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Is social network analysis just measures and methods with no theory? We attempt to clarify some confusions, address some previous critiques and controversies surrounding the issues of structure, human agency, endogeneity, tie content, network change, and context, and add a few critiques of our own. We use these issues as an opportunity to discuss the fundamental characteristics of network theory and to provide our thoughts on opportunities for future research in social network analysis.

Social networks are not just patterns of interaction and sentiment in the real world; they are also cognitive (re)constructions of social relations, some real, some imagined. Focusing on networks as mental entities, our essay describes a new method that relies on stylized network images to gather quantitative data on how people “see” specific aspects of their social worlds. We discuss the logic of our approach, present several examples of “visual network scales,” discuss some preliminary findings, and identify some of the problems and prospects in this nascent line of work on the phenomenology of social networks.

We explore the role of geographic communities in the construction of an organization's identity as narrated in the pages of Martha Stewart Living magazine, the flagship product of the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia organization. We content analyzed 253 columns published between 1990 and 2004. We found that communities figured prominently in the emergence and institutionalization of the organization's identity, with over 800 mentions of specific places, from Stewart's childhood home of Nutley, New Jersey, to storied Paris, France. We examined how Stewart's use of places compared with descriptions of these same places in the Lonely Planet Travel. Our evidence suggests that the invocation of community enabled the organization to legitimate its product offerings as well as claim and partition complex and sometimes contradictory identity elements that included both highbrow culture and Americana “rural apple-pie goodness.”

The heritability of ASDs reportedly exceeds 90% (Halgin & Whitbourne, 2007; Rutter, 2005), indicating that genetic endowment strongly influences the etiology of these disorders (Halgin & Whitbourne, 2007). Research to date has suggested chromosomes 2, 7, and 15 as possible sites for genetic abnormalities associated with ASDs (Filipek et al., 1999; Halgin & Whitbourne, 2007; Muhle, Trentacoste, & Rapin, 2004; Yonan et al., 2003). However, the genetics of autism is complex and is not yet fully known (Chuthapisith, Ruangdaraganon, Sombuntham, & Roongpraiwan, 2007; Goldberg et al., 2005; Muhle et al., 2004; Ozonoff, South, & Provencal, 2005; Rutter, 2005; Szatmari, Zwaigenbaum, & Bryson, 2004).

This study explores the influence of organizational structure on relationship formation and tacit knowledge sharing within a family business context.

Utilizing a single case study approach, data were collected through interviews and questionnaires from 12 participants at a family-owned advertising and communication firm in Beirut, Lebanon.

The research highlights the critical role of organizational structure in enhancing organizational effectiveness through knowledge transfer. It underscores how both intraorganizational and interorganizational ties influence knowledge sharing processes and demonstrates the varying impacts of tie strength on tacit knowledge distribution.

This paper contributes to the literature by examining the interdependence between organizational structure, tacit knowledge transfer and tie strength in family businesses. By analyzing these elements across internal and external boundaries, the study offers a fresh perspective on network dynamics. The research highlights that traditional definitions of network ties may not fully capture the unique environment of family firms, where structural nuances impact knowledge sharing and performance. Practically, the findings provide actionable insights for managers to design organizational structures that optimize tacit knowledge flow, fostering innovation and competitiveness. This work challenges existing frameworks and offers guidance for improving knowledge management in family businesses, supporting sustainable growth and success.

The purpose of the paper is to identify and discuss the transport service triad (TST) as a key unit of analysis to understand the operations and conditions for change in freight transport systems at the micro level, i.e. at the level of analysis where business decisions and change interaction take place.

The theoretical framing is rooted in the IMP approach and in the literature on triads. A case study approach is used to illustrate the TST by analyzing a case involving a wholesaler of installation products, tools and supplies, a main construction company and a transport service provider.

The paper shows how the connections between the business relationships in the TST, influenced by connections to relationships outside the triad, impact on the efficiency in freight transport. The paper illustrates how analysis of TSTs can be applied in micro-level studies of change in freight transport systems and in supply networks.

The triadic approach is instrumental to understand change in the transport system because it includes all relevant parties and relationships of concern, as well as the logic framing of their actions. However, while arguing that TSTs are generic to their nature, each TST is unique and needs to be identified and analyzed in its specific context.

The suggested framework may contribute to an understanding of the embeddedness of transport services in supply/business networks. The framework may support the development of new ways of operating and creating value for customers and offering sustainable transport solutions.

From the transport policy makers’ perspective, micro-level analysis is important to understand behavioral adjustments to new policies.

In the academic field of business management, several potential theories were established during the last decades to explain companies' decisions, organizational behavior, consumer patterns, and internationalization, among others. As a result, businesses and scholars were able to analyze and decide based on theoretical approaches to explain the current conditions of the market. Secondary research was conducted to collect more than 36 management theories. This chapter aims to develop the most famous theories related to business applied in the international field. The novelty of this chapter relies on the compilation of recognized previous research studies from the academic literature and evidence in international business.