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The field of scientific research on small and medium-sized family businesses has been growing exponentially and the aim of this paper is to systematize the body of knowledge to develop an agenda for the future.

Adopting comparative bibliometric analyses on 155 articles (from 1989 until 2018) the authors provide a systematic assessment of the scientific research about small family firms, unveiling the structure and evolution of the field. Bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis are adopted to identify the most influential studies and themes.

Four clusters of research are reviewed: succession in family SMEs, performances of family SMEs, internationalization of family SMEs and organizational culture of family SMEs.

This paper contributes to the field of family SMEs by providing a systematic analysis of the scientific knowledge. Reviewing those clusters allows to providing avenues and reflections for future research and further practice.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further integration of knowledge among different streams of research and to develop an interpretative framework to stimulate future research.

A data set of 107 relevant papers on the topic was retrieved using the Web of Science Core Collection database covering a period ranging from 2001 to 2019. A comparative bibliometric analysis consisting of the integration of results from the citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling was performed to identify the most influential papers. The systematic literature review complemented the bibliometric results by clustering the most influential papers.

The results revealed different intellectual structures across several types of analyses. Despite such differences, 41 papers resulted as the most impactful and provided evidence of the emergence of five thematic clusters: trust, performance, cultural diversity, knowledge management and team management.

Based on the bibliometric analyses an interpretative research agenda has been developed that unveils the main future research avenues. The paper also offers important theoretical contributions by systematizing knowledge on conflict in identifying VTs. Managerial contributions in the form of the identification of best practices are also developed to guide conflict management in VTs.

The uniqueness of this paper is related to its effort in studying, mapping and systematizing the knowledge concerning the topic of handling conflicts in VTs. Considering the current contingencies, this research is particularly timely.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate blockchain’s enabling role for sustainability reporting. This study extends the scientific knowledge about the impacts related to the notarisation of mandatory sustainability reports through a publicly available blockchain.

Building on the idea journey framework, this paper presents the case study of Banca Mediolanum in Italy, a first-mover who notarised its non-financial declaration on a public blockchain to mitigate the information asymmetries that negatively impact stakeholder engagement.

The analysis reveals that the notarisation of the non-financial reports through a publicly available blockchain can represent a tool useful to mitigate the asymmetric information between organisations and stakeholders.

Although academics and practitioners have observed the benefits of its implementation, only a few companies have adopted blockchain systems to ensure their information’s reliability. The findings underline the opportunity for socially responsible organisations to signal their orientation towards sustainable development through the adoption of an innovative tool.

The proliferation of non-financial reports prepared on mandatory basis mitigated the signalling effects related to the disclosure of non-financial information. The case study underlines the opportunity for socially responsible organisations to overcoming this criticism through notarisation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study about sustainability reporting practices and blockchain. This research contributes to the currently scarce discussion about the role of blockchain in non-financial reporting. In addition, the authors contribute to the scientific conversation about the need to rethink assurance in non-financial reporting practices.

This study aims to provide a systematic and comprehensive examination of the underlying factors enabling the emergence of unicorn firms. By addressing this research gap and offering an integrative framework, it seeks to support future research efforts in understanding this phenomenon and contribute to the academic debate around it.

This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) approach and thematic analysis of articles retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases.

The study sheds light on internal characteristics, ranging from the entrepreneurial (human capital and knowledge) to firm-specific level (business model, corporate governance, resources) and external ones related to the funding factors (financial patterns, venture capitalists, firm evaluation) and the ecosystem (entrepreneurial and technology) around the phenomenon of unicorn firms.

This is the first systematic literature review on unicorns that offers insights into the internal and external factors driving the emergence of such firms, contributes to shed light on the main criticalities that blur their understanding and presents a research agenda for developing this field of research.

This study aims to take a holistic perspective to investigate how open innovation supports sustainability and the contribution to the Unite Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The study is based on an in-depth single case study of Andriani SpA, a leading Italian company in the food industry. The case is built by triangulating data from direct observations, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews.

The findings show an organization that has developed its competitive advantage by adopting open innovation to embed sustainability in its strategy and business model. The case study complements the understanding of how open innovation can effectively drive strategic renewal and innovation activities to address sustainability objectives in the food industry.

This study contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms' strategic behaviour and coevolution toward sustainability via open innovation. It provides practitioners, policymakers, researchers and students with reflections and inspiration about how open innovation may be deployed to support a holistic strategic renewal aimed at sustainability objectives, such as the SDGs, in the food industry.

This paper aims to contribute to the scientific debate concerning the impact of equity crowdfunding on the performance of crowdfunded firms after campaigning. To this aim, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the campaign and the subsequent firm innovativeness.

This study adopts a quantitative research approach to evaluate if the entrepreneurial choices affecting the characteristics of the equity crowdfunding campaigns have an impact on the post-campaign firm innovativeness.

The results of the models show that the campaign characteristics have a direct impact on the firm innovativeness, both in terms of offering and communication and the campaign performance.

This paper presents one of the first studies to investigate the relationship between the choice of campaign characteristics and the post-campaign firm innovativeness. As such, the study contributes to both the literature concerning start-up innovation and the literature about the impact of equity crowdfunding.

In an attempt to build upon existing theory, this paper aims to investigate the potentially reciprocal relationship between negotiation and strategy, and strive to contribute toward a better understanding of the ways in which organizations negotiate.

Built upon the integration of two different bodies of literature, negotiation and strategy, and on the analysis of the case of Ryanair, this paper argues for an integrated approach to negotiation and organizational capabilities.

The case study allows for a clearer understanding of how negotiation capability can play a significant role in supporting the creation and sustainment of competitive advantage, even under unfavorable industry settings.

This paper contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms’ behavior, moving beyond the classic interpretation of industry dynamics, such as bargaining power. This study has implications for both practice and research, as it offers a better and more holistic understanding of the strategy-making process and the foundations of its success.

This study aims to investigate the evolutionary pathways adopted by a digital platform to favor the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem inspired by circular economy behaviors, becoming an enabler in the development of a coevolutionary relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystems and circular economy.

An in-depth single-case study method has been applied, investigating the case of circularity.com, the first and only circular economy industrial symbiosis platform in Italy.

The paper shows how digital platforms can transition towards circular business models, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the findings show how sustainable platforms' need to revise their business models to effectively engage with stakeholders. The analysis also shows the central role covered by entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition towards a more circular and sustainable business models.

This paper contributes to theoretical development by offering new and insightful explanations of firms' behavior and coevolution, moving beyond the classic interpretation of industry dynamics and analyzing a unique case study. This study has implications for both practice and research, as it offers a better and more holistic understanding of the enabling role of digital platforms for a circular economy.