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This paper, which is of interest to practitioners, will analyse companies in the manufacturing sector that hold Spanish and European environmental patents, linking the registered green patents with the economic and financial characteristics of the companies. Specifically, the relationship between green patents and the collaboration of companies with research and development (R&D) centres is analysed. The results of surveying an ad-hoc database comprising 1606 Spanish companies indicate that the ways in which the companies collaborate with R&D organisations can shed light on green patent holdings in the Spanish manufacturing companies. Moreover, the authors find that financial performance, age, and size are all significant factors in the development of green patents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent decades have witnessed an increase in the number of eco-innovative solutions which improve the environmental performance of firms whilst also helping them remain competitive. However, the implementation of eco-innovation in Spain has faced certain difficulties, and the number of eco-innovations being put into practice is limited. This paper conceptualises ecoinnovation processes, in order to assist their adoption by firms. Also, the most relevant obstacles and incentives to eco-innovation are analysed, as well as the specific capacities and changes that eco-innovation involves for the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reason most frequently adduced by SMEs to avoid the implementation of CSR programs is their shortage of material resources. In this paper we propose the possibility that biotech SMEs supply the RSC with something they've got in abundance, that is, knowledge. Popular science thus becomes the focus of these programs, an affordable resource that can benefit them, and not only in reputation. Our study focuses on 32 SMEs settled in four Technology Parks in Andalusia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to design integrated product-service offerings and implement servitization processes, manufacturers need practical and tangible methodologies. Service design has been suggested as a way to facilitate such processes. This paper assesses the results gathered from an experiment of the implementation of service design in six Basque manufacturers already undergoing servitization processes. Data was collected by means of participatory observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that service design allows manufacturers to go beyond product-oriented mindsets and to design integrated product-service value propositions through focusing on the experience offered to customers. Moreover, it concludes that service design can be applied without needing to fully transition towards services as a core offer. Nonetheless, manufacturers participating in this experiment highlighted the need to consider business competencies in service design in order to properly assess and manage all the change elements inherent to servitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the staffing policies of some leading consulting firms in Spain are analyzed to identify the factors that characterize them, as well as similarities and differences among them. The case study method is used for this analysis, and three case studies are considered: Accenture, IBM and Company Z. The results suggest that the professional partnership model and the managed professional business model are still relevant but are insufficient in explaining the various policies. Five factors are identified in addition to major trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a growing number of social enterprises in Spain. Like any other organization, they must be managed efficiently. However, few studies have analyzed the direction of this type of business and, to a lesser extent, how they manage their human resources. This paper focuses on how Spanish social enterprises manage their human resources by using a case study methodology. The results confirm that social companies do follow human resources practices but, due to the strong social component that moves and attracts workers to contribute to their missions, these practices differ from those made by non social enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the escape of talent from social companies by applying ethical and social responsible human resources practices, and by managing volunteers in accordance with their social characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective in this paper is to analyse which Spanish businesses are operating within China, what their reasons are for being in this country, study their difficulties and list their priorities for the coming years. Reasons for satisfaction and dissatisfaction are also analysed. Spanish firms operating in China are mostly in the services sector (56%), in particular, in the areas of professional services, such as advertising, legal advice, consulting, etc. Almost half of the Spanish businesses have established themselves in the Shanghai area. Contrary to what is usually believed, most firms set up business in China to access the market, and not to employ low cost labour. In terms of continuity, the answer is almost unanimous: most Spanish firms plan to stay in the country for the next few years. Their main interest lies in accessing the opportunities of this vast market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies dynamic capabilities approach to the study of family businesses. We introduce the term ‘dynamic familiness' to show the capability of family firms to create, extend, or modify their unique bundle of resources coming from the interaction between the family, the individuals and the firm. Our aim is to give empirical evidence about the process of generation and reconfiguration of the resources in the family firm. This process will allow the firm to evolutionary adapt and survive through the generations. To achieve this objective, we conduct a case study in Grupo Yllera, a representative firm of Spanish family firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the