Vertical and Horizontal Networks and Export Performance in the Spanish Wine Industry

Wineries in the “old world” export almost 40% of their production. This study analyzes the influence of vertical and horizontal networks on export performance. We draw on a sample of 183 Spanish wineries and examine the main independent variables using a two-step Heckman model. We find positive effects of horizontal networks and—at a somewhat lower level—downstream vertical networks on export performance. (JEL Classifications: L66, M16, Q13)

The importance of SMEs’ network partners in consortium bidding for public sector tenders

PurposeThe aim is to examine the importance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see in different network partners regarding successful tendering in public procurement, and whether this perception predicts the number of joint bids and wins.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected by an electronic questionnaire which was sent to the registered users of the leading electronic platform for public procurement in Finland. The data were analysed with statistical methods.FindingsThe findings suggest that a favourable perception of the importance of horizontal networks in public procurement is associated with a larger number of joint bids and better success in joint bidding. However, the results do not establish a positive correlation between vertical networks and consortium bidding.Research limitations/implicationsThe data were collected from a single EU country. Since the criteria for bidding consortia may vary between countries, different results might have been achieved from other countries.Practical implicationsSMEs should be encouraged to form bidding consortia and acquire related experience. Policymakers should minimise barriers to consortium bidding, e.g. by offering more information. They should also assess the merits of joint bidding because they rarely encourage SMEs to bid as a consortium.Social implicationsConsortium bidding is a way of enhancing SMEs’ possibilities to participate in public tender contests, even in large contracts.Originality/valueWhile consortium bidding has been recognised to enhance SMEs’ possibilities of participating in public procurement, there is limited research into how SMEs’ network collaborations relate to bidding as a consortium.

Dinámicas de información en profesionales de enfermería desde el análisis de redes sociales

Introducción: El conocimiento es una herramienta necesaria para la investigación científica y el progreso de cualquier disciplina. Pero el conocimiento científico y las dinámicas de información no sólo están sostenidas por los individuos, sino que son producidas y mantenidas por grupos de personas que trabajan en un mismo entorno donde los vínculos y las relaciones pueden influir en el proceso. Objetivo: Analizar las redes sociales de utilización de fuentes de información, de ayuda/consejo para la transferencia de conocimiento y los lugares donde los profesionales de enfermería comparten información.Método: Análisis de Redes Sociales a través de un cuestionario validado. Se reclutaron profesionales de 6 unidades hospitalarias.Resultados: Participaron 77 profesionales con una edad media de 42,9 (DE:11,48). Los compañeros son la fuente de información más utilizada (76 elecciones) frente a las bases de datos y artículos científicos que son la menos seleccionada (63 elecciones). Las redes homófilas horizontales (profesionales con estatus/intereses similares) son las más frecuentes para obtener información sobre resultados de investigación (74 elecciones). La unidad asistencial es el entorno más señalado para compartir información (50 elecciones).Conclusiones: Los profesionales consideran el conocimiento de sus compañeros como la principal fuente para obtener información sobre resultados de investigación. Unidades con determinado grado de especialización utilizan guías de práctica clínica y protocolos como fuente principal de información. Los profesionales de enfermería utilizan redes homófilas-horizontales para obtener información. El entorno laboral en sus diferentes ámbitos (unidad, office, reuniones) es el más utilizado para compartir información sobre resultados de investigación. Introduction: Knowledge is a necessary tool for scientific research and progress in any discipline. But scientific knowledge and information dynamics are not only sustained by individuals but are produced and maintained by groups of people working in the same environment where links and relationships can influence the process. Aim: To analyze the social networks of information source utilization, help/advice for knowledge transfer and the places where nursing professionals share information.Method: Analysis of social networks through a validated questionnaire. Professionals from 6 hospital units were recruited.Results: 77 professionals participated with a mean age of 42.9 (SD:11.48). Peers were the most frequently used source of information (76 choices) compared to databases and scientific articles, which were the least selected (63 choices). Horizontal homophilous networks (professionals with similar status/interests) are the most frequent for obtaining information on research results (74 choices). The care unit is the most pointed environment for sharing information (50 choices).Conclusions: Professionals consider the knowledge of their peers as the main source for obtaining information on research results. Units with a certain degree of specialization use clinical practice guidelines and protocols as the main source of information. Nursing professionals use homophilic-horizontal networks to obtain information. The work environment in its different settings (unit, office, meetings) is the most used for sharing information on research results.

