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The purpose of this paper is to examine the information flows, in terms of content and process, underpinning the sharing of knowledge by managers and owners. Such an examination reveals similarities and differences that will influence the generation and dissemination of knowledge used in tourism business operations and contribute to innovation.

This paper examines information flows within the theoretical and methodological framework of social network analysis. The findings were derived from a quantitative study of tourism managers and owners of a tourism hub in South-West England.

The main finding was that network structure characteristics determine the flow of information within owners’ and managers’ social networks. The owners of smaller businesses received information from several sources and, therefore, had fewer structural constraints and reported larger structural holes. In comparison, the managers had more brokerage opportunities to disseminate the information within their social networks.

This paper highlights knowledge sharing between tourism business managers and owners in an open network structure. First, an open network structure builds innovation through the provision of nonredundant information. This is determined through the effective size of structural holes and the dissemination of information through brokerage roles. Second, the knowledge capability of a destination is built up through the social networking of managers and owners. The generation and dissemination of knowledge in a tourism destination are facilitated by the social networking activities of managers and owners.

Managers and owners of tourism businesses require knowledge through information to assist with innovative business practices. The practical implication of this is that the social networks of managers and owners have different network characteristics, and that these differences result in consequences for the innovation of business practices. Another practical implication relates to the importance of managers in knowledge dissemination based on having several brokerage roles in the tourism destination.

These findings are important because an understanding of social networks and the flow of information is one of the keys to determining the influences on knowledge sharing within tourism destination knowledge networks of owners or managers and their potential contributions to innovation.

Health-care marketing typically entails a coordinated set of outreach and communications designed to attract consumers (patients in the health-care context) who require services for a better health outcome and guide them throughout their health-care journey to achieve a higher quality of life. The purpose of this study is to understand the progress and trends in healthcare marketing strategy (HMS) literature between 2018 and 2022, with a special emphasis on the pre- and post-Covid-19 periods.

The authors examine 885 HMS-related documents from the WOS database between 2018 and 2022 that were extracted using a keyword-based search strategy. After that, the authors present the descriptive statistics related to the corpus. Finally, the authors use author co-citation analysis (ACA) and bibliographic coupling (BC) techniques to examine the corpus.

The authors present the descriptive statistics as research themes, emerging sub-research areas, leading journals, organisations, funding agencies and nations. Further, the bibliometric analysis reveals the existence of five thematic clusters: Cluster 1: macroeconomic and demographic determinants of healthcare service delivery; Cluster 2: strategies in healthcare marketing; Cluster 3: socioeconomics in healthcare service delivery; Cluster 4: data analytics and healthcare service delivery; Cluster 5: healthcare product and process innovations.

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the advancements made in HMS-related research between 2018 and 2022. In addition, this study describes the evolution of research in this field from before to after the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings of this study have both research and practical significance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to use bibliometric analysis to identify advancements and trends in HMS-related research and to examine the pattern before and after Covid-19 pandemic.

This case study is related to start-up post-listing investment analysis. Through this case study, students will be able to perform the business analysis guided by the Venture Evaluation Metric tool, perform financial analysis using the discounted cash flow methods and perform investment analysis recommendation with justifications from the business and financial analysis performed above.

This case study sets out the study of a scalable start-up, Zomato, which is a successfully listed start-up firm in India. Despite the start-up development success in the pre-listing, the firm has exhibited a continuous unprofitable finance performance in the post-listing and has further experienced a volatile share price performance, both of which have puzzled existing and potential investors. In addition, some analysts are in the opinions that the firm share price valuation have been inflated with overvaluation since in the initial public offering stage and remain traded with overvaluation in the market. Notably, considering the negative indicators mentioned above, investors are concerned about long-term sustainability of the firm business and financial performance. In the context of post-listing investment, the following questions are material to investors: What is the realistic growth trajectory for Zomato in the medium term? What is Zomato’s share fair value in the medium term? Can one see opportunities or risks ahead of investing in Zomato’s shares? What will be the investment strategy for new investors?

This case study is suited to bachelor’s and master’s level in business schools studying entrepreneurial finance analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

The purpose of the study is to identify barriers to collaboration among female administrators at a Ghanaian technical university (TU), based on the social identity theory (SIT).

