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As this article reports, in recent years most legislative activities focused on start-ups, with as many as 12 European Union (EU) Member States having introduced tax incentives for employee share ownership (ESO) in this type of small and middle-sized enterprise (SME). But incentivising ESO in SMEs should be extended to all SMEs, the engine of the European economy, including those from the social economy, having shown their crucial function for the resilience of our societies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Against the background of this recent and very dynamic development this article, it provides an overview of the start-up business segment in comparison to other types of companies, particularly focusing on differences with the SME sector; examines the legal regulations that hinder a broader adoption of ESO in European start-ups; presents best-practice examples to demonstrate the favourable conditions already established in some EU Member States and discussed whether these reforms and best practice examples could be extended and – as is already the case in some countries – applied to the whole SME population including social economy enterprises.

Since the European Commission launched the 2011 Social Business Initiative (SBI) followed by the 2016 Start-up and Scale-up initiative, many actions to support social enterprises in view of their potential to address societal challenges and contribute to sustainable economic growth have followed. Most recently, the 2021 Social Economy Action Plan of the European Commission gave important impulses. The potential of employee buyouts offering a continuation perspective to SMEs owners looking for successors was highlighted in the 2022 EC report “Transition Pathway for Proximity and Social Economy,” calling for the implementation of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

The situation of employee share ownership in start-ups has some parallels with that in traditional SMEs, but in many respects, they differ fundamentally. Although, on the other hand, social enterprises may also have to compete with large firms for qualified staff and face challenges when growing or scaling their activities, the reason why ESO in this enterprise segment is not widespread in the EU is altogether different. In the absence of a prescribed legal form of incorporation, social enterprises operate in various forms (be it for profit or non-profit), e.g. cooperatives, closely held limited liability companies, mutuals, associations, voluntary organisations or foundations. Therefore, this article looks into the extension of the incentives for ESO to social enterprises inasmuch as they are organised in legal forms allowing for share ownership, above all in the form of limited liability companies.

This study analyses the effects of firm efficiency on firm performance and how controlling shareholders moderate the link between the two variables.

This study employs data envelopment analysis to estimate firm efficiency and the panel regression method to assess the hypothesised relationships among 1,295 firm-year observations of publicly listed firms in Malaysia from 2015 to 2019.

The results indicate that firm efficiency (technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency) has mixed relationships with firm performance (return on assets, market-to-book ratio and operating cash flows), all of which are being moderated by controlling shareholdings.

This study highlights the importance of assessing firm efficiency as the key success factor for improving firm performance. Industrial managers should manage efficiently their resources or operating costs in achieving their corporate financial goals. Moreover, this study notes the presence of controlling shareholders, who can be either self-interested or company goal aligned.

This study suggests becoming efficient in transforming inputs into outputs is a prerequisite before investigating accrual-based and cash-based firm performance measures, and the presence of controlling shareholders matters in these regards.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the progression from trade-based money laundering to service-based money laundering using the Regulatory Dialectic Theory with an explanation for the success of this progression arising from Agency Theory.

The authors provide a literature review regarding agency theory and the regulatory dialectic as the framework to examine service-based money laundering using three documented case studies. Using the caselet approach, this paper demonstrates that innovation in financial crime typologies is ongoing.

The short cases in this paper illustrate the factors related to the regulatory dialectic theory that have yielded innovation in service-based money laundering.

This paper examines only three recent SBML innovations.

Service-based money laundering represents an incremental advancement in money laundering beyond trade-based money laundering, in part supported by agency conflicts between financial intermediaries and stakeholders.

Managers and regulators should take into account that typologies will change as predicted by the regulatory dialectic and that the regulatory response can be burdensome to financial sector entities. This paper also provides recommendations for managers and regulators.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to uncover new innovations in SBML in a high-risk geographic region.

This study aims to investigate the regulatory challenges of emerging disruptive Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Brazil and the strategies regulators use to address them.

It is an empirical qualitative research on Brazil’s three administrative levels, focusing on the legislative houses’ specialised Science and Technology Committees. It combines archival analysis of public meeting records with elite interviews of parliamentarians and technocrats who participated in Public Hearings in 2019, which results in this paper analysed through the Theory of Communicative Action with a critical stance.

