Purpose With a start in the observation that there is a large variation in how companies interact with each other, the paper aims to anlayse the economic consequences of this variation. As the more extensive interaction is costly, the variation also indicates a variation in the economic dimension. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper. Findings Three different economic streams can be identified. Firstly, the interaction costs can be reduced by taking advantage of time and scope. Interaction over time give opportunity to use some of the costs as investments through creation of relationships. By using the same counterpart for several products, scope can be used to reduce interaction costs. Secondly, developed business relationships can be used to create relation revenues. The counterparts can use each other for developing better solutions and for development of knowledge. Finally, the actors can also get positive network effects. One example is the joint development with third parties such as sub-suppliers or customer’s customer. Research limitations/implications The discussion ends in two major implications. One is the central role of managers and the other the crucial role of economic deals. Managers are crucial both to identify relevant cost and revenue items as well as to exploit them. Deals are important as it is only with direct counterparts where there are monetary streams. In all other relationships, there is only indirect consequences. Originality/value It is obvious that the type of cost and revenue streams identified above will require new and different economic tools. A base for this is given here.
Purpose In today’s business settings, most firms strive to closely integrate their resources and activities with those of their business partners. However, these linkages tend to create lock-in effects when changes are needed. In such situations, firms need to generate new space for action. The purpose of this paper is twofold: analysis of potential action spaces for restructuring; and examination of how action spaces can be exploited and the consequences accompanying this implementation. Design/methodology/approach Network dynamics originate from changes in the network interdependencies. This paper is focused on the role of the three dual connections – actors–activities, actors–resources and activities–resources, identified as network vectors. In the framing of the study, these network vectors are combined with managerial action expressed in terms of networking and network outcome. This framework is then used for the analysis of major restructuring of the car industries in the USA and Europe at the end of the 1900s. Findings This study shows that the restructuring of the car industry can be explained by modifications in the three network vectors. Managerial action through changes of the vector features generated new action space contributing to the transition of the automotive network. The key to successful exploitation of action space was interaction – with individual business partners, in triadic constellations, as well as on the network level. Originality/value This paper presents a new view of network dynamics by relying on the three network vectors. These concepts were developed in the early 1990s. This far, however, they have been used only to a limited extent.
Håkansson, Håkan & Axelsson, Björn (2020)
What is so special with outsourcing in the public sector?
The journal of business & industrial marketing, 35(12), s. 2011- 2021. Doi: 10.1108/JBIM-06-2019-0280
This paper centers round outsourcing in the public sector. This topic is approached here as a special case in the public procurement context. To pinpoint the specifics of the public sector context and how it impacts on the outsourcing case, we make a comparison with private sector procurement and outsourcing. We try to portray the business activities in private as well as public sector settings and identify some similarities and – more importantly – some significant differences. We use two analytical tools: a classification system of various interfaces between a selling and buying firm; and a two-fold scheme for strategic analyses of whether or not to outsource and in what ways to outsource. These tools have been developed in studies of private sector outsourcing but are also applicable as tools in public sector contexts. Two empirical illustrations from public sector outsourcing are used to illustrate options and obstacles for outsourcing ventures in the public sector. The analytical discussion aims at pointing out when and how outsourcing should be a straightforward choice in the public sector. Additionally, we point out situations where the process is much more complicated and thus restricted. Finally, we highlight situations when outsourcing seems to not be a viable option and, thus, should be avoided.
