Driving innovation management to create shared value and sustainable growth

Stakeholder pressure and innovation capacity of SMEs in the COVID-19 pandemic: Mediating and multigroup analysis

During environmental crises, it has always been particularly interesting to investigate how companies, specifically small- and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs), find solutions to survive and learn how to act in adverse situations. We conducted our study during the current coronavirus pandemic to analyse how stakeholder pressure affects both the innovation capabilities of SMEs and their firm performance. On the one hand, we examine whether the market and financial performance are better in the presence of less stakeholder pressure. On the other hand, we analyse whether SMEs implement internal mechanisms that enhance their innovation capacity to solve external problems caused by greater stakeholder pressure, which in turn affects firm performance. Our main findings show that during the pandemic, stakeholder pressure is related to the innovative capacity of SMEs; therefore, the higher the pressure, the more important the innovative response of SMEs. However, with higher pressure, the company's performance would be directly reduced in the short term, as the conditions set would be more unfavourable. Innovation capacity also plays a mediating role in preventing poor business performance because of increased stakeholder pressure. Owing to the importance of the chief executive officer (CEO) in SMEs, we test, through multigroup analysis, the differences based on the CEO's educational level. For example, commitment to innovation in SMEs may be more important for managers with higher education. Finally, our findings show how managers can learn to face new challenges in unfavourable environments.

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.

Entrepreneurship in family firms: an updated bibliometric overview

Research on entrepreneurship in family firms has grown exponentially over the past two decades. Due to the various theoretical perspectives and contexts found here however, this body of research remains fragmented, with a unified understanding of the current state of knowledge and the opportunities for future research in the field continuing to lack. In this study, we address this gap by conducting an updated bibliometric analysis of the research on entrepreneurship in family firms. Here we integrate two different bibliometric methods to provide a more comprehensive picture of the field, unveiling its intellectual foundations and current research discourses and how these two are related. To do this, we first conduct a co-citation analysis clustering the intellectual foundations of the research on entrepreneurship in family firms. Second, a bibliographic coupling of recent publications from 2010 to 2021 provides a transparent structure of current research discourses. Third, analyzing which intellectual foundations are primarily cited in each current research stream unveils the dominant theoretical paradigms in the current state of research. Analyzing 570 published studies, we identified four intellectual foundations of entrepreneurship in family firms: socioemotional wealth (SEW), entrepreneurial orientation, family-embedded resources, and agency theory. The current research can be clustered into seven main discourses: entrepreneurial motivation, gender and success, entrepreneurial orientation, individual and firm-level characteristics, the family embedded network, family firm internationalization, and family heterogeneity. An integrative network diagram provides an overview of the research field’s development while also identifying the gaps to be addressed by future research.

Digital innovation in entrepreneurial firms: a systematic literature review

Entrepreneurial firms are central actors in the process of the generation and diffusion of digital innovation which, on the other hand, provides a wide range of opportunities for entrepreneurs. Although existing research has produced several contributions on both topics, the knowledge generated in the field appears fragmented and the findings are sometimes ambiguous. The reason for this fragmentation can be traced back to the lack of reference frameworks that clarify the most used concepts, thus providing a shared language. This study aims to consolidate the state-of-art of scholarly research published over the past 20 years at the intersection of the innovation and entrepreneurship fields of study. To this aim, we carried out a systematic literature review by analyzing a set of 185 papers in order to find what are the relevant topics in the investigated research domain. This activity was performed using MySLR software. Besides a descriptive picture of the scientific activity, a map of the literature published to date that simultaneously addresses the two themes, is provided. In particular, we characterized the six relevant topics in the investigated research domain: start-ups’ collaboration networks, business-model innovation, digital platforms, digital ventures, the digital entrepreneur’s profile, and digital-innovation ecosystems. Based on these results the article proposes three main research directions for future research: multi-level analysis of Digital Innovation in Entrepreneurial Ventures; interdisciplinary approaches; development of specific theories for igital Innovation. Overall, the value of research is to provide a framework for analyzing the phenomenon of innovation in and with entrepreneurial firms that can be used as a reference model for both entrepreneurship and innovation management researchers.

