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This study aims to further develop the CLC stage/path’s identification model that distinguishes between path’s emergence (emergence stage), path’s development (growth stage), path’s sustainment (maturity stage), path’s decline (decline stage) and path’s transformation (renewal stage), and by applying it, define the current stage/path of the Demarcated Douro Region (DDR) cluster. The Port wine industry, which is the dominant industry of the DDR cluster, is at the maturity/decline stage – is the same for the cluster itself?

It is a case study with a longitudinal perspective based on the analysis of the dynamics of the parameters of cluster evolution using available secondary sources (cluster identity/brand; number of firms; number of employees; network; innovation; policies and regulations; and external markets – exports), especially addressing the past decade, that represent the stage of maturity/decline of the cluster’s dominant Port wine industry.

The conclusion is that since the 1990s the Demarcated Douro Region has gone through a “path transformation” where during the following 20 years new “anchors” for the cluster were gradually introduced, such as Doc Douro Wines, new forms of consumption of Port wine, tourism and olive oil. Since 2010 the cluster has entered a growth stage/(new) path’s development, where these “anchors” are in steady growth. The Douro brand is becoming more internationally recognized and established, the number of firms and employees is increasing, the network is restructuring with the creation of cluster-specific official institutions, innovation is especially reflected with increasing heterogeneity through diversification of the clusters into new activities and regulations and policies are supportive for expansion – all these parameters are indicating the rise of the new cycle for the cluster. Thus, the DDR cluster represents an attractive business environment and requires attention from regional policymakers to support the cluster’s development. Especially institutions have been highlighted as internal factors driving clusters growth, European integration as an external factor and firms’ strategies of diversification and internationalization as an appropriate de-locking mechanism for new path’s development.

This research contributes to the CLC theory by further developing and applying a CLC stage/path identification model. It provides a better understanding of the dynamics of the DDR cluster that diverge from its dominant industry life cycle, which is relevant for regional policies and firms’ strategies. This study has its limitations. It provides an exploratory application of the theoretical framework proposed, and consequently, no general conclusions are possible yet. More empirical studies with different clusters in different stages are necessary to test the framework.

These findings are useful to policymakers when designing their policies for cluster development but also for clusters’ entities and actors when making their strategic decisions as it allows based on the verification of the established parameter of CLC to identify its current stage/path of development.

The paper presents a theoretically grounded model for CLC identification and for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge applies it to a cluster case – the DDR cluster. This case applies the proposed model and illustrates its usefulness. The model provides the tools for a better understanding of cluster dynamics.

This present study uses political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) analysis and the strategic management theory to examine how external factors, namely the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the industrial revolution (IR) 4.0 technologies, the fuel price crisis and Sultanate of Oman Logistics Strategy (SOLS) 2040, affect the performance of container terminals in Oman.

A hybrid decision-making method that combined the analytical hierarchy process technique and Bayesian network model was used to achieve the objective of the present study.

The COVID-19 pandemic (54.60%) most significantly affected the performance of container terminals in Oman, followed by IR 4.0 technologies (19.66%), SOLS (17.00%) and fuel price crisis (8.74%). Container terminals in Oman were also found to perform “moderately,” considering the uncertainty of external factors.

This study enriches existing literature by using PESTLE analysis to assess the impact of the external business environment on firm performance in the context of the maritime industry as well as highlights how challenging external environmental factors affect the performance of container terminals in Oman.

This study contributes to developing novel study models and determining the performance level of container terminals in Oman considering integrated uncertainties and external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, IR 4.0 technologies, the SOLS 2040 and the fuel price crisis.

This study aims to measure the competitiveness of top apparel exporting nations competing with China in different apparel product categories across the global environment.

Compound annual growth rate, trade competitiveness, market share percentages, revealed comparative advantage and its variant normalized revealed comparative advantage using two-, four- and six-digit harmonized system codes for the period of 2016–2021 were used to understand the comparative advantage of competing apparel exporting nations.

The findings revealed that China still holds a more decisive comparative advantage than its competitors over the majority of the product categories within the knitted or not knitted apparel and clothing accessories. The other competing nations hold better export competitiveness over China in specific categories. However, that is not sufficient to be the “Next China.”

