Social networks and the implementation of environmental technology

Author

Johnston, David A. ; Lin, Jonathan D.

Author_Institution

Schulich Sch. of Bus., York Univ., Toronto, Ont., Canada

Volume

47

Issue

4

fYear

2000

fDate

11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

465

Lastpage

477

Abstract

A study of 83 firms in the North American electronics industry that have implemented environmentally “clean” process technology found that social networks have a significant positive impact on implementation success. This paper presents evidence that some types of social networks influence implementation success more than others. More specifically, interfirm networks composed of both suppliers and competitors were significantly correlated with the routinization and incorporation of alternative technical solutions to reducing ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This only held in situations where the complexity of the implementation was relatively high. Intrafirm and local social networks were not significant. The utilization of a network of publicly accessible sources of information and expertise had a negative impact. Brief case studies from field research are provided to help explain these results

Keywords

electronics industry; environmental factors; management; social sciences; North America; Social networks; alternative technical solutions; case studies; electronics industry; environmental technology implementation; field research; implementation success; interfirm networks; ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons; Aggregates; Electronics industry; Frequency measurement; Information resources; International collaboration; Research initiatives; Social network services; Technological innovation; Technology transfer;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9391

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/17.895341

Filename

895341