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The current research investigates the pros and cons of the nonmetallic extractive mineral industry on the number of workers premised on theoretical propositions of the resource blessing resource curse. As it is a time-series study based on data from 1981 to 2019, we have used both ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) and NARDL (Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag) methods of cointegration to extract linear and nonlinear long-run ties among the variables. The cases of gross capital formation and technology spillover (proxied by oil consumption) positively impacted the number of workers. It implies that investments in the extractive resource industry proved formidable in employment generation while foreign technology penetration also proved favourable. It suggests either neutral technical progress or labour-saving technological progress in vogue. In addition, it implies that resource-based industries are a boon to the nation, as exemplified by the positive impact on workers, and hence, it outweighs resource curse theories. Even though the production technique is labour-augmenting, it doesn't mean it would reduce absolute labour intake. It would help to increment labour intake by expanding production and the range of products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate information asymmetry in e-commerce supply chain channels and the impact of the fair preference model on the behavior and returns of channel members. Therefore, by contrasting it with the model in the completely rational case, this research establishes a more realistic principal-agent model and incorporates the fair preference model into the e-commerce supply chain channel. According to the model's analysis, the effort level of the retailer at each stage is positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient, and the incentive coefficient of manufacturers is positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient in the case where all rationality is assumed. Manufacturing companies' anticipated profits are positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient. According to the fair preference model, retailers will put forth more effort to sell products when their fixed income from manufacturers is higher and their optimal effort level is positively correlated with that income. When e-commerce's efficiency coefficient is higher than 1, the retailer's revenue and effort exceeded those of traditional channels. Manufacturers and retailers both experience Pareto improvements in their earnings after the fair preference model is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehending interest group politics is central to studying the European Union's (EU) policy shaping and decision-making, in education as in other policy areas. Yet the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to EU policy shaping and decision-making in European education has been overlooked. Drawing on organisational studies, this article presents the results of an embedded case study of two Brussels-based NGOs, one representing a sectorial interest and the other a broader interest in education. The author examines their organisational features, funding sources, relations to EU institutions and the advocacy tools they use to strengthen civil society's voice at the European level. She argues that these NGOs act as agents in a double-loop transmission rather than simple transmission belts as depicted in the literature. She draws attention to their increased dependency on EU funds and constant need for alliances and coalition building as two aspects which may limit their freedom or increase internal competition in the future. Determining whether this reflects a more general trend in the advocacy work of Brussels-based NGOs will require expanding attention to other NGOs active in education and across sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, universities stand for independent, high-quality, and curiosity-driven research and education. Yet, since neoliberal reforms in the 1980s, they have been increasingly exposed to external pressures towards more efficiency and economic value orientation. To manage the tasks corresponding to these market-based values, a new and fast-growing group of professional staff has emerged. Some authors argue that they challenge academic norms, or academic professional logics, while importing market norms, or market logics, through previous employment in and current relationships with the private sector. We empirically test this assumption based on original survey data of three groups of professional staff of universities and associated medical centers in the Netherlands: business developers, grant advisers, and research policy officers. We asked them about their ideas about universities to capture their institutional logics. Respondents also indicated previous employment and the strength of their professional relationships. Using multiple linear regression models, we find that professional staff with private sector experience indeed have stronger market logics. We find the same for those with stronger relationships with private sector companies. Yet, on average, the academic professional logic of professional staff is considerably higher than their market logic. Additionally, the effect of private sector experience and stronger relationships with private sector companies on the market logic is moderate. Thus, our data suggests that professional staff do not challenge academic norms. Therefore, there seems to be little need for meeting them with skepticism regarding their role in unwanted organizational change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we explore if leadership development programs can be applied to bridge the gap between labour unions and the management. By describing and discussing three different programs we can see that joint leadership development programs can promote collaboration between labour unions and the management. The paper argues that such programs need to be built on a premise that more actors than just formal managers can exercise leadership and contribute to organizational development. The paper also discusses why such programs are more easily achievable in a Norwegian setting. However, to make lasting improvements leadership development programs also need to include large organizational development elements, like the co-generative learning model (Elden and Levin (1991) Participatory Action Research. Sage, Newbury Park, pp 127–142). Sufficient time, resources and focus, including assessments of employees' needs and internal politics, is needed to not only bridging the gap between labour unions and the management, but also to bring in "ordinary" employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay honors the accomplishments of Morten Levin both by analyzing some of the key innovative educational programs he created and by extending the elements of that analysis to two other cases, that of Aker Solutions and the Mondragon Cooperatives. We acknowledge that the relationship between higher education institutions and manufacturing-service-public sector organizations is multiplex and has undergone multiple transformations over the decades. It is also affected by the national political economy and the scope and diversity of the higher education sector itself. Creating sustained and yet dynamic relations among these actors in service of both higher education and the efficacy and innovativeness of worklife organizations is a significant challenge which all the cases we present have addressed with some success. What the efforts have in common is a democratizing action research built on an ethos and worldview of the benefits of collaboration and co-creation, and organizational capabilities built on Actor Network strategies to promote collaboration