The research reveals that regulatory challenges gain new dimensions by involving discussions about emerging ICT. Factors such as time constraints, rapid technological evolution and widespread adoption compound these challenges, straining the preference for the incremental pace of regulation and the traditional model of specialised regulatory agencies. The research captures some regulators’ values, underlying concerns and perceived necessities for surmounting these challenges. It also outlines the preferred process for ICT regulation, revealing parliamentary assistants and executive intermediate-level specialists as gateways for interest groups’ action.

The study's findings highlight the crucial role of specific actors as gateways to the covert action of interest groups, particularly Big Tech firms. This contribution is significant as it empowers civil society and academia to monitor and mitigate the risk of regulatory capture, thereby promoting a more transparent and equitable regulatory environment.

This research is original in directly engaging with the key figures (lawmakers, legislative assistants and specialised bureaucrats) involved in the critical and timely issue of regulating emerging disruptive technologies.

In this case study, we examine how a citrus peel valorising company based in the Netherlands was able to adopt a circular business model while navigating regulatory, managerial, and supply chain-related barriers.

In-depth, semi-structured interviews with key personnel in the company, notes from field observations, photographs of the production process, and documents from a legal judgement served as data for this single, qualitative case study. Data were coded inductively using the in vivo technique and were further developed into four themes and a case description.

Results from our study indicate that the regulatory and political contexts in the Netherlands were critical to the company’s success. Like in the case of most fruitful industrial symbioses, partnerships founded on mutual trust and economically appealing value propositions played a crucial role in ensuring commercial viability. Collaborating with larger corporations and maintaining transparent communication with stakeholders were also significant contributing factors. Lastly, employees’ outlook towards circularity combined with their willingness to learn new skills were important driving factors as well.

In addition to expanding the scholarship on the adoption of circular business models, this research offers novel insights to policymakers and practitioners. It provides empirical evidence regarding the importance of public awareness, adaptable legislation, and harmonised policy goals for supporting sustainable entrepreneurship in the circular economy.

Today, companies are struggling to develop their human resources analytics (HRA) capability, although interest in the subject is rapidly increasing. Furthermore, the academic literature on the subject is immature with limited practical guidance or comprehensive models that could support organisations in the development of their HRA capability. To address this issue, the aim of this paper is to provide a maturity model – i.e. HRAMM – and an interdependency matrix through which an organisation can (1) operationalise its HRA capability and assess its organisational maturity; (2) generate harmonious development roadmaps to improve its HRA capability; and (3) enable benchmarking and continuous improvement.

The research described in this paper is based on the popular methodology proposed by Becker et al. (2009) and the procedure for maturity evaluation developed by Gastaldi et al. (2018). This method combines academic rigour and field experience in analytics, in a process spanning eight main phases that involves literature reviews and knowledge creation techniques.

We define HRA maturity through four areas and 14 dimensions, providing a comprehensive model to operationalise HRA capability. Additionally, we argue that HRA maturity develops through an evolutionary path described in four discrete stages of maturity that go beyond traditional analytics sophistication. Lastly, the interdependency matrix reveals specific enablers for the development of HRA.

This paper provides practitioners with useful tools to monitor, evaluate and plan their HRA development path. Additionally, our research helps practitioners to prioritise their work and investment, generating an effective roadmap for developing and improving their HRA capability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide a model for evaluating the maturity of HRA capability plus an interdependency matrix to evaluate systematically the prerequisites and synergies among its constituting dimensions.

The purpose of this study is to identify managerial perceptions, as well as individual and organizational contingencies, that influence the use of balanced scorecard (BSC) among SMEs.

This paper adopts a mixed methods approach to study the use of the BSC from a survey database of 414 SMEs across several industries in Portugal.

This paper shows the perceived benefits, reasoning and obstacles that managers face when using the BSC in SMEs. The BSC is not the first choice for strategic management control of most firms in the sample. Most SMEs in this study have an explicitly formulated business strategy. The results show that it is possible to implement the BSC in SMEs without a formalized strategy. Such findings seem to suggest that the use of the BSC may stimulate the formulation of strategies for those firms.

The use of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis limits the generalization of the findings; nonetheless, the transparency of the report enables replication without restrictions.

This paper proposes that the size of the firm and the characteristics of the manager may compensate for the absence of a strategy to guide BSC use.

This paper advises a match between the stage of development of the SMEs strategy and the gender of the manager, which may have implications for recruitment purposes.

