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Viruses can be engineered or adapted for selective propagation in neoplastic tissues and further modified for therapeutic transgene expression to enhance their antitumor potency and druggability. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) can be administered locally or intravenously and spread to a variable degree at sites of tumor growth. OV-infected tumor cells die in situ, releasing viral and tumor antigens that are phagocytosed by macrophages, transported to regional lymph nodes, and presented to antigen-reactive T cells, which proliferate before dispersing to kill uninfected tumor cells at distant sites. Several OVs are showing clinical promise, and one of them, talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), was recently granted marketing approval for intratumoral therapy of nonresectable metastatic melanoma. T-VEC also appears to substantially enhance clinical responsiveness to checkpoint inhibitor antibody therapy. Here, we examine the T-VEC paradigm and review some of the approaches currently being pursued to develop the next generation of OVs for both local and systemic administration, as well as for use in combination with other immunomodulatory agents. Russell and Peng review the field of oncolytic virotherapy, highlighting the recent approval of intralesional talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) for metastatic melanoma and its synergistic interaction with checkpoint inhibitor antibodies. They then explore how newer OVs may further improve treatment outcomes in the post-T-VEC era.

Natural gas hydrate (NGH) is a significant alternative energy resource in achieving carbon neutrality. The developmental trend and competitive landscape of NGH exploitation and production are crucial for policymakers in government, managers of enterprises, and researchers. This study introduces a novel framework for conducting an in-depth analysis of NGH, integrating patentometrics, technology evolution, and correlation relationships to monitor developmental trends and competitive landscape through patent analysis. The results indicate that China, the USA, and Japan have distinct technology advantages. Current technological developments in the NGH field focus primarily on extraction technologies, equipment, and processing systems. The co-opetition analysis among countries reveals that the most extensive international cooperation network is primarily in Europe and the USA, with national partnerships in Asia concentrated in China and Japan. Institutional cooperation remains limited, primarily within universities in China, while both the USA and Japan foster collaboration between enterprises. The competitive landscapes of key NGH-related technologies among countries and institutions are also examined. This study contributes not only to monitoring the developmental trend and competitive landscape in NGH but also to providing policy recommendations for government and enterprises regarding strategic management and collaborative innovation. Graphical abstract

The global shipbuilding industry has undergone profound transformations, diversifying in terms of scope, complexity, and trade impact. This study explores these shifts by analyzing the evolving patterns within shipbuilding firms from Japan, Korea, and China. We embark on a historical journey, tracing the transition of industry leadership from Europe to Asia. As a case study, we present a detailed examination of the five stages of the Korean shipbuilding industry's transformation, spanning from domestic advantage to global prominence. To establish a comparative framework encompassing the shipbuilding industries of Japan, Korea, and China, we introduce two critical parameters: innovative value delivery capabilities and global market positioning. These parameters illuminate the distinctive evolutionary paths taken by the three Asian countries within the realm of shipbuilding. Our findings underscore that in an environment characterized by intensifying competition and shifting geopolitical dynamics, leading companies strategically leverage their national manufacturing strengths and logistical infrastructure while adeptly navigating the complexities of global politics and the industrial policies pursued by their respective nations. This research offers invaluable insights and implications for future investigations of the global shipbuilding industry in the post-pandemic world.

A reciprocal relationship has been documented between registering formal intellectual property rights (IPR), obtaining public grants, and undertaking publicly subsidised R&D innovation projects. Focusing on SMEs as key beneficiaries of such grants, this paper provides an original conceptual framework to rationalise this relationship based on the core criteria to obtain and successfully exploit both grants and formal IPR. R&D innovation grants from several European countries display common elements conducive to securing formal IPR status. Novel observations of several European SMEs demonstrate an innovation engine cycling between formal IPR management and publicly subsidised R&D innovation, sometimes for multiple cycles over several years. This was seen for varying grant sizes, technological sectors, and geographical locations. The framework and observations presented herein are of potential interest to research-intensive SMEs, public grant bodies, and professional service providers for public subsidies and IPR management.

