An Instagram Content Analysis for City Branding in London and Florence

This paper aims to understand how User Generated Contents (UGC) affect the process of place branding, identifying the main associations of various actors related to London and Florence, both traditionally linked to the fashion industry. In particular, this study focuses on fashion as a city image component that contributes to the construction of the image of London and Florence. This research applies a content analysis of visual information (pictures) and textual information (hashtags) available on social networks (i.e. Instagram), typing the hashtags #London and #Florence, to reconstruct the brand image of these two cities. As the recent literature has argued for brands or products, even for places and cities, it is important to monitor the perceived city brand image resulting from the overall online experience, especially on social media. This paper is one of the first to apply content analysis on Instagram in relation to city branding, where the core of communication is based on images. Therefore, in contrast to previous studies, this work principally focuses on visual communication, as a form of textual paralanguage communication, for the construction of a city image for London and Florence

Pathways of SME Internationalization: a bibliometric and systematic review

Business is dynamic and rapidly changing. Global markets were previously the playing field of multinational corporations (MNCs), while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were local; however, the removal of imposed barriers, and recent technological advances in manufacturing, transportation and communications have indorsed SMEs and international entrepreneurs (IE) global access. SMEs and IEs are increasingly fueling economic growth and innovation and these trends are presenting both opportunities and challenges to both MNCs and SMEs in the global arena. This review systematically examines comparative SME and IE research, analyzing (after fine tuning) 762 articles published in leading journals from 1992 to September 2018. Our bibliometric and systematic review classifies SME and IE research findings into three echelons: (i) subjects; (ii) theories; and (iii) methods

Exploring the role of individual level and firm level dynamic capabilities in SMEs’ internationalization

This paper presents a multi-level model that examines the impact of dynamic capabilities on the internationalization of SMEs while taking into account the interactions among them. The purpose of the research is to understand the applicability of dynamic capabilities at the individual and the firm level to the SME internationalization process in developing country context and to assess to what extent a firm’s asset position and individual level dynamic capabilities influence the generation of firm level dynamic capabilities in SMEs. First, the dynamic capabilities theory was theoretically linked to the internationalization phenomenon. The relationships among firm-level dynamic capabilities, individual-level dynamic capabilities (owner specific dynamic capabilities), and internationalization were identified. The research framework and hypotheses were developed and empirically tested with 197 SMEs. The findings established that owner-specific dynamic capabilities have a positive influence on both firm dynamic capabilities and internationalization, and firm dynamic capabilities positively influence internationalization. It was also found that the market assets position measured as perceptual environmental dynamism positively influenced firm dynamic capabilities but structural and reputational asset positions of SMEs did not influence generation of firm dynamic capabilities. Moreover, firm dynamic capabilities had a mediation effect in the relationship between owner-specific dynamic capabilities and internationalization. Theoretically, this confirms the relevance of dynamic capability theory to internationalization and the possibility of integrating existing internationalization theories. Entrepreneurs, SME managers, and policy-makers could gain valuable insights on how entrepreneur and firm capabilities lead to better international prospects from this outcome

Calcium current kinetics in young and aged human cultured myotubes

There is evidence that the complex process of sarcopenia in human aged skeletal muscle is linked to the modification of mechanisms controlling Ca(2+) homeostasis. To further clarify this issue, we assessed the changes in the kinetics of activation and inactivation of T- and L-type Ca(2+) currents in in vitro differentiated human myotubes, derived from satellite cells of healthy donors aged 2, 12, 76 and 86 years. The results showed an age-related decrease in the occurrence of T- and L-type currents. Moreover, significant age-dependent alterations were found in L-(but not T) type current density, and activation and inactivation kinetics, although an interesting alteration in the kinetics of T-current inactivation was observed. The T- and L-type Ca(2+) currents play a crucial role in regulating Ca(2+) entry during satellite cells differentiation and fusion into myotubes. Also, the L-type Ca(2+) channels underlie the skeletal muscle excitation-contraction coupling mechanism. Thus, our results support the hypothesis that the aging process could negatively affect the Ca(2+) homeostasis of these cells, by altering Ca(2+) entry through T- and L-type Ca(2+) channels, thereby putting a strain on the ability of human satellite cells to regenerate skeletal muscle in elderly people