Purpose – This paper aims at proposing a different path to understand the innovation processes within the organisations. Alternative to the prevailing paradigm, which considers innovation processes as moved by a systemic rationality, here a Situationist View of the Firm (SVF) is adopted. Our purpose is to contribute to the scientific debate on knowledge management and innovation management enriching it through different concepts – power, coalitional dynamics and institutional pressures – until now in shadow, if not absent at all. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares two paradigms of the firm replacing in the foreground their epistemological roots. On one hand, the ‘unified approach’ – widely dominant in management studies – reifies the firm and interprets it as a collective entity, a “pre-determined system with respect to the actors”, which is divided into sub-systems at lower levels and is part of inclusive, higher-level systems. On the other hand, the ‘situationist view’ defines the firm as a “concrete system built by the actors” and qualifies it as a space of games, a space of interaction, negotiation and conflict among actors and their coalitions. Originality/value – The SVF can be seen as an element of originality, since it puts in evidence and focuses on the organisational power dynamics and the isomorphism processes aiming at gaining legitimation. Practical implications – First, the different insight into innovation processes allows to increase the number of managerial and decision-making patterns with schemes and models focused on negotiation-based strategies. Moreover, the link with some constructs of the neo-institutionalism framework, such as isomorphism and rationalizing myths, paves the way for a less naive approach on organisational dynamics that animates, in practice, the processes of innovation that may be the result of decisions aiming at legitimizing the organisation in relation to the institutions and other key players operating in an ‘organisational field’.

Purpose This work develops a novel model, which integrates different research traditions on the intangible resources and capabilities of organizations. We elaborate the construct of optional capital, viewed as the expected outcome of a successful mobilization of the other intangibles. Optional capital measures the (i) sustainability and (ii) potential benefits of the latent capabilities, i.e. the further primary capabilities that the organization has the opportunity to develop and that, although possibly useless at present, may become crucial in the future. We argue that the organizations with a better optional capital portfolio are likely to display higher levels of organizational resilience and long-term competitive excellence in turbulent business environments. Design/methodology/approach – We develop the Optional Capital View (OCV) on the basis of a qualitative research exploring the Italian community of the Contratti di Rete (business network contracts). This community addresses today’s turbulent economic scenario through innovative business networking. Thanks to the collaboration of this community, we selected and investigated 8 exemplary networks, involving 134 firms. Originality/value – Our findings suggest that optional capital can be continuously generated and regenerated only through the mobilization of the “primary level” of the intangibles, including knowledge capital, social capital, institutional capital, and primary capabilities. The healthy co-mobilization and interplay of these intangibles, thanks to the pivotal role of dynamic capabilities, allows the generation of a portfolio of options on the organization’s future capabilities. Our model may have relevant implications for the sister disciplines of strategic management, organization studies and business evaluation. Practical implications – Our analysis on the interviews and texts collected during our research allowed us to achieve an operationalizable definition of the construct of optional capital and its likely antecedents. This may contribute to the development of tools, such as guidelines, questionnaires and indicators, aimed to better understand and evaluate the role of intangible resources and capabilities in today’s scenario. Such tools would be useful both for firm leaders (entrepreneurs and managers) and business evaluation professionals (banks, venture capitalist, etc.)

