Prelims

Half Title Page

Business Strategies and Ethical Challenges in the Digital Ecosystem

Endorsements

Amidst the turbulence of our digital age, ‘Technological Adoption and Digital Business Strategy in the Time of Crisis’ emerges as a vital compass for businesses seeking sustainable growth. This insightful book doesn't just theorize; it provides actionable strategies grounded in real-world scenarios. I highly recommend this book as a must-read for executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators looking to master the art of digital transformation in an ever-evolving landscape.

— Professor Charles Dennis, Middlesex University, UK

In a world of constant change and uncertainty, ‘Technological Adoption and Digital Business Strategy in the Time of Crisis’ stands as a beacon of practical wisdom. This book provides actionable insights and real-world examples, making it an indispensable guide for navigating the digital landscape during challenging times. Highly recommended for business leaders and professionals seeking to thrive in today's dynamic environment.

— Professor Yogesh K. Dwivedi, Personal Chair, Swansea University, Wales, UK

Title Page

Business Strategies and Ethical Challenges in the Digital Ecosystem

Edited By

S. Asieh H. Tabaghdehi

Brunel University London, UK

And

Pantea Foroudi

Brunel University London, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2025

Editorial matter and selection © 2025 S. Asieh H. Tabaghdehi and Pantea Foroudi.

Individual chapters © 2025 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80455-070-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-069-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-071-7 (Epub)

List of Figures and Tables

About the Editors

S. Asieh H. Tabaghdehi is an Associate Professor and an Academic Researcher in the field of strategy and digital economy, with a strong interest in ethical digital ecosystems. Dr Tabaghdehi's expertise lies in understanding the critical role of data and digital technologies in shaping the future of society and the economy. She is dedicated to developing evidence-led initiatives and strategies that emphasise the importance of ethics in fostering inclusive digital innovation and sustainability. She is an enthusiastic Economist and Social Value Practitioner who employs innovative methodologies in her research and consultancy work to promote the ethical use of digital data for business growth and sustainability initiatives. Her research and consultancy work in these areas help businesses, individuals and society at large navigate the complex challenges and opportunities of our digital age. Dr Tabaghdehi actively collaborates with government agencies to shape policies that are grounded in organisational theory and drive responsible digital innovation and transformation on a national and international scale. Her commitment to driving positive change and innovation in the digital world makes her a vital thought leader in this field.

Pantea Foroudi (PhD, SFHEA, MSc (Honours), MA, BA (Honours)) is the Business Manager and Solution Architect at Foroudi Consultancy and is a member of the Marketing and Branding Department, Brunel Business School, London. Pantea has been working in the field of design, branding and marketing since 1996, and she has experience as a creative innovator and practical problem-solver in visual identity, graphic design, and branding in different sectors. Her primary research interest has focused on consumer behaviour from a multidisciplinary approach based on two research streams: (i) corporate brand design and identity and (ii) sustainable development goals (SDGs). Pantea has been published widely in international academic journals, such as the British Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Journal of Hospitality Management and others. She is the Associate/Senior Editor of the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and European Journal of International Management (EJIM), among others.

About the Contributors

Alireza Aghakabiriha received his Master degree in Technological Entrepreneurship in 2023 from University of Tehran, Faculty of Entrepreneurship. His research interests include strategic management, new product development, innovation and organisational capabilities.

Morteza Akbari is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran. He has published several papers on different aspects of entrepreneurship and technological entrepreneurship and innovation. His research interests are sharing behaviour, consumer psychology, food marketing, open innovation and technological entrepreneurship. His work has been published in various journals including Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Current Issues in Tourism, European Journal of International Management, European Journal of Innovation Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, British Food Journal, Innovation, Research in Transportation Business & Management, Transportation Research Record, Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, Int. J. Business Innovation and Research, Social Responsibility Journal and Iranian Journal of Management Studies.

