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To understand consumer brand engagement processes in luxury fashion brands. Grounded on the brand engagement in self-concept (BESC), this study examines key drivers (i.e. value co-creation, social media marketing (SMM) activities, brand self-connection and brand image) of BESC that in turn, enhance brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) in the context of luxury fashion brands.

A descriptive survey approach was utilized and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The findings reveal that value co-creation, SMM activities and brand self-connection are significantly related to BESC and subsequently, BESC is related to both brand loyalty and positive WOM. However, brand image is not related to BESC and brand loyalty but shows a strong relationship with WOM.

The recognition that consumer experiences add significant value to a brand drives companies to engage with their consumers focusing on the self-concept.

Nowadays manufacturers companies are increasingly compelled to navigate towards servitization. Different methods and approaches were proposed in literature to support them to switch from traditional product-based business model to product service systems (PSSs). However, new knowledge, capabilities and skills were needed to consistently develop PSSs, since they need a joint focus on both customer’s perspective and company’s internal performance and at the same time a proper support for the integration of product and service design. The purpose of this paper is to propose the Product Service System Lean Design Methodology (PSSLDM), a structured methodology to develop PSSs along their entire lifecycle.

Retrieving concepts from interpretative, interactive and system development research traditions, and strongly reminding the design research methodology framework, the adopted research methodology is composed of three main phases (observation and conceptualization, theory building and tool development, validation) and involved three heterogeneous companies.

This paper provides an overview of the PSSLDM, explaining how the different methods supporting its conduction should contribute to properly design an integrated PSS. Moreover, companies highlighted several benefits in the different stages along the PSS lifecycle deriving by the adoption of the PSSLDM.

The development of a platform based on the PSSLDM methodology raises a discussion on the possible changes needed by current Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) models and systems when they have to do with PSSs.

The PSSLDM enriches the already proposed SErvice Engineering Methodology, introducing new several components linked by lean rules in each of its phases (starting from customer analysis, going through solution concept and detailed design, until the offering analysis) and better supprting the deatil design of both prodcut and service components.

Prior to managing a company’s processes in the presence of a combination of paradigms, there is a need to understand their underlying interaction. This paper systematically reviews the existing literature that discusses the interaction between lean production (LP) and the fourth industrial revolution (i.e. Industry 4.0). The study aims to understand how the interaction unfolds and whether it is synergistic.

The research relies on a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles from Scopus and Web of Science that discuss the interaction between the two paradigms. The final set of articles pertaining to the topic was analysed.

The article presents that the interaction between the two paradigms occurs through a representation of the pillars of the House of Lean (HoL) interacting with the nine technological pillars of Industry 4.0. There is a consensus on the synergistic nexus among the pillars and their positive impact on operational performance. We also demonstrate the weights of the interactions between the two paradigms and the areas of operations management where this interaction takes place through Sankey charts. Our research indicates that the largest synergistic interaction occurs between just-in-time and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and that companies should invest in IoT and cyber-physical systems as they have the greatest weight of interactions with the pillars of the HoL.

This research facilitates a deeper insight into the interaction between LP and Industry 4.0 by organising and discussing existing research on the subject matter. It serves as a starting point for future researchers to formulate hypotheses about the interaction among the various pillars of LP and Industry 4.0, apply these interactions and test them through empirical research.

It could serve as a guide for managers to understand with which interactions they should start the digitalisation process.

With the rise in discussions on the interaction between the two paradigms, there is still an opportunity to understand the specificity of this interaction. Compared to the initial seminal works on the subject, such as Buer et al. (2018b), which investigated the direction of interaction between the two paradigms, this research contributes to further investigating this specificity and gaining a better understanding of the relationship governing the interaction between LP and Industry 4.0 by delineating the interaction state among the pillars of the two paradigms and its relevant importance.

International business or International marketing.