and innovation as a way of adapting to the rapidly changing world conditions effectively. We argue that there are many more such examples in existence and that a key role for action research is to document them, show how more collaborative and adaptive organizational processes are possible and show how neoliberal New Public Management is an authoritarian "wrong turn" with dire consequences. Ultimately, this essay is an argument against the "iron cage" view of bureaucracy as always coercive and stultifying and show that it is not bureaucracy but the authoritarian approaches to creating coercive bureaucracies that destroy organizational collaborations and innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducts a long-term, multi-dimensional field case study on seven restaurant chain businesses in Taiwan from a systems thinking perspective. By employing a qualitative modeling research method, the study explores the business decision-making challenges that restaurant chain businesses encounter during various stages of their development. The constructed model addresses the academic research gap in understanding the growth dynamics process across different stages, from a single store to a chain of stores. Practically, this study offers a valuable structural system model to tackle the growth dynamics issues faced by different restaurant chain businesses. Additionally, it provides useful causal feedback loops and leverage points for practical application and strategic thinking. This research investigates the issues faced by restaurant chain operators at different stages, shifting the focus from observing and managing the detail complexity of static events to addressing the system complexity of dynamic loop transitions. It offers deeper insights into the changes in causal feedback loops within internal systemic structures during the growth process, thereby filling the academic research gap concerning the growth dynamics of restaurant chain businesses. The system dynamics methodology employed in this research offers a comprehensive and holistic explanation of the issues, closely corresponding to societal realities through a systems view research perspective. This approach comprehensively embodies systemic practice and action research, thereby enhancing both the practical relevance and theoretical contributions of the study. The findings provide insightful implications for restaurant chain operators, offering strategic guidance to balance resource allocation and usage dynamically across various growth stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective article highlights the significance of systems-theoretical approaches within family business research. Extant systems-theoretical literature in the field of family business research is reviewed to outline potential research gaps and avenues. The article highlights the fundamental differences between organisational decision communication and intimate family communication. At the same time, it shows that both organisations and families as addressable social systems that may be characterised by the specific ways in which these systems refer to and manage expectations represented by the function systems of society. The article demonstrates how the key family business research areas of boundary management, succession planning, and family-business paradoxes could benefit from leveraging systems theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper explores the persistent gap between research, practice, and theory in management, hindering the practical applicability and relevance of academic research. It investigates the Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) as a participatory and collaborative model aimed at effectively bridging this gap. The paper examines the evolution of management theories and the emergence of SEAM as an innovative solution to align theory and practice, highlighting its potential to integrate theory, research, and practice in organizational management. The paper conducts a comprehensive literature review to demonstrate how action research, as incorporated in SEAM, facilitates transformative organizational development and fosters collaborative problem-solving. SEAM's methodology offers a win-win collaboration for both managers and scholars, resulting in actionable knowledge with practical applications. Additionally, it includes a case study involving DBA executive education to illustrate SEAM's practical application. Despite its strengths, SEAM faces criticisms and challenges, including concerns about subjectivity, rigor, contrasting approaches, validity, and generalizability. However, the paper emphasizes SEAM's contributions to action research, offering a fresh perspective that transcends context-specificity and provides multidimensional modeling of outcomes. It emphasizes measurement and quantitative assessment of qualitative impacts, integrating qualitative, quantitative, and financial data to better understand organizational complexity. In conclusion, the paper underscores SEAM's significance in promoting research relevance, enhancing management practices, and fostering better understanding between researchers and practitioners, particularly within the realm of DBA executive education. By advocating for SEAM as a bridge between theory and practice, the paper encourages a more collaborative and effective approach to meet the demands of a dynamic management landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following 2019 immigration raids at seven Mississippi poultry plants and the beginning of mass infection in meatpacking plants early in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi meatpackers announced a "labor shortage" and lobbied for government intervention to force workers back into the plants. Like many newly declared "essential" workers, some Mississippi poultry workers pressed their advantage, walking out for higher wages. But barriers to worker unity emerged, highlighting ways that Indigenous Guatemalan immigrant workers and US-born Black workers are differentially exploited by the industry, creating deeply felt differences along lines of race and citizenship. Comparing the events of 2019 and 2020 to earlier moments in which Mississippi's poultry capitalists periodically declared "labor shortages" to divide and reshuffle their workforce, this paper explores how poultry corporations use their influence within state institutions to leverage criminalization, debt, and the deprivation of basic subsistence to recapture workers. Finally, we explore how workers of divergent backgrounds struggle to "make" class relationships across difference and leverage collective power to challenge meatpacking corporations' exploitative practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of workplace incivility on volunteer outcomes, a critical but long-overlooked issue in the nonprofit sector. Utilizing three-wave dyadic data from 2,320 volunteers and their managers in China, we examine the mediating role of psychological contract violation and the moderating role of just-world beliefs in this relationship. Our findings reveal that psychological contract violations play a crucial mediating role, linking workplace incivility to decreased volunteer performance and increased turnover intentions. In addition, volunteers' just-world beliefs positively moderate this relationship, such that the positive association between workplace incivility and psychological contract violation is stronger when volunteers have higher levels of just-world beliefs. This research extends the application of psychological contract theory to the volunteer sector and offers insights for nonprofit organizations to enhance their management practices and better support volunteers facing incivility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empathy is a specific moral aspect of human behavior. The