Ozlem Ayaz received her PhD in Management and Organisations in 2016. She joined Brunel Business School in February 2020. Dr Ayaz has several years of management experience in strategic management, working at big companies in Turkey. Her research is embedded in the strategic management field specifically interested in the integration of management systems with different operational aims. Her interest also resides in the role of leadership, social and business value creation ethical organisations during the digital era started with Industry 4.0. Dr Ayaz has published widely in internationally well-regarded academic journals such as Journal of Business Research, Decision Support Systems, Business Strategy and the Environment. She has presented her research output at international conferences such as the Academy of Management Conference in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Ramin Behbehani is a Lecturer in Operations Management at Brunel Business School. His research primarily explores the social dimensions of operations management, emphasising contemporary areas such as sustainability and green supply chain and their implications on organisational performance. Actively investigating the underlying social dynamics within operations, his work aims to drive sustainable practices and strengthen organisational efficiency in today's business landscape.

Guido Berens is an Assistant Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. His research and teaching interests include corporate communication, consumer reactions to CSR and quantitative research methods. His research has been published in the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Management Studies, among others.

Edem Kofi Boni is a third-year PhD student at Brunel University London Business School. His research explores how artificial intelligence is reinventing the retail landscape, the extent to which an AI application is customer-facing, the amount of value creation, whether the AI application is online and the extent of ethical concerns.

Ashley Braganza is the Dean of Brunel Business School and holds the Chair in Business Transformation. Prior to being appointed Dean, Professor Braganza was the Deputy Dean of the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences. He is the Founder and co-Director of Brunel's interdisciplinary Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence, launched in 2018, which incorporates a dedicated AI Lab. The Centre and Lab are central to Brunel's wider AI Ecosystem, led by Professor Braganza. Most recently, Professor Braganza is part of a consortium that has won a €5.8 million bid for the ELOQUENCE EU project (2024–2027). Professor Braganza's scholarly contribution is to the field of change implementation and, specifically, leadership of strategic organisational transformation. His interest in the implementation of cross-functional change was sparked during his doctoral journey and continues to inform his research projects, teaching and consultancy assignments. AI technologies are, in his view, going to create the biggest changes in industry. His research is practice-based, underpinned by over 35 publications in high-ranking, peer-reviewed journals. Professor Braganza has led over 25 large consultancy transformation projects in global and national public and FT100 private sector organisations.

Ana Isabel Canhoto is a Professor of Digital Business at the University of Sussex, UK. Her research focuses on service automation and the role of digital technology (including AI) in customer interactions. She examines drivers of adoption, user experiences and consequences of adoption. Recent research has focused on health decision-making, smart technology in the home, AI-powered personalisation, chatbots and the digitalisation of SMEs. Ana is also committed to the pedagogical use of digital technology, including using machine learning to support pupil performance, creating quasi-simulations for experiential learning and training early career researchers to use social media to develop and disseminate their work.

Fahimeh Dousthosseini is a PhD researcher at Marketing Management, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. She is a member of the National Elite Foundation of Iran. She studied and works in business management since 2015. Her research interest is in green marketing, artificial intelligence, and consumer behavior. She has published many articles in academic journals and conferences.

Manijeh Haghighinasab is a Full Professor in Marketing Management at Alzahra state University. During the years, she had different positions in the private and governmental sectors. She was primarily involved in international activities. She had training courses in Italy's plastics industry, entrepreneurs' skills for SMEs in Greece, presenting papers in different Conferences in Malaysia, Russia, Turkey, Spain and India from trade to education and research. She was a Lecturer in Marketing at the Tourism School of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Spain as well as at Chandigarh University in India. Her expertise is in international marketing, digital marketing, electronic commerce, business to business marketing, services marketing and entrepreneurship. She has published several books, book chapters and many papers on these subjects.

Ming-yao Jen is a Lecturer in International Business at Brunel Business School, Brunel University. Her research interests include market research, third sectors, ESG, online consumer behaviour and governance mechanisms. Her works are published in International Marketing Review, etc.

Hossein Kalatian is a Lecturer in Marketing and Business Studies at University Northampton International College. He is a Consultant, Lecturer and Researcher in Strategy, Organisational Change and Development and Digital Marketing. In the last 6 years, Hossein has taught courses in Management, Marketing, Organisational Behaviour, Organisational Change and Development in the United Kingdom. He has also been involved in several research projects investigating the impact of digital platforms and social media on SMEs performance and growth.

