Top Business Research Articles

External leadership knowledge integration and AI readiness in family firms: exploring the mediation effects of professionalization

PurposeAs the knowledge-based theory of the firm suggests, integrating leadership knowledge from non-family sources may be paramount in building competitive advantage, and leadership knowledge is an invaluable resource in building successful firms. In the volatile business environment, AI developments are among the key drivers of several thorough transformations, so the possible relationship between top management business talent and AI readiness has become essential. Our paper examines this link in the family business context, analyzing the possible mediation role of firm professionalization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopted a quantitative research approach. Data about Hungarian family firms were collected during March and April 2024. The authors used structural equation modeling, and results with and without controlling for a firm size and sector effect were compared. The final sample size contained 112 family firms.FindingsThe research findings suggest that the identified personal professionalization subdimensions have different mediation roles in the relationship between external knowledge integration in top management teams and AI readiness. Without including the control variables, the personal development and competence absorption subdimensions fully mediate this relationship, and the delegation subdimension does not have a significant mediation role. These two mediation effects become significantly weaker with the inclusion of firm size and sector control variables.Research limitations/implicationsThe results highlight the importance of competence absorption and development in family firms, especially when preparing for AI integration into business processes. In addition, the findings also emphasize that firm size may have a significant role in creating an AI-compatible business environment.Originality/valueThis paper aims to integrate the evolving field of firm professionalization with research on the effects of family involvement in corporate leadership. Professionalization dimensions are defined, and mediation roles of personal professionalization subdimensions are examined concerning the relationship between external knowledge integration in top management teams and AI readiness. The paper also highlights several new research directions that may enhance understanding the relationship between family leadership involvement and corporate outcomes.

Highlighting the Leadership Role of Top Management and Business Strategy Between Institutional Pressures and the Adoption of Environmental Management Accounting

Highlighting the Leadership Role of Top Management and Business Strategy Between Institutional Pressures and the Adoption of Environmental Management Accounting

The evolution of IB research: a topic model analysis of EIBA conference papers (1975-2020)

PurposeThis paper comes in the context of the European International Business Academy (EIBA) History project, and the long period analysed was broken down in six time windows (1975–1981, 1982–1988, 1989–1995, 1996–2002, 2003–2012; and 2013–2020), in line with the periodisation followed in writing such history. The main purpose was to identify the key themes of the papers presented at EIBA conferences between 1975 and 2020.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis was carried out drawing on topic modelling, a machine-learning statistical solution that is capable of processing large volumes of text data.FindingsA set of 5,296 Competitive and Workshop papers was processed with the use of topic modelling. The method enabled to identify 24 underlying research topics. These were then grouped into nine higher-level categories. The results show a consistent growth in the number of papers presented, especially in the periods going from 1989–2012. This is a sign of an increasing attractiveness, openness and attendance in EIBA’s annual conferences. Overall, the topics with the highest probabilities were topic 22 (Measuring and Assessing IB performance), followed ex-aequo by topics 13 (Evolutionary Approaches, Matrix Structures and Managerial Challenges) and 20 (Comparative Management Education and Behaviour) and then by topic 4 (Born Globals and International New Ventures). A key finding was the change in methodological approaches over time, with a significant increase in the use of sound quantitative and qualitative methods, instead of broad narratives mostly based on descriptive statistics.Research limitations/implicationsLatent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), as a quantitative approach to analyse text data, has some limitations. LDA, along with other distributional models, may identify degrees of semantic relations between words, but is not able by itself to specify the kind of relation, entailing a possible loss of contextual information which might have been able to further assist in the study. Another limitation stems from the use of very old paper proceedings, whose quality was sometimes low, making reading difficult.Practical implicationsThis research provides a longitudinal perspective of the evolution of the key research topics in international business over about 45 years. Its findings are very important for all those who are interested on the evolution of the IB field.Social implicationsThe research provides an interesting perspective of the development of a scientific field as well as of a scientific community.Originality/valueThe main contributions of this research are fourfold. Firstly, to the best of the authors' knowledge, it provides the most complete longitudinal analysis about the evolution of IB research topics published so far. Secondly, it extracts relevant information about the evolution of the IB research issues addressed at EIBA’s annual conferences, enabling a 46-year longitudinal perspective on research interests as they emerged. Thirdly, it provides a successful application of topic modelling for the analysis of large volumes of textual data. Fourthly, it addresses the entirety of the text documents, as opposed to specific sections or keywords only, ensuring increased analytical depth.