The case is recommended for undergraduate and graduate courses in the fields of international business and international marketing. The aim is to show students the problems that a family business in the animation industry faces while growing and internationalizing. Specifically, the case discusses the entry mode selection and market selection challenges faced by an emerging market company in the comic book and animation industry to operate overseas and compete with entertainment giants such as Disney and DC Comics. The case enables the instructor to discuss international market selection theories and evaluate entry modes. For graduate students, the international market selection can be further developed by using more robust concepts such as psychic and cultural distance.

This case examines the trajectory of a pioneering company in the comic book and animation industries, and in the licensing of trademarks in Brazil. Mauricio de Sousa Productions was founded in 1959 and is considered to be one of the most successful cultural producers in the country. According to a leading Brazilian public opinion research agency, 97 per cent of Brazilian children and 96 per cent of their parents are familiar with the Monica and Friends characters. As one of the main players in the publishing market, with 86 per cent of market share, Mauricio de Sousa Productions has a product portfolio that goes beyond Monica and Friends comic strips: the company’s show on the Cartoon Network ranks third in audience viewing in the country and the company has produced animated movies, books, shows and games. However, despite its experience in publishing comic books in several countries, Mauricio de Sousa Productions (MSP)’s worldwide operations have not been as profitable and sustainable as expected. Aiming at expanding its global presence, MSP’s top management decided in 2014 to review the company’s internationalization strategy and operations to enhance the firm’s performance.

The case highlights the key factors facing firms when expanding from an emerging markets. Students are expected to discuss and evaluate options, thus developing their knowledge and decision processes related to family-owned business challenges and opportunities, international market selection theories and international market entry mode. Developing strategies to face challenges as those presented by competitors such as Disney should bring opportunities to students to think outside models and weigh risks. Finally, the case gives students opportunity to base their decision processes and evaluations on logistics problems as well as psychic and cultural distances. It also compels the students to appreciate the various challenges involved in exploiting international market with animation content and intellectual properties as a service.

Company presentation to use in the discussion introduction can be found in: www.monicaandfriends.com/content/video.php

CSS 5: International business.

Higher education (HE) institutions can play a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, universities often face various obstacles to sustainability management, leading to a lack of strategies for implementing governance for sustainability (GFS). The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on work and organizational psychology (WOP), for the analysis, promotion and implementation of GFS in HE. The model includes five dimensions: culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management.

Using a mixed methods approach, GFS was investigated in four Piedmontese (Northern Italy) universities and in their sustainability network, applying the model proposed in this paper.

The five dimensions of the model have proven to be fundamental to the development of GFS in HE. Each dimension was filled with experiences from specific contexts through data collection, highlighting specificities and barriers. Furthermore, the mixed methods approach and the WOP perspective proved to be effective in addressing sustainable transitions in HE.

A practical proposal for analyzing and improving HE sustainable transitions in a WOP perspective is still missing, as well as a model that identifies organizational dimensions that should be monitored. This study not only provides an example of this transition but also confirms the importance that the literature attributes to the specificities and barriers of dimensions such as culture, leadership, teamwork, communication and transition management in this context.

This study aims to examine the potential effect that business ethics (BE) in general and corporate social responsibility (CSR) more specifically can exert on the voluntary disclosure (VD) of intellectual capital (IC) for the ethically most engaged firms in the world.

The research design is based on an inductive approach. As part of the global quantitative investigation, the authors have analyzed the impact of BE and CSR on the transparent communication of the IC. The data under analysis have been investigated using multiple linear regression.

Based on a sample of 83 enterprises emerging as the most ethical companies in the world, the results have revealed that the adoption of ethical and socially responsible approach is positively associated with the extent of VD about IC. This finding may help attenuating the asymmetry of information and the conflict of interest potentially arising with corporate partners. Hence, IC-VD may stand as an evidence of ethical and socially responsible behaviors.

Global and national regulators and policymakers can be involved by these results when setting social reporting standards because they suggest that institutional and/or cultural factors affect top management's social reporting behavior in the publication of the IC information.

Direct and indirect stakeholders, if supported by ethical and socially responsible behaviors of the company, could assess more in detail the quality of the disclosed information concerning the IC.

