Inter-organizational Information Systems and Interaction in Public vs. Private Sector - Comparing Two Cases.

Abstract. This paper compares inter-organizational (IO) interaction and interorganizational information systems (IOS) in public and private sector. The purpose of the paper is to explore differences and similarities between egovernment and e-business focusing IOS and interaction. This is done in order to facilitate learning between the two fields. The point of departure is two case studies performed in private vs. public sectors. A comparative study is made using IO concepts from industrial markets that characterize an IO relationship (continuity, complexity, symmetry, and formality) and concepts that describe dimensions of such relationships (links, bonds, and ties). The results from the comparative study show that there are several similarities concerning interaction in relations between organizations in the two sectors. There are also differences depending on the level of analysis (empirical level vs. analytical level). The study shows the need to be explicit regarding organizational value, end-customer or client/citizen value and the type of objects that are exchanged in the interaction. Keywords: B2B, G2G, interaction, e-government, inter-organizational, IOS. Introduction Inter-organizational (IO) aspects and processes are central in all organizational development regardless of sector, with or without information systems (IS) development in parallel. Inter-organizational information systems (IOS) have been identified as a key requirement for effective operation of IO relationships IO relations are also central when analyzing and developing government to government (G2G) interaction in order to achieve, e.g., useful one-stop government arrangements IO interaction is the main theme addressed in this paper. A comparative study of two cases will be presented based on the following main research question: In what ways is private and public IO interaction similar and how does it differ depending on the sector context? The understanding of similarities and differences is useful as a point of departure when learning between private and public sector should take place. The need of comparative studies of e-business and e-government is put forth by Barzilai-Nahon and Scholl When a new research field, like e-government, is entered or in a phase of rapid growth there is a clear tendency that "wheels are reinvented". Researchers as well as practitioners in the field tend to identify "too many" unique characteristics or unique factors related to the studied phenomenon, without learning from history and previous studies. On the other hand, there is another more or less opposite tendency; to take things for granted and, not critical enough, import or export ideas, concepts and lines of thinking from one area, sector or field to another. We believe that the IS field, dealing with e-government and e-business, is no exception in this case. Therefore we argue that it is important to conduct comparative case studies from different sectors. The purpose of the paper, based on the research question introduced above, is to explore differences and similarities between e-government and e-business focusing IOS and interaction. This is done in order to facilitate learning between the two fields. Our analysis will be made based on the IO concepts from industrial markets After this introduction, the paper is organized in the following way: In Section Two we describe the research design, followed by the introduction of the case studies. The theoretical background to IO interaction and its relation to the comparison of IO interaction in e-business and e-government, and IOS are then presented in section Three. The empirical findings from the two cases are analyzed and compared, using concepts from the introduced interaction approach in Section Four. The paper is concluded in Section Five, together with statements about further research

MULTISCALAR CLUSTERS AND NETWORKS AS THE FOUNDATIONS OF INNOVATION DYNAMICS IN THE BIOPHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Based on the case of the biopharmaceutical industry, the aim of this paper is to challenge the core conviction now widespread within the “spatial clustering theory”, which devotes a key (if not exclusive) role to geographical proximity in explaining clustering dynamics of innovation activities within spe-cific territories. Our argument is threefold. First, mere geographical proximity is not enough; in many cases, cognitive, organizational and strategic forms of proximity are often at least as crucial as the topological closeness among inno-vation actors. Second, our idea is that clusters are fundamentally the territoria-lized outcome of combinations of inter-organizational and social networks among actors pursuing common goals, each of these actors having a specific territorial and social embedding that allows him or her (or not) to operate and interact at different spatial scales. These networks are socially and territorially embedded, but they can operate at various spatial scales. Third, sector-driven dynamics – as is in the case of biopharmaceuticals – may structurally frame the way the actors interact and collaborate in R&D projects and innovation proce-sses. Indeed, the dynamics underlying the emergence, structuring and evolution of biopharmaceutical clusters are both multi-actor and multiscalar. In this perspective, clusters and networks appear to be intertwined phenomena, con-substantial one to each other, and co-evolving organizational modes of biop-harmaceutical innovation.BIOCLUSTERS, FORMS OF PROXIMITY, INNOVATION NETWORKS, SPATIAL SCALES

Organisatie van geestelijke gezondheidszorg voor kinderen en jongeren : literatuurstudie en internationaal overzicht

