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Background: Business relationships and networks are becoming increasingly complicated and multi-layered. Thus, understanding the structure of the network in question becomes pertinent as it can have a strong impact on competition and collaboration. In these networks, one can observe coopetition, or simultaneous cooperation and competition. Objectives: This master’s thesis explores the phenomenon of coopetition within the telecommunication sector in the county of Blekinge, Sweden. It aims to identify their network structure and the differences among the levels of the network. Methodology: An explorative study is carried out by employing a mixed methods approach, incorporating quantitative data collection and analysis methods, and qualitative discussion and interpretation. In this network analysis of a case study on the telecommunication network, different levels of the cooperation network are compared and then integrated into one and mapped out using Social Network Analysis (SNA). Results: According to the findings we can assume coopetition to be present within the telecommunications firms in Blekinge, revealing a fragmented and decentralized cooperative network structure with a few central nodes. The network contained five distinct cliques and presented an intermediate level of clustering and significant heterophily. At all network levels, fragmentation was evident, accompanied by a low average degree and density. Notably, the Board member level demonstrated resilience against node removal, while the Blue Science Park level displayed a preferential attachment mechanism that promotes network growth. Conclusions: Overall, this research enhances our knowledge of coopetition in the telecommunications industry. It has both practical and theoretical implications, providing a solid foundation for informed decision-making, fostering collaboration, and contributing to the sustainable development of Blekinge's telecommunication industry.

This Master’s Thesis establishes what motivates a group of Mississippi farmers to participate in sustainable agriculture instead of industrial agriculture. A database of sustainable farmers was constructed in collaboration with the Gaining Ground Sustainability Institute of Mississippi. This research project used social network analysis with 28 farmers and participant observation and semi-structured interviewing with a purposively selected sample of 14 farmers. This project also explores the sustainable agricultural practices of participants. A map of the social network of sustainable agriculturalists in Mississippi is presented and shows that some farmers are well connected, some moderately connected, and others are isolated. As well, grounded qualitative analysis of interviews identified 4 primary motivations among participants: economic, health, self-sufficiency and anti-government. Overall this project found that motivations are numerous, social networks are weak but growing, and diverse demographics are turning to a sustainable model for agriculture in Mississippi.

Organizational decision making can be seen as a complex process due to the fact that decisions across organizational levels are generally interdependent, and have effects ranging from immediate to long-lasting. Reviewing decision making mathematical and process models, decision making is fundamentally characterized by multiple decision making steps from encountering a problem to determining a course of action. The first objective of this dissertation was the determination of the decision making model that a certain type of organization uses, and the establishment of a foundation for an organizational decision model framework. Decision making can be classified into three decision types: strategic, tactical, and operational. These types of decisions can be made throughout the organization ranging from an executive board to operating floor managers. A second objective of this dissertation was the determination of the decision making model that is used to make a certain decision type, and the continued development of an organizational decision making model framework. Beyond decision making occurring within the “traditional” organization structure, decision making can be influenced and occurs within the organizational social groups. These social networks established within the parent organization can make similar decisions to ones made within the “traditional” organizational structure. Metrics of social network analysis (SNA) were used to characterize the configuration of social networks associated with different organizational structures and types of decisions being made in the organization. These metrics showed organizational social networks had the same composition regardless of organizational structure and decision type, with one outlier that social networks would comprise of organizational members making the same type of organizational decision. The first two studies developed an organizational decision making model, respectively. These two studies’ results showed none of the five researched decision making models being representative of how an organization makes decisions. Ultimately, these studies’ results allowed a new organizational decision making model to be constructed.

Background. In order to deliver effective and efficient public health services, the best available research evidence should be considered when making public health decisions. The process of evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) involves searching for research evidence, appraising and synthesizing the high quality evidence, and adapting the evidence with consideration of local contextual factors and community preferences. For many public health departments achieving EIDM has been a challenge. Methods. This study aimed to learn how EIDM spread through interpersonal interactions within the health department of a provincial government in Canada. The health department was selected based on anecdotal evidence suggesting that ideas of EIDM had diffused within this department. Employees were invited to participate in an electronic survey about their interactions regarding EIDM. The data collected from this survey were analyzed using social network analysis methods. This helped to show how the interpersonal connections helped to spread the ideas of EIDM within the organization. Results. In this organization EIDM discussion occurred most often within the organizational divisions, whereas influence for EIDM often occurred both within and between divisions. The type of relationship that appeared most important in discussion of EIDM was colleague relationships, while supervisors were more important for encouraging use of EIDM. Furthermore, individuals in leadership positions within the organization were shown to have played an important role in the diffusion of EIDM. Limitations and Conclusions. Low participation resulted in a limited picture of the whole network of this organization. The use of social network analysis is a relatively novel approach for studying the diffusion of EIDM, and there are challenges to this approach that requires special consideration when working with organizations. / Thesis / Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

