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Businesses nowadays must perform in an overcrowded market. Globalisation and access to technologies have made the competition fierce and the differentiation complicated. New challenges related to sustainability have emerged as a result of an increased environmental awareness from consumers. Their demand is shifting, and companies must adapt to the competitive pressures, social demands and legal regulations towards sustainability. However, implementing sustainable initiatives might be costly and do not ensure enhanced financial outcomes. Co-creation was found in the literature to offer potential solutions to sustainability challenges by enabling businesses to benefit from knowledge from external resources, involving consumers in their activities and seeking their engagement and approval. But the current research lacks a sustainable applicability. Hence, this theoretical study reviewed the current literature to offer an updated state of the art regarding sustainable co-creation between businesses and consumers. It aims to provide answers to how this joint collaboration can support sustainable development for companies, what type of value it generates for both parties, and what factors make market competitiveness possible despite an absence of financial value creation. We were able to create a theoretical framework including the following factors: 1) Value sharing, which considers engaging consumers’ proactive behaviours to overcome inertia and engage in a process of sustainable self-improvement; 2) Relationship management, where common interests will be merged, and consumers empowered to investigate how sustainable development can be implemented in an objective of positive long-term co-evolution; 3) Knowledge sharing, where mutual learning and understanding will lead to a synergy of power and allows to elaborate a marketable and sustainable value proposition; and 4) Innovation, which is the outcome of an efficient co-creation, where internal and external capabilities are recombined to overcome barriers related to sustainable development. The study concluded that a combination of those factors results in competitive value creation.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of the ethical management of data privacy on the overall reputation of businesses.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model was proposed and tested. Data were collected from 208 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the textile industry in Valencia, Spain using a survey instrument. Partial least squares (PLS) allowed for the analysis of the data collected.FindingsThe theoretical model explains 46.1% of the variation in the organisational reputation variable. The findings indicate that ethical data privacy has a beneficial effect on an organisation's reputation and eco-innovation. The findings also demonstrate how eco-innovation drives the development of new knowledge and green skills that, in turn, communicate to stakeholders a company's ethical commitment. These results should encourage SMEs to invest in data privacy in order to meet the needs of the SMEs' increasingly technology- and environment-sensitive stakeholders and to improve their reputation.Originality/valueThis study provides the first empirical evidence that ethical data privacy management has a positive impact on the reputation of firms. Furthermore, the originality of the research derives from the analysis of the results from an environmental perspective. Indeed, this study shows that effective data privacy management can indirectly support organisational reputation through eco-innovation and green skills.

PurposeThis research addresses the relationships between the current, dynamic organisational cyber risk climate, organisational cybersecurity performance and changes in cybersecurity investments, with an aim to address the hostile epistemic climate for intellectual capital management presented by the dynamics of cybersecurity as a phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachExpanding on the views of digital security and resilience as a knowledge problem, the research looks at cybersecurity as a critical capability within organisations, particularly relevant in critical infrastructure sectors. The problem is studied from the perspective of 400 C-level executives from critical infrastructure sectors across the UK. Data collected at the peak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a time when critical infrastructure organisations have been under a significant strain due to an increase in cybersecurity incidents, were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling.FindingsThe research found a significant correlation between the board's perception of a change in their cybersecurity risk climate and patterns of both the development of cybersecurity management capabilities and cybersecurity investments. The authors also found that a positive correlation exists between the efforts placed by critical infrastructure organisations in cybersecurity training and the changes in investment in their cybersecurity, particularly in relation to their intellectual capital development efforts.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that explores the board's perception of cybersecurity in critical infrastructure organisations both from the intellectual capital perspective and in the dynamic cyber risk climate derived from the COVID-19 crisis. The authors’ findings expand on the growing perception of cybersecurity as a knowledge problem, and thus inform future research and practice in the domain of intellectual capital management and its role in supporting the cybersecurity and digital resilience of business and society.

Purpose Knowledge management seeks collaborative practices among organisations to generate technical, adapt and share knowledge to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage in cross-border business activities. This paper aims to disentangle the crucial determinants of knowledge management in inter-organisational arrangements settings. Design/methodology/approach In the first stage, after an in-depth literature review, the main knowledge management drivers are identified. In the second stage, based on the identified drivers, the importance and relationship between the drivers are evaluated by expert opinions from academic and executive activists. Eventually, in the last stage, a multi-layer decision-making approach has been proposed and used to determine the relationship and the importance of the drivers. Findings The findings of this paper assess the ranking of the different elements from experts’ opinions and discuss important theoretical and managerial implications. The influential factors were identified through an extensive literature review, which combined with the views of experts from academia and industry (international firms). Furthermore, the ranking of factors based on the experts’ overall opinion was used to discuss theoretical and managerial contributions. Originality/value This research provides a better understanding of the interrelationships between the key drivers of knowledge management, which helps management draw more effective strategies to address the cultural differences between firms. Moreover, understanding of the importance of the systems and structures that define the nature of the collaboration in inter-organisational settings, as well as the risks related to those are presented in this research.

