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The purpose of this study is to examine social media use and its impacts on first generation students by answering the two questions: how do FGS use social media on college campuses, compared to their peers? How does the use of social media affect their academic experiences?

This qualitative study adopted social capital theory as a sensitizing framework for understanding the social media (SM) use and the resources valued by first-generation students (FGS) and used a revealed causal mapping method to analyze the narratives of 96 informants to identify key constructs and linkages on SM use and perceived outcomes.

The revealed causal mapping (RCM) analysis revealed nine key constructs that shaped the SM use and academic experience of FGS and their peers. The linkages among the nine constructs: three types of social capital (bridging, family bonding and friend bonding), three types of SM use (social, cognitive and hedonic) and three outcomes (academic support, emotional support and distraction to work) were different between FGS and their peers. Among FGS, SM use and perceptions differed by gender.

Leveraging social media is critical for universities to enhance FGS persistence, yet knowledge remains limited. This study showed FGS differed from their counterparts in the SM use and perceptions. Among FGS, the SM use and perceptions differed by gender. The research contributions are: (1) SM technology can empower FGS by building social capital, impacting their academic experiences and psychological well-being and (2) the intersection of gender and student generation status is worth investigation. This paper enriches FGS research by proposing a model of SM use and social capital.

Specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects that external environmental, financial and human barriers have on innovation activities, particularly, within the context of Mexican service SMEs.

Three hypotheses were formulated and tested using structural equation modelling. Data were collected through an instrument that was developed based on relevant constructs adapted from the literature. The instrument was validated using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α test and the composite reliability index to ensure reliability of the theoretical model. The instrument was distributed among service SMEs in the Aguascalientes state of Mexico, from were 308 valid responses were obtained.

In general, the results indicate that all the three barriers investigated (i.e. external environmental, financial and human) hinder innovation in service SMEs, with the external environmental barrier being the most significant of the three.

The findings of this research can inform managers of service SMEs and policy makers when formulating and implementing strategies to reduce innovation barriers.

Evidence suggests that specific research related to the study of innovation barriers in service SMEs in the Latin American region is limited. This paper fills this research gap by expanding the limited body of knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. The study also enables the distinctive characteristics of innovation barriers to be understood within a particular context, expanding in this way the body of knowledge on this field.

Green innovation and sustainability are two contemporary initiatives that are gaining more and more attention from researchers, academics and industry professionals as they are considered important business strategies to improve environmental conditions and obtain better organizational performance. Besides, the growth of uncontrolled economic activities leads to an imbalance of economic, social and environmental values in different sectors. However, little is known about the mediating role that economic, social and environmental sustainability has in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance. Previous literature has focused on developed economies, but not on a developing economy such as that of Mexico. Therefore, this research aims to fill this existing gap by exploring the mediating effects of sustainability in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance.

A theoretical research model that theorizes, through ten hypotheses, the antecedents and consequences of the mediating effect of economic, social and environmental sustainability and the occurrence between green innovation and firm performance is proposed. The model is tested through PLS-SEM using data that were collected using a questionnaire survey that was distributed among companies in the automotive industry in Mexico. In total, a sample of 460 responses was obtained.

The results suggest that green innovation has significant positive effects on economic and environmental sustainability, as well as on firm performance, but not on social sustainability. The results also indicate that the relationship between green innovation and firm performance improves considerably with the mediation of economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Despite the present study focused on an industrial sector that is commonly at the forefront of technological development, it was limited to a specific region of Mexico. Thus, its results must be taken with caution as more extensive results including other regions and nations will be required to further validate the results obtained from the present study.

The findings of this study have important implications for both policymakers and managers of manufacturing firms in the automotive industry as they can be used as a basis to formulate better strategies and policies to enhance the capabilities of companies to develop innovations that could reduce environmental risks and other consequences of climate change.

The present study adds to the innovation and sustainability body of knowledge by analyzing and discussing the mediating role of sustainability in the relationship between green innovation and firm performance. It also generates new knowledge about the mediating effect that sustainability has on the relationship between green innovation and firm performance, particularly in the context of a developing economy such as that of Mexico.

In an environment where business uncertainty is the norm, developing innovation capability in an organisation is increasingly important. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects that innovation capabilities have on the business performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the context of a regional developing and emerging economy of Mexico, in this case, Aguascalientes.

The approach of this study is quantitative. Four research hypotheses were formulated and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Data were collected through a questionnaire survey responded by 308 SMEs located in the Aguascalientes state of Mexico.

The results obtained show that innovation in products, processes, marketing and management has a positive and significant effect on the business return of Mexican SMEs.

The paper complements the limited body of knowledge currently existent in the SMEs innovation literature, particularly when compared to that of large organisations. Similar works in other settings have provided mixed results in regards to the effects that innovation capabilities have on the business performance of SMEs. Thus, this paper offers a refined understanding and validation of the relationship between innovation capabilities and business performance, especially within the context of SMEs, and insights into some of the innovation aspects that managers may consider when formulating the strategies of their organisations. Finally, it enables such relationship to be understood within a particular situation, contributing in this manner to expand the body of knowledge in the innovation field.

The authors developed a lesson study innovation for bridging pre-service teachers' experiences in an early methods course and clinical experiences focusing on the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The authors analyze one planning meeting by a lesson study team comprised of four pre-service teachers and one cooperating teacher. The purpose of this research was to determine the nature of documentation during the online planning meeting and how the cooperating teacher facilitated the documentation process.

The authors used Gueudet and Trouche's (2009) documentation framework to determine the way the lesson study team in our study used all the resources available to plan a lesson. They analyzed the video recordings of the meeting to examine the interplay between material, didactical and mathematical components during the discussions. The material components included the Teacher Desmos Activity Builder and the eTextbook. The didactical components included assessment, scaffolding, multiple representations and problem-solving activities. The mathematical components pertained to systems of linear equations and inequalities with two variables.

The authors’ findings show that the cooperating teacher performed an invariant set of actions for improving the research lesson and, also, gave recommendations about how to implement the lesson. In facilitating the planning discussions, the cooperating teacher made explicit the relationship between material, didactical and mathematical components. The authors’ work has implications for supporting the preparation of facilitators of online planning sessions during lesson study.

The authors did not have access to the planning meeting where the PSTs created the draft of the research lesson. In addition, they are reporting the observations of only one online meeting.

The authors’ work has implications for supporting the preparation of facilitators of online planning sessions during lesson study.

The purpose of this paper is to examine corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its effect on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) innovation capability and financial performance from the perspective of a developing country. It also aims to explore the role of innovation capability as a mediating factor in the linkage between CSR and SMEs’ financial performance.

A questionnaire was distributed among managers/owners of the sampled companies. Using a data set of 402 Eritrean firms and partial least squares structural equation modeling, direct and mediating effects were tested.

The result reveals that CSR has a positive and significant effect on the financial performance and innovation capability of SEMs. Besides, innovation capability has a positive and significant effect on the business performance of SMEs. The result also supports a partial mediation effect of innovation capability on the association between CSR and firm performance.

The findings from this research could enhance the awareness of the entrepreneurs, researchers and policymakers on CSR-SMEs’ relationship and help understand the importance of CSR as a crucial driver mechanism for companies to become more innovative and competitive.

By empirically examining the relationship between CSR, innovation capability and performance in SMEs, this study contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussion on the linkage between CSR and financial performance. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study investigated the mediating role of innovation capability on the link between CSR activities and firms’ financial performance in SMEs from a developing country perspective, making substantial contributions to research in terms of theory, practice and policy.