Search results

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of sustainable business models in building corporate reputation and resilience. Specifically, the financial performance of listed companies will be evaluated following the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Taking as a standpoint the triple bottom line (TBL) theory, the case of firms listed in the Spanish IBEX-35 index is analysed. The present paper evaluates financial performance and corporate reputation, based on the usage of Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) strategies to adhere to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

To achieve this goal, energy firms operating in Spain are evaluated. Specifically, companies operating in the energy sector listed in the IBEX35, benchmark index of Spain’s largest trading platform are considered. The analysis comprises evaluating the fluctuation in the value of their stock and the influence of usage of renewable and other power sources that limit dependency on foreign events. In addition, communication and dissemination of non-financial information, and usage of international standards within these areas, are considered as well.

Results show long-term CSR commitments and ESG strategies significantly impact firm’s ability to overcome crises and improve financial performance. Additionally, energy firms that adhered to the energy transition into renewables display stronger performance and lower dependency on uncertain and weakened markets during the Ukraine armed conflict.

The results contribute to the advancement of the TBL theory and the creation of sustainable business models. By introducing ESG strategies, firms are able to improve the people-profit-planet balance and at the same time improve their resilience. This contributes to an overall enhancement of their capacity to overcome crises and sustain their financial performance and corporate reputation over time. Policy makers can also benefit from this knowledge, introducing regulation that promotes and supports companies’ development of their CSR through ESG strategies, to ensure more sustainable organisations that can support the economy in a context of hardship.

The analysis evaluates the results of a firm’s long-term commitment to the TBL through adequate ESG strategies when operating in unexpected and unprecedented hostile environments. Previous research has focused on the link between some variables concerning financial performance and ESG strategies yet not considering the specific context of an enhanced crisis (i.e. a pandemic and armed conflict). This can provide significant insight into the contribution that people, profit and planet can provide in building sustainable and successful organisations. Lastly, the paper outlines the key factors that contributed to the firm’s ability to overcome extreme hardships, such as operating in an environment affected by a combination of two crises.

The purpose of this paper is to present a quantitatively supported explanation of the intellectual development, the schools of thought and the sub-areas of the food cold chain (FCC) research to derive meaningful avenues for future research.

This study builds on bibliometric analysis and network analysis to systematically evaluate a sample of 1,189 FCC articles published over the past 25 years. The descriptive statistics and science mapping approaches using co-citation analysis were performed with VOSviewer software.

The findings reveal a state-of-the-art overview of the top contributing and influential countries, authors, institutions and articles in the area of FCC research. A co-citation analysis, coupled with content analysis of most co-cited articles, uncovered four underlying research streams including: application of RFID technologies; production and operation planning models; postharvest waste, causes of postharvest wastage and perishable inventory ordering polices and models; and critical issues in FCC. Current research streams, clusters and their sub-themes provided meaningful discussions and insights into key areas for future research in FCC.

This study might reshape practitioners’, researchers’ and policy-makers’ views on the multifaceted areas and themes in the FCC research field, to harness FCC’s benefits at both strategic and tactical level. Finally, the research findings offer a roadmap for additional research to yield more practical and modeling insights that are much needed to enrich the field.

Unicorn companies, such as Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb, significantly impact our economies. This happens although they had a dramatic initial start – at least in terms of financial performance – that would have let any other “conventional” business close. In other words, Unicorns challenge the start-ups’ problems traditionally associated with early failure (liability of newness). This paper aims to understand what helps Unicorn firms initially survive despite huge losses.

By adopting a behavioral lens, this historical case study article focuses on key strategic decisions regarding the famous social media Unicorn Snapchat from 2011 to 2022. The case combines secondary data and a thematic analysis of Snapchat founders’ and investors’ interviews/comments to identify the behavioral antecedents leading to Snapchat’s honeymoon.

Snapchat network effect triggered cognitive biases of Snapchat founders’ and investors’ decisions, leading them to provide initial assets (i.e. beliefs/goodwill, trust, financial resources and psychological commitment) to the nascent Unicorn. Therefore, the network effect and biases resulted in significant antecedents for Snapchat’s honeymoon.

The authors propose a general, theoretical framework advancing the possible impact of biases on Unicorns’ initial survival. The authors argue that some biases of the Unicorns’ founders and investors can positively support a honeymoon period for these new ventures. This is one of the first case studies drawing on a behavioral approach in general and on biases in particular to investigate the liability of newness in the Unicorns’ context.

In this study, the authors examine artificial knowledge as a fundamental stream of knowledge management for sustainable and resilient business models in supply chain management (SCM). The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of artificial knowledge and digitalization as key enablers of the improvement of SCM accountability and sustainable performance towards the UN 2030 Agenda.

Using the SCOPUS database and Google Scholar, the authors analyzed 135 English-language publications from 1990 to 2022 to chart the pattern of knowledge production and dissemination in the literature. The data were collected, reviewed and peer-reviewed before conducting bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review to support future research agenda.

The results highlight that artificial knowledge and digitalization are linked to the UN 2030 Agenda. The analysis further identifies the main issues in achieving sustainable and resilient SCM business models. Based on the results, the authors develop a conceptual framework for artificial knowledge and digitalization in SCM to increase accountability and sustainable performance, especially in times of sudden crises when business resilience is imperative.

The study results add to the extant literature by examining artificial knowledge and digitalization from the resilience theory perspective. The authors suggest that different strategic perspectives significantly promote resilience for SCM digitization and sustainable development. Notably, fostering diverse peer exchange relationships can help stimulate peer knowledge and act as a palliative mechanism that builds digital knowledge to strengthen and drive future possibilities.

This research offers valuable guidance to supply chain practitioners, managers and policymakers in re-thinking, re-formulating and re-shaping organizational processes to meet the UN 2030 Agenda, mainly by introducing artificial knowledge in digital transformation training and education programs. In doing so, firms should focus not simply on digital transformation but also on cultural transformation to enhance SCM accountability and sustainable performance in resilient business models.

This study is, to the authors' best knowledge, among the first to conceptualize artificial knowledge and digitalization issues in SCM. It further integrates resilience theory with institutional theory, legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory as the theoretical foundations of artificial knowledge in SCM, based on firms' responsibility to fulfill the sustainable development goals under the UN's 2030 Agenda.