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This study aims to identify the legitimacy issues raised during a sustainable business model innovation, deployed by an Italian company, which was analyzed through the lens of the legitimation theory and the business model innovation theory.

A single case study methodology is employed for empirical research. Semistructured interviews, with top and middle management, were conducted together with the analysis of several internal and external documents, to corroborate the case analysis.

Results show how the potentiality of digital technologies allows the development of new sustainable business models, which, though, still need to gain legitimation to be accepted. The study findings allow drawing both on the business model innovation theory and on the legitimation theory, as they show how legitimation is a dynamic concept that involves internal as well as external stakeholders to support business model innovation.

The paper is novel, since it addresses the topic of sustainable business models development, showing how companies can get legitimation. The paper builds on existing theories and provides a practical example.

This paper aims to define knowledge transfer and small and medium enterprise’s (SME's) effectiveness. This research framework examines how employees understand, create and apply knowledge in a day-to-day working context, and how knowledge and other organisational factors influence knowledge transfer within the organisation.

A qualitative research approach was applied. The authors conducted semi-structured group interviews with the members of three departments of a small hi-tech company. All collected data were manually coded, using in vivo coding and discussed among the authors. As the continuation of the semi-structured group interview, the technique of cognitive maps was applied.

According to the results, the critical elements of knowledge transfer within small hi-tech companies seem (1) available slack time, (2) reciprocity and level of trust among employees, (3) social capital of employees and (4) practically oriented technical knowledge. It is also noted that the knowledge transfer is carried out to solve the problems identified by the employees, and these seek knowledge directly from the knowledge bearers who represent a kind of organisational memory.

Knowledge transfer in SMEs occurs almost exclusively face-by-face, and individuals involved pay attention to the time required by this process. The co-creation of an organisational space that allows and supports an open discussion within and between departments is therefore of fundamental importance in order not to preclude organisational learning. In addition, non-financial incentives must be established to help transfer tacit knowledge. This allows to overcome the difficulty of employees in recognising the organisational knowledge base that they see above all in themselves.

This paper throws additional light on understanding how knowledge transfer happens within small hi-tech companies. The applied qualitative research methods allow a better understanding of the “how” and “why” questions associated with the social processes surrounding knowledge transfer.

The purpose of this paper is first, to review current literature on corporate identity, image and reputation; second, to analyse the “green reputation” on a sample of Slovene companies based on their web sites and third, to present implications for companies and further research.

Content analysis and discourse analysis were used to examine sections of web sites related to sustainable development of 20 Slovene companies representing the pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, food production, retailing, automotive, construction, logistics, sales of oil products and domestic appliance industries.

The web sites of 20 Slovene companies studied show that all companies present their values about environment protection and social responsibility, which they relate to sustainable development. However, “green” identity is not fully exploited in terms of being used as a distinctive feature of a company and as such it does not sufficiently contribute to gaining competitive advantage for a company.

Although constituted by all relevant Slovene companies, the sample is limited in size. Further research could be done with a larger sample to test the findings. Different tools and media of marketing communication and a stakeholder survey could confirm the importance of the findings and significance for green reputation development.

Senior company management can use the findings from the research presented here as a starting‐point for the development of corporate reputation as a “green” company through appropriate use of corporate communication.

The research paper contributes to the scarce literature on green reputation development, which is almost non‐existent with regard to non‐multinational companies from post‐transition and transition economies. The paper also reveals new findings about the problem of standardisation within “green” marketing communication.

The purpose of the paper is to present the common use of the Delphi method, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps for the development of a future scenario in correlation with climate warming.

A combination of the Delphi method, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps was employed to construct a future scenario as a learning device.

Based on the data, the future is not going to be so bad but also not very attractive even if it is assumed that human consciousness about global warming issues will remain high. After a few years or so it will be possible to stop negative climate processes but not possible to fix the problem in the sense that the situation we have now can be substantially improved.

This paper is of interest for foresight practitioners and policy makers who want to employ a hybrid approach to scenario development.

The paper is the first to try to use a combination of different methods for scenario development related to climate change.

The purpose of this paper is to present the common use of Delphi method, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps (DFCM) for development of future scenarios in correlation with climate warnings.

The developed global model is based on a cognitive map composed of 28 factors. Among these factors two are independent, namely human consciousness and living standard. These two factors represent the most important levers of control within the designed model. Two approaches to scenario development have been applied, so that the comparison of the results between conventional fuzzy method and dynamic fuzzy method could give some further insights about global climate development and sustainability, as well as about differences between the two approaches.

Results of the first model (no‐time‐delay in cause‐effect relation) show that in general there is no absolute convergence to a single vector C(tn+1) for various initial values for C(0). But an interesting phenomenon of cyclical convergence of the model was observed, which coincides with the empirical research results that observe cycles in the climate change awareness and environmental impact. In the second model, time‐delay in the adjacency matrix was considered during the iteration. An interesting phenomenon of cyclical convergence of this model was observed as well. In two antimetric cases the authors have observed the phenomenon of two cycles, where the second, final cycle is developing after the occurrence of the first.

The paper can be of interest for foresight practitioners and policy makers who want to employ a hybrid approach to scenario development and use it as a learning device.

The paper presents a different approach, based on dynamic fuzzy cognitive maps, to future scenarios development related to climate warning.

The paper presents the concept of duality, which presupposes the synthesis of two apparently opposing organisation's properties. The purpose of the paper is to empirically verify whether management of dualities correlates with effectiveness and efficiency of organisations.

