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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development strategies of two Chinese global players in the high‐tech sectors.

The paper adopts a case‐study approach on Huawei Technology Co. Ltd (Huawei) and Jing‐Hua Optical and Electronics Co. Ltd (JOC).

While Huawei's first strategic decision was that of becoming a leader on the domestic market, the key choice for JOC was that of acquiring a European firm. However common features emerge: persistent investment in R&D, strategic collaboration with universities and presence of government supporting policies, even though the case studies suggest the existence of thresholds for firms to access the benefits of government policy.

The results pave the way for more general discussions on the emergence of champions of excellence in China. They reinforce the idea that Chinese industrial development is built on non‐conventional catching‐up processes at the country, local and firm level. They confirm that in order to fully catch the success of national Chinese champions the role of government policies should be better investigated.

Results highlight the importance of R&D investment and technology transfer also for SMEs in high‐tech sectors. As for policy makers, the practice of official institutional recognition – a well experimented form of rewarding used in China – might be an effective way to stimulate virtuous imitative processes.

The comparison of these two global players is itself original. Moreover there is a valuable attempt to understand from a national champion's perspective the importance of supra‐firms factors such as collaboration with other institutions and government policies.

This paper aims at providing a new point of view in the comparison between the sectoral specialization of Italian firms and that of companies of some emerging countries, both apparently concentrating on so‐called traditional sectors. What is argued in this paper is that, even if belonging to the same product category, goods produced by Italian and emerging countries' firms differ strongly in terms of quality, and that the competitive advantage of the Italian companies is mainly based on their capacity of exporting “intangible‐intensive goods”.

The study is based on the comparison between Italian and a selected group of emerging countries' (Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam) exports of fashion‐related goods to the American market by means of a new index, called the RUPD (revealed unit price differential). The index is based on the comparison between the average export prices of Italian and of the selected emerging countries' fashion goods (at a five‐digit level). The RUPD “reveals” ex post how much more a consumer has been shown to be willing to pay for a specific good in comparison to another good sold on the same market, belonging to the same category and produced in another country (or group of countries). If the RUPD is calculated using sufficiently disaggregated data (at least at the four‐ or five‐digit level) we can hypothesize that such an index can actually reflect how different consumers perceive a product in comparison with another one, implicitly considering it as non‐homogeneous and non‐substitutable.

The analysis of RUPDs between Italy and the selected emerging countries shows that most Italian fashion goods are sold on the American market at much higher prices. The relative weight of sectors with higher RUPD has been rising over the years, with a growing number of products showing an increasing unit price differential between Italian products and those from emerging countries. Furthermore, many sectors maintain a high RUPD for the whole period considered (2000‐2009). This allows the authors to argue that in these fashion sectors American consumers perceive substantial differences between Italian and emerging countries' goods that are primarily intangible.

Relevant insights can be drawn by adding to the analysis the evolution of market shares. The final part of the article presents a first exercise in this direction that seems to suggest interest for further analysis.

The analysis carried out in this article suggests that one way to face growing competition with emerging actors is not just to move towards high‐tech sectors. Even if operating in traditional sectors, Italian firms still offer excellence goods that are appreciated in international markets. For this scenario to be sustainable in the future, there are three suggested strategies: to continue to invest in R&D and innovation (also and especially in times of crisis) in order to maintain high levels of excellence; to strengthen marketing capacities (quality differentials have to be perceived and appreciated by consumers); and giving great importance to the utilization of the available intellectual property rights protection tools, since intangible‐intensive goods are particularly easy to imitate.

In the last few years, companies in highly industrialized countries have been seriously threatened by high competitive pressure coming from firms in new emerging countries. For this reason, many observers suggest that firms in advanced countries should reposition their production towards high‐tech sectors. The analysis carried out in this article suggests that a different perspective can originate different results, on the basis of which different strategies can and should be pursued in order for firms – even if operating in traditional sectors – to maintain a competitive advantage in international markets.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between medium‐large firms' industrial performance, territorial factors and local development policies.

The paper is an empirical econometric investigation based on a panel dataset of county‐level data, carried out in the Guangdong Province for the period 2000‐2008.

Results suggest a positive and significant relationship between policies at the local level and business performance. The most important determinants of industrial performance appear to be development zones and specialized towns – on the policy side – as well as the presence of urban areas, investment in innovation and FDI. Given the complexity of the relationships, further research is called for in order to build more evidence for this and other Chinese provinces.

The analysis confirms the initial hypothesis that business excellence can be influenced by the specific characteristics of the territories where firms are located, among which there might be government policies aiming at local development and encouraging a better business environment.

Relevant to the policy‐making process, results suggest that business excellence should not be viewed as only a matter of business strategies. It can be a result of territorial excellence and effective local development policies.

