interaction in networks. Network initiatives that could provide appropriate support involve social interaction and knowledge exchange, learning and competence development, and coordination (organization) and management of implementation.This paper was designed to assess the factors that affect the performance of German food SME formal networks. It also addressed the consequences at the network and macro level. The analysis was explored by using the laddering technique based on means-end chain theory.These findings will help to build up a “network learning toolbox” that is adapted to the particular requirements of the different segments of the target group of SMEs, network managers and policy makers. The “network learning toolbox” should improve the network learning, which drives to raised innovation, economic growth and sustainable competitive advantage for food SMEs

Individual Tariffs for Mobile Services: Theoretical Framework and a Computational Case in Mobile Music

This paper introduces individual tariffs at service and content bundle level in mobile communications. It gives a theoretical framework (economic, sociological) as well as a computational game solution method. The user can be an individual or a community. Individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier. A numerical example from mobile music illustrates the concepts.risks;mobile communication services;Individual tariffs;computational games

Eco‐Holonic 4.0 Circular Business Model to Conceptualize Sustainable Value Chain Towards Digital Transition

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a circular business model based on an Eco-Holonic Architecture, through the integration of circular economy and holonic principles. A conceptual model is developed to manage the complexity of integrating circular economy principles, digital transformation, and tools and frameworks for sustainability into business models. The proposed architecture is multilevel and multiscale in order to achieve the instantiation of the sustainable value chain in any territory. The architecture promotes the incorporation of circular economy and holonic principles into new circular business models. This integrated perspective of business model can support the design and upgrade of the manufacturing companies in their respective industrial sectors. The conceptual model proposed is based on activity theory that considers the interactions between technical and social systems and allows the mitigation of the metabolic rift that exists between natural and social metabolism. This study contributes to the existing literature on circular economy, circular business models and activity theory by considering holonic paradigm concerns, which have not been explored yet. This research also offers a unique holonic architecture of circular business model by considering different levels, relationships, dynamism and contextualization (territory) aspects