Bridging innovation and sustainability: The impact of entrepreneurial practices on ESG outcomes

Beyond digital anxiety: Leveraging digital platform capability and entrepreneurial orientation for SME digital business model innovation

Innovation capability is a core competency for nursing college students to adapt to the development of modern nursing and meet clinical demands. This study applied innovation ecosystem theory and aimed to identify the latent profile types of nursing college students' innovation capability and their associated factors, to provide a basis for formulating targeted training strategies. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,086 nursing college students using a self-designed "Questionnaire on Innovation Capability of Nursing College Students" with good reliability and validity. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to classify the innovation capability types. The innovation capability of nursing college students was divided into four latent profile types: Low Innovation Capability Type (22.65%), Low-Medium Innovation Capability Type (32.97%), Medium-High Innovation Capability Type (29.93%) and High Innovation Capability Type (14.46%), showing a distribution characteristic of "larger in the middle and smaller at both ends". Multiple linear regression analysis showed that weekly self-directed learning time for innovation knowledge (β'=0.298), number of innovation competition participations (β'=0.234), clinical internship experience (β'=0.189) and age (analyzed as a continuous variable, β'=0.123) were significant positive predictors of innovation capability (all P < 0.001). The total score of innovation capability of nursing college students was 67.64 ± 8.36, with the lowest average score in the Innovation Environment dimension (2.58 ± 0.52) and the highest in the Innovation Motivation dimension (2.92 ± 0.50). Nursing college students' innovation capability presents obvious heterogeneous characteristics with four distinct profile types. Weekly self-directed learning time for innovation knowledge, participation in innovation competitions, clinical internship experience and age were identified as key factors associated with higher innovation capability. These findings suggest that targeted training strategies such as differentiated cultivation, strengthening clinical innovation training, improving self-directed learning ability and optimizing innovation incentive mechanisms may help enhance nursing college students' innovation capability. Longitudinal and interventional studies are warranted to confirm these effects.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationships between sustainability-oriented resources, innovative capabilities and competitiveness, accounting for the mediating roles of responsible innovation and organisational support. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a cross-sectional research design during the fiscal year 2023. Data were gathered from a sample of 493 manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the European Union (EU), the UK and the USA. Mediation effects were tested using the causal steps approach and path analysis. Findings The empirical evidence proves that both direct and indirect pathways enhance competitiveness, with responsible innovation and organisational support acting as key mediators. Practical implications This research suggests that SME managers should deepen their commitment to responsible innovation by embedding sustainability into business models and daily routines. Furthermore, policymakers should encourage targeted initiatives, such as grants or incentives, to support sustainable transitions and bolster long-term competitiveness. Originality/value Unlike prior research, this study’s dual-path model elucidates how these sustainability-oriented mechanisms enable SMEs to convert internal resources into competitive performance. By adopting a context-sensitive approach across different geopolitical environments, this research offers new insights into how firms can strategically leverage both tangible and intangible resources within diverse institutional frameworks.

From quantity to quality: Differential effects of social practice on students' innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities-The mediating role of psychological capital.

ABSTRACT Amid the digital transformation of global trade, understanding how resource-constrained creative firms navigate international expansion is increasingly vital. Drawing on resource orchestration theory, this study examines how internal strategic capabilities and external institutional resources influence the international performance of Taiwanese cultural and creative firms, while accounting for diverse cross-border entry modes. Analysis of 153 firms using structural equation modeling reveals that innovation capability emerges as the sole significant driver of international performance, underscoring its role as a critical resource-bundling mechanism for creative firms. Conversely, digital capability, government support, and relationship networks exhibit no significant direct effects. For these micro-sized creative firms, resource constraints necessitate prioritizing product uniqueness to attract international buyers. Furthermore, widespread digital platform adoption has fostered technological homogeneity, shifted the role of trade support systems, and blurred business-to-business/business-to-consumer boundaries. These findings offer critical implications for policy formulation and strategic management within the creative industry.

ABSTRACT China’s renewable energy sector sits at the heart of a deepening contest between techno-nationalist rivals. Whether R&D investment shields firms from the resulting disruption or heightens their vulnerability remains an open question. Using quarterly panel data from China’s new energy index constituents over 2016 to 2025, this paper allows the marginal effect of R&D on firm resilience to vary continuously with geopolitical risk. R&D intensity is positively associated with future return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) across specifications. Its relationship with resilience, however, proves conditional. Innovative firms hold a stability advantage when conditions are calm, but that advantage reverses during elevated tension, with R&D-intensive firms experiencing larger drawdowns and heightened tail risk. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) bear a far steeper market penalty than private firms when geopolitical risk spikes, consistent with their greater international visibility. These patterns suggest a technological exposure mechanism in which the cross-border linkages that sustain innovative capability become transmission channels for geopolitical shocks. The evidence implies that policies promoting R&D and those managing geopolitical exposure cannot be designed in isolation.