A mixed-method approach was adopted, integrating qualitative interviews of 15 female administrators and completing structured questionnaires from 117 randomly sampled female administrators. The SIT, as the analytical framework, identified themes emerging from the data on barriers to collaboration among female administrators. While exploratory factor analysis identified measures of factors hindering collaborations, the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) enabled the confirmation of relationships among the barriers to collaboration with female administrators.

There existed statistically significant relationships between four of the barriers: intergroup relations conflict, trust with stakeholders and among females and structural barriers (SBs). For the quantitative analysis, it was found that SBs, intergroup relations, conflict and trust were statistically significant except for weak cultures. For the qualitative, results showed that SBs, lack of trust with stakeholders and among females and intergroup conflict hinder collaboration.

The study has a limited scope in using only one TU and focusing on a particular gender. The implications of this research will enrich the literature on barriers to female administrative collaboration in technical education based on the SIT.

Promoting administrative collaborations in the TU will ensure sustainability and efficient administrative systems.

Institutional policies should include gender inclusivity and equality on networking opportunities and provide mentorship programs for efficient administrative systems.

We used the SIT to determine barriers to collaboration among female administrators in a technical education institution, and the mixed methodology added a unique dimension to the study.

This paper examines whether technological changes that promote communications between investors and managers help bridge the gap in the cost of equity capital among firms in different regions.

We use the online interaction platforms of listed firms in China and utilize brokerage presence (BP) to capture the geographic distribution of financial factors. We explore whether online interactions would reduce the cost of equity to a greater extent for firms located in low brokerage presence regions (hereafter “low-BP firms”) than those in high brokerage presence regions (hereafter “high-BP firms”).

We find low-BP firms benefit more from an improved information environment created by online interactions. We also find that posts about low-BP firms are more value-relevant and useful in processing corporate disclosures. Further, a higher number of interactions significantly enhances more informational efficiency for low-BP firms, and the effect of reducing the gap in financing costs is more pronounced when corporate information is complex.

We conclude that online interactions alleviate geography-induced information frictions and create a relatively level playing field for firms located in all regions.

A perusal of extant literature suggests asymmetric devotions in empirical research that overlooks unique social and industrial dynamics of married working women in highly competitive male-dominated industries. Drawing on the social role theory, the study addressed this asymmetry by proposing a multivariate regression model that examined performance drivers of married female real estate brokers, as mediated by organizational, cognitive and social influences.

The study employed a descriptive design. A structured electronic questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 256 married female brokers who are active on online messaging platforms. Snowball sampling was used to reach the research participants. Collected data were subjected to multivariate regression analysis.

The results infer that social influences were the most significant drivers of married female brokers in the real estate industry (r = 0.932, p < 0.05, F = 556.581). Significant interventions of diversity management, work-life balance, family support and access to economic opportunities were found.

In acknowledging the societal stereotype and culturally imposed burdens married women face in emerging economies, the study advanced theoretical, practical and policy initiatives for a more inclusive, supportive and learning-oriented work environment.

The novelty of the paper lies in its exposition of the unregulated real estate brokerage market in an emerging economy and the dynamic organizational, cognitive and societal influences of married female brokers.

Sustainable development involves companies on an individual, organizational and social level requiring the adoption of business models or innovations capable of privileging the co-creation of mutual value with a view to sustainability. From an organizational perspective, this paper aims to show that knowledge brokers, by making explicit their roles as mediators of interactions and acting on dynamic capabilities (DCs), can generate a proactive approach to the three dimensions of sustainability and specifically allows capabilities to positively impact the propensity toward sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices.

This study offers an empirical analysis of 200 companies in the agro-food sector participating in a knowledge brokerage system activated by protection consortia. It uses a multiple regression technique that allows for observing relationships between DCs and SSCM.

Absorptive, adaptive and innovative capabilities, when understood and brokered, have a positive and direct impact on the SSCM.

As there have rarely been frameworks developed that correlate knowledge brokerage, DCs and sustainability, this paper suggests that DCs, when adequately valued by the knowledge broker, allow for identifying the requirements of the various stakeholders regarding sustainability and changes in market scenarios to generate sustainability practices along the supply chain.

