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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.

Although green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) has received much attention, it is unclear whether it affects technological green innovation (GI). Therefore, this study aims to understand how GEO affects technological GI, with its dimensions green product innovation (GPRODI) and green process innovation (GPROCI), as well as to explore whether resource orchestration capability (ROC) moderates the relationships between them.

Based on a cross-sectional survey design, data were gathered from 177 managers of large manufacturing firms in Yemen and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling via SmartPLS software.

The results revealed that GEO positively affects both GPRODI and GPROCI, with a higher effect on GPROCI. Importantly, ROC does, in fact, positively moderate the link between GEO and GPRODI.

This research adds to knowledge by combining GEO, ROC and technological GI into a unified framework, considering the perspectives of the resource-based view and the resource orchestration theory. However, the study’s use of cross-sectional survey data makes it impossible to infer causes. This is because GEO, ROC and technological GI all have effects on time that this empirical framework cannot account for.

The findings from this research provide valuable insights for executives and decision makers of large manufacturing companies, who are expected to show increasing interest in adopting ROC into their organisations. This suggests that environmentally-conscious entrepreneurial firms can enhance their GI efforts by embracing ROC.

By adopting the proposed framework, firms can carry out their activities in ways that do not harm environmental and societal well-being, as simply achieving high economic performance is no longer sufficient.

Theoretically, the results offer an in-depth understanding of the role of GEO in the technological GI domain by indicating that GEO can promote GPRODI and GPROCI. In addition, the results shed new light on the boundaries of GEO from the perspective of resource orchestration theory. Furthermore, the findings present important insights for managers aiming to enhance their comprehension of leveraging GEO and ROC to foster technological GI.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and leverage manipulation and the moderating effects of internal and external supervision.

The authors draw on a sample of Chinese non-financial A-share-listed firms from 2013 to 2020 to explore the effect of ESG ratings on leverage manipulation. Robustness and endogeneity tests confirm the validity of the regression results.

ESG ratings inhibit leverage manipulation by improving social reputation, information transparency and financing constraints. This effect is weakened by internal supervision, captured by the ratio of institutional investor ownership, and strengthened by external supervision, captured by the level of marketization. The effect is stronger in non-state-owned firms and firms in non-polluting industries. The governance dimension of ESG exhibits the strongest effect, with comprehensive environmental governance ratings and social governance ratings also suppressing leverage manipulation.

Firms should strive to cultivate environmental awareness, fulfil their social responsibilities and enhance internal governance, which may help to strengthen the firm’s sustainability orientation, mitigate opportunistic behaviours and ultimately contribute to high-quality firm development. The top managers of firms should exercise self-restraint and take the initiative to reduce leverage manipulation by establishing an appropriate governance structure and sustainable business operation system that incorporate environmental and social governance in addition to general governance.

Policymakers and regulators should formulate unified guidelines with comprehensive criteria to improve the scope and quality of ESG information disclosure and provide specific guidance on ESG practice for firms. Investors should incorporate ESG ratings into their investment decision framework to lower their portfolio risk.

This study contributes to the literature in four ways. Firstly, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is among the first to show that high ESG ratings may mitigate firms’ opportunistic behaviours. Secondly, it identifies the governance factor of leverage manipulation from the perspective of firms’ subjective sustainability orientation. Thirdly, it demonstrates that the relationship between ESG ratings and leverage manipulation varies with the level of internal and external supervision. Finally, it highlights the importance of governance in guaranteeing the other two dimensions’ roles by decomposing overall ESG.

This study is centered on the identification of the most appropriate Technology Adoption (TA) model for investigating the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies within pharmaceutical and related enterprises. The aim is to facilitate a smooth transition to advanced technologies while concurrently achieving environmental sustainability.

Selection of a suitable TA theory is carried out using a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach incorporating PIvot Pairwise RElative Criteria Importance Assessment (PIPRECIA) and Fuzzy Measurement of alternatives and ranking according to Compromise solution (F-MARCOS) methods. A group of three experts is formulated for the ranking of criteria and alternatives based on those criteria.

The results indicate that out of all six TA models considered unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model gets the highest utility function value, followed by the technical adoption model (TAM). Further, sensitivity analysis is conducted to confirm the validity of the MCDM model employed.

Challenging times like COVID-19 pointed out the importance of technology in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. TA studies in this area can help in the identification of critical factors that can assist pharmaceutical firms in their efforts to embrace emerging technologies, enhance their outputs and increase their efficiency.

The novelty of this research lies in the fact that the utilization of a TA theory prior to its implementation has not been witnessed in existing scholarly literature. The utilization of a TA theory, specifically within the pharmaceutical industry, can assist enterprises in directing their attention toward pertinent factors when contemplating the implementation of emerging technologies and achieving sustainable development.

This paper aims to examine the effects of managerial ability (MA) on the likelihood and the timeliness of goodwill impairment and explore whether the desirable effect of MA vary with the degree of agency problems.

The authors propose a unified framework to simultaneously examine the effects of MA on the likelihood and the timeliness of goodwill impairment by incorporating a market-based impairment indicator (denoted as BTM), MA and the interaction of BTM with MA to this study’s regression model to account for the likelihood of goodwill impairment. BTM addresses the timeliness of goodwill impairment.

