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The ongoing paradigm shift in the energy sector holds paramount implications for the realization of the sustainable development goals, encompassing critical domains such as resource optimization, environmental stewardship and workforce opportunities. Concurrently, this transformative trajectory within the power sector possesses a dual-edged nature; it may ameliorate certain challenges while accentuating others. In light of the burgeoning research stream on open innovation, this study aims to examine the intricate dynamics of knowledge-based industry-university-research networking, with an overarching objective to elucidate and calibrate the equilibrium of ambidextrous innovation within power systems.

The authors scrutinize the role of different innovation organizations in three innovation models: ambidextrous, exploitative and exploratory, and use a multiobjective decision analysis method-entropy weight TOPSIS. The research was conducted within the sphere of the power industry, and the authors mined data from the widely used PatSnap database.

Results show that the breadth of knowledge search and the strength of an organization’s direct relationships are crucial for ambidextrous innovation, with research institutions having the highest impact. In contrast, for exploitative innovation, depth of knowledge search, the number of R&D patents and the number of innovative products are paramount, with universities playing the most significant role. For exploratory innovation, the depth of knowledge search and the quality of two-mode network relations are vital, with research institutions yielding the best effect. Regional analysis reveals Beijing as the primary hub for ambidextrous and exploratory innovation organizations, while Jiangsu leads for exploitative innovation.

The study offers valuable implications to cope with the dynamic state of ambidextrous innovation performance of the entire power system. In light of the findings, the dynamic state of ambidextrous innovation performance within the power system can be adeptly managed. By emphasizing a balance between exploratory and exploitative strategies, stakeholders are better positioned to respond to evolving challenges and opportunities. Thus, the study offers pivotal guidance to ensure sustained adaptability and growth in the power sector’s innovation landscape.

The primary originality is to extend and refine the theoretical understanding of ambidextrous innovation within power systems. By integrating several theoretical frameworks, including social network theory, knowledge-based theory and resource-based theory, the authors enrich the theoretical landscape of power system ambidextrous innovation. Also, this inclusive examination of two-mode network structures, including the interplay between knowledge and cooperation networks, unveils the intricate interdependencies between these networks and the ambidextrous innovation of power systems. This approach significantly widens the theoretical parameters of innovation network research.

Producers of specialty products that apply nonindustrial production techniques to deliver high quality and authenticity to niche markets define themselves in opposition to industrial production. This forces them to strike a delicate balance between, on the one hand, emphasizing the symbolic value related to quality, creativity and distance from traditional industrial production, and on the other hand, ensuring profitability through commercial orientation. This paper aims to explore how new and established firms benefit from a different balance between a strategic orientation toward creativity and the symbolic value of specialty products and commercialization.

Based on survey data from 99 specialty coffee roasters, this study uses statistical regression models to analyze how new versus established firms benefit from a strategic orientation toward creativity versus commercialization.

The authors find that firms benefit from shifting the balance from a strategic orientation on creativity in new firms to a strategic orientation on commercialization in more established firms. This shift increases the likelihood that firms’ passion and creativity lead to commercial success.

The findings demonstrate the importance of strategic orientation and emphasize that business owners need to revisit and adjust their strategic orientation as their businesses develop.

The purpose of the paper is to present research trends in the food supply chain in the context of changes in food systems due to globalization, urbanization, environmental concerns, technological changes and changes in food consumption patterns in the world.

The present investigation was performed by bibliometric analysis using the VOSviewer software, visualization software developed by Nees and Waltman (2020). In this work we performed co-citation, bibliographic coupling and keyword evolution analyses.

The results show that research in the food supply chain is rapidly changing and growing. By applying co-citation analysis, The authors found that the intellectual structure of the food supply chain has evolved around six clusters, namely, (a) collaboration and integration in the supply chain (b) sustainable supply chain management, (c) food supply chain management (FSCM), (d) models for decision-making in the food supply chain, (e) risk management in the supply chain and (g) quality and food logistics in the supply chain. However, based on bibliographic coupling analysis, The authors find that new or emerging research niches are moving toward food supply market access, innovation and technology, food waste management and halal FSCM. Nevertheless, the authors found that the existing research in each of the thematic clusters is not exhaustive.

The limitation of the research is that the analysis mainly relates only to the bibliometric approach and only one database, namely, Scopus. Broader inclusion of databases and deeper application of content analysis could expand the results of this research.

