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The appearance of social media in small and medium enterprise (SME) business operations seems to be increasing in recent years. SME owners have started to understand that digital marketing tools can benefit their businesses significantly. Hence, in this study, we explore further the relationship between organisations and customers, and how SMEs use social media as an opportunity to develop their enterprises. We report the results by relying on qualitative methods to explore the insights from a wider stakeholder perspective. The findings contribute to the existing literature in agreement with the latest theories that SMEs in Greece are aware of the hidden opportunities and try to apply branding with the combination of social media. This study explores further the role of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in a business transition, customers' experience and competitive business advantage.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.

Despite an abundance of literature regarding the motivations of sport and entertainment managers to adopt environmentally sustainable practices (ESPs) within their venue, there is little offered on which particular stakeholders motivate such action. This study examined the venues which host such events to identify the stakeholders who influence the adoption of ESPs, their specific roles and to highlight salient stakeholders who primarily motivate ESP adoption.

Guided by stakeholder theory as a framework for analysis, a qualitative study was employed which consisted of sixteen semi-structured interviews with venue personnel including presidents, general managers, operations directions and recycling coordinators. Participants were asked to discuss their venue’s management structure, stakeholder relations and ESPs.

Internal stakeholders – particularly ownership and operations personnel – were salient stakeholders motivating ESP adoption, but the most unique stakeholder identified was that of a motivated “doer” from no particular role who simply possessed the power, legitimacy and urgency to act on ESPs. Thus, there was no single, identifiable stakeholder role to champion ESPs so much as there was a motivated, normatively legitimate stakeholder who wanted to be that champion.

This research contributes to the growing sport ecology literature and is the first to present the idea of a non-particular, doer stakeholder to champion ESPs within this industry rather than one with a more defined role within organizational structure.

This study investigates how asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability relate with supply chain integration (SCI), considering selected food processing firms (FPFs) in Uganda.

This study applies a quantitative research methodology. This research draws on a sample of 103 FPFs that have been selected from a population of 345 FPFs located in Kampala district. Hypothesis testing was done using Smart PLS version 3.

Asset specificity has a significant positive relationship with SCI, and firm adaptability partially mediates this relationship. Also, there is a full mediation impact of firm adaptability on the relationship between relational governance and SCI.

This study focused on perceptual measures to get responses from managers on the level of integration with key suppliers and customers, yet firms deal with a number of suppliers and customers.

This study contributes to existing literature on SCI by applying the transaction cost theory. The study focuses on the influence of asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability on SCI in the food processing sector. Literature on relational governance in supply chain using the transaction cost theory remains scanty. Few studies have also focused on firm adaptability as a mediator in the FPS with specific focus on Uganda, yet the sector is highly faced with uncertain events. The uncertain events in the sector and in developing countries call for adaptive strategies. Additionally, this study is the first to use firm adaptability to mediate the influence of asset specificity and relational governance on SCI more so in a developing country like Uganda where the FPS is one of the most important in the economy.

Patient-centric exchanges, a major type of Health Information Exchange (HIE), empower patients to aggregate and manage their health information. This exchange model helps patients access, modify and share their medical information with multiple healthcare organizations. Although existing studies examine patient engagement, more research is required to investigate patients' attitudes and willingness to play an active role in patient-centered information exchange. The study's main objective is to develop a model based on the belief-attitude-intention paradigm to empirically examine the effects of patients' attitudes toward engagement in care on their willingness to participate in patient-centric HIE.

The authors conducted an online survey study to identify the antecedents and consequences of patients' attitudes toward engagement in care. To empirically test the research model, the authors collected data from a national sample (n = 357) of individuals in the United States. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The proposed model categorizes the antecedents to patients' attitudes toward engagement in patient-related and healthcare system factors. The results show that patient-related factors (perceived health literacy and perceived coping ability) and health system factors (perceived experience with the healthcare organization and perceived patient-provider interaction) significantly shape patient attitude toward care management engagement. The results indicate that patients' attitudes toward engaging in their healthcare significantly contribute to their willingness to participate in medical information sharing through patient-centric HIE initiatives. Moreover, the authors’ findings also demonstrate that the link between patient engagement and willingness to participate in HIE is stronger for individuals who perceive lower levels of privacy and security concerns.

