Opening the Aperture: Explaining the Complementary Roles of Advice and Testing When Forming Entrepreneurial Strategy

Forming entrepreneurial strategy is difficult, as the future value of strategy alternatives is uncertain. To create and capture value, firms are advised to consider and test multiple alternative strategy elements. Yet, how firms generate and test alternatives remains understudied. As entrepreneurial firms lack resources for broad search, they often draw upon advisory resources from outside the firm. However, advice can be difficult to extract, absorb, and apply. Although scholars have examined static attributes of the entrepreneur or advisor to explain whether advice is used, a dynamic explanation of how advice is produced and informs strategy testing and formation is missing. In an 11-month field study, we observed 25 founders of 12 food and agriculture firms interacting with a common pool of 34 advisors in an entrepreneurship training program. Leveraging the program’s structured design, we observed 165 advice interactions over three phases. No firm took advice and applied it directly to firm strategy. When entrepreneurs engaged literally with advice, they later discounted it—distancing advice from strategy. In contrast, entrepreneurs that coproduced advice challenged advisors to craft novel advice relevant to their strategy, translated it to make it actionable, and tested it—integrating advice into strategy. Firms that distanced advice from strategy did not test strategy alternatives, whereas firms that integrated advice into strategy tested multiple alternatives, explored broader markets, and adapted their strategies. We contribute a grounded process model that explains how coproducing advice opens firms’ apertures to consider strategy alternatives, whereas testing informs the strategy elements chosen.

Funding: This research was funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant to Susan Cohen.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1656 .

Bibliometric and visualised analysis on non-invasive cerebellar stimulation from 1995 to 2021

Background

The non-invasive cerebellar stimulation (NICS) is a neural modulation technique, which shows the therapeutic and diagnostic potentials for rehabilitating brain functions in neurological or psychiatric diseases. There is a rapid growth in the clinical research related to NICS in recent years. Hence, we applied a bibliometric approach to analyze the current status, the hot spots, and the trends of NICS visually and systematically.

Methods

We searched the NICS publications from the Web of Science (Wos) between 1995 and 2021. Both VOSviewer (1.6.18) and Citespace (Version 6.1.2) software were used to generate the co-occurrence or co-cited network maps about the authors, institutions, countries, journals, and keywords.

Results

A total of 710 articles were identified in accordance with our inclusion criteria. The linear regression analysis shows a statistical increase in the number of publications per year on NICS research over time (p < 0.001). The Italy and University College London ranked the first in this field with 182 and 33 publications, respectively. Koch, Giacomo was the most prolific author (36 papers). The journal of Cerebellum, Brain stimulation and Clinical neurophysiology were the most three productive journals to publish NICS-related articles.

Conclusion

Our findings provide the useful information regarding to the global trends and frontiers in NICS field. Hot topic was focused on the interaction between the transcranial direct current stimulation and functional connectivity in the brain. It could guide the future research and clinical application of NICS.

Factors influencing small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak

Purpose

This research paper highlights the economic impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to Coronavirus outbreaks. It proposes factors that influence the strengthening and survival of SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

In this research, resilience is reflected in the following aspects hope, problem resolution and persistence. This quantitative study analyses a purposive sample of 120 small and medium-sized firms in India. The study's primary data are the responses to questionnaires issued to respondents, analyzed and hypotheses formed and tested using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.

Findings

The study results show that all the variables significantly reduce the impact of COVID-19 on SMEs. The presented model is expected to help researchers, business modelers, analysts and real professionals with further studies in the SME context.

Originality/value

This new approach adds to the business resilience knowledge of SMEs and has practical implications for manufacturing organizations seeking to become robust during and after COVID-19.

Understanding social media users' information avoidance intention: a C-A-C perspective

Purpose

Based on the C-A-C framework, this article examined users' information avoidance intention in social media platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted data analysis using a mixed method of the SEM and fsQCA.

Findings

The results indicated that information overload, functional overload and social overload influence fatigue and dissatisfaction, both of which further determine users' information avoidance intention. The results of the fsQCA identified two paths that trigger users' information avoidance intention.

Originality/value

Extant studies have examined the information avoidance in the contexts of healthcare, academics and e-commerce, but have seldom explored the mechanism underlying users' information avoidance in social media. To fill this gap, this article will empirically investigate users' information avoidance in social media platforms based on the C-A-C framework.

Does industry-university-research cooperation promote the environmental efficiency of China’s high-tech manufacturing?

As one of the important strategic measures to increase the international competitiveness of high-tech manufacturing (HTM), industry-university-research cooperation (IURC) has received increasing attention in China. However, there is little literature to explore the links between IURC and the environmental efficiency (EE) of HTM. To incorporate a variety of environmental pollution indicators into the efficiency analysis framework and reduce the adverse effects of random errors on the estimation results, this article combined the projection pursuit model with the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method and proposed a translog stochastic frontier model considering undesirable outputs to analyze the multiple impacts of IURC on the EE of HTM. The results show that IURC has both a significant negative direct effect and a significant positive indirect effect on HTM’s EE. Although IURC cannot directly promote EE, it has a positive impact on EE of HTM through its complementary effect with research and development (R&D) investment. The results also confirm that the average EE of the whole country is only 0.346, while that of the eastern area is 0.595, and that of the central and western areas are 0.199 and 0.171, respectively. Therefore, it is particularly urgent to improve the EE of China’s HTM industry through a variety of measures, such as promoting IURC and increasing R&D investment in environmental technology. This study not only provides an improved SFA method for measuring EE, but also deepens research on the mechanism of the impact of IURC on HTM’s EE.