In the international debate there are very few papers testing the relationship between policies and industrial performances in China. Even fewer explore this relationship at the local level. This paper offers a unique county‐level perspective and in‐depth view on local industrial policies.

The aim of this paper is to emphasize the role of the place of origin in overcoming the information asymmetries that characterize in particular “experience” and “credence” goods.

After having summarized the role of the country‐of‐origin (COO) in facilitating producers to effectively communicate to consumers the quality of their products, the article presents two case studies: the Chianti Classico wine from Tuscany (Italy) and the tea industry in Guangdong (China).

Both wine and tea have strong links with their place of origin. The two case studies show that business excellence depends not only on firms' strategy, but also on the territory where firms are located. In the case of Chianti Classico, the territorial brand plays a strategy role for product promotion, while Guangdong seems to be less effective in allowing consumers to perceive, and therefore to appreciate, the tea quality at the international level. This makes it possible to draw from the Italian case some indications that could be applied to the Chinese case but also to other productions in the world where the link with the territory is not sufficiently valorized.

Despite the impossibility of drawing general conclusions from case studies, the two selected ones can be considered as emblematic of two different territorial strategies that over time led to two different results. This could be the starting point for policy makers aimed at valorizing the importance of territory for increasing business excellence.

The analysis suggests that connecting the products to their territory of origin can help firms communicate to consumers the quality of their items. The country of origin can be a powerful tool to reinforce a corporate brand, but of course it means admitting that the competitive advantage of a firm is also the result of collective public or private actions devoted to create and communicate a positive image of a specific locality. This implies a joint effort of firms and policy makers.

The paper underlines the similarities between two apparently very distant products, wine and tea. To appreciate such a similarity makes it possible to identify success factors of one sector that can be used to overcome the weaknesses of the other. The indications that arise from the analysis can also be the basis to re‐define the strategy of several other “credence” goods that require the provision to consumers of tools facilitating their process of quality appreciation of products.

China’s experience of industrial growth is noteworthy for several reasons, not least because it has made a massive use of selective industrial policies. The industrial development guidelines set by the Five-Year Plans are extensively based on the choice of “strategic” or “pillar” industries to be promoted and supported. What remains unclear is the way in which such industries are identified among many. The purpose of this paper is to propose a debate on how to improve the government choice of strategic sectors and suggests a methodology to make this choice more transparent and rigorous.

The methodology allows ranking the different industries according to their strategic importance in the Chinese economy. The authors employ an uncertainty analysis methodology to verify the robustness of the ranking.

The results point to a list of strategic sectors for China. Comparing the ranking of the strategic sectors to the list of strategic priorities described in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, we find that, by and large, the ranking coincides with the list of strategic sectors of the Chinese government.

The authors argue that improving the transparency and the rigor of the choice of pillar industries can be crucial for the Chinese government to maintain social legitimization in the transition to a “market” economy.

Very little is known about the choice of strategic sectors in China in the international literature. By addressing the debate on the choice of pillar industries in China, the paper discusses a topic scarcely studied offering a unique and original contribute.

In a world where innovation became a “buzzword” and everyone within companies is required to foster innovation, the engagement of people toward innovation is fundamental to prompt individual motivation and actions to make innovation happen. However, despite the relevance of the relationship between engagement and innovation, the literature on the topic appears still fragmented. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the topic through a systematic literature review.

A final sample of 108 papers has been selected and analyzed through co-citation and text mining analyses. The former enabled the analysis of the structure of the theoretical foundation of the filed, while the latter facilitated a systematic and unbiased content-driven review of the literature.

The results of the analysis indicated two main areas of interest describing the relationship between engagement and innovation. On the one hand, there is the focus on “engagement as an attitude,” intended as the capacity of individuals to generate and realize innovation. On the other hand, there is a stream of literature focused on “engagement as involvement,” which refers to co-innovation paradigms, involving both internal and external stakeholders.

From an academic perspective, this paper highlights the relevance of the “human-side” of innovation, proposing avenues for future research that dig into the relationship between people's engagement and innovation dynamics. Moreover, it shows how the recent developments in the innovation management literature are coherent with this emerging relevance of the human perspective in innovation.

From a practitioner’s perspective, this paper helps managers by highlighting the two different approaches that they can have in terms of engagement. The study aims to help them in identifying the kind of engagement they are looking for in their employees and other innovation stakeholder having the support to find relevant studies in that direction.

The study unveils how the evolution of both areas over the years is strictly related to the megatrends of innovation fields, which are the main areas of knowledge not covered yet. Therefore, a research agenda is proposed.

This paper aims at investigating the possibility of effectively implementing the blockchain technology in the real estate environment, specifically applied to the Trust legal instrument in Dopo di Noi (After Us) project, which is intended to guarantee assistance to persons with severe disabilities.

The paper is focused on how to apply the blockchain to the tool of Trust, analyzing the main features and characteristics of this technology.

