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This paper aims to capture the complex interdependences between supply chain disruptions (SCDs), SC risk mitigation strategies and firm performance in the context of disruptive events to enhance resilience for medium-sized and large firms coping with complex supply chain networks. The roles of digitalization, insurance and government support have also been addressed as potential strategies to counteract the impacts of disruptions on supply chains.

This study is based on an empirical investigation in an FMCG company – using a hybrid causal mapping technique based on the frameworks of interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Bayesian networks (BN) – of 11 levels of relationships between SCDs (in supply, production, logistics, demand and finance), SC risk mitigation strategies (flexibility, efficiency, agility and responsiveness), insurance, government support, information and knowledge sharing, digitalization and finally the key firm performance measures (continuity, quality and financial performance).

The results of the empirical investigation reveal and describe: (1) the nature and probabilistic quantification of the lower-level relationships among the four SCDs, among the mitigation strategies and the three firm performance measures; (2) the nature and probabilistic quantification of the higher-level relationships among the impacts of SCDs, SC risk mitigation strategies and firm performance and (3) how to model and quantify the complex interdependences in single firms and their supply chains.

Our results can support managers in developing more effective decision-making models to assess and manage unfavorable events and cascade effects among different functions and processes in the context of risks and disruptions.

Intellectual capital (IC) plays a pivotal role in determining corporate risk profiles in the contemporary knowledge era. Consequently, this study aims to analyze the impact of IC on firm risk (FR) among the manufacturing companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

The authors have adopted the modified value-added intellectual model which combines human capital efficiency, structural capital efficiency, efficiency of capital employed and relational capital efficiency. FR has been used as the dependent variable, measured as the standard deviation of the daily stock prices. The study has used panel data from a sample of 40 manufacturing companies listed in the KSE-100 Index from 2015 to 2021.

The results suggest that IC has a significant impact on the FR of manufacturing companies listed on the benchmark index of PSX. Moreover, this relationship is direct; thus, an increase in IC would also increase FR measured by the change in stock prices.

The current study has only used linear techniques. Future researchers may consider investigating the impact of IC at varying levels of FR using nonlinear techniques.

This study provides corporate managers and policymakers valuable insight into the need to strike a balance between investment in IC and their FR, particularly in an emerging market context.

IC is frequently associated with firm performance. However, the relationship between IC and FR has generally been underexplored. This study adds to the strand of limited IC literature by investigating the impact of a modified IC model on FR in an emerging economy.

This article aims to evaluate published food cold chain (FCC) literature against risk management and supply chain sustainability concepts.

The article uses the theory refinement logic proposed by Seuring et al. (2021) to analyze the contents of FCC management-related literature published over the past 20 years. A sample of 116 articles was gathered using Web of Science and subsequently analyzed. The respective articles were then systematically coded against the frameworks of Beske and Seuring (2014) and Vlajic et al. (2012), which focused on building sustainable and robust supply chains, respectively.

The literature review revealed that debates around managing contemporary sources of disruptions/vulnerability and making FCCs more sustainable and resilient are gradually developing. However, an overarching risk management perspective along with incorporating social and environmental dimensions in managing FCCs still needs the adequate attention of the respective research community.

The deductive internal logic of theory refinement approach used in this paper could have been further strengthened by using additional frameworks. This limitation, however, opens avenues for further research. The findings of the paper will stimulate the interest of future researchers to work on expanding our understanding related to sustainability and risk management in FCCs.

The paper is the first attempt to organize published FCC literature along dimensions of supply chain sustainability and risk management. The paper thus provides the respective researchers with a foundation that will help them adopt a focused approach to addressing the research gaps.

Operational risks can cause considerable, atypical disturbances and impact food supply chain (SC) resilience. Indicatively, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions in the UK food services as nationwide stockouts led to unprecedented discrepancies between retail and home-delivery supply capacity and demand. To this effect, this study aims to examine the emergence of digital platforms as an innovative instrument for food SC resilience in severe market disruptions.

An interpretive multiple case-study approach was used to unravel how different generations of e-commerce food service providers, i.e. established and emergent, responded to the need for more resilient operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SC disruption management for high-impact low-frequency events requires analysing four research elements: platformisation, structural variety, process flexibility and system resource efficiency. Established e-commerce food operators use partner onboarding and local waste valorisation to enhance resilience. Instead, emergent e-commerce food providers leverage localised rapid upscaling and product personalisation.

