In this study, we integrate work–family enrichment and upper echelons theories to examine how and when chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) family experiences impact their firms’ performance. We argue that CEO family harmony has an indirect effect on their firms’ product innovation performance through top management team (TMT) behavioral integration. Additionally, we propose that CEO founder status strengthens the effects of CEO family harmony. Our analysis of data from 101 CEOs and 458 TMT members in various high-tech industries in China indicates that the positive relationship between CEO family harmony and firms’ product innovation performance is mediated by TMT behavioral integration. Moreover, CEO founder status increases the direct effect of CEO family harmony on TMT behavioral integration and its indirect effect on firms’ product innovation performance through TMT behavioral integration. These findings have theoretical and practical implications and provide new research directions in the study of CEO family–work spillover and CEO–TMT interfaces.

We propose that while positive performance feedback is positively related to firm sentiment, negative performance feedback is negatively associated with the firm sentiment. Additionally, overconfident Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) will improve the positive relationship between positive performance feedback and firm sentiment and reduce the negative relationship between negative performance feedback and firm sentiment. Using 7,182 firm-year observations for the 2004−2017 period, we show that positive performance feedback positively affects firm sentiment, and negative performance feedback negatively influences firm sentiment. We also found that higher levels of CEO overconfidence will minimize the negative impact of negative performance feedback on firm sentiment. Our research extends the current discourse on organizational impression management (proxied by firm sentiment) and CEO overconfidence research as we provide a nuanced relationship between firm performance feedback and organizational impression management. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for corporate governance leaders and shareholders.

This paper builds on the creation of new ways of organizing work, where the freelance economy specifically targets the increasing number of skilled self-employed individuals collaborating for shared output. Through describing and discussing creativity within the freelance economy, this paper seeks to understand creativity in collaborations among these self-employed individuals. Drawing from a case study conducted in the advertising sector, the paper concludes that creativity within the freelance economy occurs between equal and inherently creative freelancers rather than being the product of individual traits, despite their respective skills. Creativity between individuals arises when processes are appropriately formalized, while the creative output is constrained by individual decisions and styles. The paper contributes to existing research by shedding light on the distinctive characteristics of the freelance economy and its paradoxical organizational nature. By doing so, it offers insights that contrast with prior studies on artistic creativity.

The increasing integration of digital technologies in business processes calls for a deeper understanding of their impact on business model efficiency. This study explores how digital alignment, composed by strategic decision support and operational support, affects business model efficiency, while also examining the extent to which strategic flexibility moderates this relationship. To test the proposed hypotheses, we adopt a quantitative approach on a sample of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry. In particular, a regression analysis, complemented by a necessary condition analysis, is performed. We find that digital alignment, both in terms of strategic decision support and operational support, fosters business model efficiency. Strategic flexibility strengthens the relationship between strategic decision support and business model efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to operationalise digital alignment as composed of strategic decision support and operational support. Accordingly, this study contributes to the extant literature on digital alignment and business models.

The purpose of this paper is to (a) develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationships between person–environment (PE) fit and employee engagement by shedding light on their intervening mechanisms; (b) represent how different types of PE fit and employee engagement interact; and (c) establish a comprehensive theoretical framework to guide future research based on the empirically examined constructs and their relationships. An integrative literature review of 51 empirical papers which analyzed the relationship between PE fit and employee engagement suggests that the antecedents of the relationship exist at the organizational, group, and individual levels and can be conceptualized as socialization, relationship building, and personal character, respectively; values–supplies fit, needs–supplies fit, and demands–abilities fit act as intervening mechanisms in the relationship; the relationship is temporal, reciprocal, and facilitated by human agency; and various outcomes result from the relationship. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed.

Startups play a crucial role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their innovative solutions that increasingly focus on sustainability. However, they face significant challenges in effectively assessing their contribution to the SDGs. In our study, by adopting an action-research methodology, we develop and introduce Prosper, i.e., a tailored social impact assessment (SIA) framework for startups. First, we conducted a comprehensive review of existing methods and standards for assessing social impact to establish an initial foundation of Prosper. Second, we refined Prosper based on an empirical validation on five startups. By embracing action research, we aim to empower startups with a robust and user-friendly tool, which facilitates SIA and representation. We also contribute to the literature aimed at overcoming the existing sustainability barriers for startups and to respond to the call for assisting them in reporting about SDGs. We also discuss practical implications and future research avenues.

