The social processes of interorganizational collaboration and conflict in nonprofit organizations

This article takes a qualitative approach to research in advancing knowledge of the social process by which interorganizational relationships are established and nurtured in nonprofit organizations. The findings reveal that a balance of dependence and autonomy is needed for initiating interorganizational relationships. These relationships are stabilized at the interpersonal level through positive attributes (attitudes, perceptions, and trust) and interpersonal ties of individuals representing their organizations. Sources of conflict, such as value differences, divergent goals, and personality clashes, also influence the working relationships of these organizations.     

Old friends and new acquaintances: Tie formation mechanisms in an interorganizational network generated by employee mobility

This study investigates mechanisms of tie formation in an interorganizational network generated by the mobility of employees between organizations. We analyze a data set that contains information on all organizations in the Stockholm metropolitan area between 1990 and 2003. We show that the formation of new ties is contingent upon the direction of past ties, and that most connections occur at an intermediate geodesic distance of 2 and 3. The findings highlight the importance of tie direction and indirect connections in research on network dynamics and knowledge exchanges stemming from the mobility of employees across organizations.     

Blood,Sweat, and Tears: Navigating Creepy versus Cool in Wearable Biotech

ABSTRACT

This paper considers how personal data protections figure into the design process of wearable technology. The data question is becoming especially important in the face of recent innovations in biotechnology that capitalize on the new fungibility of biology and electronics, in which new biotech wearables capitalize on the ability to analyze and track changes in blood, sweat, and tears. Interviews and participant observation with wearable tech designers, data scientists, fashion tech entrepreneurs, and select experts in cybersecurity and intellectual property law, reveal a range of approaches to data protection in design within the culture where wearables are beginning to merge with biotech. While a few respondents were extremely vigilant about protecting consumer’s privacy, the majority felt that when consumers ‘opt in’ to data sharing, they should be cognizant of the risks. From their perspective, it is not necessarily the producer’s responsibility to protect user's personal data. These attitudes present a problematic logic, which leaves users vulnerable to data exploitation. The paper concludes by arguing that this laissez-faire culture is the environment in which wearable biotech is being developed and will be deployed. This emerging technology raises issues about bodies, data, and ownership in crucial need of analysis and critique to push its move into the mainstream toward more equitable and inclusive ends.     

You're all I need to get by? Analyzing young entrepreneurs’ networks in Morocco from a “quantified narratives” method

The embeddedness of entrepreneurs in a network of social relations has been largely documented by the literature since the seminal work of Granovetter. In different contexts, it has been shown that the entrepreneurial network plays a central role in the creation of their business and provides a variety of resources. Few studies, however, seek to understand the motivations of entrepreneurs when they mobilize a tie, and the effects of these mobilizations on the content and quality of this relationship. From a fieldwork undertaken in Morocco, we implement a “quantified narratives” method which codes each sequence of access to a resource in the course of the start-up in order to map the network of relationships of young innovative entrepreneurs. We go further than previous studies using this method in that we develop a multivariate model that enables us to build hypotheses from qualitative material analysis and to test them econometrically. This case study highlights more generally the interest of mixed methods in analyzing complex mechanisms like network mobilization and their motivations. We analyze the different logics which led entrepreneurs to the mobilization of the network at the time of the creation of their business. The main result that emerges is that the family is sidelined in obtaining funding. This original result is indicative of the tension faced by these young Moroccan entrepreneurs: the need to grow their business is sometimes in contradiction with the desire to create through it a space of autonomy gained on the family.     

Personal and perceived environmental correlates of uncertainty: A micro study of small scale entrepreneurs in India

74 entrepreneurs, graduates and non-graduates, are tested at two time points in a matched group design. Data are obtained on a wide range of personal and environmental characteristics and uncertainty. Role of time and education in performance is analyzed. Uncertainty is predicted by using characteristics in the personal and perceived environment domain as predictors. Analysis does not support the hypothesis of relationship between change in time and performance of entrepreneurs. Differences in level of education are found to be related to variations in performance. Entrepreneur's uncertainty is found to be best predicted by combining the predictors in the personal and perceived environment categories, rather than each taken separately.     

