Current projects at the Chair for Inter-firm cooperation

Participatory Practices of Network Governance for Sustainability in Global Production Networks

• Carolin Puhl
• Past decades have witnessed an unprecedented fragmentation and re-localization of economic production processes. Especially in the 1980s multinational companies mostly stemming from early-industrialized countries began to transfer whole steps of value creation to countries of the Global South so that complex networks of subsidiary companies, suppliers and sub-suppliers emerged. This way of organizing the economy in Global Production Networks promised access to local markets, resources as well as know-how and made it possible to profit from regional advantages as cheaper labour and more flexible legal restrictions. While the phenomenon promoted economic growth and human development in certain regards, it is incontestable today that it brought with it as welldiverse negative effects on a social, ecological and economic scale that often hit those network members with the weakest bargaining power hardest. This project is concerned with different approaches that attempt to include the perspectives of those agents – their discursive and practical knowledge – in overcoming the issues at hand. It discusses, how engaged or transformative research can assist in starting participative knowledge generation at the network level already in the research process. Furthermore, it analyses practices of participation implemented within instruments of network governance such as multi stakeholder initiatives or global framework agreements. The theoretical lens that is applied throughout the research project is that of practice theory.
• Duration: since 10/2017

Bridging the gap between corporates and startups: The role of accelerators

• Alice Rettig
• The inherent difficulties and constraints of established corporations in terms of generating innovations internally are a well-researched phenomenon in the corporate entrepreneurship literature. Becoming aware that the necessary knowledge to innovate resides increasingly often beyond organizational boundaries, a number of scholars have especially highlighted the innovative potential of collaborations between large established firms and entrepreneurial startups based on their complementary assets and knowledge. Despite the broad variety of inter-organizational collaboration (e.g. corporate venturing, incubation, strategic alliances), there has been a recent surge of corporate accelerator programs to engage with entrepreneurial startups. Corporate accelerators are a relatively nascent phenomenon, representing a new generation of highly structured, time-limited, and competitive startup support programs. Nevertheless, the internal dynamic processes of and interactions within corporate accelerators have remained largely unstudied. The aim of this study is to shed light on the role of accelerators as innovation-generating, temporary intermediaries between corporates and startups.
• Duration: since 11/2017

Chinese Wind Power Manufacturing from 2006 to 2015: The Role of Institutional Work

• Qi Tang
• Chinese wind power system has grown rapidly since about 2006. By the end of 2015, China had installed more than 145 GW cumulative capacities, with the share of 33.6% of world total surpassing the European Union. Chinese firm Goldwind now maintains the leading position and occupies the largest market share in the global market. The steady increases of newly installed and cumulative capacities of Chinese wind power,and the expanding market share globally and domestically of Chinese wind power manufacturing are usually considered as resulting from government policies. However, the institutional changes which have had the positive effect on industrial development are caused by the institutional work of wind turbine manufacturers as well. Confronted with the critical cases such as regional imbalance of electricity supply and demand, curtailment of electricity, reduction of feed-in-tariff etc., many manufacturers attempted through various intentional works to influence the formal and informal institution which they are embedded. Therefore, the study raises the research question: “how did the embedded actors of China wind power manufacturing influence its institutional environment from 2006 to 2015?” based on the theoretical background of institutional work, one of the latest versions of organizational neoinstitutionalism. 
• Duration: since 01/2016

Corporate Social Responsibility in Netzwerken des Einzelhandels – Eine strukturationstheoretische Perspektive auf die Umsetzung