The role of organisational factors and environmental conditions on the success of newly founded firms

This study examines the influence of founding conditions and decisions on new companies' performance, analysing how both environmental context and organisational dynamics interact to determine their success. It distinguishes between two different success indicators: survival and profitable growth. An empirical study conducted using a sample of 3,722 new agri-food companies in two different periods, one of economic stability and the other of recession, showed that founding conditions had long-lasting effects on post-entry performance. The economic context acted as a moderator of the relationship between individual factors and success. Adverse environmental conditions were also a determinant of success, making surviving firms more competitive and resilient. The results reflect the survival of the fitter principle by showing that early profitability reduced the risk of failure and made firms more likely to become profitable in the medium term. Internationalisation strategies developed organisational capabilities that created an imprint for adaptability and growth.

Toward a Multidimensional and Multilevel Approach to Studying Gender Diversity in Upper Echelons and Firm Innovation

Despite the rapidly increasing research on the nexus between gender diversity in upper echelons and firm innovation, the scholarly understanding of this topic is far from complete. Although the burgeoning literature has generated valuable insights summarized in our paper—most fundamentally uncovering gender diversity’s positive effect on firm innovation—our review of extant research indicates that it suffers from several limitations. One such key limitation is that scholarship has predominantly theorized and measured the surface-level gender diversity in leadership relying on either gender stereotypes or a notion of innate gender differences when explaining why the inclusion of women on executive boards might make a difference for firm innovation, neglecting the intersection between surface-level gender diversity and deep diversity in top management teams. We develop a multilevel theory that calls attention to investigating intersections between these two constructs, the multidimensionality of firm innovation and gender diversity, and discussing the rationales for why and when diversity is likely to get at the heart of firm innovation. We also map out some methodological suggestions for how scholars could test our propositions. We hope our efforts to describe these paths will encourage their pursuit.

The establishment mode of Chinese MNEs abroad and the Belt and Road Initiative: insights from a strategy tripod perspective

Purpose

Emerging-market multinational enterprises (MNEs) have pushed institutional factors to the cutting-edge of international business research. As for Chinese MNEs, the importance of institutions has been strengthened since the Chinese government launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which seeks to promote a comprehensive platform for cooperation among countries. This study aims to investigate the role played by the BRI as an institutional factor moderating the influence of other institution-, industry- and firm-specific factors on establishment mode choice by Chinese MNEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the strategy tripod, a perspective claiming that a firm's strategies are the result of internal, industrial and institutional conditions, this study develops a number of hypotheses that are tested with data on 1,076 outward foreign direct investments (OFDIs) of Chinese MNEs between 2013 and 2021.

Findings

The results show that the BRI moderates the influence of both the firm's prior international acquisition experience and Chinese government's OFDI restrictions on the establishment by means of an acquisition. They also report that this moderating effect does not apply for acquisition experience in the host country nor institutional distance.

Originality/value

This study contributes to reinforce the importance of institutions as the third leg of a strategy tripod when explaining international behavior of Chinese MNEs. It also suggests that the BRI is a diplomatic tool that may act as a substitute for the firm's resources and may mitigate the negative influence of other external factors.

An integrated learning framework of corporate training system: a grounded theory approach

Purpose

Rooting in the literature on training and laying on Kirkpatrick model, this paper aims to explore key drivers of corporate training to identify how they can be combined into an integrated framework of learning for human capital development.

Design/methodology/approach

By adopting the constructivist grounded theory, this contribution analyzes the experience carried out in the last ten years by Virvelle, an Italian corporate training firm.

Findings

Results show the rise of five core categories, g1iving rise to an integrated model of Kirkpatrick. Their dynamic interplay led to a new orientation of Kirkpatrick model giving rise to a metalearning ecosystem.

Research limitations/implications

Managerial implications have identified key factors on which building and implementing appropriate corporate training programmes capable of triggering co-generative processes of value creation. Particularly, the essential role of learning quality culture, digital technology and personalization are detected in integrating not only hard but furthermore soft shades of learning. Concerning theoretical implications, the emergence of key structural and systems enabling dimensions for learning, and contextual mechanisms involved in reshaping training effectiveness and achieving integrated learning outcomes are detected. The main limitation of this study lies in the need to generalize results: the conceptualized framework needs to be empirically tested.

Originality/value

The value of this research is built along three main points. The first is the integration among the core categories that an integrated learning system can be built on, promoting learning quality culture through positive feedback loops. The second is represented by the chance to enhance an integrated mutual knowledge development among engaged actors, thereby shaping a more holistic and multidimensional learning model. The third is related to the transversal role that digital technology plays in all phases of the training process as it integrates and enriches them.

