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This paper aims to analyze the relationship between inter-firm collaboration network and the type of innovation strategies that can be followed by firms: buy or make innovation. In particular, the authors seek to analyze which are the network topologies that facilitate firms following a buy innovation strategy compared to those network properties that encourage internal R&D activities.

The authors use data from a fieldwork with face-to-face interviews applied to managing directors of firms in the rubber and plastic cluster of Uruguay. Subsequently, they combine social network analysis with regression techniques to determine how inter-firm networks can influence different types of innovation activities.

The authors find that degree centrality facilitates a buy innovation strategy, while betweenness centrality is positively associated with making innovation. Thus, having many direct links with other firms and organizations is relevant to buy innovation. However, indirect links that allow the firm to occupy a strategic position in the network are crucial to develop in-house innovation strategies.

The results offer an advance in the explanation of the incidence of the cluster network structure on the firms innovation strategies; however, they should be contrasted with similar analysis in others clusters and complemented with in depth case studies on the mechanisms behind these phenomena.

These findings have practical implications for business innovation strategy. One factor that should be taken into account is the way in which firms interact with other actors in the cluster. On the one hand, firms can decide to establish and maintain many direct collaboration links, which may contribute to buy innovation. On the other hand, they can follow a more strategic and selective collaboration strategy to make innovation, a strategy that carefully studies not only its direct collaborations, but also what the potential indirect connections would be.

These findings have policy implications regarding industry support organizations. The findings show that such organizations contribute significantly to the overall connectivity and cohesion of networks. This fact allows some firms to register high levels of betweenness centrality, and therefore, organizations can be an interesting instrument to support firms aiming to follow a make innovation strategy.

This study contributes to the literature that analyzes how inter-firm collaboration networks can influence innovation. In line with previous research, results verify that centrality is positively associated with innovation. However, the main contribution of this research is to provide evidence on different ways in which inter-firm networks are related to different innovation strategies (make or buy). In addition, the authors contribute to the understanding of collaboration dynamics and innovation activities in inter-firm interactions within a typical case of a low-tech cluster created under the so-called state-led industrialization model in Latin America.

Este artículo busca estudiar la relación entre las redes de colaboración entre empresas y las diferentes estrategias de innovación. En concreto, se centra en la clásica distinción entre comprar la innovación o desarrollarla en el seno de la empresa.

El artículo estudia el clúster del caucho y plástico de Uruguay, situado en el área metropolitana de Montevideo y Canelones. Los datos se obtuvieron de un trabajo de campo, con 118 entrevistas cara a cara a gerentes de empresas del clúster. Se combinan técnicas de análisis de redes sociales con regresiones logísticas para estimar cómo la posición en la red influye sobre las estrategias de innovación.

Los resultados prueban que la red tiene efectos diferenciados en las estrategias de innovación: mientras que la centralidad de grado (tener muchas conexiones) facilita que las empresas compren innovación, la centralidad de intermediación (ocupar una posición estratégica en la red) está positivamente asociada con el desarrollo de innovación dentro de la empresa.

El artículo realiza una contribución relevante a la literatura sobre redes de innovación al aclarar la relación entre diferentes formas de colaboración en red y distintas estrategias de innovación. Además, resulta de especial interés su estudio de la innovación y las interacciones entre empresas en un caso típico de industria de baja tecnología, creada bajo el llamado modelo de industrialización dirigido por el estado.

Análisis de redes sociales, Innovación, Industrias de baja tecnología, Clúster industrial, Caucho y plástico, Uruguay

O objetivo deste artigo é estudar como as redes de colaboração entre empresas estão relacionadas a diferentes estratégias de inovação seguidas pelas empresas. Em particular, concentra-se na chamada distinção entre comprar e fazer inovação.

O artigo estuda o cluster industrial de borracha e plásticos do Uruguai, localizado nas regiões metropolitanas de Montevidéu e Canelones. Os dados foram obtidos a partir do trabalho de campo, através de 118 entrevistas face-a-face aplicadas a diretores executivos de empresas. Ele combina análise de redes sociais com técnicas de regressão logística para determinar como a posição nas redes de colaboração influencia as estratégias de inovação.

Os resultados provam que a rede tem efeitos diferentes pelo tipo de estratégia de inovação: a centralidade dos graus das firmas (isto é, ter muitos links diretos) facilita a compra de inovações externas, enquanto a centralidade entre as posições (estando localizada em uma posição estratégica na rede) é positivamente associado com a inovação dentro da empresa.

O artigo fornece uma contribuição relevante para a literatura sobre redes de inovação, elucidando a relação entre diferentes formas de colaboração e diferentes estratégias de inovação. Além disso, faz uma contribuição especial, concentrando-se em inovações e interações entre firmas dentro de um caso típico de uma indústria de baixa tecnologia criada sob o chamado modelo de industrialização liderado pelo Estado.

