Purpose – Our paper deals with the design of dynamic model of national healthcare system of the Czech Republic composing from the qualitative and quantitative part. We use the tools of system dynamics because of its holistic approach that helps unlike the simple math and static analyses to take into account the complexity of the health system. This approach can help to verify the design of new health policy and thus achieve effective problem-solving and improving the overall health system.
Design/methodology/approach – Presented problem represents a macro level strategy planning task. To preserve its clarity and applicability, understandable tools and procedures must be adopted in all related analysis and design stages. Our basic methodology consists of four generic stages, including (i) problem formulation, (ii) conceptual specifications, (iii) computational modelling and (iv) experimentation.
Originality/value – We see the innovativeness of presented research in assumption that strategic concentration on quality in healthcare sector can solve the majority of its current bottlenecks. According to our interpretation, qualitative aspects include primarily the non-clinical activities, such as management, marketing, external relations or staff development. Knowing the historical data, we can estimate future total costs, generated by the existing system and define alternative, sustainable, quality based policies. Viable alternative policies must preserve the major existing characteristics and introduce new processes, leading to the reduction of costs within five years long time horizon.
Practical implications – The proposed model can be very useful especially for current and future policy makers as a tool for decision making. They can create better decisions based on the knowledge of a wide variety of factors influencing the system and achieve the public health objectives more effectively. Thanks to its complexity, transparent representation of the different relationships and their interactivity, this model is suitable for strategic planning, group decision making, learning and sharing knowledge. With such strategic and long term decision we can assure the sustainable development of healthcare system especially better control of health expenditure.
Keywords – simulation, healthcare system, national health policy, public health, system dynamics

Purpose – Corporate Governance (CG) is considered an important element in improving firms’ long-term financial performance, increasing their asset values and, as such, it can be of benefit to society at large. This paper aims to analyze CG within the Albanian context. Given its importance, Albanian companies face an urgent need to assess CG standards and promote CG reforms in order to improve their performance and become able to attract foreign direct investment. This paper explores the specific transformations that Albanian managers face in the current dynamic and complex business environment, and the need for sustainability based on “good” CG practices.
Design/methodology/approach – The Delphi technique is adopted. This technique is based on the rational principle that ‘n’ human minds are better than one when confronting lack of precise knowledge about a certain problem/research question (cf. Ferreira and Monteiro Barata, 2011). In this approach, a sequence of successive individual questions is asked and then supplemented with information and advice, to correct the first stages of the process and, under certain parameters, generate consensus. The overall characteristics of the Delphi process are anonymity, controlled feedback, and statistical treatment of the group responses. The Delphi technique is typically applied in situations where the problem under discussion cannot be resolved by precise analytical techniques, because there are no historical data or relevant information available (cf. Ferreira and Monteiro Barata, 2011; Çipi et al., 2014).
Originality/value –This paper delves into the relatively unexplored topic of CG practices in Albania, regarding which there is currently very little research or information. Furthermore, it does so by studying the application of a methodology (the Delphi technique) which has not, to the best of our knowledge, been applied to such a context before. Empirically, our investigation involves a panel of CEOs from Joint Stock Companies’ (JSCs) from the most representative cities in Albania.
Practical implications – The outcomes of our study should serve as reference for further efforts aimed at enhancing CG in Albanian companies. They should also serve as catalyst for international comparisons and, from a benchmarking perspective, for the adoption of internationally recognized CG best practices by Albanian companies. This can be seen as a “key to sustainability”, meaning that a broader perspective should be adopted in future CG reforms in Albania to support sustainable economic development. Indeed, a better awareness of the long-term benefits of CG best practices can help Albanian JSCs attract powerful foreign investors and, thereby, boost the country’s development.
Keywords – Corporate Governance, Development Prospects, Sustainable Growth, Albania, Joint Stock Companies