Moral Imagination, the Collective Desirable, and Strategic Purpose

In contrast to the prevalent outside-in perspectives on corporate purpose as a response to competing normative demands of stakeholders, we introduce an inside-out perspective on purpose as based in firm-specific, agentic commitments to specific values, ideals, and societal goals. Drawing on moral philosophy, we propose how strategists can develop a strategic purpose through moral imagination that involves developing shaping intentions based in values and ideals, empathetic relating, and imaginativeness in stakeholder contexts. These processes support the generation of an emergent theory of value, which we term “the collective desirable.” This theory of value—a creative synthesis of the shaping intentions of the firm, and the interests and perspectives of stakeholders—provides the foundation of purpose, which is strategic, dynamic, and generative for the firm and its stakeholders. Such a strategic purpose becomes an organizational logic of action enacted through designated processes for articulation, maintenance, and evolvability, and through blueprints for credible commitments and resource allocations. By theorizing the microfoundations of an agentic, inside-out view of purpose, our theoretical framework articulates a set of mechanisms through which strategists can develop a strategic purpose that is tightly linked to the firm’s future-oriented strategy and the exercise of moral leadership. Our conception of moral imagination as a form of prosocial prospective cognition contributes a novel perspective to the socio-cognitive and subjectivist perspectives on strategy and extends the microfoundations of strategy.

Structuring the situation: Organizational goals trigger and direct decision-making

Organizational goals are assigned to individuals, and thus differ from goals that individuals voluntarily adopt. The Carnegie School has a significant research stream on how organizations are affected by goals, with a focus on how disappointing performance disrupts regular organizational behavior and triggers a search for alternative actions. We have a good understanding of the organization-level process of setting aspiration levels, triggering search for alternatives, and making decisions, but the individual-level mechanisms contributing to it are less well known. An assessment of the progress of Carnegie School research so far reveals a list of research questions that should be resolved in order to understand how individual updating of aspiration levels, triggering of search, directing of search, and decision-making help explain organizational responses to goals. The role of construal, or interpretation, in guiding these processes is a central theoretical mechanism that needs further investigation.

Blockchain applications in supply chain management: a systematic review of reviews

Purpose

A fragmented research field exists on the applications of disruptive technologies like blockchain in supply chain management. Thus, the purpose of this study is to present a systematic review of literature reviews, summarising the applications of blockchain in various kinds and facets of the supply chain to date.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature search was conducted using Scopus and Web Of Science databases, and reporting was performed using PRISMA guidelines. In total, 43 review papers were identified, and 15 reviews applicable to the study were synthesised.

Findings

Blockchain technology is still in its infancy; however, it is gaining high utility in supply chain management. The technology is constantly expanding its application base, and it has enormous potential to cut out intermediaries and improve the efficiency of supply chains. Taking a look at the past and the present, the current study explores unexplored research avenues for the future.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides key insights to academia interested in exploring and advancing the topic.

Practical implications

This study will benefit practitioners and business managers exercising the potential of such a technology in various industrial contexts.

Social implications

The outcome of this study has the potential to bring many benefits to society at large. These benefits, if fully realised, could positively impact the society.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first broad systematic review of reviews analysing the information about blockchain applications and implementation in the supply chain. Based on its constructive overview of the review studies published to date, this study contributes to the supply chain management literature by providing a table of reference for future researchers.

Attribute-based choice model and willingness to pay for industrial services

Purpose

Pricing is widely acknowledged as a market entry challenge for servitising companies. The purpose of this research is to ascertain the attributes that contribute to willingness to pay (WTP) for industrial services and suggest incorporating those attributes to a pricing model.

Design/methodology/approach

Three attributes (Quality of Service, Nearness of Service Provider and Brand Equity of Service Provider) were analyzed at three respective levels to ascertain their importance on WTP. Conventional conjoint analysis (CCA), using an orthogonal design, was the method used. The 346 respondents were decision-makers and top management professionals from various industries.

Findings

Brand Equity emerged as the most significant attribute contributing to WTP, having more than 45% importance – followed by the Quality and Nearness.

Research limitations/implications

The scope of the study is limited to the industries and its Allies. However, the relative importance of the attributes may vary depending on the type of service.

Practical implications

The importance of attributes and their WTP preference helps future researchers create a pricing model involving these attributes. This helps service providers price their services rationally, thus succeeding in servitization.

Social implications

Product life is extended because the manufacturers themselves are servicing it and also help recycle the product with their expertise. Servitization is also helpful for the Indian economy, as it is turning into a manufacturing economy.

Originality/value

This research investigates three attributes that contribute to WTP, in accordance with their level of contribution. It also provides a direction to establish an adequate pricing model for industrial services.

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Financial Sustainability of the HIV Response in Nigeria: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, continue to depend on donor funding to achieve their national HIV response goals. The Government of Nigeria has made limited progress in translating political commitment to reduce donor dependency into increased domestic investment to ensure the sustainable impact of the HIV response. We explored the context-specific factors affecting the financial sustainability of the HIV response in Nigeria.

METHODS

Between November 2021 and March 2022, we conducted document reviews (n=13) and semistructured interviews with purposively selected national and subnational stakeholders (n=35). Data were analyzed thematically using the framework of health financing functions comprising revenue generation, pooling, and purchasing.

