INTRODUCING THE IMP JOURNAL



From the editors:



Hakan Hakansson, David Ford and Ivan Snehota



The reserach of the IMP Group is based on the idea that business is not an isolated activity that occurs within independent organisations, but that it consists of interaction between interdependent companies, whether as customers, suppliers, development partners, facilitators or competitors.



A large number of research studies have investigated interaction between individual companies and organisations, and the wider network that surrounds them. This research has led to the development of ideas on the characteristics of business relationships and networks, on the processes within them and on how individual companies can operate in these arenas.



It is now time to create a new forum for high quality of research into business interaction; The IMP Journal. We hope that the journal will not only record the best of an increasing volume and standard of research, but will also stimulate further development in the field. The content of the journal will not be restricted to articles from marketing or purchasing. We also welcome contributions from researchers in the areas of strategy, operations, logistics, information systems or human resources who are also concerned about interaction between companies and other organisations, and how this relates to their own areas.





Contemporary ideas on business interaction have mainly appeared through empirical studies within and between companies. Although we welcome excellent submissions of conceptual work, we would like the journal to continue this strong empirical tradition.



We will publish up to twelve articles each year and the articles from each year will comprise a single volume. Contributions may be of any length appropriate to their content, which will give opportunities to include rich case studies.



All submissions will be double blind refereed by members of the editorial review board. We also plan to publish the final comments of the reviewers on each article on publication, explaining why they believe it worthy of publication.



As well as completed manuscripts, we would also like to welcome contributors to contact us at the early stage of development of manuscripts. We will then be happy to work with those contributors in the development of their work to achieve the highest possible quality of publication.



The journal will be electronic and will be located on the IMP Group website www.impgroup.org.. This means that it will be freely available to all researchers, without subscription.



Contributions should be submitted in electronic format to one of the three editors:



Hakan Hakansson:

hakan.hakansson@bi.no



David Ford:

i.d.ford@bath.ac.uk



Ivan Snehota:

ivan.snehota@lu.unisi.ch



EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD



Helen Anderson, Jönköping International Business School

James Anderson, Northwestern University

Luis Araujo, Lancaster University

Björn Axelsson, Stockholm School of Economics

Keith Blois, Oxford University

Anna Dubois, Chalmers University

Geoff Easton, Lancaster University

Lars Erik Gadde, Chalmers Univesity

Hans-Georg Gemünden, Technical University of Berlin

Lars Hallen, University of Sundsvall

Lars Gunnar Mattson, Stockholm School of Economics

Kris Moller, Helsinki School of Economics

Thomas Ritter, Copenhagen Business School

Robert Salle, Lyon Business School

Asta Salmi, Helsinki School of Economics

Robert Spekman, University of Virginia

Annalisa Tunisini, Urbino University

Peter Turnbull, Birmingham Business School

Alexandra Waluszewski, Uppsala University

Ian Wilkinson, University of New South Wales

Louise Young, University of Technology, Sydney