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Scholars in the field of performance measurement tend to use the term business performance measurement (BPM) systems without explaining exactly what they mean by it. This lack of clarity creates confusion and comparability issues, and makes it difficult for researchers to build on one an each other's work. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key characteristics of a BPM system, by reviewing the different definitions of a BPM system that exist in the literature. This work aims to open a debate on what are the necessary and sufficient conditions of a BPM system. It is also hoped that a greater level of clarity in the performance measurement research arena will be encouraged.

The performance measurement literature is reviewed using a systematic approach.

Based on this research, a set of conditions of a BPM system has been proposed from which researchers can choose those which are necessary and sufficient conditions for their studies.

The analysis in this paper provides a structure and set of characteristics that researchers could use as a reference framework to define a BPM system for their work, and as a way to define the specific focus of their investigations. More clarity and precision around the use of the BPM systems phrase will improve the generalisability and comparability of research in this area.

By reviewing the different definitions of a BPM system that exist in the literature this paper will hopefully stimulate a debate on the necessary and sufficient conditions of a BPM system and encourage a greater level of clarity in the performance measurement research arena.

It is now generally believed, within the current literature, that an academic and practitioner focus on intellectual capital (IC) is important and that the measurement of a company's intangibles provides real business benefits. However, it is essential for researchers in the field of IC to be able to justify these newly formed theoretical assumptions through rigorous empirical testing. This paper reports on the results of a systematic investigation into the theoretical underpinnings of why firms measure their IC and existing empirical evidence that helps to prove that the measurement of IC is really worthwhile. The paper then critically reviews the state of research evidence in the field. The major finding of this paper is that the majority of research within the IC measurement field is at the theory building stage, and that very little of the proposed measurement theory has yet been fully tested. This paper outlines possible avenues scholars might pursue in order to further the development of the IC measurement field.

The purpose of this paper is to arrive at a different understanding of reshoring in Asia vis-à-vis the Western context of competitiveness, through a case study of the Swedish company FM Mattsson.

Empirical studies with semi-structured interviews have been conducted both in Sweden and China to gain an in-depth understanding of the case company’s reshoring activities.

The findings point at reshoring as a competitive means to respond to the dynamics of internal (firm-specific) and external (country-specific) factors. Reshoring comes as a dynamic process by reshuffling resources inside and outside of the firm that strives for continuous competitiveness. Organizations need to meet the challenges of changing environment, especially the dynamic business competition in Asia, and reshoring is a way.

This paper contributes to the literature by perceiving reshoring as a dynamic process of competitiveness development. Reshoring is not seen as one-off short-term decision-making on cost and location but as a long-term process in response to the dynamic internal and external challenges ahead.

Taken from an institutional theory perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of organizational-level factors, specifically diversity and corporate governance structure, on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices of corporations operating in developing and developed country contexts, namely, Egypt, Germany and the USA. Since developed countries are exposed to different settings, the paper argues that there is likely to be a difference in the organizational-level drivers of CSR reporting in developed vs developing countries.

The sample consists of companies listed on the Egyptian EGX 30 index, the German DAX 30 index and the US Dow Jones 30 index. Governance- and diversity-related data are gathered from multiple sources including the BoardEx and Orbis databases. Content analysis is used to analyze the CSR information of sample companies using the software package MAXQDA. To examine the relationship between the explanatory variables of the study and CSR disclosures, multiple regression analysis is used.

The results are mostly consistent with institutional theory where the effects of diversity and governance structure, observed mainly by foreign BOD, board independence and institutional ownership, are found to be significant on the CSR disclosure levels of sample Egyptian companies only. On the other hand, no significant influence of tested factors was observed on the level of CSR reporting in the USA and Germany. The results thus indicate that the influence of organizational-level factors on CSR is highly dependent on the institutional context where companies operate.

The influence of diversity and corporate governance on CSR has been separately studied in the management literature. Yet, the potential effects of both variables on CSR have received limited attention. In addition, no study combining such explanatory variables of CSR was carried out in the specific context of developing Middle Eastern countries. Also, illustrating how institutional contexts can influence the dynamics of interaction between organizational-level variables and CSR is still understudied. This kind of multi-level research can help broaden the understanding of the drivers and practices of CSR in developing vs developed countries that have distinct institutional environments.