The study has important implications for different stakeholders of the global apparel industry, such as governments, industry officials, policymakers, investors, researchers and students. The study’s limitations arise from using product categories as competitiveness indicators, notably relying on a macro level approach for measurement while the micro level perspective is not analyzed, which constitutes a significant limitation of the study.

This research thoroughly analyzes the competitive position of the top ten apparel-exporting countries in the global market.

This study examines the impact of consumer-perceived value (CPV) dimensions such as product quality, price fairness, brand prestige and brand positioning on brand attitude and loyalty for electronic home appliance brands in an emerging market. It also explores the moderating effect of perceived store image on the relationship between brand attitude and loyalty.

This study proposes an integrated model based on consumption values and the value-attitude-behavior (V-A-B) framework. Survey data from 209 Bangladeshi consumers of electronic home appliances were used to test the model. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) and PROCESS macro were employed to test the hypotheses.

This research underscores the importance of CPV dimensions, such as product quality, price fairness, brand prestige and positioning, in predicting brand loyalty through brand attitude. Store image moderates the link between brand attitude and loyalty, with a stronger relationship when store image is high and a weaker relationship when it is low.

This study broadens marketing and consumption value theory by investigating brand prestige and positioning in the V-A-B framework in the emerging market. This is the first study to use perceived store image to moderate the relationship between brand attitude and loyalty.

This paper addresses the issue of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions within the information and communication technology (ICT) and engineering fields. The study examines the complex issue of vertical segregation and gender equality by exploring the barriers that women encounter and the potential coping strategies they adopt to advance in their careers.

The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 women at middle and upper management levels in the ICT and engineering sectors. This approach aims to better understand women's workplace experiences and gain deeper insights into the nature of the barriers they face.

The study identifies four main factors hindering women's progression toward senior management positions, namely working hours, work-family conflict, social role stereotypes and second-generation bias. The results also offer useful insights into the coping strategies adopted by women to overcome these barriers.

The study highlights the persisting underrepresentation of women in senior positions, indicating a societal and organizational lag in terms of inclusion and equity. It underscores the importance of developing effective policies to address the challenges faced by employees striving to balance their work and family commitments. Training is recognized as an important tool for raising awareness about gender stereotypes among employees and reducing second-generation bias.

This study provides valuable lessons derived from its findings, including potential strategies that organizations can implement to help women navigate and overcome workplace barriers in the ICT and engineering fields.

It becomes a strategic option for enterprises to upgrade and improve supply chain efficiency (SCE) by promoting the digital transformation (DT). This study formulated a parallel mediation model to analyze the relationships among DT, supply chain transparency (SCT), supply chain agility (SCA) and SCE to reveal how DT affects SCE through the mediation of SCT and SCA.

Three paradigms, i.e. resource-based view (RBV), dynamic capability view (DCV) and structure-conduct-performance (SCP) were employed to address the parallel mediation effects. A total of 392 questionnaires (samples) from the port-hinterland supply chain in the DT pilot project of New Land-Sea Corridor in western China were collected, which was then applied to formulate a structural equation model (SEM) to verify the proposed hypotheses.

The results confirmed the existences of parallel mediating effects of SCT and SCA between DT and SCE. On one hand, the direct effect of DT on SCE is not significant when SCT and SCE plays jointly impacts on DT and SCE. On the other hand, SCT and SCA play a positive parallel full mediating effect of DT on SCE.

This study contributed to the literature on changing activities of SCE in DT processes. Specifically, it highlighted how DT leads to SCE via SCT and SCA activities. In addition, this study specified the conditions that the insignificant direct effect of DT has reflects on SCE, it is the time when SCT and SCE are jointly acting on DT and SCE.

By integrating insights from the RBV, DCV and SCP paradigms, this study clarified the mechanisms of DT on SCE, and provided insight on the role of SCT and SCA in the relationship between DT and SCE. The novelty of this study and the results extend the existing literature and provide implications for future research.

Chinese firms are winning market share from foreign multinational enterprises in domestic markets. The international business literature suggests that this is happening because these firms are developing non-traditional firm-specific advantages (FSAs). Strategic factor market (SFM) theory provides a good basis for explaining how this is happening. However, it is underdeveloped in terms of analysing unique resources and unique access to those resources by Chinese firms in their domestic markets. This paper aims to develop a framework to understand how Chinese firms have developed non-traditional FSAs.