• Marco Steppe
• Das Forschungsprojekt untersucht anhand einer Fallstudie Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) als Bestandteil der interorganisationalen Beziehungen in einem Einzelhandelsnetzwerk. Im Untersuchungsfokus steht hierbei eines der größten deutschen Einzelhandelsunternehmen als der fokale Akteur in seinem strategischen Netzwerk. Dabei ist das Einzelhandels­unternehmen nicht nur in seiner Gesamtheit nach außen zu berücksichtigen, sondern vielmehr mit seinen verschiedenen internen Boundary Spanners an den Schnittstellen zu seinen direkten und indirekten Lieferanten. Unter Anwendung einer strukturationstheoretischen Perspektive wird die Umsetzung von CSR als soziale, intra- und interorganisationale Praktiken dargestellt. Diese sorgen im rekursiven Zusammenspiel mit den betreffenden Strukturmomenten für eine entsprechende Strukturation des Netzwerks. Hierdurch werden Erklärungen geliefert zu den Beeinflussungen einerseits der Umsetzung der Thematik CSR auf die interorganisationalen Beziehungen des fokalen Unternehmens und andererseits der interorganisationalen Beziehungen auf die Umsetzung von CSR in den beteiligten Netzwerkunternehmen. Zudem wird eine Beurteilung der Strukturations­theorie als Theoriefundament für ein derartiges Phänomen der inter­organisationalen Netzwerkforschung vorgenommen.
• Duration: since 04/2015

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Completed Projects

Human Resource Management practices in project-based organizations

• Ehsan Samimi

• In the last decades, temporary organizational forms in general and project-based organizations in particular have become pervasive in society. Different industries and contemporary organizations at different levels utilize the project as the main mean for doing their activities. The idiosyncratic features of projects such as the salient role of time and temporality and dealing with uncertainty differentiate project-based organizations from traditional permanent organizations. This research explores how project-based organizing affects human resouce management practices via a practice-based research lens.

• Duration: 10/2016 - 02/2021

Technische Pfade durch interorganisationale Pfade? Die Effekte von Sozialkapital im Wettbewerb strategischer Industrie-Allianzen im Markt für Smartphone-Betriebssysteme.

• Frithjof Stöppler

• Das Forschungsprojekt untersucht die potentielle Bildung technologischer Pfade auf Basis eines interorganisationalen „Lock-in“ von Unternehmen in strategische Industrie-Allianzen. Dazu wird die Wirkung von Sozialkapital auf Prozesse der Kooperation zwischen den Mitgliedsunternehmen solcher Allianzen untersucht. Sozialkapital wird in diesem Rahmen als Prozess verstanden, welcher Bindungswirkung anfangs durch das Überbrücken struktureller Löcher und später durch das Erreichen interner Kohäsion und Verschließung entfalten kann. Eine empirischen Studie im Markt für Smartphone-Betriebssysteme, in dem zwei miteinander rivalisierende Allianzen untersucht werden, dient der Theoriebildung. Ihre Ergebnisse werden dann in ein empirisch fundiertes Simulationsmodell übertragen, um sowohl die Allianzdynamik, Effekte von Sozialkapital und mögliche Pfadprozesse genau zu analysieren als auch die entwickelte Theorie weiter zu konkretisieren und zu überprüfen.

• Duration: 04/2008 - 02/2019

• Contact: Pfadkolleg

• Publication: here

Versorgungsintegration durch Vernetzung? Zwei Ärztenetze zwischen Pfadabhängigkeit und Pfadbruch

• Mario Bach
• Trotz jahrzehntelanger Integrationsbemühungen findet der überwiegende Teil der ambulanten Krankenversorgung Deutschlands in fragmentierten Strukturen statt. Getrennte Leistungssektoren und eine nur unzureichend funktional integrierte Versorgungspraxis erschweren eine nahtlose Patientenversorgung. Um diesen Missständen zu begegnen, ermöglichte der Gesetzgeber neue Versorgungsorganisationen. Doch trotz vieler leistungsfähiger Beispiele, die sich seit 2004 gründeten, ist deren Anteil am gesamten Versorgungsgeschehen noch gering. Die Studie sucht nach den Gründen dieser Beharrungen und fokussiert auf einen noch wenig beachteten Aspekt: Im ersten Teil wird die Entstehung von sogenannten pfadabhängigen Regulationspraktiken untersucht. Diese Praktiken, zu denen beispielsweise Überweisungen von Patienten gehören, sind verstetigte Handlungenmuster, mit denen die Leistungserbringer ihre Zusammenarbeit wechselseitig regulieren. Sie sind, so die Ausgangsthese, insofern pfadabhängig, als dass sie fortlaufend zur Reproduktion der fragmentierten Krankenversorgung beitragen. Im zweiten Teil der Studie werden zwei ambulant tätige Ärztenetze untersucht (ein deutschlandweit tätiges fachärztliches Netzwerk und ein interdisziplinäres regionales Netzwerk). Hier ist die Ausgangsthese, dass es mithilfe netzwerkförmiger Strukturen und Handlungsmuster gelingen kann, die vormals pfadabhängigen Regulationspraktiken zu brechen und diese durch integrativ wirksame Regulationspraktiken sukzessive zu ersetzten. Neben der Weiterentwicklung pfadtheoretischer Erklärungsansätze in der Netzwerkforschung leistet die Studie einen Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung ambulant tätiger Versorgungsnetze.
• Duration: 04/2011 - 06/2020
• Publikation: here

