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This paper aims to shed light on the mechanisms that connect dynamic capabilities and organizational knowledge in the innovative process to offer a new theoretical and practical solution considering the microfoundations of knowledge management strategies.

This research has emerged from an in-depth case study of an effective innovation (from just ethanol and sugar-production to an effective biomass plant). The study represents an “inductive inquiry,” useful to understand specific “organizational mechanisms” of innovation, where the main data came from in-depth interviews with 18 key actors. It proved to help search the development of a specific biomass plant, designed and implemented between 2000 and 2007 in a Brazilian ethanol and sugar-production large company, referred to here as “Energyplant.”

This solution provides a new perspective based on the idea that dynamic capabilities are context-dependent and presents an original typological map that shows and materializes dynamic capabilities as teams of human-based resources. Managerial implications can be drawn from the capabilities typological map highlighting that, although identical dynamic capabilities are not required to change different firms, idiosyncratic dynamic capabilities perform universal knowledge functions that can be mapped, contributing to the planning of a specific innovation.

While the dynamic capabilities research has been seen as one of the most vibrant topics in strategic management, scholars have recently stressed that dynamic capabilities continue to be underrated because the knowledge mechanisms that lead to effective innovations have not been adequately explored. The visual mapping is then applied to solve the reviewed theoretical problems, being also suggested to firms interested in change and adapting their capabilities to the requirements of the business environment.

The harmonisation of university degrees at the European level leads us to believe that training needs are addressed in the same way in different countries. However, the inevitable adaptation to the changing environment faced by companies requires a continuous adjustment between training and future needs, according to the sector. The aim of this paper is to compare two leading and culturally similar countries in the tourism sector in order to determine whether training is being provided homogeneously in tourism higher education and whether more specific training is desired to meet the needs of the sector in each country.

This study is part of the European Next Tourism Generation (NTG) Project, the first European partnership to foster a collaborative and productive relationship between the education system and the tourism industry. A mixed research study was conducted with the purpose of development, i.e. with the intention that the results of one method (qualitative) are used to assist the development of the other method (quantitative) and an exploratory sequential design. Both qualitative (29 interviews) and quantitative (509 tourism organisations) methods are used.

For a sector that has undergone significant changes in recent years, the results show the differences between countries around the current level of soft skills of employees, the level they will need to develop in the future and the gaps that those responsible for training future employees in the sector need to focus on for the 2030 horizon.

Several recommendations have emerged from this paper: to complement higher education, to achieve a better link between the business world and future workers; to provide much more incentives for international student mobility, which will allow students to develop intercultural soft skills before they enter the world of work, and to propose the creation of a social network to share, communicate and learn about resources specific to the tourism industry.

Since the Bologna Plan, higher education institutions have been tasked with preparing students for the world of work and developing the employability of graduates. The link between the professional world (companies) and the educational world (training centres) is a crucial factor in determining students' future skills and needs. When educational programmes respond to the needs of industry, the university can gain a competitive advantage. Therefore, some authors suggest the need for coordination and regular communication between business and training centres, thus improving the competitiveness of companies and reducing the gap that currently exists. In this paper, comparing two culturally similar countries with a recognised trajectory in the tourism sector, we will try to observe this gap and propose interesting options for the future of the sector.

This research investigates the role that having a trademark and a social media presence play in the development of international activities as well as their influence on performance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within the fashion sector of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Quantitative analysis was carried out by integrating information from several data sources. The hypotheses proposed in the authors’ research model are tested on a sample of 102 SMEs, applying bivariate analysis and variance-based structural equation modelling (partial least squares).

Based on the authors’ empirical evidence, the fashion SMEs could improve their performance through two important marketing tools: registered trademark and social media. On the one hand, SMEs with a registered trademark are more present in the international markets, and it also implies higher performance. On the other hand, there is no significant relationship between SMEs with social media and a presence in international markets.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of trademark and social media participation on firms which varies depending on what managers of fashion-related SME companies want to prioritize. Hence, these two marketing tools could be useful for managers to decide on what resources to invest, to register a trademark or to be present in social media, subject to their firms' strategy and objectives.

In recent years, consumers have been demanding for sustainable practices, even more so after COVID-19, so fashion companies need to intensify their commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. However, although the sector is characterized by a strong brand–customer orientation and high online activity, little attention has been paid to the role of brand image and the management of social media (SM) strategies. The purpose of this study was to develop an integrative model that includes the drivers of CSR in fashion small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their relationship with business performance. The researchers also analyzed the country and level of internationalization effects of these companies.

With a sample of 212 fashion SMEs from Spain and the UK, two of the biggest European fashion producers and consumers, a variance-based structural equation modeling (partial least squares structural equation modeling) technique was carried out to test the model proposed.

This study demonstrated that branding and SM strategies are drivers of CSR practices in fashion SMEs. It also confirmed the positive CSR–performance relationship, the moderating country effect and the mediating role of internationalization in this relationship.

The study contributes to the literature on CSR drivers in SMEs and their relationship with performance by combining different perspectives. The results can be used to encourage fashion SMEs' commitment to environmental sustainability practices and internationalization, as this can contribute to improving their performance.

In recent years, author and document citation and co-citation analyses have often been applied to map the “intellectual structure” of different scientific fields, including management and international business. However, the technique of bibliographic coupling between scientific documents, which seeks to identify active research fronts in a scientific field or discipline, has been less commonly used. This study utilized this technique to identify and visualize the research fronts in the context of papers on emerging markets multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) recently published in a wide variety of journals. The aim is not only to complement and expand the results obtained in prior studies that have used other types of systematization, such as qualitative content analysis methodology but also to propose avenues for future research.

The primary databases utilized to carry out the present research work – both comprised in the Web of Science™ (WoS) Core Collection – were: the Social Sciences Citation Index® (SCI) developed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index. A total of 496 “peer-reviewed journal articles” published between 2014 and December 30, 2019 were retrieved. With regards to the methodology, bibliometric methods were utilized, as well as social network analysis (SNA).

Particularly, the analytical techniques employed – adopting a “quantitative” method of a deductive character – allowed the identification of the most active research “fronts” in international research related to the topic under analysis: the phenomenon of EM-MNEs.

The present study has several limitations resulting from the utilization of bibliometric methods applied in the analyses performed.

The authors believe that this research is of value for future researchers since it allows the identification of research “fronts,” which shape the vanguard of knowledge and reveal current trends and future directions in the area under examination.

This paper aims to know the dimension and scope that research on the district effect has had in the literature about industrial districts, as well as to shed some light on the connection between industrial districts and business results; or expressed differently, on how being located in an industrial district or not affects or might influence the performance of the firms located therein.

The purpose of this paper has been achieved through an exhaustive review of the empirical literature dedicated to the so-called district effect. The papers selected in the analysis were selected on the basis of the following criteria: (1) publications in scientific journals; (2) studies carried out in Spain and Italy; and (3) works published between 1994 and 2017.

The outcome of the literature review suggests, on the one hand, that the debate on the extent to which the territory influences the competitiveness of firms located in industrial districts still remains a topic of great interest. It can additionally be observed that most of the works dedicated to measuring the district effect have done so using three dimensions: (1) productivity/efficiency; (2) international competitiveness; and (3) innovation.

From a theoretical perspective, the findings of this paper make it possible to carry out an integrating proposal for the measurement of the district effect which revolves around three dimensions (productivity/efficiency; international competitiveness; and innovation).

This paper makes a twofold contribution to the literature: (i) it brings together the most important empirical contributions that measure the competitive advantages obtained by firms located in industrial districts through the district effect; and (ii) it theoretically and empirically establishes the essential dimensions of that effect.