The impact of AI assimilation on firm performance in small and medium-sized enterprises: A moderated multi-mediation model.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies are increasingly recognized as essential catalysts for enhancing productivity due to their capability to transform nearly all operations within and outside firms. However, the empirical research on how AI assimilation may promote firm-level outcomes such as absorptive capacity (AC), customer agility (CA), and firm performance (FP) is still in its infancy. Drawing from the dynamic capability view and using 417 valid responses collected through cross-sectional methods from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lebanon, this study examines the effect of AI assimilation on firm performance. The mediating roles of AC and CA were investigated. The moderating role of organizational agility (OA) was also explored. The findings support the hypothesized assumptions that continual advancement of technology evolves the industrial organizations' performance with CA and AC as parallel mediators, partially mediating the link between AI assimilation and FP and OA as a moderator, moderating the positive relationship between AI and CA and between AI and FP. The findings provide crucial insights for practitioners and advance the dynamic capability view framework. They provide compelling evidence that enriches the understanding of AI assimilation, demonstrating its positive impact on critical organizational outcomes and yielding performance benefits for SMEs.

The prolificacy of green transformational leadership in shaping employee green behavior during times of crises in small and medium enterprises: a moderated mediation model.

Besides various other potent efforts to contain and consolidate, post-pandemic crisis management requires an adequate display of green transformational leadership. Green transformational leaders exhibit a formidable commitment to sustainability in making managerial choices and subsequently inspiring and motivating their employees to participate vigorously in the ensuing green initiatives. Such initiatives could profoundly help organizations adjust to shifting market situations, follow requirements, and preserve stakeholder trust. While making appeals to the central tenants of the transformation leadership theory, social exchange theory, and the social cognition theory, the study examines the impact of green transformational leadership on employees' green behaviors during times of crises using employees' self-esteem as a mediator and work engagement as the critical moderator. The relevant context of the study has been the small and medium enterprises of Saudi Arabia. Data from 232 SMEs employing less than 250 employees selected through convenience sampling was collected using structured questionnaires. After performing hierarchical regression modeling using SPSS 23, macro V4 model 58, and Amos 24, it has been found that green transformational leadership is positively associated with employees' green behaviors, with self-esteem and work engagement acting as significant mediating and moderating conditions, respectively. Besides, providing firsthand empirical evidence on the impact of green transformational leadership on employees' green behaviors, in unique industrial (SMEs), contextual (times of crises), and regional (Middle Eastern) settings, the study offers useful implications to the managers aspiring to enhance the sustainable performance of their firms through maturing green behaviors among their employees.

Does updating education curricula accelerate technology adoption in the workplace? Evidence from dual vocational education and training curricula in Switzerland.

In an environment of accelerating technological change and increasing digitalization, firms need to adopt new technologies faster than ever before to stay competitive. This paper examines whether updates of education curricula help to bring new technologies faster into firms' workplaces. We study technology changes and curriculum updates from an early wave of digitalization (i.e., computer-numerically controlled machinery, computer-aided design, and desktop publishing software). We take a text-as-data approach and tap into two novel data sources to measure change in educational content and the use of technology at the workplace: first, vocational education curricula and, second, firms' job advertisements. To examine the causal effects of adding new technology skills to curricula on the diffusion of these technologies in firms' workplaces (measured by job advertisements), we use an event study design. Our results show that curriculum updates substantially shorten the time it takes for new technologies to arrive in firms' workplaces, especially for mainstream firms.

Towards a green and just industry? Insights from traditional leather districts in Southern Italy.

