The purpose of this research is to highlight the need for effective knowledge exchange in intra-organisational contexts in relation to promoting innovation in the development and implementation of regional cultural strategies. This paper presents the first part of an ongoing comparative research project. The first case study (presented here) is based on Aberdeen City Council, the local government authority covering the City of Aberdeen in Scotland. The need for this research is driven by an acknowledgement of the relatively isolated positioning of ‘culture’ within public sector bodies and the potential impact of this position on the wider cultural sector. The research employed a comparative case study approach to highlight comparison between the case study organisations, and to develop an understanding of the impacts of those comparative factors. A review of the relevant literature was conducted to refine the research questions and identify gaps in the literature. A purposive sample of employees was invited to participate in a survey questionnaire. Secondary literature produced by employees for internal and external use was also consulted to enrich the primary data. Primary and secondary data was thematically analysed to generate relevant findings. The research shows that while there is the relevant expertise, a recognised need and genuine desire to exchange knowledge within the organisation in support of the development and implementation of cultural strategies, these are hampered by a range of factors including: the perceived value of the concept of culture; the value and support for cultural initiatives; and the development and maintenance of meaningful relationships. These factors impact on the production of innovative cultural strategies, and concomitantly on the effectiveness and sustainability of regional arts and cultural sector initiatives and organisations, as well as the individuals therein. It is anticipated that this research will be of interest to practitioners in cultural strategy development. In addition to highlighting barriers and enablers of knowledge exchange for cultural strategy development, the research also emphasises the need for a more rigorous attempts to define the culture of concept is contextually meaningful ways, to emphasise the value of culture at regional levels, and to develop a lexicon for cultural activities which can be used in multi-partner initiatives.

Purpose – This study presents some evidence of an ongoing research on smart city platforms. Our analysis is part of the Italian research project OR.C.HE.S.T.R.A (ORganization of Cultural HEritage for Smart Tourism and Real-time Accessibility) meant to develop a crowdsourcing community in the city of Naples (Italy). Successful crowdsourcing solutions require activities that both fulfill the communities administrators’ needs and — by utilizing various motivation mechanisms — account for individual contributors’ needs. Thus, understanding and analyzing the incentives that spur users to contribute are critical to designing crowdsourcing applications (Cuel and Zamarian, 2014). In this study we set up a field experiment, in order to understand which types of incentives are useful to engage users to produce contents for OR.C.HE.S.T.R.A and better address a specific behavior. Methodology – In order to understand the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with respect to individual behaviours, we administrate a questionnaire to university students related to their education and cultural background and consumptions, and social status, their internet usages, and we follow their behaviour on the OR.C.HE.S.T.R.A community. We explore through multivariate methods the characteristics of our users looking for clusters. Furthermore through our hypothesis we test the impact of the two different motivations taking into account some of the relevant individual behaviours. Originality/value – Our contribution is to provide reflections on extrinsic and intrinsic incentive mechanisms, in order to explore the extent to which incentives are able to engage and to motivate users in community building processes. Second, through the field experiment we shed light on a partly jagged topic and we provide some normative suggestions on how to design a crowdsourcing application. In particular, we try to explain results and emerging issue needed to create a model of incentive mechanisms that could be used in the OR.C.HE.S.T.R.A web platform. Practical implications – OR.C.HE.S.T.R.A falls within the field “Smart Culture and Tourism” and is part of several valorisation projects of the city of Naples. The community aims to be a benchmark of the production of UGC, the engage of the crowd and the users interaction. Many touristic and cultural communities began huge business all over the world thanks to user-generated contents. In fact over the years it has become clear that users handle the review tool for the destinations they visit or for commercial products and services, and for supporting or criticizing the hospitality of some structures.

