Lara Penco

Assisted technology transfer to SMEs: lessons from an exemplary case ☆

Assisted technology transfer (ATT) actions towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been growing in recent years, as governments of industrialized countries have acknowledged the importance of SMEs in industrial economic systems. In spite of their success, SMEs show several weaknesses in technological development. This introduces opportunities for public intervention aimed at sustaining technological development in SMEs, especially through technology transfer processes. Although the need for this kind of action is widely accepted, how to implement ATT is still unclear, as regards both the choice of potential beneficiaries and the actual implementation of the transfer process. This paper presents a project of ATT sponsored by the Science Park of Liguria and addressed to 30 small firms in the sectors of plant engineering and industrial automation. After reviewing the rationale for ATT actions and highlighting some crucial questions related to its implementation, it gives an extensive picture of the approach adopted. Finally, it attempts to rationalize the case, in order to highlight problems and offer possible solutions.

Word of mouth and satisfaction in cruise port destinations

As acknowledged, in addition to a short-term economic (monetary) value, cruise activities can also provide a destination with an additional (non-monetary) value, ‘showcasing’ the tourist attractions to several visitors, who, after the cruise experience, may potentially recommend the same destination to relatives, friends and colleagues. This paper contributes to the theme of the cruise tourism impact on the local community, assuming a long-term perspective, and investigates the effect of overall destination satisfaction on cruisers word-of-mouth (WoM) attitude in three Italian ports. The study analyses the relation between port-related satisfaction attributes and overall destination satisfaction. The empirical findings confirm the positive association between overall destination satisfaction and WoM attitude. In particular, the outcomes on port-related satisfaction attributes demonstrate the key role of the availability of well-designed and comfortable shopping areas and the endowment of properly organized and reliable ground transportation services as antecedents of the overall destination satisfaction. The results are consistent with and add to the academic literature. It is recommended that public policy makers (e.g. Port Authorities, Municipalities, etc.) should play a more significant role as stakeholders’ coordinators, to facilitate the dialogue between the various private actors affecting overall destination satisfaction and long-term value creation.

Monetary and non-monetary value creation in cruise port destinations: an empirical assessment

The cruise tourism industry has been the fastest growing segment of the global travel sector over the last decades. Due to its dramatic expansion, this sector has recently attracted an increasing interest from researchers and practitioners. Despite this attention, however, some literature gaps still persist. Indeed, extant contributions facing the cruise tourism (positive) impact on the local community neglect to investigate the potential overall value disruption caused by cruise traffic diversion towards other destinations. Therefore, this paper measures the overall value potentially generated for the territory by a cruise company, which is not a shareholder of the facility in a port of call. The monetary and non-monetary value is estimated using empirical data collected from 208 cruise passengers and 64 crewmembers. The results show the total amount of passenger, crew and cruise-line expenditures (i.e., monetary impact), as well as the non-monetary effect triggered by word-of-mouth behaviour. The main findings yield several implications for academics, managers and policymakers.

Disclosure as a tool in stakeholder relations management: a longitudinal study on the Port of Rotterdam

This study applies stakeholder management principles to the port domain. We provide a conceptual framework for evaluating the communication strategies a (landlord) Port Authority (PA) relies on in the management of its relevant stakeholders and the adoption of disclosure to critical issues. The theoretical arguments are supported by empirical evidences from the Port of Rotterdam (PoR), i.e. a major port which leverages disclosure to successfully manage stakeholders and support the implementation of corporate strategy. The research questions are addressed using a content analysis on the annual reports (ARs) of PoR in the period 2000–2012. The overall research design enables the investigation of PA disclosure as a tool for managing the evolving interests of stakeholders from a longitudinal perspective. The PoR case shows that the relative importance of topics reported in the ARs change over time, as a result of external pressures and internal key events. The outcomes demonstrate the growing attention of PoR on topics relevant to the broader community (e.g. environment and safety/security) after a period characterised by a prominent focus on financial and governance issues. Besides, key breakthrough forces stimulating the shifts in landlord communication strategies are identified and discussed. Finally, by suggesting an indirect approach to evaluate how PA prioritises its salient stakeholders, the paper adds to extant port literature and brings methodological implications.