There are limited studies that have examined research trends in food supply chains in both developed and developing countries using bibliometric analysis. The present investigation is novel in identifying the thematic research clusters in the food supply chain, emerging issues and likely future research directions. This is important given the dynamics, consumer demand for quality food, technological changes and environmental sustainability issues in food systems.

Given the positive organizational principles associated with total quality management (TQM) – customer focus, continuous improvement, and process management – one would assume TQM's application is universally beneficial across businesses. Generally, research supports that notion. However, given resource limitations and shallow management teams in small businesses, there are multiple challenges in implementing TQM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, small business leaders should benefit from knowledge linking other management practices to TQM’s positive effect on small firm performance, which enhances these leaders' return on TQM investment.

The authors apply partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to explore TQM’s effect on small business performance and how other management practices enhance that relationship. Specifically, the authors explore how a comprehensive strategic approach (CSA) – a higher-order construct consisting of strategic planning, goal setting, and financial ratio analysis – moderates the relationship between TQM and small business performance. Given the complexity of the authors' model, the application of higher-order constructs, and the exploratory nature of this work, PLS-SEM is well suited for this study.

Consistent with prior research, the authors found that TQM (also a higher-order construct, consisting of seven lower-order constructs) positively impacts small firm performance. In addition, the authors found that CSA positively moderates the relationship between TQM and financial performance.

TQM’s effect on small business performance is enhanced when leaders implement a CSA. In other words, when small business leaders strategically plan, set goals, and analyze financial ratios, TQM's positive effect on firm performance is enhanced. This finding provides business leaders insights for how to maximize the TQM investment return.

This study aims to explore how to overcome and address the loss of exploratory innovation, thereby achieving greater success in exploratory innovation. This phenomenon of loss occurs when enterprises decrease their investment in and engagement with exploratory innovation, ultimately leading to an insufficient amount of such innovation efforts. Drawing on dynamic capabilities, this study investigates the relationship between organizational foresight and exploratory innovation and examines the moderating role of breakthrough orientation/financial orientation.

This study used survey data collected from 296 Chinese high-tech companies in multiple industries and sectors.

The evidence produced by this study reveals that three elements of organizational foresight (i.e. environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and integrating capabilities) positively influence exploratory innovation. Furthermore, this positive effect is strengthened in the context of a high-breakthrough orientation. Moreover, the relationships among environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and exploratory innovation become weaker as an enterprise’s financial orientation increases, whereas a strong financial orientation does not affect the relationship between integrating capabilities and exploratory innovation.

Ambidexterity is key to successful enterprise innovation. Compared with exploitative innovation, it is by no means easy to engage in exploratory innovation, which is especially important in high-tech companies. While the loss of exploratory innovation has been observed, few empirical studies have explored ways to promote exploratory innovation more effectively. A key research implication of this study pertains to the role of organizational foresight in the improvement of exploratory innovation in the context of high-tech companies.

This paper contributes to the broader literature on exploratory innovation and organizational foresight and provides practical guidance for high-tech companies regarding ways of avoiding the loss of exploratory innovation and becoming more successful at exploratory innovation.

Becoming a learning organisation (LO) is an aspiration for every organisation as it offers internal capabilities, a competitive advantage and synergy gains to organisational members. Scholars across the globe have tried to examine the outcomes of LO at various organisational levels. Still, the existing literature is fragmented, and there is no systematic understanding of the multi-level outcomes of LO. Therefore, this study aims to synthesise, analyse and categorise the scientific literature into various levels of outcomes of LO to provide a conceptual framework for use by future researchers and academicians.

The authors have performed bibliometric analysis using 603 research articles published in Scopus, entailing 1,345 authors from 77 countries, followed by a thematic cluster analysis using bibliographic coupling to understand the current research trends and to recommend a set of broad themes to provide direction for future researchers in this domain.

The results are largely descriptive and aim to capture a panoramic view of what has been written on the topic so far. The bibliometric analysis was conducted using different means like citation analysis, cluster analysis, and keyword analysis to reveal the most significant publications, notable authors, keywords, current research trends, and future research questions. Further, the bibliographic coupling led to the categorization of the outcomes of LO into the following four clusters (including sub-clusters): (1) Individual level learning outcomes (2) team-level learning outcomes, (3) organisational-wide learning outcomes and (4) inter-organisational learning outcomes.

