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Based on the dynamic capability view, this study aims to draw for the first time the missing link between big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) on both green absorptive capacity (GAC) and green entrepreneurship orientation (GEO). It is theoretically necessary to address how BDAC levels up the GAC to achieve the same level of GEO and then respond to their green business agenda. In addition, the study introduces knowledge sharing (KS) and green organizational ambidexterity (GOA) as potential moderating factors in the relationship between GEO and eco-innovation and explores the mediation role of GAC in the BDAC–GEO relationship.

The study collected 268 questionnaires from employees working in Chinese manufacturing firms using a self-administered survey and cross-sectional research design. The study applied SmartPLS to analyze the obtained data.

The findings revealed that BDAC positively and significantly influences GAC and GEO, positively impacting eco-innovation. The KS and GOA's moderation effect strengthens the relationship between GEO and eco-innovation. GAC partially mediates the relationship between BDAC and GEO.

The study advises firms to invest heavily in developing technological aspects of BDAC as a dynamic strategic capability that facilitates tracking and anticipating the future behavior changes of customers, competitors and market demands. BDAC also allows firms to upgrade and reconfigure their dynamic capabilities by responding to managerial, operational and strategic necessities. BDAC is necessary to increase GAC's impact and help drive GEO's eco-business agenda. Notably, the study gave superior attention to KS and GOA as a backbone of GEO to improve eco-innovation economic and managerial outcomes.

The study highlights the necessity to upgrade and integrate technological aspects of BDAC within firms' GEO to enhance green practices. Significantly, green business practices changed quickly as customers' needs and eco-markets fluctuated; BDAC is the crucial dynamic capability fostering GAC and entrepreneurs' green mindset to deal with environmental challenges. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is to predict the potential effect of BDAC on both GAC and GEO. BDAC helps firms to develop GEO eco-business agenda and balance green growth with green issues.

The multifaceted effect of IT in organizations has been widely examined. However, the intervening role of IT strategy and business strategy on the effect of managing IT on firm performance remains less strong. This study examines how managing information technology (MIT) effects on firm performance by looking at the mediating role of IT strategy and business strategy.

Drawing on the resource-based view of IT and contingency perspective, theoretical insights for managing IT and the mediating effect of IT strategy and business strategy on firm performance are established. The model is empirically tested by using hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling for the data collected through the survey of 194 senior IT and business managers in China.

The significant and impactful relationship found in the model for the proposed idea. The results show that both IT strategy and business strategy partially mediate the effect of managing IT on firm performance.

The findings highlight that managing IT does not merely influence better firm performance; instead, the coherent amalgamation of IT strategy and business strategy can enrich firm performance. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

In line with the call for rigorous research to integrate the managing IT and firm strategies, this study demonstrates the mediating role of business strategy and IT strategy between the managing IT and the firm performance relationship, hence contributing to the IS research literature.

The purpose of this paper is to find out the different types of business networks formed by firms with the stakeholders present in a cluster, i.e. how firms in a cluster interact with the cluster stakeholders?

To answer the research question, this study uses an exploratory research design, which is carried out in two stages, Stage 1 involves use of primary data, which was collected through semi-structured personal face-to-face interview mode and Stage 2 involves survey research method where data was collected through a survey questionnaire. Data for interviews and questionnaires were collected from managers and owners of firms operating in the cluster at their offices.

The study has identified four types of business networks between a firm and its buyers, only one type of business network with the suppliers and educational institutes, finally two types of business networks with government agencies and local associations. However, with respect to network with other stakeholders such as research institutes and competitors, the study shows that the interaction between a firm and these stakeholders is not strong i.e. the linkages between them remain largely unfilled.

The study has been limited to only one cluster thus it might not be appropriate to generalise the findings. Further research in this area needs to be done by taking other clusters to generalise the findings.

The study has tried to answer the research gap of lack of literature on types of business networks formed by firms with the stakeholders present in an industrial cluster, and thus, contributed to the existing literature of business networks. The identified business networks provide a much deeper understanding of how firms connect with its buyers, its suppliers, government agencies and educational institutes operating in an auto-component cluster.

