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This study aims to investigate the antecedents of corporate social responsibility (CSR) from the perspective of competitive dynamics and proposes a correlation of CSR between competing firms because rival firms’ engagement in CSR induces the focal firm’s catch-up to keep pace with them.

Using a sample of Chinese listed companies through the lens of firm dyads, and drawing on the awareness-motivation-capability (AMC) framework, a set of contingencies of firms’ competitive catch-up in CSR are examined, including the visibility of its competitors, the interdependence between the focal firm and its competitors and the focal firm’s resource slack.

The empirical results reveal that a focal firm’s CSR is in a positive relationship with that of its competitors, which is strengthened by the visibility of its competitors, the interdependence between the focal firm and its competitors, and is affected by the focal firm’s resource slack.

These findings uncover the interplay of CSR among competitors, enriching our understanding of its antecedents by extending the AMC framework to the CSR context.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) provides a means to strengthen a firm's competitive position. Companies are able to achieve this through imitating the CSR activities of close rivals within their industry. Visibility of the competitive interconnection between focal and peer firm and resource ability are factors that determine the validity of this approach.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This paper focuses on the commitment of a leading Middle Eastern country – Saudi Arabia – to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG13, climate preservation. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of greenhouse gas emissions by examining their correlation with economic growth, population growth, renewable energies, forest area, digitalization and monetary policy.

This research observes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the potential influencing factors during 1990–2023. It employs the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) after testing the stationarity of the variables.

The findings show that population growth, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, percentage of individuals using the internet and forest rents are significant determinants of carbon oxide (CO₂) emissions. Further, methane (CH₄) emissions are significantly associated with population growth, GDP growth, percentage of individuals using the internet and renewable internal freshwater resources. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions depend significantly on the percentage of individuals using the internet and renewable internal freshwater resources.

This research helps policymakers in Saudi Arabia and worldwide identify the factors moderating GHG emissions, and accordingly design targeted interventions. These initiatives would substantially reduce GHG and further global climate goals. Additionally, focusing on Saudi Arabia, a significant emerging country in the Middle East, has broader implications. The findings offer insights that extend beyond its borders, providing valuable lessons for governments in the Middle East and worldwide to assess and improve their initiatives toward SDG13. Therefore, monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in this key country boosts global progress toward the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, this paper aligns with the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) by leveraging academic and managerial strategies toward sustainability and climate action initiatives.

This study adds to the limited literature on the determinants of GHG emissions in the Middle Eastern region, particularly in Saudi Arabia. In addition to CO₂, it also focuses on CH₄ and N₂O emissions. It shows the beneficial effect of renewable internal freshwater resources. It uses the ARDL model to distinguish between the short- and long-run associations.

The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry has underscored the growing significance of online movies. However, there is limited research available on the factors that influence the viewership of online films. Therefore, this study aims to use the signaling theory to investigate how signals of varying qualities affect online movie viewership, considering both signal transmission costs and prices.

This study uses a sample of 1,071 online movies released on the iQiyi from July 2020 to July 2022. It uses OLS regression and instrumental variable method to examine the impact of various quality indicators on the viewership of online movies, as well as the moderating effect of price.

After conducting a thorough analysis of this study, it can be deduced that the varying impacts on online movie viewership are attributed to disparities in signal transmission costs. Specifically, star influence and rating exhibit a positive effect on the viewership of online movies, whereas the number of raters has a detrimental impact. Furthermore, there exists an “inverted U-shaped” relationship between the number of reviews and online movie viewership. Additionally, within the consumer decision-making process, both price-cost and price-quality relationships coexist. This is evident as prices negatively affect online movie viewership but positively moderate the relationship between rating, number of reviews and online movie viewership.

The research findings of this study offer valuable insights for online film producers to effectively leverage quality signals and pricing, thereby capturing market attention and enhancing film profitability.

The importance of modeling digital leadership in quickly digitizing countries, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is inevitable for building leadership capabilities to lead, engage and motivate remote employees in the digital environment. Using Blake and Mouton Grid, the current study examines the behavioral approach used by the leaders from both public and private sectors while managing their workforce digitally in the period of the pandemic, when 70% of the workforce worked remotely for the first-time in the region.

An online survey was conducted by the managerial employees working in different firms using self-administered questionnaires and adopting the snowball sampling technique. In total, 476 respondents participated in the study from both the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The analysis using IBM SPSS and Smart PLS software reported that 9 out of 10 leaders positioned their digital leadership style well above the middle-of-the-road management style (5,5) oriented towards team management (9,9); with 7 out of 9 displaying high team management leadership style, while managing remote workers. However, millennials displayed higher task orientation when compared to generation-x leaders, who concentrated more on their relations with the workers.

The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions. Also the results highlighting the task-oriented approach of millennials digital leaders have implication for owners and board of directors of the firms that seniority is not the only credible approach for leadership positions.

The study reveals the behavioral styles beneficial for digital leaders to develop their leadership capabilities and increase their effectiveness while managing the workforce digitally. Black Mountain Grid and its two-dimensional leadership matrix has been found to be a useful conceptual approach for understanding digital leadership behaviors, and based on study findings, recommendations have been provided to effectively improve its utilization for leading teams. The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions as well as digital leadership field scholars.