global workplace, and thereby a consideration of employee stakeholders, includes unique behavioral and ethical considerations, including a consideration of human empathy. Further, the human aspects of workplaces are within the domain of human resources and managerial oversight in business organizations. As such, human emotions and interactions are complicated by daily work related expectations, employee/employer interactions and work practices, and the outcomes of employees' work routines. Business ethics, human resources, and risk management practices are endemic aspects within workplaces. Increasingly, the understanding of models of AI-reliant business practices underscores the need for the consideration of the ethical aspects of AI impacts on employees in the workplace. This paper explores a systematic ethical lens of the opportunities and the risks of AI ideation, development, and deployment in business-employee relations practices beyond a compliance mindset, and that introduces a further set of workplace considerations. Empathy is concerned with human intentions. As such, attributive ethical indications of the role of AI in the workplace and its impacts on employees is necessary. Moreover, this paper uses a cognitive lens of empathy and focuses on artificial morality related to the ethical concerns, implications, and practices of AI development, deployment, and workplace practices that may impact employees in a variety of business aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge for integrating new transnational regulations into a semi-periphery country is creating institutional capacities for effective dissemination and monitoring of the standards and for upgrading a broad base of firms to implement and benefit from them. Instilled by NAFTA, Mexico embraced transnational food value chains, yet the results were rather mixed, as the vast majority of producers cannot implement new standards and participate. New rules and practices are not adopted on a tabula rasa but layered on prior socio-political institutions that are raw materials for new collaboration and blockage. We argue that improvements in both regulatory institutions and firm capabilities are driven by the creation of public–private learning communities, which in turn are shaped by prior institutional legacies at the public–private divide. The ability of producers to undertake organizational experiments with one another and key public actors is greatly constrained by the legacies of corporatism. Refashioned producer associations could initiate with certain local public institutions regulatory and technological upgrading for a limited number of firms, which became gatekeepers for certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technological changes have created new opportunities for small- and medium-sized firms in the semi-periphery to enter digital markets. At the same time, the need to connect startups with the diverse range of actors and resources which sustain an entrepreneurial ecosystem poses a formidable challenge to regions which have historically suffered from disarticulation. The literature suggests that regions aspiring to support technology startups could benefit from bridging organizations or "entrepreneurial ecosystem incubators" (EEIs) to build civic capital. Comparing two successful EEIs in Toronto and Waterloo, Canada, we find that their organizational structure, specifically the composition of their board, shaped connectivity in important ways. Whereas Communitech, an entrepreneur-led EEI in Waterloo, relied heavily on horizontal, peer-to-peer mentoring among entrepreneurs, MaRS, led by established firms and civic leaders, linked startups to external capital, customers, and other resources within a limited number of industry verticals. Both EEIs supported local startup activity, but they fostered different patterns of collaboration and high-technology competition. This analysis suggests that regional leaders in laggard regions may face a tradeoff in how they support technology startups and nurture entrepreneurial ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the process through which perceived organisational support (POS) affects volunteers' affective commitment (AC) by investigating the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) in the relationship between POS and AC of volunteers in five non-for-profit organisations in Queensland, Australia. Data collected from 213 participants with a cross-sectional survey questionnaire were analysed to validate the hypotheses. The result reveals that POS has a significant direct effect on volunteers' AC, as well as indirect significant effect through LMX. The results of the study provide new knowledge about the importance of a supportive workplace relationship between immediate supervisors and volunteers in enhancing volunteers' positive organisational experiences that would lead into higher loyalty and involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates factors driving occupational fraud in the Maldivian public sector, from the perspective of external auditors. Using survey data from 59 auditors associated with the Auditor General's Office, it employs quantitative analysis, including regression modeling. Results indicate work-related pressure and employee denial of responsibility significantly influence fraud, with internal control effectiveness inversely linked to fraud occurrence. Financial pressure emerges as the primary fraud driver, surpassing work-related pressure. These findings offer crucial insights for policymakers, organizational leaders, and auditors, informing targeted strategies to prevent and detect fraud effectively, thus enhancing organizational resilience against fraudulent activities in Maldivian governmental entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GARCH-EVT-Copula is proved to have some advantages in improving the accuracy of predicting returns. Investor sentiment described by four indicators (market-turnover ratio, advance-decline ratio, new-highs/lows ratio, and Arms index) attracts increasing attention from researchers. In view of these two factors, firstly, we construct the ARMA-GARCH-Sent (AGS) model with investor sentiment indicator by principal component analysis (PCA). Secondly, considering the advantages of extreme value theory (which can deal with extreme deviations in the value of the probability distribution), we present the ARMA-GARCH-Sent-EVT (AGSE) model to describe the daily logarithmic return series of stocks. In addition, the Copula model is used to construct the multivariate distribution of daily logarithmic stock return series to capture their asymmetric and nonlinear characteristics. Furthermore, we propose an ARMA-GARCH-Sent-EVT-Copula (AGSEC) portfolio model with Copula. In order to highlight the advantages of our model, we make a comparative analysis of three models: the original ARMA-GARCH-Copula (AGC) model, the ARMA-GARCH-Sent-Copula (AGSC) model and the AGSEC model. Finally, we use the data of SHSE (Shanghai Stock Exchange) and SZSE (Shenzhen Stock Exchange) for empirical analysis and compare the dynamic portfolio strategies of the three models. The results show that our model AGSEC with investor sentiment is superior to the other two models, namely, it has higher return rates under the same constraint conditions, which means investor sentiment can assist investors in better navigating market dynamics and plays an increasingly important role in shaping portfolio performance and risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a study of the contracting practices of lead firms, who are buyers of garments, in the global market. Based on a survey of garment manufacturers in three clusters in India it reveals the trend to falling margins, reduced lead times, etc. for these contracted suppliers. These contracting practices are shown to connect, often