Digital food platforms offer a highly customisable, multisided digital marketplace wherein platform members may aggregate product offerings and customers, thus sharing value throughout the network. Platform-induced disintermediation allows bidirectional flows of data and information among SC partners, ensuring compliance and safety in the food retail sector.

The study contributes to the SC configuration and resilience literature by investigating the interrelationship among platformisation, structural variety, process flexibility and system resource efficiency for safe and resilient food provision within exogenously disrupted environments.

Addressing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues has become a critical aspect of business strategy. Since ESG has primarily focused on ratings and measures for reporting, there is a scarcity of methods to assist stakeholders in better comprehending corporate risk and addressing ESG-related issues and problems. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new model to narrow the critical gap.

This study is based on several well-known structural frameworks for managing risks and projects in various industries. Two case studies on topics related to environment (E) and social (S) responsibility are used to demonstrate the practical implementation of the CEPAR® model.

The CEPAR® model, a trademarked five-step methodology (the Challenge-Evaluation-Planning-Action-Review model) was developed by the International Chamber of Sustainable Development (ICSD). The method and guidelines are outlined for easier appreciation by stakeholders of corporations to analyze ESG-related challenges and dilemmas, then able to make principled decisions, take actions, and review the outcomes. Each phase of the new model adheres to the theoretical and practical frameworks for problem-solving and decision-making, emphasizing the iterate process of addressing challenges, evaluating materiality, planning actions, taking actions, and reviewing the outcomes.

The new model is applicable for business corporations and organizations seeking to gain insight and tackle crucial ESG issues, ultimately improving their short- and long-term decision-making and business opportunities.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful and promising technology that can foster the performance, and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, the adoption of AI among MSMEs is still low and slow, especially in developing countries like Jordan. This study aims to explore the elements that influence the intention to adopt AI among MSMEs in Jordan and examines the roles of firm innovativeness and government support within the context.

The study develops a conceptual framework based on the integration of the technology acceptance model, the resource-based view, the uncertainty reduction theory and the communication privacy management. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling – through AMOS and R studio – and the importance–performance map analysis techniques, the responses of 471 MSME founders were analyzed.

The findings reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and facilitating conditions are significant drivers of AI adoption, while perceived risks act as a barrier. AI autonomy positively influences both firm innovativeness and AI adoption intention. Firm innovativeness mediates the relationship between AI autonomy and AI adoption intention, and government support moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and AI adoption intention.

The findings provide valuable insights for policy formulation and strategy development aimed at promoting AI adoption among MSMEs. They highlight the need to address perceived risks and enhance facilitating conditions and underscore the potential of AI autonomy and firm innovativeness as drivers of AI adoption. The study also emphasizes the role of government support in fostering a conducive environment for AI adoption.

As in many emerging nations, the AI adoption research for MSMEs in Jordan (which constitute 99.5% of businesses), is under-researched. In addition, the study adds value to the entrepreneurship literature and integrates four theories to explore other significant factors such as firm innovativeness and AI autonomy.

This paper aims to investigate the direct and combined impacts of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and conservative orientation (CO) on perceived business performance (PBP) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under strategic-hybrid orientation (SHO) theory.

The data collected from the SABI NEO international database has 90 companies in 13 medium-to-high and high-tech activity sectors. The authors used partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the research model.

Business strategies match a SHO that includes both orientations, i.e. EO and CO. Moreover, as expected, the authors found evidence that each orientation produces performance-related sign-opposite significant impacts. Finally, the hypothesis regarding the positive synergistic effect of both orientations (EO and CO) on PBP was also supported.

One stems from the study’s cross-sectional nature, requiring a longitudinal approach. Another one resides in the absence of further examinations concerning multigroup analysis. Another restraint is the limitedness of data, focused on firms with med/high-tech intensity. For last, while the use of results in the initial stages of theory development can be beneficial, it is important to note that such results cannot be simply extrapolated or generalized to other industrial sectors without careful consideration of the contextual factors at play.

