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Social media offer many opportunities for organizations but present, at the same time, many challenges, too. Particular attention must be paid to the new patterns of behavior emerging in organizations. We argue that these patterns derive both from the technical characteristics of the virtual environment and also from specific social structural conditions currently emerging. By referring to two case studies, we want to highlight and discuss the implications of these current developments and their opportunities, threats and consequences for Human Resource Management. Our analysis will be supported by theories and research on the reproduction of rules and norms, on the one hand, and on social structural studies about digital natives and Generation Y, on the other. In order to sharpen our argument and to highlight the challenges of social media for human resource management, we propose the concept and notion of a 'parallel world.' "A brave new (digital) world"? Konsequenzen von in-house Social Media für das Personalmanagement Die Nutzung von Social Media bietet viele Möglichkeiten für Organisationen, aber auch zahlreiche Herausforderungen. Vor allem die Emergenz neuer Verhaltensmuster seitens der Organisationsmitglieder gilt es zu berücksichtigen. Diese, so unsere Argumentation, lassen sich sowohl aus den technischen Besonderheiten virtueller Umgebungen als auch aus besonderen, gegenwärtig emergierenden sozialstrukturellen Konstellationen herleiten. Dies hat auch Konsequenzen für das Personalmanagement, was in dem vorliegenden Beitrag anhand zweier Fallstudien exemplifiziert und diskutiert werden soll. Argumentativ gestützt wird die Analyse von Theorien und Studien zur Reproduktion von Regeln und Normen einerseits, und sozialstrukturellen Studien zu Digital Natives bzw. zur Generation Y andererseits. Zur scharfen Konturierung gegenüber der Offline-Welt mit Blick auf das Personalmanagement schlagen wir vor, Social Media mit Attributen einer ‚Parallelwelt' zu versehen.

The innovative capability of an organisation depends on the intellectual capital that it possesses. Our research attempts to examine the influence individual intellectual capital components have on the innovativeness and consequent growth of a company. This article proposes a classification and measurement method of intellectual capital, highlighting the following three components; human capital, organisational capital, and social capital. Our aim is to explain innovation performance and company growth by showing the importance of each intellectual capital dimension on a specific type of innovation (product, process, marketing, and organisational). To this end, a questionnaire survey was performed on 2800 Slovenian and 1700 Croatian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism area. A data sample of 359 companies was analysed using SPSS 19 and the EQS 6 statistical programme to employ multivariate data analyses techniques through developed hypotheses.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the entrepreneurship knowledge construct with its dimensions and its significance for the firm performance via a model. This research attempts to comprehensively examine the criteria for measuring entrepreneurial knowledge performance outcomes in small and medium enterprises. To date no studies developed a set of widely accepted measurement criteria associated to entrepreneur knowledge and firm performance. This paper, therefore, aims to fill the gap.Design/methodology/approachExisting studies on entrepreneurial knowledge were reviewed and their limitations were identified. Mailed structured questionnaire data for this study were collected from SME in Slovenia (168 usable responses). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model.FindingsThe model hypothesis on the relationship among entrepreneurial knowledge and performance were mainly supported, thus reflecting the positive effect of entrepreneurial knowledge and all its dimensions on SME performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to Slovenian SME, but can be generalised to other regions.Practical implicationsEntrepreneurial knowledge can have beneficial effects on the firm's growth and profitability. The findings can be used to guide entrepreneur in developing different dimensions of knowledge.Originality/valueThis study proved latent elements of entrepreneurial knowledge model. It gives valuable information, which hopefully will help SMEs to respect more the meaning of knowledge.

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Innovativeness in companies in the tourism sector can reasonably be considered to be one of the most important factors of performance. This paper highlights the importance of two determinants of tourism firms' innovativeness -namely, market and entrepreneurial orientation -focusing on the tourism sector. A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested based on 91 Slovenian tourism SMEs. The results of the study reveal the positive impact of a market and entrepreneurial orientation on innovativeness, the positive relationship of innovativeness with firm performance, and the importance of antecedents of innovativeness and their impacts on performance. Thus, tourism firms should be encouraged to introduce more entrepreneurial and marketing activities to increase innovativeness, which fosters better firm performance. On this basis, a greater competitive advantage can be reached.

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to use a structural equation modelling technique to verify a theoretically proposed model of knowledge management (KM). Design/methodology/approach -Existing studies on KM were reviewed and their limitations were identified. Mailed structured questionnaire data for this study were collected from small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovenia (168 usable responses). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model. Findings -The hypothesis on the multidimensionality of KM model were mainly supported.Research limitations/implications -The study is limited to Slovenian SMEs, but can be generalised to other regions. The study offers important contributions for research (KM construct) and for practice (improvements in SME KM). Practical implications -KM can have beneficial effects on the firm's growth and profitability. The findings can be used to guide entrepreneur in efficient management of different dimensions of knowledge.Originality/value -This study proved latent elements of KM model in SME. It gives valuable information, which hopefully will help SMEs to respect more the meaning of knowledge and KM.