directly, with labour outcomes, such as low wages, high workloads and forced overtime, in supplier factories. Within a joint but differentiated responsibility between lead firms and garment manufacturers, it argues for the prime responsibility of lead firms to provide for adequate wages and reduce the pressure for forced overtime in supplier factories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates union wage effects before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The research focuses on the Accommodation sector of the hospitality industry in Las Vegas, Nevada, where there is a significant union presence, and in Phoenix, Arizona, where there is not. The study employs data from the Current Population Survey from the years 2011 to 2023. Findings suggest that union wage premiums were relatively low over the period between 2011 and 2019, when comparing unionized Las Vegas workers with non-union workers in Las Vegas. Upon introduction of workers from Phoenix into the sample to control for union threat effects, the estimated union wage premium increases significantly. Such results are consistent with a threat effect that raises wages for non-union workers in Las Vegas. The post COVID-19 period, characterized by a steep recession and rapid recovery, including a period of excess demand for labor and high inflation, appeared to be associated with a falling union wage premium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agency problems and informational asymmetries are widespread concerns in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. Do they affect capital structure decisions? Do they make capital structure adjustments more costly? Do they function as debt control mechanisms? We address these questions using a dynamic adjustment model of capital structure for a panel of 85 ICT firms over the years 1990 to 2013, augmented by measures of agency costs and informational asymmetries, and expand on this literature to include two additional determinants: R&D activity as a direct measure of asymmetric information and asset turnover as an inverse measure of firm agency costs. We find that both agency costs and informational asymmetries play a significant role in managerial capital structure decisions, causing ICT firms to maintain a low level of debt. We also find that ICT firms adjust their capital structure more slowly than the average firms, as reported in the extant literature, and the speed of adjustment increases with firm size, growth opportunities, and distance from the target capital structure and decreases with default risk and agency costs. We estimate the model using several newly developed econometric methods, but the findings do not show any significant difference, a strong indication of the model's reliability. We reinforce the validity of our results by conducting robustness checks by splitting the sample into three subsamples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how women on boards influence corporate governance of firms across 60 countries. Using instrumental variables that provide robust results, we find that the percentage of female directors on the board is positively associated with corporate governance mechanisms. In particular, a greater representation of women directors increases the governance and social disclosure in Japan, China, and the UK, and the social and environmental disclosure in 57 countries, the proportion of women employees, the total number of employees, the percentage of independent directors' board meeting attendance, and marginally increases the percentages of overall board and audit committee meeting attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a unique dataset that includes each merger's stated motivation, we explore the impact of credit union mergers of varying motivation and institutional size difference. We show that mergers motivated by financial distress lead to significantly more positive changes in earnings and capital ratios compared to mergers aimed at providing expanded services. We also document that target institution members reap most of the benefits in terms of abnormal savings and loan rate changes, although acquirers also benefit on average in distress driven mergers. Overall, our findings are consistent with the efficient management hypothesis and suggest acquirers subsequently utilize the assets of underperforming institutions more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital innovation in the stock trading portal system may cause variations in herding behavior between the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic crisis. Using the new digital technology has resulted in a rapid growth of turnover ratio and facilitated easy access to the internet trading portal systems, leading to a significant surge in trade volume. Focusing on the role of digital trading during the recent crisis, this paper proposes a new perspective on investigating herding behavior through the cross-sectional absolute deviation of returns (CSAD) model. Trade volume and its variance are crucially associated with herding behavior during a crisis. During this period, investors respond more promptly to exogenous shocks by rebalancing their portfolios due to digital innovations in the digital trading system compared to the past. This study utilizes panel fixed effects models and 2SLS models of daily panel data on Korean and China Shanghai A stock markets in Asia from January 2005 to 2021. The findings strongly support the new hypotheses, indicating that trade volume and its variance are significantly associated with herding behaviors in the pandemic crisis and that its impacts differ from those of the 2008 financial crisis in Asia. Recent digital innovations tend to have a more direct influence on herding behavior, albeit less indirectly through the surge in trade volume on the digital trading system. This study contributes to the extant literature by exploring the influence of digital innovation and digital trading on herding behavior during the recent crisis. The findings can be used to analyze herding behavior in foreign exchange, bond, and housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the outcomes of online Service-Learning (SL) in Philippine partner communities, addressing a literature gap on predominantly face-to-face (f2f) SL. Applying the Conceptual Framework of Community Impacts Arising from Service-Learning, it employs a mixed-method convergent design to assess the benefits, drawbacks, and influential factors of online SL's effectiveness (CARE, TIP, and FEAR). Data, sourced from 101 survey participants across 46 Community Partner Organizations (CPOs) in affiliation with Ateneo de Manila University, is complemented by the insights derived from 22 comprehensive interviews with key community contact persons. Findings reveal that online SL bolsters CPOs' missions, enhance resources, facilitates knowledge transfer, and yields positive outcomes. However, barriers such as Time management challenges, Infrastructure and technical hurdles, and Participation obstacles (TIP), along with its consequent drawbacks such as difficulty in providing timely and effective Feedback, disparity in varying levels of Effort displayed by students, erosion of Authentic relationships in prolonged virtual engagements, and Repetitiveness and nonfulfillment concerns (FEAR) were identified as challenges. Despite these, Collaborative coordination, Active communication, Responsiveness to CPO's needs, and Engaging online environment (CARE) were recognized as key enablers. This research highlights the significance of examining the outcomes of online SL from the perspective of community partners, informing best practices for implementation, and cultivating effective online SL collaborations that can be adapted across various countries with similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driving low-carbon