This paper selects the core content of recently released Market Patterns and Investment Insights of China’s Digital Content Industry in 2020–2021, and this series of reports has been published in four consecutive volumes (2015, 2017–2018, 2019–2020, 2021–2022). Based on the latest developments of the digital content industry in China, this paper probes into the market development, competitive landscape, investment and financing volume, investment hotspots, policies and public opinion environment of 10 sub-sectors, including online games, animation, online videos, short videos, live streaming, online music, digital reading, news & information apps, online education, and knowledge payment, provides an insight into the status quo of China’s digital content industry in 2020–2021 and ten major development trends of the industry. Furthermore, the investment value of 10 sub-sectors is assessed from two dimensions—internal factors and external factors, with a total of 7 primary indicators and 11 secondary indicators, and the results are compared with those of the previous two editions to observe market changes. Research conclusions are as follows: (1) From the perspective of development trends: the scale expansion of China’s digital content industry has slowed down; short videos continue to increase; user value operation becomes a new test under routine pandemic prevention and control; the competitive landscape among sub-sectors tends to be stable; leading enterprises expand their business territory via investment, merger and acquisition (M&A) for the integration of upstream and downstream industrial chain. (2) From the results of investment value assessment and investment trends: live streaming and online games lead the way of investment forward in the digital content industry, thanks to their mature cash realization model and huge market space, with the investment value ranking rising to the top two; in the video field, vertical content creation of short video, online video-related intelligent technology and digital marketing are worthy of attention; and in the digital reading field, focus can be placed on original content creation and novel/comic reading platforms.

The Russian-Ukrainian war introduced new elements into the strategic management of large global corporations. Recently, the marketplace of international companies has found a specific growth element, defined in the so-called BRICS+, that is changing competitive horizons and developing new models of management. In global markets, the managerial economics imposes an adaptive policy of corporate social responsibility, dominated by economic sustainability and eco-responsibility, with corporate conduct that is not always truthful and effective. From the beginning of 2010s and up to these 2020 years, a fifth phase of globalization (Competitive Landscapes Globalization) produced a structural change of competitive horizons, with policies of innovation and imitation focused on oversize management, the obsessive task of cost reductions, the worldwide localization of productions based on alliances, joint ventures and accords, that have developed multi-polar network organizations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review, integrate and extend the methods for constructing and interpreting a strategic groups map. A strategic groups map is a visualization tool for capturing the essence of the competitive landscape in an industry: extent of competition between and among strategic groups, mobility barriers, available niches, positioning and industry dynamics.Design/methodology/approachThis paper extends Porter’s (1980, pp. 152-155) original prescriptions by reviewing the research on strategic groups in the almost 40 years since Porter’s contribution and by amalgamation of practitioners’ uncodified practices.FindingsThe process for constructing a strategic groups map consists of five steps: first, define the industry; second, identify strategic characteristics that distinguish between groups; third, divide firms into groups; forth, select the two main dimensions of the map, and draw the map; and five, interpret the map. Specific instructions are provided for practitioners and academic researchers. Several examples of strategic groups maps illustrate this. Ways to interpret the maps are discussed, followed by limitations and conclusion.Originality/valueThough the topic of strategic groups has been widely researched since the 1980s, there has been very little done in the area of mapping these groups, leaving scholars of businesses and industries with few directions for constructing strategic groups maps. To fill this gap, a structured process for constructing and interpreting a strategic groups map is provided.

Global markets redefine competition space, fostering a collaborative network between companies (market-driven management). Globalisation causes previously distinct global economies to converge into a single large market, thus generating fusion between competitive environments that are not only differentiated but also often very distant (competitive convergence).

The most successful organizations are the ones able to accurately predict the future of their industry and develop a vision of their place in that future. This is especially true in an era when increasingly affordable technology innovations are making it possible for businesses to compete on a nearly level playing field with large corporations. The rapid development of technology has paved the way for the constant development of new breakthrough solutions. In the current business landscape, technology‐based solutions are enabling significant optimization of processes and operations, while reducing the reliance on manual activities and people costs. Digitally enabled businesses have triggered a shift in consumer behaviors and expectations. Digitally enabled businesses have also transformed the customer journey. The digital global business landscape is also driving increased collaboration between competitors. In the current competitive landscape, companies need more than investments to penetrate and capture new markets.

In this chapter, the authors' attention turns to why analytics is essential for business and why the executive must embrace the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics. They present the concepts of the competitiveness, decision processes, and career advancement that analytics supports. Today's competitive landscape requires the adoption of analytics for business to remain competitive, growing, and profitable. In business, human decision‐making does not always optimize performance because it is vulnerable to bias and intuition: that is, gut feel. The research of Kahneman and Tversky, who received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002, produced a ground‐breaking understanding of human judgment and decision‐making under uncertainty. The research has clarified how decisions are made and underlying influences that can impact decisions. The era of human judgment for decision‐making needs to evolve into a process that is more objective, insightful, and unbiased.