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Geopolitical risks associated with the return of great power politics and growing nationalism have generated new challenges for foreign investors across industries. Oil and gas companies are well acquainted with such risks and have developed strategies to manage them. This paper reviews five of these strategies: divorcing ownership control from operating control in designing collaborative ventures; proactively managing stakeholder relationships; ensuring transparency and communication; diversifying risks while proactively positioning for emerging opportunities; and deliberately planning for exit should such an eventuality arise. Firms outside of oil and gas can draw on these strategies as they navigate the emerging geopolitical context.

This paper reviews five strategies that oil and gas companies can use to manage geopolitical risk: divorcing ownership control from operating control in designing collaborative ventures; proactively managing stakeholder relationships; ensuring transparency and communication; diversifying risks while proactively positioning for emerging opportunities; and deliberately planning for exit should such an eventuality arise.

This study identifies several strategies that oil and gas companies have used to manage geopolitical risks. These tools will be increasingly important in the shifting global political landscape.

Drawing on the experiences of oil and gas companies, this study has identified several strategies that companies can use to shield themselves from the risks that are currently emanating from geopolitics. While these best practices originate in the experiences of oil and gas firms, the ability to deftly manage geopolitical risks is becoming an important prerequisite for companies across industries.

Previous studies focus on the direct effects of marketing analytics on entrepreneurial performance, but few explore the underlying mechanisms. Drawing on affordance theory, this study explores pathways through new product innovation (NPI) for the effects of marketing analytics on business performance. NPI is a market-based innovation concept comprising customer- and competitor-driven NPD and incremental innovation.

Using survey data collected from UK-based entrepreneurial firms operating in the IT and telecoms industries, we apply confirmatory factor analysis and a sequential structural equation model to test the mediating role of NPI in the effect of marketing analytics on market performance and financial performance.

The results show that marketing analytics enhances business performance through competitor-driven but not customer-driven NPD. Although using marketing analytics to generate customer knowledge for existing product innovation may enhance market performance, this positive effect becomes negative when competitor-driven NPD is undertaken to improve existing product innovation.

This study makes significant contributions to the innovation and NPD literature. It delves deeper into the existing view on the positive contributions of customer engagement to business value creation, revealing the significance of competitor knowledge to enhance business performance through marketing analytics, particularly in the context of IT and telecoms entrepreneurial firms.

This study views Net-Zero as a dynamic capability for decarbonising supply chains (SCs). This study aims to investigate the relationship between three information processing-related capabilities (supply chain visibility [SCV], supply chain integration [SCI] and big data analytics [BDA]) as its antecedents and SC performance as its competitive advantage outcome.

The authors conceptualise a research model grounded in the literature based on dynamic capabilities and information processing views. The study uses a structural equation modelling technique to test the hypotheses’ relationship using the survey data from 311 industrial enterprises.

The results show that SCI and BDA positively and directly influence the Net-Zero capability (NZC). No significant direct impact is found between SCV and NZC. BDA fully mediates SCV and partially mediates SCI in their relationship with NZC. The results also confirm that NZC positively impacts SC performance (SCP).

This study contributes to operations management and SC literature by extending the knowledge about Net-Zero SCs through an empirical investigation. In particular, the study suggests BDA is essential to enhance NZC as SCV alone does not significantly contribute. The study also documents the benefit of NZC on SCP, which can encourage more volunteer actions in the industry.

The purpose of this study is to comprehend how AI aids marketers in engaging customers and generating value for the company by way of customer engagement (CE). CE is a popular area of research for scholars and practitioners. One area of research that could have far-reaching ramifications with regard to strengthening CE is artificial intelligence (AI). Consequently, it becomes extremely important to understand how AI is helping the marketer reach customers and create value for the firm via CE.

A detailed approach using both systematic review and bibliometric analysis was used. It involved identifying key research areas, the most influential authors, studies, journals, countries and organisations. Then, a comprehensive analysis of 50 papers was carried out in the four identified clusters through co-citation analysis. Furthermore, a content analysis of 42 articles for the past six years was also conducted.

Emerging themes explored through cluster analysis are CE concepts and value creation, social media strategies, big data innovation and significance of AI in tertiary industry. Identified themes for content analysis are CE conceptualisation, CE behaviour in social media, CE role in value co-creation and CE via AI.

