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Following the contextual approach to intellectual capital, this study analyzed the specific types of external relational capital that foster product/service, process and managerial innovativeness in organic farming as key drivers of sustainable food production.

Survey data from 358 organically certified Spanish farmers were analyzed using structural equation modeling based on partial least squares. A total of three models, one for each type of innovativeness, were developed to analyze the impact of external relational capital. These models took into account four specific types of relational capital: vertical relationships, horizontal relationships, relationships with government institutions and relationships with knowledge-intensive institutions.

Although relational capital and innovativeness are clearly underdeveloped, knowledge generated through and embedded in external relationships plays a substantial role in promoting innovativeness in organic farming. Moreover, depending on the type of innovation to be developed, the type of external relational capital that is relevant differs.

This study's findings indicate that organic farmers prioritize process innovation over product/service and managerial innovation. For the latter categories, building relationships with customers, consumers and government institutions is key. Policymakers should encourage farmer-engaging socialization spaces that emphasize family farms and their knowledge contribution.

Past studies have examined the overall degree of association between external relational capital and innovation, often overlooking the nuances of contextual factors. In contrast, this research delves into the unique contributions of knowledge sourced from various external relationships, focusing specifically on how these relationships influence different types of innovation within the specific context of organic farming.

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance to SMEs to sense and seize digitally enabled growth opportunities as well as start a project-based learning process to transform the organization in order to remain competitive in turbulent environments.

The proposed framework is nurtured from a dynamic capabilities approach as well as from digital transformation studies and mitigates shortcomings of existing frameworks on IT-enabled business transformation. A pilot study has also been carried out for testing the proposed framework.

The results of the pilot study show that the framework is well understood by SME owners or managers and contributes to a comprehensive perception of digitalization challenges and potentials. The overall maturity level of the 52 companies analyzed is moderate. Firms are better at “sensing” than “seizing”, that is, at identifying digitally based growth opportunities than in profiting from them. The test of the proposed framework also contributes to its further adjustment and refinement.

The developed framework is useful for owners and managers of SMEs as a self-assessment of digital maturity. It sets a baseline regarding the current position and supports coordinated initiatives for digitally enabled growth.

Few frameworks regarding digital maturity have been developed. Most of them lack a sound theoretical foundation and are less suited to the needs of SMEs. There are few studies on digitalization in SMEs and they are not focussed on capabilities development but mostly on processes (Trung Pham 2010; Blatz et al., 2018; Mittal et al., 2018). Therefore, the originality of this paper is to propose a framework that allows SMEs to assess their digital maturity level and the capabilities associated with each level to enhance digitally enabled growth, contributing to expand the research on the relationship between dynamic capabilities and digitalization (Teece, 2017).

Research on international professional service firms (PSFs) has grown in recent years, reflecting the increasing relevance of these firms in the global economy. However, to date, no attempt has been made to systematically examine and integrate this literature. This study reviews the body of knowledge on the international management of PSFs and proposes a future research agenda that aims to strengthen the research on international PSFs, by applying the conceptual lens of PSF characteristics.

A systematic review of 108 empirical articles on the management of international PSFs was carried out.

The authors analyse where, how and what research was carried out on the international management of PSFs, and find that currently the field offers few opportunities to integrate findings or explain differences across different types of international PSFs. In recommendations for future research, the authors show how the lens of PSF characteristics can help overcome these issues and unveil promising avenues for future research that will lead to a more fine-grained theorising and understanding of the international management of PSFs.

The study provides a comprehensive state of the art of research on the international management of PSFs and a future research agenda, which builds on PSF characteristics to explore and better understand the heterogeneity of international PSFs, in order to develop more robust explanations of their behaviour and open new research avenues.

This paper aims to identify what international management challenges professional service firms (PSFs) face and why they face them.

This study carries a focussed thematic literature review of 102 empirical articles. This paper uses content analysis to extract and aggregate challenges identified by researchers in their fieldwork and then analysed this data using qualitative and quantitative methods.

This study identifies 10 international management challenges that PSFs face and a number of causes for these challenges. The analysis also suggests that the distinctive characteristics of PSFs generate some of the international management challenges for PSFs.

This study helps PSF managers understand the international management challenges they may face depending on the specifics of their company, thus helping them better prepare their internationalisation.

This study contributes to providing a greater understanding of what is holding PSFs back in their internationalisation and why. It demonstrates that distinctive characteristics of PSFs may predict the challenges that PSFs will face, thus paving the way for further research on international management in PSFs and for the development of the diagnostic tool for practitioners that could help them to identify which challenges they should prepare for most.

This research aims to measure the extent manufacturing companies from the Basque region (Spain), which place a greater emphasis on innovation, have adapted their management context in accordance with the middle‐up‐down management model put forward by Nonaka and Takeuchi and Nonaka et al. The study explores whether the degree of adoption of the aforementioned model is influenced by contingency factors such as company size or technological level.

An ad hoc questionnaire was addressed to the chief executive officers of the companies. Structural equation modelling based on partial least squares was used to test the main hypotheses of the research.

Firms which develop a higher organizational learning capacity put a greater emphasis on innovation. Additionally, the innovation focus of companies is positively related to the implementation of management systems which are more in accordance with the middle‐up‐down management model, and the degree of adoption of the aforementioned model is not influenced by company size or technological level.

