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This paper aims to examine what firms in Spanish industrial sectors redeployed their resources, depending on their organisational slack (resource excess), when faced with the global economic crisis of 2008.

Various financial measures for slack resources and performance have been analysed from more than 400 Spanish firms from 2006 (pre-crisis) to 2017 (recovery).

The first finding is that every slack is useful against an economic downturn. The results show how industrial companies use their slack resources when faced with a generalised crisis according to the level of slack possessed. The key role of the available slack against this environmental threatens is remarked.

Not every resource is useful against an economic downturn. The results show how industrial companies use their slack resources when faced with a generalised crisis in accordance with the types and levels of slack. The key role of the liquid resources, in particular cash, against this environmental threat is discussed. However, we also observe the behaviour of firms with only a few excess resources and find very similar resource consumption patterns.

Although organisational slack is a well-known concept in management, few studies deal with how companies consume or use other types of resources when confronting a crisis. This paper not only addresses this question but also offers insights for a detailed evaluation of various types of slack during and after a crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and classify the literature that links slack resources with performance, determining the diversity and coherence within the field, as well as possible future research trends.

Using Web of Science information, a dynamic co-citation and co-word analysis was developed, enabling identification of the theoretical foundations that have accompanied the study of the slack–performance relationship and the research trends associated with these types of resources and their temporal evolution.

Document co-citation and co-word analysis and its evaluation present a growing diversity of literature but which maintains links to the core works, giving coherence to this research field. The key theoretical approaches remain stable over time but with fragmentation of the topics analysed. Results allowed identification of a number of emerging research trends, achieving a level of consolidation within the field, with research fronts linked to those trends.

Slack resources have a large trajectory within the management field. However, it is believed only basic bibliometric analyses of the literature have been made and none has developed an analysis of the evolution. This work is useful not only for incipient researchers to better understand the theoretical bases upon which the current work is based but also for the identification of possible gaps and unanswered research questions. The results complement previous research, with qualitative or meta-analytic perspectives, fundamental in understanding the structure and evolution of this research field.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the mediating and moderating effects of relational flexibility norms on relationship building capacities and export performance.

The study followed a quantitative and cross-sectional approach. The analysis was applied to 95 Peruvian Exporting SMEs which were examined through structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS 24.0 statistical package. The responses were gathered through telephone and personal interviews which were tested using the Mann–Whitney U test, finding no statistically significant differences.

The main finding of the study is to demonstrate the indirect effect of relational flexibility norms on the export performance of SMEs through relationship-building capabilities. In this way, these capabilities become very important variables in the export management of SMEs, since they directly affect the relationship of the Exporter–Importer dyad.

One of the limitations is the cross-sectional type study that applies to the short-term effects of relational norms. Organizational characteristics and other factors that may affect export performance should also be considered in future research, as well as longitudinal studies should be developed.

The study allows SMEs to focus management efforts on strengthening the relationship – building capabilities, which are very important given SMEs' resource constraints. Therefore, an adequate management of relations with importers can contribute to the reduction of control and coordination costs; and have a positive impact on export performance. Similarly, the study contributes to the management of export promotion by suggesting that one area to be prioritized is the strengthening of the relationship capacities of exporting SMEs.

The study provides the analysis of the mediating effect of the relationship-building capability between relational flexibility and export performance. In this way, it enriches the theoretical analysis and contributes with the empirical evidence of an emerging country like the case of Peru.

Organisational slack has been widely considered in strategic management, but there is a gap in understanding the process of accumulation and application of slack resources. From a dynamic perspective and over an extended period of time, this paper analyses the management of slack resources and evaluates whether the different behaviours, in relation to the accumulation and consumption of slack resources, have any effect on performance.

The resource-based view and the dynamic extension of this theory, i.e. resource management and resource orchestration, were analysed in order to evaluate how slack resources can be managed and generate value. Assuming a configurational approach, the analysis was structured into two stages to answer the proposed hypothesis. The first stage studied whether there were different patterns of management of slack resources over time using the DistatisR package. The second stage evaluated which behaviours had the greatest impact in terms of profitability by using a dynamic panel data regression.

Three different types of slack resource management were found in companies: efficient, effective and erratic. Different types do not have the same impact on performance.

The dynamic management of slack resources has scarcely been considered, even during periods of crisis and economic expansion. This research advances the understanding of how firms transform slack resources into performance from a dynamic perspective.

This study aims to analyse the joint impact of institutional distance (ID) and the generation of commercial intelligence (GCI) on export proactivity and coordination capacity, as well as the effect of these last ones on the export performance.

This analysis was carried out by using structural equation modelling for 89 Peruvian agro-exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This study demonstrates the positive impact of relational norms on intelligence generation, and that of the latter on coordination capacity and export proactivity. Likewise, ID has a negative impact on coordination capacity, revealing its inverse effect on this relationship.

