ABSTRACT With rapid changes in global economic development, technological advancement, and industry competition, acquiring dynamic capabilities to build a competitive advantage has become a top priority for companies seeking success. Drawing on the resource‐based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this study develops and validates a research model that explains how such higher‐order capabilities enhance competitive advantage through marketing capabilities and examines the moderating roles of social competition among employees and organizational power. A quantitative survey was conducted with 238 executives from listed firms in Taiwan. The results reveal that dynamic capabilities significantly enhance a company's competitive advantage by shaping marketing capabilities, with organizational power and social competition moderating these relationships. These findings contribute to the strategic management literature by advancing our knowledge of how marketing capabilities, company‐level organizational power, and individual‐level social competition play crucial roles in converting dynamic capabilities into competitive advantage. By integrating the resource‐based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this work advances our theoretical understanding of how businesses nurture and sustain competitive advantage. Practically, managers should strategically build dynamic capabilities and enhance their translation into superior competitive positioning through marketing capability, particularly under conditions of constructive social competition and effective organizational power.
ABSTRACT While augmented reality (AR) has become a prominent tool for creating immersive customer experiences, limited understanding exists of how interactive AR experiences transform consumers from passive product evaluators into active value co‐creators. Addressing this gap, this study investigates how AR interactivity is associated with consumers' value perceptions, customer engagement, and value co‐creation in the eyewear industry. Specifically, it examines the mediating roles of functional, emotional, social, epistemic, and informational values in the relationship between AR interactivity and customer engagement, while assessing whether self‐congruency and social influence moderate the relationship between customer engagement and value co‐creation. Utilizing PLS‐SEM, we analyzed data that was collected from 255 consumers who completed an AR‐enabled virtual try‐on task on the Lenskart AR app. Our research revealed that AR interactivity is positively associated with customer engagement, which, in turn, is positively associated with value co‐creation. Furthermore, functional, emotional, and epistemic values significantly mediate the relationship between AR interactivity and customer engagement, whereas social and informational values do not exhibit significant indirect effects. Notably, informational value remains a significant direct predictor of customer engagement despite its non‐significant mediating role. Finally, self‐congruency positively moderates the relationship between customer engagement and value co‐creation, whereas the moderating effect of social influence is not supported. The study advances AR research by demonstrating that the effectiveness of AR depends not merely on its technological capabilities but on consumers’ value interpretations of interactive experiences. It further enriches customer engagement literature by conceptualizing engagement as a reciprocal response to perceived value and contributes value co‐creation research by explaining how value realized through AR experiences is converted into collaborative consumer behavior.
ABSTRACT Organizational purpose has gained increasing attention in academic and practitioner discourse, yet how senior leaders personally make sense of, articulate, and operationalize it in complex multi‐stakeholder environments remains underexplored. As the primary drivers of organizational direction and culture, Chief Executive Officers and senior leaders play a pivotal role in shaping and institutionalizing this orientation across their organizations. This study addresses the gap by examining how 29 senior leaders, predominantly CEOs, perceive and enact purpose as both a personal construct and a strategic and cultural force. Drawing on leadership‐as‐practice and sensemaking as primary theoretical lenses, and using a qualitative, interview‐based methodology, the study identifies four aggregate dimensions shaping how leaders understand and enact organizational purpose: Meaning, Origins, Activation, and Desired Impact. These dimensions form the foundation of a Purpose‐Driven Process encompassing Development, Communication, Implementation, and Measurement, illustrating how leaders move from internal clarity to collective enactment while navigating tensions between stakeholder demands and personal values. The study contributes a practice‐based, empirically grounded framework extending leadership‐as‐practice theory by specifying the micro‐practices through which purpose becomes embedded in organizational life and identifying ownership structure and leader tenure as significant contextual variables shaping how that process unfolds.
ABSTRACT Although widely used in survey research, the application of the Likert scale often lacks rigorous justification in relation to key methodological decisions. Furthermore, inconsistencies in terminology persist, for example, the common reference made to the “5‐point Likert scale,” even though debate is ongoing about the optimal number of response categories. Using a narrative review approach, this paper provides researchers with a concise, evidence‐based guide for the appropriate use of Likert‐type scales in survey research. Drawing on existing literature on itemized rating scales, particularly the Likert scale, the paper identifies the frequently overlooked critical decision criteria for anchoring the Likert scale. It clarifies essential considerations such as the number of scale points, inclusion of midpoints, labeling of response categories, and response format presentation. As a practical contribution, the paper offers evidence‐based guidelines to help researchers make informed decisions when employing Likert‐type rating scales in survey research.
ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of sustainability messaging in recruitment advertisements on employer brand attractiveness and job seekers’ intention to apply. Drawing on Signaling Theory and Social Identity Theory, the research aims to explain how sustainability‐related cues function as strategic signals under conditions of information asymmetry and influence applicant behavior through both direct and mediated pathways. A quantitative, cross‐sectional research design was employed using survey data collected from 334 job seekers across diverse industries. The data were analyzed using a two‐step structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the measurement model, followed by SEM to test the hypothesized relationships and mediation effects. The results indicate that sustainability messaging has a significant positive effect on employer brand attractiveness ( β = 0.37, p < 0.05) and directly influences intention to apply ( β = 0.59, p < 0.05). Employer brand attractiveness strongly predicts intention to apply ( β = 0.74, p < 0.05) and partially mediates the relationship between sustainability messaging and application intention (indirect effect β = 0.27, p < 0.05). The model demonstrates substantial explanatory power, accounting for 68% of the variance in job seekers’ intention to apply. This study contributes to the literature by extending Signaling Theory to recruitment advertising and positioning sustainability messaging as a credibility‐dependent signal influencing both perceptual and behavioral outcomes. By integrating Social Identity Theory, the study further explains how value congruence enhances employer attractiveness. Unlike prior research focusing on macro‐level sustainability initiatives, this study provides empirical evidence on micro‐level recruitment communication mechanisms, offering novel insights into sustainability‐driven employer branding strategies.
ABSTRACT In an era marked by overlapping and interconnected global crises, the role of individual psychosocial traits in driving social entrepreneurship has gained renewed scholarly attention. This study tested a moderated serial mediation model to examine the relationships between personality traits and individuals’ willingness to pursue social entrepreneurship. A total of 818 participants from Sweden, the US, South Africa, and Israel completed an online survey. We examined a moderated serial mediation model in which entrepreneurial self‐efficacy and concern for societal issues served as sequential mediators, and communal values functioned as a moderator. Drawing on person–environment (P‐E) fit theory, we found that proactive personality enhances entrepreneurial self‐efficacy, particularly among individuals with strong communal values. In turn, self‐efficacy predicted concern for societal issues, which fostered social entrepreneurial intent. These findings advance the understanding of the underlying motivational processes that drive social entrepreneurial intent by illustrating how the alignment between personal agency and communal values cultivates a psychological mindset favorable to social ventures. The serial mediation pathway highlights the significance of self‐efficacy as a cognitive appraisal that not only builds confidence in one's ability to drive change but also promotes a willingness to address social problems. These findings contribute to P‐E fit theory and provide actionable insights for educators and policymakers seeking to foster social innovation through targeted motivational interventions.
ABSTRACT This article examines the relationship between financial literacy and financial fragility, particularly investigating the mediating effect of financial capability and financial preparedness. Accordingly, this article offers deeper insight into how financial literacy reduces financial fragility among individuals. For this purpose, the authors employed a quantitative research design and conducted a survey using purposive sampling to gather data from 419 individuals in India. The sample includes individuals aged between 18 and 60, with annual incomes ranging up to 10 lakhs and above 10 lakhs. The outcomes of variance based structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) demonstrate that financial attitude, financial socialization and socio‐demographic characteristics positively influence financial literacy. Additionally, financial literacy significantly influences financial preparedness and financial capability. However, financial literacy, financial preparedness and financial capability insignificantly influence financial fragility. The results also show that financial preparedness and financial capability independently and in parallel do not mediate the relationship between financial literacy and financial fragility. The findings of this article help financial institutions develop mechanisms to increase individuals' confidence in their financial activities. This article also provides policymakers and governments with information on raising awareness of effective debt management and implementing initiatives to mitigate financial fragility. Furthermore, it attracts individual interest by integrating unique offerings with innovative and forward‐looking solutions.
ABSTRACT Thriving at work—characterized by vitality and learning—has generally been treated as a static outcome rather than a dynamic process unfolding during organizational entry. Drawing on a three‐wave survey of 80 US‐based newcomers, this study probes how proactive feedback‐seeking behavior (FSB) and self‐efficacy jointly influence leader–member exchange (LMX) and, subsequently, newcomers’ thriving. Data were collected before employment (Time 1), 3 months post‐entry (Time 2), and 6 months post‐entry (Time 3) and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 and PROCESS v.4.1. The findings show that FSB positively predicts LMX, with this effect magnified for newcomers holding higher self‐efficacy. LMX, in turn, mediates the relationship between FSB and thriving, indicating that proactive efforts to seek feedback build superior leader–member bonds that drive newcomers’ well‐being and adaptability. Moreover, self‐efficacy strengthens the indirect effect of FSB on thriving via LMX. By positioning FSB as an underexplored, agentic driver of thriving, this research underscores the importance of proactive newcomer behaviors and self‐efficacy during socialization. Although the study focuses on a US context, its insights offer a foundational framework for organizations and scholars aiming to foster newcomer thriving in diverse cultural environments.
ABSTRACT In today's digital era, innovation is vital for organizations. This study examines how transformational leadership (TL) affects the dimensions of innovative work behavior (IWB)—idea exploration, generation, promotion, and implementation—using