This study investigates how users' dynamic capabilities are associated with their preference between independent and collaborative entrepreneurship in online innovation communities, drawing on dynamic capabilities theory and effectuation theory. This study employed a mixed-methods approach combining structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze questionnaire data from 215 users of open-source and brand-oriented innovation communities. Resource-integration capabilities are the key factor distinguishing preferences for different entrepreneurial modes: they exhibit a significantly positive association with independent entrepreneurship preference while exhibiting a significantly negative association with collaborative entrepreneurship preference. Opportunity-sensing, network-building and agile-learning capabilities, as general foundational and higher-order meta-capabilities, are jointly positively associated with both types of entrepreneurial modes. fsQCA further identifies multiple equivalent configurations: the combination of low resource-integration capabilities and high social capital is associated with a preference for collaborative entrepreneurship, whereas the combination of internal capability completeness and strong entrepreneurial intention is associated with a preference for independent entrepreneurship. This study extends dynamic capabilities theory to the micro-level of user entrepreneurship, offers an effectuation-based interpretation of how user dynamic capabilities, as antecedents of entrepreneurial means, relate to entrepreneurial mode preferences in patterns consistent with effectuation principles and illuminates the configurational complexity of entrepreneurial mode preference through a configurational lens.
Purpose The study investigates how small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers perceive and emotionally engage with environmental and social sustainability in the context of Industry 4.0 adoption. Using semi-structured interviews combined with multimodal sentiment analysis (speech prosody and emotional language), we aim to uncover implicit hesitancy, dissonance, and conceptual fragmentation that traditional methods fail to detect, thereby offering new insights for policy design and corporate social responsibility research in structurally disadvantaged regions. Design/methodology/approach The manuscript employs a mixed-methods design integrating semi-structured interviews with multimodal sentiment analysis. Twenty SMEs in Southern Italy, selected through structured sampling, participated in interviews exploring Industry 4.0 investments, environmental practices, and social sustainability. Recorded interviews underwent (1) thematic and content analysis for explicit responses, and (2) Hume AI-based prosody and emotional language analysis to detect implicit emotional engagement. This dual approach captures both declared positions and underlying affective reactions, enabling the identification of dissonance between cognitive awareness and emotional investment across environmental and social sustainability dimensions. Findings Environmental sustainability is widely recognized (90% of firms), yet only 60% link Industry 4.0 investments to environmental goals, and key performance indicator use remains inconsistent. Social sustainability reveals a striking “feeling gap”: while 90% express willingness to invest, conceptual fragmentation prevails, with no standardized metrics. Sentiment analysis exposes declining concentration, rising confusion, and subtle annoyance when discussing social topics, contrasting with calm, determined engagement for technological investments. Emotional prosody thus uncovers hidden dissonance between declared awareness and authentic affective engagement, particularly for social sustainability, which remains intuitively rather than analytically grounded in SME decision-making. Originality/value This study introduces the “feeling gap” concept, distinguishing cognitive awareness from emotional engagement in SME sustainability practices. Methodologically, it pioneers multimodal sentiment analysis (speech prosody and emotional language) in Industry 4.0 and CSR research, moving beyond declared positions to detect hidden hesitancy and dissonance. Empirically, it focuses on a structurally disadvantaged region often overlooked in favor of large enterprises or developed economies. The findings demonstrate that policy design must address not only informational and financial barriers but also affective and motivational dimensions, particularly for social sustainability, which lacks standardized metrics and genuine emotional resonance among SME managers.
Purpose Leaders’ evaluation and development of employee ideas shape employee creativity. Yet how leaders respond to employee ideas when they perceive others to evaluate their professional competence more favorably than they evaluate it themselves, and how these responses are subsequently associated with employee creativity, remain largely underexplored. Grounded in self-presentation theory, this study examines how leader impostor thoughts are associated with different responses to employee ideas, identifies employee creative reputation as a boundary condition, and provides theoretical support and practical guidance for organizational idea management practices. Design/methodology/approach The hypothesized model was tested across two complementary studies: a three-wave multisource field study with 176 matched supervisor-employee dyads, and a 2 × 2 between-subjects scenario experiment involving 248 managers. Findings Consistent results were observed across both studies. Leader impostor thoughts were positively associated with leader idea rejection when employee creative reputation was low, but negatively associated with creative-idea developmental feedback when employee creative reputation was high. The field study further showed that both conditional pathways are linked to lower employee creativity, forming two distinct obstructive patterns: selection-based obstruction and development-based obstruction. Originality/value From a self-presentational perspective, this study develops a bidirectional account of leader idea gatekeeping by bringing the evaluator’s own professional image into explanations of gatekeeping and explaining why leader impostor thoughts may be associated with differentiated rather than uniform responses to employee ideas. It also extends the creative reputation literature by identifying creative reputation as a social-evaluative cue that structures the meaning of leaders’ gatekeeping responses. Furthermore, by distinguishing the selection function of idea rejection from the developmental function of creative-idea developmental feedback, it offers implications for organizational idea management and leadership development.
Purpose-This study proposes a dynamic framework for identifying key core technologies by integrating multi-source trade and patent data, addressing a critical gap in innovation management concerning the real-time monitoring and strategic prioritization of technological development trajectories. Design/methodology/approach-Using import dependency and international technology gap indicators, the proposed framework identifies key core products. A probabilistic linkage algorithm is applied to map Harmonized System (HS) product codes with International Patent Classification (IPC) codes, enabling the identification of key core technologies through technological application breadth and technological penetration depth. By integrating patent applicant data, the breakthrough potential in key core technology domains is assessed based on application volume and patent significance. Findings-Empirical analysis identifies 88 key core product categories concentrated in strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing and biotechnology. Despite domestic technological advances, import reliance persists, with certain ICT sectors experiencing rapidly growing external dependency. Technological progress has not yet translated into significant market price advantages. Ten key core technologies, including H01 L (semiconductor devices), B23 K (welding/laser processing), A61 B (medical diagnostics/surgical instruments) and G01 R (electrical/ magnetic measurement), are shaping national economic development. Originality/value-This study introduces a novel, dynamic and multidimensional methodology for key core technology identification. It underscores the disconnection between technological advancement and market performance, providing theoretical and empirical foundations for aligning science and technology policy with national security and industrial innovation goals.
Purpose This study tests the theory of entry deterrence in the context of an innovation shock. Specifically, this article investigates the extent to which within-niche product proliferation implemented by incumbents (firms already established in a submarket), their organizational identity (generalist vs. specialist) and their willingness to cannibalize their own products can deter rivals from entering their submarkets following an innovation shock. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the purpose, this study used a longitudinal database containing monthly information on all electric vehicles marketed in Spain between 2003 and 2017. We estimated models with random parameters (to capture unobserved heterogeneity) in panel data. Findings Our findings reveal that the opportunities provided by the innovation shock to entrants are too strong for them to refrain from launching products in submarkets where the incumbents implement a within-niche proliferation strategy. Only specialist companies that proliferate products in a submarket can protect their market share from competitive erosion. Our findings also show that incumbents' willingness to cannibalize the products they market allows them to deter entry. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing, for the first time, empirical evidence on how entry deterrence theory operates in the context of an innovation shock, from the perspective of incumbents. In particular, we offer a novel approach by integrating credible commitment with product proliferation strategies and by proposing a new way of operationalizing credible commitment. Finally, this work is the first to combine within-niche product proliferation, organizational identity and intentional cannibalization to analyze incumbents' ability to prevent rival entry.
