The centrality of organisational factors in the growth of new technology-based firms

PurposeNew technology-based firms (NTBFs) are a great potential source of job creation and economic growth. In France, strong heterogeneity of their growth trajectories is observed yet many of them remain small. A better understanding of these trajectories is thus necessary. The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of individual and organisational factors on 253 growth trajectories of NTBFs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a Heckman ordered probit model to study explanatory factors of growth trajectories in NTBFs created between 1999 and 2012. This method allows them to study the determinants of the presence of a growth dynamics at the same time as the determinants of growth intensity.FindingsThe model shows that entrepreneurs play a weak role in understanding the growth trajectories of their company. Rather, it is organisational factors – such as the level of innovation and the governance structure – that explain initiation of a growth trajectory and the intensity of the growth.Originality/valueBy using an original methodology, the authors highlight the importance of organisational factors and encourage entrepreneurs to develop a governance structure focused on internal stakeholders to support growth.

A New Model for the Digital Transformation of the Strategic Procurement Function

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the application of advanced data analytics in the domain of strategic procurement and its effects on processes, people, and on the procurement business model itself. Advanced data analytics are generally accepted as being one of the key enablers for organisations to build their capabilities to adapt quickly and navigate through volatile business circumstances successfully. Strategic procurement is in a pivotal position in a network of external suppliers and internal stakeholders, and thus ideally positioned to benefit from the introduction of advanced data analytics. However, to date, the application of these technologies has been limited, and clear evidence of benefits delivery is yet to be demonstrated. This chapter draws upon research results from a detailed case study in the aviation industry to assess the benefits of advanced data analytics in the strategic procurement function and puts forward a maturity model of relevance to both researchers and procurement professionals.

The Impact of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) on Internal Stakeholders' Satisfaction in Hungarian Upscale Hotels

Digital transformation and artificial intelligence are considered among the most vital trending topics in the process of hospitality sector evolution. Many scholars found that digital transformation and artificial intelligence cause a massive shift in all aspects of the hospitality sector and digital technology application that impact the whole facet of internal and external stakeholders' lives. However, the adoption of digitalization and artificial intelligence is considered a strength. Corporate digital responsibility (CDR) is a strategy that enhances trust between the companies adopting digitalization and their primary stakeholders. Internal and external stakeholders' satisfaction develop contemporary social responsibility (CSR) challenges in the decision-making process in acquiring, analysing, implementing, and assessing for adopting digitalization in the hospitality sector. This chapter aims to give a literature review focusing on CDR and its relation analyses to hotel industry's internal stakeholders' satisfaction trough a Hungarian case study.

Lessons in Atrocity Prevention: A Closer Look at Guinea

This article identifies the most significant atrocity risk factors and their indicators in accordance with the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes and provides a taxonomy of measures, taken by a variety of external and internal stakeholders, in different combinations, which reduced the risk of atrocity crimes reoccurring after the 2009 stadium massacre in Conakry, Guinea. On the 28th of September 2009, 157 protesters were killed, at least 1200 were injured, and over 100 women were raped by security forces in a stadium in Conakry. The UN’s Commission of Inquiry (coi) concluded that these crimes committed by the security forces amounted to crimes against humanity. The efforts to halt further violence and prevent the commission of crimes post-2009 stadium massacre were varied and encompassed regional and international preventive diplomacy. The coordination of a coherent political strategy among international, regional and sub-regional actors in the Guinean context contributed towards the perceived success in preventing further atrocities in Guinea, post-2009 massacre. Importantly, Guinea is not a typical example in terms of atrocity and conflict prevention, due to a unique regional and global dynamics that allowed for a rapid and rather coherent response to the September 2009 stadium massacre.

Reporting the Social Value Generated by European Universities for Stakeholders: Applicability of the Global Reporting Initiative Model

Universities are increasingly being asked to contribute to addressing the significant local and global challenges, such as those identified in the 2030 Agenda. Set in this framework, universities need to account for the social value they generate through their activities, particularly from the perspective of their contribution to different stakeholders. This approach requires, first of all, that the main stakeholders are identified. Relationship and dialogue mechanisms then need to be established which can help guide universities to choose activities which can better meet the needs of their stakeholders. The current paper analyses the potential of integrated reports, and triple bottom line reports, as an instrument for reporting on aspects that go beyond the financial sphere, including economic, social and environmental aspects. Specifically, the paper focuses on studying the viability of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for reporting the value that European universities generate for their stakeholders. The results show, firstly, that the universities in the sample do not sufficiently address these questions in their reports. Internal stakeholders are prominent in their reports, with the interaction between them and the universities being generally unidirectional. References to value generated are limited, and usually refer to the economic value. However, some examples of good practices are identified that could be used to improve standards of reporting, especially in universities committed to integrated reporting initiatives, in order to better reflect the social value.

