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The purpose of this paper is to explore interactional and procedural practices in managing tensions of coopetition (simultaneous collaboration and competition between firms).

Through an in-depth literature review of prior research within coopetition and strategy-as-practice fields, and by using two illustrative empirical examples, the authors develop a framework for preventing and managing coopetitive tensions through combinations of procedural and interactional practices.

The authors identify tensions related to strategizing, task and resource allocation, as well as knowledge sharing. Furthermore, they demonstrate potential ways of how these tensions can be prevented, resolved and managed.

The findings show that the analysis of tensions in coopetition would benefit from a holistic, multilevel approach that recognizes practices that are interactional (i.e. face-to-face interactions) as well as procedural (i.e. organizational routines). Coopetitive tensions and their resolution are related to the use or neglect of both types of practices. Furthermore, interactional and procedural practices are mutually interdependent and can complement each other in tension management in various ways.

The findings of this study shed light on the roles and activities of actual practitioners involved in coopetition, and shows how their work and practices in-use contribute to coopetition, related tensions and their resolution.

By adopting the strategy-as-practice approach, this study generates valuable insights into the practices and tensions in coopetition, as well as illuminates the roles of the practitioners involved in managing coopetition relationships.

The paper explores processes associated with the adoption of corporate sustainability communication in a B2B context. It employs a combined action research and sensemaking approach to document moments that precede the initiation of external sustainability communication.

The paper is the outcome of an action research project, where we examine the case of one industrial company that was silent on its multiple sustainability-related practices, but recently decided to become more transparent to the outside world. A processual approach to sensemaking is adopted to show how organisational and non-organisational members actively participated in meaning co-construction.

Corporate silence can be disrupted by triggering events that cause moments of sudden realisation for organisational members, eventually leading to the initiation of sensemaking processes inside the organisation. Once this occurs, the possibility of externally communicating sustainability appears a feasible and strategic approach to pursue. We document how different actors are involved in meaning co-construction and how the entire process of sensemaking unfolds.

A sensemaking approach sheds light on the complexity of sustainability communication, where multiple actors are involved. This is a useful approach to consider in order to couple sustainability with other organisational practices. Moreover, sensemaking opens a window of opportunity for various societal actors' interventions to shape the role and content of sustainability communication.

The paper offers an original, theoretically informed methodological contribution to the literature on sustainability communication by coupling a sensemaking approach with action research. The approach is employed to examine the role of internal organisational actors in sustainability reporting processes, an area that has received scant attention.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new and more elaborate view of the relationship between information and knowledge in accountability settings.

The study investigates how knowledge is accomplished when accountability is demanded. The “knowing-in-practice” perspective (Lave, 1988; Orlikowski, 2002; Pentland, 1992) is introduced to theorise knowledge as the ability to purposefully go on with practice and information as a resource that may contribute to this knowledge. Empirically, the study investigates Nordic investors’ engagement with companies addressing environmental, social, and governance issues.

The findings illustrate how information may contribute to knowledge in an accountability setting. Whether or not the information contributes to knowledge in the accountability setting depends on the information’s origin, convergence with other accounts, and use in contradicting and disproving executives’ information. The analysis also shows how knowledge in accountability settings may be achieved without information – for example, by enacting theories.

The study suggests that research should more carefully distinguish between knowledge and information. According to the perspective used here, knowledge is the ability to purposefully go on with practice. Information is one of many resources that can contribute to knowledge.

This study provides insight into the relationship between accounting systems and the practice of demanding accountability. Such understanding is valuable when designing accounts-based governance and civil regulation, such as for addressing sustainability issues, as in this study.

The study challenges the view of knowledge as a representation or factual commodity, and provides a new and more elaborate view of the relationship between information and knowledge in accountability settings by introducing the knowing-in-practice perspective to the accounting literature.

Due to the different institutional pressure such as those from market, regulations and competitors, companies have implemented green supply chain management (GSCM). Unfortunately, tens of GSCM practices exist. Whether all companies should implement GSCM and how to achieve both environmental and economic performance are still not clear for many companies. The purpose of this paper is to develop models that can be helpful for companies to identify right GSCM practices and implement GSCM effectively and efficiently.