This study reports alternative configurations of individual and organizational conditions that lead to the use of the BSC in SMEs as well as configurations that prevent its use.

El propósito de este estudio es identificar las percepciones de los gerentes, así como las contingencias individuales y organizacionales, que influyen en el uso del BSC entre las PYMEs.

Adoptamos un enfoque de métodos mixtos para estudiar el uso del BSC a partir de una base de datos de encuestas de 414 PYMEs de varias industrias en Portugal.

Mostramos los beneficios percibidos, el razonamiento y los obstáculos que enfrentan los gerentes al utilizar el BSC en las PYMEs. El BSC no es la primera opción para el control de gestión estratégica de la mayoría de las empresas de la muestra. La mayoría de las PYMEs en este estudio tienen una estrategia comercial explícitamente formulada. Los resultados muestran que es posible implementar el BSC en PYMEs sin una estrategia formalizada. Estos hallazgos parecen sugerir que el uso del BSC puede estimular la formulación de estrategias para esas empresas.

Este estudio reporta configuraciones alternativas de condiciones individuales y organizacionales que conducen al uso del BSC en las PYMEs, así como configuraciones que impiden su uso.

El uso de la fsQCA limita la generalización de los hallazgos; no obstante, la transparencia del informe permite replicarlo sin restricciones.

Proponemos que el tamaño de la empresa y las características del gerente pueden compensar la ausencia de una estrategia que oriente el uso del BSC.

Aconsejamos hacer coincidir la etapa de desarrollo de la estrategia para las PYMEs y el género del gerente, lo que puede tener implicaciones a efectos de contratación.

O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as perceções dos gestores, bem como as contingências individuais e organizacionais, que influenciam o uso do BSC entre as PMEs.

Adotamos uma abordagem de métodos mistos para estudar a utilização do BSC a partir de uma base de dados de inquérito a 414 PMEs de diversas indústrias em Portugal.

Mostramos os benefícios percebidos, o raciocínio e os obstáculos que os gestores enfrentam ao usar o BSC nas PMEs. O BSC não é a primeira escolha para o controle estratégico de gestão da maioria das empresas da amostra. A maioria das PMEs neste estudo tem uma estratégia empresarial explicitamente formulada. Os resultados mostram que é possível implementar o BSC nas PME sem uma estratégia formalizada. Tais resultados parecem sugerir que a utilização do BSC pode estimular a formulação de estratégias para essas empresas.

Este estudo relata configurações alternativas de condições individuais e organizacionais que levam à utilização do BSC nas PMEs, bem como configurações que impedem a sua utilização.

O uso do fsQCA limita a generalização dos resultados; no entanto, a transparência do relatório permite a replicação sem restrições.

Propomos que o tamanho da empresa e as características do gestor podem compensar a ausência de uma estratégia para orientar o uso do BSC.

Aconselhamos uma correspondência entre o estágio de desenvolvimento da estratégia para as PMEs e o género do gestor, o que pode ter implicações para efeitos de recrutamento.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and the performance of real estate companies before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By conducting a comprehensive case study analysis, we will explore how real estate companies' adoption of ESG practices has influenced their financial performance, market value and resilience during these uncertain times. The findings of this study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the relationship between ESG factors and company performance, specifically within the real estate sector. Moreover, the research outcomes will offer practical implications for real estate companies, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders, aiding them in making informed decisions regarding ESG integration and its potential benefits in uncertain times. Overall, this research aims to shed light on whether ESG factors truly enhance the performance of real estate companies, considering the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and sanctions. By examining the case study before and during uncertain times including COVID-19 pandemic and sanctions, we provide valuable insights into the role of ESG practices in shaping the future of the real estate industry.

The study focuses on the selection process and main model used to investigate the relationship between ESG factors and firm performance. The data is divided into four groups based on ESG quartiles to analyze differences between firms with high and low ESG scores. The Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is employed to assess anomalous returns and stock volatility across different ESG quartiles before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Panel data models are utilized to study the association between ESG and firm performance, with random effects and fixed effects estimators considered. The study builds a model to analyze the impact of ESG on financial performance indicators, incorporating various factors and control variables. Additionally, the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATET) analysis and DID model are explored to evaluate the causal impact of ESG on firm performance. The study emphasizes the importance of testing for parallel trends to ensure the validity of the ATET analysis and it presents a generalized DID model to examine the relationship between ESG scores and company performance outcomes.