Managers and practitioners (change agents) expect academicians and researchers to suggest a set of actions that integrates their learning efforts with business performance across diverse sectors and industries. So, future researchers may try and explain the findings of seminal studies identified in the most cited documents, to design choices and trade-offs that may address major hindrances in implementing the construct in true spirit. The researchers may collaborate with practitioners to study the outcomes of LO with a scientific and empirical lens. Finally, the study invites change agents and organisation development (OD) practitioners to document the outcomes of their efforts to create and leverage the outcomes of LO.

Researchers across the world have tried to examine the outcomes of LO at various levels in organisational setting including, measuring capabilities and attitudes at individual level, team capabilities and innovation, and organisational performance and sustainability, but still there is no tested conceptual framework which encompasses the various outcome levels of LO in one frame.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the differences between Hungarian family-owned businesses (FOBs) and non-family-owned businesses (NFOBs) concerning the elements of SME competitiveness and financial performance.

The research covers the Hungarian data set of the Global Competitiveness Project (GCP, www.sme-gcp.org) of 738 (data collection between 2018 and 2020) non-listed SMEs, of which 328 were FOBs. The study uses the comprehensive, multidimensional competitiveness measurement of the GCP built on the resource-based view (RBV) and the configuration theory. Financial performance was captured with two composite indicators: short-term and long-term financial performance (LTFP). The comparative analysis between FOBs and NFOBs was conducted using binary logistic regression.

The results show that FOBs are more prone to focusing on local niche markets with higher longevity and LTFP than NFOBs. However, FOBs have lower innovation intensity and less organised administrative procedures. The most contradicting finding is that the FOBs’ higher LTFP is accompanied by significantly lower competitiveness than in the case of NFOBs.

This study goes beyond other GCP studies by including composite financial performance measures among the variables examined. The combination of performance-causing (resources and capabilities) and performance-representing (financial performance) variables provides a better understanding of the non-listed SMEs in terms of family ownership. The results help academia to enrich the RBV-competitiveness, the non-listed SME management and finance literature, and policymakers to design business development and support schemes. They also show future entrepreneurs the impact of family ownership on entrepreneurial success.

This study investigates the economic outcomes of the strategic deviation (SD), the fundamental and crucial question in institutional theory and strategic management. Previous studies have yielded contradictory findings. This study reconciles conflicting results by distinguishing the effects of the SD on financial and market performance, examining the mechanism of financing constraints and the boundary condition of institutional investor heterogeneity.

This research collected data from Chinese A-shares listed manufacturing firms from 2009 to 2021 from the CSMAR and Wind databases. This study conducted empirical tests using OLS models with Stata 15.

Empirical results demonstrate that the SD has different impacts on different dimensions of performance. The SD negatively impacts financial performance while positively impacts market performance. Financing constraints mediate the main effects. Moreover, transactional institutional investors positively moderate the negative effect of the SD on financial performance, whereas stable institutional investors negatively moderate the positive effect of the SD on market performance.

By systematically revealing how the SD has different effects on financial and market performance, this study reconciles the debate on the SD between institutional theorists and strategy scholars. This research makes contributions to the research stream by providing reasonable explanations for conflicting conclusions. Furthermore, by introducing the overlooked perspective of financing constraints, this research identifies crucial mediating mechanisms and highlights the double-edged effect of financing constraints, enriching our understanding of financing constraints. Finally, this study investigates the moderating effects of institutional investor heterogeneity, thereby making valuable contributions to the comprehension of boundary conditions.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and its effect on human resource management (HRM) practices, contextual ambidexterity and knowledge-intensive small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) strategic agility.

This study presents an in-depth qualitative case study analysis of two knowledge-intensive SMEs from India’s information technology and health-care products industry serving a range of global clients. Using the theoretical lenses of empowerment-focused HRM practices, ambidextrous leaders, contextual ambidexterity and strategic agility, semi-structured interview data of leaders, managers and employees of the case organizations were analysed. Through a two-staged analytical process, we abductively developed a novel conceptual framework at the intersection of the above theoretical lenses.

The findings suggest that the knowledge-intensive SME’s strategic agility, ambidexterity and empowerment-focussed HRM approach was influenced by the owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and their philosophy towards managing people and had a positive impact in creating a culture of trust, participation, risk-taking and openness, and led to delivering innovative products and services as well as several positive employee-level outcomes.

Recent literature reviews on HRM In SMEs highlight several gaps, including the impact of owner-manager or leader’s philosophy of managing people in shaping HRM practices and employee outcomes. This paper thus adds to the existing literature on HRM and knowledge-intensive SMEs.