This research aims to unpack how digital technologies can facilitate the flourishing of circular business practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises by structuring a detailed going circular path that explains businesses’ evolution toward circularity. In doing so, it outlines how the observed organizations have adopted – or are adopting – circular economy principles thanks to business digitalization. Following an inductive approach based on a multiple case study methodology, we investigated 16 small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in industries that put considerable pressure on the environment (e.g., manufacturing, chemical, construction, fashion, food, and beverage). Our findings confirm how digital technologies, as well as Industry 4.0 structures, play a fundamental role in shaping, enabling, enhancing, and refining circular products and processes development. Accordingly, we outline a generalizable step-by-step process to pursue circular economy by employing digital technologies. The present study represents a practical handout for guiding companies through their going circular path.

This paper studies the relationship between slack and research and development (R&D) investment by addressing the role of the founder as the ‘microfoundation’ among Chinese newly listed firms. We propose a contingent approach to understanding the slack-R&D investment relationship by examining the influence of the founder’s human capital and social ties, which is distinguished into political and managerial ties. Our results show that the founder’s human capital, measured by its educational level, strengthens the relationship between absorbed and unabsorbed slack resources and R&D investment. We also find that the founder’s managerial ties strengthen the relationship between resource slack and R&D intensity, whereas political ties weaken that link. Our results demonstrate the founder’s crucial role in underpinning resource utilization in newly listed firms and emphasise the importance of social ties in driving firms’ R&D activities in emerging economies.

This study explores how employees’ flow experience at work emerges, is sustained, and continuously grows over time. Based on the job demand-resource model, we propose the intraday upward spiral of flow: Challenging demands and job resources activate employees’ flow experience, further encouraging them to seek more challenges and resources. Furthermore, drawing on the perseverative cognition theory and spill-crossover model, we propose the inter-day upward spiral of flow: The antecedents (or consequences) of flow can overflow from work to the family domain and result in employees’ positive rumination, thus promoting the next-day flow experience. Our diary study generated 1,208 data points from 142 employees over 10 working days. We found that in the morning, challenging demands and job resources positively affected the participants’ flow, further encouraging them to pursue more challenging demands and job resources in the afternoon and thus enter this state again. Moreover, the afternoon’s challenging demands and job resources promoted the respondents’ problem-solving pondering at night, which further increased their next-morning challenging demands, job resources, and, thus, their flow. Through this study, we expand the emerging literature on positive organizational behavior and provide information for practitioners on how to build and sustain employees’ peak states.

Addressing major global environmental and social challenges requires transformation of the private sector. Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute 90% of private organisations globally, resulting in calls for research into the strategic roles SMEs can play in shaping sustainable futures through adopting sustainable business models (SBMs). The purpose of our study is to understand the factors that allow SMEs to successfully adopt SBMs. We used an exploratory qualitative approach drawing on interviews with SMEs implementing SBMs. Our findings extend contemporary insights by revealing the important role of the external support (‘enabling’) environment, and identifying—potentially transformative—capabilities that can help steer SMEs’ transitions to SBMs. These include persistence, tenacity, flexibility, adaptability, and a willingness to learn and fail. They enable SMEs to successfully operate in times of uncertainty and rapid changes in the external environment, and respond to new requirements through changes to their business models.

In an era of hypercompetition, research and development (R&D) investments are vital for organizations to stay competitive. This microlevel study draws on dynamic managerial capability (DMC) theory to explore the mechanisms contributing to competitive advantages. It posits that DMCs enhance firm performance by increasing R&D spending, and explores the moderating role of slack resources due to their effect on resource availability. Employing hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping methods on a longitudinal sample comprising 31 German DAX firms, the findings robustly demonstrate that DMCs facilitate firm performance by fostering R&D expenditures and confirm the moderating effect of specific slack resources. However, only internal but not external slack resources amplify the relationship between DMCs and R&D intensity. Overall, this study emphasizes the critical role of managers’ microlevel capabilities in determining firm performance and sheds light on how different slack resources influence the relationships between DMCs, R&D intensity, and firm performance.

