Although service firms use dynamic service analytics capabilities (DSAC) to respond to dynamic customer demands, how these capabilities translate into performance remains unclear. Based on a sample of 338, this study explores the effects of DSAC on firm performance and the chain mediating roles of adaptive and customer-linking capability. The results reveal that DSAC enhance performance; adaptive capability partially mediate between DSAC and firm performance; adaptive capability partially mediate between DSAC and customer-linking capability; and customer-linking capability partially mediate between adaptive capability and firm performance. Adaptive and customer-linking capabilities form a continuous mediating path through which DSAC enhance service firm performance. The findings not only enrich the existing research on the relationship between DSAC and firm performance, but also provide an actionable path for service firms to enhance the effectiveness of DSAC, helping practitioners to be more flexible in responding to market changes.

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitment and technological innovation capabilities (TIC), with a focus on the moderating effect of gender diversity on corporate boards. It seeks to uncover whether ESG practices serve as strategic resources for innovation and how board diversity influences this dynamic. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach is employed using panel data from 3,048 listed firms across Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Finland over the period 2019–2023. The study uses regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between ESG performance and TIC, incorporating gender diversity on boards as a moderating variable. The resource-based view (RBV) provides the theoretical lens for understanding ESG as a source of innovation-enhancing resources. Findings Results show a positive relationship between ESG commitment and TIC, affirming the strategic role of ESG practices in driving innovation. However, gender diversity on boards negatively moderates this relationship. This suggests that while ESG fosters innovation, board gender diversity may not always enhance this process, possibly due to integration challenges or tokenism. The findings call for a more nuanced approach to managing board diversity to realize innovation benefits fully. Practical implications The study highlights the complex interplay between board diversity, ESG efforts, and innovation outcomes. It emphasizes the need for inclusive corporate cultures that go beyond symbolic diversity. By recognizing gender diversity as more than a numerical representation, firms can better harness diverse viewpoints for innovation. The research also stresses the importance of ESG responsiveness to meet stakeholder expectations and contribute to sustainable development goals. Originality/value This research contributes to the limited empirical literature linking ESG commitment to technological innovation and introduces board gender diversity as a critical but complex moderator. It challenges assumptions about the universal benefits of diversity, providing new insights for both scholars and practitioners. The findings advance the RBV by framing ESG as a strategic asset and offer practical recommendations for firms aiming to align governance, innovation, and sustainability.

Purpose This study examines how strategic flexibility (SF) influences firm performance through the dimensions of speed and variety in turbulent business environments. The results advance the contingency theory by refining the understanding of the interplay between SF, environmental dynamism and complexity. Design/methodology/approach After conducting a multi-informant survey of 399 computer manufacturing and service industry firms across 14 European countries, we perform hierarchical regression analysis of time-lagged financial data to test the moderating effects of environmental turbulence on financial performance. Findings The results show that speed improves performance in dynamic but not in complex environments, whereas variety improves performance in complex environments but reduces it in highly dynamic ones. The results demonstrate the need to align the dimensions of SF with environmental conditions. Research limitations/implications As the findings are limited to the technology sector, further research should explore other industries and long-term effects. Practical implications Managers should tailor flexibility strategies to environmental conditions, prioritizing speed in dynamic markets and variety in complex ones. Originality/value Distinguishing between speed and variety advances the contingency theory, providing a more precise framework for aligning SF with environmental turbulence.

Purpose This study adopts the dynamic capabilities view to examine the relationship between digital marketing capabilities (DMC) and firm performance in Chinese firms undergoing digital transformation, with a particular focus on the moderating role of digital leadership in strengthening this link. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the relationships between DMC, firm performance, and the moderating role of digital leadership, using data from 365 Chinese marketing managers. Grounded in the resource-based view (RBV) and DCV, partial least squares structural equation modelling tested a higher-order DMC construct, controlling for firm type and industry, to validate its reliability, predictive power and performance impact. Findings The study finds that digital relationship management (DRM), social media engagement (SME) and digital marketing information management (DMIM) significantly form the higher-order DMC, positively impacting firm performance. Other dimensions – digital selling, marketing planning and implementation – were not significant. Digital leadership significantly moderates the DMC–performance relationship, enabling firms to strategically leverage DMC, refining understanding of DMC and highlighting leadership's critical role in realizing its strategic value. Research limitations/implications This study's cross-sectional, China-focused design limits causal inference and generalizability. Some DMC dimensions were excluded due to non-significance, and reliance on self-reported data may introduce bias. Future research should adopt longitudinal, cross-cultural and multi-method approaches, examine industry-specific effects, explore additional organizational factors and assess the boundary conditions of digital leadership to better understand how DMC drives firm performance. Practical implications Managers should prioritize DRM, SME and DMIM, aligning investments with customer type and strategic goals. Strong digital leadership is critical to orchestrate these capabilities, ensuring resources translate into performance gains. Firms should integrate DMC dimensions holistically, continuously evaluate effectiveness and adapt strategies to sustain competitive advantage in dynamic digital markets. Social implications This study underscores a positive social impact by showing how firms can enhance customer satisfaction and marketing effectiveness, leading to more tailored, responsive, and engaging consumer experiences. As companies adopt advanced digital strategies, they become better equipped to meet changing customer expectations, thereby improving the overall quality of digital interactions. In addition, fostering digital leadership supports the development of a more innovative and digitally capable business landscape. This advancement contributes to the delivery of safer, more efficient and socially valuable digital services. By refining digital marketing practices, firms can create more relevant, inclusive, and impactful engagements for individuals and communities. Originality/value This study integrates RBV and DCV to advance DMC research, consolidating fragmented conceptualizations and validating DRM, SME and DMIM as key dimensions. It highlights digital leadership's moderating role, showing that strategic orchestration of capabilities drives firm performance and extends theory.

