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This paper aims to contribute to understandings of the dynamics of marketplace exclusion and explore the benefits of a performative approach to knowledge production.

Interactive documentary theatre is used to explore the pressing issue of marketplace exclusion in a deprived UK city. The authors present a series of three vignettes taken from the performance to explore the embodied and dialogical nature of performative knowledge production.

The performative mode of knowledge production has a series of advantages over the more traditional research approaches used in marketing. It is arguably more authentic, embodied and collaborative. However, this mode of research also has its challenges particularly in the interpretation and presentation of the data.

The paper highlights the implications of performative knowledge production for critical consumer learning. It also explores how the hitherto neglected concept of marketplace exclusion might bring together insights into the mechanics and outcomes of exclusion.

While theatrical and performative metaphors have been widely used to theorise interactions in the marketplace, as yet the possibility of using theatre as a form of inquiry within marketing has been largely neglected. Documentary theatre is revealing of the ways in which marketplace cultures can perpetuate social inequality. Involving local communities in the co-production of knowledge in this way gives them a voice in the policy arena not hitherto fully addressed in the marketing field. Similarly, marketplace exclusion as a concept has been sidelined in favour of marketplace discrimination and consumer vulnerability – the authors think it has the potential to bring these fields together in exploring the range of dynamics involved.

The study examines the remote integration process of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) into the production system and identifies key challenges and mitigating actions for a smoother introduction and integration process.

The study adopts a case study approach to a cyber-physical production system at an industrial technology center using a mobile robot as an AMT.

By applying the plug-and-produce concept, the study exemplifies an AMT's remote integration process into a cyber-physical production system in nine steps. Eleven key challenges and twelve mitigation actions for remote integration are described based on technology–organization–environment theory. Finally, a remote integration framework is proposed to facilitate AMT integration into production systems.

The study presents results purely from a practical perspective, which could reduce dilemmas in early decision-making related to smart production. The proposed framework can improve flexibility and decrease the time needed to configure new AMTs in existing production systems.

The area of remote integration for AMT has not been addressed in depth before. The consequences of lacking in-depth studies for remote integration imply that current implementation processes do not match the needs and the existing situation in the industry and often underestimate the complexity of considering both technological and organizational issues. The new integrated framework can already be deployed by industry professionals in their efforts to integrate new technologies with shorter time to volume and increased quality but also as a means for training employees in critical competencies required for remote integration.

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the relationships between the two main processes of research and development (R&D) activities: the knowledge generation phase (KPP) and the knowledge commercialization, or transfer, phase (KCP), in a sector that is intensive in this type of activity, such as the pharmaceutical sector. In addition, within the framework of the general objective of this work, the authors propose two other objectives: (1) make advances in network efficiency measurement models, and (2) determine the factors associated with efficiency in the KPP and in the KCP in companies of the pharmaceutical sector in Spain.

A Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) model (Färe and Grosskopf, 2000) with categorical variables (Lee et al., 2020; Yeh and Chang, 2020) has been applied, and a sensitivity analysis of the obtained results has been performed through a DEA model of categorical variables, in accordance with the work of Banker and Morey (1986), to corroborate the results of the proposed model. The sample is made up of 77 companies in the pharmaceutical sector in Spain.

The results obtained point to a greater efficiency of pharmaceutical companies in the KPP, rather than in the KCP. Furthermore, the study finds that 1) alliances between companies have been the accelerating factors of efficiency in the KCP (but patents have slowed this down the most); 2) the quality of R&D and the number of R&D personnel are the factors that most affect efficiency in the KPP; and 3) the quality of R&D again, the benefits obtained and the position in the market are the factors that most affect efficiency in the KCP.

The authors have not found studies that show whether the efficiency obtained by R&D-intensive companies in the KPP phase is related to better results in terms of efficiency in the KCP phase. No papers have been found that analyse the role of alliances between R&D-intensive companies and patents, as agents that facilitate efficiency in the KCP phase, covering the gap in the research on both problems. Notwithstanding, this work opens up a research path which is related to the improvement of network efficiency models (since it includes categorical variables) and the assessment of the opinions of those who are responsible for R&D departments; it can be applied to decision-making on the aspects to improve efficiency in R&D-intensive companies.

Information practices become highly complex in biodiversity citizen science projects due to the projects’ large scale, distributed setting and vast inclusion of participants. This study aims to contribute to knowledge concerning what variations of information practices can be found in biodiversity citizen science and what these practices may mean for the overall collaborative biodiversity data production in such projects.

Fifteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with participants engaged with the Swedish biodiversity citizen science information system Artportalen. The empirical data were analysed through a practice-theoretical lens investigating information practices in general and variations of practices in particular.