LensLine News: Revolutionizing Paranormal Engagement and Access

The LensLine News App does provide a visually challenged citizen with news updates from various sources, sought and filtered from the News API. It fetches top headlines from the US, focusing on the business category. This will read aloud news headlines to the user for staying abreast of all current events without the aid of visual cues. The application is developed using the Flutter framework, while the FlutterTTS package is used to convert the text into speech. This project offers an easy interface with no hassle at all; this is why it is a must for visually impaired people who want to be informed about everything that goes on around them. This is a Flutter application that fetches the top business news headlines from NewsAPI and displays them in a ListView. This application is aimed to assist users in obtaining the latest business news on mobile devices with simplicity and convenience. The application fetches the latest business news from the NewsAPI using the http package. It parses the received JSON response to extract the actual text content using the JSON package. The Flutter TTS package is used to read out news headlines in a voice. Upon launching the app, the user is presented with a list of the top business news headlines that come along with the available images, title, and descriptions. The user will then tap on any news headline to listen to the title using the textto-speech function.

Do top business schools consider entrepreneurship as a core value?

Do top business schools consider entrepreneurship as a core value?

Sustainable Shipping Requires Sustainable Education and Training

The Blue Economy is a multi-layered economy in its content, although it only reflects the relation between the sea and business. Shipping plays an essential role in this economy, as it holds the largest market share. Sustainable shipping, however, requires the sustainability of a number of the components that make it up. One of the most important components is the training of marine personnel, and particularly the ship’s crew. Over the past two decades, the Lifelong Learning strategy has been firmly established in shipping, manifested through a variety of practices. In order to ensure the continuous and sustainable training of ship’s crews, the companies have introduced annual seminars, which aim to familiarize the officers with current business topics. This article analyzes the delivery methods and quality of training in six seminars conducted by four different shipping companies carried out in three different countries. The scientific method “interview” was used for gathering the necessary information for analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of this type of training, and the way it was conducted. A significant number of deck officers and engineers, participants in all seminars, were surveyed to create a clear picture of the quality of such education and training. Collected data were used for the analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) associated with the surveyed fleet officer’s seminars. A comparative analysis of this type of postgraduate training was made, while taking in mind higher marine education and training. The article summarizes the authors’ experience of their sea service as Officers of the Watch and Masters on board of merchant vessels, as well as participants in postgraduate education and training. Conclusions for close cooperation between shipping companies and maritime educational institutions are made.

Financial Performance Evaluation using Financial Distress models with reference to Dabur India Ltd

The global FMCG business is expected to reach close to $15000 billion by 2025 in the current era of e-commerce. Accordingly, FMCG is identified as the fourth-largest sector in India. One of the top businesses in India is Dabur India Ltd. As a result, we tried to evaluate the financial patterns and performance during the previous ten years. The main objective of this study is to assess the financial positions with respect to profitability, solvency, liquidity, etc. For the study, the ratio analysis techniques are employed and Financial Distress of Dabur India Ltd is analysed by Altman's Z-Score Model and Zmijewski Model. The study's overall conclusion unequivocally shows that Dabur is benefiting from positive financial performance across the board. This could assist Dabur India in maintaining a strong market share and a leading position in the FMCG industry.

Preface

In order to promote academic exchanges and cooperation in aerospace and mechanics and share the latest research results and cutting-edge technologies, we gathered in Shenyang, China during 12th to 14th July 2024, to usher in the 2024 International Conference on Aerospace and Mechanics (ICAM 2024). This Proceedings of ICAM 2024 gathers the wisdom of top scholars, experts and business elites from all over the world, aiming to provide a high-level and internationalized communication platform for the participants. The conference aimed to stimulate innovative thinking and promote the development of the discipline through an in-depth discussion of the latest advances and challenges in the field of aerospace and mechanics, and to contribute to the prosperity of the global aerospace industry. It was organized with keynote speeches, oral presentations, poster presentations, and academic investigation, attracting more than 150 delegates around the world. The technical program hosted by Hui Li (Chairman of this year’s conference, Professor of Northeastern University) actually started on the morning of July 13th with an opening speech by Aiping Zhang (Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University). And then, 16 experts and scholars from home and abroad, including Bangchun Wen (Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor of Northeastern University), Ramesh K. Agarwal (IEEE Fellow, Professor of Washington University in St. Louis, USA), Hui Ma (Professor of Northeastern University), Jin Zhou (Professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University), Zhongwei Guan (Professor from Advanced Materials Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute, UAE), among others, gave presentations to share the achievements of scientific research and innovation in different fields. They provided in-depth analysis and sharing on cutting-edge hotspots such as aerospace technology, aerospace mechanics, new materials and structures, aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, vibration and noise control. In addition, the conference also set up special seminars to discuss the current hot issues in the field, providing participants with opportunities for in-depth exchanges and collision of ideas. ICAM 2024 came to an end on the afternoon of July 14th and was indeed very successful! National and international leading scientists and researchers have gathered at the conference and created a stimulating scientific atmosphere for themselves and for the young scholars. And the conference has promoted the development and application in the fields of and related to aerospace and mechanics, as well as fostered the industrial cooperation of academic achievements. List of Committee Member is available in this Pdf.

