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The purpose of this study is to revisit the conventional wisdom about a key contribution [i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis] in the field of strategic management. The societal context and the role of academics, consultants and executives is taken into account in the emergence of SWOT analysis during the 1960–1980 period as a pivotal development within the broader context of the satisfactory, opportunities, faults, threats (SOFT) approach. The authors report on both the content and the approach, so that other scholars seeking to invigorate indigenous theories and/or underreported strategy practices will thrive.

Applying a historiographic approach, the authors introduce an evidence-based methodology for interpreting historical sources. This methodology incorporates source criticism, triangulation and hermeneutical interpretation, drawing upon insights from robust evidence through three iterative stages.

The underreporting of the SOFT approach/SWOT analysis can be attributed to several factors, including strategy tools being integrated into planning frameworks rather than being published as standalone materials; restricted circulation of crucial long-range planning service/theory and practice of planning reports due to copyright limitations; restricted access to the Stanford Research Institute Planning Library in California; and the enduring popularity of SOFT and SWOT variations, driven in part by their memorable acronyms.

In the spirit of a renaissance in strategic planning research, the authors unveil novel theoretical and social connections in the emergence of SWOT analysis by combining evidence from both theory and practice and delving into previously unexplored areas.

Caution is advised for scholars who examine the discrete time frame of 1960–1980 through mere bibliometric techniques. This study underscores the risks associated with gathering incomplete and/or inaccurate data, emphasizing the importance of triangulating evidence beyond scholarly databases. The paradigm shift of strategic management research due to the advent of large language models poses new challenges and the risk of conserving and perpetuating academic urban legends, myths and lies if training data is not adequately curated.

This paper analyses J1 League and J2 League clubs during the period 2011–2020 to anticipate financial distress.

Data were collected for 29 professional football clubs competing in the J1 and J2 League for the financial years ending 2011–2020. Analysis was conducted using Altman’s Z-score methodology and additional statistical tests were conducted to measure differences between groups.

The results show significant cases of financial distress amongst clubs in both divisions and that clubs that have played predominantly in the J1 League are in significantly poorer financial health than clubs that have played predominantly in the J2 League. Overall, the financial situation in Japanese professional football needs to be monitored, a position that could be exacerbated by the economic crisis, caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

While the financial situation for a majority of the clubs in the J-League presents an austere picture, comparison with clubs in other leagues across Asia and Europe and understanding the different policies set by these leagues would enable us to understand whether the phenomenon of financial distress is common to other clubs and leagues across different countries and continents.

The paper recommends that J-League visit the existing club licensing criteria and implement equitable cost-control measures, such as implementing a cap on acceptable losses over a specified period or restricting overall expenditures as a percentage of the club’s revenue.

The paper extends the evidence base of measuring financial distress in professional team sports and is also the first paper of its kind to examine this in relation to Asian professional football.

The purpose of this umbrella review is to synthesise existing evidence on the effectiveness and implementation of peer support in substance use settings, providing insights into its benefits, challenges and implications for practice and research.

The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses were used to guide an umbrella review. Three databases were searched: Academic Search Complete, Scopus and the Web of Science, supplemented with bibliography searches. Articles were included if they were peer reviewed in the English language from inception to 2024 and reported on peer support in substance use contexts. The Joanne Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses was used to assess the quality of the included reviews. Findings are reported using a narrative synthesis.

The search yielded 4,062 articles, of which 8 systematic reviews were included, encompassing 177 (N = 177) primary studies with a combined sample size of 38,659 (N = 38,659) participants. Peer support in substance use settings was linked to improved outcomes, including reduced substance use severity, enhanced treatment engagement and better social supports. Challenges identified included inconsistent training, role definitions and organisational barriers, such as stigmatising attitudes and limited structural support. Most reviews used a narrative synthesis to report results, with no meta-analyses. Critical appraisal categorised the reviews as 25% high quality, 25% moderate quality, 25% low quality and 25% critically low quality. The findings further highlighted the need for clearer implementation strategies, standardised training and recovery-oriented care models to optimise peer support effectiveness. In addition, the role of the randomised control trial as a method for evaluating peer support is considered.

This umbrella review uniquely synthesises evidence from diverse systematic reviews on peer support in substance use settings, highlighting the multidimensional benefits and challenges while addressing critical gaps in implementation strategies and methodological approaches. It offers a novel perspective on optimising peer roles within recovery-oriented care models.

This study aims to explore the influence of construction project manager competencies on team performance, using structural equation modeling (SEM) within the framework of social information processing theory. It investigates the multidimensional nature of project manager competencies and their impact on team processes and outcomes. Additionally, the study examines the mediating role of team processes in the relationship between competencies and team performance.

