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This study aims to analyse the influence of digitalisation on the management control function of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In particular, it aims to illuminate how digitalisation influences management control elements, organisation and roles/competencies and to identify obstacles to digitalisation of management control in SMEs and measures taken to overcome them.

The study is based on guideline-supported expert interviews conducted with 14 financial managers from SMEs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This study reveals the influence of digitalisation on management control elements, organisation, and roles/competencies. The automation and standardisation of management control processes result in new elements for management control, such as strategic support for management. In addition, the increased availability and transparency of data enable the use of instruments within a company that allow for quick analyses of the company's development. Digitalisation leads to the integration of management control into the corporate network and, thus, a change in the organisation of management control. It also triggers the expansion of management control competencies, especially IT competencies. A shortage of internal digitalisation resources, unclear corporate roadmaps, and a lack of managerial experience loom as central challenges for digitalising the management control function. Measures derived from the interviews can help SMEs overcome the obstacles to the digitalisation of management control.

This research is the first interview-based study of the impact of digitalisation on management control in SMEs, potential obstacles to that digitalisation, and measures to overcome those obstacles. Thus, it contributes to the emerging debate on factors that may explain why SMEs lag in terms of the digitalisation of their internal processes.

Today’s marketplace has witnessed intense competitive pressures and high levels of uncertainty and disruption. Therefore, supply chains require agility to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage and cope with uncertainties as well as disruptions. Although a wide range of studies exists on supply chain agility (SCA) from the perspective of antecedents or consequences, there is little research on the investigation of enablers of SCA and their relations among them. Furthermore, the literature has investigated proactive and reactive enablers for enhancing SCA, but most studies have not sufficiently framed their analysis of both aspects synchronically. This paper aims to find out the interrelationships among the proactive and reactive enablers for enhancing SCA.

An extensive literature review has been conducted to identify SCA enablers and a Delphi study has been performed to elucidate SCA enablers in the manufacturing industry in Turkey. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) has been used to identify the contextual relationship among the SCA enablers, and the model has been validated based on Matriced Impact Croises Multiplication Appliquee a un Classement (MICMAC) analysis.

On theoretical and practical levels, the proposed ISM model in this study can help organizations analyze and interpret interrelationships among enablers of SCA. For managers, it can provide better insights and understanding of the facilitators of SCA to enhance the effectiveness of the supply chain and cope with uncertainties and turbulence. According to results, enhancing “supply and demand side competency”, “delivery speed” and “strategic sourcing” are the most significant enablers of SCA.

The study extends the existing literature related to the enablers of SCA by modeling the proactive and reactive enablers of SCA based on the Al Humdan et al. (2020) classification. Arranging the enablers of SCA in a hierarchy and classifying the enablers into different levels with the help of the ISM-MICMAC approach is an exclusive effort to achieve successful management of the supply chain.

Despite the widespread study and application of public-private partnerships (PPPs) since the 1980s, the field lacks a universally accepted definition that captures the concept's complexity. This study aims to offer a definition and foster a more substantive and comprehensive discourse on PPPs to improve communication and understanding between academics and practitioners from diverse disciplines and legislative backgrounds.

Grounded in the family-resemblance concept proposed by German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, this study conducts a comprehensive literature review to identify core and non-core elements frequently cited in PPP descriptions. The authors used these findings to develop the PPP sunflower model as a structured framework for defining PPPs.

The analysis elucidates six core elements consistently present in PPP descriptions: clarity of roles and responsibilities, appropriate risk allocation and sharing, injection of expertise and resources, cooperation and teamwork, a bundle of services, and long-term contracts. Coupled with identified non-core elements, these core components comprise the PPP sunflower model, a structured framework for defining PPPs that accommodates their multi-faceted nature.

