To introduce new products and processes, firms often acquire knowledge from other organizations. Drawing on social capital and transaction cost theory, we argue that not only is the impact of such acquisitions on the successful development of product and product innovations dependent on strategic and economic variables, it may also be contingent on the “knowledge characteristics” of the geograp...

The paper systematises the previous research on trust in virtual teams, by examining how trust and other elements of social capital can be created in virtual teams and where the value created by social capital resides. The study is guided by three main questions: What value can social capital create for virtual teams and organisations? How are social capital elements interlinked? What are the d...

Social capital is seen here as part of the overall resource base of a firm. One part of social capital is positional advantage in a network. It is established on the basis of relational competence. Third parties can help in the development of social capital by offering their relational competence, in playing one or more of six roles: the roles of the gobetween. Transaction cost economics recogn...

The EU provides farmers with incentives to adopt Countryside Stewardship Schemes (CSS) using subsidies in the framework of the agri-environmental regulation of the EU (2078/92), now included in the more general regulation on rural development In this paper, a case study of 36 farmers in the village of Bierbeek was carried out to investigate the determinants of the willingness to adopt a scheme ...

intellectual capital is known as a key strategic asset for organizational performance and innovative solutions; and its management is critical for maintaining competitive advantage. this paper analyzes the relationship between intellectual capital, competitive advantage and innovation drivers in 8 factories in rubber and plastics industry. to assess these factors, the views of 246 managers and ...

Background: The epidemic of obesity has turned into a major global health challenge. Environmental and social factors such as social capital, can significantly affect obesity. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of social capital with overweight and obesity among female health-care workers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 on 680 female health-care workers wh...

With Massachusetts Institute of Technology's bold “OpenCourseWare” initiative, one of the world's leading universities is making its teaching material accessible on the Internet, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. While this seems counter-intuitive in the trend towards commercialization in today's educational markets, I will argue that this strategy could not only prove successf...