Purpose – New business models emerged within the creative industries when advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) altered the patterns of cultural consumption worldwide. Digital technologies altered the way creative products were created, produced, reproduced, distributed, and commercialised at national and international levels. In the face of the continual emergence of digital disruptions, the traditional, existing sector is failing to rapidly enough adapt. The purpose of the paper is to provide a better understanding of an emerging framework for the transformation of incumbent cultural and creative enterprises in a digital age, called The AmbITion Approach. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical work developed The AmbITion Approach into a framework for business transformation in a digital age: blending participatory action research methods with modern management consultancy tools and design and creative practices. Digital research tools for inquiry were designed and prototyped, tested by a pilot study, and then embedded in a longitudinal study over two years of twenty-one participant organisations from Scotland’s creative sector. Detailed grounded thematic analysis of the data corpus was undertaken, along with analysis of rich media case studies produced by enterprises about their change journeys. Empirical work also introduced to the framework Coghlan and Rashford’s change categories. Originality/value – These enabled the description of the extent to which organisations developed: whether they experienced first order (change), second order (adaptation) or third order (transformation) change. The results of studies on participants, and validation criteria applied to the results, have demonstrated the approach triggers second and third order change. It is suitable for incumbent creative businesses to apply within the continuing landscape of digital disruption. However, all sectors face ongoing digital disruption. Practical implications – Management consultancy practices, and business strategy academics have called for new, empirically tried and tested, strategy development frameworks and toolkits, fit for a digital age. The concepts, methods, toolkits, and processes of The AmbITion Approach have been validated in the field as a new framework for business transformation for creative industries in a digital age. The findings justify provocations on current UK government creative economy policies. Governments must improve digital/economic development policy to better support incumbent, traditional creative enterprises providing cultural value, if they are to survive.

Purpose – We test whether demand-pull environmental measures, introduced with the 1997 Commission White Paper and following Directives, had an impact on the fragmentation of EU research and innovation effort in the strategic field of renewable energy. By focusing on knowledge spillovers, we study the pattern and evolution of knowledge flows within the EU and between the EU and two frontier innovators: the United States and Japan. This research question is motivated by increased concern that the fragmentation of EU renewable energy research and innovation systems may hamper the ability to address climate challenges at socially acceptable costs. Design/methodology/approach – Following a well-established tradition, we measure the intensity and the direction of knowledge flows by looking at patent citations. We use the EP_CRIOS database to collect information on EPO patent applications in renewable energy technologies by inventors residing in the US, Japan and the EU15, between 1985 and 2010. Since the number of citations depends on countries’ characteristics and on the total number of patents, the analysis focuses on the probability of citations, estimated with a double exponential lag model, as proposed in Jaffe and Trajtenberg (1999), which allows to control for several factors affecting the likelihood of citation. Originality/value – This is the first work studying the fragmentation of EU technological space in the renewable energy sector and examining whether environmental policies can contribute to a strengthening of knowledge networks in this area. Our results suggest that after 1997 Member States’ national innovation systems have evolved towards a more integrated innovation space at the EU level. Environmental policies seem to have pushed the EU to become a frontier innovator, since the EU15’s role as a source of knowledge for the US increased. However, innovative activity at EU level is still poorly integrated if compared to the American and Japanese systems. Practical implications – The redesign of EU renewable energy policy will benefit from a clearer understanding of the links between research and innovative activities across Member States and of their evolution over time. Grasping whether environmental policy can contribute to a strengthening of knowledge networks, lowering the costs of climate mitigation and the burden for firm’s competitiveness, is hence a relevant question for both researchers and policy makers. This study also offers insights for the design and the implementation of specific technology-push initiatives for the renewable energy sector, such as those envisaged by the 2008 SET-PLAN and the 2015 Energy Union package.

Purpose – This paper concerns the adoption of the industrial symbiosis at the urban level as a tool to improve their environmental sustainability. Accordingly, urban wastes can be valued in new products or energy, able to reduce the amount of wastes landfilled and the amount of inputs purchased from external sources. In particular, we focus on small cities. We are interested to identify which urban features are able to influence the amount of produced urban wastes that can become inputs for processes of industrial symbiosis. As urban features, we take into account household features and the economic and productive structure of cities. Design/methodology/approach – We adopted a multiple case study approach for six small municipalities located in the Alto Bradano Area (South Italy). For each municipality, we collected data of produced urban wastes which can be used for symbiotic processes. In particular, we analyze the influence of two kinds of urban features: i) socio-economic parameters reflecting household features; ii) the area of non-residential activities, which we consider a proxy for the economic and productive structure of cities. Originality/value – This paper spreads new light on the industrial symbiosis application at the urban level. Differently from previous studies about waste production, we focused on small cities and we analyzed the effect of the economic and productive structure of cities on the amount of urban wastes. The value of this work lies in the identification of which urban features should be considered in evaluating the implementation of symbiotic projects at the urban level. Practical implications – This study provides interesting managerial implications about the industrial symbiosis approach at the urban level. In particular, the present work can offer a useful guide to define the symbiotic loops that could be significant for a city.