This study examines the relationship between board gender diversity, board size, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) listed firms. Drawing on Resource Dependence Theory (RDT), the analysis uses panel data from GCC-listed firms over the period 2018–2023. The findings show that board gender diversity is positively and consistently associated with aggregate ESG performance and its environmental and social dimensions, with results remaining robust across financial and non-financial firms, as well as energy and non-energy sectors. In contrast, board size is negatively associated with ESG performance, although sectoral heterogeneity is evident. Board size is negatively related to environmental performance in financial firms, while it is positively associated with ESG performance in energy firms, driven by the environmental dimension. Overall, the results highlight that the role of board characteristics varies across contexts and sectors in shaping ESG performance within the GCC.

ABSTRACT Although numerous studies have examined the role of industrial agglomeration in regional innovation, limited research has investigated the impact of industrial agglomeration on firms' innovation. Therefore, using a novel dataset that merges data from 2772 manufacturing firms in 2015 with 51 Shanghai industrial zones‐level data, this study investigates how two distinct types of industrial agglomeration influence firms' innovation performance from a non‐linear perspective. Our findings reveal a U‐shaped relationship between diversification agglomeration and firms' innovation performance: initially, its performance declines as the intensity of diversification agglomeration increases, but beyond a threshold, it rises with further intensification. In contrast, specialization agglomeration exhibits a consistently positive relationship with firms' innovation performance. Moreover, our results demonstrate that the critical role of specialization agglomeration for the innovation performance of firms in low‐ and medium technology industries, while highlighting that diversification agglomeration is more beneficial to enhance the innovation performance of firms in high‐technology industries. Based on these insights, this paper provides important policy implications for promoting the sustainable development of Chinese industrial zones.

Abstract This paper examines the determinants of productivity heterogeneity among construction firms, integrating both firm-level and local contextual factors. Using a longitudinal dataset of 78,598 firms over 2009–2019, we estimate total factor productivity (TFP) and use a multilevel model across 287 labour market areas in metropolitan France. This approach allows us to separate firm-specific from location-specific effects and explains how the productivity heterogeneity can be attributed to each level. Our results show that firm characteristics significantly affect TFP. Local conditions also play a key role: higher unemployment reduces productivity, whereas higher employment density and median income enhance it. This study contributes by applying a multilevel framework to the construction sector, using longitudinal data for precise estimation, and employing TFP rather than traditional labour productivity as the performance measure. Our findings highlight the joint influence of firm and regional factors on productivity, providing insights for policymakers and managers aiming to improve firm performance and regional economic outcomes in the construction sector. Our results remain robust across different firm size categories, alternative TFP measures, French construction sector sub-sectors and Mundlak's (1978) approach to correcting for heterogeneity bias.

This study examines the effect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings on firm performance and the moderating role of ESG rating disagreement within the Indonesian capital market. Using a panel dataset of 63 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2021 to 2023 and employing a fixed-effects regression model, the analysis measures firm performance with Tobin’s Q, ESG ratings from Refinitiv Eikon, and ESG rating disagreement as the standard deviation between Refinitiv and Bloomberg scores. The empirical results indicate that ESG ratings do not have a statis-tically significant effect on firm performance, and ESG rating disagreement does not significantly moderate this relationship. These findings suggest that ESG-related information has not yet been fully internalized into firm valuation in Indonesia, with current ESG practices perceived as largely symbolic rather than substantively integrated into corporate strategy. The study concludes that both ESG ratings and rating disagreement fail to serve as effective mechanisms for enhancing firm performance in the Indonesian context, reflecting the early-stage development and compliance-driven nature of ESG adoption in emerging markets.