Análise de redes sociais, Inovação, Indústrias de baixa tecnologia, Cluster industrial, Borracha e plásticos, Uruguai

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Firms can enhance their capacity to innovate through involvement in network collaborations. The position they adopt within the network determines access to relevant and diverse knowledge and information that can subsequently be used to develop and implement an appropriate innovation strategy.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Relatively little is known about the determinants of the prices of paintings. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the price determinants of the art of Joan Miró, one of the great masters of Modern Art.

The authors analysed 255 artworks by Miró sold at Sotheby’s and Christie’s between 2003 and 2017, and performed a hedonic price regression to measure the impact of a series of variables on the prices of this artist’s works.

Miró’s works command higher prices, ceteris paribus, when they were painted on canvas, were sold at Sotheby’s and in New York City or London, were traded during the evening session and depending on the period in which they had been painted, the size of their surface area, the number of words used to describe the respective lot and whether they had appeared in an art book. The prices of Miró’s paintings increased substantially between 2003 and 2008 and then declined, coinciding with the global financial crisis of 2009.

The results were obtained from prices established in art auctions, which represent only one portion of the market.

This is the first exhaustive study carried out on the determinants of the prices of Joan Miró’s works. The artist represents an ideal case due to the large number of his works that have been sold at auctions. As yet, only studies of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol have been conducted. Joan Miró has well-defined artistic periods, which also allows us to determine the impact on the price of the works of the period in which it was created. This paper also offers a methodological contribution to parties involved in the art sector (artists, galleries, collectors, investors, museums, etc.).

Se conoce relativamente poco acerca de los determinantes de los precios de las obras de arte de artistas específicos. Este estudio analiza los determinantes de los precios de las pinturas de Joan Miró, uno de los grandes maestros del arte moderno.

Se analizaron 255 pinturas de Miró que fueron vendidas en Sotheby’s y Christie’s entre 2003 y 2017, y se estimó una regresión hedónica de precios con el objetivo de medir el impacto de una serie de variables en los precios de las obras de este artista.

Las obras de Miró obtuvieron precios más altos, ceteris paribus, cuando estaban puintadas sobre lienzo, se vendieron en Sotheby’s y en la ciudad de Nueva York o Londres, se subastaron durante la sesión de la noche, y dependiendo del período en que se pintaron, el tamaño de su área, la cantidad de palabras utilizadas para describir el lote respectivo y si habían aparecido en un libro de arte. Los precios de las pinturas de Miró aumentaron sustancialmente entre 2003 y 2008 y luego disminuyeron, coincidiendo con la crisis financiera mundial de 2009.

Los resultados se obtuvieron a partir de los precios establecidos en las subastas de arte, los cuales representan solo una porción del mercado.

Este es el primer estudio exhaustivo realizado sobre los determinantes de los precios de las obras de Joan Miró. El artista representa un caso ideal debido a la gran cantidad de sus obras que se han vendido en subastas. Hasta el momento, solo se han realizado estudios de Pablo Picasso y Andy Warhol. Joan Miró tiene períodos artísticos bien definidos, lo que también permitió determinar el impacto que en el precio de las obras podía tener el período en que éstas se crearon. Este trabajo también ofrece una contribución metodológica a las partes involucradas en el sector del arte (artistas, galerías, coleccionistas, inversores, museos, etc.).

Recent discussions of how members of the middle classes define themselves have focused on cultural patterns, following Bourdieu's (1984) influential work on how occupational, educational, and cultural fields combine to configure classes. Researchers have extended this approach to studies of the emerging middle classes in the global South, adapting these concepts to the specific circumstances of postcolonial settings in a globalizing world. This chapter explores these processes among urban middle-class Chileans. I show how members of the middle classes seek meaningful identities while engaging in symbolic combat with other groups in a society historically marked by an aristocratic elite, a recent military dictatorship, and free market policies that have reconfigured the possibilities for upward and downward mobility while integrating Chile more firmly within global commodity and image circuits. The principal foci of conflict are cultural consumption, childrearing and education, as well as electronic media use. Members of Chile's middle classes are locked in an unresolved conflict over who they are, who they should be, and where they fit in the global cultural economy.

Given its social importance, Sport (especially Football), which has experienced an astounding transformation into a global industry with significant economic impact, has been a vehicle for the transmission of cultural and universal values. Its structural complexity (players, transfer agents, clubs and its owners, right holders of different contracts) creates a lot of moving parts that can easily hide illicit activity, especially because this structure incorporates the international market. The movement of large amounts of money, the difficulty in accounting for all transactions, and ironically, the clubs’ own financial needs increase this sector’s vulnerability to organized crime. For many years, this sector has had a relatively free hand in its efforts to make criminal assets legal. This is made possible by some ineffectiveness of current national and international laws and enforcement bodies, which have not kept pace with the changing situation. It is already known that sport historically has been used as a tool for enrichment of a specific group of companies, an issue deserving of public concern. This chapter argues for a sensitive situation involving the actors of the public and private sectors, notably its regulations, in order to curb corruption and money laundering through sport. The purpose is to address these matters by identifying the risks of misconduct within sport organizations, and proposing measures that could prevent, hamper, and punish any attempts to thwart these organizations’ main goal: promoting sport as a way for cultural improvement and teaching people the values of tolerance and civilized coexistence.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

Communicating the national values of artists and the role of product benefits as symbols of national values, infuse iconic national brands. This paper aims to validate a conceptual framework that offers empirical insights for cultural identity that drives brand management.

