Collaborative Networks Management from a Theory of Constraints Perspective

Abstract

Collaborative networks are organizational structures that, instead of expressing market behavior, their formation and operation are based on principles of collaboration, where trust, reliability, and commitment between partners prevail. These principles allow collaborative networks to share risks and become more competitive. Collaboration-based strategies are increasingly important in the face of a growing demand for new and more sophisticated services and products, posing significant challenges for companies that must struggle to fulfill. In this sense, companies need to adapt their business strategies, so they can react and keep up with the pace of change. In this work, we propose a new perspective from the Theory of Constraints in Collaborative Networks Management. The adaptation of the TOC's Five Focusing Steps and TOC Thinking Process, combined with the Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) approach, are proposed to improve Collaborative Networks Management. CCPM is brought into a collaboration context to deal with project network uncertainty. A preliminary motivation example is shown in this position paper, aiming at illustrating this prospective approach in Collaborative Networks Management.

A partner selection framework for strategic alliances based on project complexity and partner’s past experience

“…A history of collaboration represents a sort of knowledge to each partner representing the history of performance and cooperation in a collaborative network which also shows the trust level (Afsarmanesh, Camarinha-Matos, and Msanjila (2009); Msanjila and Afsarmanesh ( 2011)). Tenera and Rosas (2019) presented a novel perspective of constraints in the management of collaborative networks in which partners have been evaluated in terms of, past collaboration, trustworthiness and reliability. Typically, any collaboration starts with a low level of trust and integration between partners.…”

Fuzzy-Based Framework for Managing Inter-Enterprise Collaborations in PSS Context

“…Regarding this complexity, it is necessary for the organization to follow up and evaluate the performance of the inter-enterprise collaboration, allowing continuous improvements of their processes (Boughzala and De Vreede 2015), and considering the organizational particularities of PSS. Various collaboration assessment models are proposed in literature, as the example of maturity grids (Boughzala and De Vreede 2015;Cuenca et al 2013;Magdaleno et al 2011), Bayesian networks and approximate sets (Rosas and Camarinha-Matos 2008), or theory of constraints (Tenera and Rosas 2019). In the PSS context, some works are presented such as readiness assessment of collaborative network organizations for PSS delivery, using conceptual modelling and graph theory (Durugbo and Riedel 2013), and network uncertainty for PSS delivery using fuzzy Delphi-AHP-TOPSIS methods (Wang and Durugbo 2013).…”