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This paper seeks to scope the nature and form of practices, understandings and institutional arrangements that might contribute to the successful “design” and continuity of Communities of Practice (CoP) in a state government department in Australia. The study aims to provide research evidence to support the design and establishment of a CoP based on systems thinking within this department.

A total of 13 semi‐structured interviews were undertaken involving 14 informants. The interviewer also attended one CoP meeting. An emergent approach to research design was adopted with data analysis guided by previous studies on CoPs.

The research revealed the existence of six CoPs that were purposefully created internally by the department. Six “design” and practice considerations were suggested for practitioners aiming to create and sustain successful CoPs.

Interview material was the only source of primary data and it was gathered from one organisation only – a state government department in Australia. Findings indicate that the role of the CoP coordinator is still not fully understood.

The results from this study can be used in re‐designing a systems thinking CoP to support systems thinking within the department. The study also revealed that purposefully designing CoPs is possible and useful for practitioners aiming to collaborate and share expertise across disciplinary and divisional boundaries.

This study provides some guidance for the purposeful design of CoPs, which has been under‐examined in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive model to illustrate the mediating role of sense of virtual community (SOVC) in virtual communities of practices (VCoPs). The interrelations between social capital and collective action in terms of knowledge contribution in the VCoP context are also examined.

A total of 253 members from the Zclub and Jorsindo, responded to the survey. PLS-SEM path modeling was used to analyze survey data.

Members’ structural capital and cognitive capital both positively and significantly influence members’ SOVC, and, in turn, their SOVC influences relational capital.

The study linked two theories, namely, social capital and theory of collective action, to discuss knowledge contribution in VCoPs. Social capital and SOVC have significant and positive effects on knowledge contribution in VCoPs.

Knowledge contributions in VCoPs are created through interactions among members, as well as the facilitation resulting from shared visions. Administrators can promote the formation of social-interaction ties in VCoPs to reinforce the formation of social capital and a SOVC.

Administrators of knowledge-oriented groups must strive to sustain proper levels of SOVC among members to ensure their continued participation in VCoPs.

The main objectives of this study were to examine the effects of social capital (structural, cognitive, and relational capitals) on the quality and quantity of knowledge contribution. SOVC was proposed as a mediator in the relationship between structural and/or cognitive capital toward relational capital.

This study offers a comparative analysis of attitudes to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalisation in two different cultural settings, Wales and Brittany. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth investigation of attitudes to internationalisation among food and drink SMEs using mixed methods and focussing on both SMEs that internationalise and those that do not. This leads to a more comprehensive understanding of the issues influencing attitudes to SME internationalisation, which could facilitate policy development for such companies.

Mixed methods are used in this study to provide a richness of data in investigating this complex issue. The majority of research in this field has focussed on quantitative research, however, this study heeds calls for more plurality in research on SME internationalisation to achieve a more detailed understanding of the issues affecting SME internationalisation. This is achieved through an online questionnaire of 169 food producing SMEs in Wales and Brittany, informed by International Entrepreneurship theory. A second phase of semi-structured interviews provides more context to the questionnaire findings, with 37 interviews conducted with respondents from the questionnaire. Each phase was conducted independently, with findings triangulated for further investigation.

Companies of all characteristics have the ability to internationalise; however, cultural differences were observed between Wales and Brittany in both attitudes and the conditions for internationalisation. Breton SMEs displayed more proactivity to internationalisation, stemming from more favourable conditions, a greater reputation for food and more confidence. Conversely, Welsh SMEs were more reactive, relying on government support in encouraging internationalisation. Breton SMEs also benefitted from the strong cultural identity of food products, especially through the Produit en Bretagne brand and its network of producers.

The study makes both a theoretical and methodological contribution to research on SME internationalisation. The comparative study of Wales and Brittany is significant in understanding cultural influences to internationalisation in two regions where the food and drink industry represents an important part of the economy. The focus on a single industry is significant in understanding the particularities of internationalisation within an industrial context, as findings from studies across multiple industries are considered less generalisable. A methodological contribution is sought through using mixed methods to provide a more comprehensive study.

Vintage capital growth models have been at the heart of growth theory in the 1960s. This research line collapsed in the late 1960s with the so-called embodiment controversy and the technical sophisitication of the vintage models. This chapter analyzes the astonishing revival of this literature in the 1990s. In particular, it outlines three methodological breakthroughs explaining this resurgence: a growth accounting revolution, taking advantage of the availability of new time series; an optimal control revolution, allowing to safely study vintage capital optimal growth models; and a vintage human capital revolution, along with the rise of economic demography, accounting for the vintage structure of human capital similarly to physical capital age structuring. The related literature is surveyed.

What is the effect of an increase of migration inflows on the R&D and innovative performance of developing countries? The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of migration inflows on the R&D and innovation activity (measured as expenditures on R&D and technological innovations) in Russian regions.

To this end, the authors use data on 85 Russian regions for the period 2010-2016 through a multi-region economic geography model. In particular, the authors test the hypothesis about the importance of migration inflows on R&D and technological innovation activity (H1) and the hypothesis about the importance of immigrants’ (incoming migrants) human capital (measured by the education level of incoming migrants) on R&D and innovation activity (H2).

