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The literature provides contradictory findings on planning contradictory findings on planning as a success factor in projects which entail high innovation. Nevertheless, new product development (NPD) research has mainly adopted the causation lens, in which planning plays an important role. By embracing the logic of effectuation, the purpose of this paper is to secure a wider perspective concerning how the various NPD options develop, taking into account the role played by uncertainty.

By adopting an inductive approach, the authors attempt to advance existing knowledge on the topic. The qualitative methodology (documentary analysis, content analysis and alternate templates) is adopted for the analysis of four NPD projects in the food industry in Spain.

Results reflect the relevance of the two perspectives considered when explaining the NPD process, with the presence of hybrid behaviour in all the projects and effectuation emerging as the dominant logic in the project linked to a greater degree of innovation and uncertainty.

Projects involving varying degrees of innovation would seem to require different NPD approaches. This paper provides an initial approach to the subject, and it analyses a small number of firms. It is necessary to better understand to what extent the two logics are present in different types of projects.

By incorporating the logic of effectuation, firms might consider using NPD as a means of engaging in projects that entail a higher degree of innovation, since it offers ways of dealing with the uncertainty linked to such projects.

The paper contributes to the still early efforts to apply the perspective of effectuation to the area of NPD, by linking the logics of effectuation and causation to the various NPD processes taking account of their varying degrees of innovation and uncertainty (exploitation, exploration and leverage options).

The current work aims to study the discrepancies that arise between the observed stimulus and the perception that managers form this reality. Individuals' bounded rationality, the complexity of the observed reality and the influence of the managers' beliefs are among the factors that give rise to these discrepancies. Thus, one can distinguish between different types of cognitive biases: simplification biases, affective influence biases, and interaction biases.

In the empirical application of this study, and using the narrative approach, this study analyses the opinions offered by CEOs of toy manufacturers about two questions: the current situation of their sector, and their firm's product portfolio.

The study reveals that managers' perceptions do not coincide with the information obtained from other bibliographic sources. Hence the results confirm the presence of biases in their opinions, which derive from simplification processes in the manager's cognitive process and from the influence of their belief schema.

The adoption of the narrative approach determines the limitations of this research. On the other hand, the information used to test the managers' opinions is also the result of a perception process, which undoubtedly entails cognitive biases.

This work examines the cognitive biases that are produced throughout the process of individual perception. Thus, the proposed model of perception stresses the factors that distort individual perception: the complexity of the stimulus and the individual's belief schema.

This research analyses the reliability of managers' opinions using a qualitative methodology that includes various information sources.

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the relationships between the two main processes of research and development (R&D) activities: the knowledge generation phase (KPP) and the knowledge commercialization, or transfer, phase (KCP), in a sector that is intensive in this type of activity, such as the pharmaceutical sector. In addition, within the framework of the general objective of this work, the authors propose two other objectives: (1) make advances in network efficiency measurement models, and (2) determine the factors associated with efficiency in the KPP and in the KCP in companies of the pharmaceutical sector in Spain.

A Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) model (Färe and Grosskopf, 2000) with categorical variables (Lee et al., 2020; Yeh and Chang, 2020) has been applied, and a sensitivity analysis of the obtained results has been performed through a DEA model of categorical variables, in accordance with the work of Banker and Morey (1986), to corroborate the results of the proposed model. The sample is made up of 77 companies in the pharmaceutical sector in Spain.

The results obtained point to a greater efficiency of pharmaceutical companies in the KPP, rather than in the KCP. Furthermore, the study finds that 1) alliances between companies have been the accelerating factors of efficiency in the KCP (but patents have slowed this down the most); 2) the quality of R&D and the number of R&D personnel are the factors that most affect efficiency in the KPP; and 3) the quality of R&D again, the benefits obtained and the position in the market are the factors that most affect efficiency in the KCP.

The authors have not found studies that show whether the efficiency obtained by R&D-intensive companies in the KPP phase is related to better results in terms of efficiency in the KCP phase. No papers have been found that analyse the role of alliances between R&D-intensive companies and patents, as agents that facilitate efficiency in the KCP phase, covering the gap in the research on both problems. Notwithstanding, this work opens up a research path which is related to the improvement of network efficiency models (since it includes categorical variables) and the assessment of the opinions of those who are responsible for R&D departments; it can be applied to decision-making on the aspects to improve efficiency in R&D-intensive companies.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to present gamified mobile experiences as valid tools for DMOs to enrich the experience of tourists, and to present the benefits provided to DMOs by analytics tools integrated on gamified mobile experiences.

Staff from three DMOs have generated a gamified mobile experience using a custom authoring tool designed and developed to fulfil their requirements. This gamified experience has targeted families with children visiting Basque Country during off-peak season. The experience has been validated over a period of seven weeks within a pilot project promoted by the local tourist information offices of the DMOs. Data directly provided by tourists and data gathered from analytic tools integrated on the gamified mobile experience have been analysed to fulfil the research objectives presented on the paper.

Both DMOs and tourists can benefit from gamified mobile experiences. The integration of analytics tools to gain insights into the behaviour of tourists can be a relevant information source for DMOs.

The pilot project has targeted a niche tourism market, families with children visiting Basque Country, and has been running during off-peak season. Further studies focusing on other tourist types and different tourism season and destination types will be required to strengthen the validation of the research objectives presented on this paper.

The paper promotes both the development of gamified mobile experiences and the inclusion of analytics tools for DMOs to obtain relevant information about tourists and the mobile experiences.

A gamified mobile experience is generated by DMOs, validated on the basis of experience of real tourists. The analytics tools inside the gamified mobile experience provide DMOs with relevant information.

