Table 3. Summary of cases and findings... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3.

Summary of cases and findings

	Case 1. Environmental net	Case 2. Revitalisation net
Aim(s)	To provide a platform for discussing how best to implement Sweden’s 16 Environmental Quality Objectives	To facilitate the revitalisation of a town centre
Scope	National	Local
Timeframe of net	One year	Three years
Net membership	Non-exclusionary	Non-exclusionary
Actors	Government representatives (including the net coordinator), 36 firms from various sectors and of various sizes with operations in Sweden and a Stockholm consultancy	Municipality representatives, property owners and retailers. 165 potential members within the geographical area
Within-net	Ambition: Non-exclusive arena for knowledge creation through sharing best practices and shared vocabulary A possibility to build/create connections	Ambition: Non-exclusive arena for knowledge creation through knowledge pooling and shared vocabulary A possibility to establish/build firm relationships
Within-net	In practice: Coordinator set the structure of the net, with help of consultancy Unilateral knowledge transfer from MNEs to SMEs because of the net’s arrangements Coordinator’s governing role put MNEs at Centre, as knowledge holders creating within-net boundaries and allowing them to influence the net’s goal MNEs did not see what the net offered as new knowledge MNEs as knowledge holders and SMEs as recipients facilitated knowledge transfer Knowledge similarity between MNEs hindered knowledge exchange and creation	In practice: Governing group set the structure of the net and the knowledge exchange Knowledge exchange within the governing group Unilateral knowledge transfer between governing group and the “others” Governing group put itself at the Centre, creating within-net boundaries Contribution to the net was not as expected due to losing sight of mutuality Knowledge differences between the actors within the governing group facilitated knowledge exchange, but knowledge differences between governing group and the outer firms hindered knowledge exchange/transfer
Beyond-net conduct	In practice: Both MNEs and SMEs had difficulties practising or developing the knowledge on environmental objectives beyond the net Relationships in existence when entering the net were still maintained/developed after the net MNEs did not see the usefulness of the knowledge exchanged, while SMEs did SMEs continued unilateral knowledge transfer internally and to customers Knowledge on how to communicate was taken forward by all as an outcome	In practice: Despite different firm characteristics, actors in the governing group participated in knowledge exchange Knowledge exchange within the net affected parties’ engagement in knowledge development after the net (the governing group) Actors within the governing group maintained and developed social ties and formed a new net Unilateral knowledge transfer between governing group and outer net discontinued Recipients of knowledge in net only transferred knowledge to (did not developed knowledge with) business parties

	Case 1. Environmental net	Case 2. Revitalisation net
Aim(s)	To provide a platform for discussing how best to implement Sweden’s 16 Environmental Quality Objectives	To facilitate the revitalisation of a town centre
Scope	National	Local
Timeframe of net	One year	Three years
Net membership	Non-exclusionary	Non-exclusionary
Actors	Government representatives (including the net coordinator), 36 firms from various sectors and of various sizes with operations in Sweden and a Stockholm consultancy	Municipality representatives, property owners and retailers. 165 potential members within the geographical area
Within-net	Ambition: Non-exclusive arena for knowledge creation through sharing best practices and shared vocabulary A possibility to build/create connections	Ambition: Non-exclusive arena for knowledge creation through knowledge pooling and shared vocabulary A possibility to establish/build firm relationships
Within-net	In practice: Coordinator set the structure of the net, with help of consultancy Unilateral knowledge transfer from MNEs to SMEs because of the net’s arrangements Coordinator’s governing role put MNEs at Centre, as knowledge holders creating within-net boundaries and allowing them to influence the net’s goal MNEs did not see what the net offered as new knowledge MNEs as knowledge holders and SMEs as recipients facilitated knowledge transfer Knowledge similarity between MNEs hindered knowledge exchange and creation	In practice: Governing group set the structure of the net and the knowledge exchange Knowledge exchange within the governing group Unilateral knowledge transfer between governing group and the “others” Governing group put itself at the Centre, creating within-net boundaries Contribution to the net was not as expected due to losing sight of mutuality Knowledge differences between the actors within the governing group facilitated knowledge exchange, but knowledge differences between governing group and the outer firms hindered knowledge exchange/transfer
Beyond-net conduct	In practice: Both MNEs and SMEs had difficulties practising or developing the knowledge on environmental objectives beyond the net Relationships in existence when entering the net were still maintained/developed after the net MNEs did not see the usefulness of the knowledge exchanged, while SMEs did SMEs continued unilateral knowledge transfer internally and to customers Knowledge on how to communicate was taken forward by all as an outcome	In practice: Despite different firm characteristics, actors in the governing group participated in knowledge exchange Knowledge exchange within the net affected parties’ engagement in knowledge development after the net (the governing group) Actors within the governing group maintained and developed social ties and formed a new net Unilateral knowledge transfer between governing group and outer net discontinued Recipients of knowledge in net only transferred knowledge to (did not developed knowledge with) business parties

Source(s): Authors’ own work