Drawing on data collected from 483 construction professionals in China, this study uses SEM to analyze the relationships among project manager competencies, team processes and team performance.

The results demonstrate a significant and positive effect of competencies on team performance. Specifically, task-related competencies directly contribute to performance, while people-related competencies enhance leader-member relations, and self-related competencies exert a gradual, cumulative influence. Moreover, the research confirms a three-factor competency structure and elucidates the nuanced mediating roles of team learning, monitoring and climate in the competency-performance relationship, shedding light on how specific competencies affect different stages of team development.

This study contributes to project management literature by applying social information processing theory to elucidate how project managers influence team cognition through competencies. From a practical standpoint, it advocates for a competency-based approach to project manager selection and training, aiming to enhance team performance. Overall, this research advances the understanding of the intricate interplay between project manager competencies and team performance, using SEM and a theoretical perspective rooted in social information processing theory.

Consumers nowadays are no longer bystanders in the process of production but are proactive collaborators with the power to co-create value with brands. This study aims to explore the impact of social commerce on the co-creation process of brand value in a social commerce setting.

A questionnaire survey was conducted online to gather 300 eligible responses. The data were empirically validated using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method.

The results indicated that brand engagement (BEN) is vital to brand co-creation (BCC) in social commerce, which could be driven by social-hedonic value (SHV) and social information sharing (SIS).

This study stresses the influence of consumer autonomy in the process of BCC by probing the role of SIS. Moreover, by considering the prevailing trend in social media, this study offers a nuanced perspective on the values of social commerce from the viewpoint of SHV.

This study may serve as a useful guide for practitioners to improve their digital outreach strategy on social commerce to forge stronger relationships, encourage further engagements and promote value co-creation within their brand community.

This examines the effect of relationship quality (RQU) and BEN on BCC through a relational viewpoint.

This study explores the use of digital tools to support the sharing of sustainability information in the transition towards sustainable supply chain management in food supply chains.

The qualitative study reports on a Swedish food supply network, consisting of interviews with retailers/restaurants, wholesalers, and farmers/processors. By applying the analytical lens of responsibilisation, the abductive study reveals the complexities and barriers in transitioning to a sustainable food industry with the help of digital tools.

The findings demonstrate that perceived responsibility for corporate sustainability was limited to the national legislative framework. This limitation is evidence of an evaded regime of responsibilisation across supply chain actors. Additionally, the use of digital tools to support sustainability information sharing was largely absent in strategic orientations. This selective or withheld sustainability information translated into a gatekeeping mechanism that potentially hinders collective efforts to achieve sustainability.

The findings indicate that Swedish food actors are currently in a waiting position regarding the use of digital tools to promote sustainability information sharing. More specifically, industry actors perceive the need for an updated regulatory sustainability framework that supports a faster, digitally supported transition towards a sustainable food industry. Policymakers should be more proactive to incentivise industry actors to develop and adopt digital tools promoting corporate sustainability.

Responding to the call for more research into the empirical reality of supply chain actors and their approaches towards digitalisation and sustainability, this study bridges the gap between conceptual studies and practice. Furthermore, this study refines the theory of responsibilisation by shedding light on the underlying mechanisms of sharing sustainability information within a food supply network. It suggests that there exists an evaded regime of responsibilisation whereby governmental agencies are assigned the greatest responsibility to drive corporate sustainability, and, in the absence of such regulatory requirements, the sharing of sustainability information is limited.

This empirical study aims to explore how actors in specific human resource practices (HRPs) such as line managers (LMs) impact employee productivity measures in the context of financial institutions (FI) banks.

This cross-country study adopted a qualitative methodology. It employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from purposefully selected 12 business facing directors (BFDs) working in the top 10 banks in Nigeria and the UK. The data collected were analysed with the help of the trans-positional cognition approach (TPCA) phenomenological method.

The findings of a TPCA analytical process imply that in the UK and Nigeria’s FIs, the BFDs line managers’ human resources practices (LMHRPs) resulted in a highly regulated workplace, knowledge gap, service operations challenges and subjective quantitatively driven key performance indicators, considered service productivity paradoxical elements. Although the practices in the UK and Nigerian FIs had similar labels, their aggregates were underpinned by different contextual issues.

To support LMs in better understanding and managing FIs BFDs productivity measures and outcomes, we propose the Managerial Employee Productivity Operational Definition framework as part of their toolkit. This study will be helpful for banking sectors, their regulators, policymakers, other FIs’ industry stakeholders and future researchers in the field.

Within the context of the UK and Nigeria’s FIs, this study is the first attempt to understand how LMHRPs impact BFDs productivity in this manner. It confirms that LMHRPs result in service productivity paradoxical elements with perceived or lost productivity implications.