Essays on Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Organizing – An Ethically Focused Practice-Based Perspective

• Ignas Bruder

• Through the increasing interest in management and organization research to address social and ecological concerns, the phenomena of social entrepreneurship and sustainable organizing are growingly discussed and researched. Yet, the normativity inherent in these phenomena and in approaches exploring them is seldom reflected explicitly. This dissertation takes an ethically focused practice-based perspective to sensitize for ethical reflection and shine a light on the normativity inherent in sustainable, social entrepreneurial and research practice. Thereby, it discusses the normative foundations of social entrepreneurship, presents a practice-based account of mission drift and elaborates, based on an ethnography, a ‘radical’ approach to sustainability that implies normatively prioritizing ecological and social cocerns over economic interests.

• Duration: 10/2016 - 07/2020
• Contact

(No) Change towards Inter-Organizational Collaboration in Established Institutional Fields – Insights from German Health Care

• Carolin Auschra
• The integration of health care provision across sectors and professions has become an important topic for most Western health systems. It can be realized via various arrangements that coordinate economic exchange (hierarchy vs. inter-organizational network vs. market). The purposeful collaboration between independent organizations is increasingly discussed as a mean to enable integrated care. However, such change towards more inter-organizational collaboration in established institutional fields like the German health care system often seems to take place in a very gradual way. This empirical context thus provides opportunities to observe mechanisms that lead to stability and change in institutions and practices.

• Duration: 10/2013 - 07/2017
• Contact

Beruflichkeit in netzwerkförmiger Wertschöpfung - Zur Institutionalisierungsarbeit bei industrienahen Dienstleistungen

• Manuel Nicklich

• Der Ausbildungsberuf stellt nach wie vor eine zentrale Institution der Arbeitswelt dar, um die Deutschland bisweilen beneidet wird. Gleichwohl wird seit Anfang der 1990er der dualen Berufsausbildung immer wieder bescheinigt, sich in einer Krise zu befinden, deren Ursachen unter anderem in einer veränderten Unternehmensorganisation erkannt werden.Entsprechendes gilt etwa auch wenn im Zuge einer Re-organisation der Wertschöpfung in Richtung inter-organisationaler Netzwerke behauptet wird, dass eine aufkommende prozessorientierte Organisations­form das für das deutsche System zentrale Konzept des Berufsprinzips untergrabe. Dessen ungeachtet lässt sich im Feld der industrienahen Dienstleistungen, welches im Zuge dieser Reorganisation stark wächst, eine Tendenz zum Einrichten bzw. der Adaption von Ausbildungsberufen beobachten.Ob der zentralen Stellung des Berufsprinzips in Deutschland überrascht es, dass gerade die konkreten Anstrengungen der berufspolitischen Akteure, die Institution der Beruflichkeit auch über veränderte Voraussetzungen hinweg zu erhalten, bislang nur wenig Beachtung fanden. Aus diesem Grund möchte diese Forschungsarbeit anhand zweier Ausbildungsberufe im Bereich der industrienahen Dienstleistungen die Beziehung zwischen Beruflichkeit als Organisationsform der Arbeit und inter-organisationalen Netzwerken als diese Institution herausforderndes Phänomen sowie die Anstrengungen der die Institution tragenden Akteure untersuchen. Dabei wird angenommen, dass es letztlich keine Frage der Reorganisation der Wertschöpfung ist, ob Beruflichkeit erodiert oder (re-)institutionalisiert wird, sondern entscheidend von den (De-)Institutionalisierungsarbeit der berufspolitischen Akteure abhängt.In theoretischer Hinsicht leistet die Arbeit durch Integration von historischem Institutionalismus und Institutional-Work-Ansatz einen Beitrag zur Diskussion im Bereich institutioneller Dynamiken. Zusätzlich liefert die Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Debatte um die Zukunft und Entwicklungsoptionen von Berufsfachlichkeit in Deutschland und bietet mit den Erkenntnissen eine Basis für zukünftige Strategien in Bezug auf die Etablierung, Modifikation und Nutzung von Ausbildungsberufen in netzwerkförmigen Zusammenhängen.