In the global economy, traditional accounting-based ratios alone are often insufficient to fully explain firm performance, increasing the importance of complementary information sources such as sustainability and governance disclosures. In this context, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators, together with corporate governance signals, have increasingly been recognized as important drivers of firm performance. However, the literature does not provide a clear and generalizable view on the impact of ESG indicators on profitability. This study aims to examine whether sustainability and corporate governance signals provide additional information value beyond traditional financial ratios in predicting ROE. To this end, two models were compared using a sample of 428 non-financial publicly traded companies operating in Turkey. The firm-level dataset was constructed using financial statements and independent audit disclosures obtained from the Turkish Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). Tree-based machine learning models were employed to capture potential nonlinear relationships and complex interactions between financial and non-financial indicators. Model performance was evaluated within a Bootstrapped Grouped Cross-Validation framework that considered firm-level dependency; the statistical reliability of performance differences was tested using bootstrap-based confidence intervals and matched tests. Among the evaluated models, Random Forest achieved the strongest overall predictive performance. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that sustainability and corporate governance disclosures provide statistically significant additional information value to ROE prediction. Due to the use of multiple algorithms, it contributes to the literature in a generalizable manner.

This study aims to analyze the effect of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) disclosure on market reaction and firm value in the banking sector listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the 2019–2023 period. The research sample was determined using purposive sampling, comprising 8 companies with observations over 5 years, resulting in a total of 40 annual reports. Data were collected through documentation of annual reports and analyzed using multiple linear regression. The results indicate that governance disclosure, risk disclosure, and compliance disclosure simultaneously have a significant positive effect on market reaction, suggesting that higher levels of GRC disclosure can enhance positive investor responses. Meanwhile, only governance disclosure and risk disclosure have a significant positive effect on firm value, whereas compliance disclosure does not show a significant impact. These findings align with positive accounting theory, which states that managers strategically use information disclosure to influence investor perceptions, increase market confidence, and drive firm value growth. This study provides important implications for company management to improve the quality of GRC disclosure as a market communication strategy and for investors in assessing the performance and growth potential of firms.

ABSTRACT Prior literature reports inconsistent findings regarding the impact of firm performance feedback on corporate controversies in single‐country contexts. This study examines the role of performance feedback on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) controversies across countries, incorporating nation‐level institutions as moderators, including the education and labor system, political system, financial system, and cultural system. Study results show an inverse U‐shaped relationship between negative performance feedback and firms' exploration of ESG controversies. I strongly support the idea that most nation‐level institutions moderate the effects on firm‐level ESG controversies under different performance feedback conditions. Specifically, I observe that positive moderation of competition and regulation, the presence of corruption, and the availability of skilled labor draw firms toward ESG controversies. Additionally, financial system factors and low power distance would weaken that intent. Additionally, firms from developed economies with negative performance feedback are more likely to engage in ESG controversies, whereas their positive counterparts are controversy‐averse. On the contrary, emerging economies' negative performance feedback firms show overall similar results, whereas their positive counterparts report insignificant results.

This study focuses on the influence of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure and firm size on the performance of companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during the period of 2021-2024. The background of this research is driven by the increasing attention to social responsibility and environmental impacts faced by companies, especially in the energy sector. The main objective of this research is to analyze how ESG disclosures and firm size affect performance, measured using Tobin's Q ratio. The method used is panel data regression analysis with 96 observations from 24 companies, utilizing Eviews 12 software. The data utilized in this study are the annual reports and sustainability reports of each company. The results indicate that social and governance disclosures influence company performance, with coefficient values of -0.331 (negatively influence) and 0.123 (positively influence), respectively. Conversely, environmental disclosure and firm size do not show significant effects, with probability values of 0.5996 and 0.4929. The adjusted R-squared value in this study is 0.780, indicating that firm performance can be explained by the variables examined.The conclusion of this study emphasizes the importance of companies enhancing transparency and accountability through ESG disclosure to improve their performance. The implications of these findings suggest that companies need to be more proactive in fulfilling social and environmental responsibilities to enhance investor trust and market value.