The paper outlines new challenges in tourism services market, caused by gradually increasing amount of senior travellers and proposes design of knowledge–based interactive model of this phenomenon. Finally we justify validity and show strategic usefulness of such tool for its entrepreneurial adopters. Tourism is important part of regional economy with economic and socio-cultural impacts. In this context one of the most discussed topics in European Union is social tourism. In practice, social tourism addresses senior citizens, young people, families and people with disabilities. Generally, it can be seen as an umbrella concept, incorporating many different types of initiative and public, private and third-sector stakeholders. Consequently, we analyse possibilities and limitations of senior tourism and its effects for destination. Resultant findings are transferred to computational model, where providers of services adjust their supply in accordance with existing and expected behaviour of senior travellers. To realistically formalize the suggested market structure altogether with internal characteristics of single market players in representationally transparent and computationally powerful way, we adopted agent based modelling (ABM) as the main implementation paradigm. Models, composed from artificial agents, are theoretically able to mimic any type of system. Main advantage of agents is that their characteristics are close to human understanding, so it is straightforward to describe processes or systems in terms of interacting agents. The utilization of agents in traffic or destination occupancy modelling is straightforward. Entities, moving and cumulating on real geographic background allow to analyse local throughputs and capacities in order to predict their future development. Such research focuses primarily on operational and tactical aspects of tourism. Contrariwise, we are interested mainly in strategic planning, which does not represent typical ABM task, particularly because of its inherently fragmented and limited view. On the other hand, our problem represents complex, decentralized and distributed environment with large involvement of subjective factors, where any kind of immature summarization could suppress strategically interesting patterns of emergent behaviour. We used realistic combinations of internal parameters, characterizing type of destination, supply of services and structure of travellers to setup the agents’ microworlds. Incoming tourists were addressed by general marketing, word of mouth or by their loyalty to destination or provider. With these configurations we performed and discussed different scenarios, focused on senior travellers. Our results suggest convenient types of destinations and business strategies from this target group point of view.

Which are the tensions between social and economic goals in a corporate’s objectives and how can they be solved? Does voluntary disclosure really satisfy the informational needs of stakeholders and how can it be developed? Which are the instruments of Government and how should they use them to improve the ‘sustainability’ efforts of corporations? Which is the importance of managers’ ability to manage cultures in the mission to pursue economic benefits caring about the expectations of their social context of reference? Would a firm act in the same way in two different contexts? Do definitely “responsible” behaviours help some firms in outperforming others? Attempting to answer all those questions, CSR literature has shown critical knowledge gap in the lack of production of a multilevel research that is capable of integrating institutional, organizational and individual levels of analysis in a unique synoptic review. The aim of this work is thus to give a multilevel overview of the key concepts regarding CSR, with the goal of understanding the underlying links that allow firms to act more or less responsibly in a given context of culture, regulations and competitive introducing a framework of analysis that can be useful for a broad audience of scholars and policy-makers that want to inspect on the CSR-financial performance link and the CSR management practices. The article, indeed, proposes a new framework that puts simultaneously at the centre of any analysis: 1) the role of managers and their discretion; 2) the cultural background of the context wherein their firm operates; 3) the role of Governments. This paper is structured as follows: I first briefly review the literature on the concept of CSR, focusing on the link between Corporate Social Performance and Corporate Financial Performance, underlining competing perspectives and the effects of CSR on the various categories of stakeholders. In the following part, I bring into focus the theme of environmental and social accounting, in order to analyse the reasons, the ways and the limits of voluntary disclosure’s processes that corporations need to put in action in order to communicate to all the stakeholders their own ‘sustainable’ actions. In the last part, I concentrate on the role of Governments as institutes of control and providers of clear points of orientation in order to force companies to be more active with regard to voluntary sustainability activities. Summing up, I provide conclusions and implications through which I expect to contribute to the debate about the link between CSR and a firm’s overall performance. Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility – CSR; Corporate Performance; Management; Voluntary disclosure; Governance;

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a research framework to investigate the behaviour of a Special Purpose Entity (SPE), i.e. a temporary project company, in the delivery of a megaproject, and, particularly uncover critical factors affecting the megaproject performance. Design/methodology/approach – The framework adopts a systemic knowledge-based perspective to construct the complex network of variables of the project governing system coordinated by the SPE. Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) are used to elicit knowledge from expert and identify concepts and relationships associated to the variables of the SPE project governing system. Several scenarios are generated by performing FCM simulation. Originality/value –The proposed research framework allows dealing with the particular nature of uniqueness and complexity of infrastructure megaprojects by adopting a “case-based systemic” research approach to the study of the SPE and its project governing system that does not simplify, but rather preserves these project characteristics, and, in the same time, takes into account environment and context factors. Practical implications – The simulation output has showed that the contractor(s) technical capability, the SPE project management and planning capability and the SPE technical capability are important variables of the SPE governing system which influence project performance. Because of its flexibility, the framework can be used to model the project governing system coordinated by the SPE at different stages of the megaproject lifecycle, thus identifying the more important features and functions of the different SPE configurations.

