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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to estimate the scale of illegal file-sharing activity across ten countries and to correlate this activity with country revenues. The work aims to elucidate an under-explored business model challenge which exists in parallel with a music piracy challenge.Design methodology approach - The study data are drawn from a number of sources, including a data set of a survey of more than 44,000 consumers in ten different countries undertaken in 2010. Following analysis, all findings are validated by a panel of industry experts.Findings - Results show that non-legitimate file-sharing activity is a heterogeneous issue across countries. The scale of activity varies from 14 per cent in Germany to 44 per cent in Spain, with an average of 28 per cent. File-sharing activity negatively correlates to music industry revenue per capita. This research finds many consumers are not engaging with online business models. Almost one fourth of the population claim that they do not consume digital music in either legal or illegal forms. This phenomenon is also negatively correlated with sales per capita.Practical implications - Results support the need for policy makers to introduce strong intellectual property rights (IPR) regulation which reduces file-sharing activity. The work also identifies a large percentage of non-participants in the digital market who may be re-engaged with music through business model innovation.Originality value - This research presents a map of the current file-sharing activity in ten countries using a rich and unique dataset. The work identifies that a country's legal origin correlates to data on file-sharing activity, with countries from a German legal origin illegally file sharing least. Approximately, half of the survey respondents chose not to answer the question related to file-sharing activity. Different estimates of the true scale of file-sharing activity are given based upon three different assumptions of the file sharing activity of non-respondents to this question. The challenge of engaging consumers in the digital market through different business models is discussed in light of digital music's high velocity environment.

The growing industrial concern about sustainability challenges has driven vehicle and auto parts manufacturers to adopt service capabilities as a way to maintain competitiveness in compliance with environmental regulations. As a result, automakers have progressively integrated digital and green service initiatives to support operations and address environmental issues effectively. The present study examined the effect of digital and green servitization on the firm’s productivity. To test their effect quantitatively, this study used the ORBIS database to construct a multi-country sample containing 228 companies in the automotive industry. Our findings indicate that implementation of digital and green servitization is positively associated with higher productivity outcomes once the two forms of servitization coexist and operate jointly. Moreover, the results of the study underscore the importance of establishing a successional pathway of implementation priorities. Our evidence suggests that firms willing to offer green services should consider offering digital services first, as this is the only way to obtain productivity gains from green servitization.

Territorial servitization is the analysis of how manufacturing firms and knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) sectors collaborate in working towards a renaissance of manufacturing competitiveness within regions of developed economies. This editorial note provides four insights. First, it sums up the existing body of knowledge on the topic. Second, it quantifies and maps the territorial servitization activity in Spanish regions. Third, it presents and reflects on the collection of five papers in this special issue, which bring new insights into how geographical proximity, innovation systems, and KIBS heterogeneity benefit our understanding of territorial servitization. Finally, the study provides a number of yet unresolved topics that deserve further academic attention. 

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to conceptualize the notion of international marketing agility.Design/methodology/approachThe approach adopted is to review and create a synopsis of the existing body of research on strategic agility and develop a conceptualization on how international marketing agility (IMA) should be analyzed.FindingsInternational marketing agility is an emerging concept driven largely by rapid changes in global markets. There is a growing need for exporting SMEs and multinational enterprises to consider IMA as a means of building competitive advantage in foreign markets.Research implications/limitationsWhile the conceptual development presented in this paper is not exhaustive, our model highlights important research avenues in IMA that need exploring.Originality/valueThis article examines an emerging concept in international marketing that serves as a platform to cope with the changes taking place in this fast-changing global environment. A framework is proposed where we conceptualize IMA as a process triggered by agile logic (a nonconformist and open mental stance) and facilitated by agile learning (being able to search and interpret data), to cause agile actions (being able to commit, co-ordinate and respond quickly with flexibility to ever-changing conditions).

Purpose This study aims to investigate the importance of relational and conditional knowledge by assessing how service and signaling competences affect manufacturing firms’ productivity. These relationships are explored in the context of Africa, where, paradoxically, firms selling abroad must satisfy different market demands than firms that serve only domestic markets. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise Survey to perform a cross-sectional analysis of 4,683 manufacturing firms. These surveys cover the period 2009-2017 and 35 different African countries. The authors define service competence development as co-location with knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms, measured through KIBS density at city level. Signaling is measured through outward-looking competences. Findings This paper shows that African exporters differ significantly from their non-exporting counterparts in terms of productivity and competences. External service competence generates productivity gains for exporters but has the opposite effect for non-exporters. Results consistent with previous research also show that signaling competences generate productivity gains, but the effect for firms serving domestic markets is stronger than the effect for exporting firms. The authors use paradoxes of learning to interpret these results. Research limitations/implications This study detects nuances of the African context that increase the understanding of knowledge management in emerging markets. The findings would benefit from confirmation in a longitudinal and causal setting. Practical implications African exporting firms should establish mechanisms to develop joint knowledge with external partners (know-with) to enhance their competitiveness, whereas African non-exporters should prioritize building knowledge credibility. Originality/value The study develops a novel empirical approach to analyzing firm competences in Africa. It also shows that contextualization of existing knowledge management theories matters, opening a research avenue to test further existing theories in emerging economies.

