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Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this endeavor holds significant value. This study delves into such factors within a representative empirical context impacted by a crisis, drawing insights from existing literature on opportunity recognition during such tumultuous periods.

The authors conducted a qualitative inspection of 14 Italian firms during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The authors collected a rich body of multi-source qualitative data, including 34 interviews (with senior managers and entrepreneurs) and secondary data (press releases, videos, web interviews, newspapers, reports and academic articles) in two phases (March–August 2020 and September–December 2020).

The results suggest the existence of a process model of opportunity recognition during crises based on five entrepreneurial influencing factors (entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial proclivity, entrepreneurial personality and entrepreneurial purpose).

Various scholars have highlighted that, in times of crises, it is not easy and indeed very challenging for entrepreneurs to identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities. However, recent research has shown that crises can also positively impact entrepreneurs and their capacity to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. Given these findings, not much research has analyzed the process by which entrepreneurs identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities during crises. This study shows that some entrepreneurial influencing factors are very important to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities during crises.

Driven by Davis’s (1989) technology acceptance model (TAM) and Westaby’s (2005) behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), the purpose of this study is to develop and test a conceptual model and examine consumers’ acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for apparel shopping.

Data from 353 eligible US respondents was collected through a self-administered questionnaire distributed on Amazon Mechanical Turk, an online panel. Confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis were used to test all hypothesized relationships using the structural equation model.

The results show that optimism and relative advantage of “reasons for” dimensions have a positive and significant influence on perceived ease of use (PEU), while innovativeness and relative advantage have a positive and significant influence on perceived usefulness (PUF). Discomfort and insecurity have no significant impact on PEU and PUF. However, complexity has a negative and significant impact on PEU but not on PUF. Additionally, PEU has a positive influence on PUF. Both PEU and PUF have a positive and significant influence on consumers’ attitudes toward using AI chatbots, which, in turn, affects the intention to use AI chatbots for apparel shopping. Overall, this study identifies that optimism, innovativeness and relative advantage are enablers and good reasons to adopt AI chatbots. Complexity is a prohibitor, making it the only reason against adopting AI chatbots for apparel shopping.

This study contributes to the literature by integrating TAM and BRT to develop a research model to understand what “reasons for” and “reasons against” factors are enablers or prohibitors that significantly impact consumers’ attitude and intention to use AI chatbots for apparel shopping through PEU and PUF.

The contemporary focus on extracurricular activities, here the educational incubator environment, accentuates a need to understand what we offer students in terms of the curricular and extracurricular learning environments when situated in the same higher education institution (HEI). Current research points towards breaking down the invisible barriers and silo thinking. In this conceptual study, we apply the Didaktik triangle as a theoretical and conceptual framing to make comparisons of structurally based conditions for curricular and extracurricular entrepreneurship education (EE). We present a framework that helps bridge the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ questions in the two different learning spaces and, thereby, conjoin educators and consultants in possible pedagogical discussions on how they work with the students. The suggested bridge frames a wider ‘why’ and adds a more holistic and cohesive view of the two different types of settings. Our study contributes to the literature on how to bridge the blurred lines between curricular and extracurricular activities and break down the silos. The framework can act as an inspiration for entrepreneurship educators and practitioners who wish to provide more suitable and sustainable structures and develop a holistic learning environment.

This study aims to: (1) investigate the relationship/connection between organizational change (OC) and organizational resilience (OR) and (2) provide a basis for understanding how organizational change can underpin or build organizational resilience.

An extensive literature review has been made to discuss the goals of OC as well as the enablers of OR. A number of conceptual models have been introduced to demonstrate the correlation between OC and OR and the potential role of OC in supporting OR. Empirical findings were also introduced in order to support the theoretical basis of this research.

This study argues that OC can be practiced for the purpose of building or supporting OR. A variety of views have been introduced to demonstrate the correlation between OC and OR and the role of OC in supporting OR.