The PPP sunflower model distinguishes itself as a unique contribution to the PPP literature. It offers a rigorous theoretical framework that can elucidate the complexity of PPPs for various stakeholders. The model serves as a practical tool for evaluating the authenticity and viability of PPP projects. The study's novelty lies in its adoption of the family-resemblance concept, thereby providing a comprehensive, multi-dimensional framework that enhances the understanding of PPPs across different disciplines and legislative contexts.

This purpose of the study is to investigate enablers of building agility capabilities in healthcare organisations in developing countries. The key research questions are: (1) What are the key enablers for building healthcare agility? (2) Is there an interdependence among the enablers of healthcare agility? (3) What is the driving and dependence power of the enabling factors of healthcare agility?

The enablers for building capabilities of organisational agility were identified from the extant literature. Perceptual responses for pair-wise comparison of identified enablers were collected from 17 clinical and non-clinical professionals working in Indian hospitals through online interviews. Participants were selected from India which supposedly represents the socioeconomic contexts and healthcare systems in developing economies. Next, the data was analysed using multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques to develop a structural framework depicting the enablers and their interdependence.

The TISM framework showed that the two most influential enablers of healthcare agility in developing countries are policy and regulatory support and strategic commitment and resource availability. The results were based on the analysis of four enablers identified from the literature. The results of MICMAC analysis revealed the driving and dependence power of each enabler and classified the enablers into driving, autonomous, dependence and linkage groups.

The study will help stakeholders and academics in the healthcare domain in devising effective strategies for building agility within healthcare systems and processes.

The study contributes to the service operations literature on building agile systems for dynamic and complex service environments.

The existing literature reflects that the connection between enablers of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), Supply Chain (SC) sustainability and reliability is understudied. To cover this gap, the purpose of this study is to identify and benchmark the enablers of I4.0 for SC sustainability to build a Reliable Supply Chain (RSC).

This study benchmarks the I4.0 enablers for SC sustainability for building a RSC and analyses them with a multi-method approach. The identified potential enablers are validated empirically. A multi-method approach of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Preference Ranking for Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE-II) was used to investigate the influence of the identified benchmarking enablers and develop an interrelationship diagram among the identified enablers.

This study benchmarks the potential enablers of I4.0 to achieve high ecological-economic-social gains in SCs considering the Indian scenario. Digitalization of the supply chain, decentralization, smart factory technologies and data security and handling are the most prominent enablers of I4.0 for SC sustainability to build a RSC.

The findings from the study may benefit managers, practitioners, specialists, researchers and policymakers interested in I4.0 sustainability applications.

For sustainable strategies to be developed in business schools, it is essential to understand which sustainability drivers and barriers are identified by academic managers and coordinators in the implementation of sustainable practices. In this scenario, the study aims to understand the barriers and possible drivers for the implementation of sustainability practices in Brazilian business schools. The subjects are managers and coordinators of business schools that are part of the Principles for Responsible Executive Education Network – Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Chapter Brazil/UN.

Descriptive research with a qualitative approach was conducted to achieve this objective. The study included academic managers, responsible for the general management of academic and administrative activities and coordinators, responsible for supervising and coordinating academic activities in a specific area, of schools that are part of PRME Chapter Brazil (interviews). For data analysis, the content analysis technique was used.

Taking into account the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) as categories of analysis, as well as management, curriculum and teaching as subcategories, the study identified 10 barriers and 12 drivers.

The results reveal that both the barriers and the drivers are supported by the social pillar, which focuses on the academic community and society as a whole. The “Management” subcategory was also the most mentioned, indicating guidelines for the strategic academic management of these organizations.

This study aims to identify the key enablers for the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in the automobile industry of India, which has been severely impacted by COVID-19. Adopting I4.0 will provide organizations greater flexibility and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the literature review and experts’ opinions, 21 enablers were identified. Further, contextual relationships among the identified factors and a hierarchical digraph was developed by using the total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) technique. Finally, fuzzy cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis was conducted to classify the enablers into different categories based on their dependence and driving power.