Empirical findings support the evidence in favour of a positive causal link between innovation and migration inflows. Results of our investigation are important because they suggest useful insights for formulating science and innovation policies in Russia, which is a developing country where the recent policies favouring the technological innovation as the transition period have not yet achieved a satisfying outcome.

This paper increases the knowledge in the field with respect to the existing literature, shedding further light on the migration inflows effects, which is a political topic to manage very relevant in all countries.

Based on initial observation, this paper aims to explore the current practices of collaborative knowledge sharing (KS) between North West Universities and highlight new avenues of future relevant research.

A netnographic observation was conducted to unveil the current practices of KS between North West Universities.

The paper concludes that there is little or no evidence of collaborative KS practices amongst North West Universities in response to the present Covid-19 transition.

This paper provides useful, practical insight that may assist decision-makers to establish KS initiatives within North West Universities and beyond. A strategy is also proposed to nurture collaborative KS amongst North West Universities and within wider work-applied management practice.

This paper presents an unconventional conceptualisation of KS practices amid the present Covid-19 pandemic with the fresh perspective of North West England Universities.

This study aims to fill the research gap on the moderating effect of leadership empowerment on the relationship between relational capital and firms' innovation performance in the entrepreneurial ecosystem by addressing the following research questions: (1) How do different types of relational capital positively or negatively affect firms' innovation performance in China? (2) Does leadership empowerment play a moderating role in the above relationship?

Using data derived from the firms distributed in eastern, central and western China, the authors study the impact of relational capital, one of the dimensions of intellectual capital, on firms' innovation performance in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Based on firms' operation process regarding the relationships with their external stakeholders, the authors divided relational capital into three aspects: trust, reciprocity and transparency. Furthermore, leadership empowerment is taken as the moderating variable in the above theoretical relationship.

There is significant evidence that trust, reciprocity and transparency have positive impact on firms' innovation performance. Leadership empowerment positively moderates the impact of trust and reciprocity on innovation performance. However, there is no significant moderating effect of leadership empowerment on the relationship between transparency and innovation performance.

In the era of the knowledge economy, the entrepreneurial ecosystem is a critical foundation for firms to improve their innovation capacity and performance, and intellectual capital is one of the most imperative drivers in terms of firms' innovation performance. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated thoroughly concerning the relationships among the entrepreneurial ecosystem, intellectual capital and innovation performance. As this study explores the relationships among the above three factors, it may have profound theoretical and practical significance for firms to extent external relationship networks, improve their innovation performance and strengthen their core competencies, which is of great significance to facilitate the construction of entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This paper aims to investigate the evolution, roots and influence of the rural entrepreneurship literature.

Using a bibliometric exercise, the analysis starts with investigation of studies on entrepreneurship and gathering all (772) articles on rural entrepreneurship (from 1981 to 2020) found in both Scopus and Web of Science up to 15 August 2020. Citation analysis of the references/citations of 755 articles are listed in the abstract database, generating a citation database involving 46,432 references/citations. This paper considers 635 (out of the 772) articles on rural entrepreneurship (i.e. articles cited in one or more studies), generating a database of 10,767 studies influenced by the rural entrepreneurship literature.

This study discovers that the relative importance of rural entrepreneurship within the entrepreneurship literature has increased in the last few years, but rural entrepreneurship remains a European concern; the most frequently addressed topics include growth and development, institutional frameworks and governance and rurality, with theory building being rather understudied. Most of the studies on rural entrepreneurship are empirical, involving mainly qualitative analyses and targeting high income countries; rural entrepreneurship is rooted in the fields of economics and entrepreneurship and is relatively self-referential.

This study provides a comprehensive and updated investigation of evolution of the rural entrepreneurship literature. The assessment of the literature’s scientific roots of rural entrepreneurship had not yet been tackled before. To the best of the author’s knowledge this study can be considered as the first effort for identifying the scientific influence of the rural entrepreneurship literature.

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are increasingly being created to facilitate knowledge mobilization in organizations. This paper aims to elucidate an underexplored aspect of participation in mandated CoPs – identity reconciliation. Specifically, the authors explore how actors reconcile their existing identities with becoming members of new knowledge mobilization CoPs.

The authors conducted a longitudinal qualitative case study over a 12-month period to explore identity reconciliation practices during the formation of the “ED CoP” – mandated by policymakers to mobilize knowledge between process improvement advisors and clinicians from various hospitals. Observation and interviews allowed us to uncover “front stage” and “backstage” practices of identity reconciliation.

The findings reveal two key unexpected modes of identity reconciliation – “distancing” and “peripheral lurking”. These modes resulted in different trajectories of participation of two of the key participant groups – “veteran” improvement advisors and “veteran” clinicians.

Different modes of identity reconciliation of different participants impact the formation of CoPs and how knowledge mobilization occurs within them. This paper offers a sensitizing lens for practitioners creating CoPs which enhances awareness of hidden identity practices, and recommendations to enable practitioners to effectively facilitate CoP formation.

This study suggests that identity reconciliation is an integral aspect of CoP formation, and essential for knowledge mobilization within CoPs. Whereas studies on CoPs in the knowledge management literature have mostly assumed that collaboration produces beneficial knowledge mobilization outcomes, the findings build a more nuanced picture of the processes involved in producing these outcomes.