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a qualitative analysis of the end result of the design and implementation process of a vehicle pooling platform. It analyzes Creativity vs Knowledge interaction patterns in the innovation process under the four different perspectives proposed in the theoretical framework of the CKI model (Palmieri and Giglio, 2013; Palmieri and Giglio, 2014). It aims to identify determining factors and impacts of the technology platform at urban, regional or national level. This application of the CKI model is geared to prove how its comprehensive slant supports the design, monitoring and assessment of innovation plans. Design/methodology/approach – This work is based on a case study approach and on a qualitative research involving literature review activities. Its design is compliant with the theoretical framework of the CKI model in order to identify the aforementioned four perspectives and capture the outcomes of the innovation process for all possible stakeholders. It utilizes a mixed methodology consisting of a panel of experts, geared to perform a qualitative assessment of the magnitude of impacts of the entrepreneurial initiative, and the participation observation methodology, for a complementary analysis of interaction patterns throughout the process. Originality/value – The study proposes a very recent theoretical framework to analyze entrepreneurial initiatives with a broader perspective than the prevailing one in literature. Applying the CKI model to the case study at hand proves how deep can be the impacts of a start-up initiative and helps deepening the impacts of Creativity vs Knowledge interaction patterns at the initial stage of the innovation process. Moreover, it provides a hitherto unexplored methodological approach consisting of a complementary analysis of interaction patterns in innovation processes by mixing the participation observation and the panel of experts methodologies. Practical implications – The end result of this study shows the real-world impacts of such a research project focusing on the value creation for different stakeholders and the community as a whole. It deepens also how Creativity vs Knowledge dynamics play as determinants and affect the end result of the innovation process. This work includes also a methodology tool for scholars since it is endowed with two complementary approaches – i. e. participation observation and panel of experts. Finally, this paper provides scholars with the first guide about the application of the CKI in order to conduct similar studies in other contexts.

This paper empirically investigates the effect of local and global network measures on interest rate spreads in the e-MID interbank market. We hypothesize that not only the bank’s position in the network is important, but also the counterparty’s interconnectedness. The empirical results in this paper show that interbank spreads are significantly affected by the banks positioning in the network, measured by both local and global connectedness measures. Overall, lenders are willing to pay a premium (i.e. obtain lower rates) for better connections in the network, at both local and global measures. This effect is statistically significant for the pooled sample and for post-Lehman’s Brothers collapse sub-period. Borrowers, on the other hand, pay a higher premium (i.e. higher rates) for better local connections, but significantly benefit for better global positioning.

Purpose – Industrial symbiosis networks (ISNs) are collections of long-term symbiotic relationships among firms, involving physical exchanges of materials and energy as well as the exchange of knowledge, concurrently providing environmental and economic benefits. Our aim is to investigate the complexity of ISNs adopting a similar approach to that developed by Hidalgo and Hausmann (2009) to measure the country economic complexity. In particular, we define a complexity index measuring the economic complexity of the firms involved in an ISN and provide some applications to real case studies. Design/methodology/approach –We define two matrixes, one identifying the waste each firm produces, and the other mapping the wastes each firm uses. Using these matrixes, we compute four indexes: 1) the diversity index of the firm producing wastes exchanged; 2) the diversity index of the firm using the wastes; 3) the ubiquity index of the waste exchanged in terms of number of the firms producing it; and 4) the ubiquity index of the waste exchanged in terms of number of the firms using them. A overall firm complexity measure is defined by using these indices. Originality/value – This paper made a methodological advance in the study of complexity within ISNs by applying an economic complexity approach. Complexity of ISNs is a fundamental property of the system, because it allows adaption and emergence useful to improve performance, which thus should be exploited rather than reduced. The approach proposed here allows the firm complexity to be assessed in a simple manner, without requiring high computational efforts like in other methods developed in the literature, but at the same time in a rigorous way, because the main driver of the economic complexity is taken into account. Practical implications – The study provides a rating of firms in a ISN based on the complexity index, which is useful to identify the most critical firms in terms of impact on the network resilience. The higher the firm complexity, the higher the risk that the firm unavailability due to a disruptive event can cause problem for the survival of the ISN.