Nikos Ioannis Kois is a Senior QC Analyst with extensive experience within the AML sector investigating and analysing company data on existing clients to identify potential risks and conduct the appropriate level of due diligence to ensure minimal risks to the bank. Apart from that, Nikolaos has an interest in management and potential ways to improve the efficiency of entities, which was the reason why he studied Economics and Management with Patway in Brand Management.

Ameneh Khadivar is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, University of Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran. She has a BA in Industrial Management from Iran University of Science and Technology in Iran. She obtained her MA in Information Technology Management from Tarbiat Modares University in Iran. She also received her PhD in Systems Management from Tarbiat Modares University. Her research interests include expert system, business intelligence, knowledge management and system dynamics.

Maryam Khodayari is a PhD student in Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran. Her research interests are technological entrepreneurship and innovation, technology intelligence, sustainability and energy storage technologies. Her work has been published in several journals including Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Innovation Management, Cogent Business and Management and Journal of Technology Development Management.

Lefteris Kretsos is a Senior Lecturer at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London. He has published articles and coedited books and book chapters in world-leading academic journals and academic presses. His teaching portfolio includes several business and management courses mainly in the area of employee relations and HRM, organizational behavior, and management of change. During 2015–2019, Lefteris served as a Cabinet Minister in Greece and as a Permanent Secretary responsible for Digital and Media Policy.

Kevin Lu is a Senior Lecturer, Business School, Brunel University. His research interests include marketing analytics, online customer behaviour and electronic business. His research has been supported by EPRSC, EU and KTP.

Shazia Luidens is a sustainability professional from Aruba. She holds a degree in Global Business and Sustainability from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and has experience in the fashion and hospitality industry.

Danae Manika (PhD, University of Texas at Austin) is a Professor of Marketing at Brunel Business School and Deputy Dean of the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences at Brunel University. She also leads the Behavioural Science Insights for Sustainability Lab within the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Sustainability at Brunel University. Danae's research profile includes sustained publications across several years on effective message construction for behaviour change within health, environmental and well-being contexts, while her research has been supported by £364,000+ of funding (e.g., CRUK, EPSRC/Innovate UK, NERC/NCAS, RED and Arrow/ERDF). Danae has also been involved in various consultancies (e.g., Harrow Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, RECOUP, Global Action Plan), with the aim of linking theory to practise (impact). She is a Section Editor for the Journal of Business Ethics (section: Marketing Ethics) which is a Financial Times 50 journal, and Associate Editor (AE) for Business and Society, and sits on the Editorial Review Boards of top journals. Adding to her external recognition, she has experience as a Funding Reviewer for Cancer Research UK (2015–2019) and track chair for top marketing conferences worldwide (Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress Conference in 2023, the Transformative Consumer Research Conference in 2021 and the European Social Marketing Association Conference in 2016).

Mohammad Reza Meigounpoory received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Iran University of Science And Technology. At present, he is a faculty member of technological entrepreneurship at University of Tehran, Faculty of Entrepreneurship. He works on techno entrepreneurship and new product development.

Ayatolah Momayez is an Assistant Professor, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Waheed Mughal earned his PhD in Social and Policy Studies from Loughborough University. Dr Mughal has published research papers on the issue of out of school children and their engagement in entrepreneurship. His research interests also include social innovation, entrepreneurship for a family run business at a small scale. Dr Mughal has recently worked at Brunel University London as a Research Fellow with the principal investigators on the project titled SMEs digital footprints and their ethical implications during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond.

Mostafa Oboudi is a PhD Student, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Hamid Padash is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran. He has published several papers on economics and entrepreneurship. His research work has been published in various journals including European Journal of Innovation Management, Research in Transportation Business & Management, Transportation Research Record, Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, Social Responsibility Journal and Foods.

Maria Palazzo (PhD, AFHEA, FHEA, MSc (Honours), MA, BA (Honours)) is an Associate Professor, Universitas Mercatorum (Italy) and a member of the ‘Sustainability Communication Centre’ (SCC) (http://dsc.unisa.it/scc/). She was a former Lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, School of Business (London, Luton, UK), a Visiting Scholar at the University of Granada (Granada, Spain) and a Visiting Lecturer at the Universidad del Norte, Escuela de Negocios (Barranquilla, Colombia). Her articles have been published in Journal of Cleaner Production, Current Issues in Tourism, Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental Management, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, Journal of Brand Management and in other academic outlets.

