Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to develop a measure of competitive advantage by identifying a stipulative definition, composing an operational definition and constructing a measurement variable. Design/methodology/approach – The paper undertakes critical literature review, cognitive interviews as well as a pilot and full study, which were carried out by applying a cross-sectional, self-administered e-mail survey with questionnaire in a fillable text-processing file, in order to develop a valid and reliable measure of competitive advantage. Findings – The results have led to the identification of a conceptually robust stipulative definition, the composition of a comprehensive operational definition and the construction of a qualified variable, making the development of a valid and reliable measure of competitive advantage possible. Research limitations/implications – The newly developed measure of competitive advantage, exempt from past conceptual problems, could be used for valid measurements in future empirical studies in the field of strategic management. At the same time, authors encourage future tests of the newly developed measure's reliability and validity. Practical implications – The provision of a conceptually clear stipulating definition and a comprehensive operational definition for competitive advantage could increase practicing managers’ awareness relating to the conceptual nature as well as the latent expressions of competitive advantage. Originality/value – The findings contribute to the evolution of the strategic management field by providing a valid and reliable measure of competitive advantage that is applicable under any leading theoretical perspective in strategic management and it could better serve the needs of both empirical research and management practice.

Knowledge management (KM) has been gradually established as a strong methodology to support business viability, competitiveness and growth; however, the lack of maturity is obvious, as evidenced by divergent points of view in critical sub‐domains of the related theory and practice, such as the spectrum of processes and the clusters of tactics scheduled to underpin them. The systems thinking logic, the discipline for seeing structures underlying complex phenomena, is perceived as a promising direction for consolidating the various approaches and developing a holistic KM paradigm. Through the integration of the fragmented landscape of knowledge management on a transparent and concrete framework based on cause‐effect relationships, not only the underlying theoretical assumptions are clarified and subjected to further analysis at a strategic level, but also practical issues concerning planning and decision making become less complicated, increasing effectiveness.

Purpose-To investigate the impact of the internet in ''traditional'' market rules. Design/methodology/approach-An opinion piece based on Michael Porter's arguments for the new economy. Finding-Michael Porter's arguments for the new economy provide a useful starting point in the analysis of the environment. His arguments are based on exaggerated phenomena. Factors that determine a sector's profitability could be enriched with the innovation that prevails in the particular sector. Originality/value-An attempt to criticize Porter's thoughts regarding internet and industry structure and to enrich the Porter's five forces model with the ''power of innovation''.

No abstract

Information Systems, Sustainable Development and Hotel Branding are the main study areas of this specific research. In recent years, many technologies have been which have started to be implemented in the hospitality industry, but the full potential of these technologies has not yet been analyzed in order to understand how they could help companies to develop branding strategies and increase the customer’s loyalty and business performance. Moreover, due to the pandemic crisis due to COVID-19, hotel companies have to manage a new crisis, which affects both the economic and social pillars of their sustainable development. Therefore, the hospitality industry must be more flexible in adopting information technologies and sustainable philosophies, firstly for their own survival and secondly to strengthen their position inside the task environment. The methodology approach was based both on the literature review and qualitative methodology, which was conducted through questionnaires. The aim of this research is to analyze the above concepts and see how this combination could lead the hotel companies to develop a competitive advantage inside their task environment. The findings of this research concern the region of Greece. They reveal that there is a strong correlation among the above concepts, and each company should start to adopt sustainable philosophy, use information technologies, and develop new branding strategies.