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2020)
“Thick or thin”? Policy and the different conceptualisations of business interaction patterns
The journal of business & industrial marketing, 35(11), s. 1849- 1859. Doi: 10.1108/JBIM-04-2019-0136
Purpose The prestigious policy advisor, World Economic Forum (WEF), underlines that “governments, businesses and civil society organisations” must find “new ways of tackling the systemic risks that affect us all”. Paradoxically, policy’s and politicians’ great trust in the basic forces of the business world is accompanied with a disinterest in how they are captured in analytical approaches. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what consequences different approaches to interaction present for policy attempts to use business forces to achieve change. Design/methodology/approach The discussion of theoretical approaches available for policy aiming to use the basic forces of business exchange for efficiency, innovation and industrial/societal renewal in specific directions is designed as follows: The authors identify two main choices of dimensions in the conceptualisation of business exchange, based on the acknowledgement of thin or thick interactions. The authors discuss how these are related to how interaction patterns appear in empirical studies of exchange. Based on the identification of conceptualisations and empirical findings, the authors discuss the ability for the public sphere to use the basic characteristics of business exchange to cope with societal challenges. Findings Research experiences on thick interaction and its consequences, that businesses and their input and output are interdependent, systemic and promote certain development paths, are largely ignored in approaches used in policy circles. Instead, policy advisors’ and policy commissioners’ understanding of business interaction patterns is coloured by mainstream economies assumption of thin interaction. The content and function of the market as depicted in this tradition are within EU, the basic foundation for legal regulations and limitations of businesses interaction patterns. Simply put, actors as well as the activities and resources that they are related to are approached as independent. Research limitations/implications This paper is focussed on the conceptual underpinnings of contemporary policy advices and commissions. This paper does not investigate deviations from these advices and commission made by policy practitioners on a local level Practical implications The message given by theoretical approaches recognising thick interaction is that the thicker it is, the more intervening, broader and more differentiated the policy tools and measures have to be. But that also puts high demands on policy actors on all levels to have both general and specific knowledge about thick interaction patterns. However, given the big challenges the society is facing, increased speed of change and, above all, increased influence over the direction of change are needed. Social implications WEF recognises the systemic features of the contemporary challenges to society with climate change in the foreground, and it stresses the need for finding new ways for public bodies and private businesses to cooperate to solve this. This implies the need to consider what theoretical approaches that should guide policy advice and measures. Hence, there is a need for the use of more sophisticated analytical approaches to the collective level, instead of those relying on that the interaction pattern of the business world is thin, straightforward and easy manageable. Originality/value This paper takes a novel approach to policy advice and policy commissions through focussing on what kind of theoretical concepts and approaches that actually are available for policy advisors and policy commissioners interested in using the basic forces of business exchange to increase efficiency and innovation in the public setting in general and furthermore to solve specific problems and to create new, specific development paths. Hence, both approaches adopted and neglected by policy are considered.
Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (2019)
Interactivity and International Business
Parvatiyar, Atul & Sisodia, Rajendra (red.). Handbook of Advances in Marketing in an Era of Disruptions: Essays in Honour of Jagdish N. Sheth
Havenvid, Malena Ingemansson; Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth & Håkansson, Håkan (2019)
Innovation among project islands: a question of handling interdependencies through bridging
Havenvid, Malena Ingemansson; Linné, Åse, Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth & Harty, Chris (red.). The Connectivity of Innovation in the Construction Industry
Waluszewski, Alexandra; Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (2019)
The public-private partnership (PPP) disaster of a new hospital ? expected political and existing business interaction patterns
Purpose One of the most salient contemporary societal trends is the increasing amount of public–private collaborations. In spite of the increasing awareness of the need to scrutinise the promises of public–private partnership (PPP), there is an important but seldom-asked question: How does the assumed interaction pattern behind PPP correspond with the interaction pattern appearing in empirical studies of the content of business exchange? The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the discrepancy between the expected and actual pattern of interactions in PPPs. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a specific PPP concerning the construction of a Nya Karolinska (NKS) hospital building, which ended up as an economic and functional disaster. With an interactive approach as point of departure (Håkansson et al. 2009; Waluszewski, Håkansson, Snehota, 2017), this paper investigates a) the interaction pattern of the business landscape expected by policy/politicians in the NKS construction case and b) how the assumed interaction pattern appears in relation to the interaction pattern of the business landscape outlined in empirical studies of exchange, in the business landscape in general and of the construction setting in particular. Findings Given that the public side is neglecting the interactivity and interdependency of the private business setting, the disappointment with the NKS PPP project does not appear as an odd deviation. Rather, as a natural consequence of a public side expecting autonomous actors able to deliver innovation, quality and cost control just because they are exposed to competitive forces – but in reality interfacing with private actors which interests are directed to interdependent investments in place; own and related suppliers’. Research limitations/implications The investigation of the political expectations behind the NKS PPP case was concentrated on two types of data. Original reports expressing the political view of the interaction pattern of the private setting have been used. Four published studies focussing on different aspects of the NKS process, which discuss the political view of the private setting, was also used. Practical implications Be it private–private or public–private, to be beneficial for both sides of the exchange interface, both sides have to engage in the exchange – with representatives with knowledge and experiences of all direct and indirect related social and material resources that will be affected. The need to mobilise and involve representatives with extensive experiences of specific resource combinations of both sides of the exchange interface; the public as well as the private, does not disappear simply because it is assumed away. Social implications The competitive forces of the private setting are by politicians and policy assumed to function in an automatic way; breeding cost efficiency, quality and innovation. Furthermore, there is also an assumption of speed and ease of change. With the trust in these characteristic sof the private setting at hand, politicians have a “cart blanche” to withdraw from direct involvement in the creation of producer-user interfaces. Originality/value The paper underlines that as soon as the public-private exchange concerns goods that cannot be transformed to or treated as homogeneous ‘commodities’, as most often is the case of in this type of processes, there are reasons to be extremely careful in the design of the interaction interface. There are differences both in resource and activity structures between the two sides of the exchange interface and these differences have to be actively dealt with.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between social-material interaction and the monetary aspects of business relationships in the construction industry. The authors term the formal financial agreements necessary for such activities “deals”, and this paper seeks to open a research avenue to further investigate the multifaceted interaction processes among business actors. The construction industry is a suitable empirical setting for this purpose; its project-based character and societal position of linking business with the construction of essential community infrastructure imply that different types of money-handling activities need to be managed continuously with both short-term and long-term effects taken into account. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the deals, i.e., the interface between socio-material interaction and the money-handling processes in the construction industry, as well as studying the potential interrelatedness of deals, the authors performed a case study involving three interrelated housing projects in Uppsala, Sweden. Findings The study shows that deals do not only have an intricate relationship to the social-material interaction processes among construction actors, but they also become interrelated in specific ways to form “deal structures” as actors engage in different business relationships over time. This means, for instance, that a single deal can enable several other deals, and involved actors have different abilities in performing deals. Hence, most deals are part of a “broader” interaction pattern of social and material resources spanning the organizational borders of individual companies. Originality/value Within the industrial marketing and purchasing, the socio-material interaction among actors has been well studied, but less attention has been paid to the monetary dimension and its relationship to the socio-material interaction processes. In particular, this study provides an understanding of monetary agreements in the construction industry.