Artisanal processes are crucial for examining major economic development, industrial, and historical forces. Among the different industries, fashion is regarded as one of the most polluting business activities. The indication of origin "Made in Italy" has found extensive scholarly economic appetite; however, the leather sector in its socioeconomic and environmental components has been scarcely investigated. The paper at hand analyzes selected leather poles in Campania, Italy - namely, the tanning, shoes, and gloves industries. Besides, the industrial processes and sustainability implications required are examined to render these productions. The tannery districts are characterized by a strong artisanal component in the productive processes and follow diverse geographical agglomeration rationales. Field visits and in-depth interviews were conducted in the local districts of Solofra (tanning), Grumo Nevano-Aversa (shoemaking), and Rione Sanità pole (glove-making). The local activities and specific operational industrial processes are mapped, highlighting the technical industrial phases needed to produce the three leather outputs. Besides, the sustainability repercussions of these industries are analyzed. The study finds that most of the activities heavily rely on traditional techniques and would benefit in socioeconomic and environmental terms from modernization, management, ICT upgrades, as well as process revisions and spatial agglomeration organization. Selected sectoral sustainable development, CSR, ESG, labeling, ethics, and environmental strategy recommendations are presented - especially concerning tanning wastewater treatment. These measures result in a compulsion to face the massive multidimensional crises occurring in the three sectors and business activities.

Digitalization and SMEs development in the context of sustainable development: A China perspective.

Worldwide economies are determined to achieve sustainable development. In this pursuit, the role of SMEs and ICT has emerged as an inevitable choice for sustainable development. The literature on the impact of SMEs and ICT on sustainable development, particularly in China's context, is scarce. Therefore, the analysis aims to investigate the impact of SMEs and ICT on sustainable development in China for the period of 1998-2020. We have applied the ARDL model for empirical analysis. The short and long-run estimates attached to SMEs are significant and positive, confirming that SMEs help to achieve sustainable development. Similarly, the estimates attached to ICT are positive and significant both in the short and long run, confirming the beneficial role of ICT in achieving sustainable development. The estimates attached to institutional quality and R&D control variables are positive and significant in the long run, but only R&D estimates are significant in the short run. In particular, digitalization and SMEs development provide a win-win situation for China to mitigate climate change in the long run and become more environmentally sustainable.

Examining the benefits, challenges, and drivers of open user innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises operating in low R&D industries.

Recent studies have indicated that many challenges exist in implementing open user innovation in SMEs. As a more advanced paradigm of traditional innovation, open user innovations are developed by users and other stakeholders who share tasks and costs of innovation development and then freely unwrap results. The work presented in this article examines the main factors driving open user innovation in SMEs, operating in industries with low investment in R&D. The work accounts for differences in the economics categorisation of the countries in which the organisations operate in (developing vs developed), and how that impacts various factors related to open user innovation adoption. The findings of this study indicate that differences between Australian and Kuwaiti SMEs exist, in terms of perceptions of success, benefits, challenges, and ease of implementation related to open user innovation. In addition, some differences are observed in the drivers for sensing open user innovation opportunities between the two countries examined.

Financing sources, green investment, and environmental performance: Cross-country evidence.

This article investigates the influence of financing sources and financial constraints on green investment, based on a study conducted with a sample of Eastern European SMEs from 2018 to 2020. We constructed a green investment proxy using principal component analysis, revealing two principal pillars: pure green investment and mixed green investment. Employing two-stage least squares regression analysis (2SLS) and instrumental probit (IV Probit), our results demonstrate that internal finance positively impacts green investment. Conversely, we find that leverage and financial constraints negatively correlate with green investment and environmental performance. The findings of this study provide compelling evidence that SMEs operating in the Eastern European region face significant financial constraints, impeding their ability to adopt responsible investments aimed at reducing their considerable environmental footprints. These results hold valuable implications for both managers and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of facilitating increased access to debt and devising green financial incentives to promote environmentally responsible investments among Eastern European SMEs, particularly during periods of conflicts.

Unlocking digital potential: Exploring the drivers of employee dynamic capability on employee digital performance in Chinese SMEs-moderation effect of competitive climate.

