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The purpose of this paper is to examine the global sourcing process of Italian craft microbreweries, particularly by identifying the main antecedents leading to the perception of psychic distance. The study also examines how perceived psychic distance affects the selection of intermediaries and the intention to maintain these relationships, with a specific focus on how intermediaries bridge cultural and logistical gaps in international business.

The paper employs a qualitative research methodology and adopts a multiple case study approach, focusing on seven small breweries located in central Italy. The study applies thematic analysis to identify and examine key themes and sub-themes related to global sourcing processes, perceived psychic distance and the role of intermediaries. Additionally, the adoption of network theory provides deeper insights into the relationships between breweries, suppliers and intermediaries.

Results reveal that perceived psychic distance significantly affects global sourcing decisions, with cultural differences, regulatory barriers and communication challenges emerging as critical factors. Intermediaries play a crucial role in facilitating transactions, building trust and providing logistical support. The study highlights the importance of cultural competence, effective communication strategies and trust-building in mitigating the adverse effects of psychic distance.

Limitations are primarily related to the geographical origin of the sample, which is limited to regions in central Italy. Despite this, the study provides valuable insights for craft breweries and other small businesses engaged in international trade. Moreover, it emphasizes the critical role of intermediaries in reducing perceived distance and effectively managing global supply chains.

The study explores a topic largely overlooked in the literature, particularly regarding the analysis of perceived psychic distance, its antecedents and its impact on intermediary selection within the craft beer sector. Additionally, the paper offers valuable guidelines for specific categories of stakeholders (i.e. local intermediaries, foreign suppliers and Italian firms producing raw materials) and provides actionable insights for practitioners, including strategies for supplier selection, quality control and effective communication.

This article aims to examine the pro-poor innovation diffusion models adopted by university intermediate organizations and their stakeholders at the bottom of the pyramid.

The study employed a qualitative case study approach. Between April 2021 and May 2022, 60 semi-structured interviews were conducted online and telephonically.

The study identified various models for promoting the diffusion of pro-poor innovations through university intermediary organizations (non-corporate organizations) and their stakeholders at the bottom of the pyramid. The study also identifies the priority stakeholders and classifies them based on the attributes they might possess.

Other developing economies can consider adopting the diffusion model outlined in our study as a potential working hypothesis to improve the productivity and quality of life for rural poor employed in the informal sector. Such studies advance our understanding of possible organizational methods and processes for diffusing innovation at the bottom of the pyramid.

The study brings a new perspective on how non-corporate organizations, such as university intermediaries, are involved in pro-poor innovation diffusion at the bottom of the pyramid. Additionally, the study brings valuable insights into how stakeholders’ theory can be utilized towards pro-poor innovation diffusion at the bottom of the pyramid.

This study aims to propose a model to elevate the financial empowerment of Muslim women by rejuvenating the practice of Mahr in society and facilitating the affordability of men to pay that Mahr amount.

The approach of this study is to offer a model through the interest-free savings-based finance concept. The model comprises four stages; each stage of the model is mathematically formulated and graphically explained to ensure clarity and coherence. To further investigate the issue, the authors use a convenient sampling method to ask a small sample size of respondents (women) from different countries about their financial contribution and empowerment in the family.

This model enables women to turn their exclusive financial right into a source of earning without borrowing from any source or paying interest on the principal amount. Besides, it encourages accelerating men’s obligation to pay the Mahr to the women immediately during the marriage ceremony by facilitating men’s affordability. Almost 45% of respondents state that a woman’s financial contribution exalts her decision-making power and strengthens her financial position in the family.

The authors attempt to revitalize Mahr practice in Muslim society to accelerate the process of receiving a woman’s exclusive financial right and empower a family as a whole through the Mahr model.

Considering the model’s uniqueness, the developed and proposed Mahr model in this research is novel; to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has been conducted and developed such a model using the Mahr concept.

Digitalization, financial technologies and the internet have rapidly advanced the business ecosystem posing a disruptive threat to how operations are fundamentally performed. Global hospitality and tourism companies face this challenge and have been early adopters in this field. This study aims to examine the role of blockchain technology in strengthening the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) and the its related impacts on the tourism industry.

