Udo Staber

The Institutional Embeddedness of Project Networks: The Case of Content Production in German Television

Project networks are an organizational form of production and exchange among functionally interdependent but legally autonomous firms and individuals. Although these networks are of limited duration, co-ordination of actors and activities takes place with respect to past experiences and future expectations. Project networks depend on supportive institutions in the surrounding organizational field to provide the regulative and normative resources within which practices are given meaning. In this paper, we explore the role of institutional thickness for the performance of project networks in television content production in two media regions in Germany. We use GIDDENS, 1984, structuration perspective, to emphasize the dynamics and ambiguities of institutional processes. The analysis suggests that the two media regions differ in institutional thickness in ways which explain, at least in part, differences in the growth and viability of project networks. Les réseaux de projet constituent une forme organisationnelle de production et déchange parmi des entreprises et des individus qui sont interdépendants du point de vue fonctionnel mais autonomes sur le plan juridique. Malgré la durée de vie limitée de ces réseaux-là, la coordination des acteurs et des activités a lieu en fonction des expériences du passéet des attentes futures. Les réseaux de projet dépendent des organismes de soutien situés dans le domaine organisationnel environnant afin de fournir les ressources régulatrices et normatives au sein desquelles les pratiques se voient donner un sens. Cet article cherche à examiner le rôle de lancrage institutionnel pour ce qui est de la performance des réseaux de projet dans la production du fond et de la forme dans la télévision de deux régions dimportance médiatique en Allemagne. On se sert de la perspective stucturante de GIDDENS, 1984, pour souligner la dynamique et lambiguité des processus institutionnels. Lanalyse laisse voir que deux régions se distinguent du point de vie de leur ancrage institutionnel dune façon qui explique, du moins en partie, les différences de la croissance et de la viabilité des réseaux de projet. Projektnetzwerke sind eine Organisationsform ökonomischer Aktivitäten von zwar rechtlich selbständigen, jedoch funktional interdependenten Unternehmungen bzw. Unternehmern, die für eine begrenzte Zeit--ein Projekt--zusammenkommen, ihre Zusammenarbeit allerdings im Lichte ihrer bisherigen Erfahrungen und im Schatten ihrer zukünftigen Erwartungen koordinieren. Projektnetzwerke sind dabei auf die Unterstützung durch Institutionen in dem organisationalen Feld angewiesen, die ihnen den Zugriff auf Ressourcen ermöglichen und Sinn und Legitimität verfügbar machen. In diesem Beitrag wird die Rolle von institutional thickness für die Performanz von Projektnetzwerken im Feld der Content-Produktion für das Fernsehen in zwei deutschen Medienregionen untersucht. Dies geschieht auf der Grundlage der Giddens schen Strukturationstheorie, die die Dynamik und Ambiguität von Institutionalisierungsprozessen betont. Die Analyse zeigt, dass die zwei untersuchten Regionen sich hinsichtlich der institutionellen Dichte signifikant unterscheiden. Dies erklärt--zumindest zum Teil--die Wachstums- und Erfolgsdifferenzen der Netzwerke und Regionen.

Organizational Adaptive Capacity: A Structuration Perspective

Conventional approaches to organizational effectiveness and survival in highly volatile and complex environments focus on adaptation strategies of cost cutting and rationalization. The authors propose that building adaptive capacity is a more appropriate organizational strategy in such environments. Using Giddens’s structuration theory, they discuss multiplexity, redundancy, and loose coupling as important structural dimensions of adaptive capacity and highlight the challenges involved in managing these dimensions. Because structuration theory considers simultaneously all aspects of managerial practice, including the political, cognitive, and normative aspects of managing change, it offers a useful framework for understanding adaptive capacity as a strategy that extends beyond the technical efficiency focus of conventional adaptation thinking.

Spatial Proximity and Firm Survival in a Declining Industrial District: The Case of Knitwear Firms in Baden-Wu¨rttemberg