INTRODUCTIE: In de laatste decennia van de vorige eeuw werden er in de Westerse landen belangrijke hervormingen ingezet in de sector van de geestelijke gezondheidszorg (GGZ). In de GGZ voor volwassenen kwam er geleidelijk een model van “balanced care” (“gebalanceerde zorg”) op de voorgrond: een diversiteit aan diensten biedt de zorg zo kort mogelijk bij de eigen leefwereld van de patiënt aan, en enkel indien nodig in een instelling. Tegelijkertijd moet men ook een vlotte en naadloze overgang van de ene dienst naar de andere garanderen. Geestelijke gezondheidsproblemen bij kinderen en jongeren zijn niet onfrequent. De WGO (Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie) schat de prevalentie in Westerse landen op ongeveer 20%. Ongeveer 5% zou een klinische tussenkomst nodig hebben. De sector van GGZ voor kinderen en jongeren is pas veel later ontstaan dan deze van de volwassenen, en kent een andere zorgstructuur. Toch dringen de hierboven geschetste hervormingsprincipes ook hier door. Bovendien dient zorg voor kinderen en jongeren vaak over de grenzen van de GGZ sector heen te gebeuren, bijvoorbeeld door de huisarts of kinderarts, en komen veel problemen bij kinderen en jongeren voor het eerst aan het licht buiten de zorgsector, zoals op school. GGZ voor kinderen en jongeren dient dan ook deze zogenaamde “belendende sectoren” mee te betrekken: welzijnswerk, justitie, gehandicaptenzorg, onderwijs. DOELSTELLING: De doelstelling van dit rapport is om kennis bijeen te brengen over organisatorische en financieringsaspecten van GGZ voor kinderen en jongeren, en dit in het licht van de hierboven geschetste context. De specifieke therapie-inhoud blijft buiten beschouwing. Het rapport bestaat uit twee delen: een overzicht van de literatuur en van de organisatie van GGZ voor kinderen en jongeren in België en drie andere landen. Dit rapport formuleert nog geen voorstellen voor de zorgorganisatie in België. Voor dit proces zullen Belgische stakeholders betrokken worden. Het resultaat hiervan zal beschreven worden in een afzonderlijk rapport. METHODE: Zowel voor het literatuuronderzoek als voor het internationale overzicht werd gezocht in databases met peer-reviewed publicaties en in de grijze literatuur. In het literatuuronderzoek werden naast vergelijkend onderzoek ook descriptieve studies en kwalitatief onderzoek geïncludeerd. Voor het internationaal overzicht werd de beschikbare literatuur aangevuld met gegevens van lokale informanten. MODELLEN VAN ZORGORGANISATIE: Dit rapport legt de focus op de meest geciteerde modellen, en die modellen waarvoor er vergelijkend onderzoek gebeurde. De twee meest geciteerde modellen in de literatuur zijn het WGO-model en het Systems of care model. Beide zijn vrij algemeen en vragen verdere uitwerking door het land of de regio die GGZ voor kinderen en jongeren wil implementeren. De meeste vergelijkende studies zijn wel gekenmerkt door talrijke methodologische beperkingen zoals onduidelijke inclusiecriteria, onduidelijke uitkomstmaten of kleine steekproeven. INTERNATIONAAL OVERZICHT: Om redenen van haalbaarheid werd gekozen om dit deel te beperken tot België, Nederland, Canada (British Columbia) en Engeland. De selectie vertrok van een long-list waarop vervolgens een aantal selectiecriteria werden toegepast. CONCLUSIE: Het belang van een nationaal/regionaal beleid voor kinder- en jeugd GGZ, geconcretiseerd in een duidelijk plan, is al langer bekend. Toch is de literatuur over organisatiemodellen binnen kinder- en jeugd GGZ weinig richtinggevend voor beleidsmakers. De twee belangrijkste modellen die in de literatuur aangetroffen werden geven enkel grote beleidslijnen van algemene aard aan. Bovendien zijn de wetenschappelijke studies in dit domein van beperkte kwaliteit en blijft een groot deel van de beleidsvraagstukken niet of onvoldoende onderzocht. Wel kan men uit het onderzoek ivm. het Systems of care besluiten dat de overheid niet enkel een betere zorgorganisatie en –coordinatie dient te stimuleren. Zij dient ook het ontwikkelen en verspreiden van doelmatige therapeutische concepten te bevorderen. Het onderzoek ivm. preventie en behandeling van angststoornissen via scholen toont aan dat men moet durven zoeken naar oplossingen in samenwerking met andere sectoren buiten de gezondheidszorg. In de bestudeerde landen gaan de hervormingen uit van theoretische denkkaders die gebaseerd zijn op belangrijke ethische principes en waarden; deze overlappen in belangrijke mate tussen de verschillende landen. Echter, bij het praktisch realiseren van dit denkkader ondervindt men talrijke moeilijkheden, en in een aantal gevallen mislukt men in de vooropgestelde doelstellingen. Over het daadwerkelijke resultaat van de gevoerde hervormingen zijn er meestal weinig harde gegevens. Wellicht kan men pas tot een positief resultaat komen als zowel klinische, organisatorische, als financiële aspecten alle tegelijk aangepakt worden; en als ook de eigenheid van elk van de betrokken sectoren daarbij niet uit het oog verloren wordt. In de volgende faze van deze studie zullen samen met de Belgische stakeholders voorstellen voor hervormingen geformuleerd worden. De resultaten hiervan worden afzonderlijk gepubliceerd

Workshop series on the role of institutions in East Asian development: Institutional foundations of innovation and competitiveness in East Asia

