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This study aims to explore the patterns and transformational dynamics of the executive–interpreter network in the innovation processes of small- and medium-sized enterprises in hospitality.

Grounded in social network theory and adopting a case-based approach, this study features a multi-case design focusing on three Chinese boutique hotels. Data were collected through Web page and document reviews, participant observations and semistructured interviews.

Results capture how executive–interpreter network dynamics contribute to innovation in small- and medium-sized hotels. Key factors in social networks (e.g. size, scope and strength) shift throughout innovation. This study presents a design-driven approach as a means of innovation. Findings also delineate the network development conditions under which innovation dynamically occurs in boutique hotels.

Practical implications center on how network dynamics help small- and medium-sized hotels innovate more effectively. These insights can assist hotel operators and prospective market entrants in improving their hotels’ performance and competitiveness.

This study blends social network theory with a design-driven approach to explore innovation mechanisms in small- and medium-sized hotels. It offers empirical evidence for practitioners regarding design-driven innovation. Findings enrich the body of knowledge on both design-driven innovation theory and hospitality innovation.

Discussions of authenticity in touristic experiences indicate that it is a significant area in the search for meaning. This study aims to demonstrate that the quest for authenticity in a tourist experience begins in the pre-travel period by associating it with meaning in life.

Data were collected via survey from 356 people planning to participate in tourism activities. The survey included demographic questions, the meaning in life scale and the quest for authenticity (QfA) scale, designed by previous researchers.

The analysis revealed that meaning in life levels significantly explained the quest for subjective authenticity (R2 = 0.303) and objective authenticity (R2 = 0.131) in tourist experiences. The search for objective authenticity in a tourist experience significantly mediated the relationship between meaning in life and subjective authenticity.

The research has several limitations. Primarily, the sampling group of the research consists of Turkish tourists who are planning to participate in tourism mobilities, and mostly females volunteered to respond in the data collection process. Hence it is necessary to study potential tourists from other countries for a more generalized conclusion. Second, the authors did not specifically ask the sample group which forms of tourism they are planning to participate in, heritage and culture, fair, etc. Subsequent studies may address this distinction and the explanatory power of the independent variable may differ according to plan to participate in different forms of tourism.

Tourism has an important place in individuals' search for meaning in life and authenticity. Because it offers an environment/setting where individuals can find answers to these searches. As a result of modernism, individuals become alienated from themselves, and their environment and the meanings they attribute to life are sometimes blurred. Some individuals experiencing this tend towards tourist mobility. This process individuals go through also includes the need for authenticity. Thus, such tourist behaviors cause the emergence of different authentic products that can meet the expectations and wishes of individuals.

One of the main elements that encourages people to travel is quest for authenticity, which they feel is lacking in modern life. Thus, tourists are more likely to experience meaning in life based on subjective experiences than viewed objects.

The study offers three novel findings: individuals seek authenticity in tourist experiences in order to find meaning in life; quest for authenticity begins in the pre-travel process; and objective authenticity is necessary to seek subjective authenticity through meaning in life. While a few studies have investigated these variables, the authenticity literature has neglected the pre-travel phase. However, this needs attention to better understand authenticity in tourism.

This paper aims to explore the relationships among several key constructs which link the individual’s motivation for knowledge acquisition to his affiliation with online knowledge networks, to further access the intellectual capital of the network as a prerequisite for organizational achievement.

An online survey with 227 members of higher education and research centers from 30 countries was carried out between July and September 2021. The data were analyzed by means of partial least squares structural equation modeling technique, using the statistics software package SmartPLS 3.0.

Individual motivation to acquire knowledge has a significant influence on the affiliation with online academic networks approached as online knowledge networks. Further, active engagement with the network’s intangible resources leads to a significant harnessing of the three-component intellectual capital, that is, human, structural and relational capital. Human and relational capital is proven to exert a significant effect on organizational achievements, whereas structural capital falls short of reporting a meaningful influence on the dependent variable.

This research adds new knowledge to the capitalization of online knowledge networks and its influence on organizational achievements via intellectual capital.

A novel perspective is advanced in which online knowledge networks are acknowledged as a pivotal bond and nonlinear integrator between the individual level of knowledge fields and organizational knowledge leveraged into organizational achievements.

This study is aimed at making an inspection of the effects of collaborative innovation network characteristics on firm innovation performance, and the intermediary roles of knowledge transfer efficiency is taken into account.

