Factors influencing information sharing in four SME networks in Portugal: A coordination perspective

Sharing a minimum amount of information is a basic condition for working in cooperation. The aim of this study was to identify aspects that influence information sharing within inter-organizational networks through an exploratory and qualitative approach. The coordination's representatives of four networks were interviewed: the Majority-Partner of a Purchase Network (RAVT), the Technical Consultant of an Innovation Network (COTEC), the General Secretary of a cluster representation network (CEFAMOL) and the President of a Network of Associations (UACS). Aspects related to the information sharing were identified, such as information quality, top management commitment, trust, network coordination's role, reciprocity and age. Further researches can deepen these results by comparing them with network companies' viewinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Interorganizational information acquisition in an innovative SME network: innovation and information types

Information and innovation have been increasingly recognised as sources for firms’ competitive advantage. One of the ways firms have used to acquire these resources is through cooperative relationships, such as networks. This research proposes a conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of the volume of relevant information acquisition and innovation generation in the context of a Portuguese Innovative SME Network. This is an exploratory descriptive study, conducted through a survey of 60 SMEs (34.9% of the population). The results showed that for most firms, the participation on the network does not contribute to the acquisition of relevant information from other firms.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Economic crisis effects on SME dynamic capabilities

Based on dynamic capabilities theoretical framework, this research sought to understand the implications of the recent economic crisis on the capability of developing new products by Portuguese SMEs. Specifically, we assessed how this capability was affected by variables such as entrepreneurship, innovation capacity, the knowledge accumulation, and partnerships. The hypotheses were tested using two samples, one before the crisis, with 180 and another with 105 respondents, applied during the crisis (2012). Results reveal that during the crisis SMEs were more objective and effective in the use of their resources and capabilities. In particular, was found that during the crisis the entrepreneurship, innovation capacity, accumulation of knowledge and partnerships, have an impact on the capability of developing new products. Before the crisis, only entrepreneurship and knowledge accumulation have affected this capability.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Improved resource efficiency and cascading utilisation of renewable materials

In light of various environmental problems and challenges concerning resource allocation, the utilisation of renewable resources is increasingly important for the efficient use of raw materials. Therefore, cascading utilisation (i.e., the multiple material utilisations of renewable resources prior to their conversion into energy) and approaches that aim to further increase resource efficiency (e.g., the utilisation of by-products) can be considered guiding principles. This paper therefore introduces the Special Volume “Improved Resource Efficiency and Cascading Utilisation of Renewable Materials”. Because both research aspects, resource efficiency and cascading utilisation, belong to several disciplines, the Special Volume adopts an interdisciplinary perspective and presents 16 articles, which can be divided into four subjects: Innovative Materials based on Renewable Resources and their Impact on Sustainability and Resource Efficiency, Quantitative Models for the Integrated Optimisation of Production and Distribution in Networks for Renewable Resources, Information Technology-based Collaboration in Value Generating Networks for Renewable Resources, and Consumer Behaviour towards Eco-friendly Products. The interdisciplinary perspective allows a comprehensive overview of current research on resource efficiency, which is supplemented with 15 book reviews showing the extent to which textbooks of selected disciplines already refer to resource efficiency. This introductory article highlights the relevance of the four subjects, presents summaries of all papers, and discusses future research directions. The overall contribution of the Special Volume is that it bridges the resource efficiency research of selected disciplines and that it presents several approaches for more environmentally sound production and consumption

Organisational Ambidexterity in SME Context: A Multi-Level Perspective Focused on Portuguese Technological Firms