This project work examines financing configuration choices and performance dynamics in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. The objective of the study was to investigate if short term and long term debt capital and as well equity capital has significant impact on the financial performance of listed indigenous oil and gas firms in Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study is cross-sectional research design. The result was analyzed using regression analysis. The study reveals that short term debt capital have significant impact on the financial performance of listed indigenous oil and gas firm in Nigeria and long term debt capital does not have significant impact on the financial performance of listed indigenous oil and gas firms in Nigeria. The study however concludes that financial performance of oil and gas firms in Nigeria is intricately linked with their financing choices, specifically equity and debt. The study has demonstrated a robust and positive correlation between financial performance and these factors, indicating that improvements in financing choices can enhance the financial performance of these firms. The study also recommends that finance sector in Nigeria needs to focus on debt proportion as part of their financing choices and also consider resource utilization that enables leverage and liquidity performance by expanding the sector and amount of capital investment on fixed asset in oil and gas sector in Nigeria. Finally, there is need for investors and stakeholders’ interaction process for proper feedback to credit organizations, customers and suppliers on the financial strength and weaknesses of the firms.

Unpacking digital servitization and firm performance in B2B manufacturing: Evidence from U.S. firms

Family ownership, managerial incumbency, and firm performance: Evidence from China under policy uncertainty

With the digital economy serving as a key driver of global economic growth, this study aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation on total factor productivity in manufacturing enterprises. Using Chinese A-share listed manufacturing enterprises as a sample from 2013 to 2020, we constructed a digital transformation index through text analysis. We conducted empirical analysis using a two-way fixed effects model. The empirical study demonstrates that digital transformation has a significant impact on total factor productivity, and this conclusion remains robust following rigorous testing. The mechanism analysis confirms that innovation capacity is a key mediating variable, indicating that digital transformation indirectly promotes productivity growth by strengthening enterprise innovation capacity. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that: (i) the application of digital technology has a more substantial effect on total factor productivity than digital business models; (ii) enterprises located in eastern regions, in highly competitive industries, classified as non-state-owned enterprises or high-tech enterprises, and with dual roles have more significant productivity gains. The contribution of this study lies in its use of innovation capacity as a core mediating variable to reveal the ‘black box’ mechanism of digital-driven efficiency improvement, providing new microeconomic insights into the impact of digital transformation on total factor productivity. In addition, heterogeneity analysis from multiple dimensions, including digital dimensions, external characteristics, and internal characteristics, systematically presents the boundary conditions of the transformation effect, providing practical inspiration for different types of manufacturing enterprises to formulate digital strategies and improve total factor productivity.

Brand culture innovation, digital transformation, and the performance of agribusiness firms

With the digital economy serving as a key driver of global economic growth, this study aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation on total factor productivity in manufacturing enterprises. Using Chinese A-share listed manufacturing enterprises as a sample from 2013 to 2020, we constructed a digital transformation index through text analysis. We conducted empirical analysis using a two-way fixed effects model. The empirical study demonstrates that digital transformation has a significant impact on total factor productivity, and this conclusion remains robust following rigorous testing. The mechanism analysis confirms that innovation capacity is a key mediating variable, indicating that digital transformation indirectly promotes productivity growth by strengthening enterprise innovation capacity. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that: (i) the application of digital technology has a more substantial effect on total factor productivity than digital business models; (ii) enterprises located in eastern regions, in highly competitive industries, classified as non-state-owned enterprises or high-tech enterprises, and with dual roles have more significant productivity gains. The contribution of this study lies in its use of innovation capacity as a core mediating variable to reveal the ‘black box’ mechanism of digital-driven efficiency improvement, providing new microeconomic insights into the impact of digital transformation on total factor productivity. In addition, heterogeneity analysis from multiple dimensions, including digital dimensions, external characteristics, and internal characteristics, systematically presents the boundary conditions of the transformation effect, providing practical inspiration for different types of manufacturing enterprises to formulate digital strategies and improve total factor productivity.

Unveiling the link between firm ESG performance and CSR disclosure quality: The mediating impact of stakeholder attention

This study aims to theoretically and empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and the financial performance of firms in the U.S. information technology (IT) sector, with a particular focus on Return on Assets (ROA) as a key performance indicator. Data were collected from 345 publicly listed IT companies over the period 2011–2022, yielding 1,792 firm-year observations. The research employed descriptive statistics, correlation matrices, box plot analyses, and multiple regression models to examine the effects of IC and its components, human capital efficiency, structural capital efficiency, and capital employed efficiency on financial outcomes. The analysis revealed that, contrary to conventional expectations and prior literature, IC exhibited a negative and statistically significant association with financial performance, highlighting potential inefficiencies in the utilization of intangible assets within the IT industry. These findings underscore the complexity of translating investments in IC into measurable financial gains, suggesting that firms may be overinvesting or misallocating resources in areas that do not yield immediate profitability. The novelty of this research lies in uncovering an unexpected inverse IC-performance link in a knowledge-intensive sector, thereby offering executives and policymakers new insights into how IC strategies should be re-evaluated and aligned with long-term value creation.