PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the practices and processes of trust building and use in collaborative networking for product innovation and to compare face to face with virtual networking.Design/methodology/approachGuided by a literature review and preliminary participant observation, 16 open ended interviews collected data about the processes in 11 small biotech firms. These data were inductively analysed by the constant comparative method to develop explanatory themes.FindingsTrust was seen as a requirement for successful collaborative innovation, but the paper identified how different dimensions of trust are located in the trust building processes. Trust works by creating a platform of confidence that fosters flows of information and the exchange of tacit knowledge. Two types of trust relationships, the technical and the social, work in different ways to produce different, but complementary, types of trust. Virtual environments suit technical trust building but are less suited to developing deeper, more enduring forms of trust.Research limitations/implicationsThese different approaches to collaboration are often implicit. But if practitioners are made aware of how they work, they can use the most appropriate approach to build trust.Practical implicationsThe method and sample restrict general application, but the explanatory framework may be conceptually generalisable.Social implicationsNetworking for innovation is seen as much social as technical.Originality/valueThe paper contributes conceptually by theorising the trust building process and its role in knowledge sharing and collaborative innovation. It addresses a gap in the literature in identifying how trust is produced, developed and employed in furthering innovation, in particular the behavioural patterns of using virtual networks in furthering innovation.

Co-creation of innovation, as transcending perspective of marketing, is of growing interest in recent years. Developing new products through collaboration is recognized as beneficial to suppliers as well as customers. Businesses face challenges as to how to build and develop close and long-lasting collaborative relationships for innovation success. Owners/managers need to know about which platform to use appropriate for different engagement aspects in the relationship development. The advancement in virtual technology may offer new platforms in enabling customer engagement apart from traditional platforms. This study explores how suppliers and customers are engaged in videoconferencing in their engagement processes in collaborative innovation. Based on an empirical study of in-depth interviews with seventeen owners/managers in biotech SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprise), from a supplier's perspective it reveals that the engagement is processual and has two dimensions for the successful collaborative relationships. Videoconferencing is a platform for engagement when distance is a barrier, it's used in both dimensions of the engagement, and to facilitate cognition and support affect which help form and cement trusting relationships. The authors explain the process of videoconference engagement by a ladder of engagement model through social networking theory in building and applying social capital.

Although the importance of diverse knowledge is widely recognised for open innovation, there may be a gap in our understanding of the social processes that shape how collaborators engage in knowledge exchange. This social gap may be significant because of the powerful, but largely unexplained, role attributed to trust as a social artefact. Moreover, we see trust as a process and that different types of trust are involved in the collaborative process. Thus, this paper uses a qualitative methodology to capture the experiences of innovation collaborators. As explanation of the dynamic interplays of knowledge and trust, we offer a description of phases in the process. Our analysis finds that the relationship moves from transactional to social. The early phases are characterised by technical knowledge, but the later and mature phases are identified with knowledge of the person and by personal trust. The success of innovation is a result of relationships with augmented trust. We found that a fabric of trust is woven from the weft of professional knowledge and the warp of personal knowledge to support innovation. We propose that this developing of relationships might be conceived as becoming more open in the sense of sharing with one another. If so, we seem to have described and offered a social dimension of open innovation.

PurposeThe paper aims to better understand the process of networking by small business with their customers to achieve innovations. In particular the relative roles of face‐to‐face and virtual interaction are to be investigated.Design/methodology/approachInitially a week of participant observation was undertaken then 17 in‐depth interviews were conducted and analyzed. The biotechnology sector was used for the sample.FindingsNetworking interaction could be categorized into stages. A deepening of the relationship developed on two fronts: increasing exchanges of technical information but necessarily supplemented by increased sharing of social information to facilitate tacit knowledge exchanges. As the relationship continued to develop, virtual modes could be used in an increasing capacity. The paper developed a stage model and identified the role of face‐to‐face and virtual exchanges at each stage.Research limitations/implicationsGeneralizability is unproven. However the issues appeared typical of any technology or science‐based sector and suggest broader applicability.Practical implicationsBusiness people cannot assume that all steps in the process of generating an innovation with a customer can be achieved virtually. The stage model provides guidance to practitioners on the appropriate interaction modes to avoid wasteful face‐to‐face meetings and ineffective virtual exchanges.Originality/valueWhile the usefulness of networking by small business is well recognized, little is known about the process of networking and in particular the potential role of virtual communication and what can and cannot be achieved. The paper sheds light on these issues and develops an explanatory framework.

Facebook has been one of the popular Social Networking Sites (SNS) in recent years. With an increasing number of consumer groups using SNS, an understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviour towards its advertising becomes useful for businesses, in particular for those mobile phone companies that encounter consumer tastes in favouring technologically innovative products. Furthermore, greater attention needs to be paid to the function of online advertising in influencing the purchasing process. The study in this chapter contributes to our understanding of consumer behaviour towards SNS advertising. The differing behavioural segments identified show that Facebook advertising impacts the pre-purchase stages of the consumer decision-making process in mobile phone purchasing. Furthermore, the findings show that whilst social networking amongst peers is recognized as a key determinant of online engagement formal networking enabled by technical mechanisms on Facebook can be another key reason for using the site.