This article adopts the resource-based view and the complementarities approach to examine how SMEs combine the adoption of organisational and technological innovation with investments in training activities. The results of econometric analysis on a panel dataset of about 118 Italian manufacturing SMEs furnish a quite complex picture of the effects of innovation on training. On the one hand, organisational innovation seems to be related to higher investments in (formal and informal) internal training; specifically, it is the adoption of autonomous teams and multiskilling practices that is associated with the coverage and the intensity of internal training, while job rotation is negatively associated with the coverage of external training. On the other hand, the general index of technological innovation does not show any significant relationship with training activities, while the individual technological innovation variables are associated with internal training. Specifically, the coverage of internal training is positively affected by ICT innovation and negatively affected by process innovation. These results demonstrate that SMEs have limited awareness of the risks associated with underinvesting in training during the implementation phase of the innovation process. The implication of such findings for research and practice are discussed.

We investigate how the design of compensation systems influences workers' behaviours at the organizational level by building upon the consequences of equity theory at the individual level. We identify four main gaps to fill in the existing equity-in-compensation research: i) the simultaneous analysis of internal and external inequity; ii) the distinction between inequitable and unequal compensation systems; iii) the organizational-level (rather than individual) effects of inequitable systems; and iv) the inclusion of absenteeism among the negative organizational outcomes of inequitable systems. The analysis of a sample of about 1500 Italian manufacturing firms shows that both internal and external equity are relevant factors in explaining the level of absenteeism. On the one hand, external pay equity is associated with a lower level of absenteeism, and the relationship becomes stronger when high pay levels are explained by past employees' performances. On the other hand, internal pay equity showed a more complex relationship, where blue-collar employees seem to react more in terms of absence to internal inequity than white-collars; moreover, performance-based pay policies (i.e. explained inequalities) Downloaded from Human Relations 68 (3) further enhance the extent blue-collar employees react to internal pay equity. These results have important theoretical and practical implications, and confirm that the organizational consequences of workers' behaviours are not a mere reflection of individual-level decisions.

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This study contributes to research on migrant pay disparities by analysing the impact of players' domestic/foreign status on performance‐based pay offered to professional footballers, to understand if foreign players benefit from a preferential labour market. We used information from publicly available data of 275 footballers who played for two consecutive seasons in the Italian league Serie A. We found that the relationship between previous and current performance was partially mediated by the current salary. This result reinforced earlier findings on the pay‐performance relationship, where seasonal performance is particularly relevant. Moreover, our results show that pay discrimination does not indicate a straightforward (dis)advantage for one group, but presents a more complex picture. We have examined possible underlying reasons for these disparities and offered suggestions for further research. We conclude by discussing how clubs and managers could consider incentives to strengthen pay‐performance relationships by being sensitive to the complex influence of players' origins.