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Uses experiences in Bulgaria to exemplify market entry and control strategies employed by franchisors in a business environment that is geographically and culturally remote from the West. Carries out interviews in 1996 with Bulgarian franchisors and franchisees to test a number of hypotheses relating to issues including the type of franchisor, system densities, market entry strategies and monitoring tactics. Identifies 17 environmental factors ‐ cultural, organisational, political and legal ‐ which represent possible areas of conflict between the franchisor and franchisee. Establishes that franchisors adapt to a remote business environment in a variety of ways in respect of both market entry and monitoring strategies ; establishes some significant correlations between different types of franchisors and their strategies. Finds that western franchisors and Bulgarian owned firms often place different emphasis on the relative importance of environmental factors. Observes a broad variation in market entry tactics. Recommends that franchisors need to establish criteria to establish risks in remote business environments and devise appropriate strategies prior to entry.

This paper aims to analyze the benefits of the blockchain to the circular economy (CE), which is composed of both closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) systems and reverse omnichannel solutions. By ensuring transparency, traceability, visibility and security, the blockchain allows firms to acquire operational capabilities through a CLSC and service capabilities through a reverse omnichannel, which can boost business performance considerably. The related network of relationships can be reinforced by establishing incentives, which entail both smart contracts in the blockchain and active return approaches in CE.

After identifying the boundaries of the theoretical framework, several research hypotheses are developed according to the literature review and emerging gaps. These gaps link to the impact of the blockchain on CE systems (CLSC and reverse omnichannel), as well as the influence on business performance. The hypotheses are then tested using structural equation modeling and adopting a partial least squares-path modeling technique on a dataset composed of 157 firms. Finally, multigroup analysis is used to test the impact of incentives on the research hypotheses.

The blockchain facilitates a more efficient CE system, although reverse omnichannel solutions seldom bring any benefits to performance. The shift from a passive to an active return approach must be carefully evaluated. The CLSC network can benefit from an active return approach by developing appealing incentives for collectors and enhancing the positive effects of the blockchain. In contrast, consumer incentives can have detrimental effects on the blockchain. Various combinations of incentives can only bring a few business performance increases, while collector incentives are vital to reinforce the CE system's operational and service capabilities.

This paper takes a new approach toward the study of CE, which considers a dual circular system composed of a CLSC and a reverse omnichannel. The research explores whether the adoption of blockchain technology enables better return processes by improving the operations in CLSC and services in reverse omnichannel. Finally, this is the first empirical work to evaluate the benefits emerging from incentives, which can activate smart contracts in the blockchain and enable active return approaches in CE.

This research investigates the effects that blockchain exerts on omnichannel solutions and logistics strategies with the aim of solving the last mile issues and improving performance.

Research hypotheses are developed according to the literature review and the related gaps. Then, the hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling and adopting a partial least squares – path modelling technique on a dataset composed of 157 firms.

Blockchain technology alone is not an effective driver in solving last mile issues and improving performance. Rather, it exerts a positive contribution to both omnichannel and logistics. However, omnichannel is not effective in managing last mile problems and increasing performance without the support of other practices. Firms need to implement a strong logistics system to manage the last mile and get high performance, which can be then reinforced through blockchain and omnichannel solutions.

This research investigates the novel wave of research on blockchain and its impact on logistics management and omnichannel. It combines these ingredients to address the issues of last mile and improve the economic performance. The research provides an empirical verification of a new research stream that currently lacks empirical support.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether implementing certain innovation strategies and adopting a portfolio of innovations improve the relationship between supplier integration (SI) and operational performance (OP).

The authors test several research hypotheses by using a data set of 173 firms. Data were collected by interviewing managers, presidents and directors, from ten European countries and across nine different industries. The authors use structural equation modeling to estimate the relationships between SI and OP. The authors apply multi-group analysis to test the effects of certain innovation strategies and a portfolio of innovations on these relationships.