Navigating in Turbulent Times: Using Social Media to Examine Small and family-Owned Business Topics and Sentiments during the COVID-19 Crisis

Navigating in Turbulent Times: Using Social Media to Examine Small and family-Owned Business Topics and Sentiments during the COVID-19 Crisis

Business analytics in managerial decision-making: top management perceptions

Purpose Firms seek to improve their decision-making and enable more “fact-based” decisions by using business analytics. While the benefits of using business analytics to monitor, develop and improve daily operations have been reported by many scholars, using it in more complex top management decisions has received less attention. Building on the resource-based view of the firm, this study aims to investigate top management perceptions of using business analytics for making decisions on firm resources. Design/methodology/approach This study uses semi-structured interviews to collect perceptions of 12 top managers in large firms on when and why they use business analytics in their decision-making. Findings Top managers use business analytics output as their main source of information for monitoring ongoing business performance against set targets and taking corrective actions. Concerning future-oriented planning and strategic decision-making involving more complex changes on the firms’ resource base, top managers proactively complement knowledge derived via business analytics with other sources of knowledge, such as stakeholder and expert opinions. Moreover, top managers use of business analytics depends on their own expectations of its value potential and on the expectations of their organization. Originality/value This study adds to the extant literature on the business value of business analytics by outlining the purposes and reasons for top management business analytics use. By demonstrating when and why top managers apply business analytics when making decisions on the firm’s current and future resource base, this study contributes to the discussion on the resource-based view and decision-making practices of the firm.

Advancing the complex adaptive systems approach to enterprise risk management with quantified risk networks (QRNs)

Business enterprises are complex adaptive systems (CAS) subject to fragility caused by the non-linear effects of uncertain risk events. The regional bank collapses in the United States are a case in point. Recent papers have highlighted a shortcoming of the traditional risk management process, which focuses on compliance but considers neither the interdependence between complex risks nor the mechanism of their non-linear impact on the organization. A new perspective on Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has instead called for a shift of mindset from mitigating risk to building resilience by honing a CAS view to contextualize, assess, and manage complex risks. But the building blocks needed for a CAS representation of ERM have not yet been systematically developed. Specifically, we are missing a typological inventory of risks and a mapping of risks onto the general structure of an enterprise. In this paper, we build an industry-agnostic inventory of plausible risk factors using information extraction on large scale text data. Additionally, we develop an understanding of risk-function and function-function interdependencies through a survey of top business managers. The result is a novel complex network view of enterprise risk called a Quantified Risk Network (QRN) that displays small-world properties and highlights internal company functions central to non-linear risk propagation mechanisms within the enterprise. The QRN draws attention to vulnerabilities in the enterprise structure such as risk-function connections measured by Edge Betweenness centrality. The generic QRN developed herein is a proof of concept and we advocate that enterprises build their own company-specific QRNs to identify highly connected and central functions in their company structure that could lead to cascading failure when specific risks arise. QRNs can contribute to the objective of building enterprise resilience.

New learning method with ERP business simulation game: What can we learn?

This Study explores the effectiveness of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) business simulation games on user competencies. This Study Uses a qualitative descriptive methodology, and the informants of this research have been winning in national and international business simulation games (both students and alums). Traditional pedagogical approaches need to be revised to explain the rich dynamics arising from business environments. As a result, they also consider incorporating new educational aids into their curriculums, i.e., business simulation games. Participants indicated that interacting with these simulations enhanced their understanding of business topics and resulted in soft skills growth. Current working alumni said they felt more capable of acclimating to the professional world. However, the Study unearthed that comparatively few higher education institutions incorporate business simulation games in their teaching practices. The result shows that with the development of technology, there is a transformation in how business functions; integration of these tools into educational frameworks becomes essential to narrow the knowledge theory gap and knowledge application. These results suggest the importance of universities introducing technology tools, particularly ERP business simulations, into their curricula for Business and Economics courses (single or joint honors) alongside accounting.

On the circular entrepreneurship across continents: An analysis of terms of business descriptors

AbstractThis study analyzes circular entrepreneurship trends across global regions using the 2014–2018 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor dataset. Content analysis of business descriptors from 79,663 unique entrepreneurs was used to position each startup within the 9R's framework. The results show that startups are mainly associated with “repurpose” and “recover”, which are less desirable for circularity. We further define circular entrepreneurs as those with the top 10% highest weighted score in circular strategies according to the type of business they run. The BERTopic approach is applied to identify specific business topics for these entrepreneurs. Similarities (North America and Latin America & the Caribbean) and differences (Europe) in popular topics are found across regions. Lastly, regression analysis reveals that entrepreneurial perception and the presence of role models are key factors driving circular entrepreneurship.