Purpose – More and more cities are challenged by the general ineffectiveness of the public spending programme management and by the economic crisis. This affects the quality of urban services and the quality of urban lives. Coherently with this trend an international discussion started on the governance model behind urban service production: a model shift from public-private partnership (3P model) towards public-private-people partnership (4P model) is observed which is not yet analysed in depth (Majamaa et al., 2008; Zhang and Kumaraswamy, 2012). New urban initiatives are growing in number, which consider people relevant actors of the service ideation and creation aiming at developing effective environment for urban service co-creation (Sibukele et al., 2012).
Within the perspective above, the main purpose of the paper is to highlight the role of co-creation in urban service provision (Jégou, 2011; Manzini et al. 2008; Manzini and Rizzo, 2011). The paper wants to demonstrate how the 4P model represents a possibility to foster and drive large-scale changes in which different stakeholders can play meaningful role (Concilio, 2010; Fischer, 2006; Kernaghan, 2009). In particular it analyses what is the role of knowledge creation in idea generation for innovating urban public services.
Design/methodology/approach – Considering the main scope of the paper, the authors carry out a case-based analysis and report the results of a long process in the urban environment of the Milan municipality experience in rethinking urban green areas growth and management. The co-creation process is described considering its bottom-up nature and its interaction with the local administration when moving from deliberation to decision making. In particular it is analysed in order to envision how some small (self-organized) criticalities/opportunities (Puerari et al., 2013) emerged in the city of Milan can be captured, coordinated and amplified to play a meaningful role in defining/envisioning possible futures that can enhance larger changes. Hence, some specific co-creation sessions are described (with the use of cognitive mapping tools) and analysed in terms of knowledge contents and dynamics relevant for the shift from deliberation to decision making and the kind of governance models arising from the co-creation process.
Originality/value – The originality of the paper stays, first, in focussing on the role played by co-creation in the creation of knowledge and in the generation of ideas for the innovation of urban public services. Second, the methodological aim of the paper is exploring the potentials arising when integrating co-design tools and methodology with knowledge mapping tools.
Practical implications – Cities are looking for new ways to create and produce urban services that can respond to citizens needs in a more effective way. Practical implication of the proposed paper are specifically related to the lessons learnt from the described experience and analysis of the Milano case within the framework of urban green areas development and management.
Keywords – urban services, innovation, private-public partnership, urban governance models

Purpose – Explore how corporate governance affects development of firm technological knowledge.
Design/Methodology/Approach – I conducted canonical correlation analysis on a large sample of US manufacturing firms. Five dependent variables, measured using firms’ patent data, capture five dimensions of technological knowledge – breadth, depth, enhanced, new, and stagnant knowledge. Independent variables cover three dimensions of corporate governance – ownership concentration, managerial stake, and board composition. In addition, I included both industry and firm contextual variables, to increase the study’s reliability.
Findings – Results indicate two types of firms. One group consisting of ‘cautious generalists’, wherein high breadth and depth of technological knowledge and a strong emphasis on enhancement is linked to concentrated shareholdings, increasing top management’s stake in the firm by offering stock options, and a board low in accounting experience. In contrast, the second group’s technology profile de-emphasizes breadth and focuses on deepening existing knowledge stock. This group has a relatively weaker emphasis on stock options to reward top management and a board with strong financial background.
Originality/Value – This study furthers our understanding of strategic management of technological knowledge in three ways: by developing theoretically meaningful components of a firm’s aggregate stock of technology; constructing ratio-scale measures of those components – breadth, depth, enhanced, new, and stagnant technological knowledge; using canonical correlation analysis which, rather than multiple regression analysis, is the more appropriate technique to derive meaningful implications for managers.
Keywords: Technological knowledge, Corporate governance, Ownership, Board of Directors, R&D

Purpose – The range and configuration of public services depend on needs expressed by society, and the responsibility for the implementation of these needs within a given territory lies with basic public administration bodies. The provision of public services within the idea of sustainable local governance is possible as a result of cooperation between the public and private partners, business environment institutions and society. In this paper, we adopted definition of sustainable local governance as a process run by local governmental bodies within inter-organizational collaborative networks aimed to socially and economically boost a specific region, while respecting environmental protection and land development.
Design/methodology/approach – An approach based on both in-depth literature studies and empirical research was proposed. Two main types of public services were analysed: social (health care, education, culture, recreation, social care, housing, public safety) and technical (public transport, waste management, water management, recreation areas). The research was conducted from 2011 to 2013 in Poland, among privately-owned and state-owned enterprises in the range of the research project, entitled “Technological Foresight of Public Service Sector Development within the Silesian Metropolis”. After the project had been completed, these analyses were complemented as a result of in-depth literature studies and direct structured interviews with experts.
Originality/value – The study was conducted from the perspective of local authorities, of experts operating within the public sector, and finally from the perspective of enterprises. The use of studied mechanisms was identified, and the needs in terms of their development were analysed. In addition, the solutions for the elimination of restrictions concerning the cooperation between public administration and enterprises in the provision of public services were proposed. An innovative methodology, which includes opinions from the perspective of public administration, representatives of enterprises, and is additionally supplemented by the interviews with experts, enabled the analysis of the issue in a comprehensive manner.
Practical implications – Public administration needs information regarding the possibilities of involving enterprises in the process of providing public services within the idea of sustainable development. These analyzes enabled us to achieve the following results:
1. We identified the mechanisms motivating enterprises to participate in the public services provision.
2. We estimated scope of using and utility of enterprises’ participation mechanisms.
3. We analysed the needs and methods of increasing enterprises’ participation mechanisms in the public services provision.
These results were based on the statistical analysis.
Keywords – Sustainable local governance, Public services, Participation mechanisms, Collaboration, Public management