Mehdi Rahmani is a current Doctoral Researcher at Brunel Business School. He holds an MSc in Business Intelligence and Digital Marketing from Brunel University and a BS in Industrial Engineering. With over two decades of professional experience, Mehdi has served as the CEO of both an advertising and marketing agency and a consulting company, as well as worked as an Economic Journalist. His diverse professional background deeply informs his academic pursuits and research. Currently, his doctoral research explores the intersection of advanced technology, customer purchase behavior, customer engagement, and digital marketing.

Atta ur Rehman (MSc, BSc) is a Master’s in Marketing graduate with merit from Brunel University. Atta has a profound passion for quantitative research with expertise in data analytics, brand management, and the intersection of technology in marketing. Their dissertation, ‘Perceived Product Innovation and Brand Loyalty’, extends the Technology Acceptance Model to highlight the relationship between technological innovation and adoption with brand loyalty. Committed to enhancing marketing strategies, Atta is dedicated to leveraging data-driven insights for impactful contributions to the field.

Ronny Reshef is a PhD Researcher and a Lecturer at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. Her research and teaching interests include early modern times government–nonprofit relations, religion and philanthropy and the longitudinal legitimacy of the third sector.

Ainurul Rosli is a Professor of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and leads Business Engagement at Brunel Business School. She works on evidence-led social impact and co-creation initiatives to support SMEs various strategic agendas, including collaboration for digital adoption. Prof Rosli's work has been instrumental in supporting the UK Government Funded Small Business Support programmes (Small Business Leadership, Help To Grow Management). She chairs the Practice and Impact Special Interest Group at Institute of Small Business Enterprise (ISBE).

Nader Seyyedamiri is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Javad Shekarkhah is an Associate Professor in Accounting at Allameh Tabataba'i University. Javad holds a PhD from the Allameh Tabataba'i University. His research interests lie in the area of accounting, auditing and finance, focusing on managerial accounting, behavioural finance, enterprise wide risk management (EWRM), corporate governance, Islamic banking, financial statements fraud, audit quality and stock markets. His research work covers different areas such as stock market issues, future of corporate reporting, Islamic banking and corporate governance. He has published his work in Iranian leading and internationally academic journals. He serves on the editorial advisory board and is a Reviewer for the Iranian journals.

Leila Hosseini Tabaghdehi is a distinguished Lecturer specialising in Educational Management at Islamic Azad University. With a profound expertise in the field, she holds a PhD in Educational Management, reflecting her commitment to advancing knowledge and contributing to the academic community. Throughout her career, Dr Tabaghdehi has been dedicated to the principles of education and leadership, aiming to instill a passion for learning and effective management practices among her students. Her research and academic pursuits focus on the dynamic intersection of educational theory and practical management applications. Dr Tabaghdehi's academic journey has been marked by a deep-seated commitment to excellence in teaching, research and administration. Her extensive knowledge in educational management and quantitative data analysis not only enriches her classroom interactions but also informs her contributions to the broader educational landscape.

Prena Tambay is a Practitioner and engaged Scholar. She specialises in the role of HRM in the digital age, future of work and people analytics. She works for Kingston Business School London. She has published her work in the space of using AI and blockchain in reducing modern slavery. She has presented her work in academic conferences and at various forums like Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and British Computer Society. She has several years of industry experience. She is engaged in knowledge transfer and consulting.

Dorothy Yen is a Professor in Marketing at Brunel Business School, Brunel University London. Dorothy takes on a consumer-centric approach to understand and discuss marketing, branding and tourism matters. She is particularly interested in exploring how culture affects human behaviour, in both B2B and B2C domains. She studies cross-cultural business relationships, consumer acculturation, sojourners and migrants' food consumption and contributes to the debate of Anglo-Chinese business relationships. Her works are published in journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, European Journal of Marketing, etc.

Zeinab Zamani is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Social Sciences, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran. She has a PhD in Marketing Management from Al-Zahra University in Iran. She also has an MA and a BA in Business Management from Persian Gulf University in Iran. Her research interests include marketing, tourism marketing, entrepreneurship, advertising campaign and message content strategy.