The paper proposes two potential solutions for managing the Trust tool in the real estate sector, specifically within the Dopo di Noi project. The first simpler proposal is based on timestamping application. The second one radically changes the classical Trust model and introduces an automatization level in the process.

The paper presents potential applications of the blockchain technology within the framework of Dopo di Noi project, which allows among other features, legal and tax facilitation for the institution of Trusts to benefit persons with severe disabilities.

This paper highlights the potentiality of the combination of the blockchain technology and the real estate environment and applies the blockchain technology to the Dopo di Noi project. Specifically, with the second solution, the paper proposes a platform that gathers, in a single network, various elements of the blockchain technology, such as timestamping, smart property, smart contract, and links them in order to provide services to persons with severe disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the efficiency and effectiveness of industrial policies by focusing on the peculiar experience of South Korea. It analyzes Korean structural change from a historical and empirical standpoint, highlighting industrial policy interventions involved in this process. The analysis presented offers important insights to inform the debate on the contemporary industrial policy, identifying specific elements and circumstances that can contribute to mitigate government failures and to improve the effectiveness of public action.

The paper adopts a historical and empirical perspective. Concerning the empirical analysis, a composite indicator to assess the process of structural change of economies is presented. This methodology provides annual rankings based on the different economic relevance of the manufacturing sectors over the period 1963–2012.

The paper shows that industrial policy has been extensively involved in South Korean structural development but public intervention interacted with several other factors, including gradual markets liberalization, education, societal and cultural characteristics and low level of income inequalities. As a result, economic development is conceived as systemic process, namely as the outcome of a balance in the roles played by government, markets and civil society. In this framework, government failures, as inability of the government to respond effectively and efficiently to the general interest of the society, are intimately inherent to the mechanisms that rule the relevant relationships within the system.

In the post-crisis debate, very little attention has been devoted in academic and political debate to the ways to mitigate government failures. By analyzing the historical and recent Korean experience with industrial policy, the paper addresses an issue insufficiently analyzed offering an innovative contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the main features of the Vietnamese economic transition and industrial development pattern analyzing the evolution of the industrial policy formulation in the light of the changes in the country’s productive specialization and competitive position in the international division of labor. The authors also aim at stressing the role exerted by different external paradigm of influence on the Vietnamese policy making and the function of selectivity as an instrument to upgrade the competitiveness of the Vietnamese production system.

The paper provides a descriptive analysis of the Vietnamese recent economic trends and structural transformation dynamics. It realizes a literature review concerning the academic debate on the role and the effects of industrial policy in Vietnam identifying a categorization between different theoretical perspectives. In addition, it implements an in-depth analysis of the main industrial planning strategies promoted by the government investigating the evolution of the lines of the country’s economic policy agenda. On the basis of the previous analyses, the paper draws out some conclusions about the application of selective criteria in Vietnamese industrial policy interventions.

An in-depth examination of the planning prescriptions suggests that the Vietnamese government has undertaken a pronounced paradigm change in the course of last 15 years. The Vietnamese planning approach displays a shift toward a systematic and extended vision concerning the role of industrial policy, which result to be in clear discontinuity with respect to the market-friendly approach supported by Washington institutions. Nevertheless, this configuration outlines several limits characterizing the Vietnamese planning activity, connected to the lack of transparency and efficiency of the governance mechanisms that risk to undermine the effectiveness of the upgrading policies.

The paper focuses on Vietnam, an emerging economy in transition whose development trajectory has been characterized by peculiar economic and policy dynamics. The hybrid character of the government policy-making approach makes it difficult to identify univocal interpretations concerning the country’s industrial development dynamics and the resulting policy implications. In this perspective, the analysis has shed light on the mechanisms conditioning the formulation of industrial policy in Vietnam, focusing on the external influences exerted on its definition and on the domestic interactions associated to its implementation.

To overcome change management challenges, organizations often rely on stories as means of communication. Storytelling has emerged as a leading change management tool to influence and bring people on sharing knowledge. Nevertheless, this study aims to suggest stories of change as a more effective tool that helps people in taking action toward transformation processes.

The authors apply design science research to develop and evaluate how writing a prospective story engages organizational actors in the transformation process. The authors test the story-making artifact in a field study with five companies and 115 employees who participated in 75 workshops.

Using the findings to discuss the role of story-making in facilitating the emergence of new behaviors in transformation processes, the authors link story-making with the opportunity to make change happen through knowledge dissemination rather than merely understanding it.

The authors illustrate the role of iterations, peers and self-criticism that help story-makers embrace sensemaking, developing a shared knowledge based that influence individual actions.

The authors propose the story-making approach that organizations can follow to nurture change to make transformation happen through knowledge cocreation.

The research explores story-making as an individual act of writing prospective stories to facilitate the emergence of new behaviors through shared knowledge.