Looking in and looking out: Effects of (in)congruent corporate social responsibility on organizational cynicism

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts targeting both internal stakeholders (i.e., employees) and external stakeholders (i.e., environment, community, consumers) can mitigate employees' negative attitudes and behavior. However, the effects of (in)congruence between internal CSR (ICSR) and external CSR (ECSR) perceptions have not yet been examined. We used social comparison theory to investigate the joint effects of ICSR and ECSR perceptions on organizational cynicism, by conducting a polynomial regression analysis of 342 employees with data from a two-wave survey. The results show that employees experienced higher cynicism when ICSR and ECSR perceptions were incongruent, with high ECSR–low ICSR causing greater cynicism. Thus, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between congruent CSR perceptions and organizational cynicism. Our findings have implications for research and practice.

Business Strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, and Financial Performance

This study examines how the alignment between business strategy (prospector vs. defender) and CSR affects company performance. There are different types of CSR; some involve internal stakeholders, and others involve external stakeholders. While external CSR may bring public visibility and company prestige, internal CSR can strengthen employee relations. We use the U.S. publicly listed companies because the data is more readily available and find a stronger positive relationship between external (internal) CSR and financial performance for prospectors (defenders) than for defenders (prospectors). We further find that the positive relationship is more profound for multinational companies than for domestic companies. Our study contributes to the extant literature on international accounting, CSR, and business strategy. Our findings have significant implications for managers in global markets, demonstrating that undertaking different types of CSR can increase their company’s competitive advantages and simultaneously advance social and economic conditions.

Tell me your story: Branding destinations through residents’ (place) stories

Concerns have been raised that destination branding often overlooks the destination's internal stakeholders, and in some cases, has resulted in a brand identity that does not reflect the meanings and emotions that residents attach to places. Consequently, scholars have advocated for a more participatory approach to destination branding in which residents’ sense of place can be acknowledged, represented, and operationalized. This paper synthesizes these arguments and demonstrates that such an approach can be achieved by embracing residents’ place stories. Through storytelling, residents construe different facets of the place identity that is the foundation of destination brand identity. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role, constituents, and effects of storytelling in destination branding, particularly exploring whose stories should be told and how these stories should be conveyed. In doing so, a participatory approach to destination branding is presented that employs residents’ place stories as a genuine form of participation in the destination branding process. Lastly, an agenda for future research is proposed, and practical implications for destination marketing practice are discussed.

Dealing With Pluralism: Managerial Work of CEOs in Italian Public Healthcare Organizations

Background: Healthcare organizations are extremely complex, and the work of their CEOs is particularly demanding, especially in the public sector. However, we know little about how healthcare executives’ managerial work unfolds. Drawing from scholarship on pluralistic organizations and managerial work, we answer the questions: what is the content of managerial work of executives in public healthcare? How do CEOs deal with pressures from internal and external stakeholders while maintaining a strategic agenda?Methods: We adopted a mixed method with a survey to measure CEO behaviors, coding CEOs time for four weeks; a questionnaire to understand the strategic dimensions of interactions; interviews of senior CEOs.Results: CEOs in Italian public healthcare devote most of their time to interactions, by and large responding to pressures by internal stakeholders. Although half of this time is perceived as occupied in answering operational requests, this is necessary to nurture relations, create networks and develop alliances and consensus, which are functional in achieving CEOs’ strategic agenda.Conclusions: CEOs in public healthcare must deal with enormous contextual pressures and cannot manage the complexity but are called to manage within the complexity, fostering involvement in decision making, building networks, and establishing alliances. Amidst ambiguity and fragmentation, executives need to find solutions to perform their managerial work without being entrapped by stakeholders’ pressures, thanks to effective stakeholder management as well as delegation.Trial registration: The article does not report the results of a health care intervention on human participants, and material used in the research did not need ethical approval according to Italian law.

Covid-19 Vaccine and Scholastic Performance of Learners: A Perspective of Internal Stakeholders

This paper interrogates the relationship between the availability of the Covid-19 vaccine and the impressive learner results in secondary schools. The paper resulted from diverse discourses, some of which emphasize that the prevalence of Covid-19 in the world has dampened schools' learning moods to the level of flooring learner performance. This paper is conceptual and empirical within the qualitative research paradigm. The question guiding this paper is: to what extent could secondary schools produce inspiring learner results through revelatory information on the availability of vaccination for Covid-19 sufferers? Narrative inquiry and interviewing techniques were used to collect data. Out of the population of 15 secondary schools in one of the circuits in Sekhukhune district in Limpopo Province, South Africa, 3 were conveniently sampled. In each of the 3 sampled secondary schools, only Deputy Chairpersons of the School Governing Bodies and Chairpersons of the Representative Council of Learners became research participants. Findings revealed that underrating the revelatory information of vaccine availability for Covid-19 sufferers was costly for schools. Secondly, failure to consolidate learner solidarity against Covid-19 to improve the quality of schooling life was a problem. Thirdly, the inability by schools to prevent passive teaching and learning through the utilization of the Covid-19 threat. Fourthly, the inability by secondary schools to apply Covid-19 threat to encourage overachievement by learners. Fifthly, inability by schools to push back the frontiers of mediocre performance by applying Covid-19 as a rallying point. Lastly, schools failed to utilize the prevalence of Covid-19 to keep pupils psychologically and developmentally ready for lessons. The researcher recommends applying the ebullient classroom environments to keep teaching and learning memorable, theatrical, and therapeutic, despite the prevalence of the Covid-19 pandemic.