This study humbly endeavours to contribute to the finality of SMEs’ more steady and prosperous existence concerning the consciousness of the need to improve labour stability and wage fairness, conditions such as requiring a continuous commitment.

In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the impact of SHO on SMEs’ PBP. To this end, the authors simultaneously used two different strategic orientations (SOs): EO, which is widely studied in the literature, and CO, which has been less researched. The authors also examined their synergistic effects on PBP. The authors’ approach is based on Venkatraman’s strategic orientation of business enterprises model and the comparative paradigm of SOs.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the adoption of big data analytics (BDA) in the Tanzania banking industry by investigating the influence of technological, environmental and organizational (TOE) factors while exploring the moderating role of perceived risk (PR).

The study employed a qualitative research design, and the research instrument was developed using per-defined measurement items adopted from prior studies; the items were slightly adjusted to fit the current context. The questionnaires were distributed to top and middle managers in selected banks in Tanzania using the snowball sampling technique. Out of 360 received responses, 302 were considered complete and valid for data analysis. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the developed conceptual framework.

Top management support and financial resources emerged as influential organizational factors, as did competition intensity for the environmental factors. Notably, bank size and perceived trends showed no significant impacts on BDA adoption. The study's novelty lies in revealing PR as a moderating factor, weakening the link between technological readiness, perceived usefulness and the intent to adopt BDA.

This study extends literature by extending the TOE model, through examining the moderating roles of PR on technological factors. Furthermore, the study provides useful managerial support for the adoption of BDA in banking in emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review on what is known about unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse from the people they provide care for and relevant policy/legal and practice responses for affected family carers.

A literature search was carried out to locate literature relating to unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse from the people they provide care for. This also incorporated grey literature, including policy guidance and law, to determine the existing knowledge base, gaps in practice and areas that might require further research.

The findings suggest that although carer harm is serious, it is under-researched. In addition, the unique needs of unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse, violence and harm from the people they provide care for are subsumed in safeguarding policy/law processes and practice under the auspices of the protection of “adults at risk” rather than the protection of “carers at risk”.

It is important that those who support unpaid family carers who are at risk of abuse and harm know about their unique safeguarding needs and concerns to offer appropriate support. It is also apparent that policy and law need to address the gap in provision relating to the unique safeguarding concerns involving the abuse of unpaid family carers by the people they provide care for. This paper is based on this literature review and not on other types of research.

The paper provides insights into what is known about the abuse of unpaid family carers by the people they provide care for, and the policy/legal and practice responses to affected unpaid family carers. It contributes to the body of knowledge on carer abuse and safeguarding carers from abuse and harm.

Today’s world is struggling with the hardship of climate change that has drastically disturbed human life, wildlife and the earth’s biological system. This study aims to show how implementing climate change mitigation strategies and environmental protection measures can ensure sustainable development through collaborative efforts between governmental authorities and the nation’s populace.

An extensive literature review of studies is conducted from across the world concentrating on holistic, sustainable development, enabling a showcase of various conferences, action plans initiated and resolutions passed. VOSviewer software is used to quantify the results of bibliometric analysis and cluster analysis. A total of 260 research studies released between 1993 and 2022 on the Scopus platform are quantified in terms of topmost publications, collaborations among authors, citations index and year-wise publication. The search string has keywords including “climate change,” “sustainable development” and “environment protection.”

The study results revealed a steep increase in research publications in the last three years, from 2017 to 2021, which serves as the basis of the emergence of high-impact articles. The most cited document in this context throws light on assessing vulnerability to climatic risk and building adaptive capacity. It also draws attention to voluntary carbon markets’ rationale while condemning emission trading systems for climate change due to structural flaws, negative consequences and questionable emission-cutting effectiveness. Low energy demand, zero energy buildings and shared socioeconomic pathways should be implemented as strategies for sustainable development.

This study provides a significant opportunity to construct a valuable addition to mitigate climate change. Also, it shows a positive and significant correlation between mitigation and adaptation policies by analyzing publication efforts worldwide considering local climate risks and national adaptation mandates.

The originality of this study lies in its comprehensive approach, combining literature review, bibliometric analysis and cluster analysis to provide insights into current research trends, challenges and potential strategies for addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development. The study’s emphasis on the correlation between mitigation and adaptation policies adds practical significance to its findings.