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Purpose: This paper investigates whether and to what extent operating in inner areas affects the profitability of innovative Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over 2012–2018. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by the National Strategy for Inner Areas and the "Investment Compact," this study distinguishes between inner and core innovative SMEs. It employs various econometric models to estimate a regression for the return on assets of SMEs, differentiating between firms operating in inner and non-inner areas of northwest, northeast, centre and south Italy. Findings: Findings reveal that innovative SMEs in inner areas generally exhibit lower profitability compared to those in non-inner municipalities. However, huge heterogeneity in results is observed across the country. Specifically, innovative SMEs in the inner areas of the south register lower profitability than those operating in non-inner zones. Conversely, innovative SMEs located in the inner municipalities of northwest and northeast Italy show higher profitability than their peers in non-inner areas. The results imply that targeted policies for inner areas are crucial. However, due to the diversity of local impacts, a differentiated approach, depending on the geographic context, is necessary. Originality/value: The study aims to explore the relationship between inner areas and the performance of innovative SMEs in Italy. More precisely, it examines the effect of operating in a municipality located within an inner area on the profitability of innovative SMEs. This issue has been overlooked in existing literature. Importantly, we aim to determine whether there is a heterogeneous impact based on geographical localisation, specifically in the Northwest, the Northeast, the Centre and the South of the country. Therefore, this paper contributes to the literature by investigating the factors influencing the performance of innovative SMEs and suggesting new policy recommendations for developing inner areas in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portugal introduced a sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax in 2017. This study uses unique administrative accounting data for all SSB producers/importers in Portugal, and an event study design with bottled water firms as the primary comparison group, to assess the causal impacts of the tax on multiple firm-level outcomes. We find a 6.8% average decrease in domestic SSB sales, relative to bottled water. The soda tax hindered SSB firms' financial health, namely net income, ability to convert receivables into cash, and liabilities. SSB producers/importers did not decrease wages, cut jobs, or modify their workforce toward higher R&D capacity. Forgone corporate income tax appears negligible compared to the government revenue generated by the tax itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing of the population impacts all areas and is also a challenge for human resources management. To solve this issue, age management practices are used in organisations. To get the best potential out of everyone, this concept should not only involve older employees but should be focused on all of them. Choosing the right practice to get the desired results is a task for managers.

The aim of the paper is to analyse the main internal drivers of the increase and adoption of online activities carried out by firms in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on several measures of firm-level performance has been debated in many papers, not enough effort has been devoted to investigating its digitalization impact, especially with respect to the drivers of firms operating in transition countries. To this end, we explore a very detailed firm-level dataset, drawn from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) combined with the Covid-19-ES Follow-up Survey, for 22 Eastern European and Central-Eastern Asian countries. Our findings reveal that (i) higher online activity is associated with higher digital and technological endowment of the firm and (ii) this relationship is shaped by external factors, such as country-level digital infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Organizations (IOs), such as the United Nations (U.N.), engage in statebuilding in a range of post-conflict states. Statebuilding scholarship largely assumes that IOs, backed by their powerful member states, have at least temporary authority over the seemingly "weak" states in which they intervene. We argue, in contrast, that many post-conflict states shape IO statebuilding efforts through many statebuilding contracts, which we call incomplete arrangements, that give the post-conflict state the residual rights of control over the unnegotiated components of these statebuilding contracts with IOs. These incomplete arrangements, as opposed to complete takeovers, which are the other type of statebuilding contracts, provide procedural "weapons of the weak state" that enable the post-conflict state to influence what the IO mandate contains, where it intervenes, whom it hires, and when it exits. Using in-depth case studies of Burundi, Guatemala, and Timor-Leste, as well as analysis of 36 U.N. interventions in post-conflict states from 2000–2020, this article demonstrates the potential of incomplete arrangement statebuilding contracts to give post-conflict states institutional power over IO statebuilders, with important implications for scholarship on statebuilding and global governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Today, digital governments are creating novel digital business environments to promote enterprise innovation. How can enterprises benefit from this while minimizing the risks of working with the digital government?We explored this issue using data from China's1528 A-share firms over a decade. We find that China's digital government construction (DGC) significantly promotes firms' exploratory innovation (EI). Moreover, the enterprise's invention knowledge inertia (IKI) is an important mediation to develop its exploratory innovation in response to the construction of digital government. However, during this process, whether enterprises can maintain low risk and continuously promote EI by leveraging IKI is moderated by the extent of knowledge openness within the senior leadership team (KOM). For instance, the diversified knowledge of executives with financial backgrounds weakens the DGC→IKI, and the effect is obvious in state-owned and high-tech enterprises. In contrast, knowledge without such backgrounds strengthens the IKI→EI.This study provides valuable insights into government-enterprise cooperation, emphasizing the role of innovation knowledge inertia and clarifying the debate on whether knowledge inertia has a positive or negative impact on innovation.

