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?
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
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.
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.
Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (2019)
Interactivity and International Business
, s. 295- 306.
Havenvid, Malena Ingemansson; Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth & Håkansson, Håkan (2019)
Innovation among project islands: a question of handling interdependencies through bridging
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the roles of deals in innovations processes, based on the definition of a deal as the interaction of social-material value-creating processes with money-handing processes. Design/methodology/approach:The paper is based on a study of the historical emergence of transaortic valve implantation (TAVI) as an innovative new technology in the area of thoracic surgery in a global setting. The study is based on a combination of interviews and secondary data analysis. Findings:The authors found that deals play important roles in innovation processes as critical junctions that mark entries to different phases and generate major shifts in location as well as combination of resources, activities and actors. These shifts include radical changes in control, where actors in possession of resources necessary to bring the project through the next phase, move in to take control – thereby expanding their businesses to new growth niches. Based on the analysis of seven deals, the authors argue that the innovation process is a combined push and pull process where later stage entrepreneurial interests play very significant roles. Deals may also represent radical turning points and moves of the projects that set the project off in a different direction, usually also associated with shifting ownership control rights through the innovation and scaling process. The authors also argue that inventions in the periphery will tend to move to the areas with the most competent relevant business networks capable of adopting and expanding the innovation to a global business operation. The innovation process is not primarily about creating new resources and activities, but about recombining existing resources, competencies and activities. Supplier networks play particularly important roles in these processes. Research limitations/implications: The authors suggest that the study indicates that IMP researchers should turn more attention to studying business deals and financial flows and influences – in particular in studies of innovations and innovation processes – to investigate the mechanisms by which new innovations interact with and transform existing business networks. Social implications: This work highlights why and how an innovation that may initiate anywhere in the periphery, will tend to move to the most competent and capable networks around the globe, that are the most relevant to the needs of the innovation project. Hence, the more powerful business networks and eco-systems will tend to pull interesting inventions in from their periphery, and grow them effectively. Originality/value: The paper expands the efforts in IMP theorizing to include financial/monetary interactions more explicitly into business network theory. It also aims at clarifying core IMP arguments toward entrepreneurship research, in particular research on international new ventures.
Rubach, Synnøve; Hoholm, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2017)
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a longitudinal case study of a regional innovation policy initiative, in which ideas with regard to how innovation might be facilitated were changing over time. Through the scrutiny of insights in industrial network studies (IMP), the authors seek to shed light on the challenges created by policy interventions aimed at constructing complementary networks for the facilitation of innovation. That is to say, the authors endeavour to understand the interfaces between innovation networks and industrial networks, and the way in which they may influence innovation. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a longitudinal case study of four successive regional innovation projects in Norway. Data are drawn from relevant policy documents and project documentations, as well as from participatory observation of application processes and project activities. Findings: This study shows that regional innovation policy concerns first and foremost the interaction within and between relatively established diverse networks, which affects both structuring and restructuring. Changes in innovation policy required the re-configuring of constellations of business networks, research networks and policy networks. All initiatives required mobilisation input by persistent actors – often boundary organisations or researchers. The construction of innovation networks served as an instrument in the production of new interfaces between businesses, researchers and policy makers. The use and usefulness of these networks as perceived by the business actors were heavily influenced by the way in which the networks were configured. Research limitations/implications: Generalisation based on in-depth qualitative case research requires further testing across similar and varying cases, and there have hitherto been relatively few studies of the interfaces between industrial and innovation networks. Despite this it can be argued that the conceptual distinction between constructed and emerging networks is a productive one in the study of networked innovation dynamics. During the research into this longitudinal case, it has been interesting to observe the way in which innovation research, and thus its influence on innovation policy, has changed over time. It would be beneficial if further studies were to be conducted on the way in which this has played out. Practical implications: The administration of the public funding of innovation network activities requires great care. Where innovation policy initiatives are closely related to established industrial networks, it may be possible to strengthen innovation dynamics, challenge established practices and conceptions, and contribute to expanding, or even initiate innovation activities. In the first place, new activities need to be initiated in a way that supports the long-term development of actual business networks; and second, innovation policy bodies should be prepared to stimulate activity over longer periods of time. Originality/value:This paper engages in, and combines, two parallel and rarely interacting debates on, respectively, innovation within innovation policy (innovation systems, clusters, networks) and industrial network studies (IMP and others). The authors make an “ideal type” distinction between alternative “constructed” networks and “emerging” networks, and the way in which they influence innovations.