In this age of digitalization, organizations are generating large data from the organizations' manufacturing processes that are valuable for capturing a competitive edge. Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can bring organizations radical innovation by investing in innovation projects (i.e. big data use; BDU) using the SMEs' scarce resources. Thus, the authors' research aims to predict Chinese SMEs' radical innovation (RI) through BDU using the theoretical lenses of the resource-based view. Moreover, the authors' study also pursues to realize the undermining mediating process of business strategy alignment (BSA) and the buffering role of information sharing in BDU–RI linkage.

In total, 297 Chinese SMEs entrepreneurs and managers were recruited from the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China using a survey approach. In Mplus 7.4, the authors tested the proposed hypotheses.

The sample of 297 shows that BDU is directly and indirectly (via BSA) related to RI. Further, information sharing moderates the linkage between BDU and BSA and BSA and RI. The association between BSA and RI is only significant and stronger when information sharing is high.

This research is beneficial for SME entrepreneurs/managers to enhance the understanding of BDU, eliminate challenges of BSA via BDU and align business strategies to bring RI to Chinese SMEs.

SMEs always search for new ways to enhance SMEs' productivity using scarce resources. This is the first research that advances big data and innovation literature by predicting firm RI through BDU using a resource-based view. Moreover, this study is novel because the study investigates the mediation role of BSA and the moderating role of information sharing in the linkage between BDU and firm RI in Chinese SMEs.

Incubators, as providers of advice and resources, suggest fostering the development of early-idea firms. Literature and practice seem to suggest an ever-increasing amount of incubator support. The creation of business relationships is at the heart of any business development, and this paper addresses whether a laissez-faire incubator fosters the creation of business relationships. The purpose of this paper is to explore the creation of business relationships among incubated firms during and after their time in the incubator along with the roles that these relationships play for the incubated firms.

Empirically, the paper is based on retrospective interviews with representatives of all incubated firms in a university incubator. A total of fifteen interviews were conducted with representatives of the incubated firms, the incubator and its owners, complemented by secondary data sources.

The paper points out three antecedents for business relationship creation: the lack of experience and connections; convenience; and trust based on the interactions with others in the incubator. These antecedents are connected to the roles of transforming businesses and of adaptation in the dyadic relationships. The laissez-faire incubator helped through the learning-by-doing among the incubated firms, which made them focus on business relationship creation from early on.

Most incubator research portrays the unilateral transfer of knowledge from the incubator to the incubated firm, with the latter being a service taker rather than a co-producer. The paper adds knowledge about business relationships among firms in incubators and the roles that these business relationships could play for the firms. The focus on an incubator providing limited support is of high practical relevance, given the trend of incubators facilitating more and more services.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of personal and inter-firm networks and the elements that contribute to the formation and management of these networks for regional small businesses.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 small business owners located in regional areas.

The findings highlight key characteristics of regional small business owners’ networks. Findings indicated that participants relied strongly on their personal networks for business purposes. This study shows that while personal networks adapted and changed into informal inter-firm networks, weak-tie relations within inter-firm networks were unlikely to develop into close personal networks. Novel findings also include a preference for “regional interactions” and included regular collaboration with local business competitors. Although the participants used social media to manage their business through personal networks, results confirmed there was a lack of awareness of the benefits of inter-firm networks with businesses outside the local region.

While it is acknowledged small business owners use personal and inter-firm connections to maintain and grow their business, there is a lack of research examining both of these networks in the same study. This research addresses this gap and presents five propositions as a useful direction for future research. This paper adds to the evolution of existing knowledge by expanding understanding of the formation of business networks and conditions of business trust relations within a regional context.

The paper explores the composition of employment in new innovative firms. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the mixture of job positions at the firm level measured by employees’ occupational position, their qualification and specialisation, as well as their origin. As there is little known about the structure and quality of employment in new firms, insights are helpful for policymakers who are engaged in regional development and job creation.

The database used for analysis comes from an interdisciplinary study on human-related success factors of business start-ups in the German state of Thuringia. Data were collected by means of 399 face-to-face interviews with the sole founder or the leading entrepreneur of a start-up firm. The findings are based on a multivariate data analysis using regression models.

