Invited review: Valorization of dairy permeates-Balancing value creation with commercial feasibility.

Big Data-Driven Explainable Agentic AI Decision Frameworks for Enterprise Innovation in FinTech Ecosystems.

Prime editing has become a highly programmable and accurate genome-editing platform that can install targeted substitutions, insertions, and deletions without introducing double-strand breaks or requiring a separate donor DNA template. This review summarizes recent developments about prime editing mechanisms, such as knowledge about flap dynamics, repair pathway interactions, and pegRNA architecture, and improvements in engineering, resulting in high-efficiency systems, including PEmax, PE4/5, TWIN-PE, PASTE, and PrimeRoot. Such advances now make prime editing applicable to therapeutic gene correction, agricultural biotechnology, microbial engineering, and functional genomics. However, delivery, chromatin context, mismatch-repair variability, and large-fragment integration remain major barriers to broad application. By comparing prime editing with other genome-editing modalities, this review summarizes its unique advantages and highlights strategic innovations needed for its next stage of development. Together, these developments position prime editing as a highly programmable platform with strong potential to shape the future of precise genome rewriting.

Adaptation of strategic innovation management to regional sustainable development: Lessons from global SMEs and the DCT approach

Protein therapeutics offer unparalleled specificity and immediate bioactivity for addressing complex pathologies; however, their vast therapeutic potential is fundamentally constrained by intrinsic structural vulnerability and the formidable barrier of cellular membrane impermeability. This review delineates the transformative paradigm shift in nanoparticle-mediated protein delivery, where advanced molecular engineering enables the precise orchestration of the nano-bio interface and exceptional spatiotemporal resolution. We systematically summarize a diverse repertoire of cutting-edge nanoplatforms-including lipid nanoparticles, polymeric assemblies, porous nanomaterials, and supramolecular architectures-highlighting how their chemical compositions and structural motifs are tailored to navigate multi-scale physiological barriers. A central emphasis is placed on strategic innovations in high-efficiency protein encapsulation, organ-selective targeting, and the critical transition from endosomal sequestration to cytosolic liberation, all of which are pivotal for maximizing therapeutic potency. Furthermore, we critically address the current challenges in tissue-specific delivery and envision future frontiers, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven nanocarrier discovery, long-term biosafety, the path toward manufacture and clinical translation. By bridging materials chemistry with the complex cell biology of proteins, this review provides a visionary roadmap for the next generation of delivery systems, aiming to redefine the landscape of protein-based molecular medicine.

Purpose This paper aims to examine how the integration of sustainable business strategies, modern technologies, flexible processes and production capacity impacts the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies. By examining these dimensions within the framework of strategic innovation operations management, the research aims to understand how SMEs can enhance their competitiveness, adaptability and long-term sustainability. Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on the manufacturing sector in Mexico, applying a quantitative methodology to provide empirical evidence on the extent to which these operational factors contribute to improved organisational performance. The sample size consisted of 207 SMEs, and the PLS Smart version 4.0 software was used to analyse the relationship between these factors. The theoretical framework was developed based on the resource-based, contingency and dynamic capabilities theories. Findings The research confirms that the integration of sustainable business strategies within operations management exerts a significant and substantive impact on SME performance. The structural model demonstrates strong explanatory power, with an adjusted R² of 0.508, indicating that more than half of the variance in SME performance is accounted for by the proposed predictors. These findings provide robust empirical support for the theoretical framework and highlight the strategic relevance of embedding sustainability principles directly into operational decision-making processes. Such alignment strengthens SMEs’ adaptability, operational efficiency and competitive positioning in dynamic and resource-constrained markets. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this study is the reliance on managers’ self-reported performance measures. Although perceptual indicators are common in SME research and often correlate with objective data, they may still be influenced by self-reporting bias, social desirability or retrospective judgement. Despite procedural safeguards, such as anonymity and validated multi-item scales, common method variance cannot be fully excluded. Results should therefore be interpreted with caution. Future research should triangulate perceptual assessments with objective financial indicators to enhance measurement robustness. Practical implications Strategic innovation in operations management enables SMEs to streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance quality, thereby improving their competitiveness. Aligning innovation with sustainable operational practices supports better resource allocation and performance. By adopting flexible and responsive models, SMEs can quickly adapt to market changes and disruptions. Cultivating an innovation-driven culture promotes continuous improvement, enhances employee engagement and fosters long-term sustainability. Benchmarking against key findings enables SMEs to identify areas for growth and implement strategies that enhance innovation and operational performance. Overall, strategic innovation empowers SMEs to make smarter decisions and build resilient, competitive and sustainable businesses in dynamic environments. Originality/value This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the association between strategic innovation operations management and organisational performance, specifically within the SME context. Its originality lies in measuring this relationship and considering the emerging demands for a combined focus on sustainability, adaptability, technological transformation and competitiveness in a rapidly evolving business environment. While prior research has often focused on large corporations, this study focuses on the integration of innovation operations management in SMEs, a segment of the economy that is frequently underexplored yet vital.

