Gordon Walker

Bio: Gordon Walker is an academic researcher from Lancaster University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Environmental justice & Environmental studies. The author has an hindex of 67, co-authored 200 publications receiving 20571 citations. Previous affiliations of Gordon Walker include University of California, Davis & Yale University.

Social Capital, Structural Holes and the Formation of an Industry Network

Abstract: The formation of a network is determined by the opposition of two forces. The first is the reproduction of network structure as a general social resource for network members. The second is the alteration of network structure by entrepreneurs for their own benefit. The idea of reproduction is a conventional one in organizational sociology but has taken on increased importance due to the work of Bourdieu and Coleman. In contrast, Burt stresses the entrepreneurship of individual agents in exploiting structural holes that lie between constrained positions. Though complementary, the theories of social capital and structural holes have fundamentally different implications for network formation. This paper investigates these theories by examining empirically the formation of the interorganizational network among biotechnology firms. We propose that network structure determines the frequency with which a new biotechnology firm (or startup) establishes new relationships. Network structure indicates both where soci...

A Transaction Cost Approach to Make-or-Buy Decisions

Abstract: Gordon Walker and David Weber This study focuses on make-or-buy decisions as a paradigmatic problem for analyzing transaction costs. Hypotheses developed from Williamson's efficient boundaries framework were tested in a multiple-indicator structural equation model. The influence of transaction costs on decisions to make or buy components was assessed indirectly through the effects of supplier market competition and two types of uncertainty, volume and technological. In addition to transaction costs, the decisions were hypothesized to be predicted by both buyer production experience and the comparative production costs between buyer and supplier. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of make-or-buy decisions made in a division of a U.S. automobile company. The results show that comparative production costs are the strongest predictor of makeor-buy decisions and that both volume uncertainty and supplier market competition have small but significant effects. The findings are explained in terms of the complexity of the components and the potential pattern of communication and influence among managers responsible for making the decisions.*

Interfirm cooperation and startup innovation in the biotechnology industry

Abstract: This paper examines the association between interfirm cooperation and the innovation output of startup firms in the biotechnology industry. A reciprocal association is hypothesized. The results, however, show only that cooperation affects innovation. Several control variables are related to cooperation and innovation, especially the startup's position in the cooperative network.

Guest editors\' introduction to the special issue: why is there a resource-based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity

Abstract: Although the resource-based view (RBV) is one of the most popular and fruitful areas of strategy research, it often perplexes scholars from other disciplines. Also, it is unclear whether strategy scholars themselves agree on the RBV's basic issues and premises. To clarify the contribution of the RBV, in this paper we elaborate its basic tenets and relate them to other current research on interfirm performance variance. We suggest a more expansive discussion of sustained differences among firms and thereby develop a broad theory of competitive heterogeneity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Caution! Transitions Ahead: Politics, Practice, and Sustainable Transition Management:

