Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key criteria underpinning network-facilitated green innovation capability development in micro-firms.Design/methodology/approach: Micro-firms, those firms with less than ten full-time employees, need to continuously innovate in order to sustain their business in the emerging green economy. This study uses an interpretive multiple case approach to explore micro-firm owner-manager (O/M) green innovation activities, encompassing O/M views on facilitated network engagement in Ireland and Canada over a 12-month period.Findings: The findings show that proactive implementation of green innovation is influenced by the O/M’s natural environment orientation and the potential for economic gain, while facilitated networks provide an additional resource that the O/M can draw from that allows the O/M to test new ideas, comprehend new and existing legislation and identify potential supports in pursuit of green innovation capability development within the micro-firm.Research limitations/implications: This study offers a contribution to knowledge in the areas of green innovation, micro-firm capabilities and facilitated network engagement. However, the sample size is small and distance was a challenge, yet data and case protocols are in place which allow for replication of the study. As the research is embedded in the resource and capability theories, alternative theoretical frameworks may shed a different light on the research question.Originality/value: Prior studies have found that facilitated networks have a positive impact on micro-firm sustainability as these networks enhance the firm’s constrained resource base. The proposed framework can be used as a guideline for support organisations including facilitated networks in assisting micro-firms in reaching their green innovation goals and objectives. It can also be used by micro-firms in the attainment of the green innovation capability.

Learning networks are highlighted in contemporary literature as a means of leveraging resources to create and sustain competitive advantage in micro-firms. Despite their importance in the context of micro-firm development, micro-firm learning, learning processes and networks have previously been neglected as an area of academic study, and there is limited evidence of successful cooperative strategies in this environment. The aim of the research discussed in this paper is to catalogue micro-firm learning criteria in a cooperative network environment and to propose a framework of cooperative learning for that milieu. Adopting an action research methodology, primary research was carried out on a Tourism Learning Network (TLN) initiative. Cooperative network activity and individual learning were observed and documented by the researchers over two years. Based on the research findings, the authors propose a framework of cooperative learning that offers insight into how network structures, support and interrelationships may facilitate learning process completion in the micro-firm environment.

Facilitated networks are regularly cited in tourism literature as a means to promote sustainable competitive advantage in small tourism firms. These networks function for a variety of reasons including marketing, innovation and research and development; however learning networks specifically seek to encourage learning among tourism entrepreneurs. Once established, the question remains whether such networks can transition from facilitated cooperative learning strategies to become independent learning communities in the longer term. Little is known about the formation, maintenance or success of these types of learning relationships after facilitated learning structures and supports reach a conclusion. What is known is that these networks, labelled “evolving learning communities” (ELCs) by the authors, are devoid of formal structures, thus autonomy in their structural and relational reasoning is required. In this paper, the authors explore a facilitated tourism learning network (TLN) environment operating in Ireland, and discuss the potential to transition from a facilitated TLN to an independent learning network environment. Following a comprehensive literature review, the authors propose an ELC model for the purposes of mapping the tourism entrepreneur's learning development, from the autonomous business setting to the facilitated learning network environment and on to the independent learning network arena, illustrating the evolution of a learning community. The overriding research objective is to explore the elements and relationships that influence entrepreneurial learning in tourism learning networks. Future research will inform and validate the proposed model through the completion of a longitudinal interpretive case study incorporating sub-studies for the purposes of cross-validation.