The higher education system must move closer to society and its requirements, and therefore, the process of transformation in the university context brings new challenges. The purpose of this paper is to present research on a case study that examines the perception of the middle managers’ role from their own perspective: how they describe it, the associated tasks, the skills perceived as necessary and what they think about the need to become academic leaders.

The authors have adopted a mixed-method approach. Data were collected through an in-depth interview and an adapted version of the Personal Construct Grid (Kelly, 1955). Two types of analyses have been carried out: statistical analysis and content analysis following a category system. The participants were academics performing a management position selected in accordance with certain criteria relevant for the study.

The research shows how their perception collides with the traditional characteristics of the university, which focus on the managerial and bureaucratic tasks of the middle managers. The study also reveals evidence of the poor visibility of these managers with no place for action due to their lack of power and decision-making opportunities.

The participants claim that it is necessary for people who hold the position to become agents of change by creating a shared identity through teamwork and collaboration. To this end, this paper presents a proposal for the development of a framework for action.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that influence the profitability of 17 banks in Angola between 2010 and 2016, as low profitability weakens the ability and willingness of banks to finance the wider economy.

The paper conducts panel data analysis, using two measures of profitability: the return on average assets and the return on average equity. Several control variables were included concerning both bank-specific and macroeconomic characteristics which have not been considered in previous studies.

The authors conclude that several independent variables have an impact which is different from expected, especially regarding ownership, which shows positive statistically significant effect on banks’ profitability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine determinants of banks’ profitability in Angola, both internal and external, which have not been considered in previous studies.

The global slack hypothesis is central to the discussion of the trade-offs that monetary policy faces in an increasingly more integrated world. The workhorse New Open Economy Macro (NOEM) model of Martínez-García and Wynne (2010), which fleshes out this hypothesis, shows how expected future local inflation and global slack affect current local inflation. In this chapter, I propose the use of the orthogonalization method of Aoki (1981) and Fukuda (1993) on the workhorse NOEM model to further decompose local inflation into a global component and an inflation differential component. I find that the log-linearized rational expectations model of Martínez-García and Wynne (2010) can be solved with two separate subsystems to describe each of these two components of inflation.

I estimate the full NOEM model with Bayesian techniques using data for the United States and an aggregate of its 38 largest trading partners from 1980Q1 until 2011Q4. The Bayesian estimation recognizes the parameter uncertainty surrounding the model and calls on the data (inflation and output) to discipline the parameterization. My findings show that the strength of the international spillovers through trade – even in the absence of common shocks – is reflected in the response of global inflation and is incorporated into local inflation dynamics. Furthermore, I find that key features of the economy can have different impacts on global and local inflation – in particular, I show that the parameters that determine the import share and the price-elasticity of trade matter in explaining the inflation differential component but not the global component of inflation.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of workers’ compensation insurance prices in Portugal.

Multiple regression analysis was used to study the insurance price determinants. The independent variables considered are: payroll, number of employees, and incidence rate. In addition, three categorical variables were used: region, classification of economic activities, and enterprise size. A cross-firm panel data sample from the SABI database of 1,435 firms was considered, over a time horizon from 2010 to 2012. Furthermore, the sample split criterion was the enterprise size.

As expected, the results suggest that payroll and number of employees are related with workers’ compensation insurance prices. Furthermore, incidence rate, region, type of economic activities, and enterprise size have a positive and significant influence on premiums.

More panel data are needed to allow a greater focus on the impacts of GDP fluctuations and sectoral consolidation on insurance pricing. Further research could also include the impact of capital/reserving cycles, which can be driven both by economic shocks and the competition cycle. It is well known that insurers tend to reduce reserving standards when under pressure, and this can result in inadequate pricing.

The process of workers’ compensation insurance price formation is disentangled. The results suggest that the workers’ compensation insurance premiums behave as expected, especially under periods of economic strain. Therefore, workers’ compensation rate regulation should take this evidence into account, specifically through the establishment of minimum rates, which will protect the insurer, the employer, and the employees alike.

The paper is part of a considerable literature on insurance pricing in workers’ compensation, most of which has centred on private markets in the USA. This paper is the first empirical work that employs private market data for Portugal.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge into the relationship between open innovation (OI) and firm’s innovative performance. Specifically, the authors aim to determine whether the benefits of OI practices are different for Food and Beverage (FnB) firms as compared to those of other sectors. The FnB industry is relevant in terms of employment GDP generation in the UE, characterised by high integration and low-tech intensity.

In order to achieve the goal and obtain robust results, the authors consider four OI dimensions and four innovation performance measures using panel data (2004-2011) from 10,771 FnB and non-FnB firms using Tobit and Logit models by random effects.

The authors test and confirm the presence of the classical inverted U-shape relationship between OI and firm innovative performance for FnB and non-FnB companies. However, the optimal number of external sources of knowledge used is lesser for FnB than the rest of the companies.

The paper compares the OI effects in a traditional and low-tech industry vs other industries considering four innovation outputs (product innovations, process innovations, incremental innovation and radical innovation).

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that overcapacity and tariff deficit (external constraints) negatively affect the efficiency of distribution firms in the Spanish electricity sector. To do this, the paper is based on the theory of constraints and theory of economic regulation.

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) window methodology is carried out on the constant scales (I-C) with a sample consisting of five main distribution firms during the period from 2006 to 2015. In turn, an analysis of the Malmquist index is carried out to assess whether it has had a displacement with respect to the efficiency frontier.

The results show that the overcapacity and the tariff deficit negatively affect the efficiency of the distribution firms of the Spanish electricity sector. In addition, there is an existence of external constraints that affect the activities of regulated organisations and the importance of adequate legislation in regulated sectors.

This study defines a model that shows how the efficiency problems associated with electricity distribution companies such as productive overcapacity or tariff deficit can be measured based on the theory of constraints and theory of economic regulation.