In this anthropocene era, the complexity of the problems generated by human beings present to all but the most optimistic a dead-end. We have yet to find convincing solutions to the problems necessary to heal our world. Our ability to think, understand and most importantly act on today’s major global issues remains attenuated. What knowledge do we need and how should we learn in order to act? Thinking in a systemic way, we see education as a crucial entry point to any deep change in the social and human dynamics. Therefore, we are embarking on creating a transformational journey, of ourselves, and the world. The aim of the project is to contribute to design and facilitate a creative experience-based learning space supporting individual and collective transformation. In coherence with a holistic worldview, where creativity is the basis of social ontology and complexity its epistemology, we initiate a philosophical project that will draw from several sources of knowledge to create a socially innovative process from which social innovations will emerge. We consider that this process must necessarily be reflexive and responsive, and in this sense partly mirror the changes we intend to disseminate. The key assumption that forms the basis of the project is: that transformational change occurs interdependently, and thus to transform the world, we need to transform ourselves and vice versa. This paper presents the project, its meta theoretical ground, initial guiding principles and emerging prototype. Design/methodology/approach – We propose a participative collective arts- and design-based approach to creating a learning space (also referred to as ‘container’), both on a virtual platform and in presence. Originality/value – This methodology puts in evidence the role of artistic creative processes in creating learning spaces in which art-based learning methods, and arts as a creative means to learn about complexity, transformation processes, the self, the commons, and social innovation as key elements are mobilised. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application are a prototype of a learning space and process, which constitute a contribution to renew and/or provide a rich alternative to institutional education programs. It aims at sustaining the development of knowledge and competencies necessary to develop in order to be able to evolve individually and collectively and innovate socially. Each outcome will be subject to a creative strategic process aimed at storyboarding the journey from prototype to sustainable enterprise.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out a literature review on collective mindfulness and identify the key conditions and processes under which it can be developed within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Systematic analysis of published empirical studies and theoretical models about mindfulness in organizational contexts. The summary of analysis is listed below. Collective mindfulness, defined by Weick et al. (1999) as the “capability to induce a rich awareness of discriminatory detail and a capacity for action” is a fundamental resource for effectively respond to environment changes (Tsoukas and Chia, 2002; Levinthal and Rerup, 2006; Weick and Sutcliffe, 2006). If so, in an ever-changing environment to promote collective mindfulness is to develop and support a crucial key to organizational success and survival. Therefore, one might ask what can organizations do to cultivate collective mindfulness? What are the fundamental conditions under which it emerges? The body of literature on collective mindfulness describes two different ways of fostering mindfulness within organizations. One answer rests in Weick’s and colleagues (Langer 1989 and Weick et al. 1999) theory about mindfulness in High Reliable Organizations (HRO). In this approach mindfulness is promoted through processes of improving quality and quantity of attention towards work processes and organizational environment. A different answer argues that artistic processes can also promote collective and individual mindfulness, by removing objects from the automatism of perception, by defamiliarizing predominant beliefs and assumptions and allowing people to “see more” and “see differently” (Langer 1989, 2005; Barry & Meisiek, 2010. Moreover, art as one of the most important ways of expression of human feelings and values can provide processes and tools to approach emotional dynamics and aesthetic aspects within organization, which are also expected to broaden people’s perception and people’s willingness to be open to new ways doing things (Schiuma, 2011; Barry, 1994; Barry, 1996; Berthoin Antal, 2009). Originality – We integrate into a single model of mindfulness in organizations, two separate and apparently disparate theories about mindfulness in organizations which hitherto have been developed separately (Arts and High Reliability Organizations). Practical implications – The most important implication is to identify the key conditions and processes under which collective mindfulness can be developed within organizations.