Purpose This study contributes to current efforts to design and implement sustainable innovation strategies in organisations from the textile industry. This study aims to examine how businesses can overcome the current challenges (e.g. lack of resources) of sustainable innovation by the incorporation of green knowledge of customers into their value co-creation strategies. Such strategies are based on actively listening to customers and addressing their expectations with regard to environmental sustainability, in particular in the face of the negative environmental impact of the fast-fashion industry. Design/methodology/approach The findings of this study are derived from the analysis of data collected from 208 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Spanish textile sector. A partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted using version 3.3.3 of the SmartPLS software. Findings This paper contributes to the literature on environmental sustainability by informing SME eco-innovation through the active listening of their customers’ perceptions while implementing value co-creation strategies. The research has found that engaging with customers and actively listening and addressing their expectations can result in the creation of green knowledge that contributes to both incremental and radical eco-innovation in the textile sector. Practical implications This study found that when organisations from the sector lack eco-innovation capabilities, their existing and often their potential customer base is able to acquire new environmental knowledge and transfer it to the business through a process of value co-creation. The research also found that such green knowledge has the potential to lead to eco-innovation in the sector. In other words, the value co-creation process between the textile industry and its customers is a driver of the eco-innovations required to reduce the environmental impact of the sector, helping it address both its sustainability and its ethical challenges. Originality/value This study proposes that co-creation challenges such as the lack of resources, funding, qualified staff or technologies motivate companies in the textile sector to collaborate with their customers to seek joint solutions.

The heterogeneity that characterises international research and development (R&D) teams often brings with it a wide spectrum of knowledge resources potentially relevant for the operation of the team. The study looks at a context where a positive relationship exists, and high levels of knowledge sharing take place between team members, referred to as knowledge orchestration, as a prerequisite for successful outputs in international research. The research involved 93 members of R&D teams working –either directly or indirectly, on the domain of industrial mortars. Within that domain, research participants are focused on the search for innovative solutions to improving the energy efficiency of buildings and the production of renewable energy. Partial Least Squares (PLS) using the SmartPLS allowed for the analysis of the data collected from practitioners. The results show that knowledge orchestration has a significant mediation effect between the heterogeneity of knowledge created by international R&D and their outputs.

Counter-knowledge comes from unverified sources of information such as hoaxes, rumours or partial lies. It creates an atmosphere of lack of trust that often leads individuals into making risky deci...

Banks are the backbone of the financial sector and catalysts in the economic development of any country. Current changes in their global business ecosystem make knowledge of about the fund-supplying and fund-demanding parties of the society a key resource for the fulfillment of banks’ investment and saving functions. This paper addresses the relationship between the performance and a learning culture that is supported by knowledge processes within the organization. Given the relevance of this subject for organizations from most knowledge-intensive domains, this research has focused on the Spanish banking sector. Using a structural equation model, feedback received from 215 employees from 142 individual branches from a major banking institution in Spain is studied. The results of the data analysis show that in addition to maximizing on what is already known about the customer base, employees’ learning about the potential new stakeholders and also about the internal strategies, tools, and techniques is directly related to the bank's performance, which, in turn, influences the economic recovery and socio-economic development. Results support that an active pursuit of learning within the context of the organization is required for banks to remain competitive in the dynamic, global business ecosystem, where international, national, and local banking sectors operate.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to bring the attention of the intellectual capital (IC) research and practice communities to the value of IC in hotels' efforts to resolve or mitigate environmental problems over time. This research has been set to examine the relationships between key KM and IC concepts including environmental knowledge structures and exploitation and exploration of environmental knowledge (EK) as drivers of environmental organisational learning. The research has also examined the relevance of pro-environmental behavioural intention capital (PEBIC) as a component of structural capital and therefore an integral part of the intellectual capital of hotels.Design/methodology/approachThe data analysis technique used to test the proposed conceptual model is partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Sample received from 87 companies from the Spanish hospitality sector in a longitudinal study (six years).FindingsThe results support that environmental knowledge structures (exploitation and exploration) has a positive impact on PEBIC over time. In other words, environmental organisational learning has the capability to create structural capital in hotel over time.Originality/valueThe research has addressed the challenges of exploration and exploitation of EK and PEBIC from a perspective not previously covered in the extant literature, further improved by the longitudinal nature of this study. Our focus on the hospitality sector makes this research relevant for management structures at numerous of hotels, as well as to their supply chains around the world. In addition, this research highlights the value to create structural capital through EK and organisational learning in the context of take care of our natural resources.

