REVISTA DYNA MANAGEMENT

Key words:

redes colaborativas, redes de fabricación no-jerárquicas, toma de decisiones descentralizadas, evaluación de PYMEs, socios colaborativos, collaborative networks, non-hierarchical networks, decentralised decision making, SMEs assessment, collaborative partners

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

ABSTRACT:
Establishing collaborative relationships in networks consisting of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) implies a change in the way business processes are carried out. The establishment of collaborative processes has associated numerous benefits; however, SMEs encounter a set of barriers that must be overcome to meet the necessary requirements to collaborate, such as trust, information exchange, suitable partners' selection, willingness to change, etc.

In order to address these barriers, the Non-Hierarchical Network roadmap (NHNmap) is considered (Andres and Poler, 2013). The NHNmap consist of a set of ten phases to deal with the transition path from a competitive scenario (non-collaborative) towards a collaborative one. This paper specifically focuses on the second phase in order to support the process of collaborative partners' selection. Thus, a methodology is proposed to support companies on the identification of potential partners with greater willingness to establish collaborative relationships. This methodology is based on a quantitative analysis of the collaboration characteristics that the potential partners have. The results derived from the methodology are lead to classify the partners from two different perspectives: (i) the willingness to establish collaborative relationships, considering the resources and capabilities that enterprises possess, and (ii) the value derived from the benefits/outcomes that enterprises are expected to obtain from the collaboration.

The proposed methodology captures the critical elements that should be analyzed by enterprises willing to establish collaboration in order to identify the most suitable collaborative partners. This will help enterprises to overcome the barriers arising from the partners' selection process in a collaborative network. Therefore, this methodology allows enterprises, wishing to collaborate, to better manage the transition process towards collaboration.

Key Words: collaborative networks, non-hierarchical networks, decentralised decision making, SMEs assessment, collaborative partners' selection, willingness to collaborate