Innovation diffusion is important for both firms’ profitability and countries’ economic growth. For these reasons, policies that aim to reduce the main barriers to innovation diffusion are a relevant issue on the agenda of most policy makers. Although the importance of this topic is widely recognized, few studies explore public policies that aim to enhance innovation diffusion. This article attempts to fill this literature gap. Specifically, the study aims to clarify the role of policy makers in promoting new technology diffusion, to identify the barriers that affect the process of innovation diffusion and that are relevant for public policy makers and to analyze potential policies to overcome the main barriers to the diffusion of new relevant technologies. This study shows that public policies must simultaneously address the most relevant barriers to the diffusion of a new technology to be effective. Focusing on only specific barriers by developing policies with a too narrow scope may lead to poor results. The study explores a topic that is almost neglected in the innovation management literature. On the one hand, the article provides a conceptual framework for analyzing public policies. On the other hand, it proposes an overview of the repertoire of policies that policy makers can use to overcome the most relevant barriers to the diffusion of a new technology. In doing so, it also contributes to the debate about the role of the policy maker in the process of innovation development and diffusion

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present new insights on cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) process based on received wisdom in the literature and exploratory field interviews of several leading firms that have conducted cross-border M&As. Starting from existing literature the authors explore current trend in cross-border M&A process with the aim to pose several points for future studies. Design/methodology/approach -Based on previous studies (Brocke and Sinnl, 2011;Gogan et al., 2013;Soni and Kodali, 2011) the authors conduct a structured literature review aimed to divide M&A process in three phases evidencing for each of them the specific aspects and future development of researches. Findings -The paper evidences new strategic motivations, implementation and post-merger integration challenges, especially focussing on cultural issues. Finally the authors emphasize the need for novel indicators of acquisition success such as new and distinct capability development post acquisition. Originality/value -New trend in cross-border M&As impose to rethink the challenges and opportunities posed by cross-border M&As in a tumultuous global business environment, from strategic, cultural, organizational and financial perspectives.

While research on knowledge management in entrepreneurial organizations has been the subject of much scholarly attention, it has mostly been considered independently rather than in institutional, geographical or industrial contexts. The purpose of this special issue is to integrate the role of context with knowledge management research, and to discuss the subsequent implications for entrepreneurship. This paper draws on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, open innovation theory and the institutional perspective to knowledge management in entrepreneurial organizations, It does so in order to measure returns to investment in knowledge and knowledge spillovers across various industries and levels of economic activity (individual, firm, industry, university, region). Future research suggestions from the papers included in the special journal issue are also discussed and explained.

Interlocking directorates, in which companies are linked by the directors that serve on their boards, exist globally. It is an expression of hegemonic power exercised by the elites of a society, and has been studied with great interest by organizational sociologists, management scholars and financial economists. The interest emanates from the effect that interlocks have on wealth creation and distribution, and from the perspective that interlocks can tell us how elites in a society are networked. Although diverse theoretical perspectives have informed the research on interlocking directorates, this review shows that the Anglo-American perspective dominates. This dominance is notable not only in the volume of Anglo-American studies, but also in theories employed by international studies. For example, most international studies use agency theory to investigate the welfare implications of interlocks, but many countries do not use the Anglo-American legal regime, which is the basis for agency theory. This paper expands the theoretical basis of the review to include class hegemony and resource dependence, to articulate better the causes and consequences of interlocks in the international context. The paper also extends theory by showing that institutions have an important influence on interlocks, so that the latter can be welfare-depleting in one institutional setting, while welfare-enhancing in another. The review concludes by discussing the implication for future research.