Håkansson, Håkan & Ford, David (2016)
The managerial challenge of business interaction: behind the market façade
This paper analyses how different policy perspectives or logics regarding industry organising affect network interaction, with particular focus on how the availability of resources is organised To examine this we compare two cases from the Norwegian seafood industry: In the pelagic industry, the main resource (mackerel) is caught at sea by fishing vessels and trade is restricted by an auction system, whereas in the salmon industry, the main resource (farmed salmon) is an industrial product produced at fish farms and there are no such restrictions. Our results indicate that conditions under which resources are available to a network have strong effects on connected relationships: In the pelagic industry, interaction in the network becomes supplier-directed in an attempt to reduce the uncertainty created by unstable and restricted availability of resources, whereas in the salmon industry the interaction becomes customer-directed as resource availability is stable and predictable. Here the actors can broaden the scope of interaction and they can direct their efforts to solve their customers’ problems, whereas this is difficult in the pelagic industry. We conclude that policy considerations play a major role in these effects. If the resource (fish) is seen as a commodity and the interaction is seen as a market mechanism, the policies designed to facilitate the exchange of resources will be beneficial for the actors directly involved, but may have unintended negative consequences for indirect relationships. For policy makers this implies that whenever developing an industrial policy there are strong reasons to look beyond the single transaction in order to create policies that are effective and/or beneficial for all involved and connected parties.
Purpose: We argue that the construction industry is characterised by a fragmented business context with three main features: the project-based character, the strong focus on price in all parts of the supply chain along with the great importance of suppliers. This fragmentation has been identified as problematic for the industry’s ability to innovate and engage in renewal. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this further by focusing on how construction companies manage renewal in a fragmented business context. Design/methodology: We use an in-depth case study of a housing project in Sweden to discuss how firms manage renewal in a fragmented type of business environment. We identify the challenge of achieving renewal in an individual construction company as an issue of handling intra- and inter-organisational issues in both intra- and inter-project environments. Findings: Our case study indicates that renewal can be partly handled and managed through long-term business relationships and partly through opening up to new business relationships. Moreover, innovations and learning developed in other projects can be used in the focal project, and due to a repetitive task it is possible for the construction company to use a core network of individuals and organisations to enhance overall renewal among actors. Limitations: The study needs to be supported by further empirical observations. The paper encourages IMP scholars to further investigate projects from an industrial network approach. Originality/value: The paper addresses why firms in fragmented (project-based) businesses might struggle with achieving renewal in a novel way by outlining and investigating four organisational challenges they must handle.
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2016)
"Methodomania”? On the methodological and theoretical challenges of IMP business research,
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.
Axelsson, Björn & Håkansson, Håkan (2016)
The role of owners in industrial networks – the case of a steel producer
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
An important aim of this special issue is to contribute to the interdisciplinary research literature on marketing and accounting. This is important also from a practical point of view since both the marketing and accounting functions are often ‘under attack’ within companies. Drawing on previous research and the individual contributions to the special issue, we identify and discuss three important themes related to the marketing–accounting interface in a changed business landscape: developing the marketing–accounting interface by including and handling important qualitative aspects; developing the marketing–accounting interface by handling and including inter-organisational issues and processes; and developing the marketing–accounting interface by analysing the translation from value creation processes to the monetary dimension. We argue that the underlying theoretical model(s) of marketing and accounting will affect how the problems are formulated. Management accounting faces the challenge of developing new approaches to a changed business landscape. We also need very competent marketing that is able to formulate the requirements that must be taken into account.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Resource heterogeneity and its effects on interaction and integration in customer-supplier relationships
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 & Olsen, Per Ingvar (2015)
The roles of money and business deals in network structures
In this article we attempt interpreting and conceptualizing the roles of monetary processes and business deals in relation to IMP methodology and theory. This suggests that we have to separate the way the money is handled. We point to the need to analyse the specific situations within which money is involved as “deals”. Each deal has its own history as it is a construction of two interacting firms that are influenced both by the joint social-material value creation processes and the specific features of monetary flows and appropriations of gains and losses that result from these interactions. The money distributive dimension should not be seen as a parallel activity layer of such business interactions - such as we may interpret accounting - but should be seen as a different, related network. We use a single case study to extract interpretations of different deals and deal-structures and use these to discuss the particularities of deals, their various roles and functions, and finally also how we may proceed to better study and theorize the roles of money in relation to IMP network theory.
