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This paper aims at explaining variances in the contribution of Islamic crowdfunding platforms (ICFPs) to sustainable development (SD), by adopting an institutional logic perspective (ILP). ICFPs represent a dual institutional overlap between two logics (the Western-mainstream and the Islamic logic) which have an impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) interpretations, practices, and decisions and whose conflicts are mitigated by choosing different resolution strategies. The authors aim at showing that this choice affects SD differently.

The authors develop a conceptual typology through the following steps: (1) choice of variables and identification of corresponding variable domains, through literature review. Variables chosen are the elemental CSR dimensions related to various social and environmental corporate responsibilities to whom diverse meaning and emphasis are given under the Western-mainstream and Islamic logics. (2) Identification of three distinct ideal types of ICFPs, building on different resolution strategies to mitigate conflicts between logics; (3) development, for each ideal type, of a set of implications related to SD; (4) implementation of a first test aiming at assigning real cases to each ideal type.

The authors identify Western-mimicking (platforms adopting as resolution strategy decoupling or compartmentalizing strategies), Islamic-driven (platforms focusing on one prevailing logic) and Syncretism-inspired (platforms adopting hybridizing practices) ideal-types.

It is the first paper suggesting ILP to explain variances in crowdfunding platforms' role in addressing SD. It focuses on a specific type of CF platforms till now neglected.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how an adequate mix of technological, organisational and managerial tools might support Open Innovation (OI) processes achieved by contests in the food sector.

The methodology of this paper is exploratory in nature. Data have been gathered about the 140 innovation contests launched by the best global food brands (2013 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands) over the last decade.

The research highlights the main changes that have occurred over the last decade, showing that the choice of platform type for contest launches is often neglected or considered as an ancillary element. Indeed, it is a choice that embeds another set of technological, organisational and managerial tools that strongly influence the collaborative behaviour (and the participation itself) of partners throughout the innovation process.

Companies investigated in this paper consist exclusively of top brands in the sector. Future research should strive to obtain larger samples, develop a set of fine-grained hypotheses, and test them by using appropriate statistical techniques.

This paper fills an inexplicable gap in academic literature due to the fact that food companies are those that mainly use contests in order to implement OI but they are scarcely researched regarding this issue.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of internationalization patterns among speciality food small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), investigating dimensions that may have a bearing on such patterns, using a series of case studies. In particular the investigation seeks to gain new insights about differences among companies in their internationalization patterns. These differences are examined in a framework which tries to relate three company‐level dimensions (market, technology and space) to internationalization patterns. The three dimensions are derived from the constructs developed by Storper and Salais, and Straete.

Two research questions (RQs) are formulated: Is there a relationship between the internationalization pace of speciality food SMEs and their technology, market, and space dimensions? Is there a relationship between the internationalization modes of speciality food SMEs and their technology, market, and space dimensions? A qualitative approach was adopted and cases from a broad dataset were used. The present research is an explorative research: it is intended to provide insights from which hypotheses might be developed.

This paper provides an empirical and conceptual contribution to the food internationalization debate. On the empirical side, it provides new evidence on speciality food internationalization, showing a rather diversified set of internationalization patterns, both in terms of pace and modes. On the conceptual side, it shows that the three dimensions of technology, market and space may help to enrich the comprehension of internationalization phenomena. While data collected seem not to provide insights from which hypotheses might be developed concerning RQ1, they seem on the contrary to provide useful insights concerning RQ2.

Limitations of the research generally relate to the use of a small sample. Future research should strive to obtain larger samples, develop a set of relevant finer‐grained hypotheses and test those using appropriate statistical techniques

Identifying the impact that the three dimensions might have on internationalization patterns and vice versa may help to focus on these specific elements when companies make their internationalization decisions. On the same line, public policy agencies could benefit from these first results for better clustering companies targeting their internationalization supporting initiatives.

The findings add to the limited body of knowledge on the key influences on internationalization patterns within the food sector.

This study aims to develop a categorization framework for knowledge management systems in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Framework dimensions have been identified as company knowledge domain (organization, marketing and technology) and company innovation behaviour (high and low).

The framework is derived by means of a qualitative approach based on a set of 20 case studies. The cases regard Italian SMEs in the food sector.

Data seem to suggest that knowledge domain and innovation behaviour permit significant distinctions between different kinds of knowledge management systems (KMSs). The features of these KMSs as configurations of technical, organizational and managerial tools are described in this paper with reference to the main knowledge process they are intended to support.

The research provides a variety of insights into new ways of conceptualizing KMSs. Moreover, the paper provides some practical examples of successful implementation of KMSs in SMEs.

The aim of this chapter is to analyse and to define the role and opportunities offered by the adoption of a new ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tool within an organization, focusing attention on internal collaborative processes that have been induced by the development and use of the new tool. As noted by some authors, ICT tools may create a virtual meeting place where individuals can engage in dialogue and collaboration. However, other authors argue that technology could reduce direct involvement, social interaction, collaboration and reflective conversations that traditionally give rise to knowledge processes and thus to innovation processes inside the organizations. Nevertheless, some research contributions show that it is not an ICT tool itself that provides positive or negative effects on organizations, but how the tool is used in conjunction with complementary human resources. These contributions avoid technological determinism by stressing contingency and by coupling human design intent and activity with the disposition of actors inside organizations.

