Call for papers: "Success through Synergy: Academics, Businesses, Communities and Government"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to discuss the importance of smart collaboration for businesses, particularly the role of academics, business, government, and society to create overall growth and sustainability of many countries. It is expected to provide the basis for symbiotic (Dana et al 2008) or smart collaboration for business to serve society and the environment in a better way. By exchanging ideas and sharing experiences in business at all levels with academics and practitioners, it aims to enhance the depth of understanding on these issues.

Innovations in information technology are presenting new opportunities and challenges to the way policy makers and organisations harness technological capability to support economic growth in tandem with societal well-being. The pervasive impact of innovations in information technology is reflected by numerous technology-enabled solutions ranging from smart health, cloud technology, big data and analytics, collaborative and communication platforms (e.g., supply chain management), e-government, energy and infrastructure management to smart cities. Although technology continues to provide the basis for organisations to enhance business efficiency and performance, recent technology advances capable of boundary spanning, integrate disparate activities and diverse functions in sustainable smart business collaborations. People, devices, organisations and products are increasingly connected and embedded in broader systems through smart collaboration and connectivity (Porter and Heppelmann, 2015). This has implications for policy makers and managers in terms of understanding the holistic and synergistic role of information technology.

In the context of general management, knowledge of mechanisms for smart collaboration through information technology can help businesses achieve their economic goals as well as to gain societal and environmental benefits beyond firm boundaries. In particular, smart collaboration recognises sustainability concerning long-term consequences of effective resource utilisation, whereby companies focus on resource sharing rather than ownership (Landel, 2015). In an Internet era, technology provides an open platform for smart collaboration eliminating geographical boundaries and integrating actors at different levels such as in a networked economy (Eng, 2007). A survey published by the McKinsey Quarterly highlights the impact of participatory Web 2.0 technologies (such as social networks, wikis, and microblogs) on management and performance by creating networked organisations to enhance innovative collaboration among employees, customers, and business partners, is highly correlated with market share gains (Jacques et al., 2010).

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at Smart Collaborations for Businesses in Technology and Information Industries (SCBTII) 2016 but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

We welcome qualitative as well as quantitative and mixed methodologies, as long as they are well grounded in the literature. Please see the following articles:

• Dana, L.P. & Dumez, H. (2015) “Qualitative Research Revisited: Epistemology of a Comprehensive Approach,” International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 26 (2), October 2015, pp. 154-170.
• Dana, L.P. & Dana, T.E. (2005) “Expanding the Scope of Methodologies Used in Entrepreneurship Research,” International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 2 (1), 2005, pp. 79-88.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Smart commerce, including: sociopreneurship, ecopreneurship, business models, ICT for business, product and service, production in business, operation in business, marketing in business, e-marketing in business, online trading, content for business, analytic for big data, digital behaviour, ethics for business, transportation/delivery for business, resources for business, collaboration for business, policy for business, government regulation for business, intellectual property rights
• Smart finance and accounting: finance in business, risk trading, information system in accounting, control (audit) in business, payment (digital money) in business, e-tax, e-banking
• Smart education: content for learning, approach for learning, resources for learning, processes for learning, thinking in business, managing creative people, managing diversity, corporate entrepreneurship, social networks for business, evaluation for business performance, learning organisation, CSR and sustainability, talent and leadership development, entrepreneurial competencies for business, psychological aspect for business
• Other related Issues

Papers may include one or more of the listed sub-topics. Unlisted but related sub-topics are also acceptable, provided that they fit into one of the main topic areas. Papers exploring other themes within the theme will be considered. As a practitioner-oriented journal, the guest editors encourage empirical research through systematic inquiry that provides clear practitioner and managerial contributions.

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 October, 2016
Notification to authors: 1 December, 2016
Final versions due: 1 March, 2017

References:
Dana, L., H. Etemad, and R. W. Wright 2008. Toward a Paradigm of Symbiotic Entrepreneurship,International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 5 (2), 2008, pp. 109-126,
Eng, T.Y. 2004. Implications of the Internet for knowledge creation and dissemination in clusters of high-technology firms. European Management Journal, 22(1), February, 87-98. ISBN 0263 2373 doi:10.1016/j.emj.2003.11.011
Eng, T.Y. 2007. An investigation of Internet coordination mechanisms in network organizations. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 21(4), Autumn, 21-35. ISSN 1094-9968 doi: 10.1002/dir.20088
Jacques, B., Chui, M., and Manyika, J. 2010. Clouds, big data, and smart assets: Ten tech-enabled business trends to watch. http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/clouds-big-data-and-smart-assets-ten-tech-enabled-business-trends-to-watch, April 12th, 2016 .
Ingram, P. and Torfason, M.T. 2010. Organizing the in-between: The population dynamics of network-weaving organisations in the global interstate network. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55, 577-605.
Krebs, V. and Holley, J. 2006. Building smart communities through network weaving. Working paper. OrgNet.com
Landel, M. 2015. How we did it… Sodexo’s CEO on smart diversification. Harvard Business Review, March, 41-44.
Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E. 2015. How smart, connected products are transforming companies. Harvard Business Review, October, 95-114.