While dynamic capabilities have been described as crucial for achieving organizational performance in dynamic environments, there has been limited scholarly distinction between dynamic capabilities and employee dynamic capabilities (EDC), especially in the digital era. Consequently, a knowledge gap has emerged. To address this void, this paper aims to investigate the driving factors of EDC and their impact on employee digital performance (EDP). Simultaneously, incorporating the competitive climate (CC) as a moderating variable between employee dynamic capabilities and employee digital performance addresses theoretical gaps in specific regions in China, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study utilizes survey data from SMEs in four Chinese provinces: Shanghai, Guizhou, Guangdong, and Anhui. It employs CB-SEM (AMOS) to analyze the new conceptual framework. Firstly, the research uncovers that the positive relationship between digital capabilities and employee digital performance necessitates employee dynamic capabilities as a mediator. Secondly, there exists a direct and indirect relationship between organizational learning and employee digital performance. Finally, this study discerns that the competitive climate moderates the relationship between employee dynamic capabilities and employee digital performance. This finding demonstrates remarkable alignment with the competitive culture in specific regions of China. The research results encourage SMEs to seize the opportunities presented by emerging digital technologies and industry digitization trends. They should commit to embracing new digital technologies, enhancing digital capability, strengthening organizational learning, fostering a positive competitive climate, and focusing on the development of employee dynamic capability to enhance their competitive edge. The findings of this research contribute not only to academic inquiry but also furnish pertinent decision-making references for relevant departments.

Facilitators and hinderers for designing augmented reality for ecotourism SME's experiences: A service Design approach.

Designing Augmented Reality (AR) throughout service experiences remains under studied in several industries, despite the fact of growing consumer interest and use through different platforms and applications globally. Consequently, there is growing interest in understanding the what, the why and the how for designing AR applications in practice to boost ecotourism experiences, with the purpose of enhancing customer value creation and organizations differentiation. Consequently, the authors conducted an eleven-month practical theoretical study in 10 ecotourism SMEs purposefully recruited in Latin America, adopting service design as a main research framework. Using interviews, contextual analyses, buyer personas, observation, storytelling creation sessions, prototyping sessions and accompaniment sessions as research methods, researchers studied, (1) what were the key facilitators and hinderers for designing AR in practice at the SMEs ecotourism context following a service design lens and, (2) how the inherent principles of service design influence ecotourism SME's for the strategically adoption of AR in their service experiences. The study suggests key elements that can facilitate or hinder designing AR at ecotourism SME's Experiences in practice. Furthermore, the authors suggest a practical protocol for designing AR for ecotourism SMEs from the lens of service design (SD), User Experience (UX), and Augmented Reality (AR). Finally, the study also contributes to shade light on the marketing role and potential adoption of Augmented Reality (AR) in practice in SME's through a service design lens.

What Impacts the strength of perceived barriers to and drivers of energy efficiency in manufacturing SMEs?

In the manufacturing sector, improving energy efficiency in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is typically more challenging than in larger companies. Although the barriers to and drivers of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) are relatively well researched and identified in the literature, little attention has been paid to the factors that influence how SMEs perceive them. This study uses a sample of 220 manufacturing SMEs in Slovenia to econometrically assess the relevance of a comprehensive set of firm-, business-, energy- and energy efficiency-related characteristics to the barriers to and drivers of EEMs identified in the literature. The objective of this study is to identify which factors influence the importance of various barriers and drivers while accounting for firm heterogeneity. The results show that among the most influential factors of perceived barriers are energy intensity and export orientation, which are associated with the lower importance of perceived barriers, while debt works in the opposite direction. Surprisingly, firm size does not have an impact on barriers, except for one - the additional risk involved in EE investments, whereas it impacts several drivers. A low level of competition in the market and ownership of the firm's premises also contribute to the lower intensity of perceived barriers. In terms of the perceived importance of drivers, the most influential factors are firm size, the presence of an energy-responsible person in the firm and the company's employee energy efficiency awareness programme. Among the approaches to improve energy efficiency, the introduction of an energy policy or energy management system and certifications have the greatest influence on removing barriers, while energy consulting is not found to be significant. Furthermore, the importance of drivers is mainly positively associated with energy audits. These results provide useful policy implications for how to address the energy efficiency gap in manufacturing SMEs by targeting factors that would most effectively lower barriers to and strengthen drivers of energy efficiency.