RESULTS

Stakeholders reported that there is a low level of government funding for the HIV response, which has been compounded by the weak engagement of Ministry of Finance officials and the unpredictable and untimely release of budgeted funds. Opportunities for domestic funding include philanthropy and an HIV Trust Fund led by the private sector. Integration of HIV treatment services into social health insurance schemes has been slow. Commodity purchasing has been inefficient due to ineffective coordination. Government stakeholders have been reluctant to support one-stop-shop facilities that target key and priority populations.

CONCLUSION

Opportunities exist in the government and private sectors for improving domestic health financing to support transitioning from donor support and ensuring the financial sustainability of the HIV response in Nigeria. To ensure that domestic financing for the HIV response is stable and predictable, the amount of domestic funding needs to increase and a framework that incorporates donor transition milestones must be developed, implemented, and monitored.

Mechanisms for developing operational capabilities in digital servitization

Purpose

Digital servitization concerns how manufacturers utilize digital technologies to enhance their provision of services. Although digital servitization requires that manufacturers possess new capabilities, in contrast to strategic (or dynamic) capabilities, little is known about how they develop the required operational capabilities. The paper investigates the mechanisms for developing operational capabilities in digital servitization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an exploratory study based on 15 large manufacturers operating in Europe engaged in digital servitization.

Findings

Three operational capability development mechanisms are set out that manufacturers use to facilitate digital servitization: learning (developing capabilities in-house), building (bringing the requisite capabilities into the manufacturer), and acquiring (utilizing the capabilities of other actors). These mechanisms emphasize exploitation and exploration efforts within manufacturers and in collaborations with upstream and downstream partners. The findings demonstrate the need to combine these mechanisms for digital servitization according to combinations that match each manufacturer’s traditional servitization phase: (1) initial phase - building and acquiring, (2) middle phase - learning, building and acquiring, and (3) advanced phase - learning and building.

Originality/value

This study reveals three operational capability development mechanisms, highlighting the parallel use of these mechanisms for digital servitization. It provides a holistic understanding of operational capability development mechanisms used by manufacturers by combining three theoretical perspectives (organizational learning, absorptive capacity, and network perspectives). The paper demonstrates that digital servitization requires the significant application of building and acquiring mechanisms to develop the requisite operational capabilities.

Conflict, Chaos, and the Art of Institutional Design

The metaphor of an organization as a garbage can is often invoked as a playful insult. However, as was recognized early on by management theorists studying garbage can ideas, the unpredictability arising from garbage can decision making has the potential to be adaptively rational for organizations facing complex task environments. The chaos produced by preference conflict and fluid participation in collective decision making can aid in search by enabling organizations to escape local performance peaks or competency traps. The decades-old hypothesis that conflict and chaos could promote adaptively rational search, however, has largely been overlooked in research on organizational design. This paper uses an agent-based model to evaluate these competing views and, in the process, identify conditions under which garbage can decision making is adaptively rational for executives searching for high-quality strategies. I show that the biased and chaotic outcomes that emerge as a result of garbage can decision making—the very features of garbage cans that lead them to be perceived to be dysfunctional—can facilitate short-term exploitation and long-term exploration of uncertain technical landscapes when organizations engage in serial judgment of local alternatives if internal conflict over desired outcomes is not too extreme. I conclude that decision-making routines that encourage chaotic conflict are robust to bounded rationality and complex task uncertainty and thus should be included in the organizational designer’s portfolio.

Supplemental Material: The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1662 .

Co-working with robotic and automation technologies: technology anxiety of frontline workers in organisations

Purpose

The advent of robotics and automation technologies was augmenting firm initiatives to attain competitive advantage. From a resource-based view perspective, human-led capabilities were important to operate with technology resource base of an organisation. This was evident for both manufacturing as well as services firms. However, employees as an individual confronted technology anxiety (TA) when they were working with new technologies like robotics and automation technologies. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to examine the factors causing TA.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the novelty of this research study context a qualitative exploratory method was designed. For this research study, the data collected was through in-depth interviews conducted through open-ended semi-structured questionnaire. The data was collected from 62 frontline employees who were working with robotics and automation-based technologies in manufacturing firms. The authors applied thematic content analysis on collected data for analysis.

Findings

Technology anxieties ranged from fear of complete inability to learn new technologies, failure to learn new technologies properly, incapability to implement the learned skills and job loss to younger technology savvy employees. Finally, there was anxiety over job loss as automation and robotic technologies over the years was expected to erode the employment of human workforce altogether.

Research limitations/implications

The author undertook the research study based upon the TA perspective advocated by Meuter et al. (2003) and Yang and Forney (2013). Furthermore, this research study in the context of robotics and automation-based technologies in the manufacturing sector applied the mental accounting theory (Thaler, 1999) and technology self-efficacy perspective (Huffman et al., 2013).

Practical implications

Managers involved in the implementation of robotics and automation-based technologies were required to address TA of employees. Fear of job loss had to be addressed specially in a country like India. Anxiety regarding the ability to learn to work with robotics and automation technologies also was needed to be addressed by managers through adequate training and time for preparation. The benefits of robotics and automation-based technologies for employees as well as organisations have to be ascertained through open communication between the management and the frontline employees.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was one of the first empirical research studies which deliberated regarding TA in the context of frontline workers working with robotics and automation-based technologies in the manufacturing sector. This research study was based upon a combination of varied perspectives ranging from micro foundations theory, TA, mental accounting theory and technology self-efficacy perspective.

