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This paper sheds light on the factors facilitating the digital transformation (DT) of companies, examining the empirical evidence according to a new and original dual lens: the internal and external marketing management perspective.

Through an explorative research design based on semi-structured interviews, we investigate the perceptions of some managers involved in managing the DT of their own companies.

The findings, organized from an internal and external marketing perspective, show how DT requires efforts in nurturing: (1) its organizational and cultural nature; (2) new managerial skills and e-leadership. These factors activate DT as an accelerator of (3) production processes and service provision and (4) competitive strategies.

Our findings underscore critical practical implications for organizations embarking on a DT journey. Firstly, managers should prioritize creating a culture that encourages employees to embrace change and technology. Secondly, recognizing the importance of new managerial skills and e-leadership, managers need to invest in developing the expertise to effectively lead DT efforts. The related skills encompass digital literacy, change management and the ability to inspire and guide teams through the complexities of a DT.

This paper suggests that organizations should holistically approach DT, focusing on culture, leadership and strategic deployment of digital tools. The proposed dual lens offers a valuable and simple answer for academics and practitioners to effectively frame the internal dynamics and external factors shaping DT.

The purpose of this paper is to examine prominent issues and contributions from extant research and explore the literature on the services provided by Knowledge-Intensive Public Organizations (KIPOs) and its pursuit to achieve the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (hereafter referred to as the UN 2030 SDGs agenda) amidst the challenges represented by COVID-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the crucial role of accounting in dealing with techniques and social and moral practices concerned with the sustainable utilization of resources. This paper also provides an overview of the other papers presented in this JPBAFM Special Issue and draws from their findings to scope out future impactful research opportunities in this area.

The design consists of a review and examination of the prior relevant literature and the other papers published in this JPBAFM Special Issue.

The paper identifies and summarizes three key research themes in the extant literature: the growth in the types of KIPO; the rise in the research approaches to study the provision of public services by KIPO in pursuit of the UN 2030 SDG agenda and the consequent call for developments in the accounting field; and unintended consequences during COVID-19 pandemic. It draws upon work within these research themes to set out four broad areas for future impactful research.

The value of this paper rests with collating and synthesizing several important research themes on the nature and unintended consequences of the UN 2030 SDG agenda, and the challenges represented by COVID-19 pandemic in the governance, management and accounting for KIPO and in prompting future extensions of this work through setting out areas for further innovative research within the field.

The research examined in this paper and the future research avenues proposed are highly relevant to the health sector, the judiciary, museums, research centers and the UN. The focus on accounting and accountability towards a broader spectrum of stakeholders calls for new avenues of study in the accounting field. They also offer important insights into matters of management, accounting, accountability, sustainability accounting and control more generally.

The research examined in this paper and the future research avenues proposed are highly relevant to the health sector, the judiciary, museums, universities, research centers and the UN. They also offer important insights into matters of management, accounting, accountability, sustainability accounting and control more generally.

This paper adds to vibrant existing streams of research in the area of KIPO by bringing together authors from different areas of accounting research for this JPBAFM Special Issue. In scoping out an agenda for impactful research approaches used to study the provision of public services by KIPO, this paper also draws attention to underexplored issues pertaining to extents such as the “lived experience” of personnel in the KIPO and envisioning what a future system of governance, management and accounting of SDG might look like.

Scholars increasingly focus on digital transformation as a key strategy for incumbent firms to gain competitive advantages. Meeting digital transformation commitments presents challenges, requiring the application and the reconfiguration of dynamic capabilities. To address this need, this research proposes a framework of dynamic capabilities and its microfoundations to assess the opportunities and challenges regarding digital transformation, involving three dimensions: Digital sensing, digital seizing, and digital reconfiguring.

This study employed a descriptive qualitative empirical approach, encompassing a sample of eight companies. Data triangulation was achieved through a combination of in-depth semi-structured interviews and secondary data.

The research provides evidence that data-driven culture fosters digital transformation and proposes the following new microfoundations: “Analytics for the customer experience journey” and “Digital analytics innovation management”, the internal barriers “Leadership without digital skills” and “Lack of strategic human resources management for digital transformation”, and the internal enablers “Defined strategy for digital transformation” and “Data-driven culture”. Finally, based on empirical results, it was possible to gather clues that link dynamic capabilities with digital maturity.

The application of the proposed framework in companies enables them to develop a roadmap for the digital transition oriented towards their business and management strategies.

This paper contributes to the literature on dynamic capabilities for digital transformation by proposing new theoretical constructs that unearth their microfoundations, barriers, and enablers.

This paper aims to unveil the darker side of cryptocurrencies by delving into its role as an obstacle to investments in Middle East and African (MEAs) countries, unravelling the challenges involved. Indeed, despite the rise of blockchain-related technologies, specifically cryptocurrencies, having undeniably unlocked new avenues for business and society, crypto for venture funding purposes may exhibit a “dark side” due to their use for unethical purposes, for example, money laundering or terrorism financing, largely diffused in certain areas of MEA countries.

Through an explorative research design, using a mix of techniques based on both qualitative and interpretive methods, we conducted in-depth interviews among 33 European managers of companies engaged in MEA markets or aspiring to invest in such foreign markets, to analyse their thoughts, perceptions and possible strategies concerning the management of the “dark side” of cryptocurrencies in MEAs.

Our investigation unearthed seven pivotal issues, which manifest as significant barriers related to the ambivalent use of crypto for funding projects, encompassing seven important consequential elements: (1) lack of knowledge about the technology’s potentialities; (2) perceptions of crypto technology’s ambivalence; (3) reputation and image consequences; (4) uncertainty about the destination of the invested funds; (5) decreased attractiveness of MEAs; (6) competition and market; and (7) lack of control and regulation. We grouped these into technology-related, business-related and legal- and policy-related barriers. Such findings underline the probable decrease in attractiveness of MEAs in terms of investments, together with the triggering factors and potential strategic solutions to mitigate such circumstances.

Future studies could explore a broader sample of managers since we only considered the perception of European managers operating in companies that invest (or are intending to invest) in MEAs. Moreover, future research may extend the analysis to MEA-native companies or those engaging in reciprocal exchanges with Western countries.

Practically, our findings suggest several elements in which to intervene to mitigate managers’ negative perception of the unethical use of cryptocurrencies in MEAs and to support CEOs’ and CFOs’ strategies, together with requirements to ensure the unaltered attractiveness of investments in an otherwise thriving region of the world, without overlooking the protection and safeguarding of investments and the health of the market and competition. Furthermore, a call for future research in this domain, along with at least minimal regulatory mechanisms, clearly emerges.

Our findings underline the social challenges associated with the perception and acceptance of cryptocurrencies in these contexts, influencing cultural and social dynamics. Moreover, the identification of these barriers could underscore the significance of awareness of and education on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies within society, including implications for policymakers.

Despite prior investigations into the negative effects of cryptocurrencies as a form of venture funding, no studies to date have examined managers’ perceptions by focusing on possible barriers to investment in MEA countries due to the unethical usage of crypto. Importantly, this paper unravels the unexplored complexities of crypto’s impact on ethical investments in MEAs, showcasing an original perspective.