The role of digital transformation in supply chain efficiency and economic output.

From the perspective of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), this research looks at the key elements influencing how small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) move toward a circular economy (CE). This research aims to understand the elements that influence SMEs to embrace CE principles and determine the real-world applications of SSCM practices. This research gathered and analyzed data from diverse European SMEs working inside CE networks using a mixed-method approach. We received answers from several of these firms using a survey form sent and emailed to them. The replies were then assessed using an independent t test to account for any biases. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for the validity assessment, compound consistency, and corrected-item-total association measures to validate the model's validity and reliability. According to our research, SMEs are influenced significantly by societal pressures, green economic incentives, and environmental dedication when deciding whether to adopt CE practices. Our study further emphasizes the importance of SSCM for SMEs' successful transition to a CE model, especially regarding resource and waste management efficiency. This work contributes to the corpus of research on the topic by providing empirical support for the function of SSCM in easing the transition towards CE in the setting of SMEs. The results might serve as a reference for managers and policymakers as they create plans to encourage SMEs to embrace CE practices and to emphasize the advantages of such a change on the economic, social, and environmental fronts. Putting a particular emphasis on the vital roles that public pressure, green financial incentives, and ecological dedication play, this research provides insights into the complex interactions between SSCM and CE transition in SMEs. Further study is needed to examine how these determinants could fluctuate across various industries and geographies.

The resilience of Romanian companies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: Relevant experiences and good practices.

The increasing number and diversity of crises in the world economy, both at the macroeconomic and the microeconomic level, justify the consistent theoretical and practical concerns regarding resilience. Our paper aims to evaluate Romanian companies' resilience by investigating the way they addressed the recent pandemic crisis. More concretely, our research is focused on identifying the most important crisis affecting each company and its industry. We analyze their impact on the firm's activity and performance, identify the perceived factors that could help the company to overcome the crisis, and investigate the efficiency of the measures implemented by the Romanian companies in order to overcome the most significant crises they faced. To achieve our research objectives, we conducted in-depth interviews on a sample of 63 respondents who are decision makers in their companies (entrepreneurs, managers, administrators, sales directors, and brand managers), and we used the interview guide as a research instrument for collecting the relevant qualitative data. The main results indicate that the most important crisis affecting these companies are related to issues in their specific field of activity (such as legal regulations, political factors), general country characteristics (socio-demographic or legislative factors) and global factors (such as a global economic crisis, the recent COVID-19 pandemic). These crises affected the firms on the financial, organizational, and marketing levels, but most of the analyzed companies found different ways to adjust and to overcome the crisis. The results are all the more important, as there is a lack of studies on how companies reacted to the recent pandemic in emerging economies, especially in Romania, in order to identify best practices and relevant experiences for potential future crises.

The influence of meaningful work on the mental health of SME employees in the COVID-19 era: can coping strategies mediate the relationship?

BACKGROUND: Stress, depression, and anxiety are prevalent issues among SME employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even while having meaningful work that expressively contributes to individual growth has been related to improving mental health, employees' work may also need to adopt coping strategies to increase outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between meaningful work (positive meaning, meaning-making, and greater good motivations) and mental health, as well as coping strategies (problem-focused and emotion-focused) as a mediator of this relationship. METHODS: Meaningful work, coping strategies, and mental health were evaluated in empirical research based on a sample of 462 SME employees working in Malaysia. Structured questionnaires were used to collect the data and analyze it through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using AMOS 21.0. RESULTS: The findings of the study show the importance of meaningful work in influencing the mental health of SME employees, particularly during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests that the more they value and see their work as meaningful, the more capable they are of dealing with limitations and mental health problems associated with crises. The study also discovered a partial mediating role for coping strategies between employees' mental health and meaningful work. CONCLUSION: This study encourages employees to constantly feel connected and discover continued possibilities to work and learn even during crisis situations. In order to improve human resource efficiency in emerging markets, managers and owners of SMEs must implement the model developed by the researchers.

