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Despite a global commitment to minimise the impact of tourism on the environment and maximise its benefits for local communities, the pressure of tourism on natural resources is still increasing. In this context, ecotourism becomes key to safeguarding the integrity of the ecosystem while producing economic benefits that can ultimately encourage the conservation of the environment. However, despite its benefits, there is still a need to develop the market presence of ecotourism strategies and initiatives. Thus, tourists' positive intention toward ecotourism and organisations that seek to meet the demand of the increasingly environmentally conscious market are key to the success of ecotourism initiatives. In the context of the information era, organisations may create a trustworthy relationship with ecotourists by providing them with accurate and engaging information on their environmental policies and actions. This relationship may result in the emergence of a critical intangible asset such as eco-tourism capital as tourists' decisions are based on image, perception and recommendations from social groups. For organisations to benefit from eco-tourism capital, they should use social media to generate opportunities for eco-tourists to experience and appreciate nature, respect local cultures, support local communities and minimise and mitigate their negative impact on the environment. Based on the above, the aim of this study is to explore, via a descriptive analysis of data collected from international ecotourists, how social media can be used to create eco-tourism capital. To that aim, we explore factors relating to ecotourism knowledge, green trust, and exposure to information on social media provided by ecotourism service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study suggests the presence of counter-knowledge to spread misperceptions or misunderstandings arising from the existence of institutional voids. Blind spots may be partly caused by such counter-knowledge that triggers the knowledge gaps of the actors in the face of the new information and knowledge society. Find or instance, when we talk about blind spots in the Spanish National Healthcare System (SNHS), we refer to the presence of incorrect stereotypes among the different actors, the feminisation of the profession even though the elderly population they serve continues to associate the figure of the doctor with the masculine role, the lack of awareness about the importance of data protection or cyberattacks. This study suggests that counter-knowledge is likely to result in the lack of clear vision after suffering from blind spots. Such counter-knowledge hinders people from things that most of us take for granted, which creates difficulties for engagement among multifaceted stakeholders with diverse expertise and specialities to overcome blind spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is widespread agreement about the importance of and need for unlearning particularly in an organizational context, concerns have been expressed by some researchers concerning the coherence of the concept. Indeed, some researchers have even questioned the utility of the concept. Underlying concerns with respect to the concept of unlearning there is a more general concern relating to the need to more rigorously develop concepts and procedures in the field of Organizational Studies in general and Knowledge Management in particular. With respect specifically to the concept of unlearning critics have argued that unlearning has no explanatory value and is unnecessary because clear alternatives and less problematic concepts better frame the research gap that has been identified in the unlearning research literature. In this paper, we review the current state of conceptual development and the empirical underpinning of the concept of unlearning and related concepts. This paper complements organizational theories of unlearning with a clear definition of intentional unlearning and develops an unlearning curve of the factors that influence unlearning focused on the need to update knowledge obtained in the past. More broadly it attempts to indicate how greater rigour may be brought to the development of concepts and research in the fields of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two components of the visual system, focal and peripheral vision. While focal vision is mainly responsible for object recognition and using a focused business vision provides a specific aim and purpose for companies, peripheral vision or side vision refers to that which is visible to the eye outside the central area of focus and it is primarily responsible for detecting movement and change. In the context of business focal vision may detect signals that relate to the achieving of current to perceiving issues central to the current objectives of the firm while peripheral vision is directed to non-central issue that may be signals that relate to change and emerging trends in the external environment. Ideally firms need to find a balance between focal and peripheral vision. Such a combination, referred to as 'ambidexterity vision', involves considering focal and peripheral vision as mutually dependent processes. These processes need to be configured so as to support the development of knowledge structures that result in, for example, improved financial performance. These knowledge structures may be considered to constitute knowledge corridors that intermediate between perceptual cues and organizational performance. The research conducted in this study focuses on the role of ambidexterity vision in supporting these knowledge corridors. Specifically, the study addresses the following two questions: Does the development of both focal and peripheral vision at the same time trigger the creation and enhancement of knowledge corridors? Does the development and enhancement of knowledge corridors result in superior financial performance? These questions are studied through an empirical investigation involving 203 banking employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spanish City Halls are making a great effort to develop citizen-targeted online services in an attempt to enhance their effectiveness and reduce expenses. Hence, citizens' engagement is essential for the adoption of e-Government services. In this research, an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is developed to test citizen engagement towards online e-Government services from a sample of 307 citizens who used the benefits adviser tool within a Spanish City Hall. To achieve this goal, a structuring equation model is developed and tested to confirm the explanatory power of citizen satisfaction on citizen engagement. The results obtained suggest that the core constructs of TAM (perceived usefulness, ease of use and attitude) significantly affect users' citizen engagement. This study also reveals a general support for citizen satisfaction as a determinant of citizen engagement in e-Government services. The implications of the findings are discussed and useful insights are provided on what policy to follow to establish the appropriate conditions to build citizens' engagement intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature has stated contradictory arguments about the importance of tangible and intangible resources. Meanwhile knowledge literature insists on the importance of tacit knowledge, more traditional innovation literature and many practitioners have preferred to be focused in the importance of specific and tangible resources in organizational learning to generate innovative processes. The second perspective particularly highlights the abundance of technological resources because growing importance of information technology. This