The study of organisational ambidexterity (OA) has been an important field of research for management, especially because of the importance of this theme for the competitiveness of companies. In this sense, this doctoral thesis in Management has, as its main objective, to provide a better understanding of how OA can be developed in the context of Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This study adopted a multilevel perspective, having explored a set of different paths implemented through five research articles: a literature review article, a theoretical article and three empirical articles. Thus, the first article is a literature review, and its main objective is to identify the factors that affect OA in SMEs. Based on 297 articles published between 2005 and 2020 in the Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct databases, a multilevel perspective was adopted, covering the organisational, environmental, and individual levels. With this approach, four thematic areas were identified with which the OA investigation is related: innovation, organisational learning, dynamic capabilities, and SME performance. The main contribution of this research focuses on the identification of thematic areas of scientific research around OA, as well as the identification of a set of contingent factors, located at the organisational, environmental, and individual levels, which can potentially influence the development of OA in the context of SMEs. The second article sought to analyse the antecedents of OA considering the main characteristics of SMEs, such as their small size or their reduced internal structure. For this purpose, and based on the identified literature, an approach was adopted based on internal and external antecedents and what is its potential relationship with the characteristics of SMEs from the perspective of the exploration and exploitation concepts. Based on this relationship, ten theoretical propositions were identified. The third article is empirical in nature and adopts an individual-level perspective and aimed to analyse the influence of owner-managers' personality in the development of OA in the context of SMEs. For this purpose, five hypotheses based on personality traits and their influence on OA were formulated. A second-order structural equation model was used, and a structured questionnaire addressed to the owner-managers of 224 Portuguese SMEs in the information technology (IT), telecommunications, audio-visual and IT consulting. The results obtained suggest the positive influence of the personality traits of extraversion and conscientiousness in OA and the negative influence of the personality trait of neuroticism in OA. The fourth article is also empirical in nature and sought to study the influence of environmental dynamism and technological capability in OA and the moderating role of environmental dynamism in OA. With this objective, a second-order structural equation model was used, and a structured questionnaire addressed to the ownermanagers of 224 Portuguese SMEs in the information technology (IT), telecommunications, audio-visual and IT consulting sector. The main results obtained reveal a positive effect of technological capability in OA as well as a moderating effect on the relationship between technological capability and OA. Finally, the fifth and last article adopts an organisational level perspective and aimed to understand how Quality Management Systems based on ISO 9001 (QMS) can help inhibit or facilitate OA in SMEs. In this article, a qualitative approach was adopted, using four case studies and a interview protocol previously developed for this purpose. The results obtained highlight the importance of the changes caused by the QMS for the development of ambidextrous behaviours in SMEs and reveal that not all the changes caused by the QMS in SMEs acted as facilitators of the OA. The different studies carried out within the scope of this research lead us to consider that the development of OA in the context of SMEs is dependent on a set of factors of a multilevel nature, namely in terms of the specific characteristics of this type of companies, personality traits of the owner-managers and the external influence of the environmental dynamism in which these companies operate. This study was based on an important set of theories, such as the Contingency Theory, the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the Upper Echelons Theory, or the model of the five factors or personality traits (Big-Five personality traits). This PhD thesis in Management supports the idea that the development of OA in SMEs is dependent on the degree of influence of activities related to exploration and exploitation. This study suggests that OA is a complex phenomenon, and that exploration and exploitation will tend to be difficult to balance, which leads us to think that in SMEs these activities can be balanced alternately or that they can coexist in a complementary and orthogonal way. In this sense, this study highlights the role of SMEs in customer relationships, the influence of contingent factors such as environmental dynamism in exploration and exploitation, the external influence on OA and in the technological capacity of these companies, as well as the influence of the characteristics of the personality of its ownermanagers. This investigation also presents contributions to theory and practice, as well as future lines of research related to this theme.O estudo da ambidextria organizacional tem sido um importante campo de pesquisa para a gestão, sobretudo pela importância que esta temática se reveste para a competitividade das empresas. Neste sentido, esta tese de doutoramento em Gestão possui, como objetivo principal, proporcionar um melhor entendimento acerca da ambidextria organizacional (AO) em contexto de pequenas e médias empresas (PME) portuguesas. O caminho de investigação definido adotou uma abordagem multinível, tendo sido explorados um conjunto de diferentes perspetivas concretizadas através de cinco artigos de investigação: um artigo de revisão de literatura, um artigo teórico e três artigos de natureza empírica. Assim, o primeiro artigo, é uma revisão da literatura e tem como principal objetivo identificar os fatores que afetam a AO em contexto de PME. Tendo por base 297 artigos publicados entre 2005 e 2020 nas bases de dados Web of Science, Scopus e Science Direct, foi adotada uma perspetiva multinível, abrangendo o nível organizacional, ambiental e individual. Com essa abordagem identificaram-se quatro áreas temáticas com as quais a investigação da AO se encontra relacionada: inovação, aprendizagem organizacional, capacidades dinâmicas e desempenho das PME. O principal contributo desta investigação centra-se na identificação das grandes áreas temáticas de investigação científica em torno da AO, assim como a identificação de um conjunto de fatores contingenciais, situados ao nível organizacional, ambiental e individual, que potencialmente podem influenciar o desenvolvimento da AO em contexto de PME. O segundo artigo procurou analisar os antecedentes da AO à luz das principais caracteristicas das PME, como a sua reduzida dimensão ou a sua reduzida estrutura interna. Para esse efeito, e tendo por base a literatura identificada, adotou-se uma abordagem baseada nos antecedentes internos e externos e qual o seu potencial relacionamento com as caracteristicas das PME sob o prisma dos conceitos de exploration e exploitation. Com base nesses relacionamentos foram identificadas dez proposições teóricas. O terceiro artigo tem uma natureza empírica, adota uma perspetiva de nível individual, e teve como objetivo analisar a influência da personalidade dos proprietários-gestores no desenvolvimento da AO em contexto de PME. Para esse efeito foram formuladas cinco hipóteses baseadas nos traços de personalidade e a sua influência em AO. Recorreu-se a um modelo de equações estruturais de segunda ordem e a um questionário estruturado dirigido aos proprietários-gestores de 224 PME portuguesas do setor das tecnologias de informação (TI), telecomunicações, audiovisual e consultadoria em TI. Os resultados obtidos sugerem a influência positiva dos traços de personalidade da extroversão e conscienciosidade em AO e influência negativa do traço de personalidade de neuroticismo em AO. O quarto artigo tem igualmente uma natureza empírica e procurou-se estudar a influência do dinamismo ambiental e da capacidade tecnológica em AO e o papel moderador do dinamismo ambiental em AO. Com este objetivo recorreu-se a um modelo de equações estruturais de segunda ordem e a um questionário estruturado dirigido aos proprietários-gestores de 224 PME portuguesas do setor das tecnologias de informação (TI), telecomunicações, audiovisual e consultadoria em TI. Os principais resultados obtidos revelam um efeito positivo da capacidade tecnológica em AO assim como um efeito moderador na relação entre capacidade tecnológica e AO. Por fim, o quinto e último artigo, adota a perspetiva de nível organizacional e teve como objetivo perceber como os Sistemas de Gestão da Qualidade baseados na ISO 9001 (SGQ) podem ajudar a inibir ou a facilitar a AO em PME. Para este artigo adotou-se uma abordagem qualitativa, com recurso a quatro estudos de caso e a um questionário de entrevista previamente desenvolvido para o efeito. Os resultados obtidos ressaltam a importância das mudanças provocadas pelos SGQ para o desenvolvimento de comportamentos ambidextros nas PME e revela que nem todas as mudanças provocadas pelos SGQ nas PME atuaram como facilitadores da AO. Os diferentes estudos efetuados no âmbito desta investigação leva-nos a considerar que desenvolvimento da AO no contexto das PME encontra-se dependente de um conjunto de fatores de natureza multinível, nomeadamente ao nível das características especificas deste tipo de empresas, dos traços de personalidade dos seus proprietáriosgestores e da influência externa do dinamismo ambiental onde estas empresas se inserem. Esta investigação teve por base um importante conjunto de teorias, como a Teoria Contingencial, a Teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas, a Upper Echelons Theory, ou o modelo dos cinco fatores ou traços de personalidade (Big-five personality traits). Esta tese de doutoramento em Gestão permite sustentar a ideia de que o desenvolvimento da AO nas PME encontra-se dependente do grau de influência das atividades relacionadas com exploration e exploitation. Este estudo sugere que a AO é um fenómeno complexo e que exploration e exploitation tenderão a ser difíceis de serem equilibradas, o que nos leva a pensar que, nas PME, essas atividades poderão ser balanceadas alternadamente ou que poderão coexistir de forma complementar e ortogonal. Neste sentido, este estudo realça o papel das PME no relacionamento com clientes, a influência dos fatores contingenciais como o dinamismo ambiental em exploration e exploitation, a influência externa na construção da AO e na capacidade tecnológica destas empresas, assim como a influência das caracteristicas de personalidade dos seus gestores-proprietários. Esta investigação também apresenta contributos para a teoria e para a prática, assim como linhas de pesquisa futuras relativas a esta temática