The analysis shows that the nexus of biodiversity citizen science information practices consists of observing, identifying, reporting, collecting, curating and validating species as well as decision-making. Information practices vary depending on participants’ technical know-how; knowledge production and learning; and preservation motivations. The study also found that reporting tools and field guides are significant for the formation of information practices. Competition was found to provide data quantity and knowledge growth but may inflict data bias. Finally, a discrepancy between practices of validating and decision-making have been noted, which could be mitigated by involving intermediary participants for mutual understandings of data.

The study places an empirically grounded information practice-theoretical perspective on citizen science participation, extending previous research seeking to model participant activities. Furthermore, the study nuances previous practice-oriented perspectives on citizen science by emphasising variations of practices.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and evolution of industrial innovation ecosystems of Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle from the three levels mentioned above, focusing on knowledge-producing populations, core populations and service-supporting populations, and to further develop this research framework by combining with the latest developments.

Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper adopts geographic information system technology and examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji knowledge economy circle.

The knowledge product populations lead the development of industries in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It contributes political capital output for the government. It innovates community cooperation and governance mode, and it improves the natural ecological environment. In the face of the changes and challenges in the development environment, the future development must be recognised from the height of the iterative development of the interaction mode between university knowledge production and economic and social development.

Based on the five-helix theory and economic census statistical data, this paper examines the characteristics of the industrial innovation ecosystem and the synergistic evolution process in Around-Tongji Knowledge Economy Circle. It further expands the research framework used to develop a synergistic evolution model, which reveals the interactive and synergistic relationship among the populations and the evolution characteristics of the entire industrial innovation ecosystem. This paper also provides useful perspectives for the study of the industrial innovation ecosystem.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce engaged scholarship as a method for addressing the “wicked problem” of High Street change through successful collaboration and co-production of knowledge between academics, practitioners, citizens and other place stakeholders.

The first part of this paper introduces engaged scholarship as a participatory form of research and situates it within the context of the High Street. The second part presents the case of High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) via Van de Ven’s diamond model of engaged scholarship as a guide.

Engaged scholarship’s focus on knowledge production and on collaboration between the research team and the community enabled us to improve the understanding of factors affecting High Streets amongst a diverse group of stakeholders and focus on what works for the towns. The ongoing impact of HSUK2020 on the project towns’ action plans and on this current research is testament to how engaged scholarship research can drive the agendas for both academics and communities.

The paper presents engaged scholarship as an alternative collaborative method of conducting research on the High Street, one that is more in line with the current trends in retailing and works as a motivating factor for community engagement.

The paper aims to present a pedagogical model tailored to the development of key competences in the urban planning profession in post-socialist transitional countries that is based on the creation of an integrated platform for dialogue and the development of professional competences as part of the process, whereby students produce their final projects.

The pedagogical model is based on the principles of education for sustainable development and focuses on the establishment of a repeatable platform for dialogue between students and mentors, members of the mentoring team, the local community, external members of the consulting team of experts and foreign master’s degree programmes, in the process of producing students’ projects. The proposed method addresses several dimensions, including: the education of students, teachers, professionals and local experts, the establishment of a network for cooperation and collaboration and the delivery of practical and usable results.

The paper provides a comparative overview of the pedagogical model’s application in producing the final master’s degree projects of three generations of students, as well as its alignment with the needs of re-defining the role and reach of the profession of urban planner in an environment of post-socialist transition. The model was improved, enhanced and optimised through this process and then corroborated with its practical implementation.

The innovative pedagogical model comprises an instrument to enhance the professional capacities of all participants in the production of final master’s projects: academics, practitioners and future professionals/students, through discussions of topical issues, innovative modes of work and new professional responses grounded in the local context and tested by a broad range of stakeholders. It is of particular importance for countries in transition experiencing a shift in the paradigm of professional action, especially as the proposed pedagogical model establishes a problem-solving platform that surpasses academia.

Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), owned by the Brazilian Government, is one of the most efficient agencies for promoting sustainable tropical agriculture in the world. However, although information is available, farmers do not always put the technologies and knowledge into practice. There is a large difference between the average productivity of farmers and crop or herd potential. Thus, this paper aims to describe and analyze the process of technology transfer of the Embrapa Agrobiology Unit.

The study reviewed the classical and diffusionist models of technology transfer (TT) in Brazilian agriculture and the role of the government in innovation. This was based on documentary research and structured interviews with four employees, supported by a structured roadmap composed of four categories for analysis: the role of TT; the organizational structure of the area; the TT strategies; and the ways of delivery, methods and tools of TT. By a qualitative approach, the results were treated through content analysis.