This study used a convenient sampling method to obtain population and samples. Using data obtained by publishing online and paper questionnaires, and using on-site interviews in Anhui Province in the Yangtze River Delta region of China, descriptive analysis, regression analysis and correlation analysis are utilized to study the direct influence of collaborative innovation network characteristics on knowledge transfer efficiency as well as firm innovation performance, and the intermediary roles of knowledge transfer efficiency on firm innovation performance, respectively. In this study, 3,000 questionnaires were distributed to the employees of enterprises engaged in research and development (R&D) activities, of which 2,560 were valid. With the help of SPSS24.0 software, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire was analyzed.

The results are indicative of that network centrality and relationship strength positively affect knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. Nevertheless, network scale has no significant correlation with knowledge transfer efficiency and enterprise innovation performance. In addition, knowledge transfer efficiency is an intermediary between collaborative innovation network characteristics and enterprise innovation performance, and positively affects enterprise innovation performance, which demonstrated that managers should take advantage of collaborative innovation network characteristics to elevate knowledge transfer efficiency because well-realized transferals of knowledge can help accelerate the coordination of resources in knowledge, and finally bring about the advancement of firm's innovation abilities and performance.

There are few previous studies that fully examined the relationships among collaborative innovation network characteristics, knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. This paper developed previous researches on the relationships between collaborative innovation network characteristics, knowledge transfer efficiency and firm innovation performance. The mediation of knowledge transfer efficiency on the relationship between collaborative innovation network characteristics and firm innovation performance is analyzed. Further, studies on collaborative innovation network characteristics using data obtained from employees engaged in R&D activities are very limited in the literature. On account of that, the findings in this study may make sense to the innovation ability of innovative enterprise and expand the literature in the field of enterprise strategic management and knowledge management.

This analysis shows that collaborative innovation network characteristics have both positive and negative effects on firm innovation performance. Therefore, business managers should pay attention to their position in the collaborative innovation network and maintain the relationship strength with other innovation subjects. Special consideration should be given to the knowledge transfer of innovative enterprises, so as to improve firm innovation performance practically.

The study may provide additional understandings for researchers, government managers, universities and enterprises with regard to strategic management from the visual angle of innovation ecosystems. It is instrumental in the exploration of the mechanisms enabling firm innovation performance.

The present research is trying to construct the network of relationships between different department of an organization during the design and development of car engine. Analyzing the structure of the network, finding the patterns of collaborations, and determining the important departments are the main purposes of the present research.

Improving relationships during a project life is an effective way to enhance employee performance in project-oriented organizations. This paper examines the collaborative relationships between internal project stakeholders through social network analysis (SNA) in a project for the design and development of car engine. In the first step of the research, the network of internal stakeholders was studied based on collaboration in the common activities performed by the resources. Then, the network of correspondences between internal stakeholders was studied. Finally, the two networks were integrated into a single network.

In the integrated network, the “fuel and combustion department” had the largest degree centrality (i.e. highest collaboration with others). The “integration department” was found to have the highest closeness centrality (i.e. more rapid access to other nodes). Furthermore, the “procurement department” had the highest betweenness centrality (i.e. the most strategic department). Our results revealed the potential capabilities of SNA method for the project management in the vehicle industry.

The obtained results of the present research show us the value of applying SNA methods and concepts to analyze the inter-organizational network of the Project Stakeholders relationship.

The purpose of this study is to discuss how ethnicity and gender influence high-tech entrepreneurship in the Cambridge cluster emphasizing homophily and how and why bridging and bonding ties are created in moving individuals from the periphery to cross the threshold into acceptance.

The authors present findings on the micro-dynamics of ethnicity and gender in high-tech entrepreneurship underpinned by homophily. The authors discuss how ethnicity and gender influence who enters and stays in high-tech entrepreneurship university spinouts. Through an entrepreneurial narrative qualitative approach, the authors explore how and why bridging and bonding ties may be created and the challenges for those at the periphery to cross the threshold into acceptance. The study adopts an entrepreneurial narrative qualitative approach using interviews with individuals associated with the Cambridge cluster.

The authors add to the entrepreneurship literature by responding to the call for multiplexity within homophily, and the research indicates that homophily strongly influences who enters and who leaves the cluster based on bridging and bonding ties. The findings address the need for more focused understanding of entrepreneurial clusters and how mechanisms can be developed to create an environment to nurture both bridging and bonding ties. It is possible for an entrepreneurial cluster to be perceived as attractive and thriving while being homophilous. Ethnic individuals and women continue to struggle to gain acceptance in the Cambridge cluster.

