Purpose This study aims to better understand entrepreneurial learning in the context of venture acceleration programs. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research strategy was used based on multiple in-depth interviews with 21 lead entrepreneurs complemented with participatory observations and secondary sources. The data were inductively analysed following the Gioia methodology (Gioia et al., 2012). Findings The authors build on experiential learning theory to generate a process-focussed model exploring the learning dynamics that venture acceleration programs can facilitate. In this model, the authors identify three catalysts that trigger processes of experiential learning and two contingencies that alleviate the effects of the catalysts on learning outcomes. The findings suggest that the potential of venture acceleration programs to be effective learning environments pends on the presence and quality of these catalysts and contingencies. Originality/value The findings provide novel insights on how venture acceleration programs trigger entrepreneurial learning, thereby offering a deeper understanding of the learning dynamics in this setting.

This study seeks to gain a better understanding of how small late internationalising (mature) firms operating in mature industry contexts, which seem largely ignored in international entrepreneurship research, identify primary and subsequent international opportunities. Integrating international opportunity and network literature, as well as adopting a multiple case study design, we build on the evidence obtained from two Swedish and two Norwegian late internationalising firms operating in medium-technology industries. Our findings highlight the vital importance of business ties for identification of both primary and subsequent international opportunities by mature firms operating in mature industries. We find that such firms may identify their primary international opportunities by both discovery and creation. Furthermore, the firms’ reputation in the domestic market, accumulated technological knowledge and needs for product customisation and/or customer involvement in product development, may indicate whether the firms tend to discover primary international opportunities or create them either by strengthening existing business ties or by forming new ones. With regard to subsequent international opportunities, creation is found to be a more likely way to identify opportunities. We show that ‘false’ (identified but not pursued) international opportunities, apart from generating a beneficial learning experience for both entrepreneurs and firms, prompt the entrepreneurs to (i) realise the urgency of needed strategic changes and (ii) identify future learning content, i.e. knowledge which should be acquired by the firm for successful pursuit of subsequent international opportunities.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine professional service firms’ (PSFs) motives and benefits related to their engagement in knowledge transfer interactions with universities via their employees also acting as adjunct professors (APs). Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative approach relying mainly on data collected via semi-structured interviews with both top managers and APs employed by five engineering consultancies operating in Sweden. Findings The findings suggest that, while seeking stability is the major determinant of engagement in relations with universities via APs, PSFs highpoint the significance of reciprocity and legitimacy motives. The most substantial benefits appear to be related to firms’ access to academic research, core competencies and human resource development as well as marketing outcomes. Benefits are found to be dynamic in character with higher-order benefits being generated by low-order over time. Research limitations/implications The findings rely on a small sample of PSFs and should be verified by future research with larger samples of PSFs operating in a broader range of industries and national contexts. Practical implications The study results may be of interest to managers of both firms and universities interested in establishing, formalising or broadening university-industry interactions. Originality/value The study advances the current knowledge on the rationales of service firms engaged in various university-industry knowledge transfer interactions by making empirical and conceptual contributions to the understanding of adjunct professorship as a particular form of such interactions.

Purpose The purpose of this two-part study is to systematically review, analyze and critically synthesize the current state of empirical research on knowledge loss induced by organizational member turnover (KLT). Design/methodology/approach This study is based on using a systematic literature review methodology reported in Part I. Findings Part II of this study contributes to the advancement of KLT scholarship by offering: an integrative narrative of KLT coping and preventive mechanisms as well as factors affecting them; an organizing framework of KLT empirical literature; and suggestions for future research, which are discussed with respect to the content, based on the proposed framework and by extending contextual dimensions of “who”, “where” and “when”, as well as use of theories and methods. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations related to inclusion/exclusion criteria used for creating the review sample and the “Antecedents–Phenomenon–Outcomes” logic used to synthesize the findings. Originality/value Part II of this study offers a systematic synthesis of KLT empirical research with respect to KLT coping and preventive mechanisms and a discussion of opportunities for future research.

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