In recent years, the frequency and severity of cybersecurity incidents have prompted customers to seek out specialized insurance products. However, this has also presented insurers with operational challenges and increased costs. The assessment of risks for health systems and cyber–physical systems (CPS) necessitates a heightened degree of attention. The significant values of potential damages and claims request a solid insurance system, part of cyber-resilience. This research paper focuses on the emerging cyber insurance market that is currently in the process of standardizing and improving its risk analysis concerning the potential insured entity.

The authors' approach involves a quantitative analysis utilizing a Likert-style questionnaire designed to survey cyber insurance professionals. The authors' aim is to identify the current methods used in gathering information from potential clients, as well as the manner in which this information is analyzed by the insurers. Additionally, the authors gather insights on potential improvements that could be made to this process.

The study the authors elaborated it has a particularly important cyber and risk components for insurance area, because it addresses a “niche” area not yet proper addressed in specialized literature – cyber insurance. Cyber risk management approaches are not uniform at the international level, nor at the insurer level. Also, not all insurers can perform solid assessments, especially since their companies should first prove that they are fully compliant with international cyber security standards.

This research has concentrated on analyzing the current practices in terms of gathering information about the insured entity before issuing the cyber insurance policy, level of details concerning the cyber security posture of the insured entity and way such information should be analyzed in a standardized and useful manner. The novelty of this research resides in the analysis performed as detailed above and the proposals in terms of information gathered, depth of analysis and standardization of approach made. Future work on the topic can focus on the standardization process for analyzing cyber risk for insurance clients, to improve the proposal based also on historical elements and trends in the market. Thus, future research can further refine the standardization process to analyze in more depth the way this can be implemented and included in relevant legislation at the EU level.

Proposed improvements include proposals in terms of the level of detail and the usefulness of an independent centralized approach for information gathering and analysis, especially given the re-insurance and brokerage activities. The authors also propose a common practical procedural approach in risk management, with the involvement of insurance companies and certification institutions of cyber security auditors.

The study investigates the information gathered by insurers from potential clients of cyber insurance and the way this is analyzed and updated for issuance of the insurance policy.

Existing literature is limited in its ability to consider start-ups as a knowledge broker to trigger innovation in a supply chain ecosystem (SCE). In a traditional SCE, start-ups are relatively isolated, leading to structural holes that limit knowledge sharing among members. This paper aims to overcome that limitation and to build frameworks that help to illustrate the interaction between knowledge management and sharing, start-up innovation and an ecosystem from a supply chain perspective.

Following a qualitative approach, this study theorizes about the role of start-ups as knowledge brokers and the implications of knowledge management and sharing with members in an SCE concerning innovation. Conceptual analysis is used for examination, and this study uses a set of qualitative tactics to interpret and generate meaning from the existing literature.

This study develops two frameworks to provide insight into how start-ups can trigger innovation as knowledge brokers in an SCE. The first framework shows how start-ups, and their knowledge base, influence supply chain members and the overall ecosystem, highlighting the isolated function of start-ups and the issue of structural holes in a traditional SCE. The authors propose a model that illustrates how structural holes can be bridged within an SCE, thereby demonstrating how start-ups redefine the ecosystem architecture according to their knowledge broker position in the SCE.

By expanding insight into the concepts of how start-ups can trigger innovation as knowledge brokers in an SCE, this paper extends the so-far neglected area of start-ups and knowledge brokers. This study clarifies the conceptual and theoretical components and processes in an SCE and links the different roles of start-ups as knowledge brokers to the respective supply chain members to better understand the implications on the entire SCE.

This study aims to explore the relationship between network position and innovation under major environmental turbulence.

The authors use a difference-in-differences identification approach using the 2009 Industry Revitalization Plan in response to the global financial crisis as a natural experiment with a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2001 to 2017.

The findings show that a major environmental turbulence can facilitate firm innovation, and firms that occupy central positions in the interlock network show worse innovation performance while firms with high brokerage show better innovation performance.

The literature on environmental implication has largely focused on the threats and overlooked the potential opportunities. Moreover, social network literature has elaborated on the benefits and constraints of network positions from a static perspective but largely overlooked their implications facing environmental change. By exploring the bright side of major environmental turbulence and including this factor as a key contingency in exploring the effects of centrality and brokerage, this study integrates external environmental context with social network research and provides empirical evidence responding to the call for more attention to network dynamics and extends our understanding of the context-contingent network effects on firm innovation.