CE has emerged as a topic of great interest for marketers in recent years. With the rapid growth of digital media and the spread of social media, firms are now embarking on new online strategies to promote CE (Javornik and Mandelli, 2012). In this review, the authors have thoroughly assessed multiple facets of prior research papers focused on the utilisation of AI in the context of CE. The existing research papers highlighted that AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants offer real-time interaction capabilities, swiftly addressing inquiries, delivering assistance and navigating customers through their experiences (Cheng and Jiang, 2022; Naqvi et al., 2023). This rapid and responsive engagement serves to enrich the customer’s overall interaction with the business. Consequently, this research can contribute to a comprehensive knowledge of how AI is assisting marketers to reach customers and create value for the firm via CE. This study also sheds light on both the attitudinal and behavioural aspects of CE on social media. While existing CE literature highlights the motivating factors driving engagement, the study underscores the significance of behavioural engagement in enhancing firm performance. It emphasises the need for researchers to understand the intricate dynamics of engagement in the context of hedonic products compared to utilitarian ones (Wongkitrungrueng and Assarut, 2020). CEs on social media assist firms in using their customers as advocates and value co-creators (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Sawhney et al., 2005). A few of the CE themes are conceptual in nature; hence, there is an opportunity for scholarly research in CE to examine the ways in which AI-driven platforms can effectively gather customer insights. As per the prior relationship marketing studies, it is evident that building relationships reduces customer uncertainty (Barari et al., 2020). Therefore, by using data analysis, businesses can extract valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviour, equipping them to engage with customers more effectively.

The rapid growth of social media has enabled individuals to articulate their thoughts, opinions and emotions related to a brand, which creates a large amount of data for VCC. Meanwhile, AI has emerged as a radical way of providing value content to users. It expands on a broader concept of how software and algorithms work like human beings. Data collected from customer interactions are a major prerequisite for efficiently using AI for enhancing CE. AI not only reduces error rates but, at the same time, helps human beings in decision-making during complex situations. Owing to built-in algorithms that analyse large amounts of data, companies can inspect areas that require improvement in real time. Time and resources can also be saved by automating tasks contingent on customer responses and insights. AI enables the analysis of customer data to create highly personalised experiences. It can also forecast customer behaviour and trends, helping businesses anticipate needs and preferences. This enables proactive CE strategies, such as targeted offers or timely outreach. Furthermore, AI tools can analyse customer feedback and sentiment across various channels. This feedback can be used to make necessary improvements and address concerns promptly, ultimately fostering stronger customer relationships. AI can facilitate seamless engagement across multiple digital channels, ensuring that customers can interact with a brand through their preferred means, be it social media, email, or chat. Consequently, this research proposes that practitioners and companies can use analysis performed by AI-enabled systems on CEB, which can assist companies in exploring the extent to which each product influences CE. Understanding the importance of these attributes would assist companies in developing more memorable CE features.

This study examines how prominent CE and AI are in academic research on social media by identifying research gaps and future developments. This research provides an overview of CE research and will assist academicians, regulators and policymakers in identifying the important topics that require investigation.

A deteriorating security situation and an increased need for defence equipment calls for new forms of collaboration between Armed Forces and the defence industry. This paper aims to investigate the ways in which the accelerating demand for increased security of supply of equipment and supplies to the Armed Forces requires adaptability in the procurement process that is governed by laws on public procurement (PP).

This paper is based on a review of current literature as well as empirical data obtained through interviews with representatives from the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and the Swedish defence industry.

Collaboration with the globalized defence industry requires new approaches, where the PP rules make procurement of a safe supply of defence equipment difficult.

The study's empirical data and findings are based on the Swedish context. In order to draw more general conclusions in a defence context, the study should be expanded to cover more nations.

The findings will enable the defence industry and the procurement authorizations to better understand the requirements of Armed Forces, and how to cooperate under applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

The paper extends the extant body of academic knowledge of the security of supply into the defence sector. It serves as a first step towards articulating a call for new approaches to collaboration in defence supply chains.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has a significant impact on value co-creation (VCC). However, a study providing a comprehensive summary of the current state of the art and common ground of the two fields is missing. The current study aims to fill this gap by conceptualizing the role of AI in VCC and customer decision-making.