Creating and appropriating value in cooperation networks

Objective of the study: The objective of this research was to analyze how the processes of creation and appropriation of value are manifested in a horizontal agribusiness networkMethodology / approach: A case study was carried out in the Cerrado Mineiro Region (CMR) in which documentary research and interviews were used as source, whose data were analyzed through content analysis by frequency. Originality / Relevance: There is little evidence in the literature about studies that explore processes of joint value creation and appropriation in horizontal networks. In view of this gap, the study proceeds by individually addressing the processes of creation and appropriation of value considering the nature of cooperation of the networks.Main results: In relation to the results achieved, CMR creates value in cost reduction, differentiation by product, market expansion, expertise in the production of coffee, differentiation, dissemination and strengthening of the brand. Regarding the appropriation of value, CMR appropriates itself for the commercialization of potential quality coffee, the learning process, the premium paid in the cooperative's coffee, the valorization of the producer and for having a unique way for the production of coffee.Theoretical / methodological contributions: Among the main contributions of this study, the individual analysis highlights the processes of creation and appropriation of value applied to horizontal networks. The considerations reinforce the fine line between the processes of creation and appropriation of relational value. That is, in addition to developing internal competencies and essential skills for the creation and appropriation of value, organizations must devise strategies to achieve a balance between these processes.

Collective Responsibility in the Cooperative Governance of Climate Change

This paper sets out a proposal for framing collective responsibility as a central element within the cooperative governance of climate change. It begins by reconstructing the analysis of climate change as a Tragedy of the Commons in the economic literature and as a Problem of Many Hands in the ethical literature. Both formalizations are shown to represent dilemmatic situations where an individual has no rational incentive to prevent the climate crisis and no moral requirement to be held responsible for contributing to it. Traditionally both dilemmas have been thought to be solvable only through a vertical structure of decision-making. Where contemporary research in political economy has undergone a “governance revolution”, showing how horizontal networks of public, private, and civil society actors can play an important role in the management of the climate crisis, little research has been carried out in the ethical field on how to secure accountability and responsibility within such a cooperative structure of social agency. Therefore, this paper contributes by individuating some conditions for designing responsible and accountable governance processes in the management of climate change. It concludes by claiming that climate change is addressable only insofar as we transition from a morality based on individual responsibility to a new conception of morality based on our co-responsibility for preventing the climate crisis.

Temporal dimensions of knowledge exchanges in horizontal knowledge networks

Purpose This study aims to examine reciprocal exchanges in knowledge networks using temporal differentiation of knowledge exchanges. To date, research on horizontal knowledge networks rather overlooks the temporal perspective, which could explain the dynamics of exchange in those networks. Design/methodology/approach The paper reports on a study of four horizontal knowledge networks in the UK over a period of 18 months. Findings The findings integrate three temporal dimensions of timescale, timeliness and time modalities. The dimensions have implications for the way knowledge is exchanged (or not), which can in turn sustain or stymie productive knowledge exchange in horizontal knowledge networks. Research limitations/implications The study encourages researchers to attend to the micro-processes of knowledge exchanges through the integrative framework of temporalities. While this study examined horizontal networks, future research can be extended to analysing temporalities in other types of networks. Practical implications It seeks to inspire practitioners to appreciate how the impacts of knowledge networks play out in/over time, and how more effective coopetitive knowledge-sharing environments can be created and sustained by taking differentiated time structures into account. Originality/value This study contributes to the knowledge management literature by providing a temporal perspective to understand reciprocal knowledge exchanges in horizontal knowledge networks.

Norway Reimagined

In this article, I discuss the geopolitical underpinnings of Russophone fans’ response to the Norwegian hit teen series Skam [Shame]. Starting from the wide-spread distribution of Skam through informal horizontal networks, my article highlights the context specificity of fan participation in meaning-making around global television. Employing multimodal discourse analysis to the social media platform VKontakte, I examine how Russophone audiences of global television imagine the country of origin of their object of fandom, and how spatial imaginations embedded in this process contribute to popular geopolitics of Norden – that is, to geopolitical reasoning of narratives and representations of Nordic countries available through popular culture. My analysis shows how Norway and its positioning in the world provides an important symbolic resource for further discussions on identity and belonging. A close examination of mediated transnational cultural exchange through fan communities advances our understanding of the meaning of popular geopolitics in the age of global television.

Contact Zones and Liminal Spaces in Okinawan and Zainichi Contemporary Art

This article focuses on selected art works by third-generation Zainichi Koreans Haji Oh and Soni Kum, and Okinawan-based Chikako Yamashiro to explore ways in which these artists have continued to develop innovative, interdisciplinary practices to explore contact zones and liminal spaces in the East Asian context. Drawing on Françoise Lionnet and Shu-mei Shih’s notion of minor transnationalism, it argues the creative interventions of the three artists shed light on complex histories of minor transnationalism and at the same time alert us to ways in which the legacies of colonialism, migration and war continue to evolve in the present in Okinawa, Jeju Island, and Japan. Deploying different media, practices and techniques, all three artists aim to deterritorialize dominant visual and historical narratives and draw inspiration from minor literatures in ways that disrupt binary and vertical relationships, making visible minor to minor connections and ways of envisioning horizontal networks.