Managing knowledge loss: a systematic literature review and future research directions

Purpose

Job market shifts, such as workforce mobility and aging societies, cause the exit of knowledgeable personnel from organizations. The ensuing knowledge loss (K-loss) has broad negative effects. This study analyzes the knowledge management literature on K-loss published from 2000 to 2021 and identifies fruitful directions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct a systematic literature review of 74 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2021. These articles were retrieved from ProQuest Central, Science Direct, EBSCOhost and Emerald databases. The analysis utilizes Jesson et al.’s (2011) six principles: field mapping, comprehensive search, quality assessment, data extraction, synthesis and write-up.

Findings

Three sub-topics emerge from the systematic literature review: K-loss drivers, positive and negative impacts of K-loss and mitigation strategies. Over half of the literature addresses mitigation strategies and provides solutions for K-loss already in progress, rather than proposing preventive measures.

Research limitations/implications

This study has limitations related to the time span covered. Moreover, it focuses on articles published in refereed journals. Therefore, important contributions from conference papers, books and professional reports were excluded.

Originality/value

This research comprehensively synthesizes the K-loss literature and proposes future avenues of research to address under-investigated areas and potentially lead to theoretical and empirical advancements in the field. This study also provides suggestions for improving managerial practices.

The role of management control and integrated information systems for the resilience of SMEs

This paper investigates the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the influence exerted by certain factors related to management control, integrated information systems (enterprise resource planning [ERP]), information and communication technology (ICT) systems, and financial resources. For this purpose, leveraging from the dynamic capability theory, in late spring 2020, a questionnaire was sent to limited-liability SMEs in Verona and Vicenza provinces in Italy operating in the manufacturing, construction, and distribution sectors. Respondents were asked to answer a set of questions and to evaluate the resilience of their firms as of January 1, 2020; May 1, 2020; and one year later, as of July 2021. Using a multivariate regression model to analyze data from the 143 questionnaires received, we found a positive influence of budgeting, business continuity tools, availability of supplementary financial resources, and resilience of the entrepreneur on both COVID-19 resilience and the organizational resilience of SMEs. SMEs with a high intention to use ERP systems also had high resilience levels. ICT use for smart working was not statistically significant. Despite the limitations concerning the sample and period considered, we believe that this study contributes to both academic debate, by illustrating the influence of certain managerial and organizational factors on the resilience of SMEs, and practice, by supporting a greater empirical use of management control tools, such as budgets and contingency plans, and integrated information systems (ERP). Our study supports the creation of financial buffers and strengthening the entrepreneur’s resilience for improving SME resilience.

Value-Creation Strategies for E-Commerce Businesses

Startups dream of becoming unicorns, but only a few make it to the top in the e-commerce space. Where should they look for value creation? This study develops a value creation matrix of e-commerce startups based on the Teece model and Value configurations and validates the same on 96 Indian e-commerce startups. E-commerce startups can locate themselves on this matrix and take appropriate steps to create value. The article validates the prescriptions of the Teece model and Value configuration as applied by Afuah and Tucci (2003) in the e-commerce context. The matrix developed in this study will be a helpful aid for the practitioners. Firms could use it to analyze their current offerings and build a suitable investor pitch. Investors can use the matrix to analyze a firm’s strategies and positioning in the e-commerce space.

The role of digitalization in business and management: a systematic literature review

Digitalization is a powerful engine for economic growth in the world. In 2018, digitally transformed firms represented 13.5 billion US dollars of global GDP and, towards the end of 2023, they are expected to represent 53.3 billion US dollars, over half of the general nominal GDP (Statista, Nominal GDP driven by digitally transformed and other enterprises worldwide 2018–2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1134766/nominal-gdp-driven-by-digitally-transformed-enterprises/, 2022). The main objective of this study is to provide information (highlighting principal research topics and research agendas) from the literature on state-of-the-art digitalization within firms through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR). In all, 119 review articles on the most mature functional areas of the firm are analyzed: management, marketing, and finance and accounting, published in the WOS over the period 2018-April 2022. In this study, key relevant tendencies are identified in the most mature areas of the firm, which are the impact of digital technologies on the analysis of consumer behavior; digitalization and green innovation within organizations; and blockchain technology applied to financial services. The main contributions of this work are as follows: (1) to provide the most complete and up-to-date review of digitalization from a global perspective, summarizing the current state of knowledge within an integrated framework; (2) to reduce the complexity of digitalization by offering structure and clarity; and (3) to offer links between digitalization and established points of view in the literature on management, marketing, finance, and accounting. The novelty of this paper is centered on a joint analysis of digitalization, digital transformation, and digital technologies, taking into account the most mature functional areas of the firm.

Digital resilience and new business models in the post-COVID-19 scenario: from B2B perspective in the era of knowledge economy

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how the pandemic impacted on business-to-business (B2B) cooperation and coordination, as well as on firms' financial and operational performance, from the B2B context in the era of knowledge economy.

Design/methodology/approach

With the help of social network theory, coordination theory and existing literature, a theoretical model was developed conceptually. Later, the conceptual model was validated using structural equation modelling technique with consideration of 712 respondents from different firms who are engaged in managing B2B relationships on behalf of their firms.