Sustaining a quality advantage while continuously innovating remains a central challenge for organizations operating in turbulent environments. This study advances the literature through a meta-analysis of 82 effect sizes drawn from 47 independent studies (N = 20,589) examining the relationship between leadership for quality (LfQ) and innovation. The findings reveal a strong, positive association between LfQ and all types of innovation, with particularly pronounced associations for administrative and green innovation. Moreover, LfQ is positively associated with both incremental and radical innovation, as well as with innovation capabilities and innovation performance. Meta-regression analysis further demonstrates that national cultural dimensions systematically moderate the LfQ-innovation relationship: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation strengthen this relationship, whereas individualism weakens it. Collectively, the results position LfQ as a critical organizational capability for reconciling exploitation and exploration, highlighting a culturally contingent pathway through which quality management fosters innovation.

ABSTRACT The frequent adjustments in tariff barriers have caused significant shocks to business environments that firms face, and thus firm resilience under external pressures is essential for economic stability and industrial development sustainability. Using panel data on Chinese A-share listed companies spanning the period from 2012 to 2022, this study employs a difference-in-differences approach to examine how tariff shocks influence firm resilience, along with the underlying mechanisms and heterogeneous effects. Our findings reveal that Sino-US tariff shock significantly weakens firm resilience and the impact shows great heterogeneity: the impact is more significant for firms with poorer financial conditions, higher supply chain concentration, and less degree of internationalization. Mechanism analysis indicates that tariff shocks impair firm resilience through four key channels: weakening supply chain resilience, exacerbating investor sentiment volatility, exacerbating profit volatility, and inhibiting innovation capabilities. This study offers valuable implications for firms seeking to enhance their ability to cope with risks, as well as for policymakers aiming to design more precise and effective trade strategies amid the rise of anti-globalization trends.

ABSTRACT Purpose: In today’s fast-evolving business environment, digitalisation offers SMEs opportunities for growth and innovation. This study aims to analyse the impact of digitalisation and digital capabilities on SMEs’ non-financial performance. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopts a deductive approach, gathering data from 396 respondents through questionnaires and employs structural equation modeling (SEM), fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and artificial neural networks (ANNs) analysis to empirically assess the model. This combination provides a more comprehensive understanding by capturing both linear relationships and non-linear patterns within the data. Findings: The SEM analysis reveals positive relationships between digital transformation, digital innovation, human capabilities, innovation capabilities, and collaboration capabilities in driving non-financial performance. fsQCA identifies digital transformation, digital innovation, and innovation capabilities as core drivers of non-financial performance, with Solution 1 providing the highest explanatory power. ANNs ranked human capabilities as the top predictor of non-financial performance, emphasising the critical role of human capital. Recommendation: The study recommends targeted training in digital literacy, data analytics, and e-commerce for SMEs, alongside tailored digital strategies. It advocates for an ecosystem supporting digital transformation through grants, tech hubs, and university partnerships, aiming to boost SMEs’ non-financial performance and strengthen their role in Pakistan’s economic growth and innovation.

ABSTRACT With Industry 5.0 in the picture, the demand for workers has shifted to human-centric innovation, intelligent technologies, and collaborative human–AI interactions. In this context, management education institutions have to equip students with the right competencies in AI to prepare them for future workplaces. This study examines the impact of AI-oriented learning outcomes on the preparedness of the workforce in the context of Industry 5.0 among the management aspirants in Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. A quantitative research design was used, and 380 respondents were surveyed, and data were collected from them using a structured questionnaire. The study explores crucial aspects of the AI-oriented learning outcomes, such as AI literacy, data analytics proficiency, digital decision-making, ethical awareness of AI, and collaboration between humans and AI. The results reveal that the learning outcomes based on AI have a significant impact on workforce readiness in terms of employability, adaptability, innovation capability, and problem-solving skills. The findings of the study will be useful for curriculum developers, educational institutions, and policymakers who aim to design management education in accordance with the current Industry 5.0 requirements.

