Luiz Antonio Joia and Rodrigo Malheiros
This paper aims to address the impact of strategic alliances in the formation of the intangible assets of firms, namely their intellectual capital.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the impact of strategic alliances in the formation of the intangible assets of firms, namely their intellectual capital.
Design/methodology/approach
Taxonomies are conceptualised and developed for both a firm's intellectual capital and its strategic alliances. T‐student tests and hierarchical cluster analysis are then applied to scrutinise the data relating to companies in the Brazilian transformation industry (firms that transform raw materials into intermediary and final goods) involved in alliances over the course of a ten‐year period (1996‐2005) in an explanatory‐exploratory manner.
Findings
The paper finds that strategic alliances of different types have a positive impact on the intellectual capital of the organisations involved in them.
Research limitations/implications
The acuity of the executives' perception regarding the variation of the intangibles, as a direct consequence of the formation of alliances, is a limitation. Furthermore, the categorisation of the types of alliance and the benefits obtained that this research sought are generic classifications that do not reflect in detail the aspects involved in each cooperative effort and their respective results.
Originality/value
Two propositions are put forward to be tested further, namely that innovation alliances have a greater influence on a company's intellectual capital generation than production or marketing alliances, and that the more focussed the strategic alliance formed is the greater the increase in the intellectual capital of the enterprise involved.
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Keywords
Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Marcel Huettermann, Tatjana Thimm, Frank Hannich and Christine Bild
The purpose of this paper is to examine visitor management in the German-Swiss border area of the Lake Constance region. Taking a customer perspective, it determines the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine visitor management in the German-Swiss border area of the Lake Constance region. Taking a customer perspective, it determines the requirements for an application with the ability to optimize personal mobility.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study and a survey of focus groups were conducted to identify movement patterns of different types of visitors and their requirements concerning the development of a visitor management application.
Findings
Visitors want an application that provides real-time forecasts of issues such as traffic, parking and queues and, at the same time, enables them to create a personal activity schedule based on this information.
Research limitations/implications
Not every subsample reached a sufficient number of cases to yield representative results.
Practical implications
The results may lead to an optimization and management separation of mobility flows in the research area and be helpful to municipal planners, destination marketing organizations and visitors.
Originality/value
The German border cities of Konstanz, Radolfzell and Singen in the Lake Constance region need improved visitor management, mainly because of a high level of shopping tourism by Swiss visitors to Germany. In the Summer months, Lake Constance is also a popular destination for leisure tourists, which causes overtourism. For the first time, the results of this research presented here offer possible solutions, in particular by showing how a mobile application for visitors could defuse the situation.
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Eugénia Pedro, João Leitão and Helena Alves
For better mapping the path of intellectual capital (IC) research, the purpose of this paper is to selectively review empirical studies of IC published, and identify theories…
Abstract
Purpose
For better mapping the path of intellectual capital (IC) research, the purpose of this paper is to selectively review empirical studies of IC published, and identify theories, components and three dimensions of analysis: national IC (NIC), regional IC (RIC) and organizational IC (OIC).
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic literature review (SLR) subject to analysis is based on empirical studies made between 1960 and 2016, and focuses on three dimensions of analysis: NIC, RIC and OIC. Four research questions were designed, using the following databases, namely, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, for data collection purposes.
Findings
The SLR unveils a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis and provides some recommendations for future studies of NIC, RIC and OIC, by outlining the need for clear definitions of components and measures of IC and identifying strengths, limitations and future research avenues.
Originality/value
In order to fill the gap found in the literature and the non-existence of a study clarifying the multiple dimensions of analysis of IC, this SLR makes a twofold, original contribution to the literature on management: providing an SLR of the main empirical studies dealing with different units of analysis; and identifying a multidimensional taxonomy for measuring and classifying the type of IC applicable to the different levels of analysis.