Interactive Network Branding: Creating corporate identity and reputation through interpersonal interaction

Purpose – This study examines Interactive Network Branding (INB) as an emergent process where the corporate identity and reputation of a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) are created through interpersonal interaction. The INB process is socially constructed through interaction between individual people who act on behalf of their companies in business relationships and networks.Design/methodology/approach – The study is conceptual. Drawing on corporate branding literature, IMP research and empirical studies as well as short illustrative cases from SME contexts, the paper provides a conceptual description of INB and its sub-processes. Corporate branding literature offers conceptual understanding of corporate identity and reputation; the recent IMP-based studies offer an overview of current thinking within the paradigm, and the empirical studies and case examples from SMEs show the validity of the interpersonal approach for the INB.Findings – The paper provides an enhanced understanding of Interactive Network Branding in which interpersonal interaction lead to the creation of a corporate brand – as an integral part of the companies’ networking process. Three types of interpersonal interactions are distinguished: internal, external, and boundary spanning, the latter occurring at the borderline of the company and its environment. We propose a process model of INB and specify the role of various interactions for the emerging process. Research limitations – Since the paper is conceptual, further research is needed to study the INB process empirically and in more depth in different SME contexts and through differing interaction perspectives.Practical implications – Managerial implications denote the crucial role of individuals in performing INB. Through interpersonal interactions, SMEs are able to create their identity and reputation, i.e. a strong corporate brand, and thereby to influence their network position.Originality/value – This paper is one of the first attempts to link the IMP Network Approach with corporate branding literature, while focusing on the interpersonal interactions. The study builds bridges between these two distant but important research paradigms and contributes to each by developing a process perspective on corporate branding in business networks. This new approach to corporate branding seen through business interactions offers unique conceptual and managerial implications

IMP thinking and IMM: Co-creating value for business marketing

We have extensive knowledge about the thematic development of the business-to-business marketing research. Much less is known, however, how major research contributions are created and disseminated, in brief, how the academic value is constructed between human and institutional actors. We address this issue by examining the relationship between IMM (Industrial Marketing Management journal) and the IMP (Industrial Marketing and Purchasing) research community in the creation of B2B marketing theory from the early 1990s to present. We argue that the relationship between the IMP community and IMM, led by Peter LaPlaca over the past 23 years, offers an exceptional living laboratory for studying academic value creation in the B2B domain. Based on documents and citation data from the late 1980s to 2016 we will show how the parties created new academic knowledge and value for each other through intensive interaction and collaborative activities. In conclusion, we discuss the forms of coordination between IMM and IMP and provide an outlook for the future of this unique relationship.</p

Moving beyond ethical decision-making: a practice-based view to study unethical sales behavior

Changes in the business environment are rapidly transforming sales practice and pressuring the integrity of key actors in sales. Given that unethical sales behavior is a social activity produced and reproduced by various actors in a complex sales task environment, we introduce a novel research perspective to the study of unethical sales behavior, namely a practice-based view. With knowledge from a systematic literature review and a practice-based view from organization research, we suggest that unethical behavior should be studied as a practice formed through socialization and interaction with relevant others. This view provides an important alternative as well as a complementary perspective to the ethical decision-making paradigm that has dominated the field for several decades. The study answers scholars’ recent calls to strengthen the theoretical foundation of sales ethics research and further extend its perspective toward the social context of sales. With a focus on dynamics, social relations, and the enactment of practices, the practice-based view produces new types of knowledge on unethical behavior and potential new means for addressing it. The article makes suggestions for future practice-based research and proposes several theories for use in studying unethical behavior in currently important sales contexts.</p

Extending the Business Network Approach – New Territories, New Technologies, New Terms

In this study we introduce ethics as an emerging area of business network research. Our aim is to draw researchers’ attention to ethics as a timely extension of the business network approach and to propose avenues for its future study. Business networks form a specific context for the study of ethics, yet only very little research has been conducted on the topic. Based on existing literature, we will first analyze the stands taken on defining ethics and ethical behavior in business relationships and networks. Secondly, we will address the significance of ethical behavior for business networks. To conclude, we derive four themes and a number of potential questions to be posed in future research on business network ethics. The study creates a contribution to the field of business networks by providing a state-of-the-art examination of the research topic and by laying a basis for its future study. </p

Interactive Network Branding: Creating corporate identity and reputation through interpersonal interaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine Interactive Network Branding (INB) as an emergent process where the corporate identity and reputation of a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) are created through interpersonal interaction. The INB process is socially constructed through interaction between individual people who act on behalf of their companies in business relationships and networks.Design/methodology/approach The study is conceptual. Drawing on corporate branding literature, IMP research and empirical studies as well as short illustrative cases from SME contexts, the paper provides a conceptual description of INB and its sub-processes. Corporate branding literature offers conceptual understanding of corporate identity and reputation; the recent IMP-based studies offer an overview of current thinking within the paradigm, and the empirical studies and case examples from SMEs show the validity of the interpersonal approach for the INB.Findings The paper provides an enhanced understanding of INB in which interpersonal interaction lead to the creation of a corporate brand - as an integral part of the companies' networking process. Three types of interpersonal interactions are distinguished: internal, external, and boundary spanning, the latter occurring at the borderline of the company and its environment. A process model of INB is proposed that specify the role of various interactions for the emerging process.Research limitations/implications Since the paper is conceptual, further research is needed to study the INB process empirically and in more depth in different SME contexts and through differing interaction perspectives.Practical implications Managerial implications denote the crucial role of individuals in performing INB. Through interpersonal interactions, SMEs are able to create their identity and reputation, i.e. a strong corporate brand, and thereby to influence their network position.Originality/value This paper is one of the first attempts to link the IMP network approach with corporate branding literature, while focusing on the interpersonal interactions. The study builds bridges between these two distant but important research paradigms and contributes to each by developing a process perspective on corporate branding in business networks. This new approach to corporate branding seen through business interactions offers unique conceptual and managerial implications.</div

Managing business and innovation networks — From strategic nets to business fields and ecosystems

This article introduces the Special Issue of Managing Business and Innovation Networks and makes an independent contribution to the advancement of network management research. The study has three ambitious goals. First, it evaluates the main developments in network management research from 2000 to 2016, focusing on disciplinary openings. Second, it specifies the contributions of recent domain extensions (business fields, ecosystems, platform networks) to network management, and clarifies the role of networks and network management in these domains. Third, it proposes a general theory of network management based on the past 20 years of research in the field and the contributions of SI articles. The theory explains how the factors at three contextual levels – environment, network and actor – influence network management activities, forming patterns of management based on activity configurations. The framework consolidates our fragmented knowledge on network management and paves the way for more advanced research and management. We conclude with suggestions for future research.</p

Dimensions of space in business network research

Interactive processes constitute a core notion in business exchange, leading to the concepts of relationships and networks. The constitution of process, comprising unfolding events, activities, and connected structures, relies on difference in space and time.While research has been devoted to time, the concept of space has thus far remained largely unexplored within business network research.This conceptual paper focuses on spatial dimensions for conducting research according to the IMP business network approach. Business actors create connected relationships and networks that exist and change as continuous emerging spatial structures and as mental maps in the managerial mindset. These relational network processes and structures are located, distributed and experienced in and across space. Drawing on economic geography and conceptual frameworks from the business network approach, we propose new dimensions and conceptualizations of space for the study of these networks. The paper delivers proposals to extend our current understanding of business networks as emerging and changing spatio-temporal entities with implications for theorydevelopment, research and practice.</p