Scholars have widely recognised the importance of academic relationships between students at the university. While much of the past research has focused on studying their influence on different aspects such as the students’ academic performance or their emotional stability, less is known about their dynamics and the factors that influence the formation and dissolution of linkages between university students in academic networks. In this paper, we try to shed light on this issue by exploring through stochastic actor-oriented models and student-level data the influence that a set of proximity factors may have on formation of these relationships over the entire period in which students are enrolled at the university. Our findings confirm that the establishment of academic relationships is derived, in part, from a wide range of proximity dimensions of a social, personal, geographical, cultural and academic nature. Furthermore, and unlike previous studies, this research also empirically confirms that the specific stage in which the student is at the university determines the influence of these proximity factors on the dynamics of academic relationships. In this regard, beyond cultural and geographic proximities that only influence the first years at the university, students shape their relationships as they progress in their studies from similarities in more strategic aspects such as academic and personal closeness. These results may have significant implications for both academic research and university policies.

In a new scenario in which globalization has produced a change in the economic contexts of industrial clusters, typically formed by SMEs, the aim of this article is to clarify the role played by universities in the transmission of information and knowledge. In order to do so, we will focus on one of the clusters most affected by the effect of globalization, the Spanish textile cluster, and compare it with another Spanish cluster with higher technological levels. To achieve our goal, we have used Social Network Analysis techniques to analyse the role that two Spanish universities play in their corresponding local industrial clusters. The results offer evidence of the importance of universities, especially when knowledge exchanges are involved, in the clusters that were analysed, regardless of their differences in terms of technological requirements.

Purpose: This paper aims to systematically review the managerial literature on Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in emerging markets (EMs) through bibliometric analyses to identify incipient research streams and literature gaps and recommend avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approach: This research uses bibliographic coupling analysis (BCA) to obtain a comprehensive view of the intellectual contours within the addressed literature. The primary source utilised is the Web of Science database. A total of 345 peer-reviewed journal articles were retrieved. Complementing BCA, we use social network analysis and the content analysis of articles to study the resulting literature clusters.Findings: The results reveal four thematic clusters: (1) Adoption of I4.0 in EMs; (2) impact of I4.0 on organisational aspects and financial performance of companies and supply chains in EMs; (3) I4.0, lean management and operational performance in EMs and (4) I4.0 and the development of sustainable practices in EMs. We supplement these results with the proposal of different future avenues of research, both general and specific, for each identified cluster.Research limitations/implications: The current study has certain limitations arising from using the bibliometric method and techniques employed in the analyses.Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no comprehensive literature review article on this subject. This research is deemed valuable for future scholars as it facilitates the identification of research fronts that define the forefront of knowledge, reveals current trends and sets the stage for further exploration of key issues in the field. This, in turn, can offer valuable insights to academics, policymakers and practitioners.