Case studies and cross-cultural focus group research establish the present study’s conceptual framework for cultural branding.

Brand awareness of a perfume named after a Cuban dancer and a spirit named for a Chilean poet, reflect authentic emblems of national identity. Informants’ behavior confirms the study’s model of icon myth transfer effect as a heuristic for cultural branding with clear, detailed and unprompted references to the myths and brands behind these heroines.

The study’s ethnography shows how artists reflect myth and folklore in iconic brands. Future research should assess whether the icon myth transfer effect as a heuristic for cultural branding occurs with cultural icons beyond the arts and transcends national boundaries.

The study challenges conventional branding, where the brand is the myth, and the myth reflects the myth market. The authors show how the myth connects to a national identity yet exists independently of the brand. The branding strategy ties the brand to the existing myth, an alternative route for cultural branding mediated by the icon myth transfer effect.

These two Latin American brands provide a much-needed connection among the branding literatures and images surrounding gender and nationalism in lesser-known markets.

Most research explores iconic myths, brands and folklore in one country. This study extends cultural branding through social history and by testing a conceptual model that establishes how myths embody nation-specific values. Iconic myths are a heuristic for understanding and describing brands, revealing an unexamined path for cultural branding.

To analyze the market reception of multi-authored works of art through the lens of collaborative old master paintings (“formal/prestige collaboration”). This paper tests whether multi-authored attribution strategies (i.e. naming two artists as brand names) affect buyers' willingness to pay differently from single-authored works in the auction market.

This case study focuses on collaborative paintings by Flemish masters, based on a data set comprising 11,630 single-authored and collaborative paintings auctioned between 1946 and 2015. Hedonic regressions have been employed to test whether or not co-branded artworks are differently valued by buyers and how the reputation of each artist might influence valuation.

Despite the opportunity for buyers to purchase one artwork with two brand names, this study reveals that the average value of collaborative paintings is statistically lower than that of single-authored paintings. This is especially true when a reputed master was involved in the collaboration. The present findings suggest that the valuable characteristics of formal collaborations (i.e. double brand name, dual authorship and reputation, high-quality standards) are no longer perceived and valued as such by buyers, and that co-branding can affect the artist brand equity because of a contagion effect. We argue that integral authorship is more valued than partial authorship, suggesting that the myth of the artist as a lone genius is still well-anchored in purchasing habits.

Prestige collaborations are a very particular form of early co-branding in the art world, with limited data available. Further research should consider larger samples to reiterate the analysis on other collaboration forms in order to challenge the current findings.

Researchers and living artists should be aware that brand building and co-branding are marketing strategies that may generate negative effects on prices in the art market. The perceived and market value of co-branded works are time-varying, and depends on both the context of reception of these works and the reputation of the artists at time t.

This market segment has never been considered in art market studies, although formal collaboration is one of the earliest documented forms of co-branding in the art world. This paper provides new empirical evidence from the auction market, based on buyers' willingness to pay, and it further highlights the reception of multi-authored art objects in Western art markets that particularly value individual creators.

In March 1997, the board chair of this small steel mill is pondering how to finance the growth of his firm: either with an initial public offering of equity or a private placement of 8-year senior notes with warrants. The task for the student is to sort out the comparative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative—including valuing the possible securities—and recommend a course of action.

In today’s hypercompetitive, digital-first, knowledge-based economy, organizational creativity has never been more important as a potential source of competitive advantage. The foundation stone for every innovation is an idea and all ideas are born of creativity. The innovation process thus starts with creativity and the new ideas it yields are ideally based on insights that will lead ultimately to novel outcomes (such as new products, services, experiences or business models) and thereby to a sustainable competitive advantage. In established businesses, until relatively recently, creativity was called on only for specific, often high-profile occasions, for ‘hackathons’ or for major ‘innovation jams’, but today it is an essential, everyday necessity of routine work. However, attaining the right level of creativity from within is a challenge for many organizations and so they need to establish an appropriate and effective way to import it into their teams, projects and, ultimately, culture. The arts are a pure, unadulterated form of creativity. Mindsets, processes and practices from the arts can give organizational creativity a significant boost and can potentially offset the creative deficit in an organization. Here, the illustrative cases and practices that demonstrate how the arts can have a positive impact on business are examined.