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of knowledge management in the development of virtual networks participated by small firms.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews two streams of literature focused on knowledge management in small firms and virtual enterprise. This allows to define an appropriate research question that has been addressed by a questionnaire survey conducted in network of small firms operating in a high-tech sector. This network of firms acts as a virtual enterprise.
Originality/value – The main value of the paper is to explore two main gaps emerging from the extant literature on knowledge management in small firms and virtual enterprise. In addition, it provides empirical evidences of knowledge management practices adopted in a virtual network populated by small firms.
Practical implications – From the practical point of view, the paper suggests that to fully exploit the potential of virtualisation, small firms need to implement new technological solutions. This means that small businesses need to sustain their virtualisation process through the adoption of technological platforms that allow managing and sharing knowledge more effectively.
Keywords – Knowledge management, Virtual enterprise, small and medium sized enterprises, literature review, questionnaire survey

Purpose – This study aims to analyse the use of various forms of „knowledge utilization“ (Zhang et al., 2009), especially the role of knowledge management (Rode, 2001; Lichtenthaler, 2005; Wamae, 2009), as a means to integrate strategic customer knowledge in order to be one step ahead of the market and competitors. For this purpose, premises, processes, and factors are highlighted, which are essential to incorporate the knowledge of strategic customers into the knowledge base of knowledge-intensive SMEs (Spithoven and Teirlinck, 2010) and therefore contribute to the commercialization of knowledge intensive products as well as services (Lichtenthaler, 2005; Chen et al., 2010).
Design/Methodology/Approach – Several factors which are relevant for the integration of strategic customer knowledge have been extracted from knowledge utilization literature. Establishing relations (Teece, 1998; Clarke and Rollo, 2001), solving customer problems (Backer, 1993), and SMEs capacity to absorb knowledge (Teigland and Wasko, 2003) are crucial for the integration of strategic customer knowledge. Since research and literature in the field of “knowledge marketing” (especially in knowledge-intensive SMEs) is still scarce, the authors regard a qualitative research approach as appropriate. The empirical data were not obtained in an artificial way, but in a natural one. The general case study according to Yin (2009) could include both qualitative and quantitative research. However, the following case study primarily focuses on the qualitative research method (Lamnek, 2008; Mayring, 2010; Merriam, 1988).
Originality/Value – The knowledge base – internally or externally acquired – which constitutes the basis of a unique competitive advantage of enterprises in the software and other knowledge-intensive industries, can be expanded and utilized in a better way through “commercialisation of knowledge” (Lichtenthaler, 2005; Chen et al., 2010). Particularly customers and the integration of their knowledge are relevant to knowledge-intensive firms, because these factors allow enterprises to acquire additional know how that supplements the limited resource base and which can be utilized for product development, innovations, and other customers.
Theoretical Implication – This research paper aims to contribute to “knowledge utilization” as well as SME literature since the empirical data collection was exclusively limited to SMEs. Hence, three necessary processes have been identified: (1) Developing communities of practise or knowledge networks, (2) solving customer problems, and (3) possessing the absorptive capacity to understand and integrate customer knowledge.
Practical Implications – In terms of practical contributions, this paper intends to clarify the utilization of strategic customer knowledge as well as its relevance in product development in knowledge-intensive industries. Additionally, customer knowledge is also crucial in terms of commercialising the predominant resource of such enterprises – knowledge-intensive products and services. Here, three factors are decisive: Establishing relations, solving customer problems, and the capacity to absorb knowledge. Emphasising on these particular factors of marketing activities, might influence the success of knowledge-intensive SMEs in comparison to competitors. Marketing activities carried out by knowledge-intensive SMEs should therefore clearly differ from other industries. The consideration of these factors enables top level management to differentiate themselves by utilizing knowledge marketing.
Keywords – Knowledge Marketing, Strategic Customer Knowledge, Relationships, Absorptive Capacity, Problem-Solving Competence

