Self-organizing processes in building entrepreneurial networks: a theoretical and empirical investigation

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucio Biggiero
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Entrepreneurial Networks ◽  
Firm Networks ◽  
Self Organizing

Self-organization is a property of social systems, and its recognition can give a remarkable contribution to the theory of entrepreneurship and to the analysis of inter-organizational networks. While literature on the classification of inter-firm networks and on their (dis)advantages is relatively abundant, there is much less on the processes of their formation and development. Since the convenience of building inter-firm networks is often uncertain and ambiguous, it involves social-psychological aspects and is based on personal relationships. This is particularly true in the case of small business networks, where the small firm size makes firm networks coincide with entrepreneurial networks. This characteristic can be extended to industrial districts, which are systems emerging from the interplay between small business networks. Industrial districts are weakly hierarchical organizations, which present the typical dual nature of social systems: the systemic nature, which is manifested more at the unity level, considering the district as a whole, and the subjective behavior of its members, which can play a crucial role either in triggering the district or in its evolutionary patterns. Such a double nature becomes a powerful engine of knowledge creation/transfer when organizations are recursive and self-organizing, and when the emerging values promote cooperation and trust. These co-evolutionary, recursive and self-organizing aspects have been synthesized in Nonaka's concept of ‘ba’. The cases discussed here deal with recursive processes in the formation of entrepreneurial networks in the biomedical district and in the formation of the district itself, which are seen as partially self-organizing processes. In the perspective considering knowledge as embodied in human beings and created by their social interactions, this paper concerns self-organizing and knowledge-creating processes at district and network levels.

scholarly journals Regional small businesses’ personal and inter-firm networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1957-1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jalleh Sharafizad ◽  
Kerry Brown
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Firm Networks

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of personal and inter-firm networks and the elements that contribute to the formation and management of these networks for regional small businesses. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 small business owners located in regional areas. Findings The findings highlight key characteristics of regional small business owners’ networks. Findings indicated that participants relied strongly on their personal networks for business purposes. This study shows that while personal networks adapted and changed into informal inter-firm networks, weak-tie relations within inter-firm networks were unlikely to develop into close personal networks. Novel findings also include a preference for “regional interactions” and included regular collaboration with local business competitors. Although the participants used social media to manage their business through personal networks, results confirmed there was a lack of awareness of the benefits of inter-firm networks with businesses outside the local region. Originality/value While it is acknowledged small business owners use personal and inter-firm connections to maintain and grow their business, there is a lack of research examining both of these networks in the same study. This research addresses this gap and presents five propositions as a useful direction for future research. This paper adds to the evolution of existing knowledge by expanding understanding of the formation of business networks and conditions of business trust relations within a regional context.

scholarly journals Knowledge Sharing Enablers in Small Business Networks

2022 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Small Business ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Entrepreneurial Networks ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Growing Body

In an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, social capital and knowledge sharing, particularly amongst small business, have become critical sources of competitive advantage, but how can such knowledge sharing be enabled? The objective of this research was to explore the effect of knowledge sharing enablers on knowledge sharing in female small business networks. This research addresses the call for research into the antecedents of social capital. Specifically, Trust, Social Identity, Social Media Usage and Shared Goals were included in the conceptual model for the study. Together these social capital enablers were found to be significant predictors of knowledge sharing behaviour although unique contributions varied. The research contributes to the growing body of literature on the dimensions of social capital and how they affect knowledge management, and is of use to practitioners involved in supporting female entrepreneurial networks.

Reformation: a Two-edged Sword in the Cause of the Ministry of Women

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33
Author(s):  
Fleur Houston
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Logical Consequence ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Women's Ministry ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Social Challenge ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
God's Grace

When Martin Luther mounted an attack on the industry of Indulgences, he affirmed key Reformation principles: human beings are saved by God’s grace alone and the priesthood of all the baptised gives all followers of Christ equal status. This was in conformity with an earlier generation of reformers who saw the Bible as ultimate authority and witnessed to biblical truth against corruption. The logical consequence of this should have been the enabling of women who were so disposed to exercise a theological vocation. In practice, the resulting rupture in religious and social life often affected women for the worse. Educational formation and leadership opportunities were restricted by the closure of convents. While the trade guilds, with their tightly regulated social systems, did not allow scope for women who transgressed normative expectations, their suppression was not necessarily liberating for women. The new social model of the home replaced that of convent and guild and marriage was exalted in place of celibacy. Changes in devotional practice involved loss and gain. Women who did not conform to the domestic norm were treated at best with misogyny and female prophets of the radical Reformation paid for their convictions with their lives. In education, leadership, piety and radical social challenge, women’s options were restricted. However, the key Reformation principles ultimately enabled the development of women’s ministry which was marked by the ordination of Constance Todd 400 years later.