• Laufzeit: 12/2012 - 02/2017
• Contact
• Publication: here

The Role of Domestic Print Media Organisations in the Transition Process of Institutional Arrangements in Contemporary China

• Silvan Meier

• The economic reforms that were launched in the late 1970s have liberalised the Chinesemedia sector only partially, which caused conflicting institutional arrangements. Whereas innovations in the managerial scope and the organisational frameworks of media corporations have been promoted, strict political censorship is still being enforced. Empirics suggest, however, that the accumulation of contradictions within an institutional setting may initiate a process of incremental change. It is the aim of this research project to critically investigate institutional implications of the organizational transformation of print media corporations in China. As organisations and their institutional environment are mutually constitutive, it is assumed that adaptions of the organisational structure of institutionalised media corporations may incrementally influence the environment in which they are embedded. The theory of “Institutional Entrepreneurship” provides the overarching theoretical background for the study. It is presumed that an increased accessibility of resources (e.g. social, human or intellectual capital) may enable embedded actors to opt for institutional change and the realignment of institutional arrangements. The study addresses the following questions: (1) In what way have shifting policies changed the organisational structure of the institutionalised media in China?(2) What institutional imperatives have evolved from the organisational changes? (3) What role do media organisations, conceived as institutional entrepreneurs, play in the realignment of institutional arrangements? In coherence with the theoretical framework, emphasis is put on the micro dynamics of institutional change. Therefore, the role of the media as institutional actors will be assessed from an organisational micro-level perspective, whereas the analysis ofa critical case is at the heart of the research.

• Duration: 3 years (10/2013 - 01/2017)
• Contact: GEAS

Practice Transfer across Institutional Distance

• Johann Fortwengel

• Empirical studies find that the transfer of organizational practices to foreign subsidiaries is very difficult and often fails. International business literature commonly refers to the institutional distance concept to explain this. The notion of institutional distance is not very theorized, however, and international business scholars thus struggle to explain why and how exactly it matters in the process of practice transfer. Referring to the theory of path dependence, the PhD project intends to address this research gap. It argues that institutions can become path dependent, thereby posing serious limits to form and structure of practice transfer. The application of the theory of path dependence to the field of international business will be based on an empirical study of the extent to which German industrial companies attempt to transfer their apprenticeship practices to their subsidiaries in the United States. It will follow a comparative case study design. This project is particularly interested in the underlying mechanisms of this process of practice transfer across institutional distance. As such, it hopes to contribute to our understanding of the interdependence of organizational practices and institutional paths. Also, it hopes to shed light on the extent to which German companies can engage in institutional entrepreneurship by introducing new forms of governance and novel practices to the American vocational training landscape, thereby addressing the issue of the dynamic relationship between organizations as actors and their environment.

• Duration: 04/2011-07/2014

Organizational path dependence through interorganizational complementarity: Path dependent partnering decisions in the software industry

• Thomas Schmidt

• Innovators cooperate with strategic partners who own co-specialized assets. In this way interorganizational relationships emerge that allow to better appropriate the value from innovation. But why is it sometimes difficult to de-lock these forms of interorganizational complementarity when new markets demand new resource bundles? This research question will be investigated by applying a multi-level case study of the partnering strategy of a software vendor. The software vendor is very successful with a particular product and partnering strategy in a particular customer segment, but not able to enter new markets with this strategy. The study will gain a better understanding of how interorganizational arrangements emerge out of contingent situations, how a certain kind of strategy might be reinforced by the interorganizational complementarity of resources, and why this might lead to a limited strategic scope of action. The theory of path dependence will be enhanced by the insight that firms might not only become path dependent due to their internal organizational history, but also due to cross-organizational processes.