Most of the studies that have been conducted in this field have examined the effect of BE and CSR on the firm's overall transparency, neglecting their potential effect on IC disclosure. This study is designed to fill in this gap through testing the impact of ethical and socially responsible approaches specifically on IC-VD.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and empirically validate a repertoire of management behaviors associated with the adoption of lean systems, showing how a subset of such behaviors differentiates more advanced lean systems in a specific setting.

The study applies regression analysis and non-parametric hypothesis testing to an original data set coming from field research of 26 cases of adoption of lean operations practices.

The study: identifies in the lean literature a repertoire of management behaviors that support lean implementations and complement the adoption of lean practices; provides a way to operationalize them; validates this repertoire of behaviors; and shows that a subset of these behaviors is associated with more advanced lean implementations, suggesting the necessity to adopt a situational approach to lean leadership.

The findings have boundary conditions, defined by the national, industrial, and size context in which the study was conducted.

The study provides practical guidance for lean system implementation suggesting a repertoire of management behaviors within which firms can identify and validate specific, appropriate subsets of behaviors aligned with the company strategy, culture, size, environment, bundle of lean operation practices adopted, and maturity stage of lean adoption.

This is the first study to provide quantitative, non-anecdotal evidence of the relationship between specific management behaviors and the successful implementation of lean operations practices. It offers a novel method to operationalize and measure lean management behaviors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine both the Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs’ social media adoption (SMA) for business purposes and the influence of culture on personal versus business social network platform (SNP) selection.

The Technology Acceptance Model’s (TAM) factors of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) as drivers of Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs’ social network platform selection are examined as well as the effect of SMA on revenue. Data was collected from 633 small business owners across the United States via an online survey administered in English and Spanish.

Results indicate that Latino/Hispanic business owners use personal SNP more than business SNP for business purposes. PU and PEU were not found to predict personal SNP for Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs. However, for Non-Latino/Hispanics, PU was significant while PEU was marginally significant. Findings for PU and PEU as predictors of business SNP indicate similar results for both Latino/Hispanic and non-Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs, where only PEU was significant. Finally, there was no relationship between either business or personal SNP and revenue for either Latino/Hispanic or non-Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs.

This research provides more insight into Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs’ self-directed engagement in personal SNP (Facebook) and business SNP (LinkedIn) for business purposes and invites future research in this population to further examine cultural influence and business performance. The findings support the need for Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs’ strengthening their competency in social media usage to remain competitive, as doing so will enhance their capability for building customer relationships, brand development, and equity financing.

This investigation 1) examines SMA’s role in Latino/Hispanic small and medium enterprises (SMEs); 2) distinguishes between personal and business social network platforms; 3) investigates TAM’s relevance for Latino/Hispanic entrepreneurs’ use of social media for business; and 4) explores SME social media usage as a predictor of revenue. We seek to provide practitioners with a greater understanding of how they may influence business success and sustainability through better competency development and usage of social media platforms.

The purpose of this study is to examine how social disclosures are influenced by the adoption of integrated reporting (IR), focusing on the three social capitals in the international IR framework, namely, intellectual, human and social and relationship capital.

This study takes the form of a single case study involving content analyses of annual reports and integrated reports from 2009 to 2017 (i.e. before and after IR adoption in 2013), as well as in-depth, semi-structured interviews with key preparers of the integrated report at New Zealand Post, to study changes in disclosures towards different stakeholder groups, from an internal organisation perspective. The empirical evidence is analysed through the lens of stakeholder theory.

This study provides empirical evidence that contributes to our understanding of IR’s influence on the disclosure of social information and enhanced stakeholder relations in a public sector context. The study shows that the IR framework promoted a materiality assessment approach with stakeholders, which led to a reduction in social disclosures, while the materiality focus led to the disclosure of social matters more relevant to stakeholders.

IR led to meaningful stakeholder engagement, which led to social disclosure that are more relevant to stakeholders.

This study assesses the influence of IR on social disclosures. The findings will be of interest to organisations seeking to enhance stakeholder relations and/or undertake IR and/or social disclosures.