E-commerce channel management on the manufacturers’ side: ongoing debates and future research pathways

Since the beginning of the 2000s, online commerce has been gradually taking over and shaping the global marketplace. This has led several scholars to study the phenomenon from different angles, from consumer habits to privacy risks to related technological innovations. However, only recently has a branch of literature addressing the online channel management phenomenon from the manufacturers’ perspective emerged. This rapidly expanding literature strand remains rather fragmented, raising the need for a systematic literature review to comprehensively structure and discuss it. This study, accordingly, proposes a systematic literature review on online channel management from the manufacturers’ perspective. Firstly, it provides relevant bibliometric insights into the ongoing research on the topic. Secondly, applying the bibliographic coupling methodology individuates 92 interconnected contributions published by 31 December 2021. Three different, albeit interconnected, thematic clusters are discovered and reviewed, revealing their focus on (a) strategic marketing issues around manufacturervsretailer conflict, (b) pricing policies and trade-offs among pricevsservices, and (c) operational interactions and strategies between supply chain members. Finally, after a systematic literature review the authors develop thirteen original research propositions concerning new research pathways and theoretical advancements to be designed and implemented.

Digitalization, entrepreneurship and competitiveness: an analysis from 19 European countries

In light of the economic situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, economists have claimed that an improvement in competitiveness can enhance economic growth. A greater degree of competitiveness allows the relevant actors to engage in entrepreneurial activity in new markets and to create market niches that promote job creation. Among the factors that can stimulate competitiveness, entrepreneurship and digitalization play relevant roles. Digital technologies have generated new business opportunities for entrepreneurs; likewise, digital entrepreneurship allows different entrepreneurs to connect via a platform, thus facilitating access to global markets with growth potential. The fundamental objective of this paper is to study the relationships among digitalization, entrepreneurship and competitiveness in light of the factors that influence the digitalization process. An empirical analysis of 19 European countries is conducted, and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis is used to obtain the combinations of economic and social variables that affect competitiveness and entrepreneurship. The results of the empirical analysis show that to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, a country must exhibit an environment that is favourable to digitalization as well as an investment in talent that allows the relevant actors to take advantage of the benefits of digital technologies.

Online reputation of agri-food companies and determining factors: an empirical investigation

In an increasingly technology-oriented society, companies should ensure not only that they have an Internet presence but also that they are conveying the right image. According to the resource-based view, online reputation is a key intangible asset for successful technological business change. The aim of this research is to analyze the online reputation of companies in the agri-food sector, identifying the factors that have an impact on it. For this purpose, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is used. The results show that online reputation is conditioned by legal form and attributes associated with the company website. Such attributes include website quality, the presence of information associated with corporate social responsibility, the use of a secure connection, and the sale of organic products. The results provide strategic guidelines for public and private decision makers to exploit the full potential of ICTs.

Towards achieving the sustainable development goal 9: Analyzing the role of green innovation culture on market performance of Chinese SMEs

Green innovation culture is essential to the Chinese 14th five-year plan aligned with sustainable development goal 9. This study examines the relationship between green innovation culture and market performance of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We evaluated hypothesis by taking a sample of 564 SMEs employees in China through an online survey. The structural equation modelling (SEM) method is used to analyze data. The findings showed that green innovation culture positively influence product and marketing innovation. Similarly, marketing innovation positively affects product innovation and market performance. In addition, product innovation has a substantial effect on market performance. The outcomes of this study imply that SMEs in emerging economies should concentrate on green innovation culture to improve their market performance. In addition, the identification of study limitations and suggestions for further research are also addressed for all stakeholders involved with SMEs.

Management in times of crises: reflections on characteristics, avoiding pitfalls, and pathways out

The world is shaken by global crises that have severe implications for firms and their management. But what is characteristic of a global crisis, and why do firms and their managers often fail to deal proactively and strategically with coping strategies for crises. This introductory paper explains the characteristics of crises and important underlying management behavior. These behaviors are most important to understand because they might escalate or reduce the effects of a global crisis in firms. We also explain the challenges associated with emphasizing the local effects of crises while ignoring or downplaying their global effects. Finally, we present the papers in this special issue that provide specific answers that can help to deal with aspects of a global crisis.