Abstract The model analyzes the positive moderating role of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in the innovative outcomes of the firms. It focuses on ACAP as a moderating variable of the innovative efforts that firms develop or have the chance of incorporating from outside and not just as an antecedent of the innovation results. The empirical evidence collected comes from a study conducted on 189 SMEs working in IT services in Argentina and the results prove the main hypothesis of how ACAP is a positive moderating factor of the innovative effort of firms, even in the case of the connections created by their the participation in international networks not having a high correlation. Some suggestions for policymaker managers and future lines of research are provided.

O turismo é um dos mais importantes impulsionadores económicos para muitos países. A indústria das agências de viagens está intimamente ligada ao turismo. Esta indústria está a ser afectada pela crise económica global. Por esse motivo é necessário criar novas formas de marketing de modo a superar a crise. O franchising é uma boa opção para muitas empresas que desejam vencer a crise expandindo a sua marca. O principal objectivo deste estudo é analisar a actual situação e as possíveis tendências do franchising de agências de viagens. Um outro objectivo é identificar possíveis grupos estratégicos no interior da indústria das agências de viagens, operando em sistemas de franchising. Para este propósito focamo-nos num sistema de franchising desenvolvido, como é o caso do mercado espanhol. Alguns resultados interessantes são obtidos neste estudo.

Tourism is one of the main economic drivers for many countries. The travel agency industry is closely related to tourism. This industry is greatly affected by the global economic crisis. Therefore, it is necessary to establish new forms of marketing in order to overcome the crisis. Franchising is a good option for many firms who want to overcome the crisis by the expansion of their brand. The main goal of this study is to analyze the current situation and possible tendencies of the travel agencies franchises. Also, another goal of this study is to identify possible strategic groups within the travel agency industry, operating under the franchise system. For this purpose we focus on a developed franchise system, as is the case of the Spanish market. Some interesting results are obtained from this study.