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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problem of information and knowledge management (IKM) in higher education institutions. The research aims to determine the way in which the knowledge resources of a higher education institution are managed. The author intends to define how the information system is shaped and how information and knowledge are used in the reporting processes and for decision-making efficiency.

In total, 38 university administration employees from six higher education institutions in Poland participated in the study. Information barriers and benefits resulting from the implementation of the central reporting system “POL-on” were identified by using the sense-making technique. The purpose of the interviews was to determine the procedural and behavioural conditions of the reporting and decision-making processes in higher education institutions in Poland.

This paper suggests four characteristics of IKM in higher education institutions. A link between the information culture of the institution, its size and structure as well as the adopted model of IKM is demonstrated.

The main contribution of this paper is to introduce a framework for studying the IKM in higher education institutions from the perspective of information culture. Higher education institutions have developed different styles of striving for efficiency regarding decision making and reporting in administration. The IM and KM are now proved to be an integrated process in administrative activities of higher education institutions.

Behind the simple connotation “business exchange” a complex empirical phenomenon can be observed, including using, producing and developing activities, taking place in different contexts, influenced by ideas stemming from both practice and mainstream economic thinking. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the methodological challenges of research on business exchange in general and of IMP research in particular. Furthermore, to discuss how the authors can avoid the contemporary “methodomania” trend, where the researchers’ focus is directed toward accounting for which rules were followed.

The paper is based on a methodological distinction made by Peter Galison (1997) in his investigation of the interdependence among research approach, methodology, and research object in microphysics. Studies based on: “image,” allows data in its original form, and “logic,” requires the translation of original data and therefore relies “fundamentally on statistical demonstrations.” This distinction is utilized to investigate what is specific with business exchange as a research object, and how IMP researchers have dealt with the methodological challenges it presents. Furthermore, the paper considers these different methodological approaches in relation to theory and understanding of the research object.

The main conclusion is the huge importance the image-based methodology has had for the development of the IMP network approach. From the very start the IMP project has been focused on the production of a large set of, in Galison’s terminology, “hard facts” about the existence, substance and importance of interaction and the relationships it is creating. This image-based methodology has been utilized in the development of a set of imaging instruments, each with an ability to picture the content and consequences of business exchange.

Two methodological challenges which are specific for business research are identified. One is that “images” in terms of personal accounts on the organizing of production and use of economic resources are marbled with ideas, stemming from a mix of theories, textbooks and practice on how to do this. The second is that established theories create a “logic” in terms of the combination of “assumptions” and established “accounting principles” that produce a number of outputs interpreted as primary data and objective accounts of the characteristics of the production and use of economic resources.

IMP’s image-based methodology and the development of specific imaging instruments can increase the exactness in the pictures of the content and consequences of business interaction, and also, catch the range of its substance. Considering this circumstance could be a way to avoid “methodomania” and to breed awareness of the relationship among research object, methodology, and research approach.

IMP’s image-based methodology can increase the awareness that the logic-based model of business exchange has been ascribed an advisory role in terms of how companies should act in order to survive and prosper: as sellers and buyers in relation to each other, and also in relation to others.

First, the paper underlines that image-based methodologies can be used to produce “hard facts” about the existence, substance, and importance of business interaction. Second, the paper shows how the methodology of mainstream economics tends to be “the elephant in the room,” both in approaches resting on “image” and “logic.” It addresses the importance of making the elephant visible and investigates what is happening in its shadow.

In every industry there are resources. Some are moving, others more fixed; some are technical, others social. People working with the resources, for example, as buyers or sellers, or users or producers, may not make much notice of them. A product sells. A facility functions. The business relationship in which we make our money has “always” been there. However, some times this picture of order is disturbed. A user having purchased a product for decades may “suddenly” say to the producer that s/he does not appreciate the product. And a producer having received an order of a product that s/he thought was well known, may find it impossible to sell it. Such disturbances may be ignored. Or they can be used as a platform for development. In this study we investigate the latter option, theoretically and through real world data. Concerning theory we draw on the industrial network approach. We see industrial actors as part of (industrial) networks. In their activities actors use and produce resources. Moreover, the actors interact − bilaterally and multilaterally. This leads to development of resources and networks. Through “thick” descriptions of two cases we illustrate and try to understand the interactive character of resource development and how actors do business on features of resources. The cases are about a certain type of resource, a product − goat milk. The main message to industrial actors is that they should pay attention to that products can be co-created. Successful co-creation of products, moreover, may require development also of business relationships and their connections (“networking”).

The purpose of this paper is to provide greater insights into the-state-of-the-art in crisis management and aid in better response to health-related crises, with a specific focus on the hotel industry. This study extends the tourism crisis management model to include social media, concerning the role of monitoring and responding.

This study enhances the classic 4R (readiness, reduction, response and recovery) crisis management model to include social media for hotels facing a bed bug crisis and/or other health-related crises.

This paper discusses the use of social media at different phases of managing a bed bug crisis, which include risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery. Recommendations are also provided for hotel managers to combat health-related crises that are fought out on social media.

Social media has helped to bridge the communication gap between customers and hotels. Bed bug infestations are a growing health crisis, and they have obtained increasing attention on social media sites. Without managing this crisis effectively, bed bug infestation can cause economic loss and reputational damages to hotel properties, ranging from negative comments and complaints, to possible lawsuits. Thus, it is essential for hoteliers to understand the importance of social media in crisis communication, and to incorporate social media in hotels’ crisis management plans.

This study serves as one of the first attempts in the hospitality field to offer discussions and recommendations on how hotels can manage the bed bug crisis and other crises of this kind by incorporating social media into their crisis management practices.

