Evolving ICT and governance in organizational networks - Conceptual and theoretical foundations
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PREFACE
Evolving ICT and governance in organizational networks Conceptual and theoretical foundations Euripidis Loukis 1 & Marijn Janssen 2 & Sharon Dawes 3 & Lei Zheng 4
Published online: 16 December 2015 # Institute of Information Management, University of St. Gallen 2015
Abstract Both private and public sector organizations tend to participate in networks in order to gain access to knowledge, skills and resources of other organizations and to create synergies to achieve highly demanding and complex goals they cannot attain individually. The governance of these networks has been recognized as being an important variable influencing organizational network performance. This Special Issue aims to contribute to the investigation and understanding of the relationships between ICT and governance of organizational networks. This introductory paper provides the conceptual and theoretical background. The relationship between network governance and technology is bi-directional; evolutions in ICT enable the development of new types of network collaborations and governance, whereas governance of collaboration networks is critical for the development of complex ICT infrastructures. We argue that network governance should be conceptualized as an evolving socio-technical process shaped by actors and aimed at tackling complex and dynamic contemporary challenges. * Marijn Janssen [email protected] Euripidis Loukis [email protected] Sharon Dawes [email protected] Lei Zheng [email protected] 1
University of Aegean, 811 00 Lesbos, Greece
2
Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands
3
University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222, USA
4
Fudaan University, 220 Handan Rd, Yangpu, Shanghai, China
Keywords Organizational networks . Network governance . Governance . Collaboration JEL Classifications H11 Structure . Scope . Performance of Government
Introduction to network governance An important trend in modern economies and societies is the formation of organizational collaboration networks (OCN) or Inter-Organizational Networks (ION). Both private and public sector organizations tend to participate in networks in order to gain access to knowledge, skills and resources of other organizations which otherwise are out of reach or which they do not want to acquire or possess on their own. By collaborating in networks organizations can achieve demanding and complex goals they cannot attain on their own. Individual organizations play different roles in these networks, which are continually changing shape as different organizations enter or leave them. Thus, networks are dynamic and subject to change. Increasing evidence of organizational networks has led some scholars to claim that the world is becoming a ‘network society’ (Castells 1996), or even a ‘society of networks’ (Raab and Kenis 2009). Globalization, increasing competition, and continuous emergence of new technologies, as well as high and everchanging consumer expectations and demands for valueadded products and
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