The Formation Process of Sme Networks: A Comparative Case Analysis of Social Processes in Austria, Belgium and Turkey

ISBN-13: 9783835008540 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 255 str.

Marita Haas; Prof Rudolf Vetschera

Opis

Virtual Organizations (VOs) and other forms of cooperation among firms are gaining popularity in particular among SMEs as a way to strengthen their position in an era of global competition. Consequently, public institutions at the regional, national and supranational level like the European Union are actively promoting and supporting the formation of networks and virtual organizations. But despite all the efforts spent on promoting cooperation and the numerous projects aimed at supporting the development of virtual organizations, our understanding of the success factors for the development of VOs is still rather limited. While the ultimate goal of virtual organizations is to improve economic performance, economic factors alone are not sufficient to explain success or failure in establishing a VO. In her thesis, Marita Haas has introduced a new perspective on the formation process of virtual organizations by interpreting the formation of a virtual organization as a group development process between the key actors in each participating company. This person-centered approach is particularly valid when considering SMEs, which in many cases are strongly influenced by the personality of the founder. Applying phase models from small group research enables Marita Haas to identify critical phases and transitions in the formation process and develop adequate intervention strategies to support the VO members in their efforts.

Spis treści

Definition, main characteristics and origin of virtual organizations Empirical investigation of virtual organization practice Cooperative network concept and implications Life cycle concepts and phases of networks 5-phases model Network formation processes

O autorze

Dr. Marita Haas promovierte bei Prof. Dr. Rudolf Vetschera am Lehrstuhl für Organisation und Planung der Universität Wien.

Blurb

Cooperation concepts can be considered as an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to overcome arising problems due to their size. Although the advantages of cooperations, such as cost sharing, access to new markets and increased flexibility, are well-known and discussed in literature, the realization of the concept remains challenging.

Marita Haas claims that social processes are decisive for the success of SME networks and creates a phase concept based on group theory that describes how owners of small enterprises enter into a cooperation. The framework is applied to three network formation cases in Austria, Belgium and Turkey. The author shows that group theory is a useful tool to understand and anticipate processes in networked organizations and indicates that the group formation process must be accomplished before a network will be able to create benefits.