PurposeThe spread of the Internet in the business world has led to the development of new business-to-business (B2B) settings. Although a large number of companies have adopted B2B strategies, many of these fail to implement such strategies effectively. The most common barriers encompass the technology assimilation by users. This study investigates how IT assimilation can encourage potential and realised absorptive capacity and how these can, in turn, facilitate organisational agility and performance.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted in Spanish companies that make use of Editran, a platform to support B2B strategies. In total, 110 valid responses were obtained. Advanced analytical methods of PLS-SEM as fit measures and prediction procedure recently developed by Shmueliet al.(2019) were used.FindingsThe results show that there is a positive relationship between the three preceding constructs (IT assimilation, potential and realised absorptive capacity) and organisational agility. This study also finds support for a direct relationship between organisational agility and firm performance.Originality/valueThis study provides a further understanding and forecasting through the theoretical development and empirical investigation of the role of IT assimilation on firm performance in a B2B scenario by: (1) examining the link between IT and the firm's absorptive capacity and, more specifically, with the two subsets of potential and realised absorptive capacity, which have not received much attention from previous literature; and (2) exploring how an improvement in potential and realised absorptive capacity may place firms in a better position to develop their organisational agility.

PurposeThis paper provides a conceptual discussion of the bidirectional relationship between knowledge management (KM) and intellectual capital (IC) in a specific subset of knowledge-based organisations, i.e. professional sport organisations. Through the review and conceptual discussion of two relevant research themes, i.e. KM strategies for IC value creation and IC codification, this paper aims to highlight research gaps useful to future research.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply a systematic literature review method to analyse 66 management and accounting studies on KM and IC in sport organisations. Internal and external validity tests support the methodology adopted.FindingsThe authors provide a conceptual model to explain how KM strategies about IC investments can be optimal, i.e. they create value for all the stakeholders but also suboptimal, i.e. they create value only for a group of stakeholders. Next, they provide evidence of the opportunistic use of the codification associated with IC investments that impair financial reporting information transparency and mislead managers and investors.Practical implicationsThe results are informative for managers, regulators and policymakers to mitigate the inefficiencies regarding KM and IC codification and decisions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding of the bidirectional relationship between KM and IC in knowledge-based organisations by focussing on professional sport organisations in which KM and IC have played an important role for a long time. It also includes future avenues for advances in managing, measuring and reporting IC.

Organizations are challenged by the need to transform Dynamic Knowledge, embedded in each worker, into Static Knowledge, rooted in factual documental information. However, innovation and knowledge creation seem to be facilitated by the personal knowledge and life experiences of people, which appear to be dynamic. The tensions between Dynamic and Static Knowledge in facilitating the transfer and sharing of knowledge arise as compelling research as well as practical topic for organizations. Our paper aims to investigate such tensions by employing a case study. We decided to deepen such dynamics in the healthcare field, given its importance for business and society. In more detail, we analyzed one Emergency Room (ER) department through a series of interviews. Our findings highlight the importance of the right balance between Static and Dynamic Knowledge. On the one hand, the healthcare organization recognized the need to incorporate knowledge into practical and tangible instruments. On the other hand, the flows of Dynamic Knowledge must be fostered through a culture of knowledge translation and sharing, and the development of soft skills. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough empirical investigation of the potential link between corporate innovations and corporate competitiveness in the context of the UK IT industry. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a panel of 216 UK IT firms for the period from 2000 to 2016. The sample data for this study were extracted from the Worldscope, extracted from the Datastream database from Thomson Reuters. For the analysis of the data, the generalised method of moments model is applied. Findings The results of this study provide empirical evidence that there exists a strong, positive link between corporate innovations and corporate competitiveness. Such evidence further reinforces the common view in the current literature of strategic management that because of the nature of their business, firms in the IT industry need to enhance their innovative capacities on a continual basis because of their critical role on these firms’ success and survival. Also, it is found that when the proxies for corporate innovations are lagged by two periods, their impact on corporate competitiveness becomes relatively more significant. However, when they are further lagged, i.e. by three periods, such an impact turns out to be relatively less pronounced. Research limitations/implications The data gathered for this paper was restricted to IT-oriented firms in the UK. Using a secondary database (Datastream), the paper considered the period of 2000-2016. Originality/value The research makes a significant contribution to the current debate on the relationship between information technology, innovation and performance, referred to in the literature as the productivity paradox, by studying the problem in the IT industry. It supports organisations from the sector in their efforts to deal with the dynamic nature of technological innovations and of the context where they operate. Methodologically, the way the study has measured the concepts of innovation and performance and the lessons learned from their analysis has also brought value to the research.