• Duration: 04/2011-06/2014

CooperativeTechnology Development - A Multilevel Analysis of Absorptive Capacity Practices

• Robert Wagner

• In times ofrapid technological change and in a dynamic competitive environment, companies are trying to gain a comparative advantage through innovation in order to remain competitive. One way to gain access to the knowledge needed for innovation is by collaborating with companies or research institutions in the form of cooperative technology development. Toward this end, the concept of absorptive capacity is relevant. It tries to explain why companies differ with regard to accessing potentially relevant knowledge for innovation successfully and why some companies can apply this knowledge more efficiently than others. Although previous research offers insights on theoretical contexts of absorptive capacity, the actual application of upcoming practices received little attention so far. In addition, the originally as a multi-level construct conceived absorptive capacity, was – in order to keep it simple – often reduced to the organizational level and the concept, in particular the associated absorption practices, have been hardly explored in interorganizational contexts. To obtain deeper insights into the absorptive capacity and gain a better understanding about the applied absorption practices, it will be investigated, which internal and external absorption practices can be identified in the course of cooperative technology development at the strategic and operational levels of an organization. To answer this question, an intensive case study was conducted in order to systematically investigate and analyze Absorptive Capacity practices within three collaborations as embedded cases of an application laboratory for innovative x-ray technologies.

• Duration: 11/2009-12/2012
• Publication (German): Wagner, R. (2013): Kooperative Technologieentwicklung. Eine Mehrebenenanalyse von Absorptive Capacity Praktiken. Köln.

Network Citizenship Behavior – Characteristics, Conditions and Consequences Using the Example of Project Networks

• Timo Braun

• Business partnerships and networks depend on the commitment of the partners involved and their willingness to work for common goals. This also means that employees on the one hand and organizations on the other have to contribute to the cooperation beyond the contractually agreed minimum requirements to ensure the success of the collaboration – even if they are not directly rewarded for it. Within a single organization, these modes of behavior are known as “Organizational Citizenship Behavior” (OCB). The research on this topic, however, has so far been restricted to organizational boundaries, thus not doing justice to the increasing importance of inter-firm cooperations. The topic of this doctoral dissertation is thus to examine the transferability of OCB to an inter-firm network.

• Duration: 09/2009-02/2013
• Publication (German): Braun, T. (2013): Kooperatives Verhalten in interorganisationalen Projekten. Eine konzeptionelle und empirische Weiterentwicklung des OCB-Ansatzes. Köln.

 

Regional fields of electromobility: Origins and formation processes

• Friedemann Koll

• At the intersection of economic geography and organization theory the question is raised, how “electromobility” is established as a new issue of economic and research policy at the regional level. As part of an exploratory case study approach, a process tracing analysis and a cross-case comparison is conducted in two regional “institutionalization projects”. Following path dependence theory, the formation process of these newly emerging “regional fields” is divided into the phases of preformation, critical juncture and beginning field formation.

• Duration: 10/2008-10/2012
• Publication (German): Koll, F. (2013): Regionale Felder der Elektromobilität: Entstehungsbedingungen und Formationsprozesse. Frankfurt.

Gradual Path-Breaking Organizational Change in Russian Healthcare? From Centralization to Multicenter Cooperation in the Field of Children Oncohematology

• Florian Stache

• The theory of path dependence has recently become prominent in the field of organizational studies. Although the existing theory of organizational path dependence implies the potential of organizational paths to be broken, the nature of such path-breaking change remains under-researched until today. This work draws on insights from an empirical case within the Russian healthcare system to further develop an extension of this theory towards the possibility of path-breaking organizational change. In this case, change from centralization to multicenter cooperation within a specific field of care is considered organizationally path-breaking. Results of the empirical study suggest that such change might be of a gradual nature comprising three steps. Modeled as a rather discrete event, learning from other action spaces through networks of increasingly structured relationships may help as a first element to construct a new alternative as viable within the path dependent organizational context. Second, counterintuitive to the previous understanding of self-reinforcing mechanisms leading to stability, such mechanisms are shown to have the potential to give such a new organizational development momentum for a process of diffusion. Within a last stage, superiority of the increasingly dominant new organizational alternative is constructed as a result.