This research adopts a systematic literature review approach to synthesize and assess the literature published on blockchain in tourism and tends to build a conceptual framework that depicts the relationships between different constructs.

The results show a lot of interest in using blockchain technology due to numerous advantages to tourism industry. This innovative technology can change this sector radically; assist small economies in strengthening and transitioning to the level of developed economies; and assist tourism companies in eliminating corruption, establishing a secure network and promoting equality between small and large entities.

Through industry examples demonstrating real-life use cases such as startups operating on the application of blockchain in tourism, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is a first attempt to draw the impact of blockchain technology on product, price, place, promotion (4Ps) in tourism sector. The proposed nine relationships can facilitate the future researchers in advancing the state-of-art on how blockchain-based technologies can shape the customers experience through promoting confidentiality, co-creation and effective destination planning.

This paper aims to examine characteristics of emerging market small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) decision makers in their entry to exporting. What prior experience is significantly related to an export orientation? How influential are factors that would both aid and inhibit exports? What about the decision to not initiate exporting.

In total, 319 surveys were collected from managers in South India for quantitative and qualitative analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test the model.

Fluency in English was the only significant managerial characteristic associated with a positive perception of export benefits. Education and export experience were not significant strategic factors. SMEs who only serve their domestic market were not averse to exporting but were satisfied with the performance of their home markets. Once deciding to export, use of export intermediaries helped them to move towards presence in multiple markets. None of the inhibiting costs or constraints involved with exporting, other than labour, transportation differentials and export controls, were significantly influential in the export decision process. However, exports were favourably influenced by perceptions of the firms’ quality, pricing, selection and business relationships.

The value of export intermediaries and government agencies is clearly indicated from this study. Such providers could use these findings to target decision makers and assist in overcoming objections to branching out beyond a domestic-only strategy. One strategy option is to establish a strong market presence in the home state and then “export” to adjoining states. The findings might be generalised to other emerging markets as well.

Export entry decision-making is an under-researched area in emerging markets.

Automated social media messaging tactics can undermine trust in health institutions and public health advice. As such, we examine automated software programs (ASPs) and social bots in the Twitter anti-vaccine discourse before and after the release of COVID-19 vaccines.

We compare two Twitter datasets comprising user accounts and associated English-language tweets featuring the keywords “#antivaxx” or “anti-vaxx.” The first dataset, from 2018 (pre-COVID vaccine), includes 3,154 user accounts and 6,380 tweets. The second comprises 327,067 accounts and 545,268 tweets published during the 12 months following December 1, 2020 (post-COVID vaccine). Using Information Laundering Theory (ILT), the datasets were examined manually and through user analytics and machine learning to identify activity, visibility, verification status, vaccine position, and ASP or bot technology use.

The post-COVID vaccine dataset showed an increase in highly probable bot accounts (31.09%) and anti-vaccine accounts. However, both datasets were dominated by pro-vaccine accounts; most highly active (59%) and highly visible (50%) accounts classified as probable bots were pro-vaccine.

This research is the first to compare bot behaviors in the “#antivaxx” discourse before and after the release of COVID-19 vaccines. The prevalence of mostly benevolent probable bot accounts suggests a potential overstatement of the threat posed by anti-vaccine accounts using ASPs or bot technologies. By highlighting bots as intermediaries that disseminate both pro- and anti-vaccine content, we extend ILT by identifying a benevolent variant and offering insights into bots as “pathways” to generating mainstream information.

This chapter provides a comprehensive examination of financial technology (fintech) firms, exploring their background, features, products and services. Framed within the themes of financial innovation, disintermediation and disruption, the chapter examines the transformative impact of fintech on the financial industry. Fintech firms leverage advanced technology to offer innovative financial solutions, such as mobile payment systems, robo-advisors and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, thereby enhancing accessibility and efficiency in financial services. The regulatory environment is highlighted, noting that while traditional banks are heavily regulated, fintech firms often operate with more flexibility, raising potential concerns about regulatory arbitrage and associated risks. The continued evolution of fintech, driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and data analytics, holds significant potential for further transforming the financial industry. This chapter sets the stage for ongoing exploration of fintech's implications and future developments.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of environmental uncertainty on corporate social responsibility (CSR), and involves corporate financial investment as mediating factor into this relationship to identify whether Chinese enterprises pursue fame or profit under rising environmental uncertainty.