The research examines 21 dualities at the normative and strategic level of organisational policy. The research was undertaken in two phases. In the first phase, effectiveness and efficiency indicators were defined by applying the analytic hierarchy process method within an expert group. In the second phase, a questionnaire was sent to 49 CEOs of mid‐size and large companies operating in the food, beverage and foodstuff production industry in Slovenia. The questionnaire applied the semantic differential scale.

The fundamental research hypothesis argues that organisations that are able to transcend the so‐called duality paradox thus enhance their effectiveness or/and efficiency. The results partly confirm this fundamental hypothesis within the limitations of the research sample. In terms of future research, the findings offer a valuable starting point for studies involving a larger sample of industries and organisations.

The research findings present enough evidence that although management of dualities does not assure effectiveness and efficiency of organisation, it is a core driver that should enhance a firm's performance relative to its competitors. This means that managers need to develop an ability to constructively face the tensions of opposing dualities, and instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generating a creative solution of the tensions in the form of a new dynamic model that recognizes dualities as complements and not as forces facing each other.

From a theoretical point of view, it has been observed that management and organisational research have been mainly focused on the definition of organisational dualities or paradoxes and how organisations can sustain competing demands simultaneously. The paper contributes to developing a debate on the potential of managing organisational dualities for greater organisational effectiveness and efficiency.

The basic purpose of this research is to study the influence selection factors have on the effectiveness of evolutionary change methods in civil engineering companies in Slovenia.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research work was applied. In the process of quantitative data analysis, the statistical methods of bivariant and multivariant analysis were used.

Based on the results of the research, the authors can conclude that the size of a company has no effect on any of the dimensions in selection factors. On the other hand, in seven of the 16 evolutionary change methods applied by the companies, the research results have confirmed the importance of selection factors.

In the interpretation of research findings, it should be taken into account that, at the time the research was conducted, the civil engineering industry was undergoing a period of crisis and was ranked among the least profitable industries within the Slovene economy. For this reason, a generalisation of the research findings is not appropriate.

The research findings will allow executive managements to make a more efficient selection from the many available change methods, and also to apply them with greater efficiency. As a result, efficiency and effectiveness in companies can be expected to increase, which is of crucial importance when it comes to corporate entities operating in late‐transition or post‐transition environments.

The article represents an original contribution to understanding the change method selection factors related to the size of companies, as well as their influence on the selected method of evolutionary change process.

The paper sets out to observe the absorption of strategic management practice in a leading Central and East European (CEE) economy, and to provide insight into institutional differences influencing the content of mission statements.

The content of mission statements from large Slovene enterprises is compared with research on US mission statements.

Mission statements in Slovene firms tend to emphasize customers, shareholders, and strategic suppliers significantly less often than do US firms. Corporate reputation, customer‐market scope and quality are also mentioned significantly less often in Slovene statements. Although some gaps between the theoretical ideal and corporate practice may exist in both settings, many differences may be explained by macroeconomic volatility, industry structure, and institutional environments.

Although the Slovene sample size is smaller than comparable US studies, it is an equivalent sample of the two nations' largest firms. The time difference between the Slovene and US samples is not a critical issue in this study since it mimics the time delay between the behaviour of the US firms and the subsequent behaviour of Slovene firms in writing mission statements.

The conclusions can help managers in US multinational firms to better understand some implicit differences in understanding organisations and their relationships with the business and social environment when they do business with firms from CEE.

The paper presents what are differences between Slovene and American companies regarding mission statements content and stakeholders involved and it gives some possible explanations for them based on cultural and historical differences.

This chapter uses the re-development of an undergraduate business degree in a large Australasian university as a case study of the systematic embedding of social responsibility into the curriculum. The chapter discusses the drivers for curriculum change including the converging desires of both employers and students for business education to not only equip graduates with thinking skills for a fast-changing future but also provide guidance to students on becoming ethical leaders. The design thinking process that underpinned the curriculum re-development is outlined and the graduate profile and curriculum structure that emerged from the process are discussed. The graduate profile includes an aspirational goal for students to be future generators for sustainable value for business and society at large. Attainment of this goal is supported by development of other aspects of the graduate profile and the structure of the degree itself. Students are required to undertake multi/interdisciplinary study in order to expose them to different perspectives and ways of thinking and doing. They are scaffolded through the development of an understanding of social responsibility in business and the application of ethical frameworks to complex problems over the course of three years, through four compulsory courses. The chapter notes the importance of the hidden curriculum in teaching social responsibility and demonstrates how the teaching of social responsibility in the business curriculum is reinforced through the structure of the degree and consistency with both the Business School’s and University’s mission.

The evolution of Knowledge-Management (KM)-related literature has highlighted that Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) have undergone massive changes in collaborative environments. Information-Systems-enabled KM seems to be the necessary response to the recent challenges posed by globalisation and technology dynamics to both large companies (LCs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This paper provides a systematic review about KMSs to offer an analytical overview of their role in supporting innovative forms of knowledge translation occurring in collaborative relationships. A sample of 129 papers was selected and analysed according to three perspectives: unit of analysis (LCs, SMEs), phases of the KM process (adoption, translation) and topic area (KM Practices, KM Tools, KMSs).

The findings highlight five literature gaps: (1) the role of KM practices supporting knowledge translation; (2) the impact of the alignment among KM practices, firm's complexity, dimension and culture on KM process; (3) the effect of KM tools on knowledge translation; (4) the variety of KMSs exploited in both LCs and SMEs; and (5) the alignment between organisational structure and information systems in KM context. Accordingly, 13 research questions were formulated.

The proposed research questions define a formal research agenda that could steer further research efforts about the KMS topic for improving the body of knowledge in the KM field. Scientific literature is currently lacking a contribution assessing the role of KMSs in supporting innovative forms of knowledge translation that occur in collaborative relationships.