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Increasingly, globalization and the adoption of a market economy have made innovation fundamental for the success of professional sport organizations. Yet oligarchical league structures, isomorphic and hyper-traditional cultures, and hierarchical organizational structures can enhance or hinder organizational creativity, the beginning stage of the innovation process. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the antecedents of organizational creativity in professional sport organizations. Perception of organizational creativity is theorized to be influenced by employee creativity, work environment, and the social interactions of employees. The results, based on a survey of three professional sport organizations’ front offices, indicated perceptions of a work environment with a clear vision and better work processes were associated with greater perceptions of organizational creativity. The lack of relationships between many of the factors theorized to influence organizational creativity, such as an employee's advice network, could indicate the sport industry is unique in creativity management. This study is the beginning in understanding the first step of innovation, and the processes that influence employees’ perceptions regarding the ways in which their work environment relate to organizational creativity.

Efforts to improve university science education continue to emphasize the importance of active learning, including frequent formative assessment and timely feedback that helps students reach desired learning outcomes. Yet, nationwide, many instructors continue to use primarily lecture-based teaching methods, with limited use of formative assessment and feedback. Factors that affect instructor adoption and implementation of new teaching techniques include departmental norms, peer interaction, and classroom environment. In this work, a model of the impacts of departmental teaching and social norms and peer interactions on instructor innovation decision is presented. This model is then used to explore 1) instructor teaching-related interactions within a single biology department, assessing the conditions for innovation diffusion, and 2) instructor perceptions of norms and interactions in that department and their impact on decision-making. Finally, introductory biology instructors’ use of assessment and feedback techniques were characterized in a lecture hall and an active learning classroom to see how innovation adoption translates to specific assessment practice and investigate the impact of the active learning classroom. Results indicate that perceptions and practices vary widely, but that both peer interactions and active learning classrooms may have a positive impact on teaching innovation adoption and practices in a university biology department. In addition, the pattern of interactions within this department allows instructors of varying assessment experience to interact, making it potentially conducive to the spread of teaching ideas. The model and results presented here will assist in understanding the factors involved in instructor decision-making and can be leveraged to help promote the use of formative assessment and other evidence-based teaching practices.

This study explores potential bias in the editorial peer-review system within the context of the field of comparative and international education. Assuming the role as “Guardian of Science” and “social status judge” (Zuckerman & Merton, 1971), peer-review, the quality control system of science, directly affects the growth of science, scientists' academic career and their institutions. The very basic tenet of the peer review system is its assumed objectivity. Bias in editorial peer review process, however, is inevitable. The constitution of the blind peer review mechanism is itself a simply undeniable acknowledgement of that fact. Therefore, this study investigated potential peer-review bias by examining the core peer-reviewed academic journal publications of the field between 1994 and 2003, through the methods of social network analysis. In addition to some descriptive analysis on the overall state of the field, based on the criterion of centrality, focus was specifically given to two networks (co-authorship network and institutional network) and the network structure for patterns that might indicate bias in terms of author, gender, author-affiliated institution, country, number of articles published and number of journals in which the author published. Findings of this research revealed no discernable patterns nor network-wide centralization in either the co-authorship network or the institution network. Thus, no reason exists to suspect the objectivity of the peer-review process of the five core academic journals of comparative and international education 1994 – 2003 on the base of centrality. Further descriptive analyses, however, did reveal patterns that may represent norms of the field and, thus, may suggest potential sources of bias. Findings indicated that 1) scholars of the field tend to research independently and publish in relative isolation, and single-authored journal articles are the norm of the field; 2) the field is dominated by the scholars and institutions of Western countries, especially the U.K and the U.S; and 3) journals of the field tend to publish more authors from the hosting countries of the journal. The implications of these findings were also discussed.