The proximity concept is used in many different ways in the literature. These dimensions of proximity are, however, defined and measured in many different (sometimes even contradictory) ways, show large amounts of overlap, and often are under-or overspecified. The goal of this paper is to specify the different dimensions of proximity relevant in inter-organizational collaboration more precisely and to provide definitions of these dimensions. The research presented contributes to reducing the ambiguity of the proximity concept as used in the literature.Based on the above, the following research question is addressed in this paper: 'Which dimensions of proximity are relevant in inter-organizational collaboration and how are they defined?' A systematic literature review is presented in order to disentangle the dimensions of the proximity concept. Based on this literature review, three dimensions of proximity relevant in inter-organizational collaboration are distinguished: geographical proximity, organizational proximity and technological proximity. Examples (case studies) from the literature are used to illustrate the current conceptual ambiguity as well as to clarify how the proposed dimensions of proximity reduce this conceptual ambiguity.

In this paper we test whether the use of a set of technology management tools (TM-tools), a specification of alliance portfolio capability, influences the relationship between alliance portfolio diversity and a firm's innovation outcomes. With this model, we add to the theoretical literature on the performance effects of alliance portfolio diversity and specific contingencies allowing to appropriate benefits from this diversity.Based on a sample of South African firms, we first confirm the inverted U-shaped relation between alliance portfolio diversity and a firm's innovation outcomes found by earlier research. We also show that the shape of this inverted-U differs for incremental and radical innovation outcomes. Subsequently, we test the moderating effect of the use of TM-tools on this relationship, for which find a strong positive moderating effect. In particular, for firms intensively using TM-tools, the negative effect of high levels of alliance portfolio diversity on innovation outcomes turns into a positive effect. This suggests that the use of formal technology management practices is beneficial to manage highly diverse alliance portfolios.

Although social influence on consumers’ behaviour has been recognized and documented, the vast majority of empirical consumer studies about sustainable products considers mainly, if not only, individual characteristics (socio‐demographic attributes, individual environmental attitudes, etc.), to explain the decision to buy sustainable products. Making use of experimental methods, this paper studies the social influence that peer groups like colleagues, family and friends may exert in the decision to choose for environmentally friendly products rather than conventional ones. We also test for different types of social influence, in particular for ‘herd behaviour’ vs. ‘social learning’. In our experimental setting, the relevance of peer effects is corroborated. We find clear evidence for ‘herd behaviour’ and the data indirectly support the presence of ‘social learning’ effects. The results also suggest heterogeneous impact of specific social groups.

Economic network theory emphasises the importance of external resource mobilisation. In this paper, the relations between the mobilisation and use of internal and external resources in innovation processes, and the innovative performance of ®rms, are explored empirically, using an adapted version of Ha Êkansson's (1987) economic network model. The main research question was: to what extent do network variables contribute to the innovative performance of ®rms? To answer this question, we assessed the explanatory power of economic network theory within the empirical study of innovation. Firms were found to engage in various con®gurations of internal and external resource bases, enabling them to innovate with better results. The relations in the estimated models are strongly in¯uenced by moderating variables such as sector, and type and level of innovations produced. Our main conclusion is that models that include both internal and external resources explain the innovative performance better than models in which only internal resources are used.