AbstractThis study addresses a crucial theoretical gap by investigating how supervisors’ supervisory styles and subordinates’ careerist orientation jointly influence subordinate creativity. It examines the direct impact of two supervisor styles—supportive and noncontrolling supervision—on subordinates’ creativity and the moderating role of careerist orientation. Data were collected via surveys from nonprofit Nepalese NGOs, resulting in 499 responses. The study used AMOS for data purification and hierarchical regression for hypothesis testing by employing positivist methodology and deductive reasoning. Results reveal that supportive behavior positively impacts subordinates’ creativity, while noncontrolling supervision has a negative impact. Moreover, the study uncovers nuanced differences: supportive supervision positively affects creativity for individuals with low career orientation; however, this effect diminishes for those with high career orientation. Similarly, the positive impact of noncontrolling supervision on creativity is pronounced for low career orientation employees, but it turns harmful for high career orientation individuals. These findings hold implications for theoretical understanding and practical implementation, offering insights into the complex interplay between supervisory styles, careerist orientation, and creativity. The study contributes to future research directions and managerial strategies for fostering creativity.

AbstractThis paper uses Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a research sample to explore the relationship between environment, social responsibility, governance (ESG) performance and firm value creation and to test the moderating effect of government subsidies. In addition, we classify government subsidies into innovation, social responsibility, and development subsidies using a Biterm Topic Model (BTM) to explore the heterogeneous moderating effects. The results show an inverted U-shaped relationship between ESG performance and value creation in Chinese SMEs. Government subsidies have a significant moderating effect on the inverted U-shaped curve of ESG performance and value creation, and the moderating effect of different government subsidies also varies. An increase in social responsibility subsidies makes the curve inflection point shift to the left, an increase in development subsidies makes the inflection point shift to the right and the curve steeper, and innovation subsidies have no moderating effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDespite previous literature has discussed the benefits that positive media coverage can bring to firms, it was still poorly studied in the effect of negative media coverage on corporate behaviours. This paper focuses on corporate environmental behaviours, investigates the impact and mechanisms of negative media coverage on corporate environmental responsibility (CER). We use the data of China’s listed companies in heavy-polluting industries from 2006 to 2019, an event-study analysis is undertaken to identify the treatment effect in CER after the exposure of corporate pollution. The results find that when media cover the pollution event of firms, these improve their CER scores by 2.23% with respect to those plants that were not covered. Moreover, the larger increase in media coverage, the greater impact on corporations. Mechanism analysis shows that reaction of the local community, government environmental regulations, and managers’ reputations operate as essential channels for negative media coverage to affect CER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of Foreign Direct Investment and labor quality on employment in 29 Asia-Pacific nations from 1990 to 2020. We employ the Dynamic System Generalized Method of Moments to estimate the results. This study finds that a ten percent increase in Foreign Direct Investment creates an additional 0.890 % in employment, and a percent increase in labor quality increases employment by 0.0021 %. Our study also figures a moderating role of labor quality and FDI on employment in Asia Pacific countries. Our findings are robust before and after the recent financial crisis and alternative regression method. Finally, the findings are robust even if we employ an alternative estimation method. Our results are consistent with the Traditional FDI, the Neo-classical, and Resource-Based View theories. Our research generates practical policy implications to develop employment sustainably in Asia-Pacific nations.

