1,721,174 research outputs found
Internet of Things: Applications and challenges in smart cities: a case study of IBM smart city projects
No full textGrowth Hacking: A Critical Review to Clarify its Meaning and Guide its Practical Application
Full text linkThere is an increasing recognition among academics and practitioners that growth hacking provides a means to bridge the gap between strategy definition and strategy implementation. Significant tensions tend to arise across this gap. However, the data-driven experimentation, and the organizational capabilities developed within the firm, increase the ability of the company to foster technological forecasting and business model innovation. It is argued within this paper, that growth hacking actually mitigates these tensions. This paper is a critical review complemented with insights from practitioners and an illustrative case, the purpose of which is to: a) shed light on what growth hacking is; b) give practical tips on how to implement growth hacking. In achieving the first goal, the paper unravels the following myths. First, growth hacking is not a framework for platforms and high-tech companies only. Second, it is not only a marketing strategy and third, that growth hacking is a predefined process. These issues are traced back to two flawed assumptions underlying growth hacking; namely that (a) it is a framework designed for start-ups only and (b) that a “one size fits all” approach to growth hacking is appropriate. By unravelling those issues and combining these observations we shall provide ground for a fundamentally different approach to growth hacking, designed for business model scalability, enabled for adaptability in a changing business environment and focused throughout on the effective management of a firm's resources and capabilities. These insights shall guide scholars towards a better understanding of the phenomenon and of the two waves that characterize its evolution, providing also promising future research avenues. Moreover, the implications drawn from the discussion shall help managers in guiding their journey from strategy definition to strategy implementation
Impact analysis of the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem to improve the tourism industry and social sustainability
Full text linkDigitalisation is a key enabler of sustainable tourism in an industry that has recently been transformed by new sustainable innovations and digital solutions. In this study, we analysed the effects of the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem (DEE) on the tourism industry and social sustainability of 27 EU countries. The study underlines the key independent indicators representing the impact of the DEE’s elements. Also, a quantitative and comparative approach was considered using the panel data method and clustering analysis for data from 2014 to 2021. Our findings show significant positive impacts of DEE elements that have significantly contributed to tourism and social sustainability growth. Furthermore, hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) revealed that eight countries (cluster A), including Germany, the UK, France, Spain, and Italy, had the highest average digitalisation levels, affecting their tourism growth and social sustainability. Ultimately, we indicate different digital user levels and marketplace, such as networks designed to produce cloud infrastructure, digital platforms, and digital tourist-based devices and applications, as having the capability to enhance tourism and social sustainability
The Role of External Embeddedness and Knowledge Management as Antecedents of Ambidexterity and Performances in Italian SMEs
No full textSourcing and leveraging knowledge from an external network is only half the battle for firms that would become more successful. In fact, the mere access and acquisition of the knowledge itself through embedded ties does not secure to perform exploration and exploitation activities, and consequently, to achieve better performance because knowledge has to be managed. Firms' knowledge management (KM) orientation may help in the process of knowledge acquisition, sharing, and transfer, consequently, improving firms' ambidexterity and competitiveness. Thus, this paper proposes that the KM plays a key role in determining the outcomes of firm's external embeddedness, i.e., the characteristics and ties of the external network, on the ambidexterity and performances of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). An empirical analysis has been developed by using structural equations modeling with data collected from CEOs in 119 Italian SMEs in the ceramic tile industry. Findings show that the KM plays a significant role in mediating the effects of the external embeddedness on the firm's ambidexterity that in turn enhances the performances of Italian SMEs in our sample. Based on our results, implications for academics and managers and future line of research are proposed
Wine and the “spirit” of the territory: The Langhe case as a successful wine tourism destination “system”
No full textThe emerging importance of wine tourism clearly affects not only wineries but also, and above all, wine territories. When this happens, the territory can become not only a wine tourism destination but also a wine tourism destination “system.” Thus, the article’s focus is to deeply analyze the successful and internationally famous Italian case of Piedmont (Italy) as a wine tourism destination and more specifically the area of Langhe as a wine tourism destination “system.” There are two main findings of this research. First, we have verified why the Langhe is more than an emerging wine tourism destination through a theoretical/empirical framework and the natural systemic functioning for the normal essence of this territory. In addition, we have also verified how the “business model” of this wine tourism destination system is sustainable, considering that this area has been able to reengineer its way of surviving and growing, putting wine at the center of this restructuring. This research has several theoretical and practical implications. First, it emphasizes the role of different common goods in the creation of a successful wine tourism destination system. Practical implications may involve various types of stakeholders, and the main implications concern both private and public operators
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Dual relational embeddedness and knowledge transfer in European multinational corporations and subsidiaries
No full text
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the level of subsidiaries’ internal and external relational embeddedness and the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer. More specifically, the aim is to explore dual embeddedness of subsidiaries involved in the knowledge transfer process within multinational corporations’ (MNCs) network.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors empirically analyse 165 European subsidiaries to demonstrate the crucial role of dual relational embeddedness in the transfer of knowledge within MNCs. Data were collected via a close-ended questionnaire and processed through an ordinary least squares regression model.
Findings
Results show that internal embeddedness directly and positively influences the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer, whereas external embeddedness does not. Notwithstanding, a higher level of both types of embeddedness – known as dual embeddedness – generates multiplicative and positive effects on the degree of subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer.
Practical implications
Best practices and relevant knowledge follow a reverse transfer of knowledge from the subsidiaries to the internal MNC network that is facilitated by the relational embeddedness of subsidiaries. This has resulted in developing a dual embeddedness, which introduces new routines and scripts, as well as more relational links.
Originality/value
The research emphasises the relevance of the knowledge transfer process in multiple directions, evoking the central role of dual-embedded subsidiaries.
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Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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