Findings

The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable moderating impact on the relationship between B2B cooperation and coordination with B2B relationship satisfaction. The study also highlighted that there is a degradation of financial and operational performance of firms due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their B2B relationship management.

Practical implications

There is a challenging and ever-evolving global economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it is argued that the pandemic has accelerated the growth of some online firms, it has also had a catastrophic effect, culminating in many firms failing. This study has developed a new business model which helps in improving financial as well as operational performance of the firms in post COVID-19 scenario, especially in the era of knowledge economy.

Originality/value

This is a unique study as this study (1) develops a unique theoretical model with high explanative power, (2) demonstrates how digital reliance and new business model help the firms in post COVID-19 pandemic and (3) adds to the body of literature in the domain of digital reliance, knowledge economy and B2B relationship management.

Stuck in Limbo: how sensemaking discrepancy over strategy-related performance leads to disjointed collaboration in an international joint venture

A major issue in international business is why many International Joint Ventures (IJVs) fail to live up to partners’ expectations. Research into why IJVs underperform centres on differences between partners’ equity, resources, technical knowledge and cultural values, but seldom internal sensemaking conflicts. We address this research gap: specifically, the sense managers make of their own and their partner managers’ perceived performance in relation to strategy practices, and the effects of sensemaking upon collaboration. Some IJV studies examine outright organizational failure, but we focus on a common situation where partner firms’ expectations about each other’s performance are not met. Our case is a major Sino-New Zealand dairy IJV in a Limbo-like state of severe sensemaking discrepancy. Here, managers struggled to perform strategy effectively in a context of mutual misunderstanding and profound miscommunication, rooted in sensemaking differences. Using a strategy practice lens, we explore how this sensemaking discrepancy arose over organizational identity, learning and experience, strategizing, communication and trust. This eroded meaningful cooperation over strategy, leading to disjointed collaboration: a new concept capturing a state of compromised engagement, where the IJV continued operationally, but collaboration became increasingly difficult. We provide a theoretical framework to help understand sensemaking discrepancy in IJVs, based on a reconceptualization of sensemaking discrepancy in terms of own and others’ expected and perceived performance. We also offer essential practice-based insights into cognitive barriers to strategy collaboration.

Logic Plasticity and Bounded Custodial Work in Inter-Institutional Projects

I studied competing institutional logics in inter-institutional projects in aerospace to understand which logic would prevail when several logics compete in temporary organizing. While competing logic tensions between academia and the industry were expected, I additionally found competing logic tensions between multinationals and suppliers. I argue that the competing logic tensions originated from the informal roles that emerged from the interactions among the partners in the projects, which were predetermined by the complementary knowledge that initially justified the collaborations. These informal roles activated custodial work among the partners, which was bounded by logic plasticity. Contrary to what was expected, the more rigid logics prevailed over the most plastic logics in temporary organizing.

Circular Economy Research in the COVID-19 Era: a Review and the Road Ahead

The onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a major crisis that has severely impacted numerous economic, environmental, and social aspects of human life. During the pandemic, the potential of the circular economy (CE) has gained increasing attention as a prospective remedy for numerous sustainability problems. This systematic literature review charts CE research in the COVID-19 era. To this end, 160 journal articles were selected from the Scopus database. The performance indicators of the literature were determined and described through a bibliometric analysis. Moreover, the conceptual structure of CE research was identified via a keyword co-occurrence network. Based on bibliographic coupling, the focus of CE research in the COVID-19 era revolves mainly around five thematic areas, including: (1) waste management; (2) digitalization and sustainable supply chain management; (3) the impact of COVID-19 on food systems; (4) sustainable development goals, smart cities, and bioeconomy; and (5) closed-loop supply chains. Overall, this review contributes to enriching the literature by determining the main thematic areas and future research directions that can help to advance the transition to the CE and reduce the impact of COVID-19 and similar disasters in the future.

Governmental Restrictions and Real Estate Investor Risk Perception

We investigate the impact of governmental restrictions on the short-term risk perception, as proxied by the going-in cap rate, of investors in regional and neighborhood shopping centers. We use the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment and proxy for the length and severity of COVID-19 restrictions with the political affiliation of state governors. Using a sample of 40 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across 27 states over the period of 2018 to 2021, we find that for states with Republican governors, which proxy for shorter and fewer COVID-19 restrictions, investors in regional malls required a lower going-in cap rate in the pandemic period than for states with Democratic governors. This effect does not exist for neighborhood shopping centers, whose tenants were not as affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Robustness checks suggest that our findings can be explained with mask mandates as one type of governmental restrictions, and that COVID-19 related restrictions do not impact the long-term risk perception of retail real estate investors. We furthermore find that the political attitudes of an MSA have an impact on investor risk perception.

Organizational unlearning: A risky food safety strategy?