ABSTRACT While the role of top management teams (TMTs) in determining corporate strategy is becoming more widely recognized, relatively little research has investigated the specific role of TMT stability in disruptive technological innovation, which is fundamentally different from incremental innovation in its risk profile and resource needs. This gap is addressed by utilizing a sample of Chinese Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies for the period of 2013–2023 to investigate the influence and the mechanisms underlying the stability of TMT on its relation to disruptive technological innovation. The results show that TMT stability has an evident inhibitory effect on disruptive technological innovation. Additional mechanisms show that TMT stability indirectly inhibits disruptive innovation by two mechanisms: lowering corporate risk-taking and reducing R&D efficiency. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis indicates that this negative effect is weaker in high-tech and high-pollution firms but has a stronger inhibitory effect in high executive compensation. This study formally extends Upper Echelons Theory by defining that TMT stability has unique effects on disruptive and incremental innovation. From an operational perspective, firms should optimize governance, to achieve a trade-off between managerial stability and innovation-based flexibility, mainly through dynamic reward-driven mechanisms, which lead to risk-seeking in strategic innovation activities.

ABSTRACT National innovation capacity (NIC) is a critical driver of long-term competitiveness, yet the structural determinants that underpin its development remain underexplored. This study investigates the economic, human, and institutional enablers of NIC using an unbalanced cross-country panel and a two-step system GMM estimator. The results reveal that human capital, measured by researcher density, labour force size, and entrepreneurial activity, and institutional quality are the most consistent and significant drivers of NIC. In contrast, macroeconomic factors such as GDP growth, trade openness, and foreign direct investment play a supportive role, contingent on a country’s absorptive capacity and governance strength. The findings advance strategic innovation theory by highlighting that innovation cannot be sustained by economic conditions alone; it requires strong human and institutional foundations. The study underscores the importance of integrated policy strategies that develop human capital, foster entrepreneurial ecosystems, and enhance institutional quality, enabling countries to build resilient and strategically oriented innovation systems capable of supporting long-term technological advancement.

This study explores how artificial intelligence reshapes business strategies through synergistic effects between digital thinking, change management, and cross-cultural leadership in organizational transformation processes. Based on multi-source public data from 450 global enterprises across technology, manufacturing, finance, and retail sectors, this research integrates structural equation modeling, in-depth case analysis of 20 extreme cases, and machine learning prediction methods to construct and validate an “AI-Driven Strategic Triple Helix Evolution Framework” through seven interrelated hypotheses. Empirical findings confirm that organizational transformation plays the role of a core mediating hub (R2=0.64), connecting AI capabilities to strategic reconstruction, while the interaction with the three elements of synergy adds an additional 11% of explanatory power to it (ΔR2=0.11, P<0.001). Six strategic paths are differentiated in this research: AI-native (12%), platform transformation (23%), ecosystem orchestration (18%), niche specialization (21%), hybrid innovation (17%), and conservative following (9%), with significant cultural context dependence. Cross-cultural leadership shows the greatest moderating effect on high power distance cultures (β=0.38). The framework goes beyond the traditional technology-organization-environment models in unfolding dynamic co-evolution mechanisms among technological capabilities, cognitive reconstruction, and cultural adaptation. Machine learning models further predict 70% of enterprises participating in ecosystem strategies by 2030, and a digital mindset contributes 34.2% to strategic innovation prediction.

