The fifth international conference on ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT OF NETWORKS will be held at the Frederick University, from December 1 to December 3, 2011, in LIMASSOL, Cyprus.

The purpose of the conference is to provide an international discussion forum for research in economics and management of networks. Theoretical, conceptual and empirical papers from all areas in economics and management of franchising, cooperatives, joint ventures, licensing, strategic alliances, venture capital relations, virtual networks and other hybrids are invited.

Conference information will be published soon at: http://emnet.univie.ac.at.

http://ck.strategicmanagement.net/

Guest Editor
Dr. Alexander Brem (School of Business and Economics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) and
VEND consulting GmbH, Nuremberg: brem@vend-consulting.de

Background

Open innovation describes an innovation paradigm shift from a closed to an open innovation model (Chesbrough, 2003). With this idea, the term open innovation became one of the most common used buzzwords of recent years, with a plethora of research. To date, many companies are already using these principles in practice as well, especially when it comes to the integration of customers. However, the concept has been criticized for being too prescriptive and for offering little new to innovation research or practice (Trott and Hartmann, 2009). For instance, the lead-user concept (von Hippel 1988, 2005) became one of the most important trends in innovation management in the last ten years, but is open innovation any more than the lead-user concept (see IJIM Special Issue on User Innovation, 2008, 12(3))?

Hardly anybody outside a company knows its products and processes better than its suppliers (Bessant, 2003; Petersen et al., 2003; von Hippel, 1995). Research confirms that intensive integration of suppliers in the value creation process positively influences the success of the company, particularly in highly competitive industries (Wingert, 1997). This is a result of the progressing reduction in the depth of value creation of manufacturers and the increasing transfer of know-how towards the suppliers. In multilevel business-to-business relationships, the suppliers often have the best or the only access and comprehensive knowledge about the end users (Groher, 2003). A practical example for supplier integration is the use of guest engineers (Maylor, 2001). Therefore, suppliers determine the scope of possible innovations, which most companies do not actively use yet. The main risk for suppliers is the danger of releasing or using confidential expertise gleaned from other sources. Reciprocal trust is critical for this to work (Groher, 2003). Instruments such as the continuous improvement model or collaborative engineering already involve the suppliers, but mostly on an operative level only. Hence, suppliers are an important source for open innovation.

In this context, theoretical and conceptual papers on supplier integration and challenges on the firm level are welcome. Empirical studies that feature examples and results of supplier integration are encouraged, as well as papers on success factors and risks. Comparative studies that examine similarities and differences between different sectors and countries are also welcome.

Subject coverage

Topics include but are not limited to:

Theoretical aspects

• Open and closed innovation frameworks
• Supplier integration models
• Determination of integration levels
• Interfaces to other open innovation methods
• Management of know-how transfer
• Research on success factors
• The role of the companies size
• Organization within the companies
• Management of networks
• Marketing of innovations
• Country comparisons
• Networks for service development and delivery

Firm-level challenges

• Selection of appropriate partners
• Resource management
• Use of collaboration tools
• Evaluation of appropriate ideas
• Determination of process interfaces
• Incentive systems
• Legal issues
• Cultural aspects
• Risk management
• Innovation marketing and communication
• Commercialisation of results
• Best practice examples
• Feedback and controlling principles

Notes for prospective authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published or be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers will be refereed through a doubleblind peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information is available at http://www.worldscinet.com/ijim

Important Dates

You are invited to contact the guest editor to discuss the topic of a possible paper in advance.

ICKM 2009 will feature invited keynote presentations, panels on topical issues (e.g. management, technology, business, and public policy), refereed paper presentations on emerging and continuing business and research issues, and workshops on new areas of knowledge management.

The theme of ICKM 2009 is “Managing Knowledge for Global and Collaborative Innovations.” Finding effective ways of collaboration is one of the most challenging tasks for individuals and organisations faced with complex, global, and interconnected issues. Collaboration is more than just being connected through the internet and various forms of professional, business and social networks. Collaboration through information and communication technologies also requires us to “prepare the mind” for partnerships. Many of our traditional business models, public organisational structures, and educational systems are not yet ready for new forms of decision-making, problem-solving and collaboration that goes beyond organisational boundaries. Concepts like “open innovation”, “value networks”, “wisdom of crowds” are some of the ideas that influence our thinking on collaboration and information sharing.

- C. K. Prahalad on networks as the new locus of competitive advantage

- Russell E. Palmer on leadership in a networked global environment

- Dawn Iacobucci and James M. Salter II on the business implications of social networking

- Franklin Allen and Ana Babus on contagion in financial markets

- Steven O. Kimbrough on artificial intelligence, evolutionary computation, and networks

- Satish Nambisan and Mohan Sawhney on tapping the “global brain” for innovation

- Manuel E. Sosa on coordination networks in product development

- Christophe Van den Bulte and Stefan Wuyts on customer networks

- Christoph Zott and Raphael Amit on using business models to drive network-based strategies

- Yoram (Jerry) Wind, Victor Fung, and William Fung on network orchestration

- Valery Yakubovich and Ryan Burg on network-based HR strategy

- Howard Kunreuther on risk management strategies for an interdependent world

- Paul R. Kleindorfer and Ilias D. Visvikis on integrating financial and physical networks in global logistics

- Witold J. Henisz on network-based political and social risk management

- Boaz Ganor on terrorism networks