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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of inter-organizational networks in the emergence of a disruptive technology by taking a snapshot view of the UK market for mobile voice over internet protocol (mVoIP) technologies. By delineating the technologies required for an mVoIP call to occur, the role of incumbents, technology and inter-organizational networks is explored.

The paper uses a case study approach using secondary data from a variety of sources including company websites, newspapers, technical press and users to form a picture of the current situation.

The authors show that inter-organizational networks can act both to enable and delay disruptive technologies. They discuss the difference between collaborative and collective actions and the way in which these can slow or even prevent a new emerging technology.

The paper is based on secondary data and the research results may lack generalizability to other technologies.

The need for new business models for mVoIP is discussed.

Disruptive technologies are difficult to predict or map until after the market disruption has occurred. This paper aims to map a disruptive technology at a point in time when the technology is still emerging. The study is based on a comprehensive analysis of technology and market actions and is also based on secondary data: it is limited at the detailed level to one geographic market but provides a unique snapshot of an emerging disruptive technology.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of a positive country image (CI) by companies. First, it examines how organisations embed dimensions of a positive country image into their external marketing communications. Second, it examines the alignment between the countries’ image dimensions and those of the company and how company values and actions could act to either use, abuse and detract from an established CI.

A two-part methodology was adopted. Two countries with strong positive CIs were chosen for comparison purposes. Content analysis of web sites, together with interviews with company representatives, were undertaken.

The use of the CI/country-of-origin framework is extended from an extrinsic “made in” cue for consumers, to being part of the value offering of a particular product or service from an organisational perspective is extended. Evidence is structured into a framework of companies which use and/or contribute to the CI.

The two chosen countries both have positive CIs: future research should examine this relationship in countries with different images. The sample size is relatively small and future research should determine the generalisability of the proposed typology.

Generating, communicating and maintaining a CI requires co-ordinated efforts from policy makers but needs to be built on solid foundations of reality: companies using CIs should be cognisant of the alignment between their actions, messages and the CI.

This study extends prior work by examining the relationship between CI, company strategy, products and services offered and the manner in which companies action's can affect CI.

The purpose of this paper is to deepen and expand our understanding on how strategic/market orientation (SO/MO) and a cohesive/shared social vision affect performance in the social enterprise (SE) context.

A survey was conducted in Greek SEs. Stepwise and simple regression analyses were applied in order to test the hypothesized relationships among the study variables. Additionally, Baron and Kenny’s (1986) recommendation for exploring mediating effects was followed.

The results indicate the crucial role of customer orientation dimension of SO/MO in enhancing commercial effectiveness and subsequently profitability, whilst a cohesive/shared vision was found to have positive direct associations with the social effectiveness and profitability elements of SEs performance. Moreover, the findings provide some indications for the mutually reinforcing relationship between the social and commercial aspects of SEs functioning.

The current paper contributes to the ongoing quest to understand the strategic management element of SEs and the challenge they face in managing rival logics. Also, it addresses the gap related to the type (mainly qualitative) and geographical concentration of SE research.