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This paper aims to define the efficiency achieved by urban transport companies in Spain concerning the resources they use, considering the type of management used for implementation, public-private, and size.

This study consisted of an analysis of the efficiency of 229 public-private urban transport operators during the period 2012–2021 using Data Envelopment Analysis, the Malmquist Index and inference estimators to determine productivity, efficiency change into Pure Technical Efficiency Change (PTECH), and scale efficiency change.

Based on the efficiency analysis, the authors concluded that of the 229 companies studied, more than 35 were inefficient in all analysed periods. Considering the sample used, direct management is considered significantly more efficient. It cannot be concluded that the size of these companies influences their efficiency, as the data show unequal development behaviours in the studied years.

This study provides arguments on whether there is a significant difference between the two types of management in the urban transport sector. It also includes firm size as a study variable, which has not been previously considered in other studies related to urban transport efficiency. Efficiency should be a crucial factor in determining funding allocation in this sector, as it encourages operators to optimize and improve their services.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between technology-distinct capabilities (TDC) and innovative work behavior (IWB) through the mediating effect of strategic flexibility (SF), to examine the behavior toward technopreneurship (BTT) among Omani small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, technopreneur self-efficacy (TSE) is investigated as a moderating variable between TDC and SF.

Based on the quantitative research design, the survey questionnaire instrument was used to collect data from SMEs’ owners and managers. Using purposive sampling, the study comprised 285 responses from Muscat, Sohar and Al-Buraimi regions. Responses were analyzed through SPSS 25 and Smart PLS 4 using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The main findings revealed a positive and significant influence of TDC and IWB on SF. In addition, SF mediates the relationship between TDC, IWB and TBB. Results showed no effect of TSE on TDC and SF. The study outlines significant theoretical and practical implications. Dynamic capability (DC) theory provided a framework for understanding the highly competitive Omani business climate. The diffusion of innovation (DOI) provides the way forward to SMEs that how they embrace and induce novel concepts, including SF.

The findings of the study can be used by academics and policymakers to develop policies that support SMEs’ technological innovation and adaptability. In the Omani context, policymakers and public managers can utilize this research to evaluate the different technopreneurship support programs and encourage SMEs to adopt digital technology to capitalize on the nation’s entrepreneurial dynamic.

This chapter takes on the role of the metaverse in skill development, such as skilling, reskilling, and upskilling in the digital age. Metaverse is instrumental in revolutionizing skill development in the digital age and bringing the paradigm shift in learning. This chapter will cover the capability of the metaverse to transform the ways of learning and developing skills in the evolving digital landscape. Individuals can be part of tailor-made solutions for their needs through innovative methodologies and interactive experiences. This chapter takes through real cases to get deeper insights about conventional methods that transform how an individual experiences learning to acquire skills to get exposed to the rapidly changing digital world, allowing people to customize their learning experiences to adapt their unique requirements through cutting-edge methodologies and digitally responsive encounters. It then deliberates the importance of the metaverse in the individual-led industry in a manner that allows people to reach their potential. Individuals succeed in the evolution of the metaverse dynamic by continually upskilling granted to them.

This paper aims to initiate new avenues of research by examining optimal intellectual capital (IC) inputs, introducing three theories into the discussion: diminishing returns to scale, transaction costs economics and efficiency wage theory. In the second part, it advocates for demonstrating the existence of such non-optimality through empirical tests.

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part provides a theoretical justification for the necessity of observing nonlinear relationships between IC inputs and firm performance. In the empirical section, the research design follows a four-step process, each progressively building on insights gained from the preceding phase: (1) establishing a baseline linear regression model; (2) introducing the logarithm of the IC inputs; (3) incorporating the square terms of the IC inputs and (4) investigating the phenomena of over- and under-input in IC.

The background theories and the obtained results highlight the necessity for firms to adopt a strategic approach to IC, acknowledging the diverse effects of IC components on different outcomes. They emphasize the nonlinear nature of IC returns, underscoring the importance of investing up to an optimal level to maximize benefits.

The study’s discovery of optimal levels for the components of IC highlights the importance for practitioners to identify and invest up to these optimal levels. This ensures that IC initiatives are strategically aligned to maximize their positive impact on firm performance.

The integration of theories such as diminishing returns to scale, transaction costs economics and efficiency wage theory, alongside traditional frameworks like the resource-based view, the theory of dynamic capabilities and the knowledge-based theory of the firm, opens up new avenues for research on IC. The proposed methodology and measures – from financial reports – provide opportunities for replicating this type of study.