level of consciousness that Spanish organizations have on their value system. The Executive Committee, as representatives of the organization, should get the values of their workers were coincident with the values of their organization or at least not incompatible between them. For that reason it's necessary that the organization uses strategies, which allow it to join the values of its members and its own values to get Shared Values. Through the investigation, it is observed a strong coherence between organizational and member's values, so it's checked the existence of Shared Values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the whole role of both board of directors and ownership structure on the effectiveness of executive compensation design in Spanish listed firms. Using a principal-principal agency framework and based on panel data methodology analysis in the period 2004-2011, results show that high level of ownership concentration influence negatively in the executive compensation alignment, having an adverse effect on minority shareholders' interests. Moreover, evidences show that type of controlling shareholder determines supervisory board effectiveness, which only exert an effective monitoring over executive compensation - increasing variable pay and diminishing fixed salary-, when majority shareholder has not linked to management of the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowing how financial managers assess capital budgeting allocations is a relevant issue beyond the mere desire to know what others do and how they do it. In this paper, we report some of the findings from a survey conducted in 2011 among 140 financial managers of Spanish companies. The main conclusion from the study is the existing divorce between theory and practice in investment project valuation. However, when analyzing this split in depth using certain essential value sources, such as future growth opportunities, the divorce might emerge as more apparent than real. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main proposal of the paper is to analyze the human resources management practices adopted by some Spanish SMEs in order to promote and develop corporate entrepreneurship. A case study method is used to explore the corporate entrepreneurship activities developed by three SMEs. The main results show the importance of establishing good relationships among companys' members, creating an appropriate working environment. Also, the relevance of promoting risk attitudes and the participation of employees in corporate entrepreneurship activities is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows Spanish companies' position on work-life balance, considering two industries: food & drinks and information technology. The offer of work-life benefits is not very extended, and its use by workers is still lower. The positive and negative consequences of the benefits and the existence of institutional pressures on employers to achieve work-life balance are also considered. The sector the organization is in is relevant, and IT companies are more involved with work-life balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses collaboration with suppliers in the process of new product development. It contains a description of the benefits and challenges this collaboration poses and shows the experience of Spanish industry regarding such practice. From this experience, one may conclude that collaborating with suppliers in the development of new products leads to shorter and more efficient innovative processes and to better products, but one can also observe that Spanish firms are still in the learning stage. As a result, lessons learned are presented as a guide to managers in improving collaboration with suppliers in the innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The establishment of mergers and acquisitions and cooperative agreements within the European Union increased during the last century. Nevertheless, the new century seems to show a change in the trends. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyse the characteristics and evolution of these growth operations in recent years (2000-2007). The different data presented in the paper have shown a growing economic integration process through cooperative strategies such as mergers, acquisitions and alliances. Spanish firms have actively taken part in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information Systems Outsourcing is a growing phenomenon in many businesses nowadays, which has been characterised, in general, with an insufficient level of detail and analysis. For this reason the main aim of this piece of work is to deepen into every aspects which define the outsourcing contract. We will do this by showing the results of a survey carried out in the biggest Spanish firms, and we will suggest the future which is glimpsed in relation with outsourcing in the firms subjected to study. In the paper also it is presented a longitudinal analysis, which shows the evolution in the last years of many variables which define the outsourcing relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration between firms and universities is a phenomenon of increasing importance for the creation and transfer of innovations and that is necessary for the economic development of the countries. In practice, several obstacles arise that make more difficult the management of this kind of relationships. To know and to identify them is critical in order to improve the success of the cooperation process. In this paper the problems that arise in the cooperative relationships firm-university in Spain are analysed and some measures for make lesser the negative effects of these problems are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The achievement of competitiveness advantages by companies is something vital for their survival and success. With this paper we try to know which factors explain the competitive success of SMEs, using a sample of 1.201 Spanish enterprises that develop their activity in the industrial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]