Circular economy, sharing and sustainability - Challenges for the social economy in a territory that wants to become a Smart Region

This study aims to analyse the predisposition of social economy agents to resource sharing. To achieve this, it was chosen to implement an exploratory qualitative approach directed to managers and an exploratory quantitative approach directed to employees. The results allowed to estimate that they do have a significant economic impact on number, paid work and business volume. It was shown the relationship between the interest demonstration on sharing and the appropriate qualification for the jobs of managers and employees. It was demonstrated the practice of informal and non-regulated sharing of own and third parties’ resources, among close partners, without the existence of a management model of knowledge, assets, time, use/reuse and exploitation. It is anticipated that the study could serve as scientific/methodological basis for a regional investment project, R&D and establishment of partnerships, reconciling interest in a smart region, as well as the application of circular economy principles.

The Performance of Knowledge Transfer in Unversity

The aim of this study is expected to be able to answer the research problem is how to improve the performance of knowledge transfer in the university. The sampling technique used in this study is the purposive sampling method. This manner takes 100 samples with a specific set of criteria education staff with a bachelor's degree in five colleges located in Kebumen District, Center Java, Indonesia. The result of the data processing with SPSS 25 shows that part, the quality of human resource management and information technology competence had a positive effect on the quality of knowledge assets. The result showed that the quality of knowledge assets had positive effects on the performance of knowledge transfer. Finally, quality of knowledge assets roles as an intervening variable in this research

To hoard or to share? Strategic management of knowledge and ICTs in complex economic systems

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to achieve a better understanding of the effects of strategic decisions related to the management of knowledge taken by organizations in complex economic systems. These effects are seen in the long term performance of organizations in the system choosing different strategic paths. As knowledge-related processes make intensive use of ICTs, the influence of the degree of development of these technologies is taken into account.Design/methodology/approach: An agent-based simulation model, ImbySim, based in the I-Space conceptual framework, is used to represent the evolution of a group of knowledge-intensive organizations located in a given geographic space. Those organizations engage, among others, in processes of creation and transfer of knowledge assets. Organizations show different levels of performance, which may be related to their knowledge-related strategic choices. The main knowledge-related strategies available for the agents are, on one side, sharing or hoarding knowledge and, on the other side, structuring or de-structuring knowledge.Findings: The results of the simulation suggest that it is not adequate to adopt an 'always sharing' or 'always hoarding' strategy. The hoarding or sharing of knolwedge assets need to be applied in a discriminating way depending on the specific asset or the situation of the organization. Also, different levels of development of ICTs favour different strategic choices concerning the adequate structuring of knowledge assets and the degree of knowledge sharing. In general terms, ICT development calls for more sharing and more structuring of knowledge.Originality/value: From the simulations, a number of empirically testable hypotheses have been extracted. Should these hypotheses get empirically corroborated, they would challenge a certain body of theorising—associated with organizational ecology and organizational demography—thus demonstrating the fruitfulness of the simulation approach to complex knowledge-based problems in the field of strategy.Practical implications: The hypotheses developed from this research may be very useful, once empirically tested, for strategic planning. Policy makers in charge of complex economic systems and firms and institutions present in them may benefit from the insights obtained and define their strategic moves according to them.

Technology-Independent Directors and Innovative Knowledge Assets: A Contingency Perspective

In the current dynamic and competitive environment, the sustainable competitive advantage of firms has flowed to the development of innovative knowledge assets. Drawing on resource dependence theory, this paper develops a contingency research model to explore how technology-independent directors affect innovative knowledge assets. A sample of Chinese manufacturing firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges between 2010 and 2019 was used for the regression analysis. By employing the fixed effect model, the results show that technology-independent directors have a significant positive impact on innovative knowledge assets. Furthermore, the impact of technology-independent directors on innovative knowledge assets is strengthened in the firms that are state-owned, larger, and older. These results provide important insights related to innovation research.

A Conceptualisation of Crowd Knowledge

Propelled by digitalisation, crowd knowledge (CK) has gained popularity alongside a plurality of related crowd-based concepts (crowdsourcing, wisdom of crowds and collective intelligence), resulting in an inconsistent understanding of the terms and their application. Based on a structured literature review, we conceptualise CK and develop a formal definition, which is then evaluated using knowledge artefacts on different crowd-related platforms and differentiation criteria in relation to participants, context, purpose and process. The paper posits that CK is conceptually different from related concepts, due to its dynamic nature and its instantiation in the form of a CK knowledge artefact which requires a specific context and a unique knowledge-creation process. Furthermore, we discuss how the concept of CK and its associated artefact relates to established knowledge management concepts such as knowledge assets and the flow of CK in the epistemological differentiation of knowledge into tacit and explicit elements. The article contributes to the formal conceptualisation of crowd-based concepts and therefore improves understanding of existing implementations and supports the prudent design of future systems.

Speed of internationalization and firm performance: the moderating role of potential slack and knowledge assets

Purpose The speed of internationalization is an important research topic in the process of internationalization. This paper aims to answer two questions: first, what is the relationship between the speed of internationalization of Chinese multinational firms and their performance? Second, how do potential slack and knowledge assets of firms affect this relationship? Design/methodology/approach The authors choose Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2009–2018 as the research sample and use the fixed-effect regression model to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings Firstly, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the speed of internationalization and firm performance (SI-P). Secondly, the potential slack and knowledge assets of firms moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship. Firms with a higher level of potential slack or knowledge assets have a flatter inverted U-shaped relationship between SI-P. Originality/value First, the authors develop and extend Penrose’s theory of firm growth to the research topic of speed of internationalization. Second, this paper incorporates the time dimension into the research on the internationalization process and locates the research context in emerging market firms (EMFs). This is a step forward in clarifying the complex relationship of SI-P. Third, the authors show that the SI-P relationship of EMFs is inverted U-shaped and integrate previous studies, which argue that rapid internationalization positively or negatively affects firm performance. Fourth, starting from inside the firm, the authors provide more contextual factors for better understanding and analysis of the SI-P relationship.