This study aims to investigate the impact of various board characteristics on environmental innovation (EI) among companies listed on the STOXX Europe 600. It also examines the moderating role of CSR committees on the board–EI nexus.

The sample consists of companies listed on the STOXX Europe 600 index over 12 years (2011–2022). This study uses the Refinitiv Eikon database to evaluate the extent of EI. Panel data regression analysis is used, with two-stage least squares and lagged models used as robustness tests to control for endogeneity.

The results indicate that board independence and gender diversity significantly increase EI, whereas CEO duality negatively impacts it. Other board attributes, such as board size, show no impact on EI. In addition, the presence of CSR committees moderates these relationships, enhancing the positive effects of gender diversity and board independence and mitigating the negative impact of CEO duality.

This study provides valuable insights for policymakers and corporate strategists aiming to advance environmental responsiveness through strategic board composition and establishing CSR committees. Emphasizing the importance of board independence, gender diversity and CSR committees, the findings suggest practical pathways for enhancing the adoption of EI by creating governance structures that support sustainable practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the moderating role of CSR committees on the associations between board characteristics and EI. This research addresses a crucial gap in the current literature, enriching the understanding of corporate governance and sustainability. It provides critical insights for developing policies and strategies that promote EI through effective board composition and the implementation of CSR committees.

The purpose of this study is to identify the business strategies that entrepreneurs have formulated to establish the business with the intention of scaling up in the information technology (IT) sector in Chile, given that they have managed to scale up sustainably at an average annual rate of 73.3% and an average annual employee growth rate of 37% for four consecutive years after an establishment period of 25 months.

Three methodological steps were used to identify which strategic initiatives are relevant to the establishment of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the path to scaling up. The first part consisted of identifying the literature and defining the research propositions and research questions. The second part was to prepare, collect and analyse the data to conduct the research by applying, transcribing, reviewing and coding the sources of evidence to explore how SMEs are able to develop strategic initiatives for the start-up process. The final stage was to validate the research proposal to identify potential strategic initiatives identified during the multi-case study.

As a result of the data analysis and empirical findings, three deliberate strategic initiatives were identified: staying engaged with customers, delivering successful business solutions and articulating social capital. However, in crisis situations, entrepreneurs readjust their strategies based on their management skills and an emergent strategic initiative was identified as securing the financial structure and revolutionising change. While this research was not designed to identify personal attributes, it did highlight the importance of adaptation and learning as a skill to drive the business model for scaling up during the establishment of their business.

It is clear that the study focused on Chile and cannot be replicated in other regions or sectors due to the characteristics of the sample itself, but it provides empirical evidence that there are cycles prior to scale up that need to be understood. The findings were empirically validated during the establishment phase, but the deliberate and emergent strategic initiatives that consolidated the SME to prepare for its scale-up process are not evident in the theory.

The IT sector will continue to grow and change after the pandemic, and the global economy will use more digital systems, creating new ways of working with the use of IT. This context will impact on SMEs where strategies, whether deliberate or emergent, will need to be part of the new business models, and therefore, caution should be exercised when using the results of this study. Public and private institutions should educate and guide entrepreneurs for the potential scaling up of their SMEs without having to wait 42 months, according to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2021-2022 (Hill et al., 2022). Scaling up can begin as early as 25 months after establishment, breaking the paradigm of the theory that the SME must be established in a period of 3.5 years. This period cannot be generalised as business opportunities in the IT sector are faster. The research also contributes by reporting that contingency planning is relevant during the establishment phase.

Educational institutions and the public sector have made efforts to change business cultures regarding the importance of strengthening entrepreneurship, but teaching the emergent strategies that often challenge SME creation is not yet widespread in educational formats. This is a challenge not only for institutions but also for entrepreneurs trying to anticipate the constant changes in the global economy. This research provides an opportunity to create more dynamic business models with more conscious risk planning.

Although the literature has confirmed the findings, this research has provided a pre-scaling picture that links these two important stages on the axis of deliberate and emergent strategies. The findings confirm the importance of correctly embedding five strategic initiatives for the establishment of the SME if it is to continue on its journey towards business scale-up. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence in emerging economies on how entrepreneurs have found the right path to scale-up.

Our understanding of the strategies that lead to the success of start-ups when they scale-up is limited when it occurs at the regional periphery. The main purpose of this study is to explore the specific strategies that start-ups employ to scale-up, specifically in contexts with high resource constraints at the regional periphery.