The literature on small firm networks in industrial districts postulates the importance of territorial proximity for business innovation and regional development, but empirical research to test this proposition is sparse. While there is some research on the extent of interfirm co-operation, little is known about the performance outcomes of co-operation. I develop competing hypotheses from institutional, ecological and random action theories concerning the survival chances of firms located in geographic proximity, and test them with data on the complete population of knitwear firms in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, for the period from 1960 to 1998. Proportional hazard estimates show that location in clusters of firms in the same industry increased business failure rates, and location in diversified clusters of firms operating in complementary industries reduced failure rates. The empirical results are most consistent with the ecological model of localized competition in resource environments. La documentation sur les réseaux de petites entreprises dans les districts industriels affirme limportance de la proximité géographique pour ce qui est de linnovation dentreprise et de laménagement du territoire. Toujours est-il que la recherche empirique qui vient à lappui de cette affirmation savère limitée. Alors quil y a de la recherche sur la portée du partenariat interentreprise, les résultats dun tel partenariat sont plutôt inconnus. A partir des théories institutionnelles, écologiques et relatives au événements au hasard, on construit des hypothèses rivaux concernant le taux de survie des entreprises situées les unes près des autres. Employant des données allant de 1960 à 1998 et provenant du nombre total des fabricants de tricots situés dans la Baden-Württemburg, en Allemagne, on met les hypothèses à lépreuve. Les estimations proportionnelles des risques montrent que la localisation des entreprises du même secteur en grappes augmente le taux de faillite, et que la localisation des entreprises des secteurs complémentaires réduit le taux de faillite. Les résultats empiriques correspondent au modèle écologique de la concurrence localisée en milieux caractérisés par la disponibilité des ressources. Die Literatur über Netzwerke von kleinen Firmen in industriellen Distrikten postuliert die Bedeutung der räumlichen Nähe für geschäftliche Innovation und Regionalentwicklung, doch empirische Untersuchungen zur Überprüfung dieser These sind rar. Es gibt zwar einige Arbeiten über das Ausmass der kooperativen Zusammenarbeit unter Firmen, doch wenige Studien über die Erfolgsergebnisse der Zusammenarbeit. Der Autor leitet aus institutionalistischen, ökologischen und Zufall basierten Theorien gegensätzliche Hypothesen bezüglich der Überlebenschancen von Firmen ab, deren Standorte sich in geographischer Nähe zu einander befinden, und überprüft sie mit Hilfe von Daten über die gesamte Population von Strickwarenunternehmen in Baden-Württemberg/Deutschland im Zeitraum 1960-1998. Proportionalitätsriskoschätzungen zeigen, dass Standorte in räumlichen Clustern von Firmen der gleichen Industriebranche die Häufigkeit von Firmenschliessungen steigerten, und dass Standorte in einem diversifizierten Cluster von Firmen in komplementären Industriezweigen die Rate der Schliessungen reduzierten. Die empirischen Ergebnisse stimmen weitgehendst mit dem ökologischen Modell örtlich beschränkten Wettbewerbs in Ressourcenumwelten überein.

Planning for Path Dependence? The Case of a Network in the Berlin‐Brandenburg Optics Cluster

abstract Much research on regional business clusters refers to path dependence as a central feature in the evolution of cluster structures. In many cases, however, little is known about the agentic processes and mechanisms that underlie path dependence. In this article, we explore changes in a specific network in the optics cluster in the German region of Berlin-Brandenburg to show that development of clusters can be driven by elements of both emergence and planning. In particular, we argue that current actors actively and purposively draw upon rules and resources that were shaped not only in the long and discontinuous history of the cluster but also in the recent process of network development that involves careful planning and well-structured planning tools. Using central concepts from structuration theory, we show how agency is implicated in the coordination of the network and how agency turns coordination into a self-reinforcing mechanism. The findings suggest that purposive planning involves a fundamental ambivalence in the processes and outcomes of path dependence, at the level of both the cluster and its constituent networks.

Network Evolution in Cultural Industries

Most of the research on social networks in cultural industries has taken an actor‐centered perspective on individuals and organizations, often based on the (implicit) assumption of relative stability in actor attributes and relationships. This poses problems for an understanding of networks in a cultural context that is characterized by spontaneity, variation, and disequilibrium. To give more credit to processes related to “doing creative work”, I propose an evolutionary framework that focuses on ideas as the unit of analysis and draws attention to the dynamic distribution of ideas in an environment where ideas compete for human attention.

Social Capital Processes in Cross Cultural Management

Many researchers in the area of cross cultural management follow a structuralist and static conception of the culture construct. In this article, I outline a critique of this approach to culture and offer the concept of social capital as a potential corrective to the limitations of the structuralist paradigm widely in use. The social capital approach treats social relations, rather than organizations or individuals, as the unit of analysis, and focuses on the processes and mechanisms by which social relations contribute to outcomes relevant to cross cultural management. I suggest a methodology for studying social capital as a network process, focusing on the connections between actions or events.