The nonlinear dynamic modelling of safety net systems is approached at different scales. For this purpose, the fundamental rope dynamic tests are the reference for two basic tools. One hand an analytical bidimensional model with explicit geometrical nonlinearity and bilinear material law is proposed for preliminary design. On the other hand, a nonlinear explicit finite element is defined for numerical modelling of net systems. Semi‐scale and full scale dynamic tests are performed to validate complete finite element models, suitable for global qualification of safety systems. The direct applications of these tools deal with explicit certification of safety systems for high‐speed sport, such as downhill competitions.

Researchers continue to seek understanding of industrialization as a state managed process. How to create and implement new industries based on advanced knowledge is on the policy agenda of many advanced nations. Measures that promote these developments include national capacity building in science and technology, the formation of technology transfer systems, and the establishment of industrial clusters. What these templates often overlook is an analysis of use. This chapter aims to increase the understanding of the processes that embed new solutions in structures from an industrial network perspective. The chapter describes an empirical study of high-technology industrialization in Taiwan that the researcher conducts to this end. The study shows that the Taiwanese industrial model is oversimplified and omits several important factors in the development of new industries. This study bases its findings on the notions that resource combination occurs in different time and space, the new always builds on existing resource structures, and the users are important as active participants in development processes.

Increasing attention to sustainability has made product recovery issues increasingly significant. Although several studies portray product recovery arrangements as networks, these constellations have not been analyzed with network models. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the organizing of product recovery networks.

Previous research highlighted the need for a holistic perspective on product recovery. Industrial network theory provides such a framework, based on three dimensions of business reality: activities, resources and actors. The research method applied is a qualitative case study approach of product recovery in the PC industry.

The most significant issues in the organizing of product recovery concern the coordination of interdependent activities and the combining of physical and organizational resources. Effective organizing is contingent on interaction and information exchange among firms. Furthermore, the sorting rules applied in the product recovery process are crucial for the performance in the activity chain from disposer to end-user.

The study deals with product recovery of PCs, and needs to be supplemented with research in other empirical contexts.

The study offers companies broader perspective on their product recovery operations by illustrating how they are related to a wider network.

The study applies a novel perspective on product recovery. The analytical framework and the qualitative approach complement mainstream approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a contribution on the role of European R&D projects (ERDPs) on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) resource development.

This paper adopts a qualitative methodology based on a longitudinal case study. The case analysis concerns Gamma, a small high-tech firm based in Italy, active in nanotechnologies since 2005 as a research spin-off and since its establishment active in ERDPs. The analysis is developed along three main phases of development where the company participated to different ERDPs.

The empirical analysis highlights that since its establishment, Gamma has been able to increasingly exploit participation in ERDPs, in order to gain access to financial and technological resources. Such active and continuous participation fostered the development of both advanced technological and organizational resources, which then allowed the company to survive and play a growing role as a well-known technology partner in the nanotechnology field in Italy and Europe.

Adopting an IMP perspective, the paper provides a contribution on the managerial dimension of SMEs’ participation in ERDPs – which represents a neglected topic in the existing literature – on two distinct grounds: resource development process and networking processes. With respect to resource development processes in ERDPs, this case study underscores the relevance of ERDPs for developing both technological and organizational resources, highlighting the relevance of project management-related knowledge. In terms of networking processes, this paper highlights the need to fully understand the interplay of ERDP networks and business networks.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of social media (SM) adoption in upgrading and innovating selling processes by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing complex and rapidly changing market scenarios.

To achieve this goal, the paper undertakes an exploratory case study of Gamma, a mechanical company, by actively using SM to start and open a new market. The case-study is analyzed through the industrial marketing and purchasing (IMP) approach, which emphasizes the role of interaction and the interdependencies of resources.

The adoption of SM resources helped Gamma to tap into new markets and thus survive and face the downturn of its original market. SM displayed its effects in combination with other resources: a simple and not expensive machinery, capable human resources, effective production and logistical resources. SM represented a strategic resource to implement an effective business networking effort.

This paper provides novel empirical evidence and conceptual development over the role of SM as a resource in SMEs’ sales processes, using the IMP perspective on combination and development of resources.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of who forms what market assets by making what market investments in a business network.

To investigate what market investments were made by certain actors into resource interfaces as market assets, the author draws on a case network based on an investigation of the Chilean salmon production network. To this end, the author chose the fish – being the focal object resource in that network – as a point of departure. The author systematically investigates the resource interfaces that this resource has with three other specific resources: feed, fishmeal, and vaccines in a thick case study.

This study shows that market investments entail committing resources to resource interfaces which turns them into market assets. Resource interfaces as market assets have implications on how we characterize and value resource interfaces. Multilateral resource interfaces become valuable to firms as a result of continuous market investments made into them. This produces different types of resource interfaces, some of which are of mediatory character bridging between distant resources in a network.

This study focuses on the market investments being made to create and sustain market assets. Of course such assets are linked to a firm’s internal assets which this study do not investigate. In addition, this study emphasizes the commitment of resources into existing resource interfaces, the ensuing creation of market assets, and its use and value for firms and downplays a firm’s need to account for market investments and the market investments required to create a new resource interface.

As resource interfaces are valuable market assets, it is important to understand the functioning of different types of resource interfaces so as to exploit their potential as efficient as possible. This paper shows that some resources act as bridging resources connecting the borders of two indirectly related resources. Controlling bridging resources becomes an essential task for managers in business networks.

Understanding the market investments into resource interfaces enables firms to become more skilled in organizing and controlling networks. These networks can play important roles in the economic development of society and create improved societal conditions for people, organizations, and economies.

By combining a market investment and market asset conceptualization of investments in networks with a resource interaction approach, this paper provides an enhanced understanding of resource interfaces as market assets. Theoretical implications for our understanding of resource interfaces – its value and character – are discussed.