Developing Small Business Networks in New Zealand

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-88
Author(s):  
Shaun Goldfinch ◽  
Martin Perry
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Small Business ◽  
Business Networks

Criticality: How Changes Preserve Stability in Self-Organizing Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1613-1629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Accard
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
System Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Fundamental Issue ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Self Organized Criticality ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Self Organizing

Self-organizing systems are social systems which are immanently and constantly recreated by agents. In a self-organizing system, agents make changes while preserving stability. If they do not preserve stability, they push the system toward chaos and cannot recreate it. How changes preserve stability is thus a fundamental issue. In current works, changes preserve stability because agents’ ability to make changes is limited by interaction rules and power. However, how agents diffuse the changes throughout the system while preserving its stability has not been addressed in these works. We have addressed this issue by borrowing from a complex system theory neglected thus far in organization theories: self-organized criticality theory. We suggest that self-organizing systems are in critical states: agents have equivalent ability to make changes, and none are able to foresee or control how their changes diffuse throughout the system. Changes, then, diffuse unpredictably – they may diffuse to small or large parts of the system or not at all, and it is this unpredictable diffusion that preserves stability in the system over time. We call our theoretical framework self-organiz ing criticality theory. It presents a new treatment of change and stability and improves the understanding of self-organizing.

An Ethical Framework for Interconnected and Self-Organizing Moral Machines

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ben van Lier
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Moral Consideration ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Moral Action ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Machines ◽  
Self Organizing

Technology is responsible for major systemic changes within the global financial sector. This sector has already developed into a comprehensive network of mutually connected people and computers. Algorithms play a crucial role within this network. An algorithm is in essence merely a set of instructions developed by one or more people with the intention of having these instructions performed by a machine such as a computer in order to realize an ideal result. As part of a development in which we as human beings have ever higher expectations of algorithms and these algorithms become more autonomous in their actions, we cannot avoid including possibilities in these algorithms that enable ethical or moral considerations. To develop this ethical or moral consideration, we need a kind of ethical framework that can be used for constructing these algorithms. With the development of such a framework we can start to think about what we as human beings consider to be a moral action executed by algorithms that support actions and decisions of interconnected and self-organizing machines. This chapter explores an ethical framework for interconnected and self-organizing moral machines.

From Social to Business Networks

2012 ◽  
pp. 388-404
Author(s):  
Xenia Ziouvelou
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Internet Technology ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Business Professionals ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Business Approach ◽  
Social Entities

Internet technology has undoubtedly revolutionised our personal and business lives, however “the ‘killer application’ of the internet turns out to be other human beings” (Kang, 2000, p. 1150). The fusion of the computer and mobile technologies has created a World Wide Web of computer networks, which have brought about limitless opportunities for communication (Rheingold, 2002) and collaboration among social entities (Weaver and Morrison, 2008). Social networks, apart from facilitating user-to-user social interaction, can be seen as a very effective business approach for entrepreneurs, business professionals, and companies (Dimicco et al., 2009). In this chapter we present distinct aspects of networks. Initially, we describe and define social networks, emphasizing upon their key characteristics. Subsequently, we review the different network types and we proposed a holistic network taxonomy based on four distinct dimensions: network focus, network openness, network orientation, and social space. Finally, we examine the strategic perspectives of social networks for business actors, while focusing on organisational benefits and associated risks.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORKING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR JAPANESE INDUSTRY IN THE INTERNET ERA

1999 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 155-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
HIKARI AKIZAWA ◽  
KYOICHI KIJIMA
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Support ◽  
The Other ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Communication ◽  
Entrepreneurial Networks ◽  
New Business ◽  
Firm Networks

The aim of this study is, based on intensive comparative case studies, to analyze structure and process of entrepreneurial networks in the internet communication era. We then imply general insights on entrepreneurial networks, some of which suggest solutions to urgent problems concerning industry restructuring in Japan. Although during the long-term recession in Japan the value of entrepreneurship has been widely recognized, the number of business startups, however, has not readily increased, in spite of various efforts by many public institutions at developing support programs. On the other hand, it has been observed recently that some internet-based entrepreneurial networks have emerged spontaneously, which let business startups help each other and acquire Internet potential. This paper begins with proposing a conceptual typology for positioning various entrepreneurial networks on it. We then analyze two cases intensively by examining their emergence process and characteristics, guided by the conceptual framework. One is an internet-based entrepreneurial network to help business startups in Japan while the other is a non-internet-based entrepreneurial network that has been in the United States for fifteen years. We conducted participated observation in the former case for two years while we carried out interviews and material-based research for the latter. Finally, we derive general insights on entrepreneurial networks from the case studies. The major findings of this study are as follows: (1) Network polarity, loose and tight, is determined by two primary variable, i.e., expectations and membership. (2) Inter-personal networks can provide the infrastructure of inter-firm networks. Especially loose inter-personal networks tend to generate cooperative and tight inter-firm network, because a wide variety of members naturally enjoy opportunities to encounter potential business partners there. (3) We find different aims in inter-personal networks and inter-firm networks. The former is primarily for mutual aiding while the latter is for dealing with businesses. (4) The internet communications can simultaneously make networks both looser and tighter. (5) Loose inter-personal networks facilitated by the internet communication should have power to reorganize old industry structure in Japan by creating new business and new business relationship if the government support it with minimum intervention and maximum understanding.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document