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Innovation management in the healthcare sector has undergone significant evolutions over the last decades. These evolutions have been investigated from a variety of perspectives: clusters, ecosystems of innovation, digital ecosystems and regional ecosystems, but the dynamics of networks have seldom been analyzed under the lenses of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs). As identified by Cao and Shi (2020), the literature is silent about the organization of resource allocation systems for network orchestration in EEs. This article investigates these elements in the healthcare sector. It discusses the strategic role played by entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in resource allocation and elaborates on the distinction between sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs in EEs. ESOs are active in network orchestration. The literature explains that ESOs lift organizational, institutional and cultural barriers, and support entrepreneurs' access to cognitive and technological resources. However, allocation models are not yet discussed. Therefore, our research questions are as follows: What is the resource allocation model in healthcare-related EEs? What is the role played by sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs as regards resource allocation to support the emergence and development of EEs in the healthcare sector?

The article offers an explanatory, exploratory, and theory-building investigation. The research design offers an abductive research protocol and multi-level analysis of seven (sponsored and nonsponsored) ESOs active in French healthcare ecosystems. Field research elaborates on semi-structured interviews collected between 2016 and 2022.

This article shows explicit complementarities between top-down and bottom-up resource allocation approaches supported by ESOs in the healthcare sector. Despite explicit originalities in each approach, no network orchestration model prevails. Multi-polar coordination is the rule. Entrepreneurs' access to critical technological and cognitive resources is based on resource allocation modalities that differ for sponsored versus nonsponsored ESOs. Emerging from field research, this research also shows that sponsored and nonsponsored ESOs manage their roles in different ways because they confront original issues about organizational legitimacy.

Beyond the results listed above, the main originalities of the paper relate to the instantiation of multi-level analysis operated during field research and to the confrontation between sponsored versus nonsponsored ESOs in the domain of healthcare-related innovation management. This research shows that ESOs have practical relevance because they build original routes for resource allocation and network orchestration in EEs. Each ESO category (sponsored versus nonsponsored) provides original support for resource allocation. The ESO's legitimacy is inferred either from the sponsor or the services delivered to end-users. This research leads to propositions for future research and recommendations for practitioners: ESO managers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers.

Gillette’s historically successful “razor and blade” business model (RBM) has been a promising benchmark for multiple businesses across diverse industries worldwide in the past several decades. The extant literature deals with very few nuances of this business model notwithstanding the fact that there are several variants of this business model being put to practical use by firms in diverse industries in grossly metaphorically equivalent situations.

This study adopts the 2 × 2 truth table framework from the domains of mathematical logic and combinatorics in fleshing out all possible (four logical possibilities) variants of the razor and blade business model for further analysis. This application presents four mutually exclusive yet collectively exhaustive possibilities on any chosen dimension. Two major dimensions (viz., provision of subsidy and intra- or extra-firm involvement in the making of razors or blades or both) form part of the discussion in this paper. In addition, this study synthesizes and streamlines entrepreneurial wisdom from multiple intra-industry and inter-industry benchmarks in terms of real-time firms explicitly or implicitly adopting several variants of the RBM that suit their unique context and idiosyncratic trajectory of evolution in situations that are grossly reflective of the metaphorically equivalent scenario of razor and recurrent blades. Inductive method of research is carried out with real-time cases from diverse industries with a pivotally common pattern of razor and blade model in some form or the other.

Several new variants of the razor and blade model (much beyond what the extant literature explicitly projects) have been discovered from the multiple metaphorically equivalent cases of RBM across industries. All of these expand the portfolio of options that relevant entrepreneurial firms can explore and exploit the best possible option chosen from them, given their unique context and idiosyncratic trajectory of growth.

This study has enriched the literature by presenting and analyzing a more inclusive or perhaps comprehensive palette of explicit choices in the form of several variants of the RBM for the relevant entrepreneurial firms to choose from. Future research can undertake the task of comparing these variants of RBM with those of upcoming servitization business models such as guaranteed availability, subscription and performance-based contracting and exploring the prospects of diverse combinations.

Smart entrepreneurial firms identify and adopt inspiring benchmarks (like razor and blade model whenever appropriate) duly tweaked and blended into a gestalt benchmark for optimal profits and attractive market shares. They target diverse market segments for tied-goods with different variants or combinations of the relevant benchmarks in the form of variegated customer value propositions (CVPs) that have unique and enticing appeal to the respective market segments.

Value-sensitive customers on the rise globally choose the option that best suits them from among multiple alternatives offered by competing firms in the market. As long as the ratio of utility to price of such an offer is among the highest, even a no-frills CVP may be most appealing to one market segment while a plush CVP may be tempting to yet another market segment simultaneously. While professional business firms embrace resource leverage practices consciously, amateur customers do so subconsciously. Each party subliminally desires to have the maximum bang-to-buck ratio as the optimal return on investment, given their priorities ceteris paribus.

