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This study aims to focus on a key unanswered question about how digitalization and the knowledge processes it enables affect firms’ strategies in the international arena.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review of relevant theoretical and empirical studies covering over 20 years of research (from 2000 to 2023) and including 73 journal papers.

This review allows us to highlight a relationship between firms’ international strategies and the knowledge processes enabled by applying digital technologies. Specifically, the authors discuss the characteristics of patterns of knowledge flows and knowledge processes (their origin, the type of knowledge they carry on and their directionality) as determinants for the emergence of diverse international strategies embraced by single firms or by populations of firms within ecosystems, networks, global value chains or alliances.

Despite digital technologies constituting important antecedents and critical factors for the internationalization process, and international businesses in general, and operating cross borders implies the enactment of highly knowledge-intensive processes, current literature still fails to provide a holistic picture of how firms strategically use what they know and seek out what they do not know in the international environment, using the affordances of digital technologies.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies on knowledge creation for innovation purposes by assessing the relationships among the variety of I4.0 technologies adopted (breadth I4.0), the penetration of these technologies within the firm’s value chain activities (depth I4.0) and the mediating role of both internal (inter-functional (IF)) and external [with knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS)] collaborations in this process.

The study employed a quantitative research design. By administering a survey to entrepreneurs, chief operation officers or managers in charge of the operational and technological processes of Italian manufacturing firms, the authors collected 137 useful questionnaires. To test this study's theoretical framework and hypotheses, the authors ran regression and mediation analyses.

First, the results highlight the positive link between breadth I4.0 and depth I4.0. Moreover, the results show the key role played by increased collaboration among the firm’s business functions and by relationships with KIBS in creating knowledge to innovate processes and products when I4.0 technologies are adopted.

The variety of I4.0 technologies adopted enables a firm to use such technologies in various value chain activities. However, the penetration of I4.0 into the firm’s value chain activities (depth I4.0) does not per se directly imply the production of new knowledge, for which a firm needs internal collaboration among different business functions, in particular with the production area, or collaboration with external partners that favor I4.0 implementation, such as KIBS.

To achieve innovation goals by creating new knowledge, especially in the manufacturing industries, firms should encourage internal and external collaboration when I4.0 technologies are adopted. Moreover, policy makers should not only consider fiscal incentives for the adoption of such technologies, but also encourage the building of networks between adopting firms and external actors.

The study is one of the first attempt that provides empirical evidence of how I4.0 enables the creation of knowledge to innovate processes and products, highlighting the relevance of collaboration both within the company and with external partners.

This paper aims to analyse the technological, economic and environmental impacts of disruptive innovations in the transportation mobility market.

The paper gathered data from World Bank and 13 open sources in an exploratory, descriptive and applied investigation on potentially disruptive transport innovations outcomes in G7 and BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) economies, businesses and societies.

The results suggest positive implications for technological leapfrogging of electric vehicles (EV), autonomous vehicles (AVs) and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOLs), such as gains in energy consumption, infrastructure improvement, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, economic growth and the opportunity for new disruptive technologies to improve or even revolutionize the transportation ecosystem.

This study has clear limitations as it compares G7 and BRICS hypothetical scenarios where internal combustion vehicles were replaced by new technologies, ceteris paribus. Even so, as theoretical implications, the study presents market scenarios for EVs, AVs and eVTOLs technologies, bringing benefits to the disruptive innovation theory by expanding the understanding of the subject and also opening avenues of investigation by exploring new technological, economic and environmental possibilities.

This study emphasises potentially disruptive technologies’ technological, economic and sustainable benefits to countries through technological leapfrogging. The organizations can delve into results to investigate forthcoming markets and seek advantageous positions. Economic and social gains from leapfrogging could motivate government bodies to finance research focusing on EVs, AVs and eVTOLs diffusion.

The paper’s originality resides in aggregating multiple data sources to compare technological leapfrogging in G7 and BRICS transportation. The different views allowed for exploring the potential outcomes of EVs, AVs and eVTOLs on economic, sustainability and market dimensions in developed and developing countries.

There is a well-documented trend among businesses for applying continuously improving, technologically-supported processes. This trend, in part, responds to evolving and challenging business environments and competitive pressures. It also increasingly mandates the need for businesses to invest in improving their digital capabilities and is driven by the expectation that such investments will better equip them for uncertain times. The COVID-19 pandemic presented disruptions to the supply chain, logistics, operations, market demand and labour supply, with industry reports providing evidence that businesses with digital capabilities were better able to respond to such disruptions promptly and appropriately. The study aims to investigate the effects of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies on business operations and supply chain resilience.

The authors surveyed 117 Australian manufacturing firms using an online survey and analysed the data by using the partial least square structural equation modelling method.

The authors found I4.0 capabilities directly and positively impact supply chain resilience and that incremental innovation acts as a complementary mediator for the I4.0 technologies’ relationship with supply chain resilience. I4.0 technology capability needs to first transfer to incremental innovation for operations resilience. The authors also found that incremental innovation and operations resilience are serial mediators in the relationship between I4.0 technologies and supply chain resilience.

This research linked the three research areas of I4.0 implementations, innovation capabilities and resilience. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has not been a previous study that investigated all three constructs together. Also, this study considered operations resilience and supply chain resilience as two distinct constructs and found I4.0 technologies had differential effects on them. The findings, thus, provide a novel contribution to the resilience, organizational capability and innovation literature. The investigations make clear to business practitioners how investments in technology and innovation capabilities translate into the resilience that is required in periods of disruption to business certainty.

The South African construction industry appears to be lagging behind other industries in the country in terms of implementation and adoption of innovative technologies. Moreover, sufficient empirical data on the adoption of innovative technologies, especially, in developing countries are not readily available. The aim of this study is therefore to assess the adoption and implementation of innovative technologies in the South African construction industry with a view to improving the industry's performance.

