Resilience in Business Networks

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Introduction

We are experiencing unprecedented socio-ecological and economical changes with a constant need to adapt. At the same time, global geopolitics and aftermaths of pandemics are creating uncertainties in markets. Recent years have shown how fragile global supply chains and value networks can be. In this situation, resilience of organizations and business networks has become a crucial research area. There is a need to create novel understanding of capacities and practices needed to adapt in changing situations and drive changes for a preferable future. Questions related with grand challenges and ESG (environmental, societal and governance) sustainability challenge actors to adopt even radically new practices within organizations, and within business relationships and networks (Chakrabarti et al., 2020). Increasingly, business has moral or ethical aspects involved, affecting also how business partners and networks are evaluated, chosen, accepted, or rejected. 
From the business studies perspective, investigation on how economically driven radical shifts, like digitalization (Centobelli and Cerchione 2020; Santos et al., 2023), or more sudden shocks or crises, such as wars or pandemic (Rapaccini et al., 2020), impact business networks are needed. Reimagining supply chains (Ali et al., 2022) or developing existing relationships in a new situation (Ojansivu and Hermes, 2021) are capabilities suggested to be needed for resilience. We’d also expect activities such as re-start strategizing (Laari-Salmela, et al., 2019) and visioning (Abrahamsen et al., 2023) increase in importance. Indeed, we should uncover how the network-embedded entities are able to cope with and create transformative strategies for radical transitions (Bondeli and Havenvid, 2022). 
In this special issue our focal question is how resilience is emerging and enacted in business relationships and networks? Business network approach with its expectation of network structures that are stable but not static, i.e. they tend to be long-lasting but will change in response to changes external and internal to the network (Easton, 1992; Halinen et al., 1999), provides a fertile basis for analysing the question. On one hand, relationship development stabilizes the operations of actors and the network, and, on the other hand, interaction processes between actors lead to incessant change (Håkansson and Snehota, 1995). We aim to highlight, but are not limited to, themes like organizational capabilities and resources that enable coping with radical change in business relationships and networks (Bygballe et al., 2023; Santos et al, 2023), and roles and activities actors can take to orchestrate transformations for sustenance of the operations supporting peace, life and wellbeing in crises (Al Adem et al., 2022; Hermes & Mainela, 2014). We also encourage submission of papers across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Submissions to the Special Issue can be both conceptual and empirical and should contribute to a better understanding of resilience in relationships and network context.

List of Topic Areas

• Definitions and meanings of and approaches to resilience; 
• Concept of antifragility; 
• Means to facilitate resilience in business relationships and networks for sustainable value creation; 
• Individual and organizational capabilities and resources enabling coping with radical change; 
• Roles and activities actors take to succeed in transformation to “bounce back” in crisis; 
• Adoption and orchestration of resilient strategies in innovation networks; 
• Transformation of networks at different levels of business ecosystem change

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 16/10/2024 
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31/03/2025

References

Abrahamsen, M. H., Halinen, A., & Naudé, P. (2023). The role of visioning in business network strategizing. Journal of Business Research, 154, 113334. 
Al Adem, S., Schepis, D., & Purchase, S. (2022). Orchestrating network resilience within humanitarian aid networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 107, 190-203. 
Ali, I., Arslan, A., Chowdhury, M., Khan, Z., & Tarba, S. Y. (2022). Reimagining global food value chains through effective resilience to COVID-19 shocks and similar future events: A dynamic capability perspective. Journal of Business Research, 141, 1-12. 
Bondeli, J. V., & Havenvid (2022). Bouncing back in turbulent business environments: Exploring resilience in business networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 107, 383-395. 
Bygballe, L.E., Dubois, A. & Jahre, M. (2023). The importance of resource integration in strategies for managing supply chain disruptions. Journal of Business Research. 154. 
Centobelli, P., Cerchione, R., & Ertz, M. (2020). Agile supply chain management: where did it come from and where will it go in the era of digital transformation? Industrial Marketing Management, 90, 324-345. 
Chakrabarti, R., Henneberg, S. C., & Ivens, B. S. (2020). Open sustainability: Conceptualization and considerations. Industrial Marketing Management, 89, 528-534. 
Easton, G. (1992), “Industrial Networks: A Review,” in Industrial Networks – A New View of Reality, Björn Axelsson and Geoff Easton, eds. London: Routledge. 
Halinen, A., Salmi, A., & Havila, V. (1999). From dyadic change to changing business networks: an analytical framework. Journal of Management Studies, 36(6), 779-794. 
Håkansson H. & Snehota I. (1995). Developing Relationships in Business Networks. London, International Thomson. 
Hermes, J. W., & Mainela, T. (2014). Mobilizing crisis management networks—Entrepreneurial behavior in turbulent contexts. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(6), 967-976. 
Laari-Salmela, S., Mainela, T., & Puhakka, V. (2019). Resolving the start-up identity crisis: Strategizing in a network context. Industrial Marketing Management, 80, 201–213. 
Ojansivu, I. T., & Hermes, J. (2021). Maintaining business relationships: resilience through institutional work. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 36(11), 2049–2061. 
Rapaccini, M., Saccani, N., Kowalkowski, C., Paiola, M., & Adrodegari, F. (2020). Navigating disruptive crises through service-led growth: The impact of COVID-19 on Italian manufacturing firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 225-237. 
Santos, S. C., Liguori, E. W., & Garvey, E. (2023). How digitalization reinvented entrepreneurial resilience during COVID-19. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 189, 122398. 
Shin, N. & Park, S. (2023). Supply chain leadership driven strategic resilience capabilities management: A leader-member exchange perspective. Journal of Business Research, 122, 1- 13.