The purpose and scope of OC should not only be confined to enabling organizations to respond to the dynamics of their business environments but also to enable organizations to withstand a wider range of internal disruptions, major incidents and external factors. This perspective provides a broader insight that is different from the traditional conceptualization of the goals and purpose of OC.

To the author’s knowledge, this is one of very few studies that discuss the correlation between OC and OR and the role of OC in building OR. This explains the need for more practical change initiatives that aim to elevate levels of OR.

The shift toward a circular economy (CE) represents a collaborative endeavor necessitating the presence of efficient frameworks, conducive contexts and a common comprehension. This research serves as a pivotal stride towards this goal, presenting an exclusive prospect for the investigation and fusion of these frameworks, with particular emphasis on the Quintuple Helix Model (5HM), into a unified theoretical framework that underscores the core principles of the CE. This study is centered on three pivotal questions aimed at decoding the CE transition in specific regional settings.

Adopting an abductive approach firmly anchored in a two-stage qualitative process, this study specifically merges the foundational principles from institutional theory, entrepreneurship literature and CE frameworks to provide insights into the dynamics of circular ecosystems, with a specific focus on the Huelva region in Spain.

The findings demonstrate significant potential in the CE, ranging from the integration of product and service systems to innovations in eco-industrial practices. Yet, a notable deficiency exists: the absence of institutional entrepreneurs, highlighting the essential role that universities can play. As recognized centers of innovation, universities are suggested to be key contributors to the transformation toward a CE, aligning with their societal and economic responsibilities.

This study highlights the importance of managing relationships with entities like SMEs and policymakers or academia for effective CE adoption. Policymakers can refine strategies based on the research’s insights, while the impact of university-driven circular ecosystems on sustainable societies is another crucial area for research.

The sustainability models cited in CE literature may not be comprehensive enough to prevent problem shifting, and it can be argued that they lack a sound theoretical and conceptual basis. Furthermore, the connections between sustainability objectives and the three levels of the CE operating system remain vague. Additionally, there is insufficient information on how regions foster the involvement of the environment in fivefold helix cooperation and how this impacts the CE.

With every successful organization embracing various facets of diversity in this new era, one such facet that is lesser talked about but has huge potential to bring organizational success is “Generational Diversity.” This paper emphasizes the significance of multiple generations in the workplace and suggests organization led strategies for achieving the benefits of generational diversity.

This paper draws on extant literature and knowledge in the field of generational diversity. By reviewing the characteristics, values, work styles and perspectives of multiple generations, this paper offer several strategies to successfully manage and leverage generational diversity.

This paper provides an overview of generational diversity and insights on its relevance at workplace. Besides, it also enlists and emphasizes eight different strategies that can help the organizations embrace and leverage the strengths of multiple generations at workplace.

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) teams responsible for nurturing a diverse and inclusive culture at work can design and implement the strategies specified in this paper as per the suitability of their cohort(s) of employees to achieve the benefits of multigenerational workforce in organizations.

Generational diversity at workplace is an important factor toward achieving organizational success. For organizations with age-diverse workforce driving relentlessly toward success, there is a need to design and implement customized strategies and practices for managing multiple generations successfully. This study attempts to address this need by highlighting several organization led strategies to manage multiple generations successfully at workplace.

With the growing need for employees to be innovative, public-sector organizations are investing in employee training. This study aims to examine the effects of a combined Lean Six Sigma and innovation training, using action learning, on public-sector employees’ creative role identity and innovative work behavior.

The authors studied a public service agency in Singapore in which a five-day Lean Innovation Training was implemented, using a combination of Lean Six Sigma and Creative Problem-Solving tools, with a simulation on day one and subsequent team-based project coaching, spread over six months. The authors administered pre- and postintervention surveys among all the employees, and initiated group interviews and observations before, during and after the intervention.

Creative role identity and innovative work behavior had significantly improved six months after the intervention, enabled through senior management’s transformational leadership. The training induced managers to role-model innovative work behaviors while cocreating, with their employees, a renewal of their agency’s core processes. The three completed improvement projects contributed to an innovative work culture and reduced service turnaround time.