Endoscopic spine surgery offers minimally invasive advantages, including reduced tissue disruption, fewer complications, and faster recovery. These benefits are particularly relevant in the treatment of herniated discs and spinal stenosis. Despite these strengths, questions remain regarding its long-term economic sustainability. Thus, it is important to evaluate the economic challenges facing endoscopic spine surgery and identify strategies to support its integration into modern spine care. This perspective examines reimbursement structures, procedural scope, stakeholder incentives, and overlap with pain management. Endoscopic procedures are primarily used for decompression and involve minimal implant utilization, limiting reimbursement and revenue generation. This creates financial pressure across surgeons, ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals, and industry stakeholders. Increasing procedural overlap with pain management further complicates positioning and adoption. Sustained viability will depend on integrating endoscopy into broader surgical workflows, demonstrating measurable value, and aligning reimbursement with clinical performance. Strategic innovation and coordinated stakeholder engagement are essential to securing its future role.

Stakeholder engagement and strategic innovation in higher education through AI competency

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognised as a key driver of business innovation, yet its adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) varies considerably. This study examines whether AI Capital, defined as AI-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, is associated with business innovation among SMEs in England. Using a two-wave longitudinal panel dataset comprising 504 observations from SMEs collected in 2024 and 2025, the study develops and validates a 45-item AI Capital of Business scale. Business innovation is measured across five dimensions: product and service innovation, process innovation, technology adoption, market and customer engagement, and organisational culture and strategy. Regression models, including pooled OLS, Random Effects, and Fixed Effects specifications, are employed. The findings reveal a robust positive association between AI Capital and business innovation across all model specifications. This association holds across all business innovation dimensions and remains consistent for SMEs with differing levels of financial performance, size, and operational maturity. Each component of AI Capital independently exhibits a positive association with business innovation outcomes. The results highlight the central role of AI Capital in enabling SMEs to translate AI adoption into tangible business innovation. From a policy perspective, the findings indicate the value of targeted interventions that prioritise AI upskilling, organisational capability development, and accessible support mechanisms to promote inclusive and sustainable AI-driven business innovation among SMEs. • Developed and validated a 45-item AI Capital for Business scale. • Longitudinal SME study links AI Capital to stronger innovation outcomes. • AI Capital boosts product, process, market, and strategic innovation. • Robust panel data confirms AI Capital as a driver of SME competitiveness. • Policy insights support targeted AI training and inclusive SME innovation.

The article examines the current state of legal regulation of health technology assessment (HTA) in Ukraine in the context of rapid innovation development of the national healthcare sector. It substantiates the need to perceive state HTA not merely as a procedural mechanism for selecting medical technologies, but as an institutional instrument for implementing public innovation policy. Particular attention is paid to medical technologies based on artificial intelligence, which are considered both an emerging area of HTA and a potential tool for improving assessment processes, in line with European Union regulations and international best practices. The study analyzes inconsistencies between strategic policy documents in the fields of healthcare and innovation and the existing regulatory framework for HTA, including the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1300. The current HTA procedure remains largely focused on medicinal products and does not fully address digital health solutions, artificial intelligence systems, or other advanced MedTech innovations prioritized by national strategies, though such situation is surely influenced by wartime conditions. The article proposes legislative amendments to align HTA regulation with strategic innovation priorities, including the explicit recognition of digital and AI-based medical technologies as independent objects of assessment. In addition, the feasibility of developing a dedicated HTA guideline for artificial intelligence systems is justified, drawing on the experience of the European Union, NICE (United Kingdom), Digi-HTA (Finland), and CADTH (Canada). The author concludes that, under appropriate regulatory conditions, HTA can serve as an effective mechanism for stimulating innovation while ensuring patient safety, economic efficiency, and a balance between public and private interests in the healthcare system.