Purpose – The body of research about knowledge management in SMEs is rather scarce. Nevertheless, scholars that have investigated the peculiarities of KM processes in SMEs have found that SMEs do not manage knowledge the same way as large firms. Particularly, even though SMEs seem to be aware of the value of their knowledge assets, they generally have an unplanned and unsystematic approach to KM. In light of this, the paper intends to deepen our understanding about the way SMEs plan, implement and use KM. Specifically, it aims at identifying the nature (deliberate or emergent) of this process, the involved actors, and the relevant influencing factors.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the KM experience of Infonet Solutions, a small Italian ICT services company. It adopts the case study approach, given the descriptive and exploratory nature of the research. The unit of analysis is represented by the KM system implemented by the company in the last decade. The background conditions, the history of the system, its features and drawbacks are deeply analysed. The company was selected for two main reasons. First, it is a typical Knowledge-Intensive Business Service company, where knowledge is the key competitive resource. The second is a question of opportunity: it was possible to have direct access to relevant information thanks to the participation of a company executive to the research.
Originality/value – The paper contributes to improve understanding of KM approaches by SMEs. Given that this is a single case-study, the idea is not to draw conclusions of general validity, but rather to derive some implications concerning the implementation of KM practices and tools by SMEs, possible warnings for both researchers and executives, and suggestions for the formulation of new hypotheses on KM abilities of SMEs, to test by means of other research methods.
Practical implications – The outcomes are significant for both research and practice. As regards research, it is argued that the adoption of KM practices in small businesses can be seen as an “emergent strategy”, in other words it is strongly affected by the specific situation in which the individual firm operates. This leads to conclude that a single “best-way” KM approach, based on a rational planning method, is almost impossible to define in SMEs. As concerns the practice, the study reveals the key adoption patterns of KM by SMEs, and provides suggestions on how to manage the factors that influence these patterns in a context that will be called “emergent KM”.
Keywords – Knowledge Management, Emergent KM, SMEs, KIBS, Case-study

Purpose – Customer Knowledge Management (CKM) has been recognized within marketing as a significant resource that can be managed to improve innovation, to facilitate sensing of emerging market opportunities and to support long-term customer relationships management. Specifically, the aim of this paper is to test a model in order to examine the impact of customer collaboration as an antecedent of CKM, and the influence of both variables on innovation capacity and marketing results, in order to better understand the customer´s potential role on innovation.
Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model and the hypotheses are tested using PLS (Partial Least Squares) approach to Structural Equation Models (SEM) with survey data from 210 companies in Valencia (Spain). Using as key informants the owners of the company, data was collected using a random stratified probability sampling procedure with proportional allocation to the economic sectors. Personal interviews were developed using a structured questionnaire
Originality/value – The value of this study appears as a result of combining the three theories in the field of innovation, not previously tested together – the Resource-Based theory, the Service Dominant Logic (SDL) and the Organizational Learning theory- for proposing model that allows better understanding of the role of CKM and customer collaboration in marketing results and innovation capacity. Moreover this paper provides a comprehensive approach working on all types of innovation (product/service, production processes, management and marketing). It also generates knowledge to empirically test the proposition nº 2 of the theoretical work of Lush et al. (2007) based on the contribution of customer in the innovation co-creation process.
Practical implications – The results of this study hold important implications for business management and policy management. The study shows the CKM importance on organizations innovation capacity and marketing results. Furthermore, it contributes to highlight the importance of customer collaboration in the innovation process. Recognizing CKM as an important variable that influences directly and indirectly innovation capacity and marketing results should encourage managers pay attention to their CKM processes.
Keywords – Customer knowledge management, customer collaboration, marketing results, innovation capacity

Purpose – Enterprises are facing transforming framework conditions that are manifesting on several levels. Increased competition from emerging markets, limited availability of resources as well as political and societal requirements with regard to the sustainability of enterprises` operations are only an extract of changing factors of influence. The capability to innovate has proven to be a strong competitive advantage and is to be assessed as a major success factor to limit the exposure to the intensified competitive (Schmeisser et. al. 2010), normative or even legal pressure especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach – In order to identify and describe the interdependences between intangible resources, their management and innovation capabilities the principal terms are put into focus at first. Building up on the theoretical explanations and taking the management method “Intellectual Capital Statement – Made in Germany” as a starting point the interdependencies between intellectual capital and product innovation as well as process optimisation and innovation are analysed. Within this article the interdependences between the standard intellectual capital factors are investigated with regard to product and process innovation on the basis of 38 Intellectual Capital Statements of German enterprises.
Originality/value – The significance of intangible resources for business success has evidently increased and may in some cases already be assessed as higher than the impact of tangible resources. Analyses have indicated some intellectual capital factors as the most prominent and important, yet the impact on the intra- and inter-organizational innovation ecosystems has not been analysed thoroughly. Although the most important factors of intellectual capital are identified, the specific drivers for innovation have not been investigated. This paper seeks to close this gap and draw meaningful conclusions with regard to drivers of innovation and related differences between manufacturing and service enterprises.
Practical implications –The analysis of the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation capabilities allows statements regarding the intellectual capital factors, onto which enterprises should be focused in order to foster innovation. The qualitative content-related analysis of the 38 intellectual capital statements with regard to the consideration of new and different types of innovation management methodologies allows the identification of existing gaps in intellectual capital management. The close examination of the framework of new types of innovation and cross-reference to practical interdependences shall establish the theoretical basis for future case studies with enterprises that have the objective of establishing new types of innovation to continue this very research.
Keywords – Innovation Management, Intellectual Capital Statement, Knowledge Management