This paper addresses the current state of work and its adherence to free market principles that override considerations of culture and sustainability at the local levels. It posits that globalisation encourages fragmentation and dislocation of the senses by emphasising the visual bias through disembodied structures and communication. In a globalised economy guided by free market principles, it is the systems that matter rather than the individuals using the systems. The visual bias reinforces this favouring of the systemic and programmed over the holistic and organic. The creative work proposed here attempts to address this imbalance by creating zones of intensity in and around areas of work. These areas of artistic production/installation/performance would operate on the informal level of cultural transmission, as set out by Edward T. Hall in his theory of culture, where cultural knowledge and assimilation happen on three distinct but porous levels that can influence each other: the informal, the formal, and the technical. “Zone of intensity” is a term coined by Russell West-Pavlov and deployed by Darko Radovic to address the visual bias of urban planning. By researching spaces through the artistic inquiry of dérive from the Situationists and encouraging modes of recording those investigations through artistic forms such as drawing and poetry, Radovic champions the importance of the subjective in expressing the meaning of spaces. This notion is a key focus point of the work presented here to give equal weight and importance to the qualitative (experience) as that of the quantitative (data) in designing spaces, assigning function to those spaces, and creating the organisational structures for people to live and work in those spaces.

Purpose –This paper aims to address the question of the innovation propensity of family firms relative to non-family firms, within an institutional setting characterized by a high proportion of listed family firms. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of family and non-family firms listed on the Milan Stock Exchange over a period of 6 years (2008-2013), we empirically test the two alternative hypotheses of “innovation enhancing” and “innovation stifling” by performing a multiple regression analysis. Following previous research, we use firm-level R&D expenditures to capture the firms’ creative and inventive activities. As independent variables, we consider the family involvement in ownership and management. We control our results for a set of control variables that likely affect the firm innovation propensity, namely: firm age; growth opportunities; capital intensity; size; profitability, cash flow, leverage and industry. Originality/value – This study analyzes the innovation strategies of family firms compared with non-family firms, within an institutional setting characterized by a high presence of listed family firms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study analyzing the R&D spending behaviour of all Italian listed companies (financial and football firms excluded). Our empirical results are based on a sample of 982 firm-year observations covering the period of 2008–2013. Practical implications – The findings may lead the investment community to reevaluate the effectiveness of management policies adopted by family members running the company. In particular, our results are valuable to investors and other stakeholders, suggesting that in setting characterized by high percentage of listed family firms, the involvement of family members in top management could not be detrimental to the value-maximization of the firm, at least in the long run; thereby favoring not only the future well-being for family members but also for other firm stakeholders.

Purpose – Organizations are competing on intangible resources. In order to support management processes, some organizations are establishing methodologies to evaluate their Intellectual Capital. Since the beginning of the millennium, various approaches were suggested and some of them supported with large public funds to get promoted and implemented. In order to raise awareness, some institutions offer to audit Intellectual Capital Reports. This article compares experiences of evaluating the performance of IC Management in different contexts of specialization and identifies strengths and weaknesses of audits as a means to improve legitimacy for ICR. Additionally, this article covers the challenge of how to address the new requirements of the quality management guideline in ISO 9001 in Intellectual Capital Reporting and Management. Design/methodology/approach – Because of the inherent strategic importance of Intellectual Capital Reports, public availability of documents is low. Hence, an alternative, action-research-oriented approach is chosen, even though this might result in some limitations of generality or bias. Building on literature (Mertins, 2008; Wang 2012) as well as vast practical experience from teaching and consulting projects, the authors reviewed recent developments in auditing ICRs as a means to increase legitimacy. This article focuses on case anecdotic evidence lessons learned on auditing Intellectual Capital reports and relates the finding to the suggestions of the to be released new guideline for ISO 9001. Originality/value – Four years after establishing audit guidelines for Intellectual Capital Reports, a review of initial experiences seems to be quite interesting for the science community. This article focuses on empirical experiences based on narratives from case studies and reflects on quality and audit issues with special emphasis on “Intellectual Capital Reporting – made in Germany”. Practical implications – The discussion on reporting on intangibles gained popularity with the initiatives of “global reporting” as well as “integrated reporting” or quality management in general. Audits or “testimonies” on Intellectual Capital Reports in a general interpretation therefore will find a growing market for various reasons. Additionally, the new requirements for quality management in ISO 9001 address these challenges of managing intangibles and thus will have an impact on almost all part of the business community. This paper concludes with some recommendations to be as well as requirements for audits on ICS as a challenge for further research.

