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Strategic decision making in cooperation projects. The decision deals with the process of generating a strategy for R&D and technological innovation in developing countries, through international cooperation.

Students of programs of strategic management, business policy and management of international cooperation. Target courses include: strategic management seminars, international cooperation seminars, MBA.

The case shows the process carried out by a team led by Braulio Perez Astray, manager of the innovation department of the Foundation University of A Coruna (Spain) and Radhames Mejia, executive vice-rector of the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic) to design the strategy for R&D and Technological Innovation of the Dominican Republic. It describes the tasks and responsibilities undertaken in the INPOLTEC Project, the result of the international cooperation between Spain and the Dominican Republic. It included the involvement of the Administration of Government of both countries, the contributions of the scientific community and a significant sample of Dominican companies, as well as the advice of Spanish experts and technologists in the field of innovation and technology policy. The case arises from the position of Braulio Perez Astray, leader of the project. The objective of this case is to analyze the potential transfer of this experience to other countries in Central America and Caribbean.

The learning objective is to facilitate students to investigate the decisions in the strategic process in the field of innovation and to reinforce the focus of international cooperation as a mechanism for strategic support in stimulating the flow of knowledge in science and technology.

Teaching notes are available. Please consult the librarian for access.

This qualitative study investigates how employees and managers perceive work engagement and the role of intangible factors (e.g. task variety, support, and clarity) involved in the motivational process of engagement.

A sample of employees working in four organizations in the tourism industry were interviewed. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the results.

The results reveal that several intangible and contextual factors (e.g. challenging and varied tasks, good relationships at work, and inspiring leaders) are more relevant to work engagement than extrinsic motivators. Engaged individuals are positive, show a personal attachment to their work roles and colleagues, and have a cognitive aspect derived from their effort.

An integrated model of work engagement–disengagement underpinned by factors at the individual, job, and organizational level is suggested as a synthesis of the main research results and can serve as a solid foundation for creating better future workplaces. This study contributes to the understanding of employee behaviors and organizations at work by discussing and empirically exploring the role of work engagement as a driver of differentiation among companies in the tourism industry in Galicia (Spanish region).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the availability and use of IT solutions for strategic knowledge management (SKM) and the universities’ performance, measured in terms of scientific production.

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and the knowledge-based theory, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation’s performance that they empirically test by applying panel data methodology to a sample of 70 Spanish universities over the period 2011-2014.

The authors confirm that the SKM based on IT influences the university’s performance. This effect is positive in the case of the IT solutions referred to the infrastructure of data grouping and more evident when the university’s performance is measured by indicators more directly related to scientific quality. Contrary to expected, the percentage of training and research staff that uses institutional tools of collaborative work is negatively related with the universities’ capacity of publication.

The authors followed the system dynamics approach to identify a causal diagram and a flow sequence that lets them group universities in three different profiles in the knowledge management (KM) flow diagram.

First, the authors develop a conceptual framework for exploring the effect of SKM based on IT on the organisation’s performance that could be applicable to analyse the case of other knowledge-driven organisations. Second, in contrast with the large number of studies dealing with SKM and performance focused on firms, the authors analyse universities. Third, the authors’ empirical approach used the panel data methodology with a large sample of universities over the period 2011-2014.

Technology applied to learning is blurring the traditional outlines of the relations between publishing and technology industries, moving the internationalization strategy away from a gradual perspective toward accelerated internationalization. This paper aims to provide a conceptual model of polyhedral diagnosis of market entry strategy (PODMES model) for “born global” firms involved in e-learning industries.

The use of the case study methodology allowed apply PODMES model to a “born global” firm of the e-learning industry.

Results confirm that “born global” firms in the e-learning industry can adopt behaviors contrary to those expected in the literature. These behaviors imply new entry patterns by creating new strategic partner–supplier–client–competitor relations that extend the traditional analysis of the internal value chain to a process of value distribution through product and technology alliances.

This research provides two main contributions. First, an advance upon previous research into “born global” firms, through deep analysis of a case study that offers new findings regarding the phenomenon studied. It permits to align this research with previous analysis, following a strict case study methodology approach. Second, this study offers the application of a new methodology (PODMES model) that integrates the most relevant theories of internationalization (factorial dodecagon) within the five contingencies of entry market and the design of a strategic profile of internationalization.

