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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to summarize key interaction‐coordination attributes and the uniqueness of smart business networks.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology analyzed is smart business networks, encompassing all three traditional business process life‐cycle stages between dynamically interacting enterprises. Emphasis is put on the business aspects and the related risks.FindingsSmart business networks open the possibility to configure business processes and stakeholders on the fly. This implies some key paradigm changes, both of a technical and of a business nature, which are offered here for discussion via a set of propositions.Research limitations/implicationsBy economic and risk analysis, such as that summarized in this paper, one can progress towards the analysis of interacting heterogeneous enterprises.Practical implicationsThe implementation involves, amongst others, the embedding of business logic specific to a network of business partners, inside the communications control networks. It also involves the definition of business protocols between these partners and the joint management of some common functions relying on open networking standards. Examples are given from the wireless communications industry.Originality/valueAs quick‐connect/quick‐disconnect business networks and processes become more prevailing based on unique resources or competences, the paper introduces the missing risk analysis this requires at an architectural and business level.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate two current transformation processes in the construction industry: the adoption of a novel material, cross-laminated timber (CLT), and the enhancement of digital transformation. This paper depicts the actors and interaction in the business network that is emerging around CLT construction and, in particular, how digital transformation (that is, the deployment of Construction 4.0 solutions) occurs in this business network.


Design/methodology/approach
Digital transformation is a relatively new phenomenon in CLT construction, and the authors, therefore, adopt a qualitative inductive research approach and rely on semi-structured interviews.


Findings
The findings of this paper suggest that it is critical for actors to adopt an interorganizational perspective in CLT construction, instead of only focusing on internal operations. An interorganizational perspective supports successful CLT construction, as well as the deployment of Construction 4.0 solutions. This will bring about the benefits of digital transformation in the construction industry.


Research limitations/implications
This paper investigates the network created around CLT construction in Finland but more generally illustrates the change toward Construction 4.0 solutions.


Practical implications
For managers, this paper explicates the importance of networking, instead of focusing on the internal development of the company, when adopting novel solutions emerging from both construction and information technology-related advancements.


Originality/value
Stability and traditions are characteristic of the construction industry. New technical solutions and materials, together with calls for sustainability, have challenged the traditional ways of constructing, and for example, the development of CLT construction has led to an emergence of new business networks. This material-related process and the ongoing digital transformation of business form an interesting context for an empirical-based analysis of changing interaction and networks. This paper gives the first insights into how digital transformation can benefit the evolution of the network.

PurposeThis study aims at characterizing and identifying the existing research on tourism business networks.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a systematic mapping study to identify and analyze related literature. They identified 225 primary studies, dated from 1997-2016, and classified them with respect to research focus, types of research and contribution.FindingsSeventy four studies were identified and mapped, synthesizing the available evidence on tourism business networks. "Business networks" with 27 articles is the dominant research focus and "Network configuration" with 22 articles is the next dominant one. Regarding the research type, "Solution proposal" is the most frequently used research type. "Interview" and "Case study", respectively, were the most used research methods. However, "Agent-based modeling", "Delphi study" and "Non-linear time series analysis" were used less often. "Philosophical paper" was the most common research type between 1997 and 2002, and after that "Solution proposal" was the dominant research paper type. Further, the number of publications has declined between 2012 and 2014.Originality/valueThis mapping study provides the first systematic exploration of the state-of-art on tourism business networks research. The existing body of knowledge is limited to a few high quality studies.

AbstractThere is a growing debate in law, economics and sociology about contractual business networks as a hybrid form of cooperation that combines governance elements from market and firm. Most treatments of the subject focus on the structures of supply and distribution networks and their consequences on liability and contractual interpretation. This article confronts network theory with the case of cross-border syndicated loans. Syndicated loans are a highly important instrument of corporate finance, and they merge contractual and corporate cooperation in a particularly sophisticated manner. Theories of network contracts can thus be helpful to address the legal issues of syndicated loans in different fields of law, ranging from conflict of laws to antitrust law. In turn, the analysis of syndicated loans as an example of horizontal business networks can help generate insights for the general discussion of networks in private law.

How do women's business networks help to advance women's freedom? Drawing on Zerilli's freedom-centred feminism, our study sets out to answer this question at the intersection of freedom, feminism and work. Critics argue that women's business networks promote a postfeminist view of freedom focusing on individual self-realisation and thus participate in rolling back collective, feminist efforts to dismantle structural inequalities. We reconceptualise women's business networks as political arenas and argue that making claims about shared interests and concerns in such an arena constitutes a feminist practice of freedom. With an original, inductive and qualitative research design combining topic modeling and dialectical analysis, we examine the claims made in 1529 posts across four women's business network blogs. We identify postfeminist claims and new forms of change and transformation that can help to advance women's freedom across three 'dialectics of freedom': conformity and imagination; performative care and relational care; sameness and openness. Our findings show that uncertain and contradictory ways of defining and engaging with women's freedom can emerge through claim-making in such arenas. The fragility of the process and its outcomes are, then, what can move feminism forward at work and beyond.

"While there is a vast amount of literature examining firm's networks from an industrial organization perspective, the financial implications of networking remain underexplored. This book fills this gap, by investigating the phenomenon of business networks in the context of management and governance processes, and the related effects on interactions with the financial system in general, and credit institutions in particular. Networking is examined both from the demand (firms) and supply (banking institutions) perspective, thus, the book offers several contributions. It outlines the critical issues connected to business aggregations from the point of view of the management of information flows, and addresses the problem of identifying the role of banking ecosystems, in light of the transformations taking place in the financial industry, considering the growing complementarity between bank and market instruments in corporate financing. It explores the problem of identifying rating models for business networks, as well as, for individual participants on a stand-alone basis. Further, the book analyses a sample of networks in Friuli-Venezia Giulia and profiles a number of specific business cases. The book will be of particular interest to researchers and scholars in the field of banking and finance but also entrepreneurship and small business management. It will also find an audience among scholars from a wide array of additional fields, working on the relationship between financing concerns and growth opportunities"--