Data of listed companies in China from 2010 to 2019 are employed. Fixed effect and mediating effect models were used to explore the relationship between environmental uncertainty, corporate financial investment, and CSR. The heterogeneity influence and moderating effect are discussed by using the method of grouping test and adding interactive items.

The study finds that rising environmental uncertainty has a negative impact on CSR. It stimulates managements' short-sighted motivation, so that enterprises prioritize financial investment that can solve short-term goals, rather than CSR performance. This inhibitory effect is caused by holding illiquid financial assets with the motivation of “speculative profit seeking.” The negative effect is greater in the samples of state-owned enterprises, nonfamily enterprises and enterprises with low risk-taking.

It provides a decision-making direction for implementation of CSR governance and the construction of CSR system, particularly in emerging market economies.

CSR is widely known in developed countries for its formation, development and role, but its effectiveness and behavioral motivation are less mentioned in emerging markets. In the future, the research in this area needs to be further advanced.

The study makes significant contributions to the mechanisms behind the link between environmental uncertainty and CSR by taking corporate financial investment as an intermediary factor into the analysis, especially in the unique market context of China.

Digital innovation has become an important driving force for organizational development. It is an important factor to improve the cooperative behavior of project performance, but the related research ignores the influence of digital innovation of construction projects on the cooperative behavior of all participants. Therefore, this study discusses the comprehensive influence of digital innovation on cooperative behavior in construction projects and provides references for formulating reasonable digital innovation strategies.

This study constructs a theoretical model according to the logical thread of “digital innovation → capital → cooperative behavior,” and discusses how construction project participants can improve their cooperative performance through digital innovation. And bring the institutional environment into the research framework as a regulating variable. Subsequently, this study uses the survey data of 276 construction employees from China to verify and analyze the theoretical model by structural equation model (SEM) and explains the action path and boundary conditions of “digital innovation-cooperation behavior.”

(1) Digital innovation has a negative impact on the cooperative behavior of all participants in the construction project; (2) As a complete intermediary variable, human capital helps to amplify the positive impact of digital innovation on cooperative behavior and (3) The institutional environment plays a positive regulatory role between digital innovation and human capital. The discussion of the results can guide the construction project organization and management personnel to formulate reasonable digital innovation strategies.

This study investigates the influence mechanism and boundary conditions of digital innovation on the cooperative behavior among the participants in construction projects through empirical research. These research results enrich the related literature of digital innovation in theory, expand the research scope of project cooperation and fill the gap in studying how digital innovation affects cooperation behavior from the perspective of construction projects. And by discussing the role of digital innovation, scholars can deepen their understanding of the antecedents of human capital. In addition, by examining the regulatory role of the institutional environment, the boundary conditions of digital innovation are discussed.

Using the resource-based view (RBV), our study aims to provide theoretical and empirical insights into blockchain capabilities’ (BCs) compounded and sequential effects on supply chain competitive advantages (CA).

We combined a systematic literature review and an expert interview. Interpretive Structural Modelling and a Matrix of Cross-Impact Multiplications Applied to Classification were used to determine the relationship between the capabilities. Simple Additive Weighting assessed each capability’s relative importance and impact.

We reveal a sequential development path for BCs. Foundational capabilities, such as cybersecurity, provide immediate performance benefits, establishing a unique, valuable and inimitable resource. As firms progress to advanced capabilities, the compounded value of these capabilities generates a stronger, dynamic resource for sustained CA. Moreover, the study underscores the strategic importance of timing in adopting and developing BCs, as early adoption can secure a competitive edge difficult for later entrants to replicate.

Our proposed framework guides managers in incorporating blockchain technology into supply chain management (SCM) processes once it demonstrates that firms can enhance their CA by prioritizing the technical basics BC, leveraging the informational capabilities in level two and enabling effective problem-solving through level three. Our framework also shows that a learning process occurs as BCs are used and their results are explored.

Our study extends the RBV by demonstrating BCs’ cumulative and interdependent nature in SCM. It emphasizes the synergistic interactions between these capabilities, which collectively enhance CA.