Prior studies on the RBM have explicitly captured only a few variants of the razor and blade model. This study is perhaps the first of its kind that ferrets out many other variants (more than ten) of the razor and blade model with due simplification and exemplification, justification and demystification.

Corrosion is a major concern for many industries that use metals as structural or functional materials, and the use of corrosion inhibitors is a widely accepted strategy to protect metals from deterioration in corrosive environments. Moreover, the toxic nature, non-biodegradability and price of most conventional corrosion inhibitors have encouraged the application of greener and more sustainable options, with natural and synthetic drugs being major actors. Hence, this paper aims to stress the capability of natural and synthetic drugs as manageable and sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions to the problem of metal corrosion.

In this review, the recent developments in the use of natural and synthetic drugs as corrosion inhibitors are explored in detail to highlight the key advancements and drawbacks towards the advantageous utilization of drugs as corrosion inhibitors.

Corrosion is a critical issue in numerous modern applications, and conventional strategies of corrosion inhibition include the use of toxic and environmentally harmful chemicals. As greener alternatives, natural compounds like plant extracts, essential oils and biopolymers, as well as synthetic drugs, are highlighted in this review. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of these compounds, as well as their effectiveness in preventing corrosion, are discussed in the review.

This survey stresses on the most recent abilities of natural and synthetic drugs as viable and sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions to the problem of metal corrosion, thus expanding the general knowledge of green corrosion inhibitors.

Megaprojects are financially large and complex in scope, which require engagement of stakeholders from various institution and communities. With increased concerns from stakeholders on sustainability related issues, from environmental to socio-economic perspective, managing megaprojects has become quite challenging. Hence, there should be proactive approaches in active engagement of stakeholders from the start of the projects to overcome such issues. Currently, there is a knowledge gap on stakeholder management strategies specific to megaprojects on managing sustainability issues.

This research has adopted review of secondary data from case studies to identify stakeholder management challenges and strategies in megaprojects around Sydney area. The documents related to three different projects were reviewed and data were collected through qualitative content analysis and coding with use of NVivo software for within case analysis and was followed by thematic approach for cross case analysis.

Every case study project's sustainability-related stakeholder issues are more similar than different to others. Differences are mostly in terms of intensity of impact of any issue in a particular project, and/or intensity of impact at certain phase of any project. Moreover, significant sectors and strategies have been identified for key focus to manage environment and socioeconomic issues. Whatever be the strategies, in case of megaprojects, they need to be mostly proactive.

This research has extended the knowledge on stakeholder management, in relation to managing sustainability-related issues of megaprojects during their design, construction and operation phases. This research offers useful strategies for project teams of megaprojects to develop a proactive stakeholder management plan, addressing unavoidable sustainability challenges.

This study aims to explore the emotional landscapes and spatial preferences of digital nomads, focusing on how sentiments expressed in destination reviews influence their mobility and destination choices.

Employing a lexicon-based sentiment analysis of social media comments and reviews, alongside advanced geographical information systems (GIS) mapping techniques, the study analyzes the emotional tones that digital nomads associate with various destinations worldwide.

The analysis reveals significant patterns of emotional sentiments, with trust and joy being predominant in preferred destinations. Spatial patterns identified through GIS mapping highlight the global distribution of these sentiments, underscoring the importance of emotional well-being in destination choice.

Insights from this study offer valuable guidance for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in strategic planning, enhancing destination appeal through targeted marketing strategies that resonate with the emotional preferences of digital nomads.

This research introduces a novel approach by integrating sentiment analysis with GIS to map the emotional and spatial dynamics of digital nomadism, contributing a new perspective to the literature on tourism and mobility.

This study aims to help develop “business principles for stakeholder capitalism” in two steps. First, the study defines internal logic of three theories of capitalism and two variants within each theory. Second, it examines approaches to integration into modern democratic capitalism. Treating the three theories as substitutes identifies relative strengths and weaknesses; complementarity and partial overlap approaches to integration study the institutional settings within which stakeholder capitalism operates. Empirical outcomes reflect competition between market and stakeholder businesses for participants, with institutional conditions determining the scope of collective action.

The approach aligns three typologies in a unique conceptual arrangement defining the three theories of capitalism: forms of capitalism, potential failures of each form and associated types of goods. The first method examines the internal logic of each theory of capitalism. The second draws on traditional narrative review of references documenting each theory of capitalism and variants together with modern Marxist anti-capitalism.

Three typologies align uniquely with the theories of capitalism, each having two variants. Both variants of stakeholder capitalism are compatible with compassionate capitalism, constitutional government or polycentric governance but not with self-interest capitalism, dictatorship or Marxism. A theory of modern democratic capitalism allocates roles for private, club and social goods with empirically variable mixes occurring across countries. Competition among different types of enterprises provides an empirical test for comparative advantages of stakeholder capitalism. Future research should consider approaches for testing the proposed conceptual scheme in practice concerning capacity to deal with grand challenges, wicked problems and black swan events.

Research approach is limited to logical examination of theories and literature documentation without direct empirical confirmation. The study does not address practical implications for managers and public officials or social implications concerning private incentives, stakeholder cooperation or collective action.