Values Above the Shareholder-Stakeholder Twist: Why do Asian Top Business Leaders Speak Differently?

Values Above the Shareholder-Stakeholder Twist: Why do Asian Top Business Leaders Speak Differently?

Digital transformation dilemma in the era of changing dynamics: How organizational culture influence the success of digital transformation

BACKGROUND: Digital transformation has become one of the most important topics in business, as companies try to use technology to improve their processes and gain a competitive edge. However, the success of digital transformation projects can be affected by organizational culture, which can make it easier or harder for digital transformation projects to be successfully implemented. OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to investigate the impact of organizational culture on the success of digital transformation. The study measures dimensions of organizational culture and how they impact the success of digital transformation projects. METHODS: 264 employees from various firms provided information via a questionnaire, and the study used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with AMOS software to evaluate the information and develop the proposed conceptual framework. RESULTS: The results demonstrate that employee empowerment has a positive and significant impact on digital transformation, while new organizational practice, support of change, and teamwork do not. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are crucial for advancing the current understanding of the role of organizational culture in the success of digital transformation projects. By shedding light on this relationship, this study contributes to the literature on digital transformation and provides organizations with insights that can inform their digital transformation strategies.

100 Years of Rising Corporate Concentration

We collect data on the size distribution of US businesses for 100 years, and use these data to estimate the concentration of production (e.g., asset share or sales share of top businesses). The data show that concentration has increased persistently over the past century. Rising concentration was stronger in manufacturing and mining before the 1970s, and stronger in services, retail, and wholesale after the 1970s. The results are robust to different measurement methods and consistent across different historical sources. Our findings suggest that large firms have become more important in the US economy for a long period of time. (JEL D22, E24, L11, L25, N12)

The Moderating Influence of Cultural Tightness on the International Diversification–Firm Performance Relationship: A Meta-analysis

The relationship between international diversification (ID) and firm performance (FP) is among the best researched topics in international business. However, the findings on the role of firms’ home-country culture remain mixed, leading to repeated calls for broader cultural perspectives. We introduce the construct of cultural tightness–looseness and advance the conversation on the role of the tightness of a firm’s cultural origin. Drawing on 490 primary studies, we provide meta-analytic evidence that cultural tightness negatively moderates the ID–FP relationship.

Classrooms vs screens: Learning outcomes from a business school

Classrooms vs screens: Learning outcomes from a business school

Trends and Patterns in the Key Attributes of the 24 Top Business Journals: 2001–2021

We document trends and patterns in the key attributes of the 24 top journals during 2001–2021 using data from the Web of Science. These trends include growth by disciplines and journals represented among selected journals in terms of growth in publications, relative publication share of disciplines, number of unique authors, attributes of prolific authors, and the extent of interdisciplinary contributions. We compare and contrast our findings with prior studies and offer a few conjectures on similarities and differences in the findings. We hope that our descriptive findings will spur further research on the production function of science and help identify the determinants of research productivity in top journals.

Empowering Women Employees’ Safety through Artificial Intelligence – An Empirical Study

Now a day it is very common human collaboration with machine. Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Business Analytics are the important terms in technology. Top business companies through the world have started concentrating on Artificial Intelligence and machines. In present era, machines have started to act like human. Artificial intelligence has been adopted in various sectors since this technology, improves productivity, decreases costs, and quickly resolves challenging issues. It has been predicted that one of the most promising technologies of the future will be artificial intelligence. As one of the latest modern technologies, AI is influencing developments throughout a number of industries and societal safety norms. In this paper has an attempt to know women employee safety level through Artificial Intelligence and to identify the factors which are influencing for women empowerment safety through AI. An online survey was conducted and circulated through emails to collected the data, to study the status and level of empowerment among women safety through Artificial Intelligence. The status of women empowerment was evaluated using questionnaire. The information like age, educational qualification, occupation, marital status, work experience, city of residence was collected and analysed with five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was administrated and circulated on a sample of 120 women associated with various email groups. The questionnaire was response rate was 42%, as 50 women respondents retuned fully filled, usable questionnaire. Data collected for this study were evaluated using Multiple Regression and ANOVA in SPSS statistical package. Empowering women employees’ safety through AI involved a combination of technology, regulations, policies and a supportive working environment. It is very essential to implement AI systems that respect privacy and maintain ethical standards while enhancing safety