In order to fulfil the aim of the chapter, a study was carried out in a leading firm in the automotive industry, till now involved in a project aimed at implementing a new simulation tool for the assembly process. The evidence from the case seems to suggest that the development and use of the simulation tool activated the social interactions and collaborations that enacted innovation processes. The simulation tool seemed to facilitate a productive dialogue among the different departments and a deeper understanding of the different challenges involved. The development of the simulation “forced” experts of different departments to meet and to keep the focus on salient aspects. The simulation acted as a boundary object. The development of this boundary object was un-intentional but it is clear that the simulation contributed to the formation of a community of collaborators.

It is worth noting that this was not the result of the simulation tool itself but rather the result of management actions aimed at making sense of the whole project, supporting the initiative and thus motivating users.

Traditionally, benchmarking has been described as a practice that promotes imitation. However, according to a more recent approach, this paper suggests that benchmarking, looking outside the firm boundaries and enabling comparison with others, in terms of both practices and performances, enable the process of acquiring external explicit and tacit knowledge. Such newly acquired knowledge, once integrated with previous internal knowledge of the firm, creates new knowledge that may give rise to improvements and innovations. In order to study the innovative power of benchmarking, this paper presents a three‐year research undertaken in the maintenance‐services sector that is becoming more and more global and competitive. A model that integrates benchmarking, knowledge management and innovation is presented as the main result of the research.

This paper aims to study the role of ideology in brand strategy with reference to large‐scale food retailing. By means of a thorough case study investigation of highly ideology‐focused food retailer Eataly, the paper aims to enrich existing theory on retailer branding. The various elements of Eataly's brand have been studied in order to identify how they enact the ideology for which the retailer stands. This topic is particularly relevant in a context where consumers appear increasingly committed to social responsibility and business ethics. So the final goal of the paper is to identify ideology‐focused brand choices that lead to a preference towards the retailer.

In order to address this paper's research aim, a well known framework developed by Esbjerg and Bech‐Larsen is adopted to conceptualize the retail brand. Case study methodology is applied.

This paper provides both research‐related and practical contributions. From a research perspective, it provides empirical evidence on the role of ideology in large‐scale food retailing, a field which has been traditionally neglected in the ideology debate. From a practical perspective, it provides a contribution to retailers and brand managers. Three main lessons can be mentioned. First, a company's ideology should be pervasively applied to each aspect of a brand and it seems to be primarily situated within tangible and physical attributes, rather than within symbolic features, at least in the case investigated. Second, an explicit ideology is not exempt from risks. Third, ideology can be subject to multiple interpretations that may give rise to unintended consequences.

This study tries to attenuate the reliability issues that are inherent in qualitative research by interviewing multiple informants with different positions inside the company. Triangulation using different types of data sources and systematic data analysis was also employed.

The paper raises the importance of ideology in large‐scale food retailing. It adopts the Esbjerg and Bech‐Larsen framework and introduces the dimension of ideology as a lens through which each aspect of a brand can be interpreted. Moreover, it suggests that a brand's functional attributes play more of a leading role in transmitting ideology than symbolic features, which is somewhat counterintuitive.

To present an alternative brand strategy for food retail using a different set of values to supermarket chains.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and recommendation.

Can an ideology that excludes certain products but demands commitment from all consumers make money through its holistic interpretation of the products its customers need? Can food retailers sell good food at fair prices? This review identifies the lack of published research into the ideology of food retailing. It describes a new qualitative methodology that identifies functional and symbolic aspects of the processes and products of the retailer. It proceeds by structured interview and by document analysis to outline the most important factors driving retail success in this market niche, including an elaborate structure of customer feedback. The case study of Eataly is analyzed to include its historical origins in the Slow Food movement, its ideology (or even philosophy), and consumer criticism of its apparent ideological compromises.

A successful food retailer applies its ideology to all the objective aspects of its brands and keeps close to its customers.

An ideology has to be closely matched to commercial decisions if an ethical retailer is to have a significant impact on the food market.

This review shows that small food retailers can develop a different retail model to large supermarket chains and prosper. Its methodology can be applied more widely in the food retail industry, as an ideological interpretation of branding.

In many developing and developed countries, small/medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very important part of the economy and are commonly referred to as the lifeblood of the economy. SMEs in Nigeria have contributed around 48% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in recent times and account for about 17.4 million jobs. Considering how much they contribute to national economies, it is expedient to seek ways in which they can derive value from innovative technologies to further strengthen their position. Web 2.0 technologies and associated social media applications such as social network sites, microblogging, weblogs and similar technologies are known to improve communication and collaboration among employees and customers. SMEs typically have a small budget for branding, advertising and corporate communication. Consequently, social media provides a ready and inexpensive tool that can be used to communicate with customers and for internal communication and collaboration. Several studies in the area of diffusion of innovations to SMEs argue that they do not usually use adopted technologies to its full potential and as such do not add as much value to the business. Extant research on corporate communication using social media focuses on large organizations’ adoption and use of the technology with little focus on SMEs. This contribution aims to fill this gap by considering how SMEs in Nigeria adopt and use social media to improve corporate communication.