This article presents ‘Echo’, a student project developed within the Service Design and Strategic Innovation (SDSI) master programme in collaboration with the European Movement Latvia. It explores how we reframed youth civic disengagement as a challenge of personal relevance and prototyped an AI-assisted tool linking career aspirations with civic imagination.

Amid the growing public interest in tourism that is not only refreshing but also provides health benefits, the integration of nature-based physiotherapy services represents a strategic innovation. This study examines the implementation of physiotherapy concepts within healthy and sustainable ecotourism, emphasizing the use of nature-based therapy at Sungai Mudal Ecotourism (ESM) in Kulon Progo, Special Region of Yogyakarta. Ecotourism is generally analyzed from environmental and socio-economic perspectives; however, its potential contribution to health promotion and rehabilitation remains underexplored. Given its natural assets, ESM serves as a relevant example of incorporating physiotherapy activities into ecotourism practices. This study employed a qualitative case study design, utilizing participatory field observations, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) with ESM managers, document analysis of reports and related literature, tourist perception surveys, and light intervention studies on the benefits of therapy-based tourism activities. The results indicate that the natural environment, including rivers, waterfalls, and natural pools, provides opportunities for therapeutic activities such as hydrotherapy and musculoskeletal mobility exercises. These activities benefit both physical and mental health, thereby enhancing the attractiveness and sustainability of ecotourism. This study presents the paradigm of “healthy ecotourism,” which integrates physiotherapy-oriented environmental therapy techniques into ecotourism planning and management. Such integration encourages ESM to strengthen ecotourism sustainability through service diversification, support for local livelihoods, and the reinforcement of health–environment linkages.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to integrate Lean practices with sustainability due to high methodological complexity and the frequent neglect of the social dimension. This study develops the Simple, Sustainable, and Inclusive Lean Model (SSILM), a conceptual framework designed to bridge these gaps. The methodology involved a systematic meta-evaluation of 31 existing Lean–Sustainability models against 14 operational criteria tailored for SMEs. Findings reveal that current models lack social integration and practical scalability for resource-constrained environments. The proposed SSILM is structured in six phases, from characterization to analysis, prioritizing low-cost participatory tools and strategic innovation. This study contributes a theoretical bridge between operational efficiency and the Triple Bottom Line, specifically emphasizing the social pillar. As a conceptual paper, its primary limitation is the lack of empirical field testing, which establishes a clear roadmap for future longitudinal research in industrial contexts.

In the context of global economic transformation and the intensification of European integration processes, the innovative development of enterprises becomes a key factor in ensuring their competitiveness and long-term sustainability. For Ukrainian enterprises, the issue of adapting innovation strategies to the institutional requirements of the European Union is becoming increasingly important. The European economic environment is characterized by rapid technological changes, digital transformation of business processes, and growing attention to environmental responsibility and sustainable development. Under such conditions, enterprises need to develop strategic approaches that allow them to respond effectively to these challenges and integrate into the European innovation space. Modern EU innovation policy focuses on stimulating technological development, supporting research and innovation activities, and creating favorable conditions for the commercialization of innovative solutions. At the same time, enterprises are expected to implement modern management approaches, increase the level of technological modernization, and introduce digital and environmentally oriented innovations. In this context, the formation of an innovation strategy becomes an important management task that allows enterprises to coordinate internal development priorities with the strategic directions of economic transformation taking place in the European Union.The issue of developing effective mechanisms for the formation of enterprise innovation strategies requires a comprehensive consideration of institutional, technological, and organizational factors that influence innovation activity. Special attention is given to the role of strategic planning, the assessment of enterprise innovation potential, and the identification of priority areas for technological development. In addition, the implementation of innovation strategies requires the creation of an appropriate system for monitoring innovation activity and ensuring consistency between strategic objectives and the resources available to the enterprise. The study focuses on the conceptual foundations of forming an enterprise innovation strategy under the conditions of European integration. Particular attention is paid to the institutional environment that shapes the priorities of innovation development, the role of digital transformation in modern economic systems, and the increasing importance of sustainable and environmentally responsible production practices. The discussion also addresses the need for systematic approaches to strategic innovation management and the development of methodological tools that can support enterprises in adapting to the evolving European economic landscape.

