PurposeThe aim of this paper is to analyze and measure the effects of intellectual capital (IC), i.e. human capital (HC), relational capital (RC) and structural capital (SC), on healthcare industry organizational performance and understanding the role of data analytics and big data (BD) in healthcare value creation (Wang et al., 2018). Through the assessment of determined variables specific for each component of IC, the paper identifies the guidelines and suggests propositions for a more efficient response in terms of services provided to citizens and, specifically, patients, as well as predicting effective strategies to improve the care management efficiency in terms of cost reduction.Design/methodology/approachThe study has a twofold approach: in the first part, the authors operated a systematic review of the academic literature aiming to enquire the relationship between IC, big data analytics (BDA) and healthcare system, which were also the descriptors employed. In the second part, the authors built an econometric model analyzed through panel data analysis, studying the relationship between IC, namely human, relational and structural capital indicators, and the performance of healthcare system in terms of performance. The study has been conducted on a sample of 28 European countries, notwithstanding the belonging to specific international or supranational bodies, between 2011 and 2016.FindingsThe paper proposes a data-driven model that presents new approach to IC assessment, extendable to other economic sectors beyond healthcare. It shows the existence of a positive impact (turning into a mathematical inverse relationship) of the human, relational and structural capital on the performance indicator, while the physical assets (i.e. the available beds in hospitals on total population) positively mediates the relationship, turning into a negative impact of non-IC related inputs on healthcare performance. The result is relevant in terms of managerial implications, enhancing the opportunity to highlight the crucial role of IC in the healthcare sector.Research limitations/implicationsThe relationship between IC indicators and performance could be employed in other sectors, disseminating new approaches in academic research. Through the establishment of a relationship between IC factors and performance, the authors implemented an approach in which healthcare organizations are active participants in their economic and social value creation. This challenges the views of knowledge sharing deeply held inside organizations by creating “new value” developed through a more collaborative and permeated approach in terms of knowledge spillovers. A limitation is given by a fragmented policymaking process which carries out different results in each country.Practical implicationsThe analysis provides interesting implications on multiple perspectives. The novelty of the study provides interesting implications for managers, practitioners and governmental bodies. A more efficient healthcare system could provide better results in terms of cost minimization and reduction of hospitalization period. Moreover, dissemination of new scientific knowledge and drivers of specialization enhances best practices sharing in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, an improvement in preventive medicine practices could help in reducing the overload of demand for curative treatments, on the perspective of sharply decreasing the avoidable deaths rate and improving societal standards.Originality/valueThe authors provide a new holistic framework on the relationship between IC, BDA and organizational performance in healthcare organizations through a systematic review approach and an empirical panel analysis at a multinational level, which is quite a novelty regarding the healthcare. There is little research focussed on healthcare industries' organizational performance, and, specifically, most of the research on IC in healthcare delivered results in terms of theoretical contribution and qualitative analyzes. The authors even contributed to analyze the healthcare industry in the light of the possible existence of synergies and networks among countries.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the Digital Divide (DD) and digital alphabetization (DA) on the Big Data (BD) generation process, to gain insight into how BD could become a useful tool in the decision-making process of supply chain management (SCM). Similarly, the paper aims to recognize and understand, from a value-creation perspective, the correlation between DD and BD generation and between DD and SCM. Design/methodology/approach The approach utilized in the present study consists of two steps: first, a systematic literature review was conducted aiming at finding out to determine the existing relationship between “Big Data Analytics” (BDA), “SCM” and the “DD”. A total of 595 articles were considered, and analysis showed a clear relationship among BDA, SCM, and DD. Next, the Vector autoregressive (VAR) approach was applied in a case study to prove the correlation between DD (as part of internet usage) and internet acquisitions, and in general terms the relationship between DD and Trade. Internet usage and internet acquisition in imports and exports at the European level were considered as variables in an empirical study of European trade. The novelty of this two-tiered approach consists in its application of a systematic literature review, the first of its kind, to generate inputs for the longitudinal case study of imports and exports at the EU level. In turn, the case study tested the accuracy of the theorized relationship among the main variables. Findings By analyzing the connection between DD and internet acquisitions, a positive and long-lasting impulse response function was revealed, followed by an ascending trend. This suggests that a self-multiplying effect is being generated, and it is reasonable to assume that the more individuals use the internet, the more electronic acquisitions occur. We can thus reasonably conclude that the improvement of the BD and SCM process is strongly dependent on the quality of the human factor. Tackling DA is the new reading key in the decision-making process: quantifying the added value of the human factor in SCM is challenging and is an ongoing process, based on the opportunity cost between automation in decision-making or relying on the complexity of human factors. Research limitations/implications One of the biggest limits in our research is the lack of the time series available on consumer orientations and preferences. Data on the typology of customer preferences, and how they are shaped, modified, or altered, were non-accessible, though big companies may have access to this data. The present longitudinal study on European trade helps clarify how and to what extent BDA, SCM, and DD are inter-related. The modeling of the theoretical framework likewise highlights several identifiable benefits for companies of adopting BDA in their business processes. Practical implications Understanding the obstacles to DD in trade companies and states, and identifying their influence on firm performance, serves to orient the decision-making process in SCM toward reducing DD to generate important economic benefits. Enhancing internet usage may accelerate longer-term investments in human resources, offering developing countries unprecedented opportunities to enhance their educational systems and to improve their economic policies, widening the range of opportunities for businesses and poor states. Social implications BD generation will undeniably influence microeconomic decisions: they will become evaluation tools of more efficient economic progress in small and/or large economies. However, an economically efficient society will be achievable only in those countries in which qualified human resources can generate and manage BD, to unlock its potential. This twofold effect will surely affect the socio-economic and geopolitical situation. The economic progress of conventional countries may vacillate if it is not adequately flanked by qualified human resources able to progress the information and communication technology (ICT) prevalent in contemporary economies. Consequently, the social impact of investments in ICT capacity building will necessarily affect future socio-economic scenarios. New indicators will become necessary to measure the conventional progress, and one of them will surely be DD. Originality/value The novelty of the present study is twofold: first, it is the first meticulous meta-analysis developed using a very wide analysis of the published literature to highlight a previously hidden relationship among DD, BD, and SCM. This comparative approach made it possible to build a theoretical framework for the real evaluation of the impact of BDA on different organizational elements, including SCM. Second, the research emphasizes the need to reform and reshape the studies on BDA, convincing companies that it is necessary to understand that the obstacles (DD and DA, i.e. internet usage) must be addressed with conscious decision-making processes, strategically and resolutely, to transform points of weakness into opportunities.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the real impact of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) skills mismatch on SME’s (small and medium enterprises) sustainable competitiveness in the presence of a guaranteed minimum wage. As part of public policies—the minimum wage needs to maintain a balance between increasing employment and not being a burden for the companies, leading them to bankruptcies, especially in times of disruptive change, in which economies have to be more resilient. The rapid progress in information and communication technologies has dramatically redefined rising unemployment as a result of skills mismatch. This paper aims to understand, on the one hand, whether there is a match between the supply demand of ICT skills, and how increasingly powerful digital technologies affect the skills, jobs, and demand for human labor. On the other hand, it aims to understand whether increasing productivity and a fair minimum wage could be an integrated approach for stimulating SME’s in increasing sustainable competitiveness.

Abstract-This paper aims to understand if knowledge sharing through social media is suitable for all types of cultures and if cultural dimensions can interfere or facilitate the diffusion of information.

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