Purpose – We develop an agent-based model to reproduce the processes of link formation and knowledge exchange in a Research and Development (R&D) inter-organizational network. Methodology – In our model, agents form links based on their network features, i.e. their belonging to one of the network’s circles of influence and their previous alliance history, and then exchange knowledge with their partners, thus modifying their positions in a metric knowledge space. Furthermore, we validate the model against real data using a two-step approach. Through the Thomson Reuters SDC alliance dataset, we estimate the model parameters related to the link formation, thus reproducing the topology of the resulting R&D network. Subsequently, using the NBER data on firm patents, we estimate the parameters related to the knowledge exchange process, thus evaluating the rate at which firms exchange knowledge and the duration of the R&D alliances themselves. Originality – The underlying knowledge space that we consider in our real example is defined by IPC patent classes, allowing for a precise quantification of every firm’s knowledge position. Our novel data-driven approach allows us to unveil the complex interdependencies between the firms’ network embeddedness and their technological positions. Through the validation of our model, we find that real R&D alliances have a duration of around two years, and that the subsequent knowledge exchange occurs at a very low rate. Most of the alliances, indeed, have no consequence on the partners’ knowledge positions: this suggests that a firm’s position – evaluated through its patents – is rather a determinant than a consequence of its R&D alliances. Finally, we propose an indicator of collaboration performance for the whole network. We find that the real R&D network does not maximize such an indicator. Practical implications – Our study shows that there exist configurations that can be both realistic and optimized with respect to the collaboration performance. Effective policies to obtain an optimized collaboration network – as suggested by our model – would incentivize shorter R&D alliances and higher knowledge exchange rates, for instance including rewards for quick co-patenting by allied firms.

Purpose – The present work aims at studying the emergence of systemic crisis and the evolution of contagion in financial networks in presence of firms. Much of the literature in this field studies the effects on a stylized financial system of an initial exogenous shock, typically consisting in the default of a given bank. Although purely idiosyncratic shocks occur they are rare, moreover this sort of disturbance reflects only partially what happened in the recent crisis, which was indeed caused by a shock generated at real level (i.e. the inability of hundreds of thousands of American families of paying their mortgages). In this paper we provide a general framework to assess systemic risk when the shock is due to firms’ default. Design/methodology/approach – We developed a model with two types of agents, banks and firms, linked one another in a two-layer network by their reciprocal claims. We used numerical simulations to investigate the emergence of systemic crisis and the evolution of contagion in presence of a shock at firms level. The shock that we impose on the system consists in the default of a given number of firms, which are assumed to become unable to pay back their loans. Banks exposed toward defaulted firms mark them as “bad loans” and reduce their value accordingly. In this way the original shock is transmitted to the financial network, which can absorb or amplify it, determining the default of one or more financial institutions. The model is calibrated with empirical data on the banking sector of Italy, Germany and United Kingdom. Originality/value – The work formalizes one aspect of the interplay between financial and real side of the economy, two worlds too often left separate from one another. Moreover, compared to other studies on this subject, it gives a more solid foundation for the initial shock and put emphasis on the relationships between banks and firms. Even though the model presented is a stylized representation of reality and its calibration is necessarily rough due to the lack of public available data, it provides a different and until now little explored insight for the emergence of systemic crisis, constituting a useful starting point for future research. Practical implications –This study shows how firms’ default can generate systemic crisis in a financial network through the web of credit and debit relationships. The results of the simulations confirm the idea that a higher degree of interconnection is not always good for financial stability and that it may actually exacerbates contagion, contrasting with the standard view that diversification is the key element to reduce risk. The model is able to assess the frequency and the extent of a crisis and to track the evolution of contagion. From a regulatory point of view, the outcomes of the model suggest that banks’ size distribution and capital ratio can make some countries more prone to systemic crisis than others.