This study finds that firms with higher MA have lower likelihood of goodwill impairment, and such firms are more likely to recognize goodwill impairment in a timely manner when the underlying value of goodwill is economically impaired. This desirable effect of MA is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprise (SOEs) and firms without chief executive officer (CEO) duality.

Firms can reduce the losses arising from goodwill impairment by enhancing the ability of their management teams combined with improved corporate governance structure.

This paper provides novel insights on understanding the role of MA in not only reducing the likelihood but also enhancing the timeliness of goodwill impairment. The findings help advance the upper echelons theory by uncovering the heterogenous effects of executives with different levels of ability.

By combining relevant literature and using quantitative methodology, this study aims to look into the role of knowledge management (KM) as a mediator between entrepreneurial competencies (ECs) and the sustainable performance (SP) of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The relationships in the proposed model were examined with data collected from 122 Malaysian SMEs using a cross-sectional technique and a standardized questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling path analysis.

According to the findings, ECs have a positive and considerable impact on KM as well as the SP of manufacturing SMEs. Importantly, KM partially mediates between ECs and the SP of manufacturing SMEs.

This research provides a theoretical contribution through the integration of ECs, KM and SP within a unified framework that takes into account the viewpoints of the resource-based view, the knowledge-based view and the triple bottom line. The results corroborate that ECs directly affect SP and indirectly through KM. Nevertheless, the study’s use of cross-sectional survey data makes it impossible to draw conclusions about causes. This is because ECs, KM and SP all have effects on time that this empirical framework cannot account for.

The findings of this research provide valuable insights for managers and decision-makers in SMEs, who are expected to show an increasing interest in adopting KM processes into their companies through which ECs can be translated into SP.

By applying the proposed framework, SMEs can conduct their activities in ways that do not harm environmental and societal well-being while achieving appropriate economic performance at the same time.

As a result, the findings of this study can add to the literature on ECs and KM, as well as boost the chances of SME sustainability. Directions for future research are also provided in relation to a better understanding of the factors affecting the SP of SMEs.

This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review on consumer behavior (CB) in Islamic banking (IB), encompassing an overview of researched contexts and topics, identifying literature gaps and proposing a comprehensive future research agenda.

By using bibliometric citation and content analysis, this study investigates 135 documents sourced from Scopus indexed publications.

This study delves into the growing field of CB in IB, offering a comprehensive understanding that encompasses influential journals, theories, research context, characteristics and methods used in IB research.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide a comprehensive review of CB studies in the IB domain detailing research topics, prevailing theories, research settings, important variables and research methods.

This article explains the causal mechanism supporting sustainable longevity by analysing the last three generations of one of the oldest family firms in Latin America.

An explanatory single-case qualitative research based on critical realism explores why and how this family firm has been able to maintain its multigenerational longevity.

Los Lingues's evolutionary strategy, driven by transgenerational entrepreneurship under effectuation, has supported this family firm's sustainable longevity. Its effectual logic emerged mainly from the richness of the firm's historical resources embedded in its identity, knowledge and social capital and priority to preserve socioemotional wealth.

This study integrates socioemotional wealth and effectuation theory to explain a family firm's ability to survive through generations and sustain longevity. The study demonstrates the relevance of effectual logic in the entrepreneurial dynamics of a multigenerational family firm. Effectual logic drives the firm evolution and adaptation for sustainable longevity.

Corporate governance research suggests that board structure can impact organizational outcomes such as financial performance and executive remuneration. Agency theory posits that a board composed of independent directors and chaired by an independent chairperson can provide effective control over agency costs, while stewardship theory suggests that effective decision-making is facilitated when the board is chaired by the CEO and majority of directors are from the executive team. Empirical research into the association between board structure and performance in Jordan has provided mixed results, with no consensus supporting either theory. This study takes a different approach to researching the assumed association between board structure and performance by surveying directors’ perspectives on such assumed relationship between financial performance and four of boards’ characteristics (i.e., board independence, CEO duality, board size, and female ratio on board). Findings of this research indicate that Jordanian directors perceive a medium to strong association between financial performance and each of board independence, independent chair of board, and female ratio on board. However, directors of Jordanian boards perceive no association between financial performance and board size.

In recent times, stakeholders have called on corporate organizations especially those charged with governance to embrace full disclosure on non-financial issues, especially sustainability reporting. Based on this premise, this study aims to examine the influence of corporate board and assurance on sustainability reporting practices (SRP) of selected 80 firms from 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

To measure the corporate board, the authors use both board variables and audit committee variables. Also, the authors adapted the sustainability score model as used by previous authors in the field of sustainability disclosure to measure SRPs. The analysis was done using both ordered logistic regression and probit regression models.

The results show that the combination of board corporate and assurance has a positive and significant impact on the sustainability reporting practice of selected firms in sub-Saharan Africa.

The study places emphasis on the need for strong collaboration between the corporate board and external assurance in evaluating and enhancing the quality of sustainability disclosure.

The study bridged the gap in the literature in the area of corporate board, assurance and SRP of corporate firms which has received little attention within sub-Saharan Africa.