Abstract: Green is not alone in contending that `̀ environmental c̀rises' require fundamental changes in the socio-technological structure of the way we live and work.''(1) For those concerned with sustainability, the idea of transitionöof substantial change and movement from one state to anotheröhas powerful normative attractions. If `we' can steer change, shape future development, and manage movement in desired directions, perhaps `we' can make the environment a better and more sustainable place in which to live. But how so to do? In a manifestly complex world dominated by hegemonic ideologies of neoliberal capitalism, global finance, and commodity flows is it really possible to intervene and deliberately shift technologies, practices, and social arrangementsönot to mention their systemic interaction and interdependenciesöonto an altogether different, altogether more sustainable track? Across the board there is growing recognition of the holistic, unavoidably interrelated nature of contemporary environmental problems and of the need for fresh approaches and forms of governance capable of engaging with complex challenges of this kind. Theories and models of sustainable transition management, derived from a blend of academic traditions in innovation, history, and technology, appear to fit this bill and it is no wonder that they are now catching on across a number of policy domains. In the Netherlands, government-sponsored programmes have explicitly adopted methods of `transition management' (Kemp and Loorbach, 2006) and in the UK, the policy relevance of similar theories and methods is being explored and actively promoted through projects and events like those supported by the ESRC's Sustainable Technologies Programme. Academically, and in just a few years, there has been rapid growth in the transition management literature and in the appeal of approaches characterised by an alluring combination of agency, complexity, uncertainty, and optimism. We do not intend to provide a thorough review or critique of what is in any case a burgeoning and quickly evolving literature, but at a time when the notion of transition management is capturing so much attention it is as well to reflect on the distinctive features of this particular policy innovation. With this limited aim in mind, we offer some cautionary comments and identify a handful of questions that deserve more explicit attention. The notion of transition is firmly rooted in traditions of system thinking which highlight the coevolution of the social and the technical and which seek to understand and analyse the emergence, transformation, and decay of sociotechnical systems. Much of the `systems in transition' literature makes use of Rip and Kemp's (1998) `multilevel' model of innovation which distinguishes between the macrolevel of the sociotechnical landscape, the mesolevel regime, and the microlevel niche. The key Commentary Environment and Planning A 2007, volume 39, pages 763 ^ 770

The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage

Abstract: In this article we offer a view that suggests that a firm's critical resources may span firm boundaries and may be embedded in interfirm resources and routines. We argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: (1) relation-specific assets, (2) knowledge-sharing routines, (3) complementary resources/capabilities, and (4) effective governance. We examine each of these potential sources of rent in detail, identifying key subprocesses, and also discuss the isolating mechanisms that serve to preserve relational rents. Finally, we discuss how the relational view may offer normative prescriptions for firm-level strategies that contradict the prescriptions offered by those with a resource-based view or industry structure view.

Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review

Abstract: Agency theory is an important, yet controversial, theory. This paper reviews agency theory, its contributions to organization theory, and the extant empirical work and develops testable propositions. The conclusions are that agency theory (a) offers unique insight into information systems, outcome uncertainty, incentives, and risk and (b) is an empirically valid perspective, particularly when coupled with complementary perspectives. The principal recommendation is to incorporate an agency perspective in studies of the many problems having a cooperative structure.

Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept

Abstract: A growing number of sociologists, political scientists, economists, and organizational theorists have invoked the concept of social capital in the search for answers to a broadening range of questions being confronted in their own fields. Seeking to clarify the concept and help assess its utility for organizational theory, we synthesize the theoretical research undertaken in these various disciplines and develop a common conceptual framework that identifies the sources, benefits, risks, and contingencies of social capital.

Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures

Abstract: This paper differs from previous examinations of organizational learning in that it is broader in scope and more evaluative of the literatures. Four constructs related to organizational learning knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory are articulated, and the literatures related to each are described and critiqued. The literature on knowledge acquisition is voluminous and multi-faceted, and so the knowledge acquisition construct is portrayed here as consisting of five subconstructs or subprocesses: 1 drawing on knowledge available at the organization's birth, 2 learning from experience, 3 learning by observing other organizations, 4 grafting on to itself components that possess knowledge needed but not possessed by the organization, and 5 noticing or searching for information about the organization's environment and performance. Examination of the related literatures indicates that much has been learned about learning from experience, but also that there is a lack of cumulative work and a lack of integration of work from different research groups. Similarly, much has been learned about organizational search, but there is a lack of conceptual work, and there is a lack of both cumulative work and syntheses with which to create a more mature literature. Congenital learning, vicarious learning, and grafting are information acquisition subprocesses about which relatively little has been learned. The literature concerning information distribution is rich and mature, but an aspect of information distribution that is central to an organization's benefitting from its learning, namely how units that possess information and units that need this information can find each other quickly and with a high likelihood, is unexplored. Information interpretation, as an organizational process, rather than an individual process, requires empirical work for further advancement. Organizational memory is much in need of systematic investigation, particularly by those whose special concerns are improving organizational learning and decision making.