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2016)
"Methodomania”? On the methodological and theoretical challenges of IMP business research,
The purpose of this paper is to look at how relationships between buyers and sellers are affected when on the supply side the most important resource is available only through a trading system created from a market perspective, whereas on the customer side the interaction resembles a network where relationships are long-term and complex. The empirical setting of the study is the pelagic industry, where this situation represents a challenge for the Norwegian herring exporters as they try to bridge these two types of interactions. In this industry, the purchasing of the herring is subject to a blind auction by law. At the same time, Norwegian exporters have customers in European seafood markets characterised by long-term relationships and close cooperation between importers, processors, producers and retailers. To analyse this situation, the study applies a qualitative research design including personal interviews with selected respondents in Norway and the three largest Norwegian herring export markets: Germany, Poland and Russia. The authors find that the interaction in these particular supplier–customer relationships is not extended to its full potential. It seems that the market-type transactions create “spillover-effects” to the other relationships, meaning that it is difficult to maintain high-involvement relationships when interaction in connected relationships is limited. Keywords Markets; Networks; Business relationships; Interaction
Kraus, Kalle; Håkansson, Håkan & Lind, Johnny (2015)
The marketing-accounting interface - problems and opportunities
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of customer-supplier interaction and integration from a resource perspective. In economic terms, a fish may be seen as a more or less homogeneous resource. If the herring is seen as a homogeneous resource, a market should be the best way to handle the selling and buying. However, if the herring is seen as a heterogeneous resource, a more extensive type of interaction is needed. One interesting aspect with herring is that different business actors apparently see this resource in different ways. Thus, the authors will have a mixed situation, creating possible difficulties for the actors involved. Design/methodology/approach – The authors start this study in Germany, one of the most important export markets for Norwegian herring. Today, Norwegian legislation hinders the possibility of vertical integration and cooperation at the supply side of the network. However, the industry sees opportunities for growth and integration on the marketing side. To examine this issue, the study uses a qualitative design methodology, incorporating personal in-depth interviews with selected respondents in Norway and Germany. Secondary data is also used. To analyse the data, the authors introduce five interaction and integration patterns termed pure exchange – no integration; limited interaction and integration; extensive interaction and developed integration and; indirect interaction and structural integration; and full integration. Findings – The findings suggest that there is a link between how the actors perceive herring as a resource and how they interact with counterparts. The authors find that the actors who see the resource as homogeneous have limited interaction and little or no integration, whereas the actors who see the resource as heterogeneous have a much more extensive interaction and closer ties. Originality/value – The paper is an investigation of the link between the resource heterogeneity and the patterns of customer-supplier integration. Keywords Resources, Norway, Fish, Heterogeneity, Interaction, Exports
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2014)
Drömmen om effektivitet och innovation
Organisation & Samhälle, 1(2), s. 4- 9.
Svendsen, Marie Brun; Dubourcq, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
An innovation success: but who gets the reveues? Opera Software in Nigeria
Interaction to bridge network gaps. The problem opf specialization and innovation in fish technology
The IMP Journal, 6(3), s. 254- 266.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2012)
Networks in transition
The IMP Journal, 6(3), s. 194- 209.
Håkansson, Håkan & Ingemansson, Malena (2012)
Konkurranse som hinder for innovasjon og teknisk fornyelse i byggenæringen :
Magma forskning og viten, 15(7), s. 52- 61.
Olsen, Per Ingvar & Håkansson, Håkan (2012)
Innovation management in networked economies
Journal of Business Market Management, 5(2), s. 79- 105.