Purpose – According to the current accounting standards, only a minor part of intellectual capital is presented in financial statements as it usually fails to satisfy one of the criteria of asset recognition in accounting, namely, reliable evaluation. Consequently, stakeholders obtain only a part of the data about an enterprise and its activity, which directly impacts the decisions they are committing to. Considering this, the scientific issue has been formulated and dealt with in this paper: how to present information on the intellectual capital of an enterprise in financial statements? Therefore the purpose of this paper is to develop a model of intellectual capital evaluation and its disclosure in financial statements of an enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach – When outlining a solution, this paper strives to concentrate on: 1) pragmatism in order to avoid overly extensive, complicated and subjective systems of intellectual capital valuation; 2) quantitative monetary expression of results thus providing opportunities for comparisons; and 3) intellectual capital accounting and accountability integrated into the current system of financial accounting. When analyzing methods of intellectual capital valuation suggested in academic works in terms of their theoretical and practical aspects, the methods of synthesis, grouping, systemization, descriptive and comparative analysis were being employed. When developing a model of intellectual capital evaluation and its disclosure in financial statements, deduction, synthesis, comparison and modeling methods were being applied.
Originality/value – Various methods of the evaluation of the intellectual capital suggested in academic works have been researched. On the grounds of possibilities of their integration into the system of financial accounting, a generalized scheme of the classification of these methods has been drafted. A generalized list of classification of intellectual capital valuation methods revealing similarities of some methods due to their attribution to the same groups in different classifications has been drawn as well.
Practical implications – The model of intellectual capital evaluation and disclosure in financial statements has been developed, theoretically motivated and empirically verified. Taking into consideration the successful application, this model is suggested to supplement the current financial statements and to regulate the duty of enterprises to include the data on the intellectual capital. As a result, development and filling out of additional reports would be avoided; meanwhile, stakeholders would obtain more data for taking investment decisions.
Keywords – Intellectual capital, Valuation methods, Financial evaluation, Disclosure

