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Strategic flexibility (SF) has become increasingly important for firms because of the fast changes in the external environment. In line with the practical importance of SF, an emerging research field has developed around it that has attempted to understand the nature of SF and the key relationships. The aim of this study is to unveil the semantic structure of the recent literature on SF and to suggest new promising areas for future research.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review with a bibliographic analysis technique, which allows authors to identify the main recent streams in the literature, as well as offer reflections and suggestions for future research.

The authors uncover three main emerging areas in the research on SF, namely SF as a dynamic capability, the role of knowledge management for SF and the relationship between a firm SF and the external environment. The authors put forward three avenues for future research on SF: Avenue 1. SF, business model innovation (BMI) and other dynamic capabilities (DC), Avenue 2. Digital technologies and SF/organizational agility and Avenue 3. SF and sustainability. Articles included in the special issue entitled “A strategic perspective on flexibility, agility and adaptability in the digital era” contribute to Avenue 2, thus paving the way for filling some of the identified gaps regarding the relationship between SF and digitalization.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first literature review on SF that uses a bibliometric approach to draw conclusions on the findings in the literature. The review contributes to the theoretical understanding of SF by illustrating and explicating core topics that have persisted over time, as well as by presenting three main avenues for further developing authors’ knowledge around SF.

This paper aims to propose and test a corporate entrepreneurship strategy (CES) model in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with international activity located in Andalusia (Spain) – a peripheral region with high levels of inequality in the European Union (EU).

A quantitative analysis has been carried out with data from 101 SMEs to contrast and analyze the proposed CES model. The sample data were obtained through questionnaire-guided interviews with chief executive officers. Data processing has been done using partial least squares-path modeling, a variance-based technique for structural equation modeling.

The results of this study show the positive effect of environmental conditions on the development of CES actions in Andalusian SMEs (Spain) and the positive influence of CES on the results of SMEs’ international activity. In turn, environmental conditions do not directly affect the international activity.

Although previous works address the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and international enterprise activity, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is original in testing a CES model (including CE and the entrepreneurial strategic vision) in SMEs in a region that has one of the lowest levels of development in the EU. The results have important implications for SMEs and policymakers and could be extrapolated to other emerging economies.

This paper empirically addresses the effect of coercive, normative and mimetic pressures on sustainability results, focussing on the three dimensions of the triple bottom line approach: environmental, economic and social. The mediating role of compliance, analyser or proactive corporate strategies towards sustainability is also considered.

The hypotheses developed in this study were tested using data from a sample of private companies from two industries: manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, and manufacture of basic metals.

The results confirm the role played by institutional pressures for sustainability in explaining the involvement of organisations in economic, social and environmental aspects. The mediating effect of corporate strategy is also confirmed, although only for environmental aspects.

Research into sustainability development is evolving rapidly; however, few studies have explored its diffusion amongst organisations from a triple bottom line perspective by considering the role of different current external pressures, the corporate strategy and the diverse results.

本研究擬對強制壓力、規範壓力和模仿壓力對可持續性成果的影響進行實證研究。研究的焦點放在三重底線法的三個層面上,即是環境層面、經濟層面和社會層面。研究人員亦探討尋求可持續性的承諾、分析儀和積極主動的公司戰略的中介作用。

研究人員測試其建立的各項假設; 使用的數據取自兩個企業的私人公司的樣本,它們是製造化學品和化學產品的企業,以及製造基本金屬的企業。

研究結果確認了尋求可持續性所帶來的制度壓力,在解說企業於經濟、社會和環境三方面的參與上所扮演的角色。研究結果亦確認了公司戰略的中介作用,唯這只見於環境的層面上。

探討可持續性發展的學術研究發展迅速,唯當中較少從三個基本的角度去探討可持續性發展在組織內的傳播; 本研究考慮了目前各種外來壓力、公司戰略和不同的結果所扮演的角色,以彌補這研究差距。

The impact of technological transformations in all sectors is undeniably significant, especially in fitness family business. The aim is to examine the digital transformation perceptions of fitness centre employees and the effects of perceived empowerment on their job performance in family business in Turkey.

The sample was 334 fitness centre employees. Four variables were evaluated (digital transformation, meaning competence, self-determination and job performance), and PLS-SEM was used.

The digital transformation process in the fitness sector can be considered as an important factor in terms of creating new business ventures. Our results showed that digital transformation perceived by family business employees had a significantly influence on the meaning competence of the employees. Also, the meaning competence of employees was a mediator between the digital transformation and job performance.