The case study method is adopted to explore how Chinese firms develop non-traditional FSAs. Specifically, the authors compare paired case studies of a Chinese firm and a foreign multinational in each of two industries.

The authors find that Chinese firms have developed non-traditional FSAs because of more relevant experience, better adapted strategies and privileged relationships. This has enabled Chinese firms to develop non-traditional FSAs.

The authors propose a framework that conceptualises non-traditional FSA development in Chinese firms as a product of superior access to unique and valuable resources in their domestic SFMs.

This study aims to analyze and discuss the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firms’ performance, as well as to examine the interplay between CSR and the economy, society and innovation.

This paper collects data from 420 manufacturing firms across various geographical regions in China. By using a structural equation model, the paper investigates the impact of CSR on enterprise innovation, customer management capability, market competitiveness (MC) and firm financial performance.

The findings demonstrate that CSR performance positively contributes to enhancing the level of enterprise innovation, as well as customer management capability and market competitiveness. Furthermore, it assists enterprises in improving market competitiveness and elevating customer management capabilities. Thus, CSR can have a positive effect on the firm financial performance.

The outcomes presented in this paper offer valuable evidence regarding the influence of implementing CSR on different aspects of enterprise performance and innovation. Moreover, it provides practical recommendations for enterprises seeking to transition towards low-carbon practices and upgrade their manufacturing industry.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between political connections, financing decisions and cash holding.

Based on historical data from 181 active non-financial firms listed on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Stock Exchange Markets during the period of 2009–2016, this study uses ordinary least squares and dynamic system-generalized method of moments to test the research hypotheses. The final data set comprises a total of 1,448 firm-year observations from ten major non-financial industry classifications.

This study finds a positive relationship between political connections and each of internal financing proxied by retained earnings ratio and external financing proxied by short- and long-term debt to total asset. The findings also show a positive relationship between political connections and cash holding.

The findings of the study provide a better understanding of the role of politically connected directors in financing decisions and cash holding in the GCC. Investors can consider the presence of royal family members in the board of directors when making investment decision. Policymakers are encouraged to develop more effective policies that encourage listed firms to provide information on the political positions of the board of directors, managers and major shareholders/owners of companies.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between political connections and financing decisions by focusing on the GCC region. This study also highlights that boards in connected firms in the GCC have lower monitoring role owing to political interventions, and that connected firms face higher agency problems as they have weak governance and boards compared with non-connected firms.

Although India is seen as a key player in the global economy, it is still below its potential level of growth. In this age of globalism, integration with the global economy through trade and foreign investments fosters domestic growth. For India, although this integration has strengthened over the years, there are certain gaps that remain to be addressed. Though numerous studies in the literature have tried to find answers to these questions, an important aspect that has not been considered by these studies relates to India’s federal structure and the role of states in determining the aggregate economic outcome. As Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India are concentrated in a few states, this paper aims to provide an assessment of the reasons behind this trend.

This paper aims to investigate the reasons behind the interstate differences with respect to FDI inflows in India. The analytical work undertaken for this paper is based on secondary data, collected and collated from various sources. The approach adopted for this paper includes a heat graph analysis to examine whether there is a clear pattern in terms of the state-specific factors for high FDI states versus the low FDI states. This data analysis is followed by an econometric estimation to gauge the impact of state-specific factors in determining the FDI inflows.

As per the secondary data–driven heat graph and econometric analysis, factors like industrial output, social sector expenditure, judicial quality, connectivity indicators, labor cost and availability of credit, act as differentiators between high and low FDI-receiving states. It then becomes imperative to bridge the gap between the two sets of states in terms of these specific factors. Implementation and success of policy interventions can only be derived at the state level and therefore needs more decentralized approach.

This paper tries to identify the reasons that are responsible for FDI inflows being concentrated in a few Indian states. This involves a comprehensive analysis of several variables to understand whether there is a clear pattern where high-FDI states are also in a better position with respect to these attributes. This effort to factor in the federal aspect of a macroeconomic indicator like FDI provides new dynamic to this area of work.