Oerlemans L. A. G. and Meeus M. T. H. (2005) Do organizational and spatial proximity impact on firm performance?, Regional Studies39, 89-104. Recent theoretical developments in organization science, economic geography and regional economics have emphasized the importance of organizational and geographical proximity for the performance of firms. Empirical evidence on these relationships is scarce, though. The paper asks to what extent firm-specific resources, network activity, proximity and industry factors influence innovative and economic outcomes. We used a theoretical synthesis of regional and organizational science, and economic geography to build a research model that enabled us to derive several hypotheses on the influence of different forms of proximity on outcomes, taking other relevant predictors for performance into account. The empirical findings specify the importance of proximity especially for innovative outcomes. We found that in particular intra- and interregional relations with buyers and suppliers are conducive for firm performance. Moreover, innovation strategy (dis)similarity has interesting effects on relative firm performance. Finally, sectoral research and development spillovers influence outcomes in a positive way. Oerlemans L. A. G. et Meeus M. T. H. (2005) La proximité organisationnelle et géographique, importe-t-elle pour la performance des entreprises?, Regional Studies39, 89-104. De récentes avances théoriques dans la science organisationnelle, la géographie économique, et l'économie régionale ont souligné l'importance de la proximité organisationnelle et géographique pour la performance des entreprises. Cependant, rares sont les preuves empiriques sur ces rapports. Cet article cherche à déterminer dans quelle mesure les ressources spécifiques à l'entreprise, la constitution de réseaux, la proximité, et les facteurs liés à l'industrie influencent les résultats innovateurs et économiques. A partir d'un synthèse théorique de la science régionale et organisationnelle, et de la géographie économique, on construit un modèle de recherche qui permet d'obtenir plusieurs hypothèses sur l'influence de diverses formes de proximité sur les résultats, tout en tenant compte des autres moyens d'estimer la performance. Les résultats empiriques précisent l'importance de la proximité, surtout pour ce qui est des résultats innovateurs. Il s'avère en particulier que des rapports intra et interrégionaux avec les acheteurs et les vendeurs sont propices à la performance des entreprises. En outre, la(dis)similitude entre les stratégies en faveur de l'innovation a des effets intéressants sur la performance relative des entreprises. Pour finir, les retombées de R et D sectorielles influencent les résultats de façon positive. Oerlemans L. A. G. und Meeus M. T. H. (2005) Die Auswirkung organisatorischer und räumlicher Nähe auf Firmenleistung, Regional Studies39, 89-104. Die neuesten theoretischen Entwicklungen auf den Gebieten der Organisationswissenschaft, Wirtschaftsgeographie und Regionalwirtschaft haben die ...

We use a longitudinal examination of the production of a complex vessel to develop theory concerning operational flexibility behaviors within interorganizational projects. We find that operational flexibility behaviors are enabled by trust between project participants, sense of urgency, and the availability of resources. These enablers are in turn positively influenced by positive experiences in previous interactions (“shadow of the past”) and expectations of possible future collaboration (“shadow of the future”), the temporary nature of interorganizational projects and slack in project tasks, respectively. The positive effect of enablers on operational flexibility is weakened by the time pressure project participants experience. The latter is also caused by the temporariness of interorganizational projects. Based on our findings, we propose that the different time dimensions play a crucial role in explaining flexibility behaviors in interorganizational projects: the temporariness that is an essential characteristic of interorganizational projects has two potentially opposite effects on the behavior of its participants, and we argue that shadows of the past and future play a decisive role in which of the two effects will dominate. The theoretical framework based on our case study suggests that the temporariness of interorganizational projects is indeed important—as acknowledged in the literature—but that its effect is contingent on shadows of past and future.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractThis paper pursues the development of a theoretical framework that explains interactive learning between innovating firms and external actors in the public knowledge infrastructure and the production chain. Our research question is: Why do innovating firms engage in interactive learning? In our theoretical framework we augment the resource-based perspective predominant in network theory with an activity-based account and a structural account of interactive learning. We contend basically: that higher technological dynamics induce innovative activities with a higher complexity. More complex innovative activities increase the probability of internal resource deficits/shortages in the innovating firms. The higher the resource deficits/shortages and the lower the alignment of innovative activities the more likely the search for complementary resources externally, which induces higher levels of interactive learning.In order to test the generality of our theoretical claims we estimate four models predicting: 1) the level Our findings show that antecedents of patterns of interactive learning differ widely and are contingent upon the type of actors and sectoral technological dynamics. A highly differentiated pattern of interaction between the quality of the resource base and the complexity of innovative activities was found.3

The success of many knowledge-intensive industries depends on creative projects that lie at the heart of their logic of production. The temporality of such projects, however, is an issue that is insufficiently understood. To address this, we study the perceived time frame of teams that work on creative projects and its effects on project dynamics. An experiment with 267 managers assigned to creative project teams with varying time frames demonstrates that, compared to creative project teams with a relatively longer time frame, project teams with a shorter time frame focus more on the immediate present, are less immersed in their task and utilize a more heuristic mode of information processing. Furthermore, we find that time frame moderates the negative effect of team conflict on team cohesion. These results are consistent with our theory that the temporary nature of creative projects shapes different time frames among project participants, and that it is this time frame that is an important predictor of task and team processes.