The authors validate the proposed model explaining patients' perceptions about their characteristics and the healthcare system significantly influence their attitude toward engaging in their care. This study also suggests that patients' favorable attitude toward engagement can bring patient-centric HIE efforts onto a path to success. The authors’ research attempts to shed light on the importance of patients' roles in adopting patient-centric HIE initiatives. Theoretical and practical contributions of this study are noticeable since they could result in a deeper understanding of the concept of patient engagement and how it may affect healthcare services in an evolving digital world. The authors’ findings can help healthcare organizations provide public citizen-centric services by introducing user-oriented approaches in healthcare delivery systems.

This paper aims to examine the effects of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on firm performance, considering the mediating effect of process innovation and the moderating effect of organizational innovation. Additionally, this study investigates both the direct and indirect effects of IPRs on firm performance.

We employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine proposed hypotheses. Our analysis attempted to analyze 3,750 Korean firms sourced from the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPI).

Process innovation mediates the relationship between IPRs and firm performance, and organizational innovation moderates the relationship between IPRs and process innovation. As a result, process and organizational innovation positively and indirectly affect firms’ financial performance. Also, IPRs can be regarded as a crucial resource for service firms, contributing to enhancing their performance.

The results of this study imply that IPRs can act as valuable intellectual resources for firms, improving financial performance. The mediating role of process innovation in the relationship between IPRs and firm performance highlights the significance of process innovation as a principal resource applicable to both the service and the manufacturing industries. Additionally, this study reveals that organizational innovation plays a vital role in determining firm performance by moderating the relationship between IPRs and process innovation. For the limitation of this study, it is important to acknowledge that the research primarily focuses on examining firms’ internal resources, while innovation activities can be significantly influenced by external knowledge resources as well. To address this limitation, future research should consider integrating the influence of external knowledge resources to provide a more well-rounded perspective on the relationship between IPRs, innovation, and firm performance.

This study holds two significant practical implications. First, from a corporate management perspective, service firms can improve their financial performance by developing or improving process innovations. This underscores the importance of investing in and fostering process innovation within an organization to achieve better financial outcomes. Second, from the corporate managers’ perspective, organizational innovation is crucial in improving firm performance, particularly when combined with IPRs and process innovation. This suggests that a holistic approach to innovation, encompassing both organizational and process-oriented initiatives, can lead to more substantial positive effects on firm performance. Finally, managers should proactively manage and regulate IPRs at various organizational levels, especially in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. By safeguarding and strategically leveraging their IPRs, companies can position themselves advantageously and capitalize on the opportunities presented in the digital realm.

This study shows that firm innovations can dynamically shape the relationship between IPRs and firms’ performance. This highlights the significant potential for firms to leverage their intellectual resources strategically to create novel and competitive products or services. Adopting a resource-based view, this study suggests that firms can enhance their competitive advantage and overall performance by effectively utilizing and collaborating with IPRs and innovations.

This paper draws on the thinking of the nineteenth-century Italian philosopher and poet Giacomo Leopardi and scholars who studied his thoughts on the relationship between nature and humans. Leopardi's philosophy of nature recognizes the alienness of nature in relation to humankind, thus challenging human governance of the planet. The poet’s thoughts align with the dilemma identified in the Anthropocene literature: who speaks for nature? This dilemma has accounting implications in terms of the frameworks and disclosures to be adopted. Therefore, Leopardi’s thoughts can become the basis for a more articulated and complex understanding of some key concepts and issues at the roots of SEA.

The paper utilizes content analysis to examine four essays by Giacomo Leopardi, which serve as the source of our data.

Leopardi recognizes the alienness of nature with respect to humanity and the voicelessness of nature as a generative of conflict. He also warned of the consequences of human governance that does not take nature’s needs into account. These findings open a discussion on the complex accounting implications of the distance between humanity and nature. They can inspire SEA scholars to change the status quo by developing new accounting frameworks from the perspective of nature and adopting forms of governance of nature that recognize the need to protect it as a voiceless stakeholder.

Through Leopardi’s humanistic and poetic philosophy, the perspective of nature can be infused into SEA studies, thereby promoting the need for a multidisciplinary and complex approach to the discipline.