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The dynamic of the business environment has escalated the competition and uncertainty, which is challenging business survivability, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs attract researchers due to their unique characteristics that have limited resources but great flexibility and adaptability. Furthermore, Collaborative Networks (CNs) have been proposed by business scholars as a critical strategy to gain resilience and antifragility. However, the concept of antifragility and its relation with CNs is still vague in the SME sector. Therefore, this study aims to develop a complete understanding regarding: (1) the emerging knowledge that is critical in explaining antifragility in the business sector based on co-citation and thematic analysis; (2) the relation between resilience and antifragility in emerging business research; (3) the relation between CNs and antifragility in emerging business research and (4) a framework of antifragility in the SME context.

Bibliographic Analysis and Systematic Literature Review are performed to reach the research objectives. We use co-citation and thematic analysis to identify the map of emerging knowledge and the related concepts, which are the fundamentals of antifragility. Furthermore, we use a systematic literature review to determine the relation of antifragility, resilience and CNs in the SME context.

Antifragility is a higher level of survivability compared to resilience. Antifragile SMEs could gain an advantage from the uncertain business environment. However, both in resilience and antifragility, SMEs should become active learners. Furthermore, CNs are proposed as the gateway for SMEs to manage their resource limitations. The conceptual framework of Antifragile SMEs is presented as the theoretical contribution of this manuscript.

This article explains the knowledge structure of antifragility in the business sector, particularly among SMEs. Based on bibliometric data, we describe critical characteristics or mental states entrepreneurs should have when facing uncertainty. Furthermore, we propose a conceptual framework for antifragile SMEs where active learning and positive psychology are the pillars, and CNs are critical ingredients of antifragility in SMEs.

To date, few studies have incorporated female entrepreneurship into the context of a country that relies heavily on natural resources and still has a wide gender gap due to historically established cultural norms. This study aims to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial ecosystem factors on women’s ability and desire to become entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia.

The study applied a quantitative method using secondary data from the Adult Population Survey conducted by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and built upon the recently proposed “Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Approach,” which has three levels: institutional, organisational and individual.

The findings demonstrate the significant roles that different entrepreneurial ecosystem dimensions can play in determining female entrepreneurial activity. Relationships were found among the variables of the three dimensions, indicating that broader institutional conditions can impact women becoming entrepreneurs.

A multi-year analysis could not be performed because the country data from one year limited the research to conditions in that time frame.

The findings advance entrepreneurial research by empirically examining the influencers' factors on women becoming entrepreneurs in a fast-growing emerging economy, collectivist society and non-European and non-North American institutional environment. The research tested a framework that gives more insight into the diverse factors affecting women in entrepreneurship at different levels.

This article explores in a qualitative manner the motivations of women entrepreneurs who start and run ethnic food businesses in London.

Our approach is qualitative and deploys phenomenographical analysis of interview narratives around categories of motivation.

We find that women ethnic food entrepreneurs are driven by a combination of desire for self-actualisation, identity-maintenance and community considerations. We demonstrate that women ethnic food entrepreneurs often go against the logic of the market, and they do so not because they lack other options, but for reasons that have to do with their (self-)identification as women and professionals, their prerogatives as mothers and daughters, their ethnic heritage, their emplacement in urban and global communities and their need to contribute. Our findings enrich understanding of female-led ethnic food entrepreneurship not as a demanding, overall unproductive undertaking for women with no other options, but as a realm of inspiration, community engagement and female-led innovation.

Our main contributions are the qualitative interrogation of perceptions and experiences of identity and difference in urban entrepreneurship from the point of view of our interviewees; providing concrete empirical evidence for it through our sample and proposing an approach to thinking women-led ethnic food entrepreneurship as a vehicle for translating urban superdiversity into social interactions across barriers of difference. We speak to the field of women entrepreneurship studies but specifically to the understudied realm of women-led food entrepreneurship, and to the cross-disciplinary field of (im)migrant entrepreneurship.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between subsidiary manager’s demographic characteristics and performance, while incorporating the subsidiary context. We draw upon upper echelon theories and International Business theories to understand this relationship.

Using a dataset based on listed Multinational subsidiaries in India we use linear regression to establish the relationship between subsidiary external performance (host market performance), subsidiary internal performance and subsidiary manager’s demographic characteristics.

With our data set we find a positive relationship between percentage of host country nationals (HCN) in the Top Management Team (TMT) and subsidiary host market performance and that subsidiary age moderates this relationship. We also find an inverted U-shaped relationship between parent country nationals (PCN) tenure and subsidiary performance.

One of the limitations is that our study views the strategy process through the Upper Echelons (UE) theory lens, as a clearly specified planning process that associates strategy with intentionality. The opportunity that emanates at lower levels can turn an intended strategy into something different than what was started.

The findings in this paper can be the basis for decision making on the constitution of leadership teams.

There is a dearth of empirical evidence and studies on TMTs in the subsidiary, particularly from the non-North American context. Using a unique data set of listed multinational subsidiaries in India, the paper explores the impact of TMT demographics such as tenure of the TMT and age of the subsidiary operations on the performance of the subsidiary.