Originality lies in shifting terms of debate about stakeholder capitalism from advocacy of substitute theories to understanding of its relationship to market capitalism and collective action capitalism. Value lies in explaining desirability of theoretical integration of three types of capitalism into a comprehensive framework for modern democratic capitalism.

In a highly competitive and globalised era, agile organisations proactively steer towards sustainability. This situation persuaded the organisations to align Quality Management (QM) initiatives to achieve sustainable outcomes. This study aims to explore quality–sustainability linkage, explicitly focusing on attaining the prestigious IAQ Quality Sustainability Award. Further it investigates, the impact of QM as a strategy for promoting sustainability to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Due to the lack of substantial literature connecting QM to sustainability, the current research adopted an explanatory multiple-case study. Six cases were purposively chosen for the study. Three cases of those who have achieved the prestigious IAQ Quality Sustainability Award and remaining have been selected that have fallen short of receiving the award. A detailed within-case and cross-case examinations involving six cases that reported their QM achievements aligned with SDGs.

The findings demonstrate the significant role of QM adoption in achieving positive results from the perspective of SDGs, such as reduced environmental impacts, improved operational efficiency and enhanced quality of life. Effective stakeholder collaboration, proficiency in analytical tools and strategic alignment with SDGs emerged as critical success factors. Conversely, weak linkage with sustainability and unclear approaches were crucial challenges in attaining the IAQ Quality Sustainability Award.

This paper outlines essential commandments for organisations actively seeking to promote sustainability. It offers valuable insights for decision-makers, facilitating a profound understanding of the challenges and opportunities in pursuing sustainable performance.

The distinctive nature of this study lies in its dedicated exploration of the intricate relationship between QM deployment and its true impact on the achievement of the SDGs.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between prospective teachers’ cultural profiles and service quality expectations in a pedagogical training program in Greece.

Using the EppekQual scale and an alternative Hofstede’s cultural scale, 113 prospective teachers in a Greek training program were surveyed. The study uses descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression, validating measurements through confirmatory factor analysis.

Prospective teachers exhibit a low-power orientation and a preference for feminine values. Rejecting hierarchy correlates with quality expectations, especially in the curriculum dimension, emphasizing student-centric education. A positive correlation with acceptance/avoidance of uncertainty is observed, notably in learning outcomes and administrative services. The cultural aversion to ambiguity shapes individuals’ prioritization of all quality dimensions. A realistic long-term perspective correlates positively with expectations in learning outcomes, aligning with Greek culture’s emphasis on security. Contrary to expectations, a predilection for feminine values positively impacts service quality expectations, particularly in curriculum, learning outcomes and academic staff dimensions. The hypothesis related to individualism/collectivism is not substantiated, indicating a negative association with the curriculum dimension.

Tailoring program designs to embrace student-centric and collaborative learning environments is recommended. Acknowledging cultural aversions to uncertainty, program flexibility and clarity are essential. Integrating career planning and mentorship aligns with realistic long-term perspectives. The need for a balanced approach to personal and intellectual development is also suggested.

This study uncovers specific cultural dimensions that shape quality expectations within a Greek teacher training context.

This study focuses on the self-organized cooperative consumption of platform participants on social media platform, and reveals how the brand owner cooperates with two-sided customers to achieve value co-creation.

The authors adopted a case study approach to explore how a Chinese beauty startup developed collaborative networks from 2013 to 2022, and tracked the the changes of network structure and cooperation mechanism.

The study finds that the brand owner cooperates with two-sided customers to integrate resources and establish diverse relational trust, which enhances the evolution of a heterogeneous collaborative network for value co-creation.

The study builds upon traditional dyadic actor-to-actor interactions between providers and customers, develops a novel interaction framework of actor-to-network to explain the value co-creation by collaborative networking, reveals the self-organized mechanism of cooperative consumption on social media.

The lack of knowledge has hindered the successful implementation of lean in the construction industry. This has alarmed the need for lean learning practices. Out of numerous models, the learning-to-learn sand cone model received a wider acknowledgment for learning practices. Thus, this study aims to propose a learning-to-learn sand cone model integrated lean learning framework for the construction industry.

The research adopted an interpretivism stance. A qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. Consequently, fifteen (15) semi-structured interviews and document reviews were carried out to collect data in three (3) cases selected through purposive sampling. Code-based content analysis was used to analyse the data.

Fifty-two (52) sub-activities pertaining to nine lean learners at each stage of the lean learning procedure were identified. The most significant practices in the lean learning procedure to continuously improve lean learning in the organisation were maintaining records, providing a performance update to senior management and preparing and distributing several hierarchical manuals for all levels of staff to aid in the implementation of lean approaches.

The findings of the research can be aided to successfully implement lean by following the identified sub-activities via various parties within the organisation. The proposed lean learning framework opens several research areas on lean learning in the construction industry. This is the first research to uncover a lean learning framework in the construction industry rather than at the educational institute level.