Purpose – The ISO norms, related to the world of project management, such as: ISO 21500 “Guidance on Project Management”; ISO 10006 “Project and Knowledge Management, a shared approach, to Improve the enterprise innovation” and ISO 31000 “Risk management – Principles and guidelines”, will guide project managers in defining and managing projects. These standards define the guidelines to manage projects efficiently and effectively but not always in an explicit mode, the important principles of General Management. Some of these elements are important in the management of the Historical Information, Lessons Learned and Continuous Improvement. The standards defined by ISO are not limited to suggest the mode of project management in particular contexts as can be risk management or quality but, reading between the lines, give us important lessons for the management of organizations in a project management context. Through a detailed analysis of these norms are to highlight the principles through which organizations and managers can manage more effectively and efficiently departments or companies. Another result is to define the principles through which organizations manage information and put them to our disposal by the organization in order to improve organizational processes. Design/methodology/approach – I propose an approach for improving the profitability of the projects through the management of an integrated system of knowledge management in the enterprise organization. The approach involves the analysis of the most important ISO norms related to the project management context to define the General Management principles to improve the shared knowledge. Originality/value – The main objective is the identification of the main concepts of general management inherent to the most important ISO norms in the context of project management. This methodology highlights the need to manage all the knowledge generated within at Project That Is, from the organizational point of view (historical information, best practices, knowledge of the processes, lessons learned …), in order to Improve organizational processes, reduce the time of project management and reduce the cost of the project. One of the main Objectives to Achieve is the continuous improvement in project management. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application, through a correct application of the main concepts of general management is the diffusion of the project management culture, the definition of the main rules by which the company is able to govern the business processes, the definition of a proper process for the management of knowledge generated by the same organization through project management and through it the ability to reach what is the ultimate result to which an organization may tend: the continuous improvement.

Knowledge sharing is considered as a main driver of successful open innovation. By probing into the practice and development of China’s knowledge sharing system, the paper has focused on the practical evidence from the institutional and organizational perspectives. At the institutional level, the paper put in evidence the government regulation to construct a system of specific Chinese knowledge sharing mode between firms, universities, research institution and market. At the organizational perspective, the article analyses the organization forms for the knowledge sharing system at the industry level as well the case of Huawei as a typical High-tech enterprise in China. The main contribution of the article is to illustrate the Chinese experience in the organization for the knowledge sharing system in order to implement the open innovation model.

Purpose –It is generally accepted that innovation is a complex process faced with changing internal and external environment. Project-based organizations (PBO) are widely used to execute and realize innovation. PBO as temporary and flexible organizations have advantages to address dynamics and generate new knowledge in innovation projects. Dynamic capabilities in prior literature describe an organization’s ability to respond dynamism in its environment. Knowledge sharing as a central process of knowledge management is considered to enhance dynamic capabilities of organizations. However, there are few studies investigating dynamic capabilities and knowledge sharing in PBO in literature. This study aimed to understand the nature of dynamic capabilities and their components in PBO and explored the relationships among dynamic capabilities, their components and knowledge sharing in innovation projects. Design/methodology/approach – This paper developed a system dynamic model that incorporated a dynamic adjustment mechanism of resource allocation to improve dynamic capabilities of PBO. The model included three component factors of dynamic capabilities: adaptive capability, absorptive capability and innovative capability. The model showed the feedback loop about knowledge sharing, dynamic capabilities and their component factors during the lifecycle of PBO. Originality/value – We conducted simulation of the system dynamic model. The results indicate the system dynamic model could reflect real changing tendency of dynamic capabilities in PBO. Considering the synergetic effects of the three component factors on the level of dynamic capabilities, this paper built an auto-adjustment mechanism to balance the development of the component factors. The resource allocation to the three factors can be adjusted automatically once they show unbalanced development. Our results also showed knowledge sharing has effects on dynamic capabilities during lifecycle of PBO when external environment changed from moderate to high velocity dynamic. Practical implications – The system dynamic model developed in this study can be applied to evaluate dynamic capabilities of PBO. PBO could examine changing tendency of their dynamic capabilities given the conditions of resources allocation and market environment. The model also provides guidance for PBO to adjust the development of component factors of dynamic capability to adapt to the internal and external environment.

