Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology

In the post-acquisition integration process, organizations need to transfer different types of knowledge from one organization to another in order to align their operational routines, practices and culture. Our aim is to identify the critical factors that relate to knowledge transfer in terms of the different knowledge types. We conducted a qualitative case study from an exploratory perspective. We first selected a case firm operating in the knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) field and then incorporated four different acquisition cases into the study. The results focus attention on the need to understand the “soft types” of critical factors in knowledge transfer, such as valuing employees, easing interpretation, identifying employee competences, building trust, creating a safe atmosphere, and diagnosing knowledge cultures in order to avoid information-management bias. It is necessary to identify the nature of the knowledge to be transferred to the acquired companies, and to align the communication patterns accordingly.

  Knowledge Transfer in Service-Business Acquisitions (412.6 KiB, 3,239 hits)

The objective of a hospitality business is to provide guests with a place where they feel welcome and appreciated, and where they can relax and have an enjoyable experience. Service is what an establishment does to and for its guests to achieve this objective. Service is not about smiling and servility. It is a strategy that considers the customer while serving the interests of the hotel. Service excellence gives an organization a competitive edge. Outstanding service makes a lot of money for a hospitality industry because the business of a hotel is people.

The paper tries to define the hotel service as a product that requires objectives, strategies, and measurable management criteria. A quantitative marketing research about tourists’ satisfaction regarding the hotels services in Romania accompanies the paper and highlights the importance of the hotels service products and e-services in the globalization age.

  Managing the Hotels Service Products and E-Services. Case Study: Researching Tourists’ Satisfaction Regarding the Hotels Services in Romania (783.7 KiB, 5,227 hits)

This research aims to analyze the degree of importance of investment and expenditure on innovation activities for entrepreneurial innovative capability, in the scope of Portuguese services firms. The literature review considers three main approaches regarding service innovation: assimilation, demarcation and synthesis. A conceptual model was proposed and several research hypotheses were empirically tested using secondary data, belonging to the 4th CIS 4, supervised by EUROSTAT. The method used will be the logistic regression model. According to the results obtained, the greater the financial investment in acquisition of machinery, equipment and software, in internal research and development, in acquisition of external knowledge, in marketing activities and other procedures, the greater the propensity for firms to innovate in terms of services. This study highlights the contributions that innovation activities can provide in what regards the development of innovation process, giving special emphasis to their service innovation.

  Innovation Activities in the Service Sector: Empirical Evidence from Portuguese Firms (783.3 KiB, 6,226 hits)