Josef Windsperger – författare

This contributed volume focuses on the management and governance of international business networks (IBN). Specifically, the chapters refer to theoretical, conceptual, empirical, and case study papers from all areas in economics and management of IBN. These include cooperatives, franchising, retail chains, strategic alliances, public-private partnerships and new network forms in the digital economy.

This book presents recent developments in the theory and management of networks (such as alliances, cooperatives, franchise chains) and platforms. In addition, it explores the impact of digitalization on networks and presents empirical studies on digital platform businesses.

The book will be of major interest to scholars and students of economics of organization, business and management, governance of networks and digital platforms, and practicing managers.

The organization of interfirm networks, such as alliances, cooperatives, franchise and retail chains, has become an important research topic in the field of economics, marketing, strategic management, and organization theory. This book contributes to the literature on formal and informal inter-organizational governance by providing new insights on contract design, ownership, evolution of cooperation, role of social capital and performance in franchising networks; includes topics of loyalty, reputation and organizational form as well as performance of cooperatives, and discusses the relationship between formal and relational governance in alliances, governance structures of innovation activities, dynamics of interfirm conflicts, and network externalities and alliance formation.

This book highlights cutting-edge research in the economics and management of networks as an interdisciplinary field, offering new theoretical, empirical and practical perspectives on the management, governance, ownership and control of cooperatives, franchising networks and strategic alliances. Further, it presents a strategic group perspective on franchisers and discusses both social entrepreneurship issues in franchising and franchising strategies for Indigenous entrepreneurship in Australia. Lastly, it offers a dynamic capabilities approach to alliance portfolio management and analyses the antecedents of the transitions taking place in the lifecycles of alliances.

The book emphasizes research in economics and management of networks as an interdisciplinary field by offering new theoretical perspectives and presenting new empirical results on strategic and governance structure issues in cooperatives, franchising networks, alliances, joint ventures and venture capital relations. The authors apply different theoretical views on networks, such as transaction cost theory, property rights theory, resource- and knowledge-based theory, evolutionary theory, information richness theory and social exchange theory.

Franchising networks are experiencing great success in international business organization. Few books try to explain the characteristics of these networks. Contrary to the existing literature this book tackles more theoretical problems related to governance, organization, knowledge management, contract design, incentive and regulation issues both from the economic and management view point. It delivers new theoretical and empirical results regarding plural forms, contract design, and knowledge and strategic management issues. Its purpose is to offer researchers and practitioners new theoretical and empirical insights in one of the most important economic phenomenon at the beginning of the 21st century: Franchising networks as organizational arrangement for growth and internationalization of firms.