Håkansson, Håkan & Ingemansson, Malena (2011)
Construction companies and how they acquire knowledge through interaction
The IMP Journal, 5(2), s. 67- 78.
By combining the two phenomena ‘knowledge’ and ‘interaction’, in terms of how they can vary in both intensity and content, this article attempts to deepen the understanding of the relationship between different types of interaction and learning, and, more specifically, how it appears within the construction industry. As an industry, construction displays some specific features in relation to interactional patterns that seem to hinder the establishment of more extensive long-term interactions. Through distinguishing between different types of interactions we discuss potential learning opportunities. The theoretical discussion is exemplified with empirical material from the construction industry that we glean from both earlier studies and from an ongoing investigation of Swedish construction firms. Our results indicate that there are different degrees of knowledge being transferred in the construction network, and that there are examples of close interaction where joint learning takes place. However, the organisational conditions characterising the construction industry seem to provide little incentive to invest in long-term relationships, thus affecting what can be learned from others. This research project has been financial supported by the Swedish Construction Federation and The Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation.
Ford, D. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Accounting and inter-organisational issues
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (red.). Accounting in networks
Håkansson, Håkan; Lind, J. & Kraus, Kalle (2010)
Accounting in networks - the next step
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (red.). Accounting in networks
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle, Lind, Johnny & Strömsten, Torkel (2010)
Accounting in networks : the industrial-network approach
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (red.). Accounting in networks
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (2010)
Accounting in networks as a new research field
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (red.). Accounting in networks
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (2010)
Accounting in networks
Routledge.
Vaaland, Terje I. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Szerveznetközi konfliktusok komplex projekteknél
Szerveznetközi konfliktusok komplex projekteknél
Håkansson, Håkan (2009)
Comments on "Actors, resources, activities and commitments"
Resource heterogeneity and patterns of customer-supplier integration
[Academic lecture]. IMP Journal Seminar 2014.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Integrasjon og samarbeid på pelagiske eksportmarkeder
[Report]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
Denne forskningsrapporten er sluttrapport for prosjektet “Økt integrasjon og samarbeid mot eksisterende og nye målmarkeder for pelagisk industri”, gjennomført av BI på oppdrag for Fiskeri- og Havbruksnæringens Forskningsfond (FHF). Norsk pelagisk industri ønsker i dette prosjektet å se på mulighetene for økt integrasjon og samarbeid i de viktigste markedene for pelagisk konsumfisk, hvor sild og makrell representerer de største eksportvolumene. Rapporten konkluderer med at utviklingen i pelagisk industri går mot en økende grad av spesialisering og konsentrasjon av et mindre antall store og dominerende aktører. I en slik sammenheng er det den enkelte bedrifts evner og muligheter til å tilpasse sine aktiviteter og ressurser til de øvrige aktørene som avgjør om den får innflytelse. For å få dette til må bedriftene utvikle interaktive holdninger og kapabiliteter (evner), og vi gir flere anbefalinger om hvordan dette kan gjennomføres på bedriftsnivå. Vi peker også på to strukturelle svakheter på bransjenivå som må håndteres dersom bransjen skal videreutvikle sine relasjoner mot de viktigste markedene. Den ene er eksistensen av et system som forhindrer all integrasjon bakover mot råvareleddet, og den andre er overkapasitet på produksjonssiden i Norge. På sikt står bransjen ovenfor betydelige endringer.
Håkansson, Håkan; Olsen, Per Ingvar & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2013)
Value Creation and economic deal structures in IMP analysis
[Academic lecture]. IMP Conference 2013.
Håkansson, Håkan (2011)
Science, technology and business - market or interactive coordination
[Academic lecture]. Marketing of Scientific and Reseach Organizations.
Publication as a book during 2012
Ford, David; Gadde, Lars-Erik, Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (2011)
Managing Business Relationships
[Scientific book]. John Wiley & Sons.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Traditional Fishmarkets vs. Direct Distribution: Japanese Seafood Distribution Coping with a New Reality
[Academic lecture]. CIMaR, Handelshøyskolen BI.
Prenkert, Frans; Håkansson, Håkan & Huemer, Lars (2008)
There and Back Again: Cermaq’s Entry and Development in the Aquaculture Sector as a Walk through Space
[Academic lecture]. Padova Workshop.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Håkansson, Håkan & Naudè, Peter (2007)
Perceptions on change in Business Networks: A case study of Norwegian Salmon exporters and Japanese Importers
[Academic lecture]. 22nd IMP Conference, Manchester Business School.
Håkansson, Håkan (2006)
Business relationships and networks: consequences for economic policy
[Article in business/trade/industry journal]. ?, 51(1), s. 143- 163.