This paper examines the role of human capital architecture in sustaining strategic innovation in increasingly dynamic and uncertain environments. It addresses the problem that many organizations struggle to translate human capital investments into consistent innovation outcomes due to misalignment, resistance to change, and resource constraints. The objective is to synthesize recent literature (2020–2026) to clarify how elements such as leadership, organizational culture—particularly psychological safety—and talent systems contribute to innovation capability and performance. Using a conceptual literature review approach based on Scopus- and Web of Science-indexed sources, the study integrates empirical and theoretical insights into a coherent framework. The findings indicate that human capital architecture drives innovation through leadership and culture as key mechanisms, while constraints such as limited resources and resistance moderate these relationships, and continuous evaluation systems enhance adaptability. The paper concludes that organizations that intentionally align human capital strategies with innovation priorities, supported by ongoing measurement and feedback, are better positioned to achieve sustained competitive advantage.

Purpose This study examines the relationship between corporate innovation and climate change performance at the country level. We also explore how managerial ability and market concentration affect this relationship. Our study provides an in-depth perspective into firms' strategic innovation decisions against the backdrop of environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach We use datasets of 63,450 firm-year observations across 8,921 unique firms in 24 countries from 2007 to 2021; we employ regression analysis with firm and country-level controls. We apply instrumental variables, the Heckman selection model and alternative specifications such as the hierarchical model, generalized least squares model and quantile regressions to address endogeneity and econometric concerns. Findings We find a positive and significant relationship between corporate innovation and climate change performance in the country where the firm is located. Firms in countries with good climate change performance spend more on corporate innovation. However, high managerial ability slightly dampens this effect. Market concentration also moderates this relationship, reducing corporate innovation incentives in highly concentrated industries. Research limitations/implications Our study relies on only available public firm disclosures on R&D in our sample. Future research could explore private firms and sector-specific variations. Practical implications Our findings suggest policymakers should design climate regulations that incentivize corporate innovation while considering managerial decision-making. When making investment decisions, investors may also assess corporate innovations as managerial strategies in climate-conscious countries. Originality/value This paper contributes to the climate finance and corporate governance literature by demonstrating that managerial ability and market conditions significantly shape the climate-innovation nexus. It expands prior research using a comprehensive climate performance index and broader innovation measure.

ABSTRACT The enabling role of the digital economy in green transformation is widely recognized; however, the impact of industrial linkages within the digital economy on corporate green innovation remains largely unexplored. From a meso-level perspective, this study measures the degree and direction of digital economy industrial linkages using an input-output model and an industrial linkage weighting method. It also examines the asymmetric effects of forward and backward linkages on green innovation. The findings show that digital economy industrial linkages significantly promote corporate green innovation, driven by forward technology demonstration and backward technology coercion effects. Mechanism tests suggest that these linkages enhance green innovation through chain efficiency, forward governance, and backward research and development empowerment. The analysis reveals heterogeneity in the effects, which are particularly pronounced in regions with higher levels of digital financial inclusion, those implementing carbon emissions trading pilots, and areas with greater environmental attention allocation. Further analysis indicates that green innovation induced by digital economy industrial linkages primarily reflects substantive rather than strategic innovation. This study deepens understanding of digitally driven green transitions from an industrial linkage perspective and provides policy recommendations for emerging economies to strengthen market-oriented green innovation systems.