The approach taken in the research serves the purpose of linking extremely abstract concepts from the middle‐up‐down model with specific elements from the management context. It also contributes to the development of empirical research in the domain of organizational learning, aimed at clarifying the relationship between organizational learning capacity and innovation orientation. The research contributes towards a better understanding of the degree of adoption of such a model in the Basque region, paving the way for future comparative studies which might take other regions of the world into consideration.

At a time when many companies in the Spanish and Basque manufacturing industries are attempting to embark on delocation movements (also commonplace in other countries), the increase in innovatory capacity is becoming an essential element in counteracting such movements and the downsizing that these involve. The study presented here seeks to measure the explicit emphasis given by manufacturing companies from the Basque Region (Spain) in the field of innovation, and the degree of adaptation of their management context to features of the middle‐up‐down model as put forward by Nonaka et al. to promote an effective knowledge generation process.

An ad hoc questionnaire has been addressed to Chief Executive Officers, within the framework of broader research into organizational learning and business performance started in 2002. This questionnaire is focused more on the “hard” elements of the management context than on the “soft” ones, which may limit its usefulness under certain circumstances.

Conceptually‐speaking, the methodology used has the value of linking extremely abstract concepts from the middle‐up‐down model (knowledge vision, articulation of this vision by means of concepts and images, “BA”, “information redundancy,” etc.) with specific elements from the management context.

The results of the study reveal that manufacturing companies from the Basque Region have improved their innovatory capacity to a great extent, adapting quite a lot of their management context to new requirements. However, a weak point is detected in them: the absence of an organizational structure that may favor the existence of areas in which knowledge is shared.

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between the organizational learning capacity of manufacturing companies in the Spanish Basque Region and their management systems.

To this end, an ad hoc questionnaire was devised and addressed to the Chief Executive Officers of a representative sample of 200 companies from all manufacturing sectors of the Basque Country.

The results obtained show that the characteristics of the management system of a company (the strategy formulation process and organizational design) do not condition the learning level that can be attained as a result of an experience of concrete change. However, it is true that companies which have experienced changes in which a high level of learning has been achieved have adapted their management systems more according to what theorists deem appropriate to help future learning.

The research carried out allows a better practical knowledge of the existing relationship between management systems, change processes, and levels of organizational learning.

The aim of this paper is to provide a practical experience in a leading Spanish engineering company in order to promote people‐focused knowledge management and socialization and collective learning processes within the firm.

From an epistemological perspective, the survey assumes a phenomenological approach, aimed at achieving a holistic understanding and interpretation of organizational processes. The evidence‐collection sources have been documents and open‐ended interviews.

The case shows the paramount relevance of articulating a knowledge‐sharing culture throughout management systems and organizational policies and routines, in order to guarantee the alignment of individual and organizational mental models.

The value of this paper lies in providing knowledge management practitioners with a useful insight about how to achieve effective socialization and collective learning processes within their companies.

The aim of this paper is to test empirically the degree of influence of different knowledge‐sharing mechanisms on the innovation capability of firms, as well as to analyse the degree of relevance of each innovation capability dimension to value creation. Additionally, the role of technology intensity as a moderator variable of the aforementioned relationships is examined.

An ad hoc questionnaire was designed and addressed to the CEOs of the companies making up the target population of the research (Spanish manufacturing firms with more than 50 employees and R&D activities). Structural equation modeling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) was then applied in order to test the main hypotheses of the research.

The results obtained show that knowledge sharing is a key issue in order to enhance the innovation capability of firms. Nevertheless, depending on the innovation capability dimension being considered and on the technology intensity of the firm, the type of knowledge sharing which appears to be more fruitful varies. On the other hand, technology intensity also moderates the degree of relevance of each innovation capability in value creation.

The main contribution of the paper is to provide empirical evidence about the impact of knowledge sharing on innovation. Moreover, it reveals what the most effective knowledge‐sharing mechanisms are for this purpose, and provides companies with a basic framework in order to shape their knowledge management strategies.

The aim of this paper is to empirically test the degree of influence of different knowledge sharing mechanisms (ICT‐based, personal interaction‐based, and embedded in management processes) on innovation capability (both on ideation and on innovation project management), as well as the influence of each first‐level innovation capacity on company performance.

A questionnaire was designed and addressed to the CEOs of the companies making up the target population (Spanish and Colombian medium‐high and high technology firms with more than 50 employees and R&D activities). Structural equation modelling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) was then applied to test the hypotheses drawn from the research.

The results obtained show that knowledge sharing is a key issue in order to enhance innovation capability. With the exception of ICT‐based knowledge sharing mechanisms (whose influence on the generation of new ideas is not statistically significant), all types of mechanism considered exert a significant impact both on ideation and on innovation project management (although their degree of relevance varies), and account for a great deal of variance in both constructs. Differences between countries arise when it comes to the influence of each first‐level innovation capacity on company performance.

Traditional limitations of cross‐sectional studies apply.

The main contribution of this paper is to provide empirical evidence about the impact of knowledge sharing on innovation. Moreover, it reveals what the most effective knowledge sharing mechanisms are for this purpose and provide companies with a basic framework in order to shape their knowledge management strategies in this domain.