Time as a limited resource: Communication strategy in mobile phone networks

We used a large database of 9 billion calls from 20 million mobile users to examine the relationships between aggregated time spent on the phone, personal network size, tie strength and the way in which users distributed their limited time across their network (disparity). Compared to those with smaller networks, those with large networks did not devote proportionally more time to communication and had on average weaker ties (as measured by time spent communicating). Further, there were not substantially different levels of disparity between individuals, in that mobile users tend to distribute their time very unevenly across their network, with a large proportion of calls going to a small number of individuals. Together, these results suggest that there are time constraints which limit tie strength in large personal networks, and that even high levels of mobile communication do not fundamentally alter the disparity of time allocation across networks.     

Competencies of disabled entrepreneurs in Iran: implications for learning and development

This qualitative research set out to explore competencies of disabled entrepreneurs by presenting their lived experiences in developing their capabilities to create and manage their own business. The research also aimed to identify the dimensions and components of entrepreneurial competencies of disabled entrepreneurs. The participants were 16 entrepreneurs with physical and mobility disabilities, four educational managers of disabled vocational education and rehabilitation centers, and four entrepreneurship academics. Our findings suggested that the disabled entrepreneurs possess specific personal and functional entrepreneurial competencies. Personal competencies include attitudinal competencies, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurship learning self-efficacy. Functional competencies encompass entrepreneurial competencies, commitment and social competencies.     

To tell the truth: Measuring concordance in multiply reported network data

Social network data must accurately reflect actors’ relationships to properly estimate network features. Here, we examine multiple reports of sexual, drug-sharing and social tie data on high-risk networks in Colorado Springs. By comparing multiple reports on the same ties, we can evaluate the reliability of this study's network data. Our findings suggest that these data have a high level of reporting agreement. From these findings, we discuss implications for analysis of these and similar data and provide suggestions for future social network data collection efforts.     

Factors Influencing Interorganizational Collaboration within a Disaster Relief Context

Despite the need for interorganizational collaboration within a humanitarian setting in recent years, there are a considerable number of challenges to efficient collaboration among humanitarian organizations (HOs) operating after natural disasters. Up to this point, scholars have explored the inhibitors and drivers of collaboration in a number of papers and reports that have primarily served to provide a list of factors that influence collaboration within a disaster relief context. Since each list is partial or limited, we conducted this meta-study to advance and frame knowledge on collaboration among HOs, to trace the gap of the literature and to initiate further studies on this topic. Our systematic literature review proposes a categorization of the factors influencing collaboration among HOs. It contains three clusters of factors: (1) contextual factors; (2) interorganizational factors; and (3) inner-organizational factors. In the last section, we elaborate on opportunities for future research on collaboration among HOs.     

Factors Influencing Women Entrepreneurs of NGOs in India

This article examines women entrepreneurs in the nonprofit sector. Entrepreneurial activity attracts certain kinds of individuals.Such self‐selection is not a random event but is influenced by personal characteristics as well as socioeconomic and cultural factors. This article examines women entrepreneurs in a particular segment of the nonprofit sector in India to determine which factors influence such self‐selection. Our research confirms findings by other scholars that nonprofit entrepreneurs receive a high payoff from promoting social causes. Furthermore, we find that previous experience in the sector, beliefs, culture, social class, education, and family background also play an important role. We explore some policy implications of our findings.     

The Parameters of Agency-School Social Work Educational Planning

Abstract

Reduced financial support and increased service demand have led many human service administrators to undertake coordination activities with other organizations in order to maintain services for clients. Many social work administrators have little understanding of interorganizational theory and techniques. This paper suggests, from a political economy perspective, that interorganizational theory and practice skills should be further developed in the social work administration curriculum. As a step in this direction, the paper first identifies key interorganizational concepts and research. Factors crucial to successful coordination are then summarized, and strategies for promoting successful coordination are detailed, with attention to benefits and costs of each strategy. Finally, the paper describes several alternative ways to integrate interorganizational content in the social work administration classroom and field placement.     

