Entrepreneurial business network and dynamic relational capabilities: a case study approach

PurposeTo further extend the understanding of the aggregating functions of an entrepreneurial business network, this paper attempts to explore the antecedents enabling the organisation of diverse entrepreneurs to engage in a collaborative inter-firm business network project. This paper also elucidates the development of the relational capabilities and performance of entrepreneurial business networks.Design/methodology/approachAn explorative, longitudinal case study design is employed to analyse an Italian agricultural business network, which comprised a group of local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using the network as the focus of analysis, the case study draws insights from key informants comprising the network management team and the entrepreneurs who make up the membership of the business network.FindingsThe results of the study provide critical factors for successful organisation of inter-firm engagement. Although these factors are not mutually exclusive, the results show that organising for inter-firm engagement in an entrepreneurial business network context positively influenced the network relational performance and entrepreneurs' innovation capabilities.Originality/valueThe paper extends current understanding of inter-organisational engagement and illuminates the antecedents enabling the development of network relational dynamics capabilities. The empirical results provide unusual insights into the aggregating roles of an entrepreneurial business network, giving practitioners practical insights into managing a successful inter-organisational collaborative project. Using the relevant theoretical frameworks, the study empirically tests the organisation solutions relevant to literature on inter-firm engagement in a business network context and addresses the organisation solutions' interrelationship and linkages to entrepreneurial network relational performance in terms of knowledge practice, information and resources sharing and innovation.

To do or not to do? Technological and social factors affecting vaccine coverage

This paper investigates the role of crucial technological and social factors in enhancing or undermining vaccine coverage rates at the country level worldwide. Employing five country-level databases, it explores how different combinations of technology diffusion (that is, social media penetration) and social conditions (functional literacy and attitude toward science) affect the level of vaccine coverage. The analyses are based on two built ad-hoc longitudinal datasets of 36 and 40 countries worldwide, employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs-QCA) approach. The findings highlight that, at the country level, the absence of high social media penetration, combined with an above-average level of functional literacy and positive attitude toward science, enable vaccine coverage to reach the level recommended by health institutions and authorities.