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The 2008 global financial crisis showed that the ability to innovate is a key management skill and that approaches to assessing the innovation capability of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to be as realistic as possible. This study aims to address the latter practical need through a sociotechnical approach.

Based on a combined use of cognitive mapping and the Decision EXpert (DEX) technique, and grounded on the insights generated by a panel of SME managers and entrepreneurs in two intensive group meetings, a knowledge-based assessment system for evaluating SMEs’ innovation capability was created, tested and validated.

The knowledge-based assessment system identified the most innovative SMEs in a sample of companies. The “plus-minus-1” and dominance analyses carried out provided further support for the results.

The proposed system is extremely versatile but process-oriented and idiosyncratic in nature, meaning that extrapolations to other contexts need to be done with due caution.

The panel of SME decision makers agreed that the system improves the current methods used to evaluate SMEs’ innovation capability, contributing to a more informed perspective on management issues. The panel members also noted that the proposed system functions as a learning mechanism, facilitating the development of well-focused suggestions for improvements SMEs can make.

The integrated use of cognitive maps and rule-base decisions contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs’ innovation capability. No prior work reporting the integrated use of these two techniques in this study context has been found.

The aftermath of the recent financial crisis has shown that the ability to innovate is a vital management skill and that the methodologies used to evaluate innovation capability within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be as holistic and integrative as possible. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue through the combined use of cognitive mapping and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

Cognitive mapping and multiple criteria decision analysis have proved over the years to be effective in handling a wide range of complex decision problems. Following a socio-technical approach, a non-parametric method of evaluating SME innovation capability – based on the results of group meetings with a panel of information technology entrepreneurs and SME chief executive officers – was created, tested and validated.

The methodological processes adopted in this study provide promising results for decision makers seeking to identify the most innovative SMEs. Furthermore, the sensitivity analyses carried out also supported the findings.

This study confirms the usefulness of integrating cognitive mapping and the AHP to facilitate evaluations of SME innovation capability. However, due to the process-oriented nature of the research, extrapolations without proper adjustments are not recommended.

The panel members who participated in this study consider the proposal extremely versatile and see great potential for further applications in the measurement of SME innovation capability.

The combined use of cognitive mapping and the AHP offers a holistic and well-informed perspective on the issue in question. The authors know of no prior work reporting this approach in the same research context.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become increasingly important in national and international markets because they contribute to the development of local and national economies. SMEs often face serious challenges when competing with multinational companies. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for assessing SMEs’ competitiveness.

Based on a constructivist epistemology, this study makes an integrated use of cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH). To this end, face-to-face sessions were conducted with a panel of entrepreneurs and senior managers who deal with the challenges of maintaining SME competitiveness every day. The proposed assessment system was tested and validated by the panel members.

The methodological processes adopted in this study provide promising results for decision makers seeking to identify the most competitive SMEs. Specifically, the results emphasize, among other points, the importance of innovation and the human dimension to gaining competitive advantages.

The evaluation system developed in this study is extremely versatile and confirms the usefulness of integrating cognitive mapping and MACBETH to facilitate evaluations of SME competitiveness. However, due to its idiosyncratic and process-oriented nature, generalizations need to be done with caution.

The proposed method can be valuable to researchers seeking to develop mechanisms for evaluating SMEs’ entrepreneurial performance and include specialized know-how and sensemaking in organizational decision-making processes.

The integrated use of cognitive maps and MACBETH contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs’ competitiveness. No prior work reporting the use of this dual methodology in this study context has been found.

The prosthodontics sector is facing major challenges because of scientific and technological advances that imply a clearer definition of lines of action and decision making processes. Measuring quality of service in this sector is a complex decision problem since the perceptions of three main players need to be considered: patients, dentists and dental technicians. This study sought to develop an artificial-intelligence-based (AI-based) method for assessing service quality in the dental prosthesis sector.

Using strategic options development and analysis (SODA), which is grounded on cognitive mapping, and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique (MACBETH), a constructivist decision support system was designed to facilitate the assessment of service quality in the dental prosthesis sector. The system was tested, and the results were validated both by the members of an expert panel and by the vice-president of the Portuguese association of dental prosthesis technicians.

The methodological process developed in this study is extremely versatile and its practical application facilitated the development of an empirically robust evaluation model in this study context. Specifically, the profile analyses carried out in actual clinics allowed the cases in which improvements are needed to be identified.

Although already applied in the fields of AI and decision making, no prior work reporting the use of SODA and MACBETH for assessing service quality in the prosthodontics sector has been found.

The blue ocean strategy refers to how rebuilding the inputs that customers value in the designing of a new value curve fundamentally requires a four field of action structure: reduce, eliminate, create and raise. However, this does not propose a methodology to identify these fields of action. Hence, the purpose of this study is to present importance-performance analysis (IPA), as a support tool to identify these fields of action given their relevance and utility to managers.

The 101 ex-customers of health club answered a survey to determine the cut-off boundaries for IPA, and therefore, maximising the discriminatory power of the logistical regression model. This correspondingly incorporated the evaluation of both the area below the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and the adoption of coefficients for concordance and correlation.

The research results demonstrate the need to concentrate efforts on the attributes of: price, responses to complaints, emergency procedures, innovative services, changing rooms, support for selecting the activities members choose to undertake and an appropriate number of members per activity. With low levels of performance and importance, are candidates for elimination, specifically, the availability of specialist appointments, member socialisation activities, maintaining memories of members, bar services and services for children.