The results indicate that top management support, clarity on government policy, strategic vision on I4.0 and development of new industrial policy are the most influential factors, with the highest driving power placed at the bottom of the TISM hierarchical model. Furthermore, agile workforce, smart HR practices and IT standardization and security are identified as linkage enablers with the most driving and dependency power.

The hierarchical TISM model and fuzzy MICMAC approach provide a comprehensive understanding of the I4.0 implementation process through a visual, logical structure to the managers. It will help the researchers and practitioners understand the contextual relationship among various enablers in fostering the I4.0 adoption process and digital reorganization in the automobile industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study provides a holistic TISM hierarchical framework on I4.0 adoption that will elevate the next maturity level of innovation adoption and may act as a blueprint for automobile industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to integrate social embeddedness with learning society philosophy to explore how grassroots associations of Indigenous women tourism entrepreneurs can leverage their social network to co-create value.

A critical feminist perspective considers the intersectional experiences of Indigenous women tourism entrepreneurs from the rural Manasalu region of Nepal. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews with local tourism stakeholders were carried out. Hermeneutics in tandem with Indigenous methods of analysis ensured consideration of Indigenous ontologies and social locations beyond being merely theoretically driven.

A paradox of Indigenous women’s empowerment emerged where several efforts for empowerment presented themselves as a double-edged sword. Individuals’ social capital and social support for the sustenance and stability of grassroots associations ensure collective and continuous learning through a value-creation framework.

Collective self-reflection and self-determination for knowledge creation and sharing amongst social ties shed new light on the role of an Indigenous standpoint on value creation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that captures how the intersectionality of Indigenous women entrepreneurs in grassroots associations use their social capital through contesting, leveraging and learning to transform their social network into a value network.

In the context of promoting sustainable development in SMEs, the present study aims to investigate the relationship among solution dimensions based on the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept.

The study employs a comprehensive methodology that includes a systematic literature review, workshop, grounded theory and interpretive structural modeling. Various dimensions concerning I4.0 sustainability are tested and evaluated using a questionnaire design followed by hypothesis formulation. Further, grounded theory is used to extract the key solution dimensions that capture the essence of I4.0 implementation in SMEs. Finally, the solution dimensions for I4.0 sustainability are modeled using the ISM approach to understand the structural interdependencies among them, and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) analysis is done to understand the driving and dependence power among these dimensions.

The study identified 14 solution dimensions for the implementation of I4.0 in SMEs for sustainable development. Out of the 14 solution dimensions, human resource training programs (D4) appear at level 11, followed by top management commitment (D1), strategic collaborations (D3) and coordination among key stakeholders (D5) at level 2 in the hierarchical interpretive structural modeling (ISM) model. Also, these dimensions have an effect size of more than 0.50 which indicates a substantial correlation between the sustainability dimensions and Industry 4.0 implementation in SMEs.

The study contributes to the overall goal of fostering sustainability within the SME sector, which can pave the way for various stakeholders for the successful implementation of I4.0 sustainable solution dimensions.

As one of the tomographic imaging techniques, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is widely used in many industrial applications. While most ECT sensors have electrodes placed around a cylindrical chamber, the planar ECT sensor has been investigated for depth and defect detection. However, the planar ECT sensor has limited height and depth sensing capability due to its single-sided assessment with the use of only a single-plane design. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor design using the 3 × 3 matrix electrode array.

The sensitivity map of dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor was analysed using 3D visualisation, the singular value decomposition and the axial resolution analysis. Then, the sensor was fabricated for performance analysis based on 3D imaging experiments.

The sensitivity map analysis showed that the dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor has enhanced the height sensing capability, and it is less ill-posed in 3D image reconstruction. The dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor showed a 28% improvement in reconstructed 3D image quality as compared to the single-plane sensor set-up.

The 3 × 3 matrix electrode array has been proposed to use only the necessary electrode pair combinations for image reconstruction. Besides, the increase in number of electrodes from the dual-plane sensor setup improved the height reconstruction of the test sample.