Managers of family businesses must take into account that an appropriate digital transformation of their products and/or services has an impact on the meaning competence of their employees. Thus, through increased competence in employee performance, the digitization of family business fitness will lead to higher employee performance and productivity.

This study innovates by linking digital transformation as a factor influencing the coach's own motivation and self-perceived competence in the use of technology to their job performance.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how enterprises can effectively perceive and use the digital opportunities brought about by digital technologies and dynamic environments and how they can enhance their capabilities to realize digital transformation and adapt to the development of the digital economy era.

Based on the windows of opportunity theory and strategic cognition theory, this paper conducts an empirical analysis of the questionnaire data of 268 enterprises and discusses the influence of external windows of opportunity and internal windows of opportunity on the digital transformation of enterprises, as well as the action mechanism of strategic cognition and entrepreneurship.

The results show that both the external windows of opportunity and the internal windows of opportunity have significant positive effects on the digital transformation of enterprises. Strategic cognition plays a partial mediating role in the external windows of opportunity and the internal windows of opportunity influencing the enterprise digital transformation process. Entrepreneurship plays a positive regulatory role in the process of external windows of opportunity and internal windows of opportunity influencing strategic cognition.

This paper deepens the relationship between internal and external windows of opportunity and enterprise digital transformation and contributes a new theoretical cognition. This paper integrates the strategic cognition theory to clarify the complex process mechanism of digital transformation using external situational opportunities and internal capabilities. This paper introduces entrepreneurship into the path mechanism of digital transformation and expands the characteristics of the study of digital transformation antecedents to the individual level within the enterprise.

The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate financial performance (CFP) is shown to depend on both firm-specific and external factors. This study investigates the moderating role of two firm-specific factors – the firm life-cycle stage and ownership structure – on the CSR–CFP relationship in a developing economy setting – India.

The study covers 1,419 listed companies in India during 2015–21. The firm lifecycle is represented using firm age and future growth prospects. Ownership is represented through a dummy variable and promoters’ holding percentages. Return on assets (RoA) is used as a measure of CFP, while CSR intensity, i.e. the ratio of CSR expenditure to profit after tax (PAT), is used to represent CSR. Fixed effect panel regression and generalized method of moments (GMM) models are used for data analysis.

CSR expenditure has a significant negative impact on CFP. Firm age and future growth prospects amplify this negative impact, indicating that the firm life-cycle has a significant negative moderating effect on the CSR–CFP relationship. Furthermore, the impact of CSR on CFP is worse for government companies than private ownership. Promoters’ holdings have a positive impact on the CSR–CFP relationship.

The results question the validity of mandatory CSR expenditure on companies operating in developing countries and call for a differentiated policy approach to CSR expectations based on firm characteristics. This study also enhances the existing literature on CSR–CFP.

The growing research on CSR–CFP has limited coverage of firm characteristics as contributing factors. Hence, this paper helps in enhancing the existing literature on CSR–CFP and makes it more relevant to firms with specific characteristics.

Although scholars have been studying human resource management (HRM) and open innovation (OI), yet there is less attention to this relationship in the context of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper aims to bring some insights about the human side of inbound open innovation (INOI) in SMEs. The goal is to better understand the role of organizational trust (OT) and developmental culture (DC) in the interactions between commitment-based HRM (C-HRM) and INOI.

The present study employs partial least squares-structural equation modeling to investigate the interrelationships among constructs, utilizing data gathered from a sample of 206 SMEs.

The study's empirical results indicate that the presence of OT serves as a complementary factor in mediating the relation between C-HRM and INOI. Furthermore, the analysis shows that there exists a moderating influence of DC in the relationship between C-HRM and INOI.

The role of HRM practices is important in developing OT and consequently foster INOI in SMEs. To achieve INOI, SMEs need a DC that induces C-HRM toward an OI approach.

This study adds to the understanding of the interactions between C-HRM practices and INOI in SMEs. The comprehension of the mediating function of OT and the moderating effect of DC serve to enhance the scholarly understanding of the human dimension of OI research.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) research has focused on high-growth scale-up entrepreneurship, whereas the role of EEs in nurturing the ventures of marginalised groups like migrant women entrepreneurs (MWEs) has often been elided from extant discussions. This research explores how the EE's structure, policies and programmes advance diversity, equity and inclusion to foster MWEs, and MWEs' contribution to the dynamics and sustainability of the host country's EE based on EE actors' perspectives. We contribute to EEs' diversity, equity and inclusion, which are important but neglected social aspects of sustainable EEs.

