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The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm, managerial capability and innovation management fields. The paper aims to address these issues.

The paper has been developed from a critical review of available literature drawn from the micro firm, managerial capability and innovation management fields.

Four criteria of micro firm managerial capability emerge from micro firm managerial traits in the literature namely, leadership; strategic thinking; problem solving and people relationships. The review also shows that micro firms are embedded in three resource pools which include stakeholder ties; the local community and the proximate market environment. Micro firm managerial capability is argued to emerge from the interaction of the managerial capability criteria and the resources in a process mediated by the resource based and dynamic capabilities perspectives from the strategic management literature.

A gap in the academic literature is identified and the proposed theoretical model is presented to address this deficiency in the literature. Future empirical research is recommended.

This proposed model will allow practitioners to better conceptualise and design programmes that will assist companies in developing managerial capabilities to innovate. Deep links between hotel industry practitioners and the academic community will enable the effective dissemination of the research.

Hotel micro firms play an important social and economic role. There has been little research into how they innovate and specifically into managerial capability for innovation in context. The present research uses conceptual research to map the field and identify critical avenues for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key criteria underpinning network-facilitated green innovation capability development in micro-firms.

Micro-firms, those firms with less than ten full-time employees, need to continuously innovate in order to sustain their business in the emerging green economy. This study uses an interpretive multiple case approach to explore micro-firm owner-manager (O/M) green innovation activities, encompassing O/M views on facilitated network engagement in Ireland and Canada over a 12-month period.

The findings show that proactive implementation of green innovation is influenced by the O/M’s natural environment orientation and the potential for economic gain, while facilitated networks provide an additional resource that the O/M can draw from that allows the O/M to test new ideas, comprehend new and existing legislation and identify potential supports in pursuit of green innovation capability development within the micro-firm.

This study offers a contribution to knowledge in the areas of green innovation, micro-firm capabilities and facilitated network engagement. However, the sample size is small and distance was a challenge, yet data and case protocols are in place which allow for replication of the study. As the research is embedded in the resource and capability theories, alternative theoretical frameworks may shed a different light on the research question.

Prior studies have found that facilitated networks have a positive impact on micro-firm sustainability as these networks enhance the firm’s constrained resource base. The proposed framework can be used as a guideline for support organisations including facilitated networks in assisting micro-firms in reaching their green innovation goals and objectives. It can also be used by micro-firms in the attainment of the green innovation capability.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of dynamic capabilities (DC) (in the view of exploration and exploitation) on competitiveness and performance, considering the mediating role the innovation capability (IC) and branding capabilities (BC)on competitive advantage and firm’s performance and the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO).

This investigation proposes a theoretical model tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Multi-group analysis was performed to understand the moderating role of. A questionnaire survey was developed to explore the relations between DC and innovation variable. For this study, 387 valid questionnaires were collected from a sample of Portugal SME’ firms. A 90-item questionnaire which consists to study the relationships among all the variables.

The results show that exists a positive direct and indirect influence of DC on competitive advantage and performance variables and mediating impact the IC and BC.

This study has some methodological limitations affecting its potential contributions. As a cross-sectional study that captures one image in time, its ability to identify strict causality between variables is limited. Furthermore, the results are based on log collected from a key respondent, rather than broader actual data. The results are restricted to one country, Portugal. Some variables, such as ICs, may play a different role in other countries. Future research should initially target different countries. Such research could then test the generalizability of the results.

This study has important implications for the managers. It highlights the necessity of firms to develop superior strategic orientation of all their members and to invest in better resources and consequently superior capabilities as a way of achieving high levels of firm performance. Another implication from the study is that the firms should develop their marketing programs by focusing on developing innovativeness.

This study contributes to the understanding of the indirect and direct impact of exploration and exploitation variables, and the mediating role of ICs and BC on the competitive advantage and performance and the moderating effect of EO.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a prologue to the issue of human resource development (HRD) and innovation which has been under-researched despite the widespread recognition of the critical role of innovation for sustained national, regional and organisational competitiveness.

The paper provides an overview of the evolution of innovation within the economic and management literatures. It then examines previous work on human resource management (HRM), HRD and innovation. The paper then provides a brief overview of the articles for this issue focussing on HRD and innovation.

HRD interventions can positively contribute to organisation's innovation activities. HRD is also found to positively influence employee engagement, leadership, manager's motivation to learn, the promotion of a learning culture, and social capital development all of which are positively associated with innovation. Informal HRD and access to mentors and coaches is shown to be critical for innovation in SMEs.

This paper provides an introduction to this special issue on HRD and innovation. It shows that this has been an under-researched area and it also emphasises that HRD and its relationship with innovation must be analysed within the context of the organisation's culture, its context, and its leadership capabilities. The four conceptual contributions provide a rich road map for future research on HRD and innovation.

The food industry and its distribution solutions often lie at the center of sustainability-related arguments. However, little is known about the dynamic role of business capabilities for sustainable transformations in the context of local food distribution. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities drive sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) business practices in short food supply chains (SFSCs) through the professionalization and expansion of online distribution channels.

The present study analyzes sustainability-related practices at six online distribution channels selling local food products in Germany and Austria. By applying a cross-case study and theory-elaboration approach, the study analyzes empirical data derived from these businesses and provides insights into how dynamic capabilities can facilitate SSCM practices within SFSCs. Hereby, potential pathways for a sustainable transformation in this industry context are deduced through abductive reasoning.

