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The behavior of the entities in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) cooperation network is influenced by the core enterprise. Addressing the problem of how the network vulnerability changes when the core enterprise is attacked is a challenging topic. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the failure process of SME cooperation networks caused by the failure of the core SME from the perspective of cascading failure.

According to the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Ministry of Science & Technology in China, 296 SMEs in Jiangsu province were used to construct an SME cooperation network of technology-based SMEs and an under-loading cascading failure model. The weight-based attack strategy was selected to mimic a deliberate node attack and was used to analyze the vulnerability of the SME cooperation network.

Some important conclusions are obtained from the simulation analysis: (1) The minimum boundary of node enterprises has a negative relationship with networks' invulnerability, while the breakdown probability has an inverted-U relationship with networks' invulnerability. (2) The combined effect of minimum boundary and breakdown probability indicates that the vulnerability of networks is mainly determined by the breakdown probability; while, minimum boundary helps prevent cascading failure occur. Furthermore, according to the case study, adapting capital needs and resilience in the cooperation network is the core problem in improving the robustness of SME cooperation networks.

This research proposed an under-loading cascading failure model to investigate the under-loading failure process caused by the shortage of resources when the core enterprise fails or withdraws from the SME cooperation network. Two key parameters in the proposed model—minimum capacity and breakdown probability—could serve as a guide for research on the vulnerability of SME cooperation networks. Additionally, practical meanings for each parameter in the proposed model are given, to suggest novel insights regarding network protection to facilitate the robustness and vulnerability in real SME cooperation networks.

This paper aims to discuss the adequacy of restrictive measures. Providing a synopsis of a global movement toward the imposition of target restrictive measures. Questioning the success of targeted restrictive measures in obtaining behavioural change. Identifying a reversion to the implementation of wide ranging sectoral restrictive measures in an attempt to encourage immediate behavioural change. Accessing the success of using restrictive measures to encourage democratic regimes in Africa.

This study is a desktop research that examines European Parliament and Council issued Regulations for the jurisdictions of Iran, Russia and Belarus. Academic research is also used in identifying a pendulum swing by global legislatures with respect to the imposition of targeted measures to requiring the imposition of additional wide ranging sectoral measures.

Targeted measures can be circumvented using non-hostile third countries. Academic research identifies that wide reaching sectoral sanctions encourage regime change. Therefore, where targeted measures fail to give rise to their desired persuasive objectives. The legislator moves to introduce additional measures, also comprising of sectoral sanctions. Sectoral sanctions have been applied by the European Union in Iran, Russia and Belarus. The USA has taken measures to limit Russia ability to use Turkey as a transshipment hub. The African continent case study identifies the importance of creating an architecture founded on upholding positive governance and human rights standards. Failure to do so leads to a revolving system of authoritarian regimes, sanctioned by restrictive measures.

This paper is a desktop review composed by the author.

This study aims to explore the evolutionary trajectory of American corporations and their governance over the past few centuries, using a multidisciplinary investigative approach. The research focuses on the American business landscape because it has played a pivotal role in shaping the field of corporate governance theory and practice.

The author thoroughly investigates archival records, legal documents, academic publications, reputable databases and pertinent literature to unearth valuable insights into the key events that have influenced the evolutionary path of American corporations and their governance throughout history.

Delving into the evolutionary journey of American corporations and their governance reveals a multifaceted narrative, enhancing our comprehension of the impact of the external socio-economic environment, and the effectiveness and limitations of established corporate governance paradigms in addressing such transformations. This introspection establishes the groundwork for ongoing discussions concerning how corporate governance should adapt to meet the evolving needs and expectations of stakeholders and society as a whole, with a specific focus on the pivotal role that boardrooms could play in this regard.

The insights gained from this analysis offer practitioners a foundational resource to understand corporate governance in a complex business landscape. Armed with this understanding, practitioners can better align governance strategies with both historical context and contemporary requirements.

The research has significant social implications in the sense that history highlights the importance of the society in influencing corporate governance practices. It specifically emphasizes the need for the board of directors to consider both shareholder value and social responsibility, while also fostering public trust and confidence.

Many corporate governance concepts are often used with limited understanding of their initial intent, resulting in their unquestioned adoption. In this paper, the author offers a contextual exploration of historical events that have contributed to the development of these diverse corporate perspectives. To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are exceedingly few, if any, papers that present comparably insightful and multidisciplinary insights into the evolutionary path of corporations and their governance, especially within a dynamic and influential market like that of the USA.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technological diversification (TD) on enterprise innovation performance, meanwhile focusing on the moderating effects of various organizational slack (i.e. absorbed and unabsorbed slack) and ownership types (i.e. state-owned or privately-owned) in the context of Chinese listed firms.