Performance management system and its role for employee performance: Evidence from Ethiopian SMEs.

Small and mediumenterprises (SMEs) are crucial to Ethiopia's economy in creating jobs and reducing poverty. Despite the extensive literature on performance management systems (PMS) and employee productivity, there remain unanswered questions regarding which PMS predictors most effectively contribute to improved employee performance. This study aims to investigate the role of PMS in enhancing employee productivity in Ethiopian SMEs using both qualitative methods such as a literature review alongside quantitative techniques like linear regression analysis based on primary & secondary data sources. The findings provide valuable insights into effective strategies for implementing an efficient performance management system that can enhance employees' work outcomes within SMEs operating in Ethiopia.The results show that the implementation of an effective performance management system can significantly improve productivity among SMEs in Ethiopia. The five predictors identified by the linear regression model are important factors that contribute to better work outcomes among employees in Ethiopian SMEs; however, evaluation has been found to have the strongest positive relationship with improved job outcomes among those studied. Based on these findings, we recommend that SME owners/managers/HR professionals implement an effective performance management system that includes clear job responsibilities defined through performance planning, regular feedback provided about progress made towards goals set during the planning stage, periodic appraisals providing constructive criticism as well as recognition for good work done; offering training opportunities helping employees develop new skills or refine existing ones; rewarding high-performing employees who meet or exceed expectations with incentives such as bonuses or promotions can motivate them further.

The nexus between circular economy innovation, market competitiveness, and triple bottom lines efficiencies among SMEs: evidence from emerging economies.

Recently, the trend of circular economy innovation (CEI) drive SMEs to initiate more sustainable practices to attain market competitiveness but rare attention has been paid in emerging economies. Hence, this study plans to explore the impacts of CEI on the triple bottom lines (TBL) efficiencies in the light of market competitiveness among the production SMEs in emerging economies. The study complied data by using a survey-based technique in Pakistan, Malaysia, and China. With a sample of 306 for each segment, data were evaluated with PLS-SEM to clarify results. The findings reveal that CEI has positive significant effects on the market competitiveness and TBL efficiencies among the production SMEs in emerging economies. The findings also clarify that market competitiveness mediates the relationship between CEI and the TBL efficiencies. The findings elaborate the theoretical foundations for environmental-based production SMEs to formulate more sustainable strategies in the light of CEI to gain market competitiveness. It also clarifies the understandings of policy makers and environmental regulators by providing a novel precursor to frame the environment-based TBL guidelines for SMEs. It adds to the UN sustainability agenda by elevating the role of CEI as a novel domain among emerging economies grounded on the resource-based view theory.

Influence of digital ambidextrous capabilities on SMEs' transformation performance: The mediating effect of business model innovation.

As the global digital transformation process accelerates, how SMEs can successfully achieve digital transformation is currently an important research question in the field of strategic management and a real-life dilemma that entrepreneurs need to address. This study classifies business model innovation into market-driven business model innovation and driving-market business model innovation based on market orientation theory. The relationship between digital ambidextrous capabilities, business model innovation and transformation performance is explored according to the paradigm of 'capability-behaviour-performance'. This study used SEM and fsQCA to analyze 289 questionnaires collected from middle and senior managers of Chinese SMEs. The results show that digital exploitation capability is positively associated with market-driven business model innovation, while digital exploration capability is positively associated with driving-market business model innovation. In particular, business model innovation plays a fully mediating role in the process of digital ambidextrous capabilities enhancing the transformation performance. Our findings shed new lights on the current debate surrounding the digital transformation of SMEs and will be instructive for both academics and business managers.

Non-monetary narratives motivate businesses to engage with climate change.

The dominant narrative to motivate business actors to take climate actions emphasizes opportunities to increase monetary gains, linking sustainability to the financial goals of these organizations. The prevalence of monetary motivations in sustainability communication among businesses, consultancies, academics and international organizations has made this narrative a truism in the private sector. We conducted an online, real-world, large-n experiment to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of different motivations using narrative communication. We show that non-monetary narratives highlighting prosocial or achievement motivations are 55% more effective in creating responses from businesses than narratives emphasizing monetary gains. These findings are robust across most narrative and audience characteristics, including age and language. Our findings suggest that communication towards business leaders around sustainability can be multi-pronged and should incorporate prosocial and achievement motivations aside from articulating potential financial benefits.