Purpose – The aim of this study is to propose a method to measure Intellectual Capital (IC) in firms involved in strategic alliances, an area that has received scant attention in the literature, as existing research is focused mainly on organizational level mainly and increasingly on macro-level unit such as regions or nations. There are very few works at the meso-level, (i.e. alliances, clusters), and the paper aims to fill this void, by providing researchers and practitioners with a tool capable of combining measurement and management aims, developed at organizational level with the active participation of the researchers.
Design/methodology/approach – The method of analysis is based on a model formalized through a fuzzy expert system (FES). The FES are able to merge the capabilities of an expert system to simulate the decision-making process with the vagueness typical of human reasoning, maintaining the ability to still have a numeric value as a response. Its construction requires the participation of experts, whose knowledge of the problem is accumulated in the form of blocks of rules. These features make it possible to formalize the decision-making process related to the IC valuation, handling qualitative and quantitative variables, and exploring the cognitive mechanisms underlying this process.
Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, IC literature lacks methods expressly designed to measure the incremental value of IC originating from collaboration among firms. We think also that fuzzy logic methodology, recently applied in empirical work designed to evaluate IC, represents a reliable methodology because of the “fuzzy” nature of IC. This study contributes to the broadening of the research community’s understanding regarding the alternative measurement of IC created within strategic alliances. From a measurement perspective, the results may be regarded as valuable proof that IC performance within strategic alliances can be measured quantitatively.
Practical implications – The outcome of the application is a system designed to measure the intangible performance deriving from participation in a strategic alliance. On the management side, the possibility of retracing the determinants of different IC intermediate indicators composing the final IC index allows strategic alliances managers to use this information for decision-making purposes.
Keywords – Fuzzy logic, Intellectual Capital, Strategic Alliances, Performance Measurement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organizations work with IC when it enters the organization from an accounting or measurement perspective. More specifically the paper will investigate in depth the IC ‘lock-in’ process to accounting, which occurs when IC is introduced as a measurement practice in companies which are new to IC, and if and how IC can be ‘un-locked’ through a more strategic managerial approach, promoting IC management practices.
Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, the phenomenon of ‘lock-in’ is used to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the design and implementation of IC practices in an Italian firm which was initially a ‘newcomer’ to measuring and managing IC. The IC measurement system adopted by the company was developed using an interventionist research approach whereby one researcher was directly involved in designing and implementing the system. To interpret the case study we use Callon’s ‘four moments of translation’ (Callon, 1986) which permits us to follow the actors in their construction and deconstruction of the IC concept and practices.
Originality/value – We show that when accounting for IC is the point of entrance into a firm new to IC, the firm remains, for a period of time, locked-in to measuring IC. However, firms can be freed from a narrow accounting perspective and over time allow more attention to be paid to the process of mobilizing IC, leading to management actions which are not possible while IC remains ‘locked-in’ to accounting. However, we also find that the ‘lock-in’ to measuring IC is not always detrimental because, at times, the ‘lock-in’ is necessary to allow actors to make sense of IC.
Practical implications – By understanding the lessons learnt from the case, other organizations who implement IC practices can become aware that the ‘lock-in’ phenomenon can take place and so, devise strategies to avoid the possible detrimental aspects of ‘lock-in’ and understand when it may be beneficial to do so. This can help managers recognise that to be effective more attention needs to be paid to the process of managing and mobilizing IC.
Keywords – Intellectual Capital, IC Measurement and Reporting Systems, IC practices, Interventionist research, Case Study

Purpose: This empirical paper assesses the ability to leverage learning within a globally dispersed project environment facilitated by the web 2.0 technology of wiki. Extant research on the knowledge transfer within multinational firms emphasise exchange between HQ and subsidiaries. In contrast, recent developments in organizational learning theory suggest that learning occur at multiple levels; organizational-, group- and individual level. In this paper we explore this tension by empirically exploring the research question: How is social media utilized in the global organization in order to leverage local learning between dispersed individual experts?
Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on an exploratory, in-depth single case study of the implementation of an internal wiki in an international professional service firm.
Originality/value: The paper extends earlier research and shows how an international knowledge based organization can utilize web 2.0 technologies to leverage knowledge and experiences from multiple geographically dispersed projects, and how the effects of wiki can be conceived at an organization-, practice- and content level.
Practical implications: The findings identify four determinants of the use of the wiki to leverage local learning within a globally dispersed project environment. First, the wiki must directly relate to the daily work carried out in the organizations projects by offering interactive and updated information concerning current project challenges. Second, the system must enable transparency in the daily project work so that on going activities can be searched. Third, the intention with the search is of lesser degree to identify encyclopaedic information than it is to offering visualization of individual competence and expertise, and fourth there needs to be a sort of quality assurance of the data posted at the wiki.
Keywords: Knowledge leveraging, multinational firm, organizational capabilities, social media, sustained competitiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how knowledge workers from research institutions use social media tools for networking, information search, and idea generation. This paper aims to examine how social media may enrich the practices of knowledge transfer, knowledge management and creativity.
Design/methodology/approach – On the basis of structured interviews with knowledge workers from universities and public funded research institutes in Germany, the sources of information and inspiration in the course of idea generation as well as the impact of social media on creative processes are analysed.
Findings – The paper shows that most interviewees, who are heavily involved in creative processes, confirmed the utilisation of variable social media tools. They primarily use social networks to endure relationships with business acquaintances, to keep in touch with colleagues, partners and friends, which can be seen is first step in getting access to their knowledge base. Although, the study could not show that social media is explicitly important for knowledge acquisition or idea generation.
Research limitations/implications – Further research should include large-scale surveys to analyse causalities of the minor importance of social media in knowledge-intensive work fields. Upcoming research involving knowledge workers from other technological areas could help extracting effects caused by specialisation or industry-related influences.
Originality/value – The authors present insights on work principles of knowledge workers whose primary tasks are to exploit knowledge and to implement ideas.
Key words – Creativity, knowledge workers, social media, idea generation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore numerous new tools, which have been developed to track and capture customer preferences, behavioural patterns and attitudinal responses, in order to improve firm’s knowledge management (KM). In this way, authors present the most important determinants of a ‘unified’ approach to knowledge management and provide directions for further research.
Design/methodology/approach – We propose to develop and present a comprehensive framework for managing knowledge, which can be acquired from external sources with purpose of improving managerial outcomes. In this context, we place a special emphasis to the ‘social technologies’, such as social networking, corporate blogging, customer/brand virtual communities, etc. These tools represent novel sources for cultivating external information which affect all aspects of management process: from ideation and new product development which nowadays rely on co-creation with customers and open-source innovation; to process improvements and long-term relationship development with customers and other stakeholders.
Originality/value – Our approach brings together in a single framework management of both the external, customer-held knowledge, as well as internal sources of knowledge, examined by the traditional knowledge management discourse. It is based on an integration of relevant theories and practices from the fields of management and marketing, which provides an inter-disciplinary approach to knowledge management. Therefore, we propose that future research equates an organization’s market orientation to the fundamental activities of knowledge management, since this would also enable researchers to use the well-accepted tools, such as MARKOR scale/questionnaire for market orientation in a new research setting.
Practical implications – The outcomes of previous application of different tools, contributing to the ‘unified’ knowledge management approach are explored. In addition, potential practical benefits of such an approach are explored throughout three different dimensions: (a) managing credibility of peer-to-peer communication about an organization, its products, activities, etc.; (b) using social media as major, low-cost customer support channel; (c) making use of external knowledge sources to include customers’ input into the new product development as value co-creators.
Keywords – Knowledge management, Unified approach, Customer knowledge management