Strategically unlearning specific knowledge, behaviors, and practices facilitates product and process innovation, business model evolution, and new market opportunities and is essential to meet emergent supply chain and customer requirements. Indeed, addressing societal concerns such as climate change and net zero means elements of contemporary practice in food supply chains need to be unlearned to ensure new practices are adopted. However, unlearning is a risky process if crucial knowledge is lost, for example, if knowledge is situated in the supply base not the organization itself, or there is insufficient organizational food safety knowledge generation, curation, and management when new practices/processes are designed and implemented. An exploratory, critical review of management and food safety academic and gray literature is undertaken that aims to consider the cycle of unlearning, learning, and relearning in food organizations and supply chains with particular emphasis on organizational innovation, inertia, and the impact on food safety management systems and food safety performance. Findings demonstrate it is critical with food safety practices, such as duration date coding or refrigeration practices, that organizations "unlearn" in a way that does not increase organizational, food safety, or public health risk. This paper contributes to extant literature by highlighting the organizational vulnerabilities that can arise when strategically unlearning to promote sustainability in a food supply context. Mitigating such organizational, food safety, and public health risk means organizations must simultaneously drive unlearning, learning, and relearning as a dynamic integrated knowledge acquisition and management approach. The research implications are of value to academics, business managers, and wider industry.

Network Characteristics of Innovation Ecosystem: Knowledge Collaboration and Enterprise Innovation

This paper investigates the linkage between network characteristics of the innovation ecosystem, knowledge collaboration and enterprise innovation in the case of China. The results demonstrate that knowledge collaboration plays a part in the mediating role between network characteristics of the innovation ecosystem and enterprise innovation. The resource integration capability could regulate the mediating role of knowledge collaboration, which means the stronger the resource integration capability, the stronger the mediating effect.

Open innovation: status quo and quo vadis - an analysis of a research field

Open innovation is now a widely used concept in academia, industry, and policy-making. According to the recent report “The Open Innovation Barometer”, released by the Economist, 90% of organizations have either adopted or are planning to implement key open innovation practices by opening up their organizational boundaries to collaborative innovation in the next three years (The Economist Group 2022). However, the social and economic changes imposed by the emerging processes of transition towards a more digital and sustainable society raise questions on how the open innovation field of studies is evolving to meet new, emerging needs. By combining bibliometric techniques and content analysis, this study illustrates how this research community has evolved in the last 12 years. More specifically, this study provides a descriptive analysis of the literature on open innovation, defines its knowledge structure, and illustrates a representative picture of the theoretical landscape. Our analysis shows that attempts to consolidate established topics and theoretical approaches in this field of studies go hand in hand with the emergence of new conversations about unexplored dimensions of open innovation. We conclude this article by outlining some avenues for future research on how to conceptualize, theorize, and research (methods and analytical techniques) open innovation.

Surprising combinations of research contents and contexts are related to impact and emerge with scientific outsiders from distant disciplines

We investigate the degree to which impact in science and technology is associated with surprising breakthroughs, and how those breakthroughs arise. Identifying breakthroughs across science and technology requires models that distinguish surprising from expected advances at scale. Drawing on tens of millions of research papers and patents across the life sciences, physical sciences and patented inventions, and using a hypergraph model that predicts realized combinations of research contents (article keywords) and contexts (cited journals), here we show that surprise in terms of unexpected combinations of contents and contexts predicts outsized impact (within the top 10% of citations). These surprising advances emerge across, rather than within researchers or teams-most commonly when scientists from one field publish problem-solving results to an audience from a distant field. Our approach characterizes the frontier of science and technology as a complex hypergraph drawn from high-dimensional embeddings of research contents and contexts, and offers a measure of path-breaking surprise in science and technology.

Dissecting entrepreneurial team research: a bibliometric analysis

Despite the massive volume of published articles, the pool of knowledge on entrepreneurial teams needs to be algorithmically classified and meticulously scrutinised. It is crucial for the field to be historically positioned under relevant themes, internally connected in terms of conceptual foundations, and systematically categorised in consonance with previously utilised frameworks of analysis. These concerns are resolved in this study by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 672 relevant articles. This form of analysis has not been previously employed on the topic of entrepreneurial teams. First, this study identifies eight main thematic clusters in the entrepreneurial teams field and their sub-themes. The eight main thematic clusters are: (i) Intellectual Capital, (ii) Cognition and Behaviour, (iii) Science and Technology, (iv) Finance, (v) Transformation, (vi) Internationalisation, (vii) Family, and (viii) Community and Surroundings. Second, the study reveals the clusters most needing restoration, relations between clusters, and input-mediator-output variables by their respective cluster. In addition, an implied scholarly depiction of entrepreneurial teams is articulated, which can serve as a basis for developing an entrepreneurial teams theory. Finally, promising avenues for future research are suggested for the entire field and every cluster specifically.

Advancing beyond technicism when managing big data in companies’ decision-making

Purpose

In recognising the key role of business intelligence and big data analytics in influencing companies’ decision-making processes, this paper aims to codify the main phases through which companies can approach, develop and manage big data analytics.

Design/methodology/approach

By adopting a research strategy based on case studies, this paper depicts the main phases and challenges that companies “live” through in approaching big data analytics as a way to support their decision-making processes. The analysis of case studies has been chosen as the main research method because it offers the possibility for different data sources to describe a phenomenon and subsequently to develop and test theories.

Findings

This paper provides a possible depiction of the main phases and challenges through which the approach(es) to big data analytics can emerge and evolve over time with reference to companies’ decision-making processes.