• Duration: 04/2008-02/2013
• Publication: Stache, F. (2012): Gradual Path-Breaking Organizational Change in Russian Healthcare? From Centralization to Multicenter Cooperation in the Field of Children Oncohematology. Berlin: Freie Universität. Dissertation (forthcoming).

 

Interorganizational Path Dependence in Inter-firm Cooperations in the Distribution of Success of Knowledge-based Product Innovations – The Example of the Opto-electronic Industry in Berlin and Brandenburg.

• Markus Burger

• Cooperations are entered in order to achieve a cooperation success that could not be achieved by the cooperation partners alone – it’s the classic “1 + 1 = 3”. However, it is generally left open how to distribute this “extra”. One partner could gain everything, the surplus could be shared, etc. The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to examine to what extent path dependencies explain the distribution routines eventually found. In the context of structuration theory, a path model is developed. In the opto-electronic industry in Berlin and Brandenburg, intensive case studies of cooperations in knowledge-based product innovations are conducted to verify and extend the previously developed model.

• Duration: 04/2008-02/2012
• Publication (German): Burger, M. (2013): Selbstverstärkende Dynamiken in Netzwerken - Interorganisationale Pfadabhängigkeit von Allokationspraktiken. Wiesbaden.

 

On Institutions, Paths, and Routes Set in Stone: The Demise of the Unesco-World Heritage Program in Dresden

• Olivier Berthod

• This project brings together institutional and path dependence theories to analyze a puzzling conflict. In 1994 the city of Dresden triggered the project of a four-lane bridge across the Elbe. In 2004 this area was listed as a Unesco-World Heritage Site. Other traverse options were then put to the fore for years (e.g. a tunnel, other bridges). But the bridge construction started nonetheless and became subject to criticism from diverse actors and most prominently from the Unesco-World Heritage Center. On June 25, 2009, because a consensus could not be reached, the site was deleted from the seminal World Heritage list. This case allows the inspection of persistences in projects considered sub-optimal by powerful actors in the field, and of the social mechanisms supporting this phenomenon. Historical case analysis methods are used to cover 15 years of project duration.

• Duration: 04/2008-05/2011
• Publication: Berthod, Olivier (2011): On Institutions, Paths, and Routes set in Stone: The Construction of a Bridge as a Case of Path Instantiation. FU Berlin, digital dissertation.

 

Network Dynamics within Clusters

• Frank Lerch

• Within the developing photonics cluster in Berlin-Brandenburg, present processes and structures are influenced to a large extent by earlier developments within the region, especially the long optics tradition, but also the downturn and the division of the field following World War II, as well as the reunification of the two German states and both parts of Berlin. In other words “history matters”. This dissertation gives a comprehensive account of the development of the regional cluster in optical technologies in Berlin-Brandenburg and emphasizes the importance of developing networks within a cluster. Towards this end, structural network analysis is conducted to provide insights into the changes of the networks within the cluster over time. In addition, the study uses qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews as well as participant observation.

• Duration: 10/2003-02/2009
• Publication (German): Lerch, Frank (2009): Netzwerkdynamiken im Cluster: Optische Technologien in der Region Berlin-Brandenburg. FU Berlin, digital dissertation.

 

Horizontal Collaboration in the German Hospital Market – Potentials, Processes and Practices

• Benjamin I. Behar

• The German hospital market is under considerable pressure to improve its profitability while also being characterized by a highly dynamic environment. In this doctoral thesis, horizontal collaborations among hospitals are examined as a solution to overcome this challenge. For this purpose, transaction cost theory and the concept of dynamic capabilities are combined. An extensive quantitative study sheds light on the collaborative practices of clinics.