Personal data protection compliance assessment: A privacy policy scoring approach and empirical evidence from Thailand's SMEs.

Privacy policies, intended to provide information to individuals regarding how their personal data is processed, are often complex and challenging for users to understand. Businesses often demonstrate non-compliance with personal data protection laws, ranging from the absence of privacy policies to the existence of policies that do not adhere to legal requirements. This paper aims to (1) develop a quantitative and systematic tool for evaluating privacy policies' compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), (2) assess compliance among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand, and (3) provide recommendations for enhancing compliance practices. To achieve this, we proposed a multi-criteria privacy policy scoring model integrated with comprehensive statistical data analyses. The privacy policy scoring model consists of ten privacy principles and 31 privacy criteria, providing a structured framework for evaluating privacy policies. During a two-year postponement period for enforcing the PDPA law, we conducted a stratified random-sampling survey of 384 SMEs to evaluate their privacy policies using the proposed scoring model. The accomplished results revealed significantly lower scores than anticipated, with the nationwide average score of SMEs reaching only 6.1909 out of 100 points. More than half of the SMEs collected personal data without announcing privacy policies, and those with privacy policies adhered to an average of only 12.15 out of 31 privacy criteria. These findings highlight the pressing need to improve compliance practices among SMEs in Thailand. The proposed methodology can be customized and applied to align with the requirements of personal data protection laws in other countries. Additionally, our findings indicate that compliance with the PDPA is influenced by the Thailand Standard Industrial Classification (TSIC) sections, suggesting the adoption of tailored approaches by policymakers to address the specific needs of different TSIC sections.

Impact of environmental sustainability on open innovation in SMEs: An empirical study considering the moderating effect of gender.

Sustainable development has emerged as a crucial factor enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in light of societal expectations and government regulations. Within this context, innovation assumes a significant role in this challenge, particularly for smaller companies facing greater obstacles in fostering innovation. These constraints have prompted both internal and external innovation initiatives, commonly referred to as open innovation. In this article, we scrutinize the influence of environmental practices on innovation endeavors, specifically examining whether the innovation strategy and its implementation facilitate the advancement of open innovation within SMEs. Furthermore, we explore the potential moderating effect of firm owners' gender on these relationships. The research model is validated using data from 543 companies in Ecuador, employing the partial least squares (PLS) method. The findings elucidate how environmental sustainability can promote the adoption of open innovation practices, with the innovation strategy and its implementation acting as mediators in this relationship. The impact of gender only manifests in the innovation strategy pertaining to environmental sustainability. In conclusion, open innovation stemming from the pivotal role of environmental sustainability emerges as a critical driver in augmenting innovation performance across various dimensions, such as quality, growth, efficiency, process enhancement, organizational practices, employee motivation, and acquisition of new product/service skills.

How exports affect green technology innovation in small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from Chinese companies listed on the growth enterprise market.

Using matched data from China Stock Market and Accounting Research (CSMAR) and Wind databases, this paper explores the impact of exports on the green technology innovation (GTI) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The mechanisms are analyzed through a two-way fixed effects model. First, exports contribute significantly to GTI of SMEs. Second, exports mainly contribute to GTI of SMEs by attracting government subsidies and increasing firms' environmental awareness. Third, from the perspective of heterogeneity, exports significantly positively impact GTI of SMEs especially in medium- and low-technology industries and in eastern China. The impact of exports on GTI is also examined by replacing core variables, modifying the sample for robustness testing, and utilizing both urban river density and distance from the center of the city to the nearest port as instrumental variables for endogeneity test. With the continuous development of international import and export trade, enterprises increase GTI research and development by attracting government subsidies, improving the quality of disclosed information, and increasing environmental awareness.