The paper has limitations due to its cross-sectional nature. In addition, future studies could increase the sample size and studies in other sectors for comparison purposes. Also, studies on ID in emerging countries should be deepened.

Managerial implications are reported and show the influence of the institutional context on the coordination capacity and export proactivity of the firm.

In the literature review on exporting SMEs in emerging countries, it has been little studied the impact of activities such as relationship management and ID from markets as antecedents to the GCI, export proactivity and coordination capacity as well as their effect on their export performance. Therefore, the originality relies on the insights provided by Peru, because this country bases its exports on its comparative advantages and the reactive behaviour of most of its small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Although slack resources and their relationship to performance have been widely studied in the literature, the temporal symmetry of this relationship, and the duration of its effects, are still unknown aspects and are the objective of this paper.

To evaluate this effect, an exploratory study has been designed on a sample of 449 Spanish industrial companies over a period of 12 years, assessing the impact of idle resources on economic and financial profitability. By means of hierarchical regressions, the short- term, medium- term and long-term effects of slack resources have been evaluated.

The results show that the impact on performance depends on the type of resource considered. Available slack has a consistent and positive effect on economic profitability in the short term. Other types of slack show persistent effects on performance, but, in the case of the recoverable slack, with a negative sign that contradicts the benefits provided by these resources. Finally, potential slack only has a permanent effect on financial profitability, but the sign changes depending on the economic context under consideration. There are also differences in the duration of the effects according to the type of resources.

This paper advances the knowledge about the slack-performance relationship over time that has been scarcely studied.

閒置資源與表現的關係從文獻中可見得到廣泛的研究。唯這關係的時間對稱性及其影響的持續期則是未知之數，這正是本研究的目的。

此為一探索性研究，以評估這影響。研究樣本為449 間西班牙工業公司，研究為期12年，目的為評估閒置資源對經濟和財務盈利能力的影響。研究使用層次回歸，評估了閒置資源的短期、中期及長期的影響。

研究結果顯示、閒置資源對表現的影響是視乎被考慮之資源所屬種類的。可用冗餘就短期而言，對經濟盈利能力產生一貫積極的影響。其它種類的閒置資源對表現有持續的影響。但可恢復的冗餘，則與這些資源會帶來好處的現象相矛盾，帶來負面跡象。最後、潛在的冗餘對財務盈利能力只產生持久的影響，唯有關的跡象則會視乎被考慮的經濟環境而改變。致於影響的持續期則會根據資源的種類而有所不同。

本研究使我們更了解冗餘與表現在時間推移上的關係，而探討這關係的研究是罕見的。﹞

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model for evaluating the international competitiveness of small and medium multinational enterprises (SMNEs) located in Latin American developing countries.

Industrial economics and international business theories were linked for establishing the firm international competitiveness model. Literature on each variable determining of firm competitiveness is reviewed and the linkages between them are discussed.

The use of a global strategy is one of the most important factors to compete abroad. Domestic environment and national industry might help its use. Human resources background of staff working within the SMNEs affects the global strategy as well.

SMNEs should be more taken into account as they are the main generators of the economic development of countries and, consequently, foster the progress of underdeveloped countries through creating jobs.

This study is one of the pioneers in developed a model for evaluating the international competitiveness of firms based on developing countries of Latin America. Researchers and professionals will count on a theoretical tool for evaluating the Latin American international competitiveness in global contexts. Additionally we include the full survey for testing the competitiveness model.

This paper tries to find out the different research fronts that have recently defined the scientific area of organizational studies. These fronts represent the paradigms or theories that the current research in the most relevant journals is based on. A study of how trends develop in those journals is also done. Quite different from other typologies, this work has used an empirical method of analyzing the literature references found in the articles published in some of the most relevant journals in this field in recent years.

From a multidisciplinary perspective, combining international entrepreneurship and institutional theory, a model is presented in order to enrich the understanding of the speed of internationalization in small firms. This is achieved by including individual's attitudes and behaviour, as well as factors from the environment that may enhance firms' international behaviour.

Information from a random sample of 104 Spanish SMEs was gathered via personal interview with a structured questionnaire. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), specifically Partial Least Squares (PLS), was employed in analyzing the multiple relationships among the proposed constructs.

The results show how one of the main institutional determinants of the age of entry into international markets are the inter‐firm relationships, specifically the tendency to imitate the behaviour of other firms with successful activities in international markets. In addition, the results note the complementary nature of the approaches used, even though they are apparently distant, and suggest the need to undertake more eclectic research approaches in this field.

Results enhance the importance of having a good competence scanning system in firms as it may help in reducing the time of adoption for certain behaviours, in this case internationalization behaviour. Besides this, the export promotion agencies may find these results useful in improving the results of the implemented policies in order to obtain a greater impact with the same resources, taking advantage of the diffusion of the behaviour.

Both the methodology and the constructs analysed, have scarcely been implemented in the internationalization literature when compared to other management fields.