Starting with a role-playing simulation on the first day, during which leaders and followers swapped roles, the action-learning type training taught all the organizational members to use various Lean Six Sigma and Creative Problem-Solving tools. This nimble Lean Innovation Training, and subsequent team-based project coaching, exemplifies how advancing the staff’s creative role identity can have a positive impact.

Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders, this study aims to explore the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from organising conventional events to designing and guiding TEs in the meetings, incentives and conferences as exhibitions (MICE) context.

Using a qualitative interview-based design, insights from 20 international business events industry leaders were gathered and analysed by using thematic analysis through a multi-step process with MAXQDA.

The findings discuss the future of transformative events by identifying the paradigm shift towards TE in business events and outline key dimensions of the leader’s and team’s mindset and skills. Five design principles for TE events in the MICE sector are identified: design for change; emotionally experiential environments; personal engagement; responsibility; and transformative measurement.

The study offers a snapshot of how transformative events of the future could be designed and suggests a series of practical insights for MICE event leaders and organisers seeking to leverage events as a catalyst for intentional transformation, positive impact and long-lasting change.

The study adds to the emerging body of knowledge on TEs and contributes to an extended stakeholder perspective, namely, that of business event leaders and their teams who are instrumental in facilitating transformative events. An original framework for designing TE MICE events is offered as a theoretical contribution.

Using Schein’s Descriptive Index (SDI), this paper aims to first examine gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics among Irish business students over a 10-year period. Then, the paper investigates whether there have been changes in gender role stereotypes during this period and subsequently unpack the reasons behind any changes recorded.

In total, 1,124 students from the same business student population rated men, women and managers in general, using SDI. Data was collected first during the academic year 2008–2009 and again in 2018–2019 to determine stability or change in gender role stereotypes and requisite managerial characteristics. Intraclass correlation coefficients scores were computed to determine the relationship between gender and requisite managerial characteristics and identify differences and similarities between the two samples. To explore the content of gender stereotypes, an examination of the specific descriptive items was conducted by performing a factorial analysis using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. Finally, the authors adapted the scales developed by Duehr and Bono (2006) to determine whether broad gender stereotypic characteristics with respect to communal and agentic, attributed to men, women and managers, differ by sample.

The overall findings indicate changes in the extent of gender role stereotyping of the managerial role among the male cohorts studied. The subsequent analysis of the descriptive items identified that the change among the male cohort is due to the levels of agency they perceive women to now possess.

The authors contribute to the literature on both gendered and managerial stereotypes by showing changes in the pro-male stereotype of the managerial role and contribute to the existing debate on a shift towards a more androgynous view of leadership.

These findings help understand the content of gender role stereotypes that recent graduates bring with them to their first job post-graduation. The observed changes in the level of agency ascribed to women by their male counterparts could prove to be an important step forward for women’s advancement to managerial positions.

The findings indicate that both male and female cohorts in Sample 2 perceived men and women in general to possess the same levels of communal and agentic traits as their managerial counterparts.

The purpose of this paper is to provide rich, qualitative insights around internal communication in strategic communication agencies, addressing the evolutions in expectations and best practices for agency leadership through COVID-19.

Qualitative interview study with 18 US-based leaders of public relations and advertising agencies to examine their experiences of leading and managing strategic communication teams during COVID-19.

Synthesized findings around changes in leadership values and important facets of ongoing internal crisis communication led to the development of the following five categories—Improvisation and Flexibility, Transparency and Trust, Ownership and Embodiment, Care and Empathy, Relationships and Resilience.

Using a high-value sample, the study is the first (to the best of the authors' knowledge) to focus on the crucial context of agencies and internal communication around COVID-19; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and other pandemic-era challenges. It provides theoretical implications around ongoing, internal crisis communication and practical implications for agency leaders in crisis.