The authors show that SI improves internal OP but has no direct effect on external OP. The latter can only be improved through well-performing internal operations. The adoption of an incremental product innovation strategy improves the relationship between internal and external OP and leads to more effective SI. Other types of innovations do not help in improving the impact of SI on OP. Finally, the adoption of a portfolio of innovations does not enhance the influence of SI on OP. Thus, firms should focus on a small number of innovations rather than expanding their innovation portfolio to improve the effectiveness of SI on OP.

When firms aim to improve the impact of SI on OP, they should concentrate on incremental product innovations. Other strategies obtained by combining process, incremental and radical innovations are not adequate for that purpose. An expanded portfolio of innovations does not improve the effect of supplier innovation on OP.

This research suggests how the impact of SI on OP can be improved by adopting certain innovation strategies and without diversifying the portfolio of innovation projects.

Digital transformation (DT) is a major challenge for incumbent organisations, as research on this phenomenon has revealed a high failure rate. Given this consideration, this paper reviews the literature on DT in incumbent organisations to identify the main themes and research directions to be undertaken.

The authors adopt a systematic literature review (SLR) and computational literature review (CLR) employing a machine learning algorithm for topic modelling (LDA) to surface the themes discussed in 103 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2022 in a multidisciplinary article sample.

The authors identify and discuss the five main themes emerging from the studies, offering the state-of-the-art of DT in established firms' literature. The authors find that the most discussed topics revolve around the DT of healthcare, the process of renewal and change, the project management, the changes in value performances and capabilities and the consequences on the products of DT. Accordingly, the authors identify the topics overlooked by literature that future studies could tackle, which concern sustainability and contextualisation of the DT phenomenon.

The authors further propose managerial insights which equip managers with a revolutionary mindset that is not constraining but, rather, integration-seeking. DT is not only about technology (Tabrizi B et al., 2019). Successful DT initiatives require managerial capabilities that foster a sustainable departure from the current organising logic (Markus, 2004). This study pinpoints and prioritises the role that paradox-informed thinking can have to sustain an effective digital mindset (Eden et al., 2018) that allows for the building of momentum in DT initiatives and facilitates the renewal process. Indeed, managers lagging behind DT could shift from an “either-or” solutions mindset where one pole is preferred over the other (e.g. digital or physical) to embracing a “both-and-with” thinking balancing between poles (e.g. digital and physical) to successfully fuse the digital and the legacy (Lewis and Smith, 2022b; Smith, Lewis and Edmondson, 2022), enact the renewal, and build and maintain momentum for DTs. The outcomes of adopting a paradox mindset in managerial practice are enabling learning and creativity, fostering flexibility and resilience and, finally, unleashing human potential (Lewis and Smith, 2014).

The authors propose insight that will equip managers with a mindset that will allow DT to fail less often than current reported rates, which failure may imply potential organisational collapse, financial bankrupt and social crisis.

The authors offer a multidisciplinary review of the DT complementing existing reviews due to the focus on the organisational context of established organisations. Moreover, the authors advance paradoxical thinking as a novel lens through which to study DT in incumbent organisations by proposing an array of potential research questions and new avenues for research. Finally, the authors offer insights for managers to help them thrive in DT by adopting a paradoxical mindset.

The tightening of environmental measures and policies in various countries around the world is forcing manufacturing companies, particularly those that make up the automotive industry, to improve their production processes, through the implementation of approaches such as lean production (LP) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, to reduce industrial waste. However, the literature indicates that the implementation of LP and I4.0 does not always lead to an improvement in the level of operational performance (OP). Therefore, this study analyzes the effects of the implementation of LP practices and I4.0 on a green supply chain (GSC) and the operational performance of manufacturing companies in the Mexican automotive industry.

A theoretical research framework consisting of six hypotheses was developed and validated by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and using a sample of 460 companies from the Mexican automotive industry.

The results show that the level of OP of manufacturing companies increases substantially with the implementation of LP and I4.0 practices, as well as a GSC.

Managers of manufacturing companies will be able to use the results of this study to improve their production systems and to demonstrate the effects of these practices on OP.

This study contributes to the literature on LP and I4.0 by providing robust empirical evidence of the positive effects of implementing these approaches on the GSC and OP of manufacturing companies.