The construction sector faces persistent challenges, including fragmentation, adversarial risk allocation, limited research and development, and weak inter-organizational coordination, particularly in developing economies. These constraints limit firms’ ability to adopt digital technologies, sustainable practices, and productivity-enhancing innovations at project and organizational levels. This study examines multi-level determinants of innovation capability in Malaysia’s construction industry, conceptualizing innovation as a construction management outcome shaped by organizational, project, and institutional systems rather than as a purely technological phenomenon. Drawing on Innovation Systems Theory and the Resource-Based View, survey data from clients, consultants, and contractors were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, revealing six interrelated capability dimensions: institutional–technological support systems; collaboration and market dynamics; project environment and competitive pressure; sustainability-oriented organizational learning; leadership and organizational integration; and knowledge networks and strategic alliances. Findings indicate that innovation performance emerges from interactions among governance structures, collaborative environments, and firm-level capabilities. The IMPEL Framework integrates these dimensions into a multilevel construction management model linking policy, organizational strategy, and execution. Unlike conventional innovation models focused on technological adoption, IMPEL conceptualizes innovation capability as a system-embedded process integrating institutional, collaborative, and organizational dimensions. The framework provides a diagnostic foundation for strengthening innovation capability and supporting sustainable industry transformation.

This study examines why diversity climate may fail to stimulate innovation in healthcare organizations operating in an emerging economy and identifies the organizational capabilities that convert internal resources into performance outcomes. Survey data were collected from 311 managers in Vietnamese hospitals and pharmaceutical firms. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to assess reliability, validity, direct effects, predictive relevance and mediation through firm innovativeness. R and D effectiveness positively predicts both firm innovativeness and firm performance. Diversity climate improves firm performance directly but does not significantly predict innovativeness. Participative leadership does not show a significant direct association with either firm performance or innovativeness in the reported structural model. Firm innovativeness positively predicts firm performance. Cross-sectional and self-reported data limit causal claims. Future research should use longitudinal designs and objective performance indicators. Healthcare managers should complement diversity initiatives with interdisciplinary work routines, R and D partnerships, psychological safety practices and innovation governance systems. The findings extend resource-based and dynamic capability perspectives by specifying an emerging-market healthcare boundary condition: inclusive climates do not automatically become innovation capability when professional silos, hierarchical norms and weak knowledge-integration mechanisms restrict voice and experimentation. The study challenges the universal assumption that diversity climate naturally drives innovation and shows that leadership, R and D systems and institutional context shape whether inclusion becomes innovation.

ABSTRACT Amidst burgeoning interest in sustainability and corporate value, this study addresses an empirical gap in the ASEAN‐6 markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) by investigating the interplay between green innovation capability (GIC), environmental, social, and governance ratings (ESGR), energy transition (ETR), and firm value (FV). It further explores how ESGR and ETR moderate the GIC–FV relationship. Using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) regression, we analyzed panel data from Refinitiv Eikon for 2806 companies across the region from 2020 to 2024 (14,030 firm‐year observations). Findings reveal novel insights specific to ASEAN‐6; GIC and ESGR significantly enhance FV, confirming their strategic importance. However, the pathway to increased FV through sustainability is neither straightforward nor uniform but a multidimensional phenomenon. The findings reveal that while GIC and ESGR significantly enhance FV, confirming their strategic importance, the pathway to value creation is neither straightforward nor uniform. Instead, the impact of these sustainability factors is profoundly shaped by country‐specific characteristics and intricate interactions among variables. Practically, this study underscores the necessity for managers to formulate sustainability strategies that leverage GIC and ESGR. Furthermore, it offers guidance for policymakers to design tailored, context‐specific frameworks within each ASEAN‐6 nation. By illuminating the context‐dependent nature of these relationships, this research fills a critical empirical void in understanding how sustainability dimensions influence FV in key emerging economies.

ABSTRACT Teachers’ artificial intelligence (AI) literacy is a critical competency for building effective interactive learning environments, yet a substantial gap persists between organizational support and teachers’ individual capacities. Drawing on the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework, this study employs structural equation modeling to analyze survey data from 10,683 primary and secondary school teachers in Shanghai, China, examining the mechanism through which organizational support enhances teachers’ AI literacy via innovation capability and technology acceptance. The findings reveal that organizational support exerts both a significant direct effect on AI literacy (18.2% of total effect) and substantial indirect effects through innovation capability (22.4%) and technology acceptance (22.8%). Most importantly, innovation capability and technology acceptance jointly form a chain mediation pathway accounting for 36.6% of the total effect, revealing a complete mechanism: organizational support → innovation capability → technology acceptance → AI literacy. This study is the first to clarify this chain transmission mechanism, offering a new theoretical perspective for understanding how organizational factors systematically promote teachers’ AI literacy. Based on these findings, a four-level collaborative framework—institutional support, resource coordination, mechanism innovation, and agent empowerment—is proposed to provide actionable strategies for enhancing teachers’ AI literacy and optimizing interactive learning environments.