study examines the relevance of technology slack and tacit knowledge in the capability of organizational learning through an empirical investigation of 54 doctors and 62 nurses belonging to 44 Hospitalin- the-Home Units (HHU). Our results show a positive relationship between technological slack and tacit knowledge and between tacit knowledge and organizational learning; while the direct path between technological slack and organizational learning was not found to be significant [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A possible explanation for the numerous failures in the implementation and use of work life balance (WLB) practices may relate to the fact that the majority of companies have only introduced them without exploring the market. This paper analyses the relationships between relational learning and WLB culture and tries to identify whether WLB culture impacts on the business performance through an empirical study of 229 SMEs in the Spanish metal industry. Our findings show that in order to support a positive attitude toward WLB, managers need to provide and support a relearning process. These findings provide interesting insights into the drivers of organisational performance for SMEs using a WLB-supporting culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spanish healthcare system has undergone important changes, particularly with respect to the development of new hospital services. Today, more than ever, the factors that define the nature and structured of the Spanish healthcare environment (e.g. demand, costs, system deregulation) are undergoing rapid change thus obliging hospital administrators to develop and implement flexible and adaptive strategies in order to survive in an increasingly challenging environment facing hospital management. This work examines how the existence of some learning practices is linked to knowledge transfer and how this component is linked to relational capital. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 54 doctors and 62 nurses belonging to 44 Hospital-in-the-Home Units. In an applied sense, the findings provide homecare practitioners with identifiable factors, which enable two learning models (conceptual and operational) and address the relevant issues by changing strategies at both the individual and organisational levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the information and knowledge society in which we all assume that it is necessary to learn, also arises the need to be cautious about the content on which we base our knowledge. Counter-knowledge is defined as knowledge learned from unverified sources of information including hoaxes, rumour or partial lies. One of the contexts most prone to the presence of counter-knowledge is the health sector, when someone who is sick and suffers from a chronic illness, tends to seek for miraculous cures. This paper illustrates three cases in the recent history of Italy regarding the application of healthcare treatments. These cases show how the "public authorities" struggled to regain credibility due to the amplification and diffusion of elements of counter-knowledge. By using theories and concepts derived from the KM field, the cases are analysed to highlight the weakness of the "official" (and supposedly credible) sources of knowledge when they must face the upsurge of so many producers of unverifiable elements of knowledge, amplified by social media. Useful lessons for public institutions are finally derived. The findings also complement the KM studies by providing a clearer definition of counterknowledge and lessons to managers and decision makers, as to how they may overcome the presence of counter-knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack, particularly in relation to SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), of managerial mechanisms to overcome environmental knowledge barriers. Some of these barriers are related to resource shortages or outdated knowledge, which can impede the utilization of Knowledge. In the following paper, we consider that if environmental knowledge barriers are present then specific knowledge management practices are required to stimulate the utilization of knowledge and, hence, provide for the assimilation of knowledge. Thus, in this paper, we focus on socializations practices as a method to counteract the problem of environmental knowledge barriers. We have analysed the relationships between environmental knowledge barriers and the SECI model using an empirical study of 87 Spanish SMEs in order to identify whether the impact of environmental knowledge barriers on knowledge utilization can be mitigated through socializations practices. Our results confirm that when environmental knowledge barriers take place, the relationship between socializations practices and the utilization of Knowledge is weaker than it otherwise would be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify the role played by brand knowledge in the process of creating customer capital. The paper focuses on the brand knowledge that customers develop in the context of social networking sites (SNS) and its effect on customer capital. We suggest that the process of learning from SNS can be split into two sub-processes (informational and instrumental value) which involve the integration of existing information with newly instrumental value. Since the fact that knowledge in organizations is embodied in the concept of the learning organization, customers may create brand knowledge as a consequence of these two learning facilitators. On one hand, customers who perceive informational and instrumental value at SNS develop beliefs relating to common frames of reference, norms, and symbols. On the other hand, it is often stated that perceived informational and instrumental value motivate, sustain or enhance learning. Therefore, such enablers facilitate the individual's ability to create brand knowledge. It is also likely that the development of brand knowledge will also facilitate the combining of new knowledge with existing knowledge that has been embedded in the marketing channels by organizations (and, by extension, enhance customer capital). Our study analyses these effects through an empirical investigation of 259 users of SNS. The methodology involves the construction and analysis of a structural equation model from a review of the relevant literature and the results confirm the need of using SNS as a knowledge management tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of congenital knowledge processes as a driver of an organization's work life balance culture, and as a subsequent source of its competitive advantage. A possible explanation for the numerous failures in the implementation and use of work life balance (WLB) practices may relate to the fact that the majority of companies have introduced them without exploring the nature and extent of their founders or owners prior knowledge of WLB and WLB practices. Congenital learning explains the phenomenon of how knowledge from founder-progeny relationships moves through an organization. This paper analyses the founderprogeny knowledge transfer, the founder-progeny knowledge transformation and the presence of an open organizational context, and the impact of this congenital learning on the WLB culture and further it tries to identify whether WLB culture impacts on the business performance through an empirical study of 229 SMEs in the Spanish metal industry. Our findings show that in order to create positive attitudes toward WLB, managers need to create and support a congenital learning framework. These findings provide interesting insights into the drivers of organisational performance for SMEs developing and supporting a WLB-supporting culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]