Interviews were conducted by one person – an ethnic minority female – for continuity of all interviews. Yet as many of the participants were not minorities, it is possible that an interviewer who was not an ethnic minority may have elicited different narratives.

The study adds to the entrepreneurship literature by focusing on multiplexity within homophily in examining the dynamics of homophily in the context of the Cambridge cluster and the significance of nurturing bridging and bonding ties. The research comments on implications for practice among three interlinked but autonomous groups: first, the individual entrepreneurs; second, the networks she/he belongs to; third, the university as both fertile ground for entrepreneurship and an educational institution where entrepreneurship education is engaged in for encouraging and supporting spinouts.

This study aims to explore how stakeholders leverage their guanxi and structural holes to promote knowledge mobilization to increase the performance of sci-tech achievement transformation.

This study conducted questionnaires, a social network analysis and semistructured interviews to examine its hypotheses by gathering data from a university and an enterprise in China.

Structural holes impede knowledge mobilization among stakeholders in their network, but guanxi moderates this impeding effect. In addition, knowledge mobilization promotes transformation performance.

By developing a mechanism to illustrate how stakeholders strategically leverage their guanxi and structural holes to affect the efficacy of knowledge mobilization to increase transformation performance, we reveal how stakeholders interact to co-create values for innovation, thereby contributing to the innovation and knowledge management literature.

Building industrial clusters is getting much more political attention and strategic orientation in all developing countries. This study started by revising the conceptual and theoretical frameworks for industrial clusters, followed by some insights and contributions about empirical bases for clusters' dynamics and processes. The study focused on the case of Agadir Agreement between four Arab countries (Egypt, Jordon, Morocco, and Tunisia), which was initiated after the Euro-Mediterranean partnerships, and the rationale of the agreement was based on the concept of cumulative value-added origin. The study based its methodology on analyzing the international and bilateral trade flows of six industrial goods from the automotive sector among the four countries and with the EU countries to detect the degree of industrial collaboration and the achieved success of each country in this sector. The study indicated that the four countries used the concept of industrial clusters for economic development, but the results of the analysis showed that till now Agadir Agreement only achieved a shallow integration, while failed to deeply integrate as one big collaborative industrial cluster.

This study aims to empirically examine the relationships among perceived environmental uncertainty (EV), the level of knowledge distance (KD) and the impact of value network on firm performance.

The quantitative analysis is based on data from 243 Chinese companies with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two dimensions of value network [network centrality (NC) and network openness (NO)] have a different impact on firm performance [financial performance (FP) and market performance (MP)]. NC has a positive impact on FP, but not on MP. NO has a positive effect on MP, but not on FP. A reduced KD mediates the relationship between value network and firm performance. Moreover, it fully mediates the relationship between NC and MP, NO and FP. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, only EV has a moderating effect on KD and MP.

This study is limited in terms of data set because it relies on a limited amount of cross-sectional data from one specific country. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

The present findings suggest that EPC professionals should pay more attention to the EV, which may be impacted by policy, technology and the economy. This research has actionable implications for the reform of EPC in the construction industry, and practical recommendations for EPC firms to improve their corporate performance.

The results measure the complementary effects of both dimensions of value network (NC and NO) on two distinct aspects of firm performance (MP and FP) and assess the moderating effect of EV and KD in the context of the COVID-19 pandemics.

The purpose of this article is to explore the association of the Relational Capital (RC) embedded in a medical specialist’s social–professional network with the specialist’s economic performance based on social network analysis (SNA).

Using health insurance claims data regarding ∼108,000 physicians treating ∼72,000,000 patients, social–professional networks (patient-sharing-networks (PSNs)) of ∼26,000 medical specialists were simulated. To explore the correlation of the network's characteristics (degree centrality, density, relative betweenness centrality and referrer concentration) with economic performance, ordinary-least-squares (OLS)-regression models were estimated for ten common specialties (gynecology, internal medicine, orthopedics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dermatology, urology, neurology, radiology and rehabilitative medicine).

The study confirms the applicability and strong explanatory power of SNA metrics for RC measurement in ambulatory healthcare. Degree centrality and relative betweenness centrality correlate positively with economic performance, whereas density and referrer concentration exhibit negative coefficients. These results confirm the argument that RC has a strong association with the economic performance of medical specialists.

The study pioneers SNA for RC measurement in healthcare. It is among the first publications on specialists' PSNs. Questions for future research are proposed.