The paper is discussing the challenges presented by Industry 4.0, specifically in relation to the potential loss of jobs due to automation. The article explores how middle-skilled jobs are more likely to be affected adversely by automation and how the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as automation, AI, and IoT is expected to bring about extensive automation and irreversible changes to employment opportunities.

The analysis of entrepreneurial behaviour in incubated technology-based companies can help managers to understand their characteristics and how these aspects can be maximized to increase the performance of the companies.

It is acknowledged that achieving product-based competitive advantage is a key task for a company. However, there is still a research gap in determining those specific actions in the process of developing new products that arise from companies’ efforts to achieve product-based competitive advantage. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the specific actions in the new product development (NPD) process that result from companies’ intention to introduce a new product to the market, enabling the achievement of a competitive advantage. The primary research method used in this study is deductive reasoning, supplemented by a literature review. The result of the study is the proposal of three types of actions: a) evaluating an opportunity in terms of its potential to generate a competitive advantage; b) creating a new product with high economic value; and c) assessing both the planned new product and the new product introduced to the market in terms of achieving a competitive advantage. The latter two types of actions can be undertaken at various stages of the NPD process and can pertain to the product concept itself and to specific product forms (e.g., prototypes, pilot products). These proposed actions are significant because attaining a product-based competitive advantage contributes to the achievement of other objectives related to new products (e.g., revenue generation). Therefore, it is recommended that companies incorporate these actions into their NPD process. This study contributes to the field of management by proposing few specific actions in each phase of the NPD process, which arise from a company's intention to achieve a product-based competitive advantage, addressing a previous gap in the literature.

The study seeks to explore how blockchain technology enables the creation of new ideas for ventures and to examine the activities of founders and entrepreneurial teams in shaping those ideas. We adopted several theoretical frameworks – external enablers theory, dynamic capabilities (DCs), and dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) – to explain the interaction of the actor-independent and actor-dependent factors in the process of new firm formation. We analysed four Hungarian blockchain start-ups that operate across financial services, cryptocurrency trading, crypto asset management, energy, information technology, and identity industries and create high value-added and cross-industrial offerings for Hungarian and foreign markets. Using qualitative study research results, the study develops the model of external enablers, founders' and firm capabilities and new venture creation. We identify three interconnected external enablers – namely, market volatility associated with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, the properties of blockchain, and the ideology behind the technology – and discuss the role of entrepreneurs' DMCs and sensing and seizing activities in discovering and shaping these enablers into profitable business ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze impact of organizational learning (OL) on Polish small- or medium-sized enterprise (SME) performance. Results are based on interviews with owners and managers from two samples of Polish small- and medium-sized firms: a “pre-COVID-19” sample (the survey was conducted during May–July 2019) and a “COVID-19” sample (the survey was conducted during December 2020–January 2021). The results based on the “pre-COVID-19” sample show partial support for the hypothesis about a positive relationship between market performance and OL for Polish SMEs. Two out of three measures of OL, i.e., the diversity of information sources and the commitment to learning, showed positive relationship with two aspects of market performance, i.e., the sales dynamics and the self-assessed success as compared with that of competitors. None of the OL measures have been correlated with the financial results. For the “COVID-19” sample, commitment to learning showed very weak positive correlations with both financial results and sales dynamics. These relationships were not confirmed when other firms’ characteristics had been included.

Coopetition has gained considerable attention in the management literature. Yet, the best recognized is inter-organizational coopetition. The intra-organizational coopetition is still under-researched and there is a gap in the comprehensive evaluation of the benefits of intra-organizational coopetition. This paper attempts to identify the main positive outcomes in the coopetition relationship between affiliates within business groups based on a survey questionnaire in the largest business groups listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The findings of the study reveal that coopetition at the intra-organizational level generates many benefits. The main ones are resource benefits and improved market and financial performance. The positive effects of intra-organizational coopetition are somewhat similar to the benefits of inter-organizational coopetition. However, some differences support the view on the specificity of coopetition at each level.