The study reviews literature on VCC and AI together, including a total of 108 articles. To bring the literature together, the authors adopted the antecedents-mediators-outcomes framework and narrative approach that helped them develop a framework by integrating the antecedents, mediators and outcomes of AI-facilitated VCC. Furthermore, the authors also operationalized existing literature to facilitate an understanding of the role of AI in customer decision-making.

The study, in addition to identifying the common theoretical grounds of VCC and AI (human behavior, cognition and social interactions), operationalizes AI functionality, its characteristics and customer characteristics as the antecedents of AI-facilitated VCC. Moreover, based on literature, on the continuum of low-to-high involvement, four types of decision-making were identified as mediator of the relationship between AI characteristics, customer characteristics and VCC. Additionally, the authors found different categorizations of AI in literature as archetypes to support various forms of VCC.

The study contributes to the literature of VCC and AI by construing a comprehensive framework for analyzing AI's impact on VCC, envisioning customer–AI interaction as continual exchange of advantages in which characteristics of AI and customers play a critical role in customer decision-making and shaping VCC.

Numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms have undergone considerable changes and adapted to the challenge of developing sustainable products and services. However, few studies have explored the factors that contribute to the success of external innovation and value co-creation strategies adopted by biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. The purpose of this study is to examine how biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries use value co-creation strategies to obtain external resources.

This study developed a conceptual framework based on the relevant literature. The study applied a resource-based approach, dynamic capability theory and a qualitative multiple-case study design to investigate several research questions; semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from 11 biotechnology/pharmaceutical firms in Taiwan, and the data extracted from the interview content were axially coded.

This study revealed that factors such as dynamic marketing capabilities and process optimization contributed to the success of the aforementioned strategies; several propositions were also developed on the basis of the literature review and coded data, thereby providing insights regarding the relative efficacy and propriety of various external innovation and value co-creation strategies and models in various situations and contexts. Firms and technology providers might enter a technology licensing agreement, establish a joint venture company; participate in a merger/acquisition depending on their size, research and development capabilities; or goals and time- and cost-related factors.

The main original contributions of this study are the proposed conceptual framework and the insights provided regarding the relative efficacy and propriety of different external innovation and value co-creation strategies and models in different situations and contexts.

This research investigates the adoption of the industrial Internet of things (IIoT) in SMEs to achieve and increase organizational performance. With the latest technology, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can create a competitive edge in the market and better serve customers.

Twelve hypotheses are proposed for this study. This study constructed a questionnaire based on technological, organizational, environmental and human perspectives. A survey is conducted on the SMEs of India using the questionnaire.

Eight hypotheses were accepted, and four hypotheses were not supported. The hypotheses rejected are infrastructure, organizational readiness, internal excellence and prior experience. The findings suggested that adopting IIoT in SMEs will increase organizational performance.

This study will be helpful for the manager, top management and policymakers. This study identified the areas SMEs need to work on to adopt the technologies.

In the literature, no article considered IIoT adoption in SME firms as a human factor. Therefore, this study is unique, including human, technological, organizational and environmental factors.

Servitization is a business transformation that increases service provision in manufacturers. This study aims to empirically examine how a manufacturer's global supply chain dependence and its power positions affect its servitization output.

This study employs secondary longitudinal datasets and econometric specifications to test the relationship between global supply chain dependence and servitization. It further examines the moderating roles of the firm's market power and the degree of being principal customers and principal suppliers. Heterogeneity analyses are performed to verify the robustness of the results.

The findings indicate that fewer global suppliers and more global customers contribute to a higher level of servitization. The negative effect of global supplier dependence is mitigated when manufacturers have less market power and are the principal customers for most of their suppliers. The positive effect of global customer dependence is stronger when manufacturers have less market power and their customers are less dependent on the manufacturers.

Data mixing manufacturing and service inputs and data on public US manufacturers may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Nonetheless, the study urges future research to focus more on other countries/markets.

This study encourages manufacturers who servitize their businesses to connect with more global customers and fewer global suppliers and manage powers among stakeholders. Other recommendations for policymakers and industry associations are also proposed.

This study is the first to explore the impacts of the global supply chain dependence on servitization. Multiple-level findings offer important implications for researchers and practitioners.