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In today's dynamic business landscape, large corporations are increasingly recognizing the value of collaboration with start-ups as a means to drive innovation, explore new market opportunities, and gain a competitive edge. To fully leverage the potential of such collaborations, these corporations need to develop specific capabilities that enable them to effectively identify, seize, and capitalize on promising collaboration opportunities. The primary goal of this research work is to propose the concept of Start-up Acceleration Capability (SAC) as a higher-order dynamic capability that enables large corporations to fully leverage collaboration with start-ups. The paper begins by reviewing the relevant literature on corporate-start-up collaboration and provides an overview of the dynamic capability framework and its micro-foundations. Subsequently, SAC is defined as a dynamic capability that combines three key components: sensing, seizing, and (re)configuring. Each component is examined in detail, highlighting the key micro-foundations that underpin its effectiveness and success. The findings provide valuable guidance for practitioners seeking to develop and strengthen SAC within their organizations and contribute to the existing literature on collaboration with start-ups, innovation management, and entrepreneurship. This research aims to advance knowledge and understanding in the field and provide guidance to practitioners and scholars seeking to maximize the value of start-up collaborations.

The digital transition is transforming society in general and industry in particular, so much so that the concept of Industry 4.0 is by now widespread and consolidated. However, there is the risk that too pronounced a focus on technology may lead to losing sight of the centrality of human resources. Among others, the European Commission has urged greater attention from research and industry on the human factor. There is a need for further theorizing concerning the role of humans in a digitalized industry. Understanding what is known in the literature on human resource management in an Industry 4.0 context is an important first step toward defining a roadmap for enhancing the human factor in a digitized industry. To achieve this goal, we conducted a systematic analysis of the literature. We used a text-mining approach implemented via the MySLR software platform, which uses latent Dirichlet allocation, to analyze 566 papers published in academic journals. In this way, we were able to identify the main trends in the literature, the most frequently analyzed topics, and the gaps and possible future developments. Our study provides a synthesis of the research in this domain, as well as a research framework based on three pillars related to the technological, human-centric, and organizational perspectives. The results provide researchers and managers with a clear and updated overview of research in the field of human resource management in the context of Industry 4.0, as well as future research directions.

Start-up collaboration units (SCUs) are organizational units specifically created by large companies to facilitate collaboration with start-ups within their corporate innovation ecosystems (CIEs). The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of SCUs with reference to the transfer of knowledge between start-ups and large companies in collaborative innovation projects. An embedded case study was undertaken with three large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector. Interviews were conducted with managers of the three OEMs, of the intermediaries they collaborate with, and of the start-ups involved. Data were systematically coded and analyzed. The main barriers to knowledge exchange in partnerships between large companies and start-ups were identified, i.e. mismatches in the interpretation of knowledge and mismatches in the expectations of the partners. In addition, strategies have been identified that can be used by SCUs to facilitate knowledge flows, namely building networks, integrating communication, knowledge elicitation, orchestrating dialog, thinking outside the box, and increasing agility. This study is one of the first to focus on SCUs. It contributes to understanding collaborative innovation processes involving start-ups by studying the knowledge-broker role played by SCUs in the complex network of actors (large companies, start-ups, innovation intermediaries, public institutions) that make up a CIE.