• Duration: 01/2007-02/2009
• Publication (German): Behar, B.I. (2009): Verbundstrukturen im deutschen Krankenhausmarkt. Potenziale, Prozesse und Praxis. Wiesbaden: Gabler.

 

Decision Paths in Techno-Organizational Change. University Reform and IT Implementation.

• Jan Jacobs

• Path dependence is related to organizational (in)capacity for change. Based on an empirical study of the very recent information technology reform at the Freie Universität Berlin, this dissertation investigates which positive feedback mechanisms are in effect inside the organization, how they restrict change, and how they can be managed.

• Duration: 10/2005-02/2009
• Publication (German): Jacobs, J. (2009): Pfadkonkurrenz und Pfadinterferenz im organisationalen Wandel. FU Berlin, digital dissertation.

 

Managing the Complex Relationship between Cooperation and Competition in the Automobile Industry – A Comparison of German and Japanese OEM-Supplier Networks

• Miriam Wilhelm

• In the automobile industry, the rising pressure to improve quality and reduce prices has led to an unprecedented need to develop new cooperative strategies with suppliers. On the other hand, OEMs are trying to reduce the resulting risk of dependency by sometimes purposefully enhancing competition in their networks. The aim of this project is to apply a socio-cognitive perspective on the complex relationship between cooperation and competition. As Japanese OEMs have always seemed to be more successful in managing this paradox, a comparison between German and Japanese supplier management is undertaken.

• Duration: 10/2003-11/2008
• Publication (German): Wilhelm, M. (2009): Kooperation und Wettbewerb in Automobilzuliefernetzwerken: Erkenntnisse zum Management eines Spannungsverhältnisses aus Deutschland und Japan. Marburg: Metropolis.

 

Overcoming Path Dependence: Adoption of GNU/Linux in Large Municipal Administrations

• Leonhard Dobusch

• Markets for desktop software are a favourite example of path dependence and its constituting phenomena such as "increasing returns" and "lock-in". This leads to the question of how and why large organizations, nevertheless, are pioneers in migrating their desktop software environments and, thereby, act as Schumpeterian innovators. Answers to this question are searched for with the help of multi-level case-studies of the municipalities of Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Frankfurt/M.

• Duration: 10/2005-05/2008
• Publication (German): Dobusch, L. (2008): Windows versus Linux: Markt - Organisation - Pfad. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.

 

Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes: Path-Dependent Relocation Strategies in the German Clothing Industry?

• Elke Schüßler

• Faced with global competition, organisations frequently choose to relocate some of their activities to low-cost regions. The German clothing industry was a pioneer in this process, whereby many organisations followed the path of production relocation and neglected other necessary strategic innovations. By following a longitudinal multi-case design, this project analyses how a dominant pattern of action may arise in the interplay between micro-organisational decisions and macro-institutional developments, and how this may lead to organisational and strategic path dependence.

• Duration: 04/2005-05/2008
• Publication (German): Schüßler, E. (2009): Strategische Prozesse und Persistenzen: Pfadabhängige Organisation der Wertschöpfung in der Bekleidungsindustrie. Stuttgart, Kohlhammer.

 

Identities in and of Interorganizational Networks – Systemic Perspectives

• Markus Rometsch

• Issues of organizational identity and its consequences for management have received increasing academic attention in the last years and, in the meantime, can be claimed as well established fields of research. On the other hand, identity research concerning interorganizational networks is still in its infancy. In this dissertation the constitution of identities in and of interorganizational networks will be approached from the perspectives of structuration theory and new systems theory. While the dissertation is mainly theoretical in character, two mini-case studies will complement the conceptual considerations. At the end, implications for an (identity-)management of interorganizational networks are derived.

• Duration: 11/2001-07/2007
• Publicaton (German): Rometsch, M. (2008): Organisations- und Netzwerkidentität. Wiesbaden: Gabler.