Forcibly displaced refugee entrepreneurs face extra challenges that are beyond the barriers that face immigrants and hosts in their journey towards starting up, growing and developing their businesses. This study aims to critically examine the opportunity identification (OI) of forcibly displaced refugee minority women entrepreneurs in Glasgow.

Qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 10 participants were conducted, including 6 forcibly displaced women entrepreneurs and 4 stakeholders. A six-step thematic framework for data analysis with NVivo 11 was used.

Findings revealed that forcibly displaced refugee women’s entrepreneurial opportunities occur through a dynamic identification, discovery, recognition and exploitation of opportunities. Women-led businesses remain underdeveloped due to restrictions imposed by the Scottish Government, Westminster Government and local council authorities.

This study was only conducted in Glasgow areas, although this is where most of the forcibly displaced groups live. The research team suggests that further studies with a large sample cutting across more local authorities beyond Glasgow should be conducted.

The empirical findings serve practitioners, local authorities business managers, researchers and policymakers. The study reveals a gap and lack of support and specific training and programmes that could positively benefit forcibly displaced refugee women entrepreneurs within the host communities.

The novelty of this study lies in the research topic which is still understudied. This is together with the new empirical findings of entrepreneurial OI and the provision of insights related to challenges facing forcibly displaced refugee women entrepreneurs in Glasgow.

Functionality of generating human capital of educated workers and citizens is core to higher education. This chapter explores the long-term relationship for the academy to support the needs for advanced degree and certificate programs, executive education, career preparation, and lifelong service opportunities focused on companies and their needs.

The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the way the cross-sector collaboration (CSC) process can foster gender-focused sustainability initiatives to improve female workers’ conditions in developing countries. The study does so by introducing and examining the influence of nonprofit boundary work during the CSC process.

The paper is based on thirty-four interviews and qualitative fieldwork. It draws on a case analysis of a regional CSC between multiple organizations operating locally in the apparel industry of Bangladesh, a developing country.

Scaffolding work in the CSC formation stage – performed by development agency implementers who construe boundaries – and sensitization work in the CSC implementation stage – performed by a non-governmental organization (NGO) implementers who blur and expand boundaries – emerge as two conceptual categories of nonprofit boundary work. This allows NGO implementers to identify and enable the agency of sustainability envoys or socially privileged individuals who capitalize on their social credentials to support female workers in the factory and in the community.

The study offers novel insights into the CSC process. It contributes to the CSC literature and the literature on boundary work, with a focus on gender-focused sustainability initiatives for female workers in developing countries.

This paper aims to examine the impact of political uncertainty and instability caused by the 2011 Egyptian revolution on the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of Egyptian firms. The study provides empirical evidence to support the link between political instability, financial performance, stock market uncertainty and CSR in the post-revolution context of Egypt.

Data on CSR practices in Egypt were collected through a survey of Egyptian firms and content analysis of annual reports from publicly traded firms. The final survey sample consisted of 99 listed Egyptian companies. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the relationship between the variables of this study.

The results of the study show that political instability is perceived to have a significant positive effect on the CSR practices of Egyptian firms. The results also reveal that the financial performance of firms is perceived not to be affected by the political instability after the 2011 Revolution as opposed to stock market uncertainty, which is perceived to be significantly affected. However, financial performance and stock market uncertainty have a significant positive influence on the CSR practices of Egyptian firms.

This paper capitalizes institutional theory to capture the complex interactions between organizations and their external institutional environments. Previous studies tackling CSR in unstable political environments in the African context focused on countries with prolonged periods of violent conflict and on more localized forms of conflicts. Yet, little is known about CSR during the occurrence of different types of political instabilities in other African countries.

Being able to communicate a clear identity to different stakeholders is crucial for SMEs and startups in today’s world, which is characterised by accelerated innovation, growing competition and increasingly connected consumers. However, this can be a complex task for small organisations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a visual tool that supports entrepreneurs in SMEs and startups to collaboratively develop their identity communication strategy.

The paper follows a design science research approach. The authors propose the design of a tool as well as some preliminary qualitative evaluations. The authors conducted three iterations between design and evaluation, where the results of the evaluations are implemented in the design.

The authors demonstrate how to design strategic tools for allowing teams to co-design their identity communication strategy and present the tool. The authors also evaluate its use and find out through the preliminary evaluations that it could be easy to use and useful for practitioners.

The originality of this paper lays in the novelty of the tool and its development. Such a tool addressing identity communication strategy has not been developed with a scientific approach until now.