Based on about 18 years of study on GSCM with four surveys in China in 2001, 2005, 2012 and 2016, as well as numerous site visits and interviews mainly in China but also in Japan, Germany and Canada, this paper explores institutional drivers as well as opportunities and challenges using theoretical analysis and case studies. GSCM is defined considering a product life cycle. A key three-step GSCM approach is theoretically developed considering opportunities and challenges through life cycle analysis (LCA) of a product and position of a company.

All companies should implement GSCM practices to avoid risks. To effectively implement GSCM practices, a company should understand the life cycle of its product and its position in the supply chain. A key three-step LCA-based approach can help companies to identify the critical GSCM practices.

A key three-step LCA-based approach for GSCM implementation is originally developed based on theoretical analysis and eight years of study.

To develop a roadmap of sustainability practices and assessment mechanisms to advance in the sustainable supply chain (SSC) performance assessment in the food supply chain. The analysis is grounded on the contingency and stakeholder theories.

The study follows a multiple case study approach analyzing the sustainability practices implementation and assessment across different supply chain stages in the food industry in Italy. The set of cases comprises 12 companies in the fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV), and seven companies in the “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena” (BVM) supply chains.

The sustainability practices and assessment in each company in both supply chains according to their objectives are identified. Different stakeholder pressures for sustainability implementation and assessment are analyzed. The contingency factors that foster sustainability assessment are outlined as well. Finally, the study develops a roadmap with five levels of progress considering the groups of practices implemented and the type of assessment applied.

The roadmap is a decision-making tool for planning and monitoring progress on SSC performance along five possible levels of progress. While identifying the assessment mechanisms implemented for different kind of sustainability practices, companies can develop a strategy according to their aims and capabilities and stakeholder's expectations.

The novelties in this study are threefold. First, the roadmap with five levels of progress. Second, investigating two different food supply chains that allowed for a broader view regarding sustainability practices and assessment. Third, the adoption of stakeholder and contingency theories in SSC studies.

The circular economy (CE) approach has been acknowledged as key for manufacturing organizations wishing to overcome sustainability challenges. However, the transition has been slow. Stakeholder engagement is a driver of the transition, but there is limited knowledge on stakeholder engagement practices in a CE context. The purpose of this paper is thus to explore with whom, on what and how organizations engage with stakeholders to implement CE as part of sustainability efforts.

This study is situated at the intersection of CE, stakeholder theory and supply chain literature. A case study with three Swedish manufacturing organizations was conducted to explore stakeholder engagement practices that facilitate the implementation of CE in organizational practice and the supply chain, considering conceptual differences between stakeholder engagement for sustainability and CE.

This study provides empirical evidence on how manufacturing organizations engage stakeholders to implement CE as part of organizations' sustainability efforts. The study highlights that manufacturing organizations have to move not only from linear to circular resource flows, but also from linear to circular stakeholder engagement. Such engagement can be achieved by extending with whom, expanding on what and leveling up how stakeholders are engaged.

This study provides an enhanced conceptual understanding of stakeholder engagement in the CE context and discusses differences regarding stakeholder engagement based on linear thinking. The study emphasizes the role of circular stakeholder engagement practices for the transition toward CE in manufacturing organizations.

Total quality management is a valuable approach to continuously improve the quality of organizations; however, scholars debate its applicability to services, which require specific best practices that are different from those related to manufacturing. Moreover, digitization is pervading all kinds of services, but little has been written about total quality service practices in digital-based companies. For this purpose, the authors provide a holistic model of total quality service that reflects the peculiarities of such companies, guided by the question: how do total quality service practices change in digital-based service organizations?

The authors conduct an illustrative case study on Healthware Group, a global integrated digital health organization, to evaluate theoretical assumptions about total quality service practices in the digital environment.

The findings allow to validate the model provided. In addition, the study enables them to observe the changes the authors are witnessing in service provision in the digital era and the consequent transformation of best practices. To be accurate, the authors cannot refer to a full transformation in digital-based companies but rather to the enrichment and extension of TQS practices. The best illustration of these conclusions has been summarized in a set of propositions corresponding to seven of the key levers of a TQS model.