The qualitative data was collected through thematic interviews with EE actors, including NGOs and entrepreneurial support-providing organizations based in Finland. The collected data was complemented by interviews with MWEs, archival data and published supplementary materials on ecosystem actors.

EE structure, policies, programmes and individual agency, coupled with MWEs' proactivity in lobbying the necessary actors in the required places for their interests, enhance their businesses' development. There were both impeding and fostering dynamics, which may have idiographic and contextual features. Evidently, by being occupied in various sectors, from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to socially beneficial niche service sectors, MWEs contribute to the host country's EE dynamics not only through their productive entrepreneurship but by enriching the ecosystem's resource endowments and institutional arrangements.

We argue that exploring the gender and inclusivity aspects of EEs as the accommodating context is particularly relevant, given that the United Nation's sustainable development goals 5, 8 and 10 aim to improve women's empowerment at all levels, promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and ensuring equal opportunities and reduced inequalities within the population. Inclusion and embeddedness in EEs positively affect diversity and sustainability in the host country. Theoretically, our contribution is twofold. First, by exploring female migrants' entrepreneurial experiences within the EE based on EE actors' perspectives, we broaden the research on inclusivity in EEs and gender aspects and enrich the research on their societal impact, which has received scant attention from scholars. More specifically, we contribute to EE research with (1) a novel understanding of MWEs and EE elements, their interconnections and dynamism, (2) identifying previously ignored elements shaping MWE and (3) providing EE actor insights into the co-creation of EE for MWE. Second, by analysing the impact of MWEs' businesses on the host country's EE, we contribute to calls for research on MWE contributions to its economic environment.

Supply chains need to be made viable in this volatile and competitive market, which could be possible through digitalization. This study is an attempt to explore the role of Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business performance from the lens of natural resource-based view.

The study tests the proposed model using a covariance-based structural equation modelling and further investigates the ranking of each construct using the artificial neural networks approach in AMOS and SPSS respectively. A total of 234 respondents selected using purposive sampling aided in capturing the industry practices across supply chains in the UK. The full collinearity test was carried out to study the common method bias and the content validity was carried out using the item content validity index and scale content validity index. The convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs and mediation study was carried out in SPSS and AMOS V.23.

The results are overtly inferring the significant impact of Industry 4.0 practices on creating smart and ultimately sustainable supply chains. A partial relationship is established between Industry 4.0 and supply chain agility through a smart supply chain. This work empirically reinstates the combined significance of green practices, Industry 4.0, smart supply chain, supply chain agility and supply chain resilience on sustainable business value. The study also uses the ANN approach to determine the relative importance of each significant variable found in SEM analysis. ANN determines the ranking among the significant variables, i.e. supply chain resilience > green practices > Industry 4.0> smart supply chain > supply chain agility presented in descending order.

This study is a novel attempt to establish the role of digitalization in SCs for attaining sustainable business value, providing empirical support to the mediating role of supply chain agility, supply chain resilience and smart supply chain and manifests a significant integrated framework. This work reinforces the integrated model that combines all the constructs dealt with in silos so far in prior literature.

This research assesses the economic impact of biomass plant installations on Brazilian municipalities, focusing on (1) labor income, (2) sectoral labor income and (3) income inequality.

Municipal data from the Annual Social Information Report, the National Electric Energy Agency and the National Institute of Meteorology spanning 2002 to 2020 are utilized. The Synthetic Difference-in-Differences methodology is employed for empirical analysis, and robustness checks are conducted using the Doubly Robust Difference in Differences and the Double/Debiased Machine Learning methods.

The findings reveal that biomass plant installations lead to an average annual increase of approximately R$688.00 in formal workers' wages and reduce formal income inequality, with notable benefits observed for workers in the industry and agriculture sectors. The robustness tests support and validate the primary results, highlighting the positive implications of renewable energy integration on economic development in the studied municipalities.

This article represents a groundbreaking contribution to the existing literature as it pioneers the identification of the impact of biomass plant installation on formal employment income and local economic development in Brazil. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to uncover such effects. Moreover, the authors comprehensively examine sectoral implications and formal income inequality.