Research limitations/implications

This paper recalls the attention of researchers in defining clear patterns through which technology-based approaches should be developed. In its depiction of the main phases of the development of big data analytics in companies’ decision-making processes, this paper highlights the possible domains in which to define and renovate approaches to value. The proposed conceptual model derives from the adoption of an inductive approach. Despite its validity, it is discussed and questioned through multiple case studies. In addition, its generalisability requires further discussion and analysis in the light of alternative interpretative perspectives.

Practical implications

The reflections herein offer practitioners interested in company management the possibility to develop performance measurement tools that can evaluate how each phase can contribute to companies’ value creation processes.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about the role of digital technologies in influencing managerial and social models. This paper provides a conceptual model that is able to support both researchers and practitioners in understanding through which phases big data analytics can be approached and managed to enhance value processes.

A patent-based analysis of the evolution of basic, mission-oriented, and applied research in European universities

The dynamics of basic and applied research at university and industry have steadily changed since the Eighties, with the private sector reducing its investments in science and universities experiencing significant remodelling in the governance of their funding. While studies have focussed on documenting these changes in industry, less attention has been paid to observe the trajectories of basic and applied research in universities. This work contributes to fill this gap by looking at the evolution of publicly funded research that has been patented by universities between 1978 and 2015. First, we adopt a critical perspective of the basic versus applied dichotomy and identify patents according to three typologies of research: basic, mission-oriented, and applied research. Second, we describe the evolution of these three typologies in universities compared to industry. Our results show that over the years, patents from academic research that was publicly funded have become more oriented towards pure basic research, with mission-oriented basic research and pure applied research decreasing from the late 1990s. These results complement and extend the literature on basic and applied research dynamics in the private sector. By introducing mission-oriented research as a type of basic research with consideration of use, the work problematises the basic and applied research dichotomy and provides insights into the evolution of academic research focus, offering a more complex picture of how university research contributes to industry and broader social value creation.

Using 10-K text to gauge COVID-related corporate disclosure

During the pandemic era, COVID-related disclosure has become quite critical for shareholders and other market participants to understand the uncertainties and challenges associated with a firm's operation. However, there is no well-grounded and systematic measure to gauge the intensity of COVID-related disclosure and its plausible impact. Therefore, this study develops and validates various COVID-related disclosure measures. More specifically, using a sample of publicly listed U.S. firms and applying natural language processing (NLP) on 10-K reports, we have developed two types of COVID dictionaries (or COVID-related disclosure measurement tools): (a) overall COVID dictionary (count of all COVID-related words/phrases) and (b) contextual COVID-dictionary (count of COVID related words/phrases preceded or followed by positive, negative tones, or financial constraints words). Subsequently, we have validated both types of COVID dictionaries by investigating their association with corporate liquidity events (e.g., dividend payment, dividend change). We confirm that the overall COVID dictionary effectively predicts a firm's liquidity event. We find similar results for contextual COVID dictionaries with a negative spin (i.e., COVID disclosures with a negative tone or an indication of financial constraints). Our results further show that better-governed firms (e.g., greater board independence, and more female directors) tend to have more COVID-related disclosures, despite the fact that more COVID-related disclosures suppress a firm's market-based stock performance (e.g. Tobin's Q). Our results suggest that better-governed firms prefer greater transparency, even if it may hurt their market performance in the short run.

Anywhere in the World? The Internationalization of Small Entrepreneurial Ventures using a Social Media Platform

This study aimed at investigating the interplay between internationalization and digitalization using a social media platform during the early phases of the internationalization process of new ventures from an emerging economy. The research adopted the longitudinal multiple-case study method of investigation. All the firms that were studied had operated on a social media platform (Instagram) since their inception. Data collection was based on two rounds of in-depth interviews and secondary data. The research used thematic analysis, cross-case comparison and pattern-matching logic. The study contributes to the extant literature by (a) proposing a conceptualization of the interplay between digitalization and internationalization during the early phases of the internationalization trajectory of small new ventures from an emerging economy using a social media platform; (b) detailing the role of the diaspora during the outward internationalization of these ventures and outlining the theoretical implications of this phenomenon; and (c) providing a micro perspective on how entrepreneurs exploit platform resources and face platform-related risks during their enterprise's early domestic and international phases.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11575-023-00510-8.

A Dynamic Model of Internationalization and Innovation in Emerging Market Enterprises: Knowledge Exploration, Transformation, and Exploitation

Drawing on organizational learning theory and taking an institutional perspective, this study investigates (1) the dynamic relationship between internationalization and innovation in emerging market enterprises (EMEs), and (2) how state ownership moderates the focal relationships. Using a panel dataset of listed Chinese firms from 2007 to 2018, we find that internationalization encourages innovation input in EMEs, which in turn transforms into more innovation output. Higher innovation output leads to further international commitment, creating a dynamic upward spiral of internationalization and innovation. Interestingly, state ownership positively moderates the innovation input-innovation output link but negatively moderates the relationship between innovation output and internationalization. Our paper enriches and refines our understanding of the dynamic relationship between internationalization and innovation in EMEs by integrating the knowledge exploration, transformation, and exploitation perspectives, with the institutional perspective of state ownership.