green development of the Chinese economy has emerged as a crucial issue in today's business landscape. The advent of corporate digital transformation (CDT) offers fresh possibilities and avenues to accomplish these objectives, presenting new options and opportunities to achieve sustainable growth. Despite the growing importance of CDT in modern business practices, there remains a notable gap in our understanding of how it specifically impacts corporate carbon productivity (CCP). This study systematically examines the impact of CDT on CCP using dynamic panel data from listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets spanning the period from 2008 to 2021. The research findings reveal the following key insights. First, CDT significantly enhances CCP, as evidenced by consistent results across multiple robustness tests. Second, the impact occurs through mechanisms of green technological innovation, curbing inefficient investments, and mitigating information asymmetry. Third, the impact is more evident in coastal locations, non-state-owned enterprises, organizations with significant finance limitations, and firms with greater excess employee rates. This study innovatively explores the potential mechanisms by which CDT affects CCP. It provides policy inspiration for the Chinese government to guide enterprises to increase CDT efforts and realize low-carbon green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSRIs) have gained significant attention in the context of growing stakeholder expectations for environmental protection, competitive pressure, and utilizing existing resources for any organization's sustainability. Although prior scholars investigated the CSRI consequences in the sustainability context, these investigations examined them in isolation. Thus, exiting research lacks a single nomological framework to consider green intellectual capital (GIC) and green human resource management (GHRM) despite their importance. Accordingly, this paper investigates the impact of CSRIs on sustainability performance (SP) in the tobacco industry, using the resource-based view (RBV) theory as a foundation. Besides, this paper investigates the pivotal roles of GIC and GHRM in the CSRI–SP linkage. Data were collected from 324 managers at Pakistani tobacco firms and analyzed using WarpPLS 7. Findings indicate that GIC and GHRM resources significantly influenced tobacco firms' sustainability. Furthermore, this paper found that GIC and GHRM serially mediated the CSRIs–SP relationship. Based on RBV, this paper provides valuable insights for decision-makers and academics in the green HRM context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy, which aims to increase sustainability, reduce waste, and optimize the utilization of resources in the supply chain, has received much attention in recent years from researchers. In addition, strict environmental regulations have required firms to accept responsibility for their end-of-life products. This research investigates a Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) that incorporates dual competitive channels in both the forward and reverse chains, in addition to a Reward-Penalty Mechanism (RPM), to address the issues of sustainability and end-of-life products in supply chains. The CLSC includes a manufacturer, a retailer, and a third-party collector. In the forward chain, the manufacturer and the retailer deliver new and refurbished products to customers through online and retail channels. In the reverse chain, the manufacturer collects the used products through retail and third-party collector channels to remanufacture the end-of-life products. This research examines the decisions related to pricing and collection rates of used products in the CLSC under the RPM. The problem is formulated and solved under decentralized, centralized, and coordinated structures with a game theoretic approach. The study's findings indicate that the coordinated structure, utilizing a two-part tariff contract, outperforms the decentralized model in terms of collection rate and profitability for all members of the CLSC. Furthermore, the RPM enhances the benefits of remanufacturing activities for both the economy and the environment by increasing the collection rate of used products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of green procurement, also called green purchasing, is to reduce waste and improve operational efficiencies to enhance sustainability. Although this practice has gained importance in recent years and garnered significant scholarly attention, there is a lack of bibliometric studies evaluating the green procurement field. To close this gap, we leverage bibliometrics to comprehensively summarize the literature and identify existing research hotspots and trends. Specifically, we employ bibliometric tools to analyze keywords, identify influential authors, universities, and research areas and reveal the most important publications in terms of citations. The analysis shows that sustainable development, sustainability, green supply chain management, and green public procurement are core topics related to green procurement. The co-citation analysis further reveals five important research clusters in the literature, namely green public procurement, green supply chain management, green supplier selection and evaluation of green performance, networked sustainable procurement, and green procurement in the construction sector. This study makes a contribution to the green procurement literature by summarizing this quickly growing field and providing timely guidance as to future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis aimed at mapping the convergent landscapes of artificial intelligence (AI) and financial technology (Fintech), fields poised for significant disruptive potential in global financial services. Given the rapid integration of AI within financial operations, this research investigates the publication trends, key contributing nations, and prevalent themes within this intersection, crucial for understanding the trajectory of Fintech innovations and their alignment with AI advancements. Employing a robust methodology utilizing VOSviewer and the Scopus database, the analysis distilled insights from 298 selected papers, focusing on co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and keyword occurrences to highlight the global influential works and primary research hubs. Key findings reveal that AI and Fintech are not only predominant themes but are also the nucleus of emerging scholarly discussions, with the United States, China, and India leading in contributions. These nations, alongside others like France and the United Kingdom, form critical nodes in our analysis, indicating a robust interconnection of global research efforts. This study introduces the novel application of advanced bibliometric techniques to dissect dense academic outputs, offering a granular view of how AI influences financial technologies. The implications of this research are manifold; it provides a strategic blueprint for academics, industry practitioners, and policymakers to understand the focal areas of AI in Fintech, suggesting an amplified focus on collaborative innovations and policy-making that aligns with technological advancements. Future research should expand the analysis to include diverse databases and explore the integration of AI across various financial sectors, emphasizing the socioeconomic impacts, ethical considerations, and regulatory challenges posed by AI-driven financial services. This extended focus will enhance our understanding of AI's role in shaping the future of Finance, ensuring comprehensive coverage of this dynamically evolving field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Business Studies is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of International Business Studies