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The purpose of this paper is to examine current performance management practices, identify potential areas of improvement and recommend appropriate interventions. Developing economies continue to intrigue in light of the promise they hold for future growth markets. Existing studies tend to focus on macro-economic factors and to concentrate on a few regions. Few studies have looked at the lesser developed Middle-Eastern regions, such as Palestine. This study seeks to address that deficit; it examines firm-level factors relevant to the competitive performance of enterprises in the Palestinian stone and marble industry, one of the most important industries in the region.

The study utilizes a mixed-methods exploratory qualitative and quantitative approach that probes operational and strategic performance factors. Interviews and insights derived from a survey-based research data from 45 respondents representing a sampling of 36 enterprises form the basis of the analysis.

Findings suggest that the majority of performance measures employed by the firms investigated rely primarily on traditional financial indicators. Although some progressive metrics including those targeting measures of productivity and process efficiency are being adopted by firms in the sector, measures that focus on long-term strategic growth promoters such as innovation and organizational learning are largely not yet employed.

The paper concludes with recommendations for how firms competing in such environments might enhance and improve their performance management.

The paper examines the role of learning through social capital on the internationalisation process of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based within extreme contexts. The study focuses on the Palestinian pharmaceutical industry.

The inductive, exploratory research used in this study adopts a case study approach. Data derived from semi-structured in-depth interviews held with senior management and companies' founders were analysed using content and thematic analysis techniques.

The findings suggest that accumulated learning by SMEs seeking international expansion is enhanced with stronger social capital ties and networks through structural, relational and cognitive mechanisms. Serendipity and liability effects enabled modes of foreign entry with higher degrees of commitment than efficacy-related factors.

The Palestinian pharmaceutical industry presents a benchmark for other industries in comparable developing economy contexts. This study elucidates the important interrelationship between social capital and learning for SMEs seeking to expand internationally; the findings have implications for regional policymaking in developing economy regions.

The case study investigation focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and SMEs operating within the extreme context of Palestine, thereby contributing insights in an area of management enquiry that is under-represented in the extant literature.

Explores how the spread of connectivity and the introduction of new standards is driving the emergence of entirely new value constructs that deliver to multiple stakeholders. Examines the new economics of network growth and the associated “economics of increasing returns”. Looks at the dynamic trajectory of this function from the perspective of new business development at the various stages of the trajectory, and derives management implications for each stage in terms of appropriate competitive and market strategies, organizational structure and management practices. Applies the resulting framework to discuss specific implications for the business start‐up of Access Point, Philips’ new multimedia, voice technology‐based information and on‐line services venture that has at its core a disruptive technology.

A distinguishing feature of the successful “post‐Network Age” enterprise is its intrinsic entrepreneurial character that manifests itself in key organizational knowledge practices relating to organizational culture, processes, content and infrastructure. The purpose of this article is to explore organizational knowledge‐based practices.

The article reports on the outcome of field research in which entrepreneurial firms in four geographic regions were analyzed with the help of a diagnostic research tool specifically developed for profiling organizational knowledge‐based practices. The diagnostic tool was applied in firms located in Silicon Valley in the USA, Singapore, The Netherlands and Israel.

Key practices that were found to be common to leading‐edge firms in all regions included: a propensity for experimentation; collective sharing of knowledge, and collective decision making. The paper describes the research in terms of a cross‐cultural comparison of the four regions, derives key determinants of competitiveness, profiles regional characteristics which enhance innovation and entrepreneurship and closes with a discussion on the implications of the research outcomes for entrepreneurial firms seeking to build a global presence.

The research provides evidence that innovative, entrepreneurial firms – no matter where they are located – tend to exhibit organizational knowledge practices, cultural beliefs, values and behavioral norms that are more akin than dissimilar, regardless of national context.

This paper seeks to present and discuss research that investigates the impact of intellectual capital practices on enterprise performance in small innovative enterprises (SIEs) in the St Petersburg, Russia region.

Research fieldwork uses a survey questionnaire focusing on technology‐intensive SIEs in the St Petersburg region, supported by a select number of follow‐up interviews. The research analysis is based on quantitative statistical evaluation of the research data.

Intellectual capital, particularly structural and human capital, is perceived by Russian managers of SIEs to be a primary determinant of enterprise performance, thereby substantiating the importance of the resource‐based view for enterprise performance – even in the transitional economy of Russia.

The research reported in this paper is limited by the relatively small sample size of firms surveyed; the quantitative research is based on perceptions of managers.