The paper represents the first attempt to discuss the relationship between total quality service and digitalization, offering a set of propositions for academics and insights for practitioners. The model can be used as a tool to visualize the different levers that successful implementation of TQS in digital-based services companies can rely on.

Innovation is a constant attribute in the management processes of technology-based companies (TBCs), mostly small and young, and plays a relevant role in their competitiveness and survival. However, the authors assumed that the characteristics of innovation practices differ between incubated and post-incubated companies, in such aspects as formality, type, posture and strategy. The purpose of this paper is to report the innovation practices identified in small TBCs in the incubation and post-incubation periods (graduate companies).

To achieve the purpose, the authors carried out a multiple case study with four TBCs, two incubated and two post-incubated (graduate); the study was qualitative and exploratory, and the authors collected data with their managers.

The results show that these companies have high levels of innovation, which is a determinant factor for their presence in the business market; they create technological innovations in products and services, mostly incremental, such as improvements in existing products or reduction of internal costs of manufacturing. In addition, the results also show important features of the innovations, such as the interaction with other incubated companies and with universities and research centers.

The authors conclude that there were changes in innovation practices, in the transition from incubated to graduate companies, such as the formalization of processes, a shift in focus toward the customer and an increase in resources and in projects’ relevance.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and financial performance in the case of publicly listed companies in Vietnam for the period from 2019 to 2021. The topic is crucial in understanding how effective governance practices can influence the financial outcomes of companies. The study sheds light on the link between CG practice and firm financial performance. It also provides insights for policymakers and practitioners to improve CG practices.

Due to the potential dynamic endogeneity in CG research, this study uses the generalized system methods of moments to effectively address the endogeneity problem. Financial performance is measured by Tobin’s Q, return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA). Based on organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) standards, these indices were calculated to assess the influence of CG practices on corporate financial performance, namely, for accounting information (ROA and ROE) and market performance (Tobin’s Q and service à resglement différé (SRD) – stock price volatility) for the period 2019–2021. In addition, the study examines the relationship between changes in the CG index and changes in financial performance.

The study’s main objective is to determine the relationship between CG performance scores and financial performance. The study found a positive relationship between transparency disclosure and financial performance and a positive correlation between CG and company size. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in transparency and information index scores in 2021 compared to 2019 and 2020 due to delayed General Meetings of Shareholders. The study failed to find a relationship between shareholder rights index (“cg_rosh”) and board responsibility (“cg_reob”) and financial performance, concerning which the findings of this study differ from those of previous studies. Reasons are put forward for these anomalies.

Policymakers need to develop a set of criteria for assessing CG practices. They also need to promulgate specific regulations for mandatory and voluntary information disclosure and designate a competent authority to certify the transparency of company information. The study also suggests that companies should develop CG regulations and focus on regulations relating to the business culture or ethics, as well as implementing a system to ensure equal treatment among shareholders. The study found that good CG practices can positively contribute to a company’s financial performance, which is crucial for investors to evaluate the quality of CG practices for each listed company so that investment risks can be limited.

This paper aims to categorise the approaches to knowledge management (KM) by companies. In the literature, there is no consensus on a universal or “best” approach to KM. Especially, this paper singles out and discusses the variegated features that characterise the implementation of KM by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) having different characteristics.

A cluster analysis was used to detect the possible distinct traits of companies that have different approaches to KM. The unit of analysis is represented by small- and medium-sized knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) firms. Data were collected by means of an extensive survey of 223 companies in different European countries and sectors.

Three clusters were identified: Companies showing a relative “unconscious” attention to KM and implementing KM practices without particular awareness; Companies adopting a more conscious approach and using a significant number of KM practices; and companies with a marginal propensity towards KM.

This study considers only KIBS, and future research should include other economic sectors. In addition, a convenience sample was used.

This paper improves awareness of managers of small companies concerning different KM approaches that can be adopted. It highlights that a conscious adoption of a KM strategy involves the introduction of a set of consistent practices.

The topic of KM approaches by small companies is still underdeveloped in the literature. Also, the paper proposes a multi-contextual investigation that makes it possible to highlight the transversality of KM approaches across different countries or sectors.