Purpose – Firstly, the aim of our paper is to analyze the level of disclosure with reference to many corporate stakeholders of a representative sample of listed companies.In particular, we have verified the disclosure about the following: customers, suppliers, competitors, institutions, environment, community, human capital and corporate governance and financial lenders. Secondly, we tried to highlight the trend over time of stakeholders’ related disclosure, also considering both the effects of the crisis and the introduction of the Legislative Decree n. 32/2007 which led to the amendment of Article 2428 of Italian Civil Code (which is the body of rules on the preparation of financial statements). Such provisions introduced for the first time in Italy, although in voluntary terms, further information than those financial in the managers’ report. Design/methodology/approach – As for the first contribute, unlike previous works put in the mainflow “voluntary disclosure literature”, our study does not dwell only on the analysis of mandatory annual documents but on all corporate documents: annual and consolidated financial statements, management, sustainability and corporate governance reports. For each stakeholder, we determined an index comparing the number of items disclosed by the company to the maximum number of items selected. As for the second contribute, we carried out this analysis with reference to the years 2006, 2009 and 2012 in order to describe the effects of the disclosure before and after the introduction of the above mentioned legislation. Originality/value – To our knowledge, this is the first study on voluntary disclosure that compute all the stakeholders, by following the “broad” approach of the Stakeholder Theory, as different dimensions of the corporate disclosure. It is also the first study in Italy that assigns an index to the disclosure released by company per each stakeholder, in order to make comparisons between different subject to which the disclosure is related. Practical implications – As we said previously, it is a first step for the comprehension of the behavior of listed companies in releasing information about all corporate stakeholders, in order to conclude whether and which of these stakeholders would seem to gain or to lose from the disclosure made by firms.

Purpose – The research presented in this report measures and analyzes the key dimensions of creative economy and society in Balkan countries by using data regarding the “3Ts” framework proposed by professor Richard Florida in the book the Rise of the Creative Class. Creativity is recognized as an economic driver for generating wealth and employment, sustainable development of world cities, technological changes, scientific and business innovation, personal and social development and enhancement of competitiveness of firms, enterprises, individual cities and countries which would shed light on how we live in the 21st century (Landry, 2000; DCMS, 2004, 2002, 2001, Howkins, 2001). The creative economy is considered as a leading component of economic growth, especially for developing countries, able to create and circulate intellectual capital, to generate income, employment, innovation and trade earnings while at the same time promoting cultural diversity, social inclusion and human development. It consists on those activities based on creativity, individual talent and skill and that have the potential to create jobs and wealth through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property (DCMS, 2003). In realizing a creative economy three key pillars are needed to be developed and sustained: talent, technology and innovation, and the social context. Design/methodology/approach – the methodology used in this study consists on using the dataset of World Economic Forum, British council and other national datasets to extract those data that provide the measures for the creative economy. We aim to provide a snapshot of the state of the art of creative economy of Balkan countries and their dynamics in time, by focalizing on three main elements: talent, technology and social context. Originality/value – This methodology puts in evidence the dynamics and the potentialities of Balkan countries to progress toward a creative, by exploiting their knowledge based assets of countries as key sources of competencies and capabilities that are deemed essential for economic growth and competitive advantage. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application is to provide a snapshot of the progress of Balkan countries toward the Creative economy and based on that define some policy implications and recommendations for further development.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute at the discussion on the corporate entrepreneurship by providing evidences on the adoption of a collaborative entrepreneurial learning approach to enhance the entrepreneurial practices of companies. More in depth, the paper will discuss and evaluate a coherent methodology to promote corporate entrepreneurship by transforming the creative thinking of young talents (university students and post-graduated), into valuable products/services/process or organisational renewal. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology adopted a longitudinal extreme case study, the Project “Mimprendo” (www.mimprendo.it) case, an initiative promoted and managed by the Italian Association of Young Entrepreneurs and the Conference of the University Colleges in collaboration with some universities and the primary enrolment of students. Originality/value – The collective entrepreneurship approach has been successfully supported and implemented by Mimprendo to sustain and promote entrepreneurial spirit development in companies using the strength of the collective idea and creativity of young talents to generate, select, and implement innovations in companies starting from their ideas. Practical implications – The study provides theoretical implications for future studies as well as practical implications for universities and companies.