The research points to some key dimensions of intellectual capital‐related practices that are particularly important for enterprise performance.

The research reported in this paper brings together a unique combination of research related to the resource‐based view of the firm in the setting of small innovative enterprises in a transitional economy environment.

This paper aims to present the findings of an empirical study that examines and compares the competitive impact of intellectual capital on enterprise performance in small innovative enterprises (SIEs) situated in four geographical regions: St Petersburg in the Russian Federation, the Black Forest region of Germany, the “Medicon Valley”, situated between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden, and Silicon Valley in the USA.

The research seeks to investigate potential differences in intellectual capital practices across the four regions while comparing the impact of these relative to the firm's external factors (socio‐political, technological, and economic) for enterprise performance. To that end, the research reported builds on and extends earlier research focused on Russian SIEs.

The research findings suggest that intellectual capital practices and their impact on enterprise performance are more similar than different across the regions studied, and that the firms' intellectual capital constitutes the more important determinant of enterprise performance relative to external factors. This does not preclude differences in intellectual capital practices between the regions studied. These differences are marginal, however, and reflect socio‐economic and national cultural factors unique to those regions investigated.

The key questions of the research address the relative impact of intellectual capital practices (internal factors) and prevailing socio‐political, economic, and technological factors on the performance of small innovative enterprises. The work presents an extended sample size of Russian companies (also from St Petersburg) and an extension of the earlier study to include the three additional geographic regions. The notion of the knowledge‐based theory of the firm forms the conceptual basis of the framework that is developed to relate intellectual capital (human capital and structural capital) and key external factors (socio‐political, economic and technological) to enterprise performance in SIEs.

The study compares the perceived importance of intellectual capital and external environmental factors for enterprise competitiveness of companies in the four regions – Russia, Germany, Denmark, and the USA. The research provides evidence that intellectual capital is perceived to be the most important factor driving competitive performance in all the regions.

Similar to the research reported in an earlier paper by the same authors, the paper represents work in progress. As such, the outcomes and conclusions reported should be viewed as preliminary findings.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the intellectual property (IP) aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions.

A holistic approach is proposed that embraces IP as an integral part of the M&A process in the form of a roadmap for the strategic and purposeful management of IP assets in M&A deals.

Addressing IP issues in transactions in isolation can lead to undesirable consequences (e.g. considerable costs for unplanned purchases of rights). IP due diligence and IP integration project processes can be automated using collaborative software solutions. Thereby, risk can be reduced through the creation of a high level of transparency and predefined responsibilities.

Although the proposed IP management framework is based on intellectual property matters relevant to German jurisdiction, conclusions derived and the proposed roadmap are transferable to other jurisdictions and hence have a broader relevance. Evidence for this is provided by the successful application of the roadmap in the context of the multinational transaction stated above.

This paper is based on the authors' collective experience, insight and reflected observation of M&A practice gained in advisory M&A roles in management consultancies over a period of more than a decade. The paper summarizes the authors' reflections and observations and brings these into the context of the current management literature. Moreover, this paper builds on earlier published research.

Despite recent threats of economic contraction, China still offers attractive opportunities for foreign companies seeking to expand their business activities through joint venturing (JV) partnering entry strategies. Recent research has indicated a growing recognition of the importance of relational factors in JV partnering. The purpose of this paper is to build on recent research findings that identify critical relation success factors in JVs and explores these in the context of a Hong Kong-based civil aviation services company seeking to expand business activities in Greater China.

While the extant management literature focuses primarily on factors relevant to the inter-partner relationship between partners in the formation stage of a joint venture, this research takes a dynamic stakeholder perspective in respect of the relevant relational factors over the evolution of a partnership. The research described in this paper is based on a case-based study that identifies and examines the relevance and importance of uniquely Chinese factors such as guanxi, renqing and mianzi in the specific context of a strategic partnering relationship.

This phenomenological study provides empirical evidence of critical linkages of these to intrinsically Chinese notions of guanxi, mianzi and renqing – it links these to key strategic partnering success factors identified to be trust, conflict resolution, commitment and cooperation. This study thereby reinforces the importance of the uniquely Chinese relational context in cross-border JVs. Moreover, the research findings suggest that these factors underpin the dynamic bi-directional stakeholder relationship in a Sino-foreign strategic partnership.

This study conceptually links the uniquely Chinese relational factors (guanxi, mianzi and renqing) to key success factors supporting the establishment of a strategic partnership in a Sino-foreign context; moreover, it contributes empirical evidence substantiating the proposed conceptual linkage.