Purpose –The purpose of this study was to empirically examine some common aspects of knowledge and project management. Using the contingency theoretical approach and addressing the current lack of empirical evidence on the issue, the study aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of project complexity in the impact of different types of knowledge assets on project success. The research was carried out in the context of information systems (IS) projects. Design/methodology/approach –The field survey was adopted as the most appropriate research method for this study because of its versatility, efficiency and generalisability. Usable data were obtained from 603 IS professionals across a variety of projects and were analysed through descriptive statistics. The collected data included participants’ perceptions of: (1) project success as the ultimate target; (2) project team, customer and process representing human, relational and structural capital factors of the project success; and (3) project complexity as a potential mediating factor. Originality/value –The results of this study make two important contributions to research: (i) they fill the lack of empirical evidence; and (ii) provide valuable insights on how different project characteristics and knowledge assets influence project success. Specifically, external relational capital (project customer) was found to be more important than internal human and structural capital (project team and process) in moderately to highly complex projects. For simple projects, structural capital (project process) was more important than the other two types of knowledge assets (project team and customer). Such findings are consistent with the contingency theory propositions in knowledge management. Practical implications – The findings of the study provide useful guidelines for project managers on how to best organise and utilise their available knowledge assets in alignment with project complexity in order to enhance project success. Nevertheless, these implications need to be interpreted with caution due to the limitations of the survey method and its application in a specific context (IS projects) and among specific subjects (IS professionals). Future research is recommended to address these limitations and extend current research to include both static (knowledge capital) and dynamic (knowledge practice) aspects of knowledge management in project management.

Purpose –Entrepreneurship teaching can allow students in technical high schools and universities to develop their management capacity to start new endeavours. Beyond being a career option for these graduates, management competences allow own businesses generate wealth in a locality and contribute to economic development and poverty reduction. This understanding of the social importance values the dissemination of knowledge about entrepreneurship in a more socially deprived region of the Santa Catarina state according to data from the Human Development Index. Design/methodology/approach – The methodological procedures of the research were predominantly qualitative. The used worldview was phenomenological, because it is basically the analysis of the report of the experiences of the authors. A positivist worldview with data treated quantitatively was used in connection with the literature data extraction and document. Originality/value – Federal Institute of Santa Catarina, founded in 1909 by the federal government of Brazil aiming to bring professional and technological education for the most economically disadvantaged sections of society. But only in 2010 Lages campus starts its activities, among them is the dissemination of an innovation and entrepreneurship culture among its students. The article is pierced by the strong farm culture present in Santa Catarina mountainous region, which prints to entrepreneurship teaching in these conditions a unique situation. Farm culture is strongly present in the local society. Searching for appropriated solutions to the local reality is essential in order to achieve concrete results and this feature ensures originality to this article. Practical implications – A society of farm culture traits prints a limiting view of innovation and entrepreneurship. The farm is the place where gives economic and political power to the figure of Colonel (latifundia owner). This farmer struggles to maintain order at the expense of any change. These aspects of tradition are opposed to a culture of innovation and impose an unwillingness to take commercial, legal and personal risks, risks inherent in this entrepreneurial activity. These students inserted in this culture perceive to be more “natural” perpetuate the history of their ancestors that depended on a “benefactor” to subsist. The article presents the design, methodologies used and its first results to demonstrate how it is possible to pierce cultural difficulties and print a sense of creativity, courage and entrepreneurship.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reveal the efforts universities have done during the latest years towards improving their development strategies, as well as to focus on the new challenges that they have to face in the contemporary context based on competition and partnership. Higher education institutions differentiate from many criteria; among these, entrepreneurial culture needs to be more understood. Its role is convergent with the quality culture role within the universities. The paper aims to highlight the role of a university entrepreneurial behaviour in the consolidation of the quality culture and management. Main objectives of the paper are: to explain the features of the universities in the contemporary context from the entrepreneurial behaviour perspective; to connect the entrepreneurial culture with the quality culture for higher education institutions; to identify main university strategic behaviours based on the role of the entrepreneurial culture. Design/methodology/approach – We propose an approach that considers several research methods. Among these, must be mentioned: descriptive analysis based on both literature review and on case studies, in order to focus on examples of good practices; comparative analysis in order to emphasize some behavioural particularities; research based on a questionnaire addressed to one of the most important stakeholders of the university – the students. Therefore, students will be invited to express how they see the university management motivation to innovate, create and take risks, etc. Originality/value – This methodology puts in evidence new challenges university management has to face. The originality of this paper consists of a new theoretical approach of the university management concept, in terms of an entrepreneurial behaviour organization, which means a new definition generated from practice and evidence, plus the features of the interactions between both areas of entrepreneurial culture and quality management culture in an institutional context of a modern higher education institution. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application consist of several practical implications for universities. University management will be able to better understand its role in developing strategies and implementing measures for improving processes and activities. Students will be able to support university change in a more active way, for their own benefit. Companies will be able to reconsider the relationship with universities in terms of mutual advantage.