Purpose – With increased globalization trends, more companies operate internationally and are compelled to appreciate the importance as well as complexity of cultural diversity (CD), and consequently take up the challenge of managing it appropriately. Studies on multicultural management in organizations recognize the relevance of CD and the positive relationship between diversity and corporate performance. However, only a paucity of literature addresses the issue of CD and its value for innovative firms. We strongly believe that CD is a key driver for innovation. Based on this assumption, our paper aims to highlight the relationship between CD and innovation, and pinpointing the role of how knowledge is managed towards the enhancement of innovation. The paper also aims to identify some effective policies for managing CD in the service of promoting innovative behavior. Methodology – This study is based on an inductive approach according to which, proposing specific company experiences, one may try to draw more general considerations. The paper initially comprehensively reviews the existing literature on management of CD within organizations. Thereafter, an analysis of the experiences of three innovative and competitive companies that operate internationally has been conducted. To collect data we consulted secondary sources and the websites of each company. The data collection will provide target information on the approach and the policies adopted by companies to deal with success CD in terms of innovation. Integrating the literature analysis with the data collection, we propose a conceptual framework to explain the links between CD and knowledge management (KM), and the ways in which they impact upon innovativeness. Originality – This paper highlights the value of CD for innovative firms and how it can promote the ability of companies to expand their knowledge horizons in order to promote and support innovativeness. Practical implications – The proposal of a conceptual framework that links CD, KM and innovation, and the analysis of some business experiences that can be a benchmark in the field, can yield important insights for management. Enhancing management awareness and appreciation of corporate orientation to CD, may have significant implications in terms of innovation and human resources.

Purpose – The paper aims at analysing the role of culture in open innovation processes supported by open innovation intermediaries, mainly from a seeker’s point of view, creating a new framework linking open innovation processes and open innovation intermediaries based on different types of knowledge. Design/Methodology/Approach – Starting from the assumption that culture matters in the knowledge transfer processes, we relied on extant literature on open innovation processes, open innovation intermediaries, and types of knowledge to build a new framework to understand which open innovation intermediary types are more suited to support the different open innovation processes supported by intermediaries and how they can help firms in overcoming cultural barriers. Originality/Value – The role of culture in open innovation has already been studied, though not in relation with its processes. Moreover, culture has not been analysed when open innovation intermediaries support open innovation processes. In order to fill this gap in literature, our paper focuses on the support that different types of open innovation intermediaries could give in overcoming the cultural barriers more likely to occur when implementing different open innovation knowledge transfer processes. Practical Implications –The framework built can help seekers to overcome cultural barriers, to open up their internal R&D activities, and to improve their innovation processes by taking advantage of external knowledge sources, choosing the right open innovation intermediary type, and making its support fully effective.