 

The Stabilization Process in Manufacturer-Supplier Relationships of the Automotive Industry

• Niels Kuschinsky

• So far, a transfer of the path dependence concept to organizations and inter-organizational relationships has only been conducted in a few first approaches. The focus of this dissertation project is the stabilization process in manufacturer-supplier relationships of the automotive industry. The main level of analysis is the organization of the manufacturer and its decision-making process. The conceptualization is performed along selected case studies of inter-organizational product development projects.

• Duration: 04/2005-02/2008
• Publication (German): Kuschinsky, N. (2008): Stabilisierung von Hersteller-Lieferantenbeziehungen als pfadabhängiger Organisationsprozess - Kooperative Produktentwicklung in der Automobilindustrie.Frankfurt: Lang.

 

Inter-organizational Integration Processes in the Internationalization of Software Development

• Leo Renneke

• This dissertation deals with the integration of internationally distributed corporate locations for the joint development of software. The process, actors and the business context of the integration processes are depicted in case studies which are based on qualitative surveys. The theoretical basis of this work is a knowledge-based interpretation of the concept of integration, supplemented by the practical integration of concepts of M&A-research and intercultural management.

• Duration: 01/1998-07/2006

• Publication (German): Renneke, L. (2007): Zwischenbetriebliche Integrationsprozesse bei der Internationalisierung von Softwareentwicklung. FU Berlin, digital dissertation.

 

Resource-oriented Supply Management – Cross-functional Collaborations between System and Component Suppliers in Automotive Supply Networks

• Jürgen Überall

• "Cross-functional" supply management provides a significant share of the generation and protection of strategic resources and competencies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The author addresses this hypothesis by systematically analyzing the company- but also network-specific capabilities and skills of the supply management of system suppliers in automotive supply networks. The understanding is that the design of the internal company organization is shown to have a major impact on the organization’s ability to cooperate in a network; and cooperation in the network has an impact on the organization of the company.

• Duration: 10/2003-04/2006
• Publication (German): Überall, J. (2006): Ressourcenorientiertes Beschaffungsmanagement. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.

 

Standardization and Individualization of Services – About the Organization of Knowledge-intensive Inter-firm Networks

• Bennet van Well

• Inter-firm networks offer new opportunities for knowledge-intensive service providers to handle the tensions between standardization and customization. They also provide management with additional challenges. Based on two intensive case studies, the author demonstrates the opportunities and challenges in managing network organization. In doing so, he uses findings of marketing theory, organizational theory, and the sociology of work and integrates them into a framework of structuration theory.

• Duration: 10/1995-10/2000
• Publication (German): Well, B. van (2001): Standardisierung und Individualisierung von Dienstleistungen - Zur Organisation wissensintensiver Unternehmungsnetzwerke. Wiesbaden: Gabler.

 

Inter-firm Networking, Outsourcing of Labor and Industrial Relations. The Negotiation of Order of Selected Network Relationships of a Department Store Corporation

• Carsten Wirth

• Inter-firm networking represents a challenge for management and interest representation. In the present work, the consequences of networking in a department store company are analysed against the background of negotiated order theory using a qualitative network analysis. The results show that the management of network relationships is a process of negotiation, whereby fields of tension and (micro-) political conflicts have to be managed competently. The practice of cooperative conflict processing of the work councils and the trade union HBV undermines the influence of interest representation further. The study also demonstrates the analytical potential of negotiated order theory for the analysis of management practices and industrial relations.

• Duration: 01/1994-11/1997
• Publication (German): Wirth, C. (1999): Unternehmungsvernetzung, Externalisierung von Arbeit und industrielle Beziehungen. Die negotiation of order von ausgewählten Netzwerkbeziehungen einer Warenhausunternehmung. München und Mering: Hampp.

Organizational Learning Processes

• Martin Wiegand

• In recent years, organizational learning and the design of learning organizations have been central issues in organization science as well as in business practice. In his research, the author documents the importance of organizational learning for business practice and critically discusses previous theoretical approaches. Furthermore, the author develops a conceptual framework for learning in and by organizations, with which the present discussion should be extended and substantiated, while the integration of relevant behavioral science and organizational theory concepts and research results is made possible.

• Publication (German): Wiegand, M. (1996): Prozesse Organisationalen Lernens. Wiebaden: Gabler.