This paper aims to explore the determinants of firms’ attitudes to R&D cooperation with universities with the goal to propose a model of knowledge transfer university-firm.

By understanding university-industry cooperation as a process, the model in this study is based on two factors: the “promoter of university-industry relations” (PUIR) and a technological system that is able to match the research supply of universities with the demand for innovation of the firms. A total of 375 firms, 420 research groups and 18 experts in knowledge transfer from Spain, Portugal and France have been involved in this study.

This study provides the first evidences of the relation between the number of matches’ demand-supply of research, the number of university-firm relations and the willingness to cooperate; all of these presented in the knowledge transfer model. Results also reinforce the utility of the role of PUIR and the matching system in the open innovation process.

However, more evidences are necessary to get a complete validation of the model. In the future, the continuous utilization of the matching system by the PUIRs of the selected regions will allow the authors to evaluate how well the system is working by analysing the possible increases in formal collaboration university-firm in the area of R&D.

This study contributes to the literature through aligning the open innovation and intellectual capital theories in the specific and complex context of university-firm collaboration. Also, little research regarding this topic has been noticed in SUDOE European Union (EU) countries (SUDOE is an EU territorial cooperation programme that supports regional development by funding transnational projects).

Cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) are one type of collective social enterprise that has gained importance as a vehicle for social innovation (SI). The purpose of this paper is to understand the sources of the competitive advantage of CSPs as a strategic option for SI.

The authors propose a conceptual framework that integrates two interrelated dimensions of CSP competitiveness – resources and coordination – and their corresponding indicators. Then, the authors apply it to an in-depth case study through qualitative enquiry of a large CSP in the field of work integration during its formation and implementation stages (2012–2016). The authors employ a case study design with process tracing methods for increased validity, analyzing structured data from multiple sources (documentary, in-depth interviews with field experts and key decision-makers in coordinating partner organizations, direct observations) through narrative and visual mapping strategies.

Results illustrate the dynamic interaction between the key dimensions and factors that shape the potential and limitations of CSPs for SI and evidence three types of tensions which management influences partnership outcomes: hierarchical/horizontal commitment; competition/collaboration; and managerial efficiency/social transformation.

This research highlights the pivotal role of product development for the organizing of SI in a CSP context and proposes a conceptual framework that paves the way for future research on the sources of competitive advantage of CSPs, facilitating the assessment of their performance in terms of socially innovative outcomes.

This paper provides empirical evidence for how gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) and collaboration with university and technological centres lead to innovation outcomes. The authors review past research on these concepts and illustrate their individual and joint effects on process innovation specifically in the unique context of family firms (FFs).

The authors used a sample of 788 Spanish manufacturing family firms in 2016 and applied logistic regression models since the dependent variables are dummies.

The authors found a positive relationship between gender-diverse TMTs, process innovation and research and development (R&D)-based process innovation. Similarly, the collaboration with university technological centres is positively associated with higher innovation outcome of FFs. In addition, the authors also found that the presence of women in TMTs shapes the relationship between the collaboration with university technological centres and process innovation.

This paper contributes to the research on collaborative innovation in FFs by emphasizing the collaboration with university technological centres, an external partner often ignored by this stream of literature. This research also responds to the calls for further study of the effect of the heterogeneity of the TMTs on the innovation outcome of FFs, from the perspective of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firms.

An increasing number of organizations are concerned with the internal management of talent. Over recent years there has been a proliferation of studies which attempt to quantify the value of the intangible assets held at a company, while human resource practices have taken on strategic significance for organizations, leading to a direct connection between the management of professionals and the achievement of the company's goals. The paper aims to address these issues.

In response to the strategic need to maintain a distinctive offering of talent within the marketplace of professional services companies, a dynamic simulation tool has been devised and used to analyze those policies which allow the flow of professionals to be adjusted in order for a company to fulfill market expectations in the event of different demand scenarios.

As a result of the analysis performed, the paper observed that a lack of flexibility within the organization tended to lead to a reduction in potential intellectual capital, and increased excess workload, together with a decline in the company's competitiveness within the marketplace, as seen in a drop in its level of corporate attractiveness.

By using scenarios, human resource (HR) managers can learn how to balance market demands and HR needs, considering the dynamic of organizational issues. According to the results obtained, the use of dynamic simulation models, like the one developed in this project, can improve the HR planning strategy in professional services firms.