Purpose – The goal of our research is to highlight the role of creativity within the fashion sector and its importance in entrepreneurship issues in general as well. Design/methodology/approach – Our analysis of the fashion sector in Montreal is based on participant observations (Peneff, 1996) and a survey which was conducted from 2009 to 2013 by semi-structured and open interviews (approximately sixty, 28 designers and 32 Intermediate Sectorial& Intersectorial Actors). The study was based on interviews and internal data (reports, corporate documents, press articles, etc.). The interviews lasted between one hour and half to two hours each, and were done in four rounds, then fully transcribed. The first round is based on a guide to trace the trajectories of Emerging Designer (ED) (semi-structured interviews); the second round takes place in open interviews aimed to collect the story of Renowned Designer (RD) and pioneers (DP) (Bernier, Perrault, 1987).The third round follows a guide developed towards Intermediate Sectorial Actors (ISA), Intermediate Intersectorial Actors (IIAS) and Political Intermediaries (IP) (semi-structured interviews). Finally, the fourth round follows a guide geared towards Intermediate Promoter Industry (IPI) representatives (semi-structured interviews). We triangulated data (Royer, 2007) from our various sources (interviews, official documents, information in social networks including Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Originality/value – Our study seeks to demonstrate that the creativity of local actors contributes largely to entrepreneurship and local development, and this creativity development responds to the needs of territories to distinguish themselves from one another. Practical implications – This study situates itself within an ongoing attempt in Quebec, where for several years the actors and intermediaries, political as well as from civil society, have thought together and sought the establishment of a local metropolitan cluster of fashion in which creativity and innovation are encouraged.

Research in economics and social sciences has established that innovation has a territorial dimension which determines its dynamics. Therefore, companies may be more or less innovative depending on the characteristics of the territory where they are established or embedded. (Tremblay et al, 2010;. Matteaccioli and Muriel, 2007; Camagni and Maillat, 2006; Maskell, 2001; Porter, 1990). In recent years, the concept of industrial cluster has attracted interest and investment. Inspired by Michael Porter, the term cluster refers to a geographic concentration of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, related industries and associated institutions in a particular field, also called intermediate bodies. They are not only in competition, but they cooperate together and support firms in training, financing, etc. In our article, we focus on the contributions of close relationships or networks to knowledge development, innovation and business management by relying on a survey of corporate actors in the field of information technology (IT) and mainly multimedia. We will analyze in particular the role of intermediary organizations and their impact on the knowledge development and innovation process of companies in the sector, and their role in entrepreneurship development, including incubator activities. Purpose – The goal of our research is to highlight the role of intermediary bodies, their roles in training or supporting learning in the workplace, as well as the development of companies, in entrepreneurship development in IT and multimedia. We also wanted to identify the role of proximity and to determine if relational or physical proximity is more important. Do firms need to be close to each other physically in order to develop cooperation, entrepreneurship and innovation ? Or is relational proximity, exchanges and interactions, more important? Design/methodology/approach –We conducted a study of the computer industry, multimedia and video game based on the consultation of the literature and semi-structured interviews with representatives of the sector between 2009 and 2015. Interviews with representatives companies focused on their vision of intermediary organizations, innovation policies and their contribution to innovation in the Montreal economy and their business. We achieved a good sixty interviews over the years, but retain here a set of 23 interviews, the latest interviews, which focus more on knowledge development and training, enterprise collaboration and competitiveness of the IT sector. The interviews were all transcribed, coded and analyzed in depth. Not to reveal the identity of the companies surveyed, we indicate that about half were in the area of video games, or more broadly interactive services and digital media (video games often providers), while others are in the broader IT sector. Originality/value – Our study seeks to demonstrate that there is an ongoing effort to value and promote the importance of knowledge development and cooperation for development of the IT, gaming and multimedia industry. We highlight the importance of the concept of cluster, and the determining effect of its dynamics. Practical implications – This study situates itself within an ongoing attempt in Quebec, where for several years the actors and intermediaries, political as well as from civil society, have thought together and sought the establishment of a local metropolitan cluster of fashion in which creativity and innovation are encouraged.

Purpose – Visual modeling is a powerful tool for knowledge sharing, design thinking and decision making. There are many methods for visual modeling, but the selection of the right ones – is not evident for non-specialist. The authors previously suggested the approach for diagram classification and selection based on a semantic analysis, which links various knowledge types (know-what, know-how, etc.) with corresponding diagram type. The current paper provides and illustrates the resulting method for knowledge diagram classification and selection. The case-study shows the selection and usage of different diagram types within organizational development project in marketing domain of a medium-sized repair service company. Design/methodology/approach – the paper is in line with design science research – a research paradigm in which a researcher answers questions relevant to human problems via the creation of innovative artifacts, thereby contributing new knowledge to the body of scientific evidence (Hevner, Chatterjee, 2010). As Moody (Moody, 2003) and Rescher (Rescher, 1977) emphasized, the validity of a method can only be established by applicative success in practice. The authors demonstrate the use of the method to solve practical problem, so case study was used (Hevner, Chatterjee, 2010). This study involved project document analysis and interviews with project participants. Originality/value –The suggested case study for marketing domain of the medium-sized repair service company demonstrates relevance and applicability of a novel method for knowledge diagram classification and selection. This demonstration also helps to clarify how to use the method and gives directions for future research. Practical implications –The method and its demonstration helps manager to understand the potential of knowledge diagrams, to select and apply diagrams more effectively, to structure complex situations systemically and to shape future prospects clearly.

