Anna Bengtson

Does CERN procurement result in innovation

Innovation is stated to be one of the most powerful engines for economic growth in firms, markets and nations today. It is therefore not surprising that policy-makers would like to see innovations as a benefit of publicly spent money; making innovations an additional aim of public procurement (public procurement for innovation). The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of a science organizations procurement practices on innovation. The intention is also to show how different and contradicting goals and expectations regarding public procurement are described and acted upon by the science organization and its suppliers, and to what extent the outcome of public procurement is innovation. Empirically, the study addresses how the European Organization for Nuclear Research, i.e. CERN, works with procurement; and how their procurement in turn affects CERNs suppliers. Based on a large case study in which more than 100 interviews were conducted over a time period of 8 years, the study contributes to the understanding of the limitations CERN’s procurement rules put on interaction and on innovation. The understanding of the implications of restricting interaction, but also the understanding of the reasons why these rules are put into place, and the dilemmas that follow, are all important contributions.

Managing stability and crises in business relationships: The case of Ericsson in an emerging market

Purpose – Adding to the theoretical view of relationship development, this paper holds the view that relationship change encompasses not only smooth incremental change but also includes crises which can trigger relationship weakening, dissolution and/or recovery. The aim is to develop a theoretical view that allows understanding of both smooth incremental and critical changes in the process of relationship development. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a business network perspective, the papers relationship view holds uncertainty, commitment and trust as central explanatory elements. The process view is composed of three episodes: incremental relationship development; relationship crisis; and ending or survival. The paper employs a longitudinal case study method and discusses how the relationship between the Swedish firm, Ericsson, and its counterpart, Telefonica, develops in the emerging market of Argentina during the period of 1998-2004. Findings – Conclusions demonstrate the vulnerability of rela...

Political embeddedness of technological development – the IgY case

The impact of the political environment, not the least from supranational entities such as the European Union (EU), is increasingly affecting firms. A common theme among politicians at all levels is the importance of stimulating entrepreneurship and technological development. In research on business networks and technological development, however, this impact has so far attained rather limited attention. In this article, focus is on business-political interaction and its importance for technological development in a small entrepreneurial firm within life science. It is shown that the development process within the firm cannot be explained if the political dimension is not explicitly taken into consideration. Hence, it is suggested that the business-political dimension should be more emphasised in business network studies.

On particle accelerators and timber-houses. How network dependencies condition the transfer of technological knowledge

The paper deals with the transfer of technological knowledge within networks of business relationships. In particular, it refers to literature on business networks and resource embeddedness and faces the problems and the difficulties with this transfer. The basic question is: “What requirements have to be fulfilled in order for the knowledge transfer to result in improvements?” Based on two empirical studies, the issue of transfer of technological knowledge is discussed further in the article. A distinction is proposed, between the transfer of “low tech knowledge” from US to Sweden within the construction industry and the transfer of “high tech knowledge” from CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics) to industry.

Beyond Project Closure: Why Some Business Relationships Recur in Subsequent Projects

While a project design provides several managerial advantages within the project life cycle, there are numerous challenges regarding its long-term effects. The aim of this article is to increase our knowledge on the continuity aspect of the project form of organizing, and especially the recurrence of project-based business relationships in subsequent projects. Focusing on the role of network relationships in leveraging between projects, we investigate the reasons for relationship recurrence. Based on a longitudinal case study of three construction projects, our results show that in addition to terminated and dormant relationships after project closure there are recurring relationships, which, unlike the others, do not need reactivation.

Found in Translation? On the Transfer of Technological Knowledge from Science to Industry

In this chapter the business network view will be extended by the introduction of an actor with a purpose other than that of business orientation—the scientific organisation. The main purpose of a ...

Cross-Sector Collaboration between Business and Non-Business Actors: The Case of an ICT-Project in Brazil : Book Chapter

The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to the project management literature by introducing behavioural aspects of relationships in collaborative ICT projects. Specifically, it examines the role played by business and non-business actors in successful projects regarding urban mobility in emerging economies. To accomplish this, a case study was undertaken, based on the development of a solution for public transportation in the South of Brazil. The findings suggest that, besides technological know-how, the interplay between commitment, knowledge, and opportunity development seem to have a combined impact on project outcome. The result strengthens the idea that studies analysing project management should consider not only rational dimensions of the projects, such as cost, time, quality, and scope, but also the social dimension in terms of the relationships that partners develop during and after the project.

Managing relationship development and crises in emerging markets : A Swedish firm´s relationship behaviour in Argentina

Purpose – Researchers rarely touch on the phenomenon of crisis in the relationship itself combined with relationship conflict caused by turbulence in the relationship environment – specifically for emerging markets. The aim of this study is to develop a theoretical view for studying how firms manage business relationships when facing crises caused both by involved parties and by contextual factors. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a business network perspective, the paper develops a relationship view stressing trust/distrust, commitment/de-commitment and uncertainty/knowledge as central explanatory relationship elements. The paper employs longitudinal case study method and discusses how the relationship between the Swedish firm Ericsson and Telefonica in Argentina for the period of 1998–2004. The process view is composed of three phases: the start-up phase, a phase of crisis and instability and finally a phase of restoration. Findings/originality – With the assumption of extensiveness in relationship development and high risk in falling from conflict into critical problems in emerging markets, the paper has elaborated new theoretical and empirical thoughts. The study gains further strength from the fact that the number and intensity of crises is increasing because of the escalation in global interdependency. It contributes further knowledge on strategy decisions like exit, wait and see, take the risk and advance affecting the firms’ business relationship.

A business network view on value creation and value capturing in public-private cooperation

Intersecting the boundaries between public and private economic activity, this study contributes to the research on public-private cooperation. It comprehends how these hybrids organizational arrangements influence value creation and capturing mechanisms. A case study based on the development of a public transportation solution in Brazil is undertaken. Using a business network approach, we propose a theoretical framework of value creation and capturing through public-private cooperation and argue that the value is constructed through the complementarity of resources and the cohesiveness of motives of the involved actors. Our findings suggest that the success of the cooperation goes beyond the benefits from simply generating revenues, thereby expanding the value capturing concept.

Innovation Through Business and NGO Co-operation: The Case of Digital Inclusion in the Amazon

Based on the findings in earlier research of the importance of relationships in general, and relationships to social actors in particular to explain innovation processes in emerging economies, the aim of the paper is to reach a better understanding of the mechanisms behind innovations in these economies. This has been accomplished through an investigation of an innovation process and the relationships between two business firms and a NGO that were central for its progression. Theoretically the study is constructed on the concepts of trust, commitment and cultural capability in long and short-term relationships as discussed in business network theory and theory on discontinuous innovation. A case study method is used and the social innovation project ‘Connexao Belterra’ that enabled connectivity in the distant Amazon region of Para, Brazil, was investigated.