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This paper aims to propose a framework to assess the readiness of Brazilian small and medium service companies to use Industry 4.0 technologies to improve the efficiency of processes, reinforcing the idea that evaluating and planning the implementation is as important as the use, without the need for big investments.

The paper presents two applications on the readiness level of small and medium enterprises, with support from researchers and stakeholders. The literature seems to focus more on the maturity level than on providing a sequence of operational steps or decision support. It would lead to better implementation of I4.0 technologies in assessing the company’s readiness level to adopt them.

The authors analyze the relevant case studies in Brazilian small and medium service enterprises based on the proposed framework to investigate the main challenges and hardships for Industry 4.0 readiness in the current scenario and outline directions to increase their readiness for adopting key Industry 4.0 technologies. Moreover, the case studies consolidate a fundamental advantage to small and medium enterprise service: a guided implementation provides more knowledge about products, processes and I4.0 technologies, even in unsuccessful case studies.

The need was identified when studying market trends with the digital transformation provided by Industry 4.0 technologies and, in parallel, the difficulties of small and medium service companies in adapting to this new scenario. Through the proposed framework, an action plan can be drawn up with well-defined objectives, goals and activities so that the service enterprises can increase their Industry 4.0 readiness level within three months.

A relevant aspect is that this study is based on feedback from stakeholders and managers, which makes the analyses and conclusions from empirical points of view without relevant theoretical knowledge of the relationship between I4.0 technologies. Therefore, the proposed framework made it possible to diagnose the organization’s external and internal environments, allowing the ideal condition and the current situation of the companies to be compared, as argued in the Industry 4.0 readiness literature review.

This article explores whether six broad categories of activities undertaken by Canadian business scholars’ academics: publications record, citations record, teaching load, administrative load, consulting activities, and knowledge spillovers transfer, are complementary, substitute, or independent, as well as the conditions under which complementarities, substitution and independence among these activities are likely to occur.

A multivariate probit model is estimated to take into account that business scholars have to consider simultaneously whether or not to undertake many different academic activities. Metrics from Google Scholar of scholars from 35 Canadian business schools, augmented by a survey data on factors explaining the productivity and impact performances of these faculty members, are used to explain the heterogeneities between the determinants of these activities.

Overall, the results reveal that there are complementarities between publications and citations, publications and knowledge spillovers transfer, citations and consulting, and between consulting and knowledge spillovers transfer. The results also suggest that there are substitution effects between publications and teaching, publications and administrative load, citations and teaching load, and teaching load and administrative load. Moreover, results show that public and private funding, business schools’ reputation, scholar’s relational resources, and business school size are among the most influential variables on the scholar’s portfolio of activities.

This study considers simultaneously the scholar’s whole portfolio of activities. Moreover, the determinants considered in this study to explain scholars’ engagement in different activities reconcile two conflicting perspectives: (1) the traditional self-managed approach of academics, and (2) the outcomes-focused approach of university management.

Applying the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) model, this study aims to explore how AI-driven stimuli (e.g. ChatGPT adoption in entrepreneurship and perceived AI competencies) stimulate individuals’ cognitive organisms (e.g. digital entrepreneurial opportunity exploration and exploitation), and how these individually, congruently, and incongruently trigger their behavioral responses (e.g. nascent digital start-up activities).

Utilizing a sample of 1326 MBA students in Vietnam with a stratified sampling approach, multiple linear regression and polynomial regression with response surface analysis were used to test hypotheses.

The findings reveal that ChatGPT adoption in entrepreneurship and perceived AI competencies have a positive and significant impact on individuals’ digital entrepreneurial opportunity exploration and exploitation, which in turn, positively affects nascent digital start-up activities. Moreover, the study also reports that digital entrepreneurial opportunity exploration and exploitation can be congruently combined with each other to trigger the effects of nascent digital start-up activities.

Some valuable recommendations based on the findings have been provided for practitioners and policymakers.

The study contributes to the academic landscape by validating the SOR model within the context of AI adoption and entrepreneurship. It emphasizes the sequential processes of stimulus, cognitive responses, and behavioral outcomes, shedding light on nuanced effects in the digital entrepreneurial landscape.

Over the past years, business strategies have been designed to improve ‘firms' financial and non-financial performances and achieve sustainable development, leading to corporate sustainability. This article is a bibliometric analysis of two decades of the relationship between corporate sustainability and firm performance, identifying the research focus and the gaps for future research.

The bibliometric review of corporate sustainability and performance research is between January 2004 and June 2023. As per the Web of Science database, the theme's research commenced around 2004, growing gradually till 2023. Five hundred thirty-nine published articles by peer-reviewed ABDC-indexed A and A* journals in English have been reviewed. The bibliometrix package in R software is used with VOSviewer for the bibliometric analysis.

The study's findings indicate a lack of research on the theme from developed and underdeveloped nations. Further, the analysis reveals five clusters of research: (1) business sustainability, (2) corporate sustainability reporting, (3) corporate sustainability, strategy, and innovation, (4) stakeholder and corporate sustainability, and e) corporate sustainability assessment.

The future research areas proposed are on two major themes, namely, corporate sustainability and organizational competitive advantage, including sub-themes such as “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and financial performance” and “greenhouse-gas emissions” and “market orientations,” respectively. There is a need for more research in developing markets, a comprehensive definition of corporate sustainability, and further exploration of the theme linking strategy and innovation.