This study formulates five hypotheses based on organization and agency theories. Our empirical analysis employs a fixed-effect regression estimator with a unique panel dataset of Chinese-listed manufacturing firms and 13,566 firm-year observations over 9 years from 2012 to 2020.

Our findings show that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between TD and innovation performance, varying with different types of organizational slack and ownership. In state-owned enterprises (SOEs), unabsorbed slack negatively moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship; however, in privately-owned enterprises (POEs), this relationship is positively moderated. Although absorbed slack has negative moderating effects in both SOEs and POEs, its impact is only significant for POEs.

Our results imply that organizational slack has a contrasting impact on the relationship between TD and innovation performance when the type of ownership varies. Therefore, the managers that intend to achieve optimal innovation performance through TD should understand how organizational slack can be leveraged.

This study contributes to the existing literature by applying the relationship between TD and innovative performance to the transition economy, as well as examining the double-edged sword impact of state ownership on firm innovation performance.

A positive outlook on the impact of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on sustainability prevails in the literature. However, some studies have highlighted potential areas of concern that have not yet been systematically addressed. The goal of this study is to challenge the assumption of a sustainable Fourth Industrial Revolution by (1) identifying the possible unintended negative impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability; (2) highlighting the underlying motivations and potential actions to mitigate such impacts; and (3) developing and evaluating alternative assumptions on the impacts of I4.0 technologies on sustainability.

Building on a problematization approach, a systematic literature review was conducted to develop potential alternative assumptions about the negative impacts of I4.0 on sustainability. Then, a Delphi study was carried out with 43 experts from academia and practice to evaluate the alternative assumptions. Two rounds of data collection were performed until reaching the convergence or stability of the responses.

The results highlight various unintended negative effects on environmental and social aspects that challenge the literature. The reasons behind the high/low probability of occurrence, the severity of each impact in the next five years and corrective actions are also identified. Unintended negative environmental effects are less controversial than social effects and are therefore more likely to generate widely accepted theoretical propositions. Finally, the alternative hypothesis ground is partially accepted by the panel, indicating that the problematization process has effectively opened up new perspectives for analysis.

This study is one of the few to systematically problematize the assumptions of the I4.0 and sustainability literature, generating research propositions that reveal several avenues for future research.

Practitioners and academics are starting to recognize the benefits of green IT/IS practices. Despite these benefits, this study aims to know more regarding the factors that would drive organizations to use green IT/IS practices within their IT function and across the enterprise. To further understanding in this area, this study applies a strategic cognition framework of firm responsiveness and institutional theory to determine the extent to which an organization uses green IT/IS practices in response to stakeholder concerns. This study investigates the extent to which two organizational logics – expressive and instrumental – and three institutional pressures – coercive, mimetic and normative – jointly affect an organization's use of both green IT practices and green IS practices.

This study tested the hypotheses with survey data collected from 306 organizations. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

Findings support four joint effects: (1) individualistic identity orientation and coercive pressure positively affect green IT practices; (2) collectivistic identity orientation and normative pressure positively influence green IS practices; (3) cost reduction orientation and mimetic pressure positively affect green IT practices; and (4) revenue expansion orientation and normative pressure positively influence green IS practices.

This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence for joint drivers of green IT and green IS practices. Green IT and IS practices represent organizations' different levels of commitment to environmental sustainability and responsiveness to stakeholders (i.e. green IT/IS practices). Organizations of different expressive and instrumental orientations are attuned to institutional pressures to various degrees, which leads to different green IT/IS practices.

This study has two major objectives. First, comprehensively review the literature on transparency in supply chain management. Second, based on a critical analysis of literature, identify the attributes and sub-attributes of supply chain transparency and develop a numerical measure to quantify transparency in supply chains.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using the PRISMA approach. Utilizing SCOPUS database past eighteen-year papers search resulted in 249 papers to understand major developments in the domain of supply chain transparency. Subsequently, graph theoretic approach is applied to quantify transparency in supply chain and the proposed index is evaluated for case supply chains from pharma and dairy sectors.

It can be concluded from SLR that supply chain transparency research has evolved from merely tracking and tracing of the product towards sustainable development of the whole value chain. The research identifies four major attributes and their sub-attributes that influence transparency in supply chains, which are used to develop transparency index. The proposed index for two sectors helps to understand areas that need immediate attention to improve transparency in the case supply chains.

This paper attempts to understand the development of transparency research in supply chain using the PRISMA approach for SLR. In addition, development of mathematical model to quantify supply chain transparency is a novel attempt that would help benchmark best practices in the industry. Further, transparency index would help to understand specific areas that need attention to improve transparency in supply chains.