The results indicate that temporary employment is more likely inherent in fast growing firms. Academic spin-offs prefer to hire people with a university education and scientific background. Furthermore, it is found that manufacturing firms have a relatively higher demand for staff with a professional education as well as a technical background. However, there is no support for the thesis that innovative firms contribute to combating structural unemployment at least in the short run.

Results are limited to a particular geographical region. Researchers are strongly encouraged to conduct further research on the topic.

The paper includes implications for policymakers in the field of unemployment reduction and employment creation.

The paper explores the link between innovation and the quality of employment in new business ventures. This approach is in contrast to the bulk of other studies dealing with new employment generation in terms of numbers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate headquarters control business units, the governing of which has emerged as a vital issue as business portfolios have grown increasingly complex due to diversification, globalization, and corporate group expansion via spinoffs and mergers and acquisitions.

This study utilized questionnaire survey data from 251 firms listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The authors approached the issue of business unit governance by measuring the degree of decentralization and the intensity of monitoring, and compared the governance of internal business units with that of subsidiaries, and analyzed the impact of corporate governance characteristics on business unit governance.

Comparing in‐house business units and subsidiaries, the authors found a significant difference in their governance. The degree of decentralization toward subsidiaries was higher for strategic and personnel decision‐making. However, the complementarity of decentralization and monitoring was not observed for subsidiaries, whereas it was for in‐house business units. Subsidiary monitoring corresponding to decentralization was inadequate. Examining the relationship between corporate governance and business unit governance, the paper found that firms with reformed boards of directors and under a greater degree of pressure from capital markets monitored their business units more strictly.

The paper shows how the business portfolios and governance arrangements of Japanese firms have changed since the 1990s, and analyzes business unit governance based on valuable data obtained from a questionnaire survey.

This paper aims to investigate four successful Chinese ICT enterprises to determine what initiated their business-model innovations and the process they went through by exploring how they adapted and innovatively renewed four key elements of their business models.

This investigative and exploratory research adopted a multiple-case-study design exploring four purposively selected successful Chinese ICT enterprises which had all engaged in significant business model innovation since their inception. Data for the case studies were collected through in-depth interviews with the founders and analyses of the companies’ history to gain a detailed account of the evolution of the firms’ business models since their formation.

The research identified three key initiating factors to business model innovation in the firms studied, namely, constant and rapid product iteration, along with an emergent strategy, leading to business model innovations to take full advantage of the firms’ competitive advantages; a reaction to threats and environmental changes; and an opportunistic behaviour to extend the business model to new markets. The research found that networks were a key factor in the process, including the customer base, financial investors and network collaborators.

This research is limited to four successful Chinese ICT firms; this in-depth approach means the information may have only limited transferability but provides depth on a burgeoning Chinese sector.

This research addresses the call for more research and a greater understanding of what initiates business model innovation and the process firms go through to develop the key elements of their business models by looking at a purposively selected sample of successful Chinese enterprises in a fast-moving and technologically driven market.

The purpose of this paper is to confirm empirically the existence of a US apparel import intermediary (AII) identity crisis, and to provide a detailed descriptive profile of AIIs, differentiating them from apparel firms not primarily engaged in importing activities.

A survey study was conducted using a national sample of US AIIs. Based on these firms' executives' responses, a firm identity issue was analyzed and a detailed profile of these firms' business characteristics was developed, using frequency comparisons.

The study confirmed that US AIIs are currently experiencing an identity crisis, as nearly half of the study respondents misclassified themselves as apparel manufacturers or other business types, suggesting a significant distortion in US Economic Census data. The study also provided a descriptive profile of US AIIs, including geographic location and other business operation characteristics.

Three fourths of the survey respondents were located in the state of New York. Whether most US AIIs truly reside in New York cannot be known with certainty. Generalization of the study findings to a greater population should be cautious.

Confirmation of an AII identity crisis suggests both aggregate and individual firm‐level impacts on import activities. The study offers a new term, “intermediary”, to replace the US Census Bureau term “wholesaler” to accurately reflect the industry's transformation.

The study provides the first empirical support for a US AII identity crisis. The detailed profile of US AIIs offers industry data not available prior to this study.