is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of International Business Studies is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ESG investing and its financial performance is nowadays a hot topic luring the attention of all economic agents. All developed financial markets offer sustainable indices to meet the ethical needs of investors. However, this is not the case for a large share of emerging financial markets. This study aims to analyze the financial performance of several MSCI European ESG indices and compare it to their respective conventional benchmarks. We investigate financial performance through time and also over different market conditions using both static and dynamic financial performance measures. The static analysis shows that the sustainable indices are as performant as the conventional index, in most cases. The Emerging Market (EM) Europe ESG Leaders index is less risky than the benchmark. However, the dynamic financial performance analysis reveals that CAPM alpha and beta are time-varying. The rolling window annual analysis shows that the EM Europe ESG Leaders index offers an interesting investment option since it beats the benchmark, less risky and offers the highest performance. Finally, the Markov-Switching analysis indicates that alphas and betas mainly depend on stock market conditions. Indeed, in high volatility market, risk-averse investors would be interested in investing in the ESG index since it reduces market risk. Moreover, when the market is more stable, the sustainable EM Europe ESG Leaders index offers better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study investigates the relationship between European society's wealth and how they invest in sin stocks—stocks of listed firms involved in producing tobacco, alcohol, and gambling goods and services returns. Using time series data from 24 European countries from 2000 to 2020 to check the performance of sin stocks, we tested 3 hypotheses to explore the possibility that sin stock returns are related to the wealth of the countries they are based on and to the levels of consumption of alcohol and gambling in those countries. Three quantitative methods are used to measure risk-adjusted returns of the sin stocks: the CAPM single-factor or market model, the Fama-French 3-factor model, and the Fama-French 5-factor model. We found significant evidence of the existence of abnormal returns. The evidence supports that sin stocks have a significant relation with the market, lower volatility, and have better risk-adjusted returns during times of economic downturn. Our results show that sin stocks from the wealthier Northern European countries yield higher risk-adjusted returns than their Southern and Easter European counterparts. We found familiarity bias in gambling sin stocks, which suggests that getting used to something seen as sinful can lead to a lower feeling of rejection. As it is common in behavioural finance, behind the data and numbers of the financial markets, ordinary human behaviour is an essential explanation that defies the orthodox concepts of mathematical efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test whether in the cross-section of European stocks, the cost of equity capital is more strongly affected by the (upward) "slope" (identified as momentum over a period of time) of their ESG scores or by their "stability" (identified as the volatility of the scores over a period of time), measured around a given slope. We find that short-term ESG momentum is priced in the cross-section of stock returns but that it may increase or decrease the ex-ante cost of capital depending on the specific sample investigated. While short-term ESG momentum may represent a novel, priced systematic risk factor, there is also strong evidence that a ESG spread strategy that buys (sells) low (high) ESG score volatility stocks leads to a significant alpha and lower the ex-ante cost of capital. This suggests that ESG rating stability may carry a more reliable reward than improvements do, in terms of ex-ante equity cost of capital. These results are robust to the use of different sub-samples (over firms and sub-periods) and to forming the two quantitative ESG signals on the basis of alternative rating data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how exposure to climate risk, encompassing physical, transition, and regulation risks, affects stock returns. Our main contribution is the insight that stocks with positive temperature co-variation earn lower future returns, acting as a hedge during periods of heightened investor marginal utility. Additionally, a positive change in a firm's environmental score is associated with higher stock returns, while a higher level of environmental score corresponds to lower stock returns. To evaluate the contribution of climate change factors in the asset pricing model, we construct climate change factor-mimicking portfolios. Empirical results demonstrate that the model, comprising the temperature anomaly factor, climate news factor, and corporate environment factor, consistently outperforms the Fama–French 5-factor and q-factor models in capturing cross-sectional variations in average stock returns. In addition, this model performs better than the model presented by Görgen et al. (2020) and Ume (2021), which incorporate only the carbon risk factor. This underscores the importance of considering multiple facets of climate change in assessing its impact on asset pricing. As a result of this, study, relying solely on one aspect of climate change, may lead to an understatement of its overall effect on financial markets. Implications of this study suggest that considering a multi-faceted approach to climate risk in asset pricing models can lead to more accurate valuation and risk management strategies in financial markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how container shipping companies Maersk and MSC as B2B service providers effectively manage influencer marketing and implement managerial influencer marketing strategies within their industry. After the elaboration of a conceptual framework on constructs and protocols for effective influencer marketing, the Interval Type 2 Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (IT2F-AHP) method is used in combination with structured interviews to identify crucial attributes for successfully managing influencer marketing strategy in a B2B context. The findings underscore a notable emphasis placed by container shipping companies on internal influencers sourced from their workforce, as opposed to external influencers from the global market. This signifies a strategic orientation toward managing interaction-based marketing strategies. Additionally, when applying the 4M Model to the essential protocols for influencer marketing (i.e., make, manage, monitor, and measure), we observed a preference for the "manage" protocol and a lesser emphasis on measurement tools for assessing influencer marketing success. Despite the importance of corporate user accounts in social media, Maersk and MSC generally do not prioritize a protocol "measure" through these channels. We also found that trust is the highest weighted criterion in managing influencer marketing. In conclusion, this research sheds light on the nuanced strategies employed by liner shipping companies in leveraging influencer marketing strategy and engagement in a B2B context. These insights offer managers practical guidance and benchmarking opportunities to navigate the complexities of influencer marketing and optimize influencer marketing strategies and engagement in B2B markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are entering an era filled with disruptive events, yet current research in strategy and international business has paid insufficient attention to the nature of these events and their far-reaching impacts. To address this gap, we