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Coaching is a widespread form of human development that has grown considerably in recent years. However, it is not well understood in entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and little is known about the success factors for coaching in SMEs. Thus, this article presents a theoretical framework for coaching SMEs. The paper reports on a study carried out to develop and validate a coaching model for entrepreneurship in SMEs.

A mixed methods approach was undertaken in SMEs in the Iranian pharmaceutical industry. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the samples and the model's dimensions.

The results show five chief constructs of the entrepreneurial coaching model. In particular, the authors determine the importance of early goal setting and identify the essential characteristics of an effective entrepreneurial coach.

Firstly, the data relied solely on the pharmacy industry in Iran, indicating a need for future studies to explore coaching programs across various industries and countries. Additionally, a quantitative aspect of the research involved participants answering questionnaires based on their perceptions. This subjective nature introduces a potential for inaccuracies in participants' perceptions and expectations. Furthermore, the inherent bias of program stakeholders may have led to exaggerated responses. To mitigate these issues, it would be beneficial to conduct experimental and longitudinal research, which could address these concerns more effectively.

By utilizing a theoretical framework, the authors goal is to define the essential features of coaching in SMEs and compare it to other developmental interventions to highlight both commonalities and distinctions. This approach addresses the recent suggestions in coaching literature to distinguish coaching practices tailored for particular groups, specifically entrepreneurs involved in SMEs.

This study contributes to understanding the essential features for successful entrepreneurial coaching in SMEs.

This study has two main objectives. First, to examine the indirect effects of digital platform capability and digital resilience on digital transformation (DT) outcomes for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and second, to investigate how digital business model maturity influences these indirect effects.

The study adopts a quantitative design and collects data through a self-reporting survey from individuals in the technological industries. The Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and PLS multi-group analysis examine the measurement and structural models and the significance of differences in indirect paths based on the digital business model maturity level, serving as a moderator.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the internationalisation of digital SMEs. They indicate that digital platform capability and resilience fully mediate, connecting digital resources to SME growth. The study also confirms the digital business model maturity’s positive and significant moderating effect on these indirect relationships.

This research contributes to the existing literature by focusing on the international outcomes of platform ecosystems in developing markets. It explores how digital platform capability and resilience support the digital transformation of SMEs, considering their vulnerability due to their small size. The study also fills a research gap by investigating the relationship between big data, digital leadership and the international growth of digital platforms. Lastly, it explores the role of digital maturity in the relationships between antecedents, determinants and outcomes of digitalisation.

The author presents the meat of the most common species consumed in Europe and their role in nutrition. The work focuses on the meat of mammals and birds; it does not deal with the importance of protein sources from other taxonomic categories. European meat consumption habits and consumer preferences are presented, taking into account religious, cultural and geographical differences. It examines the possibility of influencing and changing consumer behavior based on consumer opinions. It separately examines the reasons for the less preference of meat or the complete rejection of meat consumption among consumers. This chapter also points out the demographic effects, lifestyle changes and the economic effects of income conditions. It presents examples of the role of government propaganda and the marketing activities of producers or processors in encouraging consumption.

The European Union (EU) is providing a wide range of instruments to its members in implementing a green, resilient economy. These instruments are not designed only for governments and state representatives but also for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The ability of those two-targeted audiences to understand and adopt these instruments, as well as their way to react and profit from the EU-stated drives, determines one’s country capacity to absorb European funding and create economic growth. The present chapter proposes a presentation of the new European model for economic growth and of the advantages proposed with the European Green Deal, the European proposal to the world for a resilient, adaptable, and environmentally friendly economy.

This chapter critically examines whether it may be possible to create an AI-based authentic leader, questioning the inherent contradiction between artificial and authentic. The authors pose central research questions: Does the application of AI – even just as a powerful resource – challenge the tenets of authentic leadership? What are the possibilities and limitations of the concept of authenticity in AI-based management systems? Moreover, with the help of three vignettes illustrating practical applications of AI-based systems in leadership and management tasks, the authors illustrate how technology may be used to either control or empower workers and leaders. The authors call for research to assess whether the search for authenticity in AI-based leadership could lead anywhere, warning that it could entrap us in unresolvable existential and conceptual ambiguity, ultimately diverting our focus from the essence of leadership altogether.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) might be among the primary factors ensuring any organization’s survival, and disclosing its related information is very important. This research initially investigates the effect of managers’ behavior characteristics, including overconfidence, myopia and narcissism and corporate political ties on the disclosure of CSR. This study also aims to assess the mediating impact of political connections on the association between managerial personality traits and CSR.