The empirical findings provide evidence that supply chain orientation, coordination, innovation practices and strategies are highly relevant for SFSCs seeking to reach upscaling effects in regional markets. However, because SFSCs may not be able to reach mass markets without weakening their own sustainability performance, the present study recommends addressing sustainability inefficiencies in the region and developing further expansion potentials through replication in other regions. In this approach, related and necessary SSCM dynamic capabilities were identified and validated based on the empirical findings.

Although SFSCs include sustainability aspects at their core – particularly regarding resource usage, environmental friendliness and social-standard assurance – missing distribution-related capabilities limit growth such that these businesses often remain in a niche. To address this issue, the study builds on dynamic capabilities theory by identifying and describing core SSCM practices and capabilities; moreover, this study is among the first to elaborate empirically on the use of dynamic capabilities theory in this specific industry context.

In the present age of globalization, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are consistently causative to productivity growth and, consequently, competitiveness and aggregate economic growth by providing the training opportunities, basic services and are believed to be especially effective job creators and enjoy the reputation of being sources of income. But technological progressions have increased greatly, the competition impelled by the globalization of the world economies and even MSMEs are no more protected to the challenges that the globalization brings about. It is a remarkable, and in certain instances, a worrying situation because MSMEs play an important role in most economies, including in India, in that they comprise the largest business block and offer the bulk of employment. The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of problems faced by MSMEs and study the technology innovation implementation (TII) dimensions in the selected small firms in the Northern region in India.

The methodology used for this study is a combination of literature review, expert opinion, comparative case study and a flexible systems methodology, SWOT and situation-actor-process-learning-action-performance analysis. Longitudinal studies of technology innovation at the two small firms have been conducted, and the case analysis and synthesis have been developed based on important inputs and insights shared by key personnel in the select firms.

The study finds that two different firms have faced similar kind of challenges in this competitive environment. Also the findings suggest that an effective TII can contribute to enhance manufacturing performance in MSMEs in India.

The research presents a better understanding of the problems that are preventing the successful implementation of technology innovation in small firms. Further, the two cases provide valuable insights into TII dimensions in two firms and highlight the methodology to be adopted by the companies toward their manufacturing performance enhancement.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of core competencies, namely, transformational leadership (TFL), entrepreneurial competence and technical competence on financial performance through the mediation effect of innovativeness, among owner-managed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries.

A research model was developed to test nine research hypotheses. Self-report questionnaires designed for this study were sent to SME owner-managers in Malaysia. A total of 178 completed questionnaires were successfully collected. SPSS and SmartPLS were used to perform the data analysis to test the measurement model and structural model.

This paper provides empirical evidence that behavioural innovativeness mediates the relationship between TFL and financial performance, product innovativeness mediates the relationships among entrepreneurial competence, technical competence and financial performance and process innovativeness mediates the relationship between technical competence and financial performance.

The findings of this study are potentially limited by perceptual measures, cross-sectional data and the risk of response bias from a single informant.

Owner-managed SMEs can focus on developing the core competencies to achieve financial performance through innovative products, processes and behaviours. Policymakers and practitioners can gain fresh insights into the complexity of sustaining the business activities and financial performance of SMEs through the core competencies and innovativeness.

The extant literature has revealed that entrepreneurship, leadership, expertise and innovativeness are considered key factors in promoting financial performance, yet little is known about the combined effects of the core competencies on financial performance through innovativeness for owner-managed SMEs in the context of a developing country. The study makes an important contribution to filling this research gap.

The authors of this chapter investigate internationalisation strategies of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in China. We highlight the specific challenges that Chinese SMEs encounter when selecting international country markets in terms of distance and entry speed. The authors adopt an ambidexterity perspective that differs from traditional explanations of internationalisation behaviour by highlighting the need to balance seemingly disparate options for international expansion. Three cases provide an illustration of how Chinese companies combine distant with proximate market entries and slow with accelerated entry speed. The authors highlight how these strategies can drive and enhance international aspirations of Chinese SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an academic viewpoint on contemporary factors associated with talent management (TM) in the hospitality and tourism sector.

A critical discussion of macro- and micro-level factors is provided, while highlighting opportunities and challenges for TM policies and practices. The influence of senior managers in developing TM, with emphasis on small and medium enterprises, is examined and examples of ‘best practice’ in TM are outlined.

Given the scale and importance of the sector to economic growth, it is imperative that governments assume a greater leadership role in shaping the training and education agenda. TM practices need to reflect the uniqueness and complexity of the sector and effective implementation of TM requires CEO/Owner–Manager commitment and cascading down of a talent mind-set/culture within organizations. Examples of best practice in TM provide a significant opportunity for the sector to improve both its employer branding and competitiveness. Examples include: aligning TM with strategic business goals; provisions of robust data generated across HR functions; and demonstrating the impact of TM on employees’ enhanced emotional labour through higher levels of engagement and motivation and on organizational outcomes.

The paper argues that organizations need to take each dimension of TM more seriously than many organizations have done so in the past. Coherent TM practices, in particular, competitive reward and training and development opportunities, will improve employer branding and will directly have an impact upon the quality of applications received by organizations.

The paper provides important insight and practical recommendations on how the sector can improve its productivity and future sustained competitiveness in the challenging times ahead.

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.