introduce event system theory (EST) into these fields, offering a critical lens to analyze the complexity of disruptive events. EST provides a comprehensive framework to explore how events unfold and impact firms across various dimensions, moving beyond traditional place-centric views that focus primarily on geographic proximity. A key contribution of this perspective paper is the development of the event space perspective, a novel extension of EST that captures the relational, symbolic, and sociopolitical channels through which disruptive events influence organizations. This new perspective encourages a more dynamic and nuanced understanding of how events shape firm strategy and performance. Finally, we draw on both EST and the event space perspective to offer promising research directions on disruptive events for strategy and international business, laying a foundation for future studies to explore organizational resilience, strategic adaptation, and the management of uncertainty in an increasingly volatile global environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasping the evolving landscape of management and organizations in Asia Pacific is vital for addressing the challenges and opportunities they both face in the region and beyond. To do so, we conduct a systematic literature review using a bibliometric analysis of the Asia Pacific Journal of Management (APJM), the leading journal for management and organizational research in Asia Pacific that is celebrating its 40th anniversary. A total of 915 articles published by APJM from 2001 to 2024 were retrieved from the Scopus database and subsequently subjected to a performance analysis of productivity (publications) and impact (citations) alongside a science mapping of knowledge (themes). This study reveals a steady increase in APJM publications and citations, underscoring the journal's growing influence. The globalization of collaboration networks is a noteworthy trend, highlighting the interconnectedness of research efforts across borders. Major themes include cultural understanding and interpersonal networks, as well as the adaptability of organizations in emerging economies. Areas such as innovation, performance, and corporate governance highlight the importance of growth, competitiveness, and responsible management structures, while research on major Asian markets like China, India, and Thailand underscores the relevance of globalization and multinational strategies. The findings offer future directions in key areas such as emerging economies and institutional environments, relationship networks and social resilience, innovation and digital transformation, managing internationalization, and methodological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how chief executive officers (CEOs) personally benefit from their firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and the contingencies in this relationship. We apply stakeholder theory and social identity theory to examine the idea that CSR contributes to CEOs' self-perceived status. When firms obtain higher legitimacy, admiration, and respect from CSR, CEOs—as firms' agents and representatives—are likely to associate the firms' social worth with their own social values. Although responsible investments enhance executives' self-satisfaction with status, we further argue that this relationship is stronger among CEOs with greater discretion. Thus, the main effect should become weaker when an executive lacks discretion, reflected by state ownership and stronger internal monitoring. We assess the aforementioned ideas by analyzing two waves of a nationwide time-lagged survey of a large sample of Chinese private firms; the empirical findings support these arguments and make important contributions to the literature on CSR, business ethics, and upper echelon theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a new behavioral explanation of corporate tax avoidance. Drawing on tax avoidance research and the insights from performance feedback literature, we identify performance above aspiration as an important antecedent of corporate tax avoidance. We also explore the contingency effect of CEO experience since it may influence how the CEO views performance above aspiration and implement tax avoidance decisions. This study considers two main aspects of CEO experience: CEO tenure (firm experience) and CEO financial experience (functional experience). Using a panel sample of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2018, we find that as performance rises above aspiration, firms increase tax avoidance at first, but, from a certain point onwards, they reduce such activities. We also find that this inverted U-shaped relationship is weakened by CEO tenure but strengthened by CEO financial experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examined whether, how, and when being envied by coworkers influences employee service outcomes in the service context. Drawing upon self-determination theory (SDT), we tested a moderated-mediation model using a sample of 217 frontline service employees in two Chinese hotels. By focusing on the envied targets, our research demonstrates that being envied by coworkers negatively influences the targets' service performance and proactive customer service performance (PCSP). Moreover, relatedness need satisfaction mediates the influence of being envied by coworkers on service performance and PCSP. Furthermore, employee interpersonal sensitivity strengthens the direct effect of being envied by coworkers on relatedness need satisfaction, and the indirect effects of being envied by coworkers on service performance and PCSP through relatedness need satisfaction. The present study provides new theoretical insights for future studies and managerial implications for service organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective investment is recognized as a powerful determinant of firms' growth and long-term advantages. However, despite long and extensive research on the upper echelons, the role of top managers' work experiences in corporate investments remains unclear. With an investigation of the effect of CEO general managerial skills gained through lifetime work experiences on corporate overinvestment, the current study also tests boundary conditions at which this effect may be magnified or attenuated. An empirical analysis of Chinese publicly listed firms reveals that CEO general managerial skills increase corporate overinvestment: Generalist CEOs (versus specialist CEOs) are more likely to promote overinvestment. Moreover, whereas board size and economic policy uncertainty attenuate the relationship between CEO general managerial skills and corporate overinvestment, firm profitability magnifies the relationship. By examining the dark side of this managerial characteristic of CEO, this study provides important implications for literature about corporate investment and upper echelons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to shed light on the bright and dark sides of government-initiated corporate social responsibility (CSR) on organizational profitability in emerging markets. Building on insights from agency theory, we investigate how a government-initiated campaign targeting poverty alleviation in China influences current profitability (i.e., financial performance) and potential profitability (i.e., innovation intensity) and further examine the moderating effects of slack resources and competition intensity. Based on a sample of 1,125 listed firms in China from 2016 to 2019, our study finds that government-initiated CSR promotes financial performance while decreasing innovation intensity. Moreover, the positive influence of government-initiated CSR on financial performance is weaker for firms with greater levels of slack resources. In addition, in fiercely competitive environments, the negative relationship