Purpose – The objective of the paper is to prove how it is possible to enhance relational capital in the football industry by proposing an innovative approach in the evaluation of football clubs and football players founded on their popularity on the social network. The research is directed in representing how the value created by social networks can be a determinant of relational capital value, by increasing strong and trustworthy relationships, especially, with young clients.
Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a qualitative and quantitative approach. Following the analysis of existing literature on intellectual capital and on social media, research has been across two analyses. The first analysis has been carried out by international professional football clubs on which popularity on social networks may have an important influence. The second objective is to check whether the economic value of footballers is taken from the total of human capital value and their value of relational capital developed through new digital platforms. Empirical research aims at proving the correlation that exists between the decisive factors indicated above.
Originality/value – The methodology puts in evidence the existence of economic opportunities, deriving from the management of web platforms, especially with reference to the needs of managers to take advantage of competences deriving from the social media to transform fans and followers in consumers. The analysis configures future research through the integration of social networks impact in the evaluation formula of relational capital of professional football clubs and players, with reference to their transfer prices.
Practical implications – From a comparison carried out with the sales’ value of a sample of clubs belonging to the Top 30 ranking, drawn up by Deloitte in the Football Money League 2014 Report, and their level of popularity on social networks, research investigates into the existence of a correlation between sales of football clubs and the number of fans present on the web platforms. The aim is to prove that social networks are indicators of the relational capital value. Using the same approach, the analysis focuses on the transfer prices of a sample of footballers playing in the most important European League clubs.
Keywords – relational capital, new media, social networks, football clubs, football players

Purpose – The development of smart cities has become a topic of huge interest in the academic and public debate (e.g. Albino et al. 2013; Bouton et al. 2013; ISTAT 2013). Specifically, scholars have highlighted the critical role that smart cities exert to improve the quality of life of their citizens (Lombardi et al. 2012; Ballas 2013). Therefore, the present study aims at shedding further light to this emerging issue, by providing empirical evidence on the factors which affect quality of life in smart cities. The focus is on the effects that environmental management may have on quality of life.
Design/methodology/approach – This study is divided into two phases. The former consisted of a literature review about smart cities, their objectives, and implemented solutions. The latter analysed the influences exerted by two smart city characteristics, smart environment and smart energy, on a third characteristic, smart living (Giffinger et al. 2007). To this aim, we collected data regarding 133 different indicators referred to the city of Bari in Italy. To this purpose we used different data sources, among which ISTAT, ENEL, TERNA, Sole 24ore, and Legambiente. Then, we tested correlations between smart environment and smart living indicators as well as between smart energy and smart living ones.
Originality/value – Literature has widely discussed the influence of mobility on pollution (e.g., Anderson, 1998; Wilson and Chakraborty, 2013), or how new sustainable mobility favours environment protection (e.g. Kenworthy, 2009; La Greca et al., 2011) and better health conditions (e.g., Karvonen et al., 1999; ISTAT, 2013). Nevertheless, the interactions between living conditions of cities and other factors, such energy and environmental management, have been scantly investigated. In this line of inquiry, only some empirical evidences have underlined the problems perceived in more sustainable cities (e.g. Southworth and Ben-Joseph, 2004; Yang 2008). Hence, we investigated the elements of energy and environmental management which influence the citizens’ quality of life.
Practical implications – This study provides interesting policy implications to enhance quality of life in smart cities. Specifically, we identified energy and environmental indicators having the greatest number of significant correlations with smart living indicators. Some of them are the consumption of water for domestic use, the number of pollutants, the separate collection of rubbish, and the consumption of electricity.
Keywords – smart city, quality of life, environment, energy