Our study's main conclusions show that, in a world with some degree of stability, ESG not only does not improve but, in some situations, also hurts firms' success. On the other hand, at times of notable worldwide unrest, like the COVID-19 pandemic, firms with better ESG ratings demonstrate exceptional stock market success and a noteworthy ability to rebound from a crisis. Moreover, we note that investors truly prioritize sustainable investments as a risk mitigation strategy in addition to their environmental and social duties only when companies face sufficiently significant risks. The results will highlight the significance of sustainable and responsible investment for investors and provide management with more knowledge to create effective ESG strategies for their companies.

By incorporating sustainability and responsibility into their operations, businesses may reduce risk, perform better over the long run and benefit society and the environment. As investors come to understand the importance of ESG issues in their decision-making, the global landscape is experiencing a transformation. Therefore, in the era when stakeholders, such as consumers, workers and shareholders, want more responsibility and transparency when it comes to ESG practises, it is crucial that companies should devote their priority to their ESG performance in order to reduce the danger of slipping behind, especially in light of the increasing importance of sustainability issues and changing laws. However, in the case of small-sized firms, investment policies to improve companies’ governance need to be controlled in moderation during the period of stability because it will create financial pressure and leave them without enough resources to cope with negative impacts during uncertain period. In sum, sustainable and ethical investment is not only a fad; rather, it is a vital and unavoidable route for companies looking to prosper in an unpredictable and complicated global environment.

This research study significantly enhances the existing academic discourse surrounding the relationship between ESG factors and firm performance, particularly, in periods of uncertainty. The findings underscore the critical importance for real estate companies to place a greater emphasis on ESG practices in order to not only benefit themselves but also to improve their overall performance and sustainability in the long term. By shedding light on the positive outcomes associated with prioritizing ESG considerations, this study offers valuable insights for real estate firms seeking to enhance their competitive advantage and stakeholder value in today's dynamic business landscape.

Measuring shared value (SV) created in innovation ecosystems (IEs) is increasingly relevant but complex, given the multidimensional and multiactor nature of both concepts, which challenges traditional performance measurement systems (PMSs). Moving from this gap, the authors propose an integrated approach to extend the balanced scorecard (BSC) for measuring and monitoring SV creation at IE level.

The proposed approach combines the most recent contributions on PMS in IEs and SV to define perspectives and dimensions that are better suited to deal with the nature of both IEs and SV. The approach is also applied to the real case (Alpha) of an Italian IE through a step wise method. Starting from the IE vision, the authors identify in the strategy map the specific objectives related to each perspective/dimension combination and then associate a performance indicator with each objective.

The resulting SV BSC is composed of indicators interconnected along different perspectives and dimensions. The application of the approach to the real case proves its feasibility and highlights characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the SV BSC when used at IE level. The authors also provide guidelines for its application to other IEs.

The study contributes to the research on PMS by introducing and applying to a real case an integrated approach to assess SV in IEs, overcoming the shortcomings of PMS framed for single firms. It can be of interest for both researchers in the field of ecosystems value creation and practitioners managing or promoting such complex structures.

This study investigates the relationship between CEO power and the risk profile (RP) of acquiring banks through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions.

The analysis is based on 214 transactions between 2010 and 2022 involving European Union-based acquirers. To assess the impact of M&A on the acquiring bank’s RP, we compare changes in the acquirer’s RP to control banks. We use linear regression with two-stage least squares instrumental variables (2SLS-IV) to examine the effect of CEO power on changes in merger-related risk.

The findings suggest that CEO power reduces the RP of the acquiring bank. Specifically, CEOs who hold both the CEO and board chair positions tend to take fewer risks. Additionally, CEOs with high ownership, CEO pay and extensive experience (measured by tenure and acquisition experience) decrease the RP. However, prestige power is positively correlated with an increase in RPs.

This research examines CEO influence on bank risk post-mergers, providing insights into governance, risk and strategic choices. The findings can guide banks in CEO selection and governance to mitigate M&A risks, improving risk management and decision-making in the financial sector.

This study is the first empirical investigation introducing diverse executive power metrics to analyze the link between executive power and risk-taking in the European banking sector, with a specific emphasis on the impact on M&A as critical investment choices.