Innovation serves as the core driving force for the sustainable development of enterprises, and the strategic integration of internal R&amp;D and external innovation resources constitutes a critical foundation for enterprises to enhance their innovation capabilities. This study aims to reveal the interactive mechanism between internal R&amp;D investment and external industry-university-research (IUR) cooperation within enterprises, clarify the path through which the synergy between the two affects innovation output, explore the differential performance of various types of enterprises, and provide theoretical and practical references for the optimization of enterprise innovation strategies and policy formulation. Taking Chinese A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2020 as the research sample, this study constructs a multiple linear regression model to analyze the impact of their synergy effect on innovation output, and introduces enterprise scale and property right nature to conduct heterogeneity tests. The empirical results show that the synergy between increased R&amp;D investment and deepened IUR cooperation exerts a significant positive promoting effect on innovation output, and the integration of the two can amplify the marginal benefit of innovation investment. Moreover, this effect exhibits heterogeneity: large-scale enterprises, relying on their resource integration advantages, and state-owned enterprises, by virtue of policy support and resource endowments, have achieved more substantial innovation improvement through the coordinated interaction of the two. The research indicates that internal R&amp;D and external IUR cooperation are the dual core driving forces for enterprise innovation. Enterprises should expand their IUR cooperation networks and establish a sustainable growth mechanism for R&amp;D investment. At the policy level, it is necessary to take into account the heterogeneous characteristics of enterprises, formulate differentiated support policies, and promote the efficient allocation of innovation resources and the optimization of the innovation ecosystem.

ABSTRACT This article examines whether and how earnings management affects corporate green innovation in the context of China’s green transformation and the wider international drive for sustainability. The results reveal a pronounced inverse association between earnings management and green innovation. We also find that greater earnings management influences corporate green innovation by tightening external finance constraints and exacerbating managerial myopia. The negative effect is especially pronounced among firms operating in weaker external information environments, in regions with weaker environmental regulation, and in technology-intensive or heavily polluting industries. Moreover, earnings management negatively affects firms’ ESG performance by diminishing their green innovation capabilities, providing essential insights into how to promote corporate green transformation and further sustainable development goals.

ABSTRACT At present, artificial intelligence are driving education toward digital and intelligent transformation. Fundamental changes are occurring in knowledge production and learning methods within educational fields. As the backbone of scientific and technological innovation, cultivating the innovative capability of postgraduate students has become a vital mission. While existing academic research has accumulated substantial empirical findings on the factors influencing innovation capability, there remains a lack of attention to informal academic support, such as supervisors' informal guidance, peer academic assistance, etc. To address this gap, this study conducted a survey among 2168 Chinese postgraduate students to examine the impact mechanism of informal academic support on innovation capability in the context of digital transformation. The results show that informal academic support influences innovation capability in a positive way. Informal academic support influences innovation capability in a positive way through psychological capital. Informal academic support influences innovation capability in a positive way through learning engagement. Informal academic support influences innovation capability through the sequential mediation of psychological capital and learning engagement. These findings expand the theoretical boundaries of current research on high-level talent cultivation and provide theoretical basis and practical implications for universities to optimise postgraduate education amid the context of digital transformation.

ABSTRACT With the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the service sector, there is increasing interest in understanding firms’ capabilities to innovate through AI. However, research on AI-powered service innovation capability (AISIC) remains limited by the lack of validated measurement instruments. This study addresses this gap by developing and validating a multidimensional scale to assess AISIC. Based on semi-structured interviews and three multi-source field studies, yielding a total sample of 848 employees, we provide evidence for the scale’s content, factorial, discriminant, convergent, and predictive validity. The final 9-item scale captures AISIC as a higher-order construct comprising three dimensions. Results show that the AISIC scale demonstrates strong psychometric properties and significantly predicts key organizational outcomes. This study offers a practical tool for assessing the extent to which organizations are equipped to drive service innovation through AI, contributing to both theory development and managerial practice in AI-powered service contexts.

Participation quality and intrinsic learning motivation in research-based learning: Self-efficacy as a mediator of college students' innovative capability.