PurposeThe implementation of Smart Manufacturing (SM) is deemed a key enabler in the enhancement of manufacturing competitiveness and performance. Nevertheless, SM's repercussion on consumer perceptions and the contextualization of SM's performance-enhancement effects remain undetermined and have yet to be clarified. This study analyzes the effect of SM on operational and customer performance. Moreover, this study explores how these relationships change depending on a firm's geography of production (i.e. national/local vs transnational operations) and the relational arrangement adopted (i.e. service-oriented vs transaction-oriented manufacturers).Design/methodology/approachThis research surveys 351 Spanish manufacturing firms operating in an SM environment. The theoretical framework comprises a Multiple-Indicators Multiple-Causes (MIMIC) model and is tested using a Generalized Structural Equations Model.FindingsThe results obtained substantiate the positive effect of SM implementation on both of the performance measures analyzed (i.e. operational and customer focused). Moreover, the study reveals that while geography of production moderates the effect on a firm's operational performance, relational arrangement also does so in terms of customer performance.Originality/valueThis research clearly differentiates the benefits of SM depending on business context. In this regard, transnational production firms tend to gain in operational performance while service-oriented manufacturers gain in customer performance.

The growing trend to develop product–service innovation (PSI) in manufacturing industries has forced firms to consider the real impact of adding services to their sales portfolio. Literature has shown that PSI implementation has heterogeneous effects on performance as it depends on the service development choice and the specific industry in which firms compete. Moreover, PSI implementation has differing effects on performance depending on the manufacturer’s position in the value ecosystem. Although the heterogeneous PSI–performance relationship has previously been studied in terms of its intensity, research has not yet examined whether services should support specific stages or the entire product lifecycle. For shedding light on this issue, a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is carried out on a sample of Basque firms that operate in the machine manufacturing sector. This useful technique uncovers a set of specific service combinations that maximize manufacturers’ profit margin and ratio of solvency. As a result, this study is novel in analyzing the service provision over the entire product lifecycle and reveals that although some service complementarities do exist, single or bundled service specialization outperforms an integral and diversified service approach.

PurposeGlobal value chains (GVC) incorporate internationally fragmented sources of knowledge so as to increase global competitiveness and performance. This paper sheds light on the role of Industry 4.0 technological capabilities in facilitating knowledge access from international linkages and improving firm productivity.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on organizational learning research, the present study argues that the relationship between GVC breadth, analyzed in respect to the geographical fragmentation of production facilities and productivity follows an inverted U-shaped pattern that can be explained by the interplay between external knowledge access and the coordination costs associated with GVC breadth. We test our predictions using a purpose-built survey that was carried out among a sample of 426 Spanish manufacturing firms.FindingsOur results indicate that organizations adhering to a traditional manufacturing system are able to benefit from fewer transnational relationships (concretely 11 foreign facilities) in the search for productivity improvements. This can be largely attributed to the marginal value of the knowledge accessed and the costs of coordinating international counterparts' production and knowledge transfer. However, our study reveals that the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies has the potential to broaden optimal GVC breadth, in terms of the number of linkages to interrelate with (concretely 131 foreign facilities) so as to obtain productivity gains while mitigating the complexities associated with coordination.Originality/valueThe study unveils that Industry 4.0 technologies enable management of broader GVC breadth, facilitating knowledge access and counteracting coordination costs from international counterparts.

PurposeThis article seeks to characterize and assess a new type of resilient, socially conscious and competitive enterprise that simultaneously encompasses open and social innovation – aligning both business and social outcomes – and which will gain increasing importance in post-pandemic competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachA mixed method approach based on sequential deductive triangulation analysis (QUAN/qual) is used. First, data gathered from the Chilean innovation survey is used to quantify the percentage of firms implementing open and social innovation simultaneously, and to assess their relative performance in relation to other types of innovative firms. Second, a qualitative multiple-case study analysis reveals the perceptions of senior managers regarding the applicability of this approach in terms of building resilience and strengthening future competitiveness in line with sustainable development goals.FindingsSocial innovation is a relatively rare event (7.2% of firms in the sample). While social innovation occurs equally in monopolistic and perfectly competitive industries, the authors’ findings suggest that in order to adopt social and open innovation effectively, firms need to set entry barriers such as economies of scale. On the other hand, open innovation is a more common event (15.4% of firms in the sample), which correlates closely with absolute and relative performance indicators. Moreover, the results suggest that open innovation enables a greater understanding of societal needs, thus making social innovation more effective.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretical developments coupled with descriptive and qualitative evidence reveal the innovative capabilities that up-and-coming enterprises may possess. The findings suggest that at times of far-reaching technological, social and political change, enterprises should share some of their knowledge and resources with wider society. Only then will more equal, resilient and cohesive societies be built.Originality/valueThis article combines two seemingly unrelated literature streams (open and social innovation) in order to elucidate the enterprise of tomorrow, which will be capable of achieving sustainable development whilst reaching high levels of competitiveness.