Over the past 20 years, a debate has developed on the differences between innovation and imitation strategies as mechanisms by which businesses operating in the Asia Pacific region may gain a competitive advantage. The current research contributes to this debate from a different perspective by exploring some of the challenges and opportunities associated with the combination of both strategies into what has been defined as imovation. Imovators and imovations do not stand alone in business ecosystems. Rather, they should be embraced in the context of sustainability-related virtues and emerging capabilities, such as ethical behaviour, co-responsibility and positive social impact. Taking dynamic capabilities as a theoretical lens, this paper conducts an empirical investigation of responsible imovation in a sample of 180 enterprises operating in the Asia Pacific market. In particular, this research evaluates the relationship between dynamic capabilities and imovation capabilities using a logistic regression analysis whereby we correlate the three main features of imovation strategies: strategic alliances, strategic decision-making and product innovations. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first study to focus on responsible imovation in the Asia Pacific market from an empirical perspective. The research highlights the key organisational and individual actions with the potential both to preserve existing capabilities and to create and integrate new ones. Our findings highlight the importance of technology adoption for responsible imovation to become more effective and accessible to imovators in the Asia Pacific business ecosystem. We conclude that responsible imovations combined with product-level innovations and core dynamic capabilities pave the way towards more rapid growth and a more sustainable competitive advantage.

The digital transformation of the healthcare sector is an essential development as societies move into a post-industrial, knowledge-based economy. The adoption of the latest technologies and their applications in the health and care systems must be managed effectively from the perspective of their cyber security and resilience. However, there is still a limited understanding of the key concepts that must define the strategic vision of a resilient and sustainable digital transformation of the healthcare sector. Using data collected at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic from owners and C-level executives from critical infrastructure sectors in the United Kingdom, this research analysed core constructs that contribute to the required transformative, adaptive and absorptive capacities for health systems digital resilience. The research found that a balanced base of cyber security knowledge development, uncertainty management, and consideration for the sector’s high levels of systemic and organisational interdependence are essential for its digital resilience and for the sustainability of its digital transformation efforts. The paper describes the implications of these findings for research and management practice.

Guest EditorAlexeis Garcia-Perez, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University, UK Supported byAnitha Chinnaswamy, Aston Business School, Aston University, UKVahid Jafari-Sadeghi, Aston Business School, Aston University, UK

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are often marked by limited resources, a high dependence on others, and a scope of business that gets narrower as they seek to adapt to the current dynamic and knowledge-intensive context. Additionally, in their relationship with multinational enterprises (MNEs), SMEs are driven to a continuous specialization of their knowledge and technological resource bases. They so source global knowledge by positioning along a global value chain of those MNES. Especially SMEs employ a repositioning organizational knowledge dynamics by functional upgrading and downgrading strategy. In order to address the query on dynamic capabilities in knowledge management (KM) in different inter-organizational collaborations in the global value chain, this study shows that the choice between functional upgrading or downgrading can determine a more effective cross-innovation strategy which enables SMEs to exploit external paths to the market by revealing or selling their ideas, knowledge and technologies. Such strategies can reveal opportunities for SMEs to increase their network to find an optimum position in the market. SMEs, in turn, become more specialised in their offerings, moving up or down the global value chain, leveraging on a combination of dynamic and technological capabilities along with high degree of involvement in knowledge management process. This scenario is investigated through the study of 532 European knowledge-intensive SMEs via structural equation modelling. Hence, results offer relevant implications for policy-makers and SMEs managers in better employing the organizational ambidexterity for the repositioning strategy in the global value chain.

By shifting towards Romer’s (Am Econ Rev 94:1002–1037, 1986) economy and so the spread of knowledge economy, universities started to adopt a collaborative approach with their entrepreneurial ecosystem. They turn out to be risk taker, autonomous, proactive, competitive, and innovative. In a nutshell, they are entrepreneurial oriented with the aim to generate new innovative ventures, known as research-based spin offs. Doubly, this has induced an improvement of technology transfer and the degree of entrepreneurship in the current knowledge economy. However there still is a paucity of studies on the spill over effect of entrepreneurial orientated universities and research-based spin off on technology transfer need to be more explored. Therefore, the article investigates the link between entrepreneurial orientation and such spill overs by offering an outlook of two universities and two research-based spin offs in the United Kingdom. The scope is to provide a deep view of technological innovativeness in a research context, entrepreneurial oriented. Our research suggests that entrepreneurial attitude has become an imperative to succeed in the context where British institutions currently operate. Entrepreneurship brings the necessary technological innovation to the university and its students, which results in better positioning of the university at national and international levels, with the subsequent impact on their ability to attract not only new students and academics but also funding to conduct their research.