Purpose: Knowledge assumes a pivotal role in the open innovation (OI) paradigm. Yet OI has been scantly investigated by adopting a knowledge management (KM) lens. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review of the KM practices analysed by prior literature to support OI activities. Design/methodology/approach: To perform a valuable literature review, the steps for systematic review proposed by previous studies have been adopted. These steps have yielded a final sample of 34 articles. Afterward, the authors have distinguished and analysed the identified articles according to the three main OI processes, i.e. inbound, outbound and coupled OI processes. Findings: This research groups and highlights the most relevant KM practices to support OI activities on the basis of the inbound, outbound and coupled OI processes. Originality/value: Despite knowledge is the most relevant resource exchanged in OI activities, this is the first attempt to highlight how knowledge should be managed in an OI context by adopting a KM lens. Furthermore, the authors also identify relevant topics that have been so far understudied, which the authors suggest as future research directions.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how the adoption of an open innovation (OI) strategy, that is acquiring externally developed knowledge, influences the innovation performance of firms and how this relationship is moderated by the recruitment of highly educated employees and the implementation of employee training activities.Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted an analysis based on the results of the 2010-2012 Italian Innovation Survey and considered only manufacturing firms. Accordingly, the econometric analysis was based on 2,836 firm-observations.Findings: The study reveals that acquiring externally developed knowledge positively affects the innovation performance of firms. Additionally, while the moderation effect due to recruiting highly educated employees is not statistically significant, the implementation of training activities negatively moderates the investigated relationship.Research limitations/implications: The present research confirms the positive effects of the adoption of OI strategies on the innovation performance of firms and, additionally, shows that implementing employee training activities may negatively influence the abovementioned relationship.Practical implications: The present study suggests that firms acquiring externally developed knowledge should be careful in performing employee training activities, since they may hinder the positive effects of adopting OI strategies.Originality/value: This study contributes to the OI literature, by showing the positive effects of the acquisition of externally developed knowledge on the innovation performance of firms and by analysing the moderating role of human resources management practices, which is an aspect scantly discussed in the literature.

Sustainability has become an important driver in defining business strategies, affecting most critical corporate functions and changing the way in which value is created, communicated, and distributed. This is increasingly impacting marketing practices, in particular, through promoting the development of sustainable marketing in the food sector. In line with this, our study aimed to investigate if and how sustainable marketing practices affect consumer loyalty to a specific brand. To answer our research questions, we relied on the results of a survey submitted to a sample of 907 Italian consumers of biscuits. Results showed that the consumers’ attention to sustainable issues (in the absence of adequate information that can guide them in choosing a brand) did not result in brand loyalty. The same outcome was found when consumers were overloaded by marketing campaigns, which had the effect of confusing users and making them unfaithful. Ultimately, when consumers showed both engagement with sustainable concerns and sensitivity to marketing initiatives (i.e., they are sensitive to sustainable marketing practices), a positive effect on brand loyalty was observed. Our results contribute to the emerging stream of literature discussing the relevance and potential impact of sustainable marketing.

In this paper, we introduce the themes addressed and the approaches used in this Special Issue to investigate the relationship between business model innovation and sustainability in the hospitality and tourism industry. After presenting the topics under investigation, we briefly discuss how the articles in the collection allow to unveil firms’ approaches used to innovate their business model focusing upon sustainable practices and goals. Therefore, by offering multiple perspectives of analysis, this Issue increases our comprehension and understanding of which sustainable strategies companies may adopt to compete in the tourism and hospitality sector.