A survey was undertaken using a questionnaire, administered to construction professionals primarily in project management, quantity surveying and architectural firms.

The key findings show that there are some innovative technologies such as building information modelling, 3-dimensional mapping, drones, 3-dimensional printing and virtual reality that have been deployed. However, limited adoption of innovative technologies within the industry and low levels of knowledge of its benefits among the respondents were reported. This low implementation of innovative technologies was due to critical barriers such as high cost, limited knowledge, time requirement, fear of change, lack of interest, nature of construction processes and lack of team dynamics. Key drivers of innovation were found to include globalization and competition.

The current level of implementation of innovative technologies indicated that they are not yet optimized in the South African construction industry and suggests implications for change, adaptation and growth. The study recommends that firms should consider investing in research and development in order to exploit the potential of innovation for organizations and the industry at large.

The drivers and barriers indicated will help to prioritize the direction of adoption and growth which could help to improve the industry.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The purpose of this paper is to study the differences in the internationalization process of firms from emerging economies and the impact of their international expansion related choices on the nature of technological innovations developed by these firms. Specifically, the authors compare two principal perspectives on internationalization – the incremental internationalization process (slow, gradually increasing commitments using greenfield investments to similar host countries) and the springboard perspective (aggressive, rapidly increasing commitments using mergers and acquisitions to advanced host countries).

Building on key differences between the incremental internationalization and springboard perspectives, the authors argue that differences in the speed and mode of entry, as well as the interaction between the mode of entry and location of internationalization, will lead to differences in the types of technologies (mature versus novel) developed by emerging economy firms. The authors examine the hypotheses using panel data from 1997 to 2013 on emerging economy multinationals (EMNEs) from the Indian bio-pharmaceutical industry.

The findings suggest that firms internationalizing at higher speeds and using cross-border M&As tend to have innovations in mature technologies. The interesting findings can be explained by the challenges faced by emerging economy firms in experiential learning and the assimilation of external knowledge. In addition, the authors find that internationalization to technologically advanced countries weakens the relationship between cross-border M&As and innovation in mature technologies, suggesting that direct learning from technologically advanced environments may help alleviate the assimilation challenges of cross-border M&As.

The authors advance literature on EMNE internationalization by comparing the impact of their choice of internationalization approaches (incremental internationalization or springboard approach) on their innovation performance. The authors contribute to literature on EMNEs that has focused on the determinants of internationalization by identifying the learning implications of internationalization. The authors contribute to the nascent stream of literature on the level of innovation and catching up by EMNEs by performing a fine-grained analysis of the nature of technology innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning, as well as the drivers, of innovation in theory and practice for gaining insight into the reasons why the diffusion of innovative technologies fails; even though they promise a superior performance compared to incumbent technologies. The paper describes an explorative study of the diffusion of domotics technologies in residential construction.

Innovation systems theory, which points to the “technological regime” in the actor network as a key element in the diffusion, acceptance, and application of new technologies was used to analyse the diffusion of domotics technologies in residential construction.

The results underscored the expected “bottlenecks” in the technological regime of the innovation system that curtailed the diffusion of domotics technologies in construction.

The novelty of the paper is in the approach of the research and the collected data on the technological regime amongst the stakeholders. These stakeholders were principally involved in development and implementation of the domotics technologies in residential construction; these observations provided useful insights into the diffusion of domotics technologies.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are increasingly recognized among technologies potentially driving the digital innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Nevertheless, the implications of AR/VR adoption in innovation processes have yet to receive much attention to date, with the need to explore the issues facilitating a systematic implementation in the SME context. This study aims to investigate the possible innovation paths of SMEs as a result of AR/VR adoption.

The authors performed a multiple case study research involving six Italian SMEs in manufacturing and service sectors that are investing in AR and/or VR solutions and are digitally innovating thanks to these technologies.

AR/VR solutions lead to different types of innovation in SMEs, i.e. for innovating product or service offerings, business processes or even the business model, when AR/VR extends to the company business logic. SMEs demonstrate being able to leverage internal sources with the essential commitment of top management and low resistance of employees in all kinds of AR/VR-enabled innovations. Conversely, they involve different external innovation sources according to the type of innovation pursued. Organizational issues emerged as more relevant than technological issues.

Results contribute to the literature on digital transformation of SMEs and provide managerial guidance on innovation sources and organizational issues to be considered to effectively deploy AR/VR solutions into specific innovation paths.

This study explores the impact of emergent technologies in the innovation process along with multiple perspectives, degree of complexity, and strategic importance in the SME context.

Technology-enabled business-to-business (B2B) services contribute the largest share to GDP growth and are fundamental for an economy’s value creation. This article aims to identify key service- and digital technology-driven B2B innovation modes and proposes a research agenda for further exploration.

This conceptual paper adopts a techno-demarcation view on service innovation, encompassing three core dimensions: service offering (the service product, or the “what”), service process (the “how”) and service ecosystem (the “who/for whom”). It delineates the implications of three digital technologies – the internet-of-things (IoT), intelligent automation (IA) and digital platforms – for service innovation across these core dimensions in B2B markets.

Digital technology has immense potential ramifications for value creation by reshaping all three core dimensions of service innovation. Specifically, IoT can transform physical resources into reconfigurable service products, IA can augment and automate a rapidly expanding array of service processes, while digital platforms provide the technical and organizational infrastructure for the integration of resources and stakeholders within service ecosystems.

This study suggests an agenda with six themes for further research, each linked to one or more of the three service innovation dimensions. They are (1) new recurring revenue models, (2) service innovation in the metaverse, (3) scaling up service innovations, (4) ecosystem innovations, (5) power dependency and lock-in effects and (6) security and responsibility in digital domains.