Purpose – Cities and regions have begun to re-shape upon the Knowledge Economy (KE) since the late 20th century and the concept of Knowledge City (KC) and Knowledge-Based Urban Development (KBUD) strategies that draw the path to becoming a KC arose accordingly. Several cities have already adopted these strategies to support economic development and to provide required post-industrial development. Institutional development is essential for KBUD to gather all of the main actors and sources, to organise and facilitate necessary knowledge-intensive activities and to plan strategically to become KC. Additionally, governing KBUD with institutional leadership make a difference in achieving KC status. Successful urban governance requires understanding of comprehensive planning process. The management of the implementation process is stated to be more important than the preparation of the plan. The success of the implementation is determined by efficiently designed monitoring and evaluation (M/E) systems. To become KC and build the bridge between planning and urban governance, M/E phases need to be incorporated into the planning process. Turkey has been working increasing competitiveness in knowledge economy and developed strategies for increasing knowledge worker capacity, providing an efficient platform for innovation and strengthening institutional leadership. However, the planning system in Turkey includes different governmental bodies with an undefined hierarchy for preparation, implementation and evaluation of the plans. Governing the necessary actions efficiently and institutional leadership seems to be the problematic areas for Turkish cities to become KCs. Case study, Istanbul is a prospect KC. The goal of this paper is to prove that the lack of M/E systems in the planning process prevents a city from becoming a successful KC. Design/methodology/approach – This paper will clarify the planning system in Turkey and hierarchical structure in Istanbul Metropolitan Area. The relation between planning system and urban development management in Turkey will be defined by investigating the current plans and institutions in charge of making and approving plans. The study will analyse Istanbul Metropolitan Area plans’ M/E stages. The planning process and M/E existence and applications in the plans are determined by face-to-face interviews with several staff members of governmental entities in Istanbul Metropolitan Area. Originality/value – This paper shows that the lack of M/E processes in the planning system prevents a city to develop effective urban governance and institutional development, and therefore, from becoming a successful KC. Practical implications – This paper aimed to determine the exact stages of Istanbul Metropolitan Area’s planning and governance processes that prevent the city from developing as a sustainable KC.