While startups are acknowledged for their potential to address sustainability issues, little is known on how to assess their impact, given the uncertainty they deal with and their lack of resources. This paper investigates the ones that are supposed to be ‘best-in-class’ in that matter, that is, startups targeting sustainability, in order to explore how they integrate sustainability impact assessment in their entrepreneurial process. We conducted a multiple case study of eight sustainable startups, based on a 2-year longitudinal research in their incubator to gather multiple sources of information. Our results revealed that the integration of the triple bottom line in the entrepreneurial process has a major effect on startups’ sustainability impact assessment practices. ‘Born-sustainable startups’, which have aimed for the triple bottom line since idea generation, have more robust tools and routines than ‘Transitioned sustainable startups’, which integrated the triple bottom line during prototype/validation.

An increasing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are focusing on sustainable development and on embracing sustainable business models (SBMs). Despite the growing interest of academics and practitioners in SBMs, and the benefits for stakeholders, there is limited knowledge regarding the factors enabling SME transition toward SBMs, leading them to integrate sustainable principles in their BMs. This study explores the enabling factors for SBM adoption by SMEs and provides an improved understanding of this recent phenomenon. Understanding what factors enable adoption of SBMs is crucial for both SMEs and policymakers. The research uses an inductive qualitative research design approach focused on multiple case studies. The findings reveal that both internal and external factors play a key role in enabling SME transition toward SBM adoption. The internal factors that emerged include openness, change of mindset, problemistic search, social exchange, and resource valorization, while external factors included markets change, technological innovation, stakeholders’ influences, policy and institutions.

Research on interorganisational collaboration is longstanding however the role leadership plays in such collaborations is often neglected. Using grounded theory, we present a process model of ‘leadership by cavea’ whereby the relationships across organisations involved in a collaborative project were structured according to hierarchies of privilege, determined by the inherent power of ‘bonding’ social capital. While it emerged that cultural capital was a more valuable resource, this was recognised too late in the leadership process for it to make a necessary contribution. Our findings demonstrate that when seeking to practice collaborative leadership across organisations, individuals and the organisations they represent must be aware of the power they hold and wield, even needing to share or relinquish power to ensure that hierarchies of privilege do not hinder efforts to achieve mutual goals.

This research aims to analyse the links and potential limiting and supporting factors between sustainability actions and sustainability reporting. Comparing companies involved in sustainability actions and those whose reporting practices lack a formal reporting system, this analysis focuses on Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the meat and cured meat industry, identifying the perspective (formative) that links sustainability action to communication in these SMEs. The qualitative interpretative approach, based on semistructured interviews, highlights the relevant strengths and weaknesses concerning substantive sustainability actions and the effect of communication on them, providing implications for international and sectoral policies and management choices. Filling a gap in the SME literature concerning their approaches to sustainability reporting and action (and the relationship thereof), this study also introduces, as a widely used practice, ‘greenhushing’, i.e., the deliberate absence of or limited communication on effectively implemented sustainability practices or their salient results.

This study examines the organization impression management (OIM) tactics used in agri-food cooperatives to communicate their intentions toward sustainable development. Based on content analysis of the chairperson and CEO statements of 14 agri-foods cooperatives from six years' annual reports, this study sheds light on the role of member-owned firms in shifts toward realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper proposes multistakeholder OIM tactics. These insights about sustainable development extend knowledge of how senior managers communicate their intentions in multistakeholder situations, which include shareholders, suppliers, customers, and local communities. This study contributes to the literature on organizational impression management and member-owned firms. Managerial implications are also outlined.

Based on the five-level model of emotions in the workplace (FLMEW), we present an analysis of emotion and mindfulness at work. The five levels of emotion are: (1) temporal variations in emotion at the within-person level of analysis, which relate to state mindfulness; (2) stable individual differences in experiencing and expressing emotions at the between-persons level, which correspond with trait mindfulness; (3) perceiving and communicating emotions in dyadic relationships at the inter-personal level, reflecting interpersonal mindfulness; (4) emotional processes and leadership at the group level, which are associated with team mindfulness; and (5) and emotional culture and climate at the organizational level, which relate to organizational mindfulness. We provide a definition of mindfulness at each level. We argue that mindfulness tends to be associated with more positive and less negative affective experience at each level. We highlight practical implications and suggest future research at each level.