Interorganizational collaboration in social service organizations: A study of the prerequisites to success

Organizational scholars have identified four prerequisites to effective interorganizational collaboration: incentive, willingness, ability, and capacity. This study analyzes data drawn from participants in eight family services collaboratives in order to assess the relationships identified in the literature. Our findings support the premise that each of these prerequisites is positively related to collaborative effectiveness. Implications for collaboration leaders are suggested.     

High Stakes in High Technology: High-Tech Market Values as Options

In science-based industries, world-class scientists drive the most successful firms. These scientists are more likely to follow high-stakes, high-returns R&D strategies instead of more predictable incremental strategies. We develop an options pricing model in which the probability of stock-price jumps increases with knowledge capital. GMM estimates show the probability of stock-price jumps increases with three measures of knowledge capital intensity, two of which can be reasonably estimated contemporaneously. The model explains most variation in biotech firm market values. Firms with two standard deviations more knowledge capital are valued 10–50% more than firms with mean values of all variables.     

Minority status and culture: local constructions of diversity in a classroom in the Netherlands

In this paper, we explain diversity in knowledge‐sharing strategies in a multi‐ethnic classroom both from a minority status perspective and from a cultural production perspective. The analysis shows how these perspectives are dynamically related in local productions of diversity. The paper argues how, at the level of classroom practice, culturally learned experiences are shaped by status relationships and, at the same time, how status relationships are expressed in cultural formats. Moreover, it is also argued that at a larger social level, collective attitudes towards schooling develop as a co‐construction between cultural processes and status issues.     

Longitudinal analysis of personal networks. The case of Argentinean migrants in Spain

This paper discusses and illustrates various approaches for the longitudinal analysis of personal networks (multilevel analysis, regression analysis, and SIENA). We combined the different types of analyses in a study of the changing personal networks of immigrants. Data were obtained from 25 Argentineans in Spain, who were interviewed twice in a 2-year interval. Qualitative interviews were used to estimate the amount of measurement error and to isolate important predictors. Quantitative analyses showed that the persistence of ties was explained by tie strength, network density, and alters’ country of origin and residence. Furthermore, transitivity appeared to be an important tendency, both for acquiring new contacts and for the relationships among alters. At the network level, immigrants’ networks were remarkably stable in composition and structure despite the high turnover. Clustered graphs have been used to illustrate the results. The results are discussed in light of adaptation to the host society.     

Nonprofit and public sector interorganizational collaboration in disaster recovery: Lessons from the field

Recent disasters have identified that interorganizational collaboration is often fraught with complexity. This article explores interorganizational collaboration in the nonprofit and public sectors during the disaster recovery efforts after a catastrophic flooding event. Based on a series of in‐depth interviews with practitioners involved in the recovery following a flooding event, the findings offer insights into the barriers and mechanisms used to facilitate collaboration. In disaster recovery, collaboration is reliant on established interorganizational structures and trusting relationships. Role clarity is the link between these two characteristics, and this article posits the association between this and the concept of swift trust to facilitate collaboration. Theoretically, this article extends an existing multidimensional model of collaboration into the context of emergency management. Importantly, it also offers a tangible output for industry in the form of an aide‐mémoire for collaborating in disaster recovery.     

Against Free Markets,Against Science? Regulating the Socio‐Economic Effects of Biotechnology*

Abstract This study challenges the assumption that abstract “globalization” forces are driving transformations in the relationships between states and markets. Employing three cases of policy debate regarding the regulation of agricultural biotechnology (ag‐biotech), we examine the role of discourse in the formation of neoliberal regulatory schemes. We show that one important mechanism for the successful institutionalization of neoliberalism in the area of ag‐biotech has been the linking of neoliberal discourse with a discourse of scientism. This strategic combination of discourses has been used by advocates of biotechnology to depoliticize ag‐biotech—that is, to remove it further from political debate and state intervention. However, in each case examined here, certain state actors resisted industry demands for minimal regulation, and in each context this resistance produced markedly different outcomes.     