Analyzing the data from personal in-depth interviews with engineering and science start-up founders in peripheral regions of upstate New York USA bordering the Canadian Ontario, we explored a combination of internal and external strategies that start-ups employed to scale-up.

The study found that start-ups prioritize building internal scaling capacity in their human capital, organizational structure, scalable business model, finance and business ownership. To foster the scaling process further, start-ups develop new effective external strategies that target the business environment.

Policymakers and regional governments can use our research to develop more effective industrial policies for supporting start-ups’ growth and subsiding strategic industry clusters for rebooting new competition policy, which is a current debate in many industrialized economies including the US. This targeted regional industrial policy is specially needed when scaling-up at the regional periphery.

Our study is specially need it when scaling-up at the regional periphery and with limited resources.

This study enriches our understanding of the growth of start-ups and small ventures by providing context-based insights into how firms build the capacity to scale-up in highly challenging and uncertain business environments in a peripheral bordering region between the USA and Canada. It also offers useful managerial and policy implications.

The purpose of this study is to make an exploratory analysis of the impact of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) as defined by Acs et al. (2014) on opportunity-driven senior entrepreneurial activity in Latin America.

The research uses data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute of five Latin America countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico), providing a total of 15,019 observations of people that are 50+ years old, between the years 2013 and 2017. A multi-level logistic regression model was used to estimate the relation between the total entrepreneurial activity by opportunity of seniors and some EE indicators. A total of three equations were estimated on the data set described.

This research confirms the relevance of some elements of EE on senior entrepreneurship in Latin America. Entrepreneurial attitudes have a positive relationship with senior entrepreneurs, generating higher levels of entrepreneurial ventures. The combination of institutions that support these attitudes on the EE enhances senior entrepreneurial activity. It also demonstrates that a higher level of entrepreneurial education at postschool stages is relevant to increasing senior entrepreneurial activity.

This research makes some interesting contributions in the field of measuring the impact of EE on senior entrepreneurship by opportunity in developing countries, filling a literature gap. It allows us to glimpse some measures that policymakers could take to improve the entrepreneurial activity of this segment in the region, such as implementing programs that facilitate networking opportunities and mentorship, along with providing training in business and financial literacy.

The primary objective of this paper is to determine the factors that affect the entrepreneurship propensity of students undergoing compulsory entrepreneurship education courses at various universities.

A research instrument was developed and implemented on a sample of 380 students who were offered compulsory entrepreneurship education courses at six major universities in the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. The study employed multiple cross-sectional designs with a simple random sampling technique to gather data. The collected data was subjected to descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling using SMART-PLS (Version 4).

The findings reveal that conceptualization, opportunity identification and implementation are the three antecedents of entrepreneurship propensity. The results indicate that the conceptualization factor is one of the most important predictors of entrepreneurship propensity, followed by opportunity identification, whereas implementation through education has the weakest influence on students' entrepreneurship propensity.

This research provides important insights to universities for designing and developing entrepreneurship courses that can foster the start-up culture. The results will be helpful for policymakers to devise various programs to boost entrepreneurship.

The study integrated the theories of planned behavior and human capital to evaluate the effectiveness of entrepreneurship courses at the university level. The three factors, namely, conceptual factors, actualization factors and implementation factors of entrepreneurship propensity are under-researched.

This study aims to explore the process of identifying and defining multiple capitals in the integrated report (IR) of a government-owned tourism company.

Interventionist research was conducted using a case study design. The researcher was directly involved in developing the first IR of Zètema, a heritage and tourism company owned by the Municipality of Rome. The research team analyzed internal reports, business model (BM), strategic plan and marketing plan, and collected data through semistructured interviews and participation in company meetings.

A template based on a step-by-step deductive process to select and define relevant capitals was derived. Following this process, an appropriate form of capital emerged: “cultural capital”. Furthermore, this study emphasizes a novel awareness of the different meanings that capitals can assume as inputs and outcomes of a BM.

This study meets the demand for empirical research that investigates real information in integrated reports intended for those for whom value is created. Thus, the paper contributes to the existing knowledge on integrated reporting by examining the partially explored concept of capital, particularly its identification process. Furthermore, this study provides support to preparers of integrated reports by defining a conceptual reference model for the disclosure of significant capitals and underlining the importance of distinguishing capitals as input or outcome.