The research sample included 129 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2020. Behavioral managerers charecteristics. A multivariate regression method with combined data (firm-year) was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results show that overconfidence and managerial myopia cause the disclosure of CSR to decrease. Managers’ overconfidence and short-term attitudes lead to a decrease in the level of CSR activities of the companies and their disclosure, respectively, 0.021 and 0.025. However, the existence of narcissism in managers and having political ties by companies may lead to an increase in the disclosure of the CSR, respectively, around 0.089 and 0.02. Further findings also indicate that political connections may motivate narcissistic managers to increase CSR disclosure near 0.037. However, the results document no significant impact of political ties on the relationship between managerial overconfidence and myopia with CSR involvement.

According to the findings, the authors recommend to stockholders that employing narcissistic managers and improving political connections might be two effective strategies to enhance the level of CSR engagement. One of the critical limitations of the current paper might be its generalizability. As Iran is an emerging and fossil fuel seller country, its institutional settings may significantly differ from those of developed and industrial nations. Thus, the readers of these nations must consider such an important issue.

For the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research has investigated the moderating effect of political ties on the association between management behavioral characteristics and the level of fulfilling CSR by listed companies.

One of the longest running protests in recent American history was a Sing-Along in the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. This daily informal gathering to sing protest songs began in 2011, then prompted a sudden wave of arrests beginning in 2013. Instead of dwindling, the protest grew in response as participants celebrated resistance, treating arrest as a local in-group status symbol. This chapter uses extended participant observation, a methodological approach rarely found in the social movement literature on repression, to study the attempted repression of this Solidarity Sing-Along. To a remarkable extent, arrests and court prosecutions were ineptly executed. This ineptitude had consequences for the protest's development. This repression was also generally mild. Examining mild repression, less often studied than severe forms, helps elaborate the range of repression's potential consequences. By showing mild repression in ethnographic detail, this chapter reveals an underappreciated messiness on the part of both repressors and repressed. The movement evolved in a messy way in response to messy repression, an evolution that is not well captured with dichotomous categories of increase versus decrease or failure versus success.

This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological writing in the classical pluralist phase.

An intellectual history, including detailed discussion of key Fox texts, supported by interviews with Fox and other Biographical sources.

Fox’s radicalisation was incomplete, as he carried over from his industrial relations (IR) pluralist mentors, Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, a suspicion of political Marxism, a sense of historical contingency and an awareness of the fragmented nature of industrial conflict.

Recent academic attention has centred on Fox’s later radical pluralism with its “structural” approach to the employment relationship. This paper revisits his early, neglected classical pluralist writing. It also illuminates his transition from institutional IR to a broader sociology of work, influenced by AH Halsey, John Goldthorpe and others and the complex nature of his radicalisation.

This paper aims to systematically unpack the ideal of organizational transparency by tracing the concept's origins in the era of Enlightenment. Based on a genealogical reconstruction, the article explores different transparency understandings in key areas of online public relations (PR) and discusses the opportunities and challenges they present for the field.

This is a conceptual paper that unfolds a genealogical reconstruction to uncover different transparency ideals of modernity. These perspectives are then transferred to the field of online PR to discuss their ethical and practical implications in the context of digitalization.

Claims for transparency manifest in three distinct ideals, namely normative, instrumental and expressive transparency, which are also pursued in online PR. These ideals are related to associated concepts, like dialogue, control and authenticity, which serve as transparency proxies. Moreover, each transparency ideal inherits an ambivalence that presents unique opportunities and challenges for PR practitioners.

Instead of an unquestioned belief in the ideal of organizational transparency, the paper urges communication practitioners to critically reflect on the ambivalent nature of different transparency regimes in the context of digitalization and provides initial recommendations on how to manage digital transparency in online PR responsibly.

The paper contributes to the vivid debate surrounding organizational transparency in the context of digitalization by offering a novel and systematic analysis of the multifaced concept of transparency while opening new research avenues for further conceptual and empirical research.

Plus-size women represent a large consumer segment that has grown in popularity with the fashion industry, retailers and advertisers. Despite advancements in clothing availability for plus-sized women, the shopping experience for these women (compared with that of straight-size women) often still falls short. The current experience leaves plus-sized women feel like a second-class, minority group despite the fact that the majority of women in USA are considered plus-size. The purpose of this study was to assess how US-based, value- and mid-market online clothing retailers position their plus-size female clothing sections in their site navigation.

This study assessed the websites of N = 68 popular plus- and straight-sized US-based, value- and mid-market retailers to evaluate the placement of, and options available in, their plus-sized clothing sections.

Findings revealed that the majority of retailers completely separated out the plus-sized section from the straight-sized section and that the language used to describe plus-size clothing was body-focused (versus clothing-focused for straight-size clothing sections). Theoretical and practical implications for marketers, advertisers and retailers are discussed.

This is the first study to assess the separation of plus- and straight-sized clothing sections in online retail spaces. As brands begin to consider combining plus- and straight-sized clothing sections (see Old Navy), it is important to assess how wide-spread the separation of sections currently is in online retail environments.