GlossaryResponsible network management practices

Helfen et al. (2018; 2021) highlight at least four areas of management practices to develop network responsibility in GVN: (1) selection, i.e. the choice or dismissal of network members based on certain goals, (2) regulation, including (in-) formal rules or codes of cooperation between network members, (3) allocation, i.e. the distribution of tasks, resources and responsibilities to the whole network, and (4) the evaluation or assessment of network members, their contributions to network development and success, however defined. This practice-based approach to network management (ibid.) indicates that Gereffi et al. (2005)’s ideal-typical modes of GVC  network governance are acted out differently in everyday practice and these practices in turn have the potential to reproduce or transform structures over time.

Helfen, M., Schüßler, E., & Sydow, J. (2021). Hin zu mehr sozialer Netzwerkverantwortlichkeit in der globalen Bekleidungsindustrie: Eine praxistheoretische Betrachtung. In Konkurrenzen und Solidaritäten (pp. 107-124). Rainer Hampp Verlag.

Helfen, M., Schüßler, E. & Sydow, J. (2018). How can employment relations in global value networks be managed towards social responsibility? Human Relations, 2018

Sydow, J., Schüßler, E., & Müller-Seitz, G. (2016). Managing Inter-Organizational Relations: Debates and Cases. Palgrave