The results indicated that the area of TT at Embrapa went through a recent restructuring, which included the interchange and collective construction of knowledge (ICC) in its TT process, to turn entrepreneurship into reality. The company is dedicated to bringing knowledge to the most important people: farmers. This has been done through a participatory TT model, which has involved multiplier agents from the research stage to the transfer stage.

Some limitations were found, among them, the fact that only internal members of Embrapa were interviewed, limiting the view of the TTICC staff and without knowing the multiplier agents’ opinion and other actors involved in the process. In addition, it is a qualitative research that is subject to the interpretation of the researcher.

This study contributed to reflections about the TT process and how it can be used by different actors, along with the role of the State in innovation.

In addition to contributing to the development of products, processes and technologies for the economic, social and environmental development of Brazil, Embrapa has been outstanding in generating knowledge for the advancement of science. Its results have had impacts not only nationally but also worldwide. Embrapa has played a key role in Brazilian agriculture as well as in livestock, mainly, in supporting governmental projects and in the implementation of public policies.

The aim of this study was achieved, as there was a possibility of describing and analyzing the technology transfer process at Embrapa Agrobiology Unit, located in the city of Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro. It is concluded that Embrapa has been committed to involving the farmer in the process of interchange, collective construction of knowledge and technology transfer. The farmer has become the focus of this process, reducing the development of “shelf” researches and increasing the participation of the farmer or of the multiplier agent. The importance of studying and knowing the process of technology and knowledge transfer to the public of interest should be highlighted, and especially the reasons why this technology or knowledge are often not adopted by the public. It was possible to identify that Embrapa has noticed the difficulties of farmers and realized that the best way the best way of transforming technological solutions and knowledge into innovation is by involving the farmer in the process of construction and of transfer. Thus, the farmer gives greater credibility to the technology or generated knowledge because this is something that he himself helped build. In the sphere of contemporary institutional knowledge management, Embrapa has had as its main point of departure the demand and the needs of society. For this, it has created means to ensure the participation of different actors because they signal the construction of technological solutions and of innovation and they are the ones who know the real situation. However, this is a recent progress within Embrapa that has evolved and generated results. Thus, research, science and technology institutions must go beyond technology transfer and must ensure the involvement, participation and interaction of the public of interest to promote significant change, social, economic and environmental development and transformation. Embrapa observed this from the referential framework that included technology transfer, interchange and the collective construction of knowledge.

The paper refers to the framework of ambidexterity to explain the strategic paths of manufacturing SMEs in turbulent times, by investigating SMEs' strategic reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors adopted an inductive approach methodology. Using a qualitative research method, Italian manufacturing SMEs in different industries were interviewed to outline how they have faced the negative effects of the COVID-19 by considering the strategies implemented during the pandemic.

The study identifies three ambidextrous strategies for manufacturing SMEs to positively overcome the COVID-19 crisis: (1) playing different roles within the same market (business-to-business and business-to-consumer) simultaneously, (2) simultaneous entrance and management of multiple markets and (3) exploiting manufacturing knowledge for exploring product and business model innovation (simultaneous learning processes).

Results enrich the theoretical discussion on ambidexterity and SMEs, by stressing the strategic dimension of ambidexterity and including a more fine-grained analysis of the different firm’ strategic paths in times of crisis.

The paper provides practical suggestions for manufacturing SMEs on how they can react during turbulent times and crises by implementing ambidextrous strategies also thanks to the use of digital technologies.

This paper contributes to outlining the conditions for SMEs' resilience in the international competitive context by highlighting the perspective of ambidexterity based on the analysis of multiple case studies from manufacturing industries.

This paper analyzes the ways in which accounting enables operations managers to enter and perform multiple roles in their interplay with organizational groups on the shop floor and in management, and the associated negotiations that operations managers have with “the self.”

Using field-based studies in a mining organization, the study draws on Goffman’s backstage–frontstage metaphor to analyze how operations managers enter and perform several roles with the aid of accounting.

The findings show that accounting legitimizes operations managers when they cross organizational boundaries, as accounting gives them an “entry ticket” that legitimizes their presence with the group. Accounting further allows operations managers to embrace more than one role by “putting on a mask” to become an outsider or insider in relation to a group. In performing their roles, operations managers exhibit varying attributes and knowledge. Accounting can thereby be withheld from, or shared with, organizational groups. The illusion of accounting as deterministic presented frontstage is not necessarily negotiated that way backstage. Rather, alternatives discussed backstage often become silenced in the frontstage performance. The study concludes that operations managers cross boundaries, embrace roles and exert agency as they navigate with accounting, enrolling it into their performance simultaneously as they backstage reflect upon accounting and its role for their everyday work.

This study relies on the frontstage/backstage metaphor to visualize the discrepancies in how accounting is enrolled into role performances and how seemingly categorical fronts do not necessarily share that dominant position backstage.