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Since the first definition of open innovation (OI), the indivisible relationship between this concept and entrepreneurship was undeniable. However, the exact mechanisms by which an entrepreneurial approach may benefit OI processes and vice versa are not yet fully understood. The study aims to offer an accurate map of the knowledge evolution of the OI–entrepreneurship relationship and interesting gaps to be filled in the future.

The study adopted a bibliometric analysis, coupled with a systematic literature review performed over a data set of 106 peer-reviewed articles published from 2005 to 2020 to identify thematic clusters.

The results show five thematic clusters: entrepreneurial opportunities, organisational opportunities, strategic partnership opportunities, institutional opportunities and digital opportunities for OI. Investigating each of them, the authors created a framework that highlights future avenues for further developing the topic.

This study is the first of its kind to systematise, analyse and critically interpret the literature concerned with the topic of the OI–entrepreneurship.

In transitional economies, government support (GS) is considered to influence the development of the economy and industries and, consequentially, firms' intellectual capital (IC). However, empirical research has yet to explore the micro-mechanisms through which GS operates. Hence, the purpose of this study is to conduct an empirical inquiry into the specific role of GS on IC, considering the mediating effect of firm operational performance (OP).

Combining the institution-based theory, the resource orchestration paradigm and a dynamic perspective on IC, a new framework is constructed to evaluate the direct and indirect relationships existing among GS policies, firms' operational performance and IC. These processes and their outcomes are evaluated using mediating models with three steps and a panel regression based on panel data from 3,211 high-tech companies operating in China from 2008 to 2015.

Empirical findings confirm the existence of a significant direct relation between GS and IC and also suggest a mediating effect through operational performance.

(1) GS can be considered an institutional signal that boosts the attractiveness of a firm, thus enabling it to hire talent (human capital), build a wide network of relationships in the ecosystem (structural capital) and enhance its current relationships with financial service institutions and other stakeholders (relational capital). (2) This study, which considers GS an external resource, is one of the first attempts to explore how external resources influence firms' IC development through institutional pressures and mechanisms. The study confirms that multiple strategies exist through which government authorities and policymakers can influence firms' IC and in particular a combination of institutional factors and firm's resources and capabilities.

This study aims to identify context-specific antecedents to schools’ absorptive capacity (AC) and to show how those can enact “a virtuous learning circle.”

The study uses a mixed method: an exploration based on semi-structured interviews with educational experts; the development of a measurement scale and a partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the impact of the antecedents.

The results yielded four empirically-grounded antecedents and their measurement scales, namely, prior knowledge, employees’ skills, educational projects and interactions with the environment (Studies one and two). All antecedents are significantly and positively related to AC processes (study three). Using the organizational learning theory perspective, the results have been interpreted as an AC “virtuous learning circle.”

With increasing pressures to adapt, a case of which was the COVID-19 pandemic, schools can greatly benefit from absorbing knowledge flows. This suggests the construction a favourable environment for AC. To this end, the individual (employees’ prior knowledge and skills), organizational (educational projects) and institutional level of managerial action (interactions with the environment) can be effective when create a recursive organizational learning circle. In addition, this study offers an expert-validated measurement scale for self-assessment of a school’s specific contingencies, and thus, for planning of punctual interventions to develop AC.

This study advances the existing body of knowledge management in the educational context by rigorously identifying and validating a scale for measuring the antecedents of AC and developing an interpretive approach to the AC “virtuous circle.”

While the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence (AI) has been receiving growing consensus with regards to its positive influence on entrepreneurship, there is a clear lack of systematization in academic literature pertaining to this correlation. The current research seeks to explore the impact of AI on entrepreneurship as an enabler for entrepreneurs, taking into account the crucial application of AI within all Industry 4.0 technological paradigms, such as smart factory, the Internet of things (IoT), augmented reality (AR) and blockchain.

A systematic literature review was used to analyze all relevant studies forging connections between AI and entrepreneurship. The cluster interpretation follows a structure that we called the “AI-enabled entrepreneurial process.”

This study proves that AI has profound implications when it comes to entrepreneurship and, in particular, positively impacts entrepreneurs in four ways: through opportunity, decision-making, performance, and education and research.

The framework's practical value is linked to its applications for researchers, entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs (as well as those acting entrepreneurially within established organizations) who want to unleash the power of AI in an entrepreneurial setting.

This research offers a model through which to interpret the impact of AI on entrepreneurship, systematizing disconnected studies on the topic and arranging contributions into paradigms of entrepreneurial and managerial literature.

Effectively handling knowledge is crucial for any organization to survive and prosper in the turbulent environments of the modern era. Leadership is a central element for knowledge creation, acquisition, utilization and integration processes. Based on these considerations, this study aims to offer an overview of the evolution of the literature regarding the knowledge management-leadership relationship published over the past 20 years.

A bibliometric analysis coupled with a systematic literature review were performed over a data set of 488 peer-reviewed articles published from 1990 to 2018.

The authors discovered the existence of four well-polarized clusters with the following thematic focusses: human and relational aspects, systematic and performance aspects, contextual and contingent aspects and cultural and learning aspects. The authors then investigated each thematic cluster by reviewing the most relevant contributions within them.

Based on the bibliometric analysis and the systematic literature review, the authors developed an interpretative framework aimed at uncovering several promising and little explored research areas, thus suggesting an agenda for future knowledge management-leadership research. Some steps of the paper selection process may have been biased by the interpretation of the researcher. The authors addressed this concern by performing a multiple human subject reading process whose reliability was confirmed by a Krippendorf’s alpha coefficient value >0.80.

To the best knowledge, this is the first study to map, systematize and discuss the literature concerned to the topic of the knowledge management-leadership relationship.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further integration of knowledge among different streams of research and to develop an interpretative framework to stimulate future research.