Purpose – The purpose of this article was to highlight issues associated with firm innovation performance and its antecedents. We argue that both firm-level variables, like organisational climate operationalized through regulative, normative and cognitive pillars, as well as individual-level characteristics, such as innovative work behaviour, employability, job demands and effort-reward fairness will affect innovative firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – This is a theory-driven paper with suggested theoretical model that is subject to theory test in the future research. Originality/value –While contemporary research has focused on organisational-level factors as drivers of firm innovativeness and on personal-level factors boosting innovation work behaviour, our research takes a further step in providing a holistic view on the innovation inside the firm. Furthermore, we suggest that multiple level of analysis, employability of the individual level and organisational climate on the organisational level, will allow to explore innovative work behaviour as well innovation firm performance in more depth. We also assume in important moderating role of job demands and effort-reward fairness on the antecedents of firm innovative performance. Practical implications – Our work has important practical implications. Our model suggest that organisational climate should have both direct and indirect effects on boosting up innovative work behaviour of employees, and as a result, innovative firm behaviour. In today’s economy competition is hard and ability to create new and better services and products is a necessary condition for competitive advantage. Firm’s are striving to get knowledge on how to innovate effectively, and here one should consider what organisation can do to enforce innovation of employees.

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to present some research results concerning adaptation the human capital into the knowledge-based economy in Poland. The knowledge domination as a fundamental resource creating the social and economic reality determines the internal changes of organization basic resources in relation to the changes of the key areas of its environment. Design/methodology/approach – We propose an approach which allow to make the assessment of the knowledge economy influences on the behaviors of organization in the area of shaping the human capital. The methodology involve the three following research’s levels: – The first research level concerns the identification and the assessment of independent variables in human capital area in the context of knowledge-based economy development. The independent variables were described as the key macroeconomic factors that identify the dynamics of the economy’s development in the scope of the human capital. – The second research level concerns defining the enterprise features in the area of human capital – dependent variables which have been recognized as the most representative from the human capital behaviour sensitive view point on the knowledge economy influence. The dependent variables were determined as a results of the questionaries’ findings. – At the third level there were defined the direct analysis areas that enable the evaluation of the degree of adaptation of the enterprises’ human capital to the knowledge-based economy dynamics. Originality/value – This methodology puts in evidence describing both the degree and state of human capital adaptation to the knowledge based-economy by the following issues distinguishing: Independent variables favouring, block or neutralising the human capital development. Dependent variables which in the particular way make possible, block or neutralizing the opportunities usage created by the knowledge-based economy. The analysis and assessment of the adaptation degree of human capital in the enterprises to the knowledge-based economy requirements on the basis on the research concerning the relation occurring in those areas. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application will cause to increase the enterprises’ awareness concerning the relation between the environment and use of internal resources to the proper creation of capital potential in a context of the knowledge-based economy development.

Purpose – People are important in any business and this is especially so in small entrepreneurial firms in which tight margins can limit staff numbers and growth. These firms are seeking sustainable competitive advantage through enhanced employee performance. However, this is tightly dependant on competence and day-to-day management practices of the entrepreneurs. The purpose of this paper is to explore management practices in entrepreneurial firms and to study how entrepreneurs’ human capital developed over the years helps them improve business performance and growth. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws upon 15 interviews with entrepreneurs and their employees and subsequent data collected in case studies. The interview approach was adopted in order to gain data that would provide a clear picture of day to day practice and enable comparison between the views and attitude of the entrepreneurs and the perception and experience of the employees. Originality/value – Though it is widely believed that intangibles, such as company image, networking and the external environment have an important impact on company sustainability and competitive advantage (Sveiby, 2001; Roos et al., 2005), competence and attitude of entrepreneurs as well as their relationships with employees are a key factor affecting firm performance. Critical to these factors is the human capital of the entrepreneur him/herself which also impacts on the management on intangibles. Individuals accumulate human capital over their lifetime. Its comprising elements include not only formal knowledge, skills, competence and abilities, but tacit knowledge and experience gained over the years. Research findings confirm that entrepreneurs through their attitude, way of doing things and day-to-day practice, and thus their human capital, impact on firm performance and growth. Practical implications – The outcomes from this study can inform further research and contribute to improve guidelines on good entrepreneurial practices on strategy management.