Joana Costa

Abstract
The present study examines the impact of family ownership and control on the internationalization strategies of Portuguese manufacturing firms. The study contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence that different forms of international market presence are asymmetrically influenced by family control and by underscoring the importance of innovative strategies. The analysis includes a sample of 25,533 firms observed from 2018 to 2021. Econometric models address the role of ownership in alternative internationalization endeavors, demonstrating that these firms differ from their non-family counterparts. By comparing the export propensity, intensity, and reach of family businesses to non-family businesses, the research sheds light on the challenges faced by family-owned firms and the significance of structural characteristics such as technological regimes and regional competitive advantages. The findings emphasize the negative impact of family presence on internationalization while highlighting the importance of innovation and ecosystem support. Additionally, the study contributes to the empirical refinement of firm classification by proposing a more reliable segmentation method. It also presents alternative econometric methods to appraise internationalization strategies better. Future research directions are suggested, particularly regarding the use of additional information related to innovation and human capital, offering insights for enhancing the global engagement of family businesses in global markets. This research provides valuable empirical evidence and practical implications for policymakers and practitioners seeking to support the required actions to promote the growth and internationalization of family businesses in the context of the Portuguese manufacturing industry.

Abstract
In today's knowledge-driven economy, collaboration among stakeholders is essential for the framing of innovative trends, with knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) playing a core role in addressing market demand. Users' involvement in shaping products and services has been considered in innovation ecosystem frameworks. Fewer risks in service/product development, and more sustainability and market acceptance, are a few of the benefits arising from including the user community (UC) in innovation partnerships. However, the need for resources, absorptive capacity and tacit knowledge, among other capabilities, is often a reason for overlooking this important contributor. KIBS possess a vast knowledge base, cater to digital tools, and mediate and propel innovation with different partners, benefiting from exclusive cognitive proximity to remix extant knowledge with emergent information from communities into new products and services. The aim of this study is to assess and quantify the effect of the collaboration with UC through three active forms of collaboration (co-creation, mass customization, and personalization) on different innovation types developed in KIBS. The significance of the user community was proven across all innovation types. Robustness analysis confirmed the results for both P-KIBS and T-KIBS. P-KIBS may be better suited to co-creation policies for product and service innovation, personalization of processes, and organizational and marketing innovations. T-KIBS can focus on mass customization, ensuring good innovation success. Additionally, co-creation with user community is best for product innovation.

Abstract
Leadership styles and human capital are important drivers of innovation processes. The way the leader interacts with the organization members can pre-empt or leverage innovation processes as leaders influence, empower and motivate other individuals in the achievement of their goals. Human capital is an important driver of innovation and competitiveness, as it will shape the uniqueness of the company as well as the process to obtain skills, capabilities, knowledge and expertise. As such, the main objectives of the paper are to analyze the impact of leadership styles on the innovation process and also to address the moderation effect of the human capital on the previous relation. Four leadership styles-autocratic, transactional, democratic, and transformational-were considered to measure their impacts on the innovation process, considering the alternative types of innovations. The 2018 Community Innovation Survey (CIS) database was used, encompassing Portuguese data, covering the 2016-2018 period, with a sample of 13702 firms. In regard to the empirical part, first, an exploratory analysis was run to better understand the connection between the leadership styles and the innovative strategies followed by an econometric estimation encompassing 28 logit models to disentangle the specific impacts of each leader on each innovation type. Evidence proves that autocratic and transactional leadership styles have a negative impact on innovation and transformational and democratic leadership impact innovation positively. Furthermore, human capital was found to moderate the relationship between leadership styles and the innovation process; i.e., under the same leadership style, the presence of additional skills leverages innovative propensity. The paper brings relevant insights for both managers and policymakers, highlighting that innovation will be accelerated if firms implement more participatory (democratic and transformational) leadership styles and also if they invest in competences to promote knowledge internalization and share. All in all, participatory leadership combined with the internal skills is proved to be an efficient combination for innovation to take place; as such, policy instruments must promote the coexistence of these two factors.

Abstract
Disentangling innovation from growth is unrealistic in the present times. Also, anticipating the future behavior of innovative firms is relevant to the entire innovation ecosystem; and assessing the persistence of innovation and appraising the role of factors affecting ongoing innovation activities in firms is essential. This chapter discusses a very important subject related to the concept of innovation persistence in relation to structural innovation characteristics of firms, with a focus on technological regimes, to better understand if there is change in innivation continuity accordingly to the technological intensity embedded in the sector. The empirical research is based on data from CIS database, comprising 3237 firms which present in the 2014 and 2018 waves. We analyze the innovative persistence behavior of these firms regarding proxies like firm dimension, innovation activities, types of innovation, government funding, and more importantly, technological regimes. To do this, we applied binary logistic regression for developing a model which can forecast the drivers of innovation persistency propensity. The presented study shows that some very important results are achieved. Besides demonstrating innovative persistency in 75% of science-based firms, the findings confirm that firms in high-tech and science-based industries are more prone to continue innovating and, as a result, this consistency in innovation will generate virtuous cycles of innovation. Furthermore, our data shows that complex innovators are more likely to persist than single innovators, proving the existence of complementarities among the innovation types.

Abstract
The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how retailers have used the digital transformation to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19. As this research aims to understand a real-life phenomenon for which there is very limited knowledge, we created the opportunity to empirically explore the digital transformation in the retail industry during COVID-19 pandemic. In general terms, the research follows a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory case study design. The results have shown that retailers should focus on technological innovations, adapt their business models, manage their distribution channels, and strengthen their customer-centric strategy. Moreover, it is necessary to emphasize that while smart retail is gradually standing out in the sector, there are also some factors that have not been overcome, such as lack of digital culture, training, and digital leadership. Despite these identified difficulties, the adoption of a digital strategy will allow a differentiating, safe and secure shopping experience, which today is one of the decisive factors for the survival of companies. The COVID-19 pandemic had social and economic effects in all industries - retail was no exception. In turn, the digital technologies already used by companies began to contribute to retailers being able to respond more quickly to customer needs, having been fundamental in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is one of the first to explore this topic, bringing new contributions to theory and managerial practice.