Purpose This study investigates how digital literacy, entrepreneurial orientation and digital networks drive entrepreneurial success directly and indirectly through digital innovation among Middle Eastern Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), and whether environmental turbulence moderates these direct and mediated relationships. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, a moderated mediation model is proposed and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling on data collected from SME founders, co-founders and senior managers. Findings Entrepreneurs' digital literacy, entrepreneurial orientation and digital networks each positively influence both digital innovation and entrepreneurial success. Digital innovation fully mediates all three capability-to-success pathways. Environmental turbulence negatively moderates all direct capability-to-outcome relationships and all mediated pathways through digital innovation, confirming full moderated mediation and establishing that high turbulence systematically attenuates the performance returns to internal capabilities. Practical implications Policymakers and ecosystem builders in the Middle East should invest in digital skills development and platform accessibility as foundational prerequisites for entrepreneurial performance, while recognizing that capability-building interventions yield diminishing returns without concurrent efforts to stabilize the regulatory and macroeconomic environment. Originality/value This study is among the first to validate digital innovation as a mediating mechanism between antecedent digital capabilities and entrepreneurial success in a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) context, and the first to demonstrate that environmental turbulence conditions the full mediation chain rather than discrete direct paths alone. The findings reframe environmental turbulence as a structural performance ceiling that no level of the internal capabilities under analysis full accumulation can fully overcome without parallel institutional stabilization, advancing both resource-based and dynamic capability theorizing in emerging market entrepreneurship. Highlights
Purpose This study explores how electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) contributes to the co-creation of Argentine ski resort brands by identifying salient attributes and examining how they are articulated in tourists' online discourse within a competitive snow-tourism market.Design/methodology/approach Using 1,750 Spanish-language Google Maps reviews from seven leading ski resorts (2015-2022), the study applies text-mining techniques, including term frequency analysis, n-gram extraction, word co-occurrence networks and clustering, to uncover salient attributes and the patterns connecting them.Findings The findings show that attributes related to snow quality, resort services, scenic views and landscape dominate tourists' e-WOM. Beyond their individual relevance, these attributes are interconnected through recurrent co-occurrence patterns, revealing how brand meanings emerge relationally across experiential dimensions and are collectively reinforced through shared online discourse.Research limitations/implications The analysis is limited to Spanish-language reviews on Google Maps; future research could extend the approach to other platforms, languages and stakeholder groups.Practical implications Destination managers can strengthen brand positioning by amplifying the attributes most frequently articulated by visitors and aligning service improvements with tourists' own language and narratives.Originality/value By integrating Brand Co-Creation Theory and Product-Attribute Theory within a snow-tourism context, this study demonstrates how peer-generated discourse functions as an active mechanism of brand co-creation and offers a reproducible methodological approach for analysing destination branding through large-scale e-WOM.
Purpose This study investigates how workforce age diversity influences voluntary employee turnover and how training and development (T&D) practices moderate this relationship. It explores whether complex and costly T&D programs reduce or, paradoxically, increase turnover by enhancing employees' external employability. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on data from 5,899 organizations across 38 countries participating in the CRANET Survey, this research applies multiple and moderation regression analyses to examine the direct and interactive effects of workforce age composition, complex T&D systems, and training costs on voluntary turnover. Findings Results reveal that a larger age gap correlates with higher voluntary turnover. However, this relationship is moderated by training complexity and costs. Complex T&D programs reduce turnover among older employees but increase it among younger staff by strengthening their marketability. High training expenditures intensify turnover among younger workers, while the stabilizing effect of older employees diminishes under extensive training schemes. Practical implications Managers should align development strategies with generational needs, combining skill enhancement with tailored retention initiatives to balance learning and stability in multigenerational organizations. Originality/value This paper extends HRM and HRD theory by demonstrating that age diversity and training interact in paradoxical ways. It contributes cross-national evidence on how generational composition and T&D investments jointly shape workforce stability, offering insights for strategic HRD in diverse labour markets.
Purpose - This research aimed to determine whether adopting digital technologies influences the performance of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach - Our study is based on the country-level dataset of the 27 European Union member states, covering the period from 2014 to 2023. The SME performance is measured by the two primary outcome variables - average value added of the SMEs in the country and average employment. The empirical approach relied on estimating the Least Squares Dummy Variables (LSDV) panel Vector Autoregressive models with Impulse Response functions, indicating the effects of digitalization over time. Findings - The obtained results document a statistically significant and positive impact of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and basic digital skills enhancement on both performance variables, with up to two years of positive effects. Practical implications - The article concludes that the digitalization efforts of the European Union member countries play a significant role in shaping SMEs' competitiveness. Therefore, they could be used as evidence to support policymakers' ongoing initiatives towards adopting digitalization and advancements in the digital economy. Originality/value - The study relies on a robust econometric approach, and it visually displays the effects of digitalization adoption on SMEs' performance over time. Uniquely, it provides a whole European picture of SMEs' digital transformation and its impact on firms' performance.
Purpose Numerous studies have been carried out concerning the heterogeneity of family firms, but this remains fragmented and there is an incomplete understanding. This is an important research gap that fulfills this study. The purpose of this study is to present a new concept, the family firm personality, in the context of a global sustainability theoretical framework. Moreover, we have developed and validated a Family Firm Personality Scale. Design/methodology/approach The process to develop and validate the scale has been carried out with 150 (sample 1) and 1683 chief executive officers (sample 2) in different phases: item generations for each domain and content validity, scale development and scale evaluation that test the dimensionality, reliability and validity. Findings The 31-item Family Firm Personality scale demonstrated strong reliability, validity and psychometric properties. Norms were also developed to facilitate score interpretation. Originality/value It has introduced a new concept and created and validated a new scale “Family Firm Personality” using a new sustainability framework to analyze the family firm behaviors. The personality of a family firm allows us to explain the heterogeneity among family firms.
