Negotiation Support and Risk Reduction in Collaborative Networks

Part 2: Collaborative Enterprise NetworksInternational audienceIn face of the current economic turbulence, companies face new challenges. In order to respond to new business opportunities, it is crucial that companies attain strategic alliances so that they can obtain or maintain market competiveness. The formation of alliances and partnerships for collaborative problem solving is of extreme importance, being therefore essential to understand their structures and requirements. To overcome a number of difficulties that may appear in the formation of such alliances, it is necessary to properly model the elements that constitute the alliance agreements through a suitable negotiation support environment that besides the basic functionalities of data storage and alerts can also conduct the entire negotiation process making it traceable. In this context, this paper presents the main requirements of an electronic negotiation support environment in a collaborative network, identifies the main risk sources and drivers in collaborations, and analyses how a negotiation support system can help in reducing the potential risk in collaboration

Choosing an organisational form: the case of collaborative procurement initiatives

This paper deals with different organisational forms of collaborative procurement and provides insight into when to use which form. Different forms from the literature are compared with empirical examples to give an overview of forms, which are then described in terms of strategy, skills and organisation. Whilst acknowledging variations, the paper distinguishes between two main forms: virtual networks and third-party organisations. Using empirical data and four theoretical perspectives (transaction cost economics, resource-based view, contingency theory, agency theory), the paper reflects on when which form can be used and presents an overall framework to help choose an organisational for

Transparency dilemmas, information technology and alliances in agriculture and food industry

alliance, agriculture, food industry

Technic and Collaboration Breakdown Structures: Drivers of collaborative problem solving approaches in a supply chain context

Problem Solving Methodologies have been par excellence a cornerstone element of the firms’ strategy on achieving effective continuous improvement. But the enterprise evolution towards an extended environment characterized by network-based organization has radically changed the problem solving paradigms. This paper aims to propose a generic and collaborative methodology addressing more complex and distributed problems, dealing with Supply Chain issues and having a key role as a driver for building global competitive advantages and create superior performances at a Supply Chain level

Analysis and control of complex collaborative design systems

This paper presents a novel method for modelling the complexity of collaborative design systems based on its analysis and proposes a solution to reducing complexity and improving performance of such systems. The interaction and interfacing properties among many components of a complex design system are analysed from different viewpoints and then a complexity model for collaborative design is established accordingly. In order to simplify complexity and improve performance of collaborative design, a general solution of decomposing a whole system into sub-systems and using unified interface mechanism between them has been proposed. This proposed solution has been tested with a case study. It has been shown that the proposed solution is meaningful and practical

Coordination, Cooperation, and Collaboration: Defining the C3 Framework

The term C3 refers to the framework of coordinative, cooperative and collaborative relationships within the realm of external supply chain partnerships. Each unique partnership offers both benefits and challenges within a supply chain and must be aligned with company and supply chain strategy in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. This paper aims to fill the current void in supply chain literature concerning C3 by defining each term based upon current supply chain research as well as give the most prevalent characteristics and differences between each “C” in this phase model. This research is then compared to the industry through a case study of a major international retailer. Finally, we propose a set of propositions that organizations can use to assess at what level their external relationships reside within the phase model as well as how companies move and evolve their relationships between the levels and what the trigger mechanisms are in this evolution

Policy forums: Why do they exist and what are they used for?

Policy forums are issue-based intermediary organizations where diverse types of political and societal actors repeatedly interact. Policy forums are important elements of modern governance systems as they allow actors to learn, negotiate, or build trust. They can vary in composition, size, membership logic, and other distinct features. This article lays the foundation of a theory of policy forums based on three interrelated elements: First, it discusses conditions for the formation of a forum and describes the logic of these organizations as one of an asymmetric multipartite exchange. Second, it enumerates the potential set of goals and motivations of participating actors that are fed into this exchange. Third, it proposes eight different dimensions on which policy forums differ and which affect the exchange mechanisms among actors. We claim that empirical work on policy forums should systematically take these elements into account and propose elements of a research agenda

Small and Medium sized Enterprises’ Collaborative Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Boundary Spanning Individual Perspectives

Boundary-spanning individuals (BSIs) play a critical role in supply chain management, especially in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) where interactions with buyers and suppliers can depend heavily on just a few individuals. This study, utilizing data from Korean manufacturing-sector SMEs, explores whether cooperative social value orientations of SMEs’ BSIs influence the effects of collaborative buyer-supplier initiatives. The results suggested that the performance implication of decision-sharing initiative increases when BSIs have a high level of cooperative social value orientation. However, it also negatively moderates the relationship between risk/benefit sharing (involving financial losses or gains) and performance suggesting possible negative side-effects. However, we found that such orientation also negatively moderates the relationship between risk/benefit sharing (involving direct financial losses or gains) and relationship performance suggesting possible negative side-effects

The processes of reform in Victoria’s alcohol and other drug sector, 2011-2014

This paper explores issues and concerns related to the 2014 alcohol and other drug sector recommissioning process in Victoria. Overview In mid-2014, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association approached the Drug Policy Modelling Program, at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales to undertake a project exploring and describing issues and concerns related to the 2014 alcohol and other drug sector recommissioning process in Victoria. This project commenced in July 2014 and concluded in November 2014. Policy documents and allied material were reviewed, and 20 stakeholders from 18 alcohol and other drug sector organisations were consulted. These stakeholders were CEOs/senior managers during the reform period