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This study explores the phenomenon of compassionate leadership, a promising concept in management literature. Despite significant contributions towards the understanding of its antecedents and consequences, the specific role of compassion concerning the leader behavior under extreme pressure remains unexplored.

Drawing empirically on the case of three banks under three different logics, the authors trace how heads of banking branches, namely, middle managers, deal with the paradoxical phenomenon of integrating their human nature with the coetaneous need to achieve aggressive objectives. The authors analyzed interviews using the interpretive research method (Hatch and Yanow, 2003).

The authors identified that the logic of savings banks and credit cooperatives, together with specific human elements, created a healthier environment to develop compassionate behaviors compared to commercial banks. The authors found coherence when linking the institutional message of putting the spotlight on a personalized treatment of customers, and the middle manager compassionate actions towards customers and subordinates.

Suggestions for future theorizing and research are advanced, along with constructive practical implications to rehumanize the dark side of banking for both employees and customers.

The findings provided in this paper are original because they provide further evidence of linking business logics with compassionate leadership of middle managers and its impact on employees and customers.

This paper analyzes the ex-ante determinants of asset securitization in Moroccan banks, providing a detailed exploration of factors influencing securitization in the Moroccan banking sector.

The study focuses on funding, performance, risk transfer and regulatory capital arbitrage hypotheses. By employing a probit model, we examined all Moroccan banks that securitized their assets from 2002 to 2022. Additional analyses were conducted with alternative variables and by splitting the sample into two periods, 2002–2013 and 2014–2022, to assess the impact of the regulation law 119-12 implemented in 2013 on the Moroccan securitization market.

The results indicate that the search for alternative funding sources and bank size emerge as significant factors driving securitization in Morocco. Additionally, there is limited evidence that loan portfolio quality is a decisive factor to securitize. Meanwhile, there is no evidence that securitization is driven by performance and regulatory capital arbitrage. Robustness tests further support these findings, while also suggesting that banks may engage in securitization to enhance their performance and, to a lesser extent, reduce regulatory capital.

This paper contributes to the empirical literature by identifying the determinants that drive Moroccan banks to securitize, addressing a research gap in the relatively understudied Moroccan securitization market. The findings provide valuable insights for bankers, investors and policymakers, highlighting the potential benefits of securitization and suggesting policy changes to foster a robust securitization market while ensuring financial stability.

This study aims to investigate the use of voluntary disclosure on mainstream social media platforms to examine strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines the influential factors and institutional pressures organisations faced when making disclosures on social media during the pandemic.

A two-stage qualitative approach was adopted. Stage one used content analysis to examine voluntary disclosures made by international organisations on social media during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stage two comprised semi-structured interviews with individuals who were involved in the decision-making process around the social media disclosures.

This study’s findings reveal significant changes in disclosure practices due to COVID-19-related pressures. In addition to the utilisation of social media for signalling conformance with new pandemic-related norms and connecting with stakeholders, the evidence also reveals how organisations made use of strategic responses to COVID-19-related institutional pressures.

The findings reveal how social media was used as a means of timely voluntary disclosure during the examined crisis. The findings can inform the development of organisational guidelines and policies for the use of social media as a disclosure medium.

This study reveals how organisations used voluntary disclosure on social media as a strategic response to institutional pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic; this context is under-researched. The study also extends the application of the strategic response framework regarding voluntary disclosure via social media.

In ubiquitous games, sensor data and the player’s dynamic profile personalize the experience, adapting scenarios and difficulty to the player’s context. However, manually creating custom virtual environments becomes impractical due to the scalability required in the real world, where gameplay depends on the player’s environment and various points of interest. Procedural content generation (PCG) naturally emerges as an automated solution. This study aims to review the state of the art among pervasive games that use procedural generation techniques.

The authors performed a systematic review of the literature on PCG techniques in ubiquitous games. The research methodology included initial database searches, forward snowballing and backward snowballing.

The authors selected 40 articles published from 2008 to 2022 after analyzing 1,017 PCG articles. Many of these paper use dynamic difficulty generation methods that affect game customization, balance and playability. The majority of titles are in the area of education and require rigorous evaluation. Some articles mention the use of PCG but provide limited details of algorithms or processes.

The low presence of recent articles stands out, which can lead to two conclusions: poor use of indexing of articles in the area or low amount of research over these years. One of the search bases did not enter due to the number of keywords used.

The paper is a guide for researchers in the area of pervasive games who are interested in using PCG techniques in their games.

This approach revealed articles combining PCG and ubiquitous games, with no previous systematic reviews at this intersection.

The paper investigates the relationship between accounting and promises in the context of digital change.

Relying on emergent literature on accounting and promises, a qualitative field study has been conducted covering 57 interviews with municipal directors, digitalization strategists, administration managers and CFOs in a Swedish region consisting of 13 municipalities.

The paper provides insights into how municipalities draw on accounting in attempts to reconstruct promissory narratives of the digital. By highlighting two contrasting cases, we show how this can involve practices of either restoration or transformation. Likewise, we find that attempts to restore promises can sometimes have unanticipated effects, in our case a transformation of the promise instead.

We introduce a “promise” lens to the literature on accounting and digital change and empirically describe how accounting is implicated in shaping promises in the context of public sector digital change.

