The impact of knowledge management on the financial success of companies has not yet been properly researched. This paper makes a contribution by examining the relationship between sustainable sales growth and knowledge management activities in 108 Finnish small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Design Data were generated from a questionnaire survey of 108 SMEs from different fields and thematic interviews with 10 companies. Findings Higher levels of KM-Maturity were found to correlate positively with long-term sustainable growth. Although Finnish SMEs display a surprisingly high awareness about KM, only a minor proportion of the sample firms has been able to benefit in terms of growth from their KMrelated activities. The results have implications for policy formulation in the field of SMEs, since half the Finnish SMEs in the sample do not grow. We found that the fast-growing companies with high KM-Maturity are applying KM-related activities in a comprehensive and balanced way, thereby raising question marks around the effectiveness of eclectic "KM implementations". Research limitations and implications This research was carried out only in one country and the results cannot be generalised. Furthermore, this study doesn't provide any information concerning the causal relationship of knowledge management and SME performance. Therefore, further studies in the field are needed. Practical implications The results from this study also suggest that SMEs might be able to shift into higher growth by applying a comprehensive KM-approach incorporating all intangible assets equally. Value This study provides new information concerning the relationship between knowledge management and small business performance.

Growing interest has emerged in viewing the multinational corporation as a knowledge creating and diffusing entity. The importance of sharing knowledge across organizational and national boundaries has been established in previous research. However, the question of which organizational policies lead to knowledge sharing between multinational units is still not fully understood. In particular, the link between compensation mechanisms and knowledge sharing has not received attention in previous studies. By studying 164 foreign-owned subsidiaries located in Finland and China, this article attempts to identify the relationship between subsidiary bonus pay based on MNC-wide performance and knowledge sharing between different units of the MNC. In line with the knowledge-based perspective of the firm, the results suggest that incentive pay based on the collective performance of the MNC leads to greater knowledge sharing.

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The interplay between culture and leadership styles has been widely acknowledged in both academic research and practitioner-based literature. While it has been established that culture influences leadership styles, it is clear that other contextual factors also determine the appropriate leadership approach. The contingency theory of leadership posits that effective leadership behaviour is contingent on a number of contextual or situational factors, and yet there is little agreement on exactly how these factors influence leadership effectiveness (Lorsch, 2010). This study attempts to fill that void by analysing leadership as depicted in Italian author Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano novel series. The main contingency factors herein identified are key organizational activities, cultural context, the source of leader influence and the leader-follower relationship. The empirical material consisted of 11 novels in which 803 leadership situations were identified and analysed. The findings add to our understanding of leadership as a contingent phenomenon by linking a contingency theory of leadership with leadership's cultural context.