The study aimed to capture student experience during virtual internships by identifying the facilitators and barriers during their experiential learning journey. The students were pursuing their Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) program at a business school in India. The authors shed light on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the current education system, specifically experiential learning through virtual internships.

About 38 Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted from July to September 2022 with the students of a business school located in Pune, India. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed to generate new themes for ascertaining the facilitators and barriers to virtual internships. Interpretative Phenomenology Analysis was undertaken to analyze the lived experiences of the respondents.

Students viewed virtual internships positively in terms of mentor support, active learning, flexibility, and an easy onboarding process. Poor work-life balance, lack of peer learning and infrastructure issues were some of the barriers/challenges faced by the students.

The study discusses various managerial and administrative implications. The findings help educationists design effective pedagogy by drawing insights from constructivist learning theory, where students' active role during virtual internships must be given primary attention. Corrective measures in the pedagogy can be taken while designing a virtual internship, considering the barriers found in this study.

The themes identified in the study are a novel contribution to the growing body of knowledge on virtual experiential learning. The study empirically captures student experience regarding a relatively new phenomenon of virtual internships, which is the uniqueness of this paper.

The scaling of social initiatives is important to achieve broad social impact based on successful small-scale experiments. This paper focuses on the influence of the characteristics of the initiators of social initiatives on scaling processes. The limited literature on this topic highlights two critical actor characteristics: high entrepreneurial skills and a central position in the area. Both characteristics influence two critical components of the scaling process: mobilizing stakeholders and focusing on retaining effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to explore these complex relationships in a deductive analysis and to use these findings for an inductive analysis to generate new insights and extend our academic understanding.

A comparative qualitative study of 20 social initiatives in the Dutch social sector was conducted, including 48 in-depth interviews with initiators and stakeholders in three different areas – mental health, debt and labour participation.

High entrepreneurial skills are more important for mobilizing stakeholders and focusing on retention of effectiveness than the position of the initiators, but these are a condition rather than a guarantee. Creating space for scaling and investing in measuring effectiveness in other contexts are also important.

By combining the literature on social entrepreneurship and public innovation and conducting an empirical study, our study provides a broad and nuanced picture and brings precision to our understanding of the relationships between initiators' entrepreneurial skills and position and the scaling process.

Nowadays, nations are rapidly changing and evolving, both because of global competitiveness and technological development. The fast change of the economies and the interconnected world has brought a more globalized world than ever. The purpose of this paper is to assess Romania (RO) and Türkiye (TR) by using a customized version of Porter’s diamond model (PDM), with an emphasis on identifying the key components of their innovation systems.

The paper uses a recognized model to unfold its structure. Based on the PDM, this paper tackles the topic of innovation systems both of RO and TR. Applying the model, a mapping of indicators representing components of the national innovation system is made possible. Besides the traditional four determinants (dimensions) of the model, the authors adapted it and added the technology conditions. Using the five dimensions, a comparison of strategical objectives is made between RO and TR.

The results show the potential for both countries to develop and embrace the innovation capacity, while there is still room for improvement in this regard. Another point is the map of innovation system components that were used for the comparison. The implications of innovation are analyzed at a strategical level, comparing the mapping with the national strategical objectives.

There are many studies using this model, however a few bring into the light the impact of innovation systems at national level. Hence, a new framework is provided to evaluate innovative systems using a selection of modern indicators. This study uses an existing model in literature, Porter’s model mapping indicators, which highlight the innovation capacity.

The research identifies literature on Home-Based Businesses (HBBs) from 2000 to August 2023, focuses on their economic roles, challenges for entrepreneurs and success strategies, reflecting societal and technological changes. This guides future studies and highlights knowledge gaps.

A systematic literature review of published, peer-reviewed research between the years 2000 and 2023 is performed to examine how research on HBBs has changed over time, areas needing more study and how research has been done.

A total of 58 articles were analyzed and categorized into five distinct themes. Key insights into the evolution, significance and multifaceted aspects of HBBs are presented, revealing the impact and role of these businesses in a modern economic context.

The synthesis of existing literature enhances our understanding of recent studies on HBBs, focusing on challenges, and identifies promising directions for future research.

This research delves into a comprehensive examination of Amazon’s Vendor Flex (VF) model, seeking to illuminate the intricacies of supply chain innovation through alliances between Amazon and its suppliers. Employing a multiple case study methodology, the study investigates the reduction of transaction costs, the establishment of strategic alliances for supply chain innovation and governance issues within these alliances.

A multiple case study methodology, incorporating personal interviews and triangulation with primary sources, was employed to unravel the dynamics of the VF model.

Results indicate that the VF model aligns with the reduction of transaction costs by leveraging Amazon’s specialized knowledge, although not necessarily through direct knowledge sharing. Amazon suppliers highlight competitive advantages gained through VF, showcasing efficient navigation of peak seasons and a focus on core activities with online retailing integration. The VF alliance represents a collaborative model where Amazon’s technological prowess enables a streamlined and innovative supply chain for online retailing, which resembles a vertical integration process.

This research underscores the potential of strategic alliances to drive innovation by incorporating industry-leading practices. The governance issues within the VF alliance reveal power imbalances, emphasizing the need for managers to govern dynamics, disclose information and build trust in large-scale alliances.