Published in June 2020, the European Union (EU) Taxonomy Regulation is an important tool for the reorientation of capital flows toward sustainability, establishing a classification system that enables investors to identify green economic activities. Confronted by the reporting demands of this regulation, companies are caught in a sustainability economic revolution. This study seeks primarily to understand firms’ responses to the EU taxonomy, and whether they recognize value creation opportunities by aligning market and nonmarket strategies with the taxonomy goals. For that, we conducted expert interviews and adopted a conceptual framework based on institutional theory, dynamic capabilities view and nonmarket strategy research. Our findings indicate that most firms respond reactively, while firms with sustainability-driven business models tend to respond in an anticipatory way, and firms with high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and low taxonomy eligibility in a defensive way. We also find evidence for mimetic isomorphism related to the influence of consulting and auditing services. Further, high levels of uncertainty, ambiguity and lack of clarity has a great impact on firms’ responses and motives. Finally, this study highlights the EU taxonomy considering a paradigmatic shift toward sustainability, which is not recognized by most firms. To this end, we find that most companies have not identified opportunities arising from nonmarket integration and, rather, see the taxonomy only as an extra regulation to be compliant with. Hence, we argue that it is crucial that firms contextualize the taxonomy within its larger institutional paradigmatic shift to capture the importance of going beyond mere compliance.

The purpose of this study is to explore and conducts a critical literature review to answer a fundamental question in the industrial district literature: are clusters and industrial (clusters/IDs) driving sustainability innovation? By intersecting different yet related strands of literature, the authors take stock of what the authors know about sustainability innovation in clusters/IDs.

This paper reviews the literature for conceptualizing sustainability innovation in clusters/districts.

Insights point out that the sustainability innovation process (development and diffusion) in clusters/IDs and their firms couples into mainstream cluster/IDs framework; clusters/IDs enable sustainability innovation through usual mechanisms, fostering collective change toward sustainability innovation, vis-à-vis other settings and strengthening firm sustainability innovation and performance. Sustainability innovation in clusters/IDs requires coupling different multi-scalar institutional systems effectively, and the cooperation of local organizations and policymakers for co-designing dedicated policies. Collective actions are important and firm heterogeneity needs to be considered in the clusters/IDs framework.

This study is original because it provides state-of-the-art on sustainability innovation in clusters/districts, enabling the topic to advance in this direction.

This study aims at identifying how the evolution of clusters influences orchestrations. It investigates the dynamic interplay between the developmental stages of clusters and the strategic orchestrations that occur within these structures. In this regard, this work explores cluster life cycle (CLC) approaches and orchestration, analyzing their relationship.

This qualitative, exploratory research was conducted by using a case study method on the Serra Gaúcha Wine Cluster (SGWC), the leading wine region in Brazil. Data sources included 27 interviews with winery managers and managers of organizations supporting viticulture, as well as 29 documents relevant to the cluster’s activities and development. The study used content analysis to examine the collected data, providing an in-depth exploration of the dynamic interplay within the cluster through both direct stakeholder insights and documentary evidence.

The research results revealed that the SGWC is in its fifth stage of development; the five stages are the following: emergence, first growth, first renewal, second renewal and second growth. The findings generated four key propositions: positive maturations of clusters are capable of affecting the number of orchestrations, catalyzing exogenous factors of stage changes influence orchestrations, clusters and the content of orchestrations co-evolve and fluctuations in the number of orchestrations do not linearly follow the changes in the efficiency of clusters. The results also highlight the important role of representative organizations. This study also advanced on the thematic cluster maturation, which, according to this paper, can be positive or negative.

The study advances an approach of cluster maturation, which may be advantageous or detrimental. Additionally, this work investigates the connection between the CLC and orchestrations; in particular, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first to do so with an emphasis on cluster evolution and the quantity and nature of orchestrations.

The findings emphasize the need to maintain associations and support organizations to ensure effective engagement and orchestrations within the cluster, even during crises. It is crucial for managers to understand the CLC to align decisions with the cluster’s development stages. Additionally, identifying exogenous factors that influence changes is essential for planning effective strategic actions.

This study contributes to the understanding of how cluster development stages influence orchestrations in industrial clusters, shedding light on the dynamics of this relationship.

This chapter offers an insightful exploration into the burgeoning field of eco-tourism, focusing on the expectations and motivations of tourists gravitating towards green destinations. Eco-tourism, while not a novel concept, has seen a significant resurgence in interest over the past few decades, with its roots tracing back to the wildlife reserves of Kenya in the 1960s. The narrative then transitions to an in-depth examination of what constitutes a green destination, emphasizing its foundational pillars, such as environmental conservation, sustainable tourism practices, active community engagement, educational initiatives, and the pursuit of certifications that affirm their commitment to sustainability. A central theme of the chapter is the nuanced expectations of eco-tourists who are increasingly seeking destinations that not only offer the tranquillity and beauty of nature but also adhere to sustainability principles and cultural authenticity. These expectations are intricately linked to the motivations driving tourists towards green destinations, including the desire to connect with nature, contribute to conservation efforts, and engage in travel practices that are both responsible and enriching. By weaving together theoretical insights and empirical evidence, the chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interplay between the demand for green destinations and the supply of sustainable tourism experiences, ultimately highlighting the critical role of eco-tourism in paving the way for a more sustainable and ethical travel industry.