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Key research themes
1. How can markets be organized to balance social structures, efficiency, and adaptability in diverse economic contexts?
This research theme investigates the processes by which markets are socially structured and organized to enable efficient exchange while accommodating social norms, collective actions, and adaptability across different market types—ranging from local value chains in least developed countries to industrial clusters and collective concerns in advanced economies. Understanding these organizing mechanisms is crucial to designing markets that operate effectively under conditions of uncertainty, resource constraints, and complex stakeholder interactions.
Key finding: This paper presents an empirical case study of an NGO's intervention to develop a dairy value chain market in Bangladesh, illustrating that creating the social structures—norms, relationships, and shared... Read more
Key finding: The study conceptualizes industrial clusters as spatially organized markets that support knowledge creation, exchange, and transaction cost reduction through flexible inter-firm relationships. It distinguishes cluster markets... Read more
Key finding: Analyzing multiple European market cases oriented toward collective concerns (public transport, health care, electricity), the paper identifies that policy-making has transitioned to continuous market organization whereby... Read more
Key finding: Using simulation methods and organizational theory, this study elucidates how collective action problems arise during new market formation due to actor resource allocation decisions and imperfect substitutability,... Read more
2. What frameworks and typologies best capture the diverse organizational forms and governance structures in market arrangements?
This theme focuses on classifying and understanding the diverse organizational forms interacting within markets beyond the traditional firm-market dichotomy. It investigates hybrid organizational arrangements such as alliances, networks, electronic marketplaces, and digital B2B exchanges, and their governance mechanisms, which balance autonomy and coordination while adapting to technological and institutional shifts. Developing robust typologies aids in analyzing how these forms operate and evolve within complex market ecosystems.
Key finding: This conceptual paper identifies 'hybrid organizations' as arrangements involving multiple autonomous partners pooling strategic decision rights and coordinating through specific governance mechanisms distinct from markets or... Read more
3. How can market orientation and market-making be strategically measured, modeled, and influenced to improve organizational and market outcomes?
This theme explores the measurement of market orientation within organizations, analysis of market structure based on customer preferences and product substitutability/complementarity, and strategies for market shaping and driving. It delves into methodological advancements for quantifying market orientation, inferring market structures from consumer behavior, and implementing typologies and systematic approaches to deliberately shape markets for competitive advantage and stakeholder alignment.
Key finding: This study develops and validates the MARKOR scale to measure market orientation across organizations, emphasizing three core components: intelligence generation (gathering information on customers, competitors, and... Read more
Key finding: The paper advances methods to infer market structure by analyzing how customers perceive products as substitutes or complements using preference and perception data. It establishes the value of both internal and external... Read more
Key finding: This research identifies four distinct market-driving processes based on the driving entity and type of change and proposes a detailed seven-step approach for the 'Pied Piper' process where an individual firm drives... Read more