Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism

Call for paper abstracts – Special Issue on the Dynamics of Networks, Networking and Innovation in the Tourism industry

Guest edited by Professor Lars Fuglsang (RUC), Professor Håvard Ness (HBV), and Associate Professor Dorthe Eide (UiN).

Networks in the tourism industry, and networking between tourism actors, have in recent years seen an increase in scholarly interest (Baggio et al., 2010; Haugland et al., 2011). Networks can have varied characteristics in terms of structural properties (such as density, clustering, or centrality of individual actors) and relational properties (such as expected duration, degree of formalization, relational governance, and tie strength). Network relationships are important in the co‐producing/co‐creating tourism context, and involve strategic alliances, distribution channels and supply chains, as well as local destination networks and regional clusters. Networks have been studied as egocentric, as well as at more aggregate levels.

The varied literature on business networks has described dynamics in terms of, for instance, their type of collaboration (Obstfeld, 2005), their complexity and internal trust (Thoben et al., 2010), the proximity and spatial evolution among enterprises (Boschma & Frenken 2010), the geographies and innovation taking place in networks (Sørensen, 2007), and entrepreneurship and structural holes (Burt, 1992). Moreover, others emphasize the importance of clustering, localized knowledge, social glue, and multiplexity, especially in local places where multiple relations and roles such as family, friendship, work, and policy relate people and firms to each other (Baker & Nelson, 2005; Buhalis & Cooper, 1998; Eide & Fuglsang, 2013; Hjalager, 2010; Nordin, 2003; Uzzi, 1997; Weidenfeld et al., 2010). Networks are commonly associated with knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, mutual learning and innovation (Aarstad et al., 2015; Ness et al., 2014; Newell et al., 2009; Novelli et al., 2006; Sørensen & Fuglsang, 2015). Furthermore, tourism development has been related to policy networks and tools since policy networking is assumed to facilitate innovation and value creation (Araujo & Bramwell, 2002; Dredge, 2006; Dredge & Pforr, 2008). This includes destination marketing, governance, and evolutionary dynamics (Ma & Hassink, 2013; Pavlovich, 2003, 2014; Saxena, 2005; Sheehan et al., 2007). On the other hand, research also suggests that tourism companies may be difficult to engage in networking activities. They are often small companies with limited resources, risk aversion, and a short‐term revenue focus. Hjalager (2000) has argued that tourism firms also may have a tendency to exhibit free‐rider behaviour due to a lack of stabilized collaborative structures that enhance trust and reciprocity among tourism companies in local areas. Thus, networks may also have characteristics and dynamics that inhibit learning and innovation processes within and between firms.

While much research on network relationships has a static and often crosssectional focus, we have comparably less knowledge related to network dynamics, network development, and the role of actors and their (inter‐)action to generate knowledge transfer, learning and innovation in a tourism context (Cooper, 2008; Dhanaraj & Parkhe, 2006; Fuglsang & Eide, 2013).

This special issue on The dynamics of networks, networking and innovation in the tourism industry welcomes proposals for papers that deal with one or several of the following topics:

• Emergence and development of tourism networks
• Co‐evolution of innovation and network(ing)
• Path‐dependency and path‐creation
• Multiplexity and multi‐participation
• Interaction between different kinds of networks in innovation processes  Network management, facilitation and orchestration
• Networks as learning communities/regions
• Roles of different ambitions and engagements in tourism networks
• Conflicts among network participants, problem‐solving, and strategic management of network relationships
• Critical processes and structures related to networking.
• The interaction between network gatherings and the everyday life in the firms
• The roles of DMOs, public policy organizations and/or R&D institutions in tourism networks and innovation processes

Papers that pay attention to other dynamics of networking and innovation in tourism businesses are also welcomed, including papers that focus on the individual level, the organizational level, the destination level, or multilevel issues; and papers taking different methodological approaches.

Important deadlines

• Deadline for abstracts: November 1, 2015
• Notification to authors: Early December 2015
• Deadline for full papers: May 1, 2016
• Notification to authors if recommended for blind review and feedback with suggestions: June 15, 2016
• Deadline new version, and blind review process starts: October 1, 2016
• Feedback from blind review and notification to authors about decision (reject, accept, minor revision): March 2016
• Preliminary publication time: Summer 2017

 

Submitting of abstract to: dorthe.eide@uin.no Abstract should be about one page

References

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Araujo, Lindemberg M., and Bill Bramwell (2002). Partnership and Regional Tourism in Brazil. Annals of Tourism Research, 29 (4): 1138‐64.

Baggio, R., Scott,N. & Cooper, C. (2010). Network Science. A Review Focused on Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 37 (3): 802‐27.

Baker, T., & Nelson, R. E. (2005). Creating something from nothing: Resource construction through entrepreneurial bricolage. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3): 329‐366.

Boschma, R., & Frenken, K. (2010). The spatial evolution of innovation networks. A proximity perspective. In R. Boschma & R. Martin (Eds.), Handbook of evolutionary economic geography. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Pp. 120‐135

Buhalis, D., & Cooper, C. (1998). Competition or Co‐operation? Small and Medium Sized Tourism Enter‐ prises at the Destination. In E. Laws, B. Faulkner & G. Moscardo (Eds.), Embracing and Managing Change in Tourism. London: Routledge. Pp. 324‐346

Burt, R. S. (1992). Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Cooper, C. (2008). Tourism Destination Networks and Knowledge Transfer. In Scott, N., Baggio, R. & Cooper, Network analysis and tourism: From theory to practice, edited by. Clevedon, UK: Channel View. Pp 40‐57.

Dhanaraj, Charles, and Arvind Parkhe (2006). “Orchestrating Innovation Networks.” Academy of Management Review, 31 (3): 659‐669.

Dredge, D. (2006). Policy networks and the local organisation of tourism. Tourism Management, 27(2), 269‐280. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2004.10.003 Dredge, D. & Pforr, C. (2008). Policy Networks and Tourism Governance.” In Scott, N.,

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Ma, M. & Hassink, R. (2013). An evolutionary perspective on tourism area development. Annals of Tourism Research, 41: 89‐109.

Ness, H., Aarstad, J., Haugland, S. A., & Grønseth, B.‐O. (2014). Destination development: The role of inter‐destination bridge ties. Journal of Travel Research, 53(2), 183‐195. doi: 10.1177/0047287513491332

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Pavlovich, K. (2003). The evolution and transformation of a tourism destination network: The Waitomo Caves, New Zealand. Tourism Management, 24(2): 203‐216.

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Sørensen, F., & Fuglsang, L. (2014). Social network dynamics and innovation in small tourism companies. In M. T. McLeod & R. Vaughan (Eds.), Knowledge Networks and Tourism. New York: Routledge.

Thoben, K. D., & Jagdev, H. S. (2001). Typological issues in enterprise networks. Production Planning & Control, 12(5): 421‐436.

Uzzi, B. (1997). Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: The paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 35‐67.

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