Purpose – We aim to describe how knowledge is collected in smart cities contexts and projects as knowledge management is pivotal to support strategic decision-making (Lee et al., 2013). We want to depict the set of knowledge and other resources collected (van den Hooff, de Ridder, 2004) and coordinated in smartization processes. We analyse the paths leading to the continuous improvement of the knowledge available thanks to partners involved (Lee et al., 2013) to identify how to create a potential set to improve cities’ management. We propose a model to describe knowledge collecting and mixing towards new knowledge generation (Wiig, 1997).
Design/methodology/approach – We found 144 projects launched in recent years through the recognition of activities carried on and reported by industry players and Institutions when partnering local agencies in smartization; we selected the ones started at least in 2010, in order to opt for relevant information. To prevent the analysis of projects based just on episodic interventions, we focused on projects involving at least two of the smartization domains. Hence we had a final list of case studies (Yin, 2003), composed by 19 projects in different cities. These cases took into account cities from Europe, America, Asia, and Oceania.
Originality/value – The most important models useful to describe the interactions emerging in smart cities contexts are based on actors. Among them there are the triple (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff, 2008), quadruple (Lombardi et al., 2011) and quintuple (Carayannis et al., 2012) helices paying attention to the involvement of different actors as carriers of resources, without a focus on them. In our perspective the focus on resources is pivotal, leading to a more complex model useful to describe the different and several kinds of resources needed – with particular reference to knowledge – and the phases to combine them in a process.
Practical implications – The model we want to propose can allow the definition of a particular set of resources, to be considered as necessary in smartization processes. Knowledge has to be considered as embedded in territories (Komninos, 2006), thus the analysis of empirical evidences lead us to reflect on customization for each city; by the way knowledge and the other resources are combined to favour the implementation of model and the circulation (Anttiroiko et al., 2013) of new knowledge can be favoured. This last outcome can allow the improvement of smart performances; hence new knowledge generation can catalyze better results.
Keywords – smart cities, knowledge, resources, smartization

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate learning processes in organizations characterised by a corporate culture (Hellriegel et al., 2004; Harrison and Stokes, 1992) that might be labelled “play culture”. The paper explores the extent to which a “playful approach” might generate and affect learning processes among organizational members. The paper aims to show that a playful culture is able to support both generative learning processes and double loop ones. It explores how the design of physical spaces intersects with a ‘play culture’ and how this impacts on socialization processes and the enhancement of knowledge creation.
Design/methodology/approach – The article research design is based on a case study approach. The paper focuses on a project named “Play Factory”, developed since 2008 by an Italian small firm (Loccioni Group). Our case study is based on a mixed method approach consisting of three main sources of data: 1. Interviews with organization managers that have implemented the Play Factory; 2. Participant observations, where the researcher becomes part of the everyday working life; 3. Archive documents (annual reports, etc.) from the company. The benefit of this type of inquiry is that it permits a detailed understanding of the phenomenon through a richer data collection
Originality/value – The article wants to fill a gap in the current organization studies literature, in order to further investigate the relation between play culture and learning. Indeed, traditional literature has focused on a description of learning characteristics, whilst less has been done to understand which types of tools enhance learning processes. The analysis shows that in some organizational contexts, play can become a powerful tool. A culture of play can be conducive of generative learning processes, thus shaping working practices.
Practical implications – This papers shows the effects of “play culture” on learning processes, along with their physical and spatial consequences and expressions. Indeed a “play approach”, especially if synergized with other interventions oriented to create BA architectures, seems to help organizations to become physical places that stimulate knowledge creation and SECI process triggering and enhancement. Finally, starting with this successful case, it would be possible to show the importance of play culture in supporting creative intelligence inside organizations. It would be then possible to draw some conclusions that can be extended to other organizations, especially regarding the relationship between play culture and generative learning.
Keywords – Organizational learning, Ba, Play culture, Play organization, Sustainability