Absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a function of systematic knowledge management is widely recognized as the catalyst for successful innovation performance in firms, particularly when it comes to identifying business opportunity information from the outside world and assimilating it into a firm’s innovation process. The concept of absorptive capacity became a widely researched topic in the area of organization and management, consequently, the definition of the ACAP components, its operationalization and outcomes, is extremely heterogeneous and has greatly affected the research production on ACAP. Therefore, the question arising is: Which approach to absorptive capacity will enable its being truly recognized as a concept at a global level, and in which areas of economy and business is ACAP most frequently encountered, particularly when it is connected to innovation processes? Based on a sample of 1288 papers within Web of Science Core Collection, this paper presents a bibliometric analysis of relevant publications on ACAP with the specific aim of gaining a deeper insight into the relevance of the impact of absorptive capacity on a firm’s innovation strategy. The results were systematized in a form of quantitative bibliographic review. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the existing level of the empirical and theoretical efforts in the research on ACAP, with a particular focus on firms and their innovation processes as well as knowledge management processes.

The institutional environment in which multinational companies act is unique and complex. It is unique in the sense that the subsidiaries of multinational companies are facing dual pressures from both the host country and the country of the parent company. Further, the complexity of the environment presumes the need for global integration and the need for the local adaptation. Although some countries are characterized by a more favorable institutional environment for establishing and expanding business, in other countries the institutional environment is a challenge for multinational companies. In this paper, the author will present the current theoretical knowledge and references in already conducted research regarding the institutional distance in the context of multinational companies and its subsidiaries.

Social entrepreneurship is a relatively new topic of interest within the academic and the literature on it is limited. With the increase of interest in recent years from various interest groups the concept of social enterprise has become more widespread. The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between social entrepreneurship and voluntourism, as one of the types of special interest tourism. Voluntourism, according to the concept of sustainable community development, relate all the stakeholders of such development. Moreover, social entrepreneurship could become an important vehicle for sustainable development of destinations. This paper proposes that niche tourism products and more specifically, voluntourism projects, under the prism of social entrepreneurship, can become the means towards Croatian product diversification and long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability. Quantitative research was conducted and the methodology entails a case study approach. Results indicate that there are limited number of projects concerning social entrepreneurship in voluntourism in Croatia and also that discussed projects are not recognized. This study assessed the situation in Croatia and although it was comprehensive under conditions of limited data availability, it cannot speak to social entrepreneurship in voluntourism globally, but it can offer foundation for future research in this area.

Certain tasks in the Republic of Slovenia are in the domain of the state or local community. In order to carry out these tasks, state-owned or public companies have been established.

The management of such companies is not always good and transparent, and as a result it often leads to considerable damage to public property. Such situations are mostly caused by poor management by the management boards, and rarely by poor and inadequate control by the supervisory boards. They are also the result of poor and inadequate communication between the management and supervisory boards. Unfortunately, poor governance does not occur in isolated cases and the mismanagement of such companies is often only introduced to the public through affairs that are presented in the media.

There are, however, also some positive exceptions with good and transparent corporate governance that bring profits to the shareholders and, consequently, lower the prices of individual services for citizens.

The preparedness for outbreaks of pandemics such as the COVID-19 is a major concern for health authorities and leaders as extensive studies in the past have been reported and well documented. However, engaging with the response to an outbreak demands many decisions with enormous implications on a population and its regions. A review of past response mechanisms sheds light on different scenarios to provide an understanding of the challenges that will emerge, depicting trends, changes to GDP and the impact on the economy and employment. With this article we aim to identify and bring to light the challenges faced by Malta during the pandemic we are currently facing - COVID. This will help risk managers and leaders understand the devastating social and economic impact of such disruptions and act proactively to avoid repetition and embarrassments of being unprepared. Moreover we aim to provide an understanding of the expected cascading economic domino effects, which may result from the workforce unavailability, during a pandemic and the mistakes in estimation, if any, that could have been avoided. A desk research study technique was adopted whereby data was collected from existing sources, including government websites, online statistics, published reports, trends and internal data to the local Maltese markets. The COVID-19 phenomena led to new measures being taken worldwide as professionals, leaders, academics and businesses took unpredecented steps to change their business as usual strategies. This in turn brought about various questions and discussions on how islands like Malta controlled their situation.