The purpose of this paper is to test the impact of internal and external environmental management (EM) on performance to verify the emission trading (ET) mechanism ' s effectiveness. It aims to investigate whether EM that is carried out by ET firms has a higher influence on performance than EM that is carried out by no-ET firms.

A conceptual model is drawn up based on the existing literature in green supply chain management (GSCM) and is tested on a large sample of Italian firms. A multi-group analysis in structural equation modeling allows for the estimation of the impact of internal and external EM on economic and environmental performance over the two groups.

Firms under ET regime do not perform better than no-ET firms environmentally or economically; moreover, environmental collaboration is significantly less effective for ET firms.

Although the ET mechanism has been introduced by the European Union to combat and reduce the emissions, research has shown its marginal effectiveness. Data comprises only data about Italian firms. Items in the questionnaire allow for a two-year lag period. Interviewed firms have been selected according to EM criteria only.

Firms subjected to the ET mechanism should find more effective and efficient practices to improve their environmental performance because the ET is marginally beneficial.

The findings supply insights to managers about the real effectiveness of ET as well as to decision planners for the development of future sustainable mechanisms.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of green supply chain integration (GSCI) on sustainable performance which includes environmental, social and economic performance.

Based on data collected from 206 Chinese manufacturers, this study uses structural equation modeling with the maximum-likelihood estimation method to test the theoretical model.

The results show that different dimensions of GSCI have different outcomes. Green internal integration lays the foundation for green supplier integration (GSI) and green customer integration (GCI), and is related to both environmental and social performance. GSI is positively related to economic performance, whereas GCI is positively related to social performance.

Believing that “how to be green” matters, this study focuses on an integrative approach to green supply chain management (GSCM), shedding new light on how GSCI influences performance and providing practical guidelines for different stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a Work Environment Complexity (WEC) Scale for leaders.

The paper uses both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, gathered in the course of major organisational restructuring, using samples from employees (n=305) and leaders (n=120) in two health care organisations.

The research developed and validated a scale of WEC for leaders with two factors: frequent change and events, and uncertain work demands. Comparisons between samples suggest diverging employee and leadership representations of WEC.

Being the first scale to measure the comprehensive construct of WEC, a foundation is laid to measure the amount of complexity in a leader’s work and the functioning of leaders with regards to WEC.

This paper contributes to leadership research and practice by clarifying the construct of WEC for leaders empirically and validating a bidimensional scale of WEC.

The purpose of this paper is to simulate charge transport in monolayer graphene on a substrate made of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). This choice is motivated by the fact that h-BN is one of the most promising substrates on account of the reduced degradation of the velocity due to the remote impurities.

The semiclassical Boltzmann equations for electrons in the monolayer graphene are numerically solved by an approach based on a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method. Both the conduction and valence bands are included, and the inter-band scatterings are taken into account as well.

The importance of the inter-band scatterings is accurately evaluated for several values of the Fermi energy, addressing the issue related to the validity of neglecting the generation-recombination terms. It is found out that the inclusion of the inter-band scatterings produces sizable variations in the average values, like the current density, at zero Fermi energy, whereas, as expected, the effect of the inter-band scattering becomes negligible by increasing the absolute value of the Fermi energy.

The correct evaluation of the influence of the inter-band scatterings on the electronic performances is deeply important not only from a theoretical point of view but also for the applications. In particular, it will be shown that the time necessary to reach the steady state is greatly affected by the inter-band scatterings, with not negligible consequences on the switching on/off processes of realistic devices. As a limitation of the present work, the proposed approach refers to the spatially homogeneous case. For the simulation of electron devices, non-homogenous numerical solutions are required. This last case will be tackled in a forthcoming paper.

As observed in Majorana et al. (2019), the use of a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach, which properly describes the inter-band scatterings, is computationally very expensive because the valence band is highly populated and a huge number of particles is needed. Even by simulating holes instead of electrons does not overcome the problem because there is a certain degree of ambiguity in the generation and recombination terms of electron-hole pairs. The DG approach, used in this paper, does not suffer from the previous drawbacks and requires a reasonable computing effort.