Insights to technological alliances and financial resources as antecedents of high-tech firms' innovative performance

High‐tech firms are triggered to externally acquire and combine additional supplementary and complementary resources to develop innovative capabilities and generate new knowledge, products, and business ideas. Firms may rely on cooperation, alliances, and other interfirm ties as well as on the external acquisition of the stock of resources and capabilities to foster their innovativeness and support their patent activity. This contribution develops and tests a conceptual framework for assessing external sources of a firms innovative performance in high‐tech industries. By simultaneously evaluating the explanatory power of technological alliances and financial resources in shaping a firms innovative performance, measured as new patents registered, the paper provides some original outcomes from both conceptual and methodological perspectives. Research hypotheses are tested performing ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models on 90 European‐listed firms operating in the aerospace and defence industry, engaging over 1,300 technological alliances within the 2007–2011 timeframe. The findings demonstrate that high‐tech firms leverage on technological supplementary alliances to innovate and to create new knowledge embodied in artifacts such as patents. In addition, financial slack is proved to be a prerequisite for a successful patent activity in high‐tech industries. Empirical outcomes, discriminating between small and large firms, bring valuable insights both for academics and practitioners.

Corporate governance mechanisms and disclosure in medium-sized listed firms: substitutes or complements?

This paper, focusing on a non-Anglo-Saxon market, attempts to advance knowledge in the understanding of the complementary/substitute relationship between governance mechanisms and corporate disclosure in medium-sized listed firms. The manuscript applies content analysis techniques and proposes a disclosure quality score index, based on the quantity, the variety and the completeness of information disclosed. Moreover, OLS regression analysis is performed for testing the explanatory power of internal and external corporate governance mechanisms as determinants of communication quality. The results demonstrate the relevance of internal control mechanism, as well as their current substitutive nature respect to disclosure. In addition, empirical evidence show that a diffuse ownership along with the existence of a high number of committees are associated with increased qualitative levels of voluntary disclosure.

Mergers, acquisitions and alliances in the cruise tourism industry:

The present paper addresses the antecedents of cruise companies’ strategy implementation, focusing on mergers, acquisitions and alliances as potential alternative choices for managers. Specifically, a model for interpreting the drivers of such decisions is proposed, based on two dimensions: (1) the level of riskiness and complexity of the industry and (2) the importance of the acquired resources and capabilities for the competitive advantage of the acquiring firm. The theoretical model is then applied to the cruise industry, through a qualitative analysis on three case studies based on the major companies: Carnival, RCCL, and Star Cruise–Norwegian Cruise Line (Genting Group). Such industry represents an ideal set for studying the issues, as, in the last few years, the growing turbulent environment has increased the number of mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances with other partners belonging to the same supply chain. The results show that in the cruise tourism industry, the two aforementioned dimensions seem to matter in firms’ choice between the different external growth strategies, highlighting the presence of homogeneous behavioral models among the cruise companies. This contribution presents some valuable research implications, useful for researchers and academics, but also professionals and policy makers may benefit from this knowledge.

Merger&Acquisitions (M&As) e alliances delle imprese crocieristiche: un’analisi delle determinanti strategiche

Il presente contributo si propone di studiare le determinanti strategiche che stanno alla base delle operazioni di Mergers and Acquisitions (MA (2) la centralita delle risorse e delle competenze che vengono acquisite dall’impresa che realizza la strategia. Il modello teorico e stato poi applicato al settore crocieristico, mediante un’analisi qualitativa basata su tre case-study, ovvero sulle imprese leader Carnival Cruise, Royal Caribbean e Star Cruise-Norvegian Cruise Line. Il settore crocieristico e un campo privilegiato per studiare le determinanti alla base delle decisioni attuative della strategie, poiche e stato contraddistinto negli ultimi anni da ondate di fusioni e acquisizioni, nonche da numerose partnership strategiche attivate dalle cruise company con attori del sistema del valore crocieristico. I risultati hanno mostrato come le imprese crocieristiche abbiano nel tempo modificato le proprie modalita di implementazione delle strategie, essendo cambiate le motivazioni di natura strategica.

Caratteristiche strutturali e performance delle medie imprese terziarie. Un approfondimento sui servizi avanzati

Le imprese di medie dimensioni hanno recentemente rappresentato l’oggetto di analisi condotte in numerosi contributi scientifici. Tuttavia, gli studi sul tema risultano prevalentemente focalizzati sulle medie imprese (MI) industriali. Il presente contributo intende invece approfondire la conoscenza delle MI operanti nel terziario, al fine di apprezzarne il peso relativo all’interno del settore, nonche le principali caratteristiche strutturali e di performance. In particolare, dall’analisi condotta su un ampio campione di MI operanti nel comparto dei Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) emerge come l’adozione di una dimensione aziendale piu elevata rispetto a quella delle PI consenta di ottenere performance economico-finanziarie superiori.