Web 2.0 and micro-businesses: An exploratory investigation

This is the author's final version of the article. This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.This article was chosen as a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013.Purpose – The paper aims to report on an exploratory study into how small businesses use Web 2.0 information and communication technologies (ICT) to work collaboratively with other small businesses. The study had two aims: to investigate the benefits available from the use of Web 2.0 in small business collaborations, and to characterize the different types of such online collaborations. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses a qualitative case study methodology based on semi-structured interviews with the owner-managers of 12 UK-based small companies in the business services sector who are early adopters of Web 2.0 technologies. Findings – Benefits from the use of Web 2.0 are categorized as lifestyle benefits, internal operational efficiency, enhanced capability, external communications and enhanced service offerings. A 2×2 framework is developed to categorize small business collaborations using the dimensions of the basis for inter-organizational collaboration (control vs cooperation) and the level of Web 2.0 ICT use (simple vs sophisticated). Research limitations/implications – A small number of firms of similar size, sector and location were studied, which limits generalizability. Nonetheless, the results offer a pointer to the likely future use of Web 2.0 tools by other small businesses. Practical implications – The research provides evidence of the attraction and potential of Web 2.0 for collaborations between small businesses. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first to report on use of Web 2.0 ICT in collaborative working between small businesses. It will be of interest to those seeking a better understanding of the potential of Web 2.0 in the small business community.WestFocu

Dynamics of innovation in European regions

There is interest in both academic literature and regional governments about the innovativeness of regions and the drivers of that competitiveness, especially if considering the impact on economic development and social progress. Innovation is the base for the global competitiveness. Innovative capacity enables regions to increase their productivity and attract investments, thereby sustaining continuous progress in the quality and standard of living. This study aims to measure regions’ innovativeness in different European regions and to evaluate the nature of the innovation process and the relationship existing between its innovativeness’ and its region of origin. It proceeds from the assumption that the competitiveness of a region is reflected in its innovation capacity or innovation dynamic. The literature review regarding regions’ innovativeness produces some insights regarding to the effect of contextual elements on regions performance. Thus, the objective is to compare the European regions to verify the existence of subjacent clusters and find out the characteristics that distinguish the different group of regions. The innovative capacity is considered in terms of innovative output and several factors are analysed to identify and differentiate the dynamics of innovations of the regions. The results point to the existence of five groups of regions, and the factors identified are related to innovation process, namely forms of innovation, factors and objectives of innovation and with aspects related to the innovation framework such as tertiary education and life-long learning, business and public R&D expenses, and level of collaboration for innovating.