IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i21p4211-d281772.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Supply Chain Partner Communication in a Managed Programme in the UK Water Industry: A Case Study with Social Network Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Qing Li

    (Faculty of Management, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai 201400, China)

  • Shengqiao Wang

    (Faculty of Management, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai 201400, China)

  • Nicky Shaw

    (Department of Management, Leeds University Business School, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK)

  • Victor Shi

    (Faculty of Management, Shanghai Business School, Shanghai 201400, China
    Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada)

Abstract

The water industry in every country aims to effectively and efficiently provide water with satisfactory quality in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. To this end, it is critical to achieve effective communication among the partners in water supply chain networks. In this paper, we focus on one of the UK’s largest water utility companies and its eight main contractors and analyze the factors influencing partner and network communication in a managed programme of their asset supply chain. We employ social network analysis to conduct the cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of partner communication. Factors found to influence the communication network are grouping of projects within the programme, individual’s organisational affiliation, status, tenure, elapsed time through the programme lifecycle, and co-location. Our contributions to practice include demonstrating water programme management factors that influence communication and trust and how social network analysis can better inform them about intra- and interorganisational relationships. Moreover, the methodology introduced in this study may be applied to water management in other parts of the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Qing Li & Shengqiao Wang & Nicky Shaw & Victor Shi, 2019. "Supply Chain Partner Communication in a Managed Programme in the UK Water Industry: A Case Study with Social Network Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-20, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4211-:d:281772
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4211/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4211/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nigel D. Caldwell & Jens K. Roehrich & Gerard George, 2017. "Social Value Creation and Relational Coordination in Public-Private Collaborations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 906-928, September.
    2. Nathalie Fabbe-Costes & Marianne Jahre, 2008. "Supply Chain Integration and Performance - A Review of the Evidence," Post-Print hal-01419288, HAL.
    3. Stephen P. Borgatti & Rob Cross, 2003. "A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 432-445, April.
    4. Russell L. Ackoff, 1967. "Management Misinformation Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(4), pages 147-156, December.
    5. Vieri Maestrini & Davide Luzzini & Abraham B. (rami) Shani & Filomena Canterino, 2016. "The action research cycle reloaded: Conducting action research across buyer-supplier relationships," Post-Print hal-01416275, HAL.
    6. Prajogo, Daniel & Olhager, Jan, 2012. "Supply chain integration and performance: The effects of long-term relationships, information technology and sharing, and logistics integration," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 514-522.
    7. Stephen D. Pryke, 2004. "Analysing construction project coalitions: exploring the application of social network analysis," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(8), pages 787-797, October.
    8. Julie M. Hite & William S. Hesterly, 2001. "The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 275-286, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adam Jabłoński & Marek Jabłoński, 2020. "Business Models in Water Supply Companies—Key Implications of Trust," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-27, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Radhakrishnan, Abirami & Davis, John Stephen & Sridharan, Sri V. & Moore, De Wayne & David, Dessa, 2018. "The impact of inter-organizational information systems-enabled external integration on capabilities of buyer–supplier dyads," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 558-572.
    2. Smith, Claudia & Smith, J. Brock & Shaw, Eleanor, 2017. "Embracing digital networks: Entrepreneurs' social capital online," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 18-34.
    3. Muhammad Usman Ahmed & Mark Pagell & Mehmet Murat Kristal & Thomas F. Gattiker, 2019. "Micro-Foundations of Supply Chain Integration: An Activity-Based Analysis," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Li, Siyu & Huo, Baofeng & Han, Zhaojun, 2022. "A literature review towards theories and conceptual models of empirical studies on supply chain integration and performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    5. Atabek Atayev, 2021. "Uncertain Product Availability in Search Markets," Papers 2109.15211, arXiv.org.
    6. Nina Shin & Jung-Sang Yoo & Ik-Whan G. Kwon, 2020. "Fostering Trust and Commitment in Complex Project Networks through Dedicated Investment in Partnership Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Jafari, Hamid & Eslami, Mohammad H. & Paulraj, Antony, 2022. "Postponement and logistics flexibility in retailing: The moderating role of logistics integration and demand uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    8. Droge, Cornelia & Vickery, Shawnee K. & Jacobs, Mark A., 2012. "Does supply chain integration mediate the relationships between product/process strategy and service performance? An empirical study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(2), pages 250-262.
    9. Tarifa Fernández, Jorge & de Burgos Jiménez, Jeronimo, 2016. "Supply chain integration and performance relationship: a moderating effects review," MPRA Paper 120127, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    10. Atayev, Atabek, 2022. "Uncertain product availability in search markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    11. Revilla, Elena & Villena, Verónica H., 2012. "Knowledge integration taxonomy in buyer–supplier relationships: Trade-offs between efficiency and innovation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 854-864.
    12. Jorge Tarifa Fernández & Jerónimo de Burgos Jiménez & José Joaquín Céspedes Lorente, 2018. "Effects of interaction between supply chain integration and high-performance human resources practices on performance," DOCFRADIS Working Papers 1803, Catedra Fundación Ramón Areces de Distribución Comercial, revised Jul 2018.
    13. Atayev, Atabek, 2021. "Uncertain product availability in search markets," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-089, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    14. Davenport, Sally, 2005. "Exploring the role of proximity in SME knowledge-acquisition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 683-701, June.
    15. Panagiotis Trivellas & Georgios Malindretos & Panagiotis Reklitis, 2020. "Implications of Green Logistics Management on Sustainable Business and Supply Chain Performance: Evidence from a Survey in the Greek Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-29, December.
    16. Tarifa Fernández, Jorge & de Burgos Jiménez, Jerónimo & Céspedes Lorente, José Joaquín, 2018. "Absorptive capacity as a confounder of the process of supply chain integration," MPRA Paper 120125, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    17. M. Kamil Kozan & Levent Akdeniz, 2014. "Role of Strong versus Weak Networks in Small Business Growth in an Emerging Economy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, February.
    18. Dean Neu & Gregory D. Saxton & Abu S. Rahaman, 2022. "Social Accountability, Ethics, and the Occupy Wall Street Protests," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 17-31, September.
    19. Priom Mahmud & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Abdullahil Azeem & Priyabrata Chowdhury, 2021. "Evaluating Supply Chain Collaboration Barriers in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-28, July.
    20. Srivardhini K. Jha & E. Richard Gold & Laurette Dubé, 2021. "Modular Interorganizational Network Governance: A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Complex Social Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4211-:d:281772. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.