Purpose The paper aims to investigate the standpoints and practices of university members from European developing countries regarding the harnessing of the intellectual capital (IC) within online academic social networks. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey with 210 university members was conducted, with the indicators adopting prior measurement scales which were further adapted to a network framework. Findings The organizational policies and practices relate positively and highly significantly with the valuation of the network-based IC components. Moreover, 63 per cent of the professional and organizational competitiveness of higher education institutions is determined by the exploitation of the IC embedded in online academic networks. Research limitations/implications All survey respondents were from the European developing countries, which may limit the general applicability of the findings. Also, the emphasis is laid solely on online academic networks. Practical implications This paper brings to the fore both the potential and the state-of-the-art in leveraging the IC of online specialized networks which are indicative of the academic field. When acknowledged as such, the network-based IC is liable to generate substantial competitive advantages at the professional and organizational levels at the same time. Originality/value This research adds to the extant literature in two main ways. First, it advances a new construct – network-based IC – in the context of the online academic social networks. Second, it proposes a research model for addressing the network-based IC from a competitive advantage perspective.

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The current study aims to theoretically investigate the opportunities and vulnerabilities apposite for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), insisting on the internationalization conditions, and to empirically explore the European initiatives meant to support the SMEs in their various endeavors, from accessing relevant knowledge to deploying successful operations in foreign markets. To this end, a qualitative research was conducted through the case study method. Over 10 European initiatives were described and more than 20 relevant documents available on official European websites were analyzed. The underlying assumption for conducting this study resided in the fact that a better understanding of the European context describing SMEs performance would provide valuable insights to the actors interested in their future business activity, specifically in their cross-border projects and operations. Moreover, a refined outlook would enlarge their vision of the existing opportunities and thus catalyze the process of converting current challenges into positive results.