Industrial marketing and purchasing is an interesting phenomenon. On the surface it appears as very mundane, a simple day-to-day activity performed by purchasers, sales personnel, and technical specialists; i.e. most often by professions representing ‘middle management’. As such, it is not surrounded with any of the greater prestige ascribed to more hyped business activities, such as financing and strategy. Furthermore, industrial marketing and purchasing is seldom recognised as being of any greater importance for society at large. In policy circles, for example the UN, OECD and EU, where they stress the importance of innovation, productivity and growth, industrial marketing and purchasing is rarely mentioned as a related phenomenon . Behind the scenes, however, an empirical, much more challenging view is outlined. When the content and the effects of industrial marketing and purchasing processes are scrutinised empirically, these activities appear as perhaps the most important source for business development, industrial renewal, efficiency and innovation. From this perspective, industrial marketing and purchasing seems to be a critical phenomenon for creating prosperity for both companies and communities and for general economic growth. It is this role of industrial marketing and purchasing that we highlight and discuss in this article. Based on extensive empirical research results, we argue that interaction is the main ingredient in these processes. This implies that the supplier-customer interaction has a central development function for efficiency and innovativeness, for companies as well as for the economy at large. Thus, there is a strong need to include and consider this key engine for dynamics (and its role in developing materialised structures as well as ideas) in any theoretical study of economic development.
Svendsen, Marie Brun; Dubourcq, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
An innovation success: but who gets the reveues? Opera Software in Nigeria
8(2) , s. 84- 100.
Håkansson, Håkan; Olsen, Per Ingvar & Bakken, Tore (2013)
Agency and Economizing in Interacted Economies
Volume 7(2) , s. 106- 111.
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2013)
A never ending story - Interaction patterns and economic development
Industrial marketing and purchasing is an interesting phenomenon. On the surface it appears as very mundane, a simple day-to-day activity performed by purchasers, sales personnel, and technical specialists; i.e. most often by professions representing ‘middle management’. As such, it is not surrounded with any of the greater prestige ascribed to more hyped business activities, such as financing and strategy. Furthermore, industrial marketing and purchasing is seldom recognised as being of any greater importance for society at large. In policy circles, for example the UN, OECD and EU, where they stress the importance of innovation, productivity and growth, industrial marketing and purchasing is rarely mentioned as a related phenomenon . Behind the scenes, however, an empirical, much more challenging view is outlined. When the content and the effects of industrial marketing and purchasing processes are scrutinised empirically, these activities appear as perhaps the most important source for business development, industrial renewal, efficiency and innovation. From this perspective, industrial marketing and purchasing seems to be a critical phenomenon for creating prosperity for both companies and communities and for general economic growth. It is this role of industrial marketing and purchasing that we highlight and discuss in this article. Based on extensive empirical research results, we argue that interaction is the main ingredient in these processes. This implies that the supplier-customer interaction has a central development function for efficiency and innovativeness, for companies as well as for the economy at large. Thus, there is a strong need to include and consider this key engine for dynamics (and its role in developing materialised structures as well as ideas) in any theoretical study of economic development.
The construction industry has developed a certain economic logic that reflects the way in which tasks, parts, and units are organized and related to each other in order to create economic benefits in the construction process. The present study examines how four different models in the literature that portray this logic complement and constitute alternatives to understandings of the economic logic of construction industry. Along with transaction cost economics, we have identified three more empirically-based models: a project-oriented model, a supply-chain-oriented model, and a network-oriented model. Associated with different streams of research, these models are discussed in terms of the typical problems and key interdependencies in the construction process they address, and the type of solutions they suggest, including organizing principles for how construction parties should relate to each other. The findings show how examining different models provides a comprehensive, albeit non-exhaustive overview and explanation of why the construction process is organized in the way it is. There is a need for increased awareness of the utilization of models (or combinations of models) and the models must also be seen as arguments in a broader discussion of how the construction process could or should function.
Håkansson, Håkan & Ingemansson, Malena (2012)
Konkurranse som hinder for innovasjon og teknisk fornyelse i byggenæringen :
15(7) , s. 52- 61.