The contribution: presenting an IPA methodology applicable to identify the fields of action recognised by the blue ocean strategy as the literature currently only covers concrete situations in which organisations achieve success through reducing, eliminating, creating and elevating and does not set out any methodology to identify those same fields of action; the definition of the cut-off points in IPA based on the ROC curve, which is a more rigorous and exact statistical method than that applied in other studies; the study population, the ex-customers, who not only represent a very important source of latent demand but also because ex-customers are likely to return more impartial.

Gazelle companies are characterized by rapid growth in a short time. Identifying the determinants of this exponential expansion is important as these firms have a significant impact on the economy. They generate increased employment and investment by investors interested in new opportunities. Previous studies have failed to reach a consensus about what fosters high growth in gazelle companies as each firm’s geographical, political and economic context is different. The present research uses cognitive mapping and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) to overcome the limitations of prior investigations and identify factors that can potentially accelerate growth in gazelle companies.

Two sessions were held with an expert panel with knowledge about and experience with these firms. In the first session, data were collected to create a group cognitive map, while the second meeting comprised ISM-based analyses of the high-growth determinants identified and the causal relationships between them. A final consolidation session was held to discuss the results with two members of the Committee for Central Region Coordination and Development (i.e. Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Centro – a public entity that grants gazelle awards in Portugal).

The analysis system created was tested, and the results demonstrate that the dual methodology used can increase our understanding of the dynamics of high-growth determinants and lead to more informed and potentially better evaluations of gazelle companies. Indeed, once high-growth determinants in gazelle companies are understood, this information can help other firms implement the same business model to achieve similarly rapid growth. The strengths and shortcomings of this new structured analysis model are also analyzed.

The authors know of no prior work reporting the integrated use of cognitive mapping and ISM in this study context.

The purpose of this paper is to involve the differences in the entrepreneurial intentions of student at higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Portuguese regions (mainland and insular).

Applying a sample of 594 valid responses, the authors analyzed the data according to linear regression models.

The results convey how HEI students generally do not intend to become entrepreneurs in both the mainland and the insular regions. Although HEI students broadly do not aim to launch their own businesses, the results show that students in mainland regions feel they have the skills to start a business and drive it to success. In insular regions, students feel encouraged by their friends and family to set up their own business. When comparing insular and mainland regions, the results demonstrate how in insular regions, there is a greater probability that HEI students become entrepreneurs than in the mainland regions. Furthermore, entrepreneurial intentions in the mainland regions develop in terms of “opportunities” while driven by necessity in the insular regions.

This furthermore makes recommendations to regional governments and to HEIs in order to enable better encouragement of entrepreneurship in academia.

This study is original and innovative due to its comparison of the entrepreneurial intentions prevailing in mainland and insular regions and may propose new highlights to the academic scientific literature.

This study sought to develop an aggregated assessment of the literature on the resource-based view (RBV). The main aim was to map the RBV field based on a systematic literature review (SLR) of 226 academic articles published in refereed journals from 1994 to 2022.

Two bibliometric analysis methods were used: bibliographic coupling and co-citation. These measures are complementary because bibliographic coupling is retrospective in nature and co-citation is forward-looking.

The analysis identified the most influential studies, top-cited articles and journals and six major thematic clusters: RBV, customer orientation and alliance portfolio, resource-based theory, firm performance, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and dynamic capabilities.

This research was based on a combination of bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. The results provide a better understanding of the RBV field’s intellectual structure, which reveals potential new lines of future research.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the role of entrepreneurial artisan products in regional tourism competitiveness.

This study applies secondary data from different sources (Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira, the Madeira Institute of Wine, Embroideries and Handicrafts) covering a temporal period spanning the last 15 years (2001-2015). This deployed quantitative data analysis through an econometric approach with recourse to regression models and the Pearson’s correlation technique.

According to the results, it is suggested that in terms of external support and funding, there should be a greater role and a boost in the number of projects carried out not only under the auspices of the European Union but also under the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Thus, participant companies may invest in greater business efficiency and entrepreneurship, in innovation, promotion and the internationalisation of their products, and thereby obtain greater overall regional competitiveness.

The generalisation of results remains to a certain extent limited, given the findings stem from only one particular region. The exclusive utilisation of secondary data may also undermine the robustness of the results obtained.

The study provides empirical evidence that helps in identifying the role of artisan products within the capacity for regional tourism sector entrepreneurship and competitiveness. Furthermore, this also contributes to the knowledge of the scientific community particularly interested in artisan and cultural entrepreneurship and regional competitiveness in the tourism sector.

This study is dedicated to critically analysing research addressing human resource management (HRM) and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) with the purpose of driving development in the field of human resources (HR) at the strategic and managerial level.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using the Scopus database, which gathered 61 articles between 2002 and 2022. The SLR process has the potential to, in addition to generating knowledge and theories, support and guide policy development and practice in many disciplines.

The results of this study allowed the author to identify three main conclusions: (a) there are four thematic clusters – (i) Strategic HR and AI, (ii) Recruitment and AI, (iii) Training and AI and (iv) Future of work; (b) there is a growing academic interest in studying the implementation of AI to develop the HR sector and (c) the application of AI stands out in the strategic HR and AI cluster as a means of achieving profit maximisation and the overall development of the organisation.

This study is the first SLR to present a strategic and managerial view on AI applications associated with specific HRM dimensions. The study is also the first SLR to identify key trends in the literature, drivers and obstacles to the development of AI in HRM and then place them within the landscape of positive and negative approaches in a framework. Also, as a contribution, the study has practical implications for HR managers and practitioners in adopting AI as a decision support in the area's processes.