Frans Prenkert

Conceptualising, delineating, and analysing business networks

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore possible contributions to the development of models to define business networks conceptually, and identify and delineate them empirically by inte ...

A theory of organizing informed by activity theory : The locus of paradox, sources of change, and challenge to management

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to provide a solid theoretical base to the study of paradox in organized activity. It draws upon activity theory to show the managerial and analytical potential of ...

A measure of organizational effectiveness in nursing management in relation to transactional and transformational leadership : a study in a Swedish county hospital.

This paper presents an empirical study of the influences of transactional (TA) and transformational (TF) leadership on organizational effectiveness (OE), measured as the degree of goal attainment and the quality of nursing care (NQ). The study subjects were all head-nurses and assistant head-nurses at a medium-sized hospital in Sweden (n = 23). The methods used were questionnaires and interviews. The multi-leadership questionnaire earlier developed by Bass was modified and named the Leadership Nursing-Effectiveness Questionnaire (LNEQ), comprising 84 items using Likert-type scales. The study showed low mean scores on OE (2.19) and TA (1.05) but high mean scores on NQ (3.17) and TF (3.84). The results suggest that the degree of TA and TF leadership had a low and insignificant connection with OE in this hospital organization. The study did not support the statement that organizational units exposed to a higher degree of TA and TF leadership at the same time show a high degree of OE, as has been shown in studies in other cultural contexts and organizations.

Tracing the Roots of Activity Systems Theory An Analysis of the Concept of Mediation

This paper explores some meta-theoretical sources to cultural-historical activity theory by focusing on the concept of cultural mediation as it is construed in activity systems theory. Links to Charles S. Peirce’s pragmaticism are identified and elaborated by comparison of the semiotic version of mediation with cultural mediation. The philosophical influence from Hegelian thought to both pragmaticism and activity systems theory is identified and elaborated with a focus on mediation. By a reinterpretation of C.S. Peirce’s category the third—Thirdness, as “phaneroscopic mediation”— a partial overlap is found with cultural mediation. Although overlapping in the emphasis on mediation, activity theory, and pragmaticism also show some significant differences in scope and application.

Understanding business networks from a mixed network and system ontology position : A review of the research field

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ontological implications of combining network and system ontology to conceptualize industrial networks as the empirical manifestations of comp ...

Market investments in resource interfaces : understanding market assets in networks

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of who forms what market assets bymaking what market investments in a business network.Design/methodology/approach: To investigate what m ...

Boundaries of Business Actors and Networks: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections

Abstract Boundary setting is identified as an important and highly useful factor, both in management practice and in dealing with phenomena in management research. It has significant implications for how circumstances and phenomena will be analysed and interpreted. Change – moving or change in nature – is a key factor in all attempts to strategise and economise. The authors argue that boundary setting is critical in analysing and interpreting business problems, both in the practice of management and in business research. The nature and function of boundaries vary. It can be exemplified with two archetypes of organisation – the integrated hierarchy and the connected company. In the first, the basic principle for boundary setting is buffering to protect the company from external variations. In the second type, it is bridging – connecting the company with specific changing factors. One important consequence is that when analysing and handling boundaries, both location and permeability become the central aspects to consider.

Inter-organisational information sharing in the public sector: A longitudinal case study on the reshaping of success factors

Today, public organisations need to share information in order to complete their tasks. Over the years, scholars have mapped out the social and organisational factors that affect the success or fai ...

Ethical issues in e-commerce : A renewed analysis based on the multiplicity of customer relationships

Although ethical issues in e-commerce have received increased interest in recent years, the relational context between e-vendor and e-customer has remained relatively unproblematized. Rather than assuming an anonymous interface between e-vendor and e-customer, with specific ethical issues related to it, we examine a case of a hybrid organizational context where physical stores within the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector use an intermediary to sell goods via e-commerce. The co-existence of physical stores and Internet solutions creates multiple relationships to customers and, as we argue, ethical problems of partly different kind compared to the ones identified in the literature. In the article, both the nature of the relationships between e-vendor and e-customer is analysed and ethical issues related to these relationships identified. From a theoretical point of view, the article widens the discussion on e-commerce ethics from a relational perspective inspired by Martin Buber’s philosophy.

Inter-organisational information security: a systematic literature review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to survey existing inter-organisational information security research to scrutinise the kind of knowledge that is currently available and the way in which this knowledge has been brought about. Design/methodology/approach The results are based on a literature review of inter-organisational information security research published between 1990 and 2014. Findings The authors conclude that existing research has focused on a limited set of research topics. A majority of the research has focused management issues, while employees’/non-staffs’ actual information security work in inter-organisational settings is an understudied area. In addition, the majority of the studies have used a subjective/argumentative method, and few studies combine theoretical work and empirical data. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that future research should address a broader set of research topics, focusing especially on employees/non-staff and their use of processes and technology in inter-organisational settings, as well as on cultural aspects, which are lacking currently; focus more on theory generation or theory testing to increase the maturity of this sub-field; and use a broader set of research methods. Practical implications The authors conclude that existing research is to a large extent descriptive, philosophical or theoretical. Thus, it is difficult for practitioners to adopt existing research results, such as governance frameworks, which have not been empirically validated. Originality/value Few systematic reviews have assessed the maturity of existing inter-organisational information security research. Findings of authors on research topics, maturity and research methods extend beyond the existing knowledge base, which allow for a critical discussion about existing research in this sub-field of information security.