Purpose – This article examines the relation between knowledge management (KM) driven leadership, culture and innovation success of knowledge-intensive small and medium sized companies. By building on the previously reported research on leadership, culture, innovation, and knowledge management, we synergistically integrated KM-driven leadership and innovation success while exploring the meditational role of culture in that. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model comprising three constructs was developed, namely KM-driven leadership, culture and innovation-based success of the company. To examine the conceptual model, quantitative research was conducted among selected companies from the SMEs offering knowledge-intensive business services. The companies were contacted by telephone and interviews were carried out with 111 key informants. The data was later analysed with exploratory and confirmatory statistical methods. We applied structural equation modelling techniques (SEM) with Mplus 7.2 software package to investigate the effects of KM-driven leadership on culture, and consequently its effect on innovation-based success of the company. To investigate the meditational role of culture between KM-driven leadership and innovation-based success of the company a post-hoc analysis was undertaken. Originality/value – On the basis of the previous studies analysis, the following research gap has been identified. How does leadership based on knowledge management influences the innovation success of companies and what is the role of culture in this relation? By answering this question, the study contributes to the building of literature on the above topic twofold. First, it analyses the influence of KM-driven leadership in the creation of organizational culture, which in turn contributes to the innovation success of the company. Second, this research pioneers in that it explores the meditational role of culture among KM-driven leadership and innovation success. The results of the mediation analysis confirm that culture fully mediates the relationship of KM-driven leadership with innovation success. Practical implications – The paper proves the relation between KM-oriented leadership, culture and innovation-based success of the company. The analysis of the conceptual model confirms that culture mediates the relationship of leadership with innovation success. It highly contributes to the understanding of these phenomena in the context of small and medium-sized companies offering knowledge-intensive business services – still a topic at its early stage of research. The study also shows that KM-oriented leadership is a very important factor helping in the achievement of innovation success by companies. The relationships examined indicate the potential areas on which SME managers and executives should concentrate to achieve better innovation results.

Purpose – The main aim of this paper is to provide a taxonomy of knowledge management systems and investigate the alignment between the intensity of use of relevant tools and practices supporting small and medium enterprises in the process of knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a literature review on knowledge management systems in SMEs, which allows to identity two research questions that are addressed through a face-to-face survey carried out in a sample of SMEs operating in high-tech industries such as aerospace, engineering, ICT, management training and consulting. Originality/value – In the literature there is not a common definition of knowledge management system but a variety of definitions. The main value of the paper is to explore and systematise the existing literature on knowledge management systems and provides a novel definition that includes both the IT-based tools and the organisation practices. In addition, the paper provides empirical evidences on knowledge management tools and practices adopted in SMEs and highlights the level of alignment between tools and practices. Practical implications – From the practical point of view the paper shows the difficulties that SMEs have to be responsive to the rapid technological changes as well as the lack of support from ICT vendors in the decision making process for choosing adequate knowledge management tools. From the SMEs point of view, this paper has highlighted that small firms could further increase the impact of knowledge management by better exploiting the opportunity offered by the new ICTs (such as, cloud computing, crowdsourcing system collaborative filtering, wiki, etc.). From KMSs provider point of view, this paper has stressed that SMEs typically do not have dedicated resources to monitor the process of innovation in the field of knowledge management systems. Nevertheless, they could represent a significant market. To catch this opportunity, it is necessary create not only a new market segment dedicated to small and medium enterprises but also direct channels of communication even virtual between SMEs and KMSs providers.