Transnational Networks and Institutional Embeddedness: Reengagement of the New Generation of Malaysian Chinese Entrepreneurs with China

The new generation of Southeast Asian Chinese society, who were locally born and grew up, have largely weakened their interaction with China. However, the growing business opportunities presented from the Belt and Road Initiative (the BRI), which was launched in 2013, serve as a big impetus for the new generation entrepreneurs to reengage China. Drawn upon an empirical case study of the new generation of Malaysian Chinese entrepreneurs, this paper argues that, the entrepreneurs regard institutional embeddedness as a critical channel to enhance their abilities to accumulate transnational social capital and strengthen their socio-economic networks with China. The transnational networks facilitate them to seize business opportunities from the BRI, and simultaneously reinforce their Malaysian national identity. Moreover, this study demonstrates the emergence of knowledge networks in the transnational space. It not only reflects the increasing interests of the new generation entrepreneurship in China's innovation and technology, but also reveals the developmental strategies of both the Malaysian and Chinese states.     

Personal support networks of immigrants to Spain: A multilevel analysis

Immigrant flows to Spain have increased greatly in the last decade, but little is known about the composition and role of their personal support networks. Our research questions are: (1) Which factors are associated with ties between immigrants and ‘Spaniards’ (the more settled resident Spanish population), compared with immigrants and non-Spaniards (other immigrants)? (2) Do the support roles of Spaniards and non-Spaniards differ? We analyse personal network (ego-net) survey data. Multilevel logistic regression models are applied, in which the unit of analysis is the undirected tie between an immigrant (ego) and an alter and the dependent variable is whether this tie is to a Spaniard alter, as opposed to a non-Spaniard. We determine the characteristics that are most strongly associated with the probability of a tie between an immigrant and a Spaniard, compared with a non-Spaniard, and consider characteristics of the immigrants (ego), the alters, the relative characteristics of ego-alter, support roles, and local geographical factors. We find a tie to a Spaniard alter is more likely if the immigrant’s country of birth is Portugal or Eastern Europe; if the alter is a work colleague or neighbour; if alter is older than ego. There is geographical variation in the probability of ties to Spaniards, partly explained by the local area presence of co-nationals from the same country of origin as the immigrant. A tie to a Spaniard alter is less likely for immigrants from North Africa (Maghreb); those with no previous contact with Spain; those who are not the first of their peer group/family to immigrate; if ego and alter both work in agriculture. Material help is more likely to be exchanged with a Spaniard alter. Non-Spaniard alters are more likely to exchange help with accommodation and information. ‘Finding a job’ is equally associated with Spaniard and non-Spaniard alters. A tentative conclusion is that some combinations of these characteristics, where a tie to a Spaniard is less likely, may be associated with higher levels of prejudice. Conversely, those characteristics that are positively associated with a tie to a Spaniard may indicate situations where integration of the immigrant population with Spaniards is successfully taking place, and where prejudices are lower, or non-existent. These findings may therefore be helpful for targeting resources to reduce such prejudices. The different types of support exchanged between immigrants and Spaniards and immigrants and non-Spaniards, may indicate current shortfalls in this process, as well as indicating where this support is successfully being exchanged.     

Networks of social capital: Extending a public relations model of civil society in Peru

Scholars have argued that public relations can and indeed must be used to improve society. This article builds on the work of Taylor and Doerfel (2005), who advocated for the continued study of civil society through the lens of public relations theory. This study contributes to a normative public relations model of civil society by examining how interorganizational relationships, which may initially be established for purposes of resource exchange, benefit civil society through the creation and maintenance of social capital. The study examined a segment of Peruvian civil society dedicated to media development, as media is a key partner in building civil society (Taylor, 2009). The results of the study help to explain how interorganizational relationships contribute to the creation of social capital in a civil society network, and how certain network positions are integral to maintaining the social capital of a community of actors. Implications for the role of public relations in building and maintaining networks of interorganizational communities are discussed.