A data set of 107 relevant papers on the topic was retrieved using the Web of Science Core Collection database covering a period ranging from 2001 to 2019. A comparative bibliometric analysis consisting of the integration of results from the citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling was performed to identify the most influential papers. The systematic literature review complemented the bibliometric results by clustering the most influential papers.

The results revealed different intellectual structures across several types of analyses. Despite such differences, 41 papers resulted as the most impactful and provided evidence of the emergence of five thematic clusters: trust, performance, cultural diversity, knowledge management and team management.

Based on the bibliometric analyses an interpretative research agenda has been developed that unveils the main future research avenues. The paper also offers important theoretical contributions by systematizing knowledge on conflict in identifying VTs. Managerial contributions in the form of the identification of best practices are also developed to guide conflict management in VTs.

The uniqueness of this paper is related to its effort in studying, mapping and systematizing the knowledge concerning the topic of handling conflicts in VTs. Considering the current contingencies, this research is particularly timely.

This paper explores the field of human resource management (HRM) in family firms, assessing the evolution of this research through a four-domain model that reflects the relationships between cognitions, actions and performances associated with organizational choices.

The authors have performed a bibliometric review of 363 peer-reviewed papers from over the past four decades (1976–2016) in order to provide activity indicators for the overall phenomenon and systemize the entire body of literature into specific HRM strategy domains or practices, using a double-entered pivot table.

The study framework provides managerial implications with regard to the HRM decisions made when attempting to improve human capital in family firms. Accordingly, the authors view HRM-centered decisions and strategies in family firms as ways to scan for and appraise contingent dimensions, make sense of the current environment, make good choices and achieve high performance levels.

The authors offer this four-domain theoretical scheme as a framework through which the field can be interpreted, proposing some potential avenues for moving forward.

An increased globalisation pushes forward the study of international entrepreneurship that however has been mainly analysed at a macro-environmental and an individual level. The authors want instead identify the determinants of international entrepreneurship from a firm-level perspective, specifically in relation to the key decision-making entity – the board of directors. The authors focused on the overall composition of the board of directors in terms of gender diversity and how this affects multi-subject decision-making when it comes to international entrepreneurship.

Based on entrepreneurial decision-making and the neo-institutional theory, the authors analyse the relationship between gender diversity in boards of directors and firms' international entrepreneurship, assessing how state ownership and ownership concentration moderate this relationship. Using a sample made up of China's listed companies from 2009 to 2018, the authors empirically test the main effect and the moderating effects.

International entrepreneurship is less prevalent in firms with more female directors, but in terms of quality of the decisions, these boards perform better. State ownership and ownership concentration can strengthen and weaken the relationship between the presence of female directors and the intensity of international entrepreneurship, respectively.

Firstly, the authors draw attention to the implications of gender diversity in boards of directors, calling for further studies on communication and collaboration patterns within multi-subject decision-making. Secondly, the authors’ conclusions enrich academic literature on female directors by exploring the roles they play in firms' decision-making when it comes to international entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the field of conflict management and the field of family business to the investigation of conflicts in family firms, with the aim of contributing to the further integration of knowledge between the two fields.

Family conflicts and work–family balance issues also received a lot of attention, yet studies in conflict management still seem to overlook a thorough investigation of conflict in family businesses. Conflict is a major aspect of family businesses, which differs highly from non-family businesses, and offers an important research avenue for conflict management scholars to contribute to the investigation of major characteristics of organisations that constitute a large part of the value created in the world.

The results of a bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review show that studies concerning conflict in family business aggregate around three clusters: organisational conflicts; firm growth and conflicts; and family control, performance and conflicts. An interpretative framework is also developed to interpret how antecedents, conflicts and growth dynamics in family business influence performances. Findings show how family conflicts and work–family balance issues received a lot of attention, yet studies in conflict management still seem to miss a thorough investigation of conflict in family businesses.

This paper contributes to the field of conflict management and family business by providing a systematic analysis of knowledge and family firms. This paper can be a starting point for researchers interested in understanding how conflicts affect family businesses.

Management scholars investigated the motivational aspects of volunteers, mainly focusing on their positive reciprocity – individuals feel obligated to reciprocate whenever they receive benefits from others – but neglected the possible role of negative reciprocity, the tendency to retaliate in case of mistreatments. Based on motivational functions theory and the norm of reciprocity, this paper proposes a framework assessing other-oriented and self-oriented motives as the main antecedents of volunteers’ intention to stay in non-profit organizations (NPOs).

Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and the PROCESS macro were used to empirically validate and test the hypothesized conceptual model on a sample of 379 volunteers actively involved in Italian NPOs.

Positive reciprocity partially mediated the relationships between volunteers’ other-oriented motives and self-oriented motives and their intention to stay. Instead, negative reciprocity fully mediated the relationship between self-oriented motives and intention to stay but not the relationship between other-oriented motives and intention to stay.

Managers and marketers of NPOs should pay more attention to volunteers’ attitudinal and behavioral signals to encourage within-organization positive reciprocal attitudes and discourage negative reciprocal attitudes. This represents a strategic lever to prevent volunteers from quitting the organization – which is one of the most critical challenges for NPOs’ management – and improve their intention to stay.

This is one of the first studies that simultaneously investigate the mediating role of both positive and negative reciprocity of volunteers actively involved in NPOs. Moreover, the constructs of other-oriented and self-oriented motivations are statistically validated as two separate psychological dimensions impacting on volunteers’ turnover. Finally, the study has been conducted in the Region of Tuscany (Italy) which, despite its centuries-old tradition of volunteerism, has received scant attention by non-profit scholars.