Who Are We, and Do We Need to Change? Cluster Identity and Life Cycle

Staber U. and Sautter B. Who are we, and do we need to change? Cluster identity and life cycle, Regional Studies. Collective identity is a frequently mentioned but understudied intangible feature of clusters, highlighting what is central, distinctive, and enduring about the character of clusters as they move through the stages in their life cycle. This study examines identity as a socially constructed phenomenon containing both enduring and mutable attributes, which allows clusters to adjust to environmental change. The analysis of historical data on two long-lived clusters in South West Germany suggests that the dynamic mix of persistent and flexible identity elements becomes most visible during periods of cluster upheaval, particularly at a time when stagnant and declining clusters attempt to revitalize. Staber U. et Sautter B. Qui sommes-nous, et est-ce quil nous faut changer? Lidentité des clusters et le cycle de vie, Regional Studies. Souvent, lidentité collective est mentionnée en tant quune caractéristique insaisissable des clusters qui mérite plus de réflexion, soulignant ce qui est essentiel, pertinent et durable quant au caractère des clusters au fur et à mesure de leur passage travers les différentes étapes de leur cycle de vie. Cette étude cherche à examiner la notion didentité comme un phénomène social qui comprend des attributs durables et mutables, ce qui permet aux clusters de sadapter à lévolution de leur environnement. Lanalyse des données chronologiques à propos de deux clusters de longue date situés dans le sud-ouest de lAllemagne laissent supposer que la combinaison dynamique de caractéristiques durables et flexibles devient la plus visible au moment du bouleversement des clusters, notamment au moment où les clusters qui sont en stagnation et en perte de vitesse cherchent à se redémarrer. Clusteru2003Identitéu2003Cycle de vieu2003Evolution des clusters Staber U. und Sautter B. Wer sind wir, und müssen wir uns ändern? Identität und Lebenszyklus von Clustern, Regional Studies. Kollektive Identität ist eine oft erwähnte aber wenig untersuchte schwer greifbare Eigenschaft von Clustern. Sie betont die zentralen, kennzeichnenden und fortdauernden Merkmale im Wesen von Clustern in den verschiedenen Stadien ihres Lebenszykluses. Die vorliegende Studie befasst sich mit Identität als sozial konstruiertem Phänomen, das sowohl fortdauernde wie auch veränderbare Eigenschaften beinhaltet, die es Clustern ermöglichen, sich an veränderte Umweltbedingungen anzupassen. Die Untersuchung historischer Daten zu zwei langlebigen Clustern im Südwesten Deutschlands zeigt, dass die dynamische Mischung von beständigen und flexiblen Identitätselementen am ehesten in Zeiten wirtschaftlicher Umwälzungen sichtbar wird, und besonders dann, wenn stagnierende und schrumpfende Cluster sich um Erneuerung bemühen. Clusteru2003Identitätu2003Lebenszyklusu2003Evolution von Clustern Staber U. y Sautter B. ¿Quiénes somos y debemos cambiar? La identidad y el ciclo de vida de las aglomeraciones, Regional Studies. La identidad colectiva es una característica intangible de aglomeraciones que se menciona con frecuencia pero es poco estudiada, y que destaca el carácter central, distintivo y permanente de las aglomeraciones en los diferentes estadios de su ciclo de vida. En este estudio analizamos la identidad como un fenómeno construido socialmente que contiene atributos permanentes y mutables que permiten que las aglomeraciones se ajusten al cambio medioambiental. El análisis de los datos históricos en dos aglomeraciones de larga duración en el suroeste de Alemania indica que la mezcla dinámica de elementos de identidad persistentes y flexibles es más visible durante los periodos de agitación de las aglomeraciones, especialmente en un momento en que las aglomeraciones estancadas y en declive intentan revitalizarse. Aglomeraciónu2003Identidadu2003Ciclo de vidau2003Evolución de aglomeraciones

Collective learning in clusters: Mechanisms and biases

Although collective learning has long been considered a core feature of successful clusters, many researchers have treated the concept of learning more as a metaphor than a construct that requires an understanding of the various processes and mechanisms involved. I draw on the cultural-evolutionary perspective to argue that learning in clusters is an inherently biased process, with outcomes that can be both functional and dysfunctional. The cultural-evolutionary approach views learning as a process of imitation, treats beliefs as the unit of selection, and considers individuals as agents who are limited in their cognitive capabilities and social autonomy. Using interview data on 62 small business owners and 34 institutional actors in a textile and a surgical instruments cluster in South-west Germany, I show that the learning process can involve social biases which, in these cases, have the effect of reproducing a collective mindset built on distrust and rivalry. The findings provide an explanation for the fact that many studies of clusters have not been able to document the high levels of interfirm collaboration that cluster theory predicts.

A Matter of Distrust: Explaining the Persistence of Dysfunctional Beliefs in Regional Clusters

Much theoretical writing on regional clusters is based on a functionalist and normative view of trust-based social exchange underlying innovativeness and competitiveness. Empirical research, however, reports many cases of clusters that are best characterized as loosely connected agglomerations of firms, driven by intense distrust and rivalry, rather than trust and cooperation, and with outcomes that may or may not be advantageous. The aim of this paper is to offer a microlevel Darwinian explanation for the persistence of distrust in clusters. From the memes eye view, a cluster may be understood as a cultural phenomenon that is created and reproduced by human agents as they selectively perceive and enact the ideas that draw their attention. The outcome is not necessarily a distribution of ideas that benefits the individual members of the cluster or enhances the performance of the cluster as a whole. This paper outlines the general evolutionary principles involved in this process and applies them in a discussion of some of the conditions under which ideas related to distrust may be selected and reproduced. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing.

Social capital or strong culture

Organization scientists have recently introduced the concept of social capital to explain how the fabric of social connections among organization members leads to superior organizational performance. In this paper, I argue that the typical formulations of social capital sound remarkably similar to familiar conceptions of organizational culture, especially those features that indicate tightly coupled and deeply embedded social relations. I identify the common strands in the concepts of social capital and organizational culture. I propose that, without further efforts of conceptual clarification and empirical verification, the wholesale adoption by human resource development practitioners of the most popular features of the social capital concept is risky and likely to lead to disillusionment.