between government-initiated CSR and innovation intensity becomes more adverse. By demonstrating the double-edged role of government-initiated CSR, our findings contribute to the CSR literature and provide managerial implications for executives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has found that entrepreneur foreign-study experience can have either positive significant effects on firm innovation, or nonsignificant effects. The question, then, is when such experience benefits firm innovation, and when it does not. Adopting a resource-substitution perspective, we posit that the difference occurs because certain local resources can play a significant moderating role. Specifically, a private entrepreneur's foreign-study-enabled human capital becomes less influential in driving firm innovation when the foreign-educated entrepreneurs participate strongly in the political system, or when the firm has a high level of guanxi––each of which enables the firm to achieve a local resource advantage over other firms, without the need for enhanced innovation. In contrast, foreign-study-enabled human capital becomes significantly influential in the context of high local marketization. We used the data from a series of nationwide surveys of privately owned firms in China to test these ideas. Regression results based on negative binomial regression models showed that returnee entrepreneurs' participation in the political system, and firms' guanxi, each substituted for the role of the returnee entrepreneurs' foreign study experience in fostering firm innovation, thus rendering such experience no longer significant for firm innovation in the presence of strong political participation or guanxi. In contrast, entrepreneur foreign-study experience led to advantageous firm innovation in the context of higher local marketization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on political connection literature, we distinguish two types of political ties, horizontal (i.e., block ties with regions) and vertical (i.e., line ties with departments), and examine their effects on firm innovation. Based on a panel of Chinese public-listed private firms, we find that firms whose executives have block ties innovate much less than those without such ties, particularly when they are located in regions with less developed markets. In contrast, line ties increase firm innovation, particularly when the firms are located in regions with more developed markets. However, it also shows that the effect of line ties is attenuated when regional governments place a greater emphasis on innovation. Our research contributes to the literature on the relationship between political ties and firm innovation, the heterogeneity of political ties, and the interplay between political ties and the institutional environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) funds can serve as "social responsibility mentors" of focal firms in a Chinese context. On this basis, we posit that firms' greenwashing motives may lead to a bias between information disclosure and actual performance in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using data from China's publicly listed companies, we find a U-shaped relationship between SRI fund ownership and CSR disclosure quality; intrinsic and extrinsic greenwashing motives can weaken this curvilinear relationship. Furthermore, we examine the influence mechanism and prove that SRI funds use social screening strategies as an indirect channel to affect CSR disclosure. This mechanism is also verified when we consider SRI funds' number and investment portfolio. We conclude that SRI funds have a multifaceted influence on the CSR disclosure of focal firms, enriching the understanding of SRI funds and corporate sustainability in the capital markets of emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Protecting the female workforce from sexual harassment is a legal duty for employees in most countries; nevertheless, it is a common phenomenon. The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate how and why Iranian women working in retail sales responded when confronted by sexual harassment by customers. Methods: The setting for this qualitative study was Shiraz, Iran, in 2020. Purposeful and snowball sampling was used to recruit 16 women with at least 12 months experience in clothing sales and experience of customer-based sexual harassment. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as a conceptual theoretical framework for the semi-structured in-depth interview guide and directed content analysis of the data. Results: All participants generally stayed silent, did not retaliate, and did not report events of sexual harassment. Motivations to comply with employer expectations, threats of getting fired, negative judgments from important others, a lack of social support, and a fear of retaliation from the harasser were negative personal consequences which decreased their perceived power to respond. Conclusions: The Theory of Planned Behavior provided a good framework to explain saleswomen's responses to sexual harassment from customers. Silence and inaction were the norm because of perceived potentials for further personal harm, in common with other studies. Policy Implications: Our findings indicate a need for educational interventions that can develop assertiveness skills to empower female employees to eliminate acceptance of customer-based sexual harassment as part of the job, as well as call upon the protection they should have from labor laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading management consulting firms serve as key influencers in disseminating fashionable management ideas and aiding organizations through their change initiatives. Organizations often seek guidance from these firms to implement the management idea of digital transformation (DT), enticed by the potential benefits this idea promises. This study examines the reports of six leading management consulting firms to assess how they shape the disseminating discourse on DT. Applying the performance-structure-technology framework, we unveil several blind spots in the DT consulting discourse. Our document analyses reveal that leading management consulting firms, in their discourse on DT, neglect comprehensive strategic alignments in the form of people, competitive context, and technological methods and structures. This study contributes to the literature on change management, management ideas, and the broader information systems literature on DT by providing insights into the faddishness and semblance of leading consulting firms' discourse on DT, while also shedding light on the nuances of DT consulting and its potential for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core success of digital transformation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) still needs to be clarified and comprehensively discussed. Meanwhile, SMEs cannot exploit digital advantages due to their limited strategic empirical and practical knowledge. This study aims to (1) describe the research pattern in the SME's digitalization area; (2) identify the core success factors of SMEs' digital transformation to gain business success; (3) search for relevant business aspects that are necessary for SME digital transformation; and (4) develop further research agenda in the field of SMEs' digital transformation. This study uses a systematic literature review and thematic analysis to determine core success factors suggested by primary studies. The literature review suggests that (1) SMEs should consider their baseline, limitation, and idiosyncratic to develop an aligned digitalization strategy; (2) SMEs should consider starting with incremental and gradually improving digitalization; and (3) SMEs should commit to investing in education and continuous learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]