The discussion paper summarizes the results of a workshop that focussed on the institutional foundations of innovation and competitiveness in East Asia. The following papers are contained: 'Transitional Institutions, Institutional Complementarities and Economic Performance in China. A "Varieties of Capitalism" Approach', 'The Current State of Research on Networks in China's Business System', 'Recent Changes to Korea's Innovation Governance', 'Standardization and Institutional Complementarities in Japan - Empirical Results from SAP R/3 Implementations in Japanese Automotive Suppliers'. --East Asia,Japan,China,Korea,institutional change,competitiveness,innovation

The relationship between needs and instruments of innovation policy in different regions: the Matrix INT - Instruments and Needs of Technology

The methodology, which is described in this study, aims to evaluate the gap between the characteristics of the demand and the supply of technology transfer (TT) services to small and medium size firms in a wide international framework, comprising both developed countries and less developed countries. The study focuses on a "demand led" and strategic approach. It underlies that the problems and opportunities of development of the small and medium size firms in the various individual countries are different and that determines a different structure of the demand of technology transfer services. Moreover, this study aims to identify the role and characteristics of the TT intermediaries in the wider framework of the strategies and instruments of innovation policies. In fact, the instruments of innovation policy are not only those, which operate directly on the individual firms, but also those, which can operate on the "selection environment", within which the firms are embedded. Key words: evaluation, innovation, technology transfer, regional policies

Evolving into a Regional Innovation System: How Governance impact on Innovation in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China?

Governance constitutes elementary supportive infrastructure for regional innovation systems. This paper extends the evolutionary lens of governance into initial industrialization phase and examines the impact of their evolution into regional innovation systems on fostering innovation activities. Drawing on the empirical substances in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China, a path-dependent nature of institutional design on supporting innovation has been discovered. The paper shows that the dirigiste globalized production system in Shenzhen in 1980s has gradually evolved to a higher level of interactive regional innovation system than the grassroots globalized production system in Dongguan, where innovation is still passively managed by global players. Finally, policy implication is discussed for the construction of regional innovation systems under different governance modalities in the initial industrialization phase.ego-networks, geographical proximity, innovation performance, knowledge networks, technological relatedness

A Network Perspective on Inter-Organizational Transfer of R&D Capabilities: A Study of International Joint Ventures in Chinese Automobile Industry

Multinational enterprises' transfer of R&D capabilities to their international joint ventures in the less developed countries has been an emerging phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to understand the transfer of R&D capabilities between organizations embedded in drastically different organizational contexts using a network perspective. We identified different networks involved in the R&D capability transfer process from the perspectives of source organization, recipient organization and the interface between them, and analyzed the impact of different attributes of these networks on the effectiveness of R&D capability transfer, based on the notion that R&D capabilities are largely collective knowledge.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39746/3/wp362.pd

Environmental Innovations: Institutional Impacts on Co-operations for Sustainable Development

A suitable strategy for achieving sustainable development is to foster environmental innovations. Environmental innovations, however, suffer from so-called "double externalities", because apart from innovation spillovers they also improve the quality of public environmental goods, which can be used without cost by free riders. Those innovation spillovers can be avoided through co-operation. Furthermore co-operations can be considered as advantageous because environmental innovations often depend on interaction in research and development, production, selling and disposal. This paper analyzes as to what extent institutional factors impact co-operative arrangements of innovative organizations in the development of new environmental technologies. It applies a multi-dimensional institutional analysis focusing not only on institutional arrangements which exist among organizations but also on opportunities and constraints provided by the institutional environment in which these organizations are embedded. Expanding the existing research we will conclude what kind of policy measure may support the success within networks of environmental oriented innovators.Environmental innovation, Co-operation, Sustainability, Institutional analysis, Policy measures

Are There Managerial Practices Associated with Service Delivery Collaboration Success?: Evidence from British Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

Little empirical work exists measuring if interagency collaborations delivering public services produce better outcomes, and none looking inside the black box at collaboration management practices. We examine whether there are collaboration management practices associated with improved performance of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, a crossagency collaboration in England and Wales. These exist in every local authority in England and Wales, so there are enough of them to permit quantitative analysis. And their aim is crime reduction, and crime data over time are available, allowing actual results (rather than perceptions or self-reports) to be analyzed longitudinally. We find that there are management practices associated with greater success at reducing crime, mostly exhibited through interaction effects such that the practice in question is effective in some circumstances but not others. Our findings support the arguments of those arguing that effective management of collaborations is associated with tools for managing any organization, not ones unique to managing collaborations: if you want to be a good collaboration manager, you should be a good manager, period.

Purchasing Organization and Design: A Literature Review

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review of the organization of purchasing covering the period from 1967 to 2009. The review provides a structured overview of prior research topics and findings and identifies gaps in the existing literature that may be addressed in future research. The intention of the review is to a) synthesize prior research, b) provide researchers with a structural framework on which future research on the organization of purchasing may be oriented, and c) suggest promising areas for future research.purchasing, supply, procurement, organization, institutional structure, structure, institution, design, performance, literature review