Håkansson, Håkan & Ingemansson, Malena (2012)
Industrial renewal within the construction network
ABSTRACT The construction business network is generally seen as conservative and non-innovative, for which a number of reasons have been identified. One of which relates to the special inter-organisational setting that exists within the industry. The starting point of our study was to investigate whether there is any truth in this perceived lack of innovation. One reason for the industry’s bad reputation could be that the way innovation generally is defined and measured is unsuitable for the construction business. Therefore, renewal was used as the central concept of change in our investigation. The second issue concerns factors that either assist or impede renewal, and the ambition was to identify those factors driving, as well as those hindering renewal. In order to identify the degree of renewal, as well as the factors affecting it, we conducted a survey of Swedish construction companies. The resulting picture shows a clear connection between the inter-organisational interfaces within the industry and how renewal takes place. The total renewal activity is on a considerable level with more than 60% having made changes visible from the customer’s point of view. The most active interface is also in relation to customers, while the relationship to suppliers generally is more distant. Finally, the project focus which characterises the industry affects what type of renewal that takes place, and exposes the lack of knowledge transfer between individual projects and actors as an important hinder to renewal in the construction network.
Olsen, Per Ingvar & Håkansson, Håkan (2012)
Innovation management in networked economies
5(2) , s. 79- 105.
Ford, David; Gadde, Lars-Erik, Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (2011)
Managing Business Relationships
Håkansson, Håkan & Ingemansson, Malena (2011)
Construction companies and how they acquire knowledge through interaction
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.
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle, Lind, Johnny & Strömsten, Torkel (2010)
Accounting in networks : the industrial-network approach
, s. 269- 291.
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (2010)
Accounting in networks as a new research field
, s. 1- 13.
Håkansson, Håkan; Kraus, Kalle & Lind, Johnny (2010)
Accounting in networks
Ford, D. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Accounting and inter-organisational issues
, s. 14- 32.
Håkansson, Håkan; Lind, J. & Kraus, Kalle (2010)
Accounting in networks - the next step
, s. 342- 348.
Vaaland, Terje I. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Szerveznetközi konfliktusok komplex projekteknél
, s. 301- 301.
Huemer, Lars; Håkansson, Håkan & Prenkert, Frans (2009)
The Becoming of Cermaq: The interplay between network influences and firm level control ambitions
3(3) , s. 53- 75.
Håkansson, Håkan & Cantillon, S. (2009)
Behind The Fish Market Façade
3(1) , s. 55- 74.
Håkansson, Håkan; Ford, D., Gadde, Lars-Erik, Snehota, I. & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2009)
Business in Networks
Håkansson, Håkan (2009)
Use of science and technology in business
Håkansson, Håkan (2009)
Comments on "Actors, resources, activities and commitments"
The IMP Perspective. Assets and Liabilities of Business Relationships
, s. 69- 94.
Håkansson, Håkan (2011)
Ut av kammerset
[Kronikk]
Rubach, Synnøve; Hoholm, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2016)
Innovation networks or innovation in networks?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Rubach, Synnøve; Hoholm, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Innovation networks or innovation in networks?
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth; Håkansson, Håkan & Malena, Ingemansson (2015)
An industrial network perspective on innovation in construction
Bygballe, Lena Elisabeth; Håkansson, Håkan & Malena, Ingemansson (red.). An industrial network perspective on innovation in construction
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Mackerel vs. salmon: How differences in relationship availability shape network interaction
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Relationship availability and network interaction
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Hoholm, Thomas & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Bak fasaden: nettverk og marked i helse og omsorg
[Lecture]. Event
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Integrasjon og samarbeid på pelagiske eksportmarkeder
[Report Research].
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.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Market meets network
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Resource heterogeneity and patterns of customer-supplier integration
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Håkansson, Håkan; Olsen, Per Ingvar & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2013)
Value Creation and economic deal structures in IMP analysis
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Håkansson, Håkan (2011)
Science, technology and business - market or interactive coordination
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Publication as a book during 2012
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2010)
Traditional Fishmarkets vs. Direct Distribution: Japanese Seafood Distribution Coping with a New Reality
[Conference Lecture]. Event
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
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Håkansson, Håkan & Naudè, Peter (2007)
Perceptions on change in Business Networks: A case study of Norwegian Salmon exporters and Japanese Importers
[Conference Lecture]. Event
Håkansson, Håkan (2006)
Business relationships and networks: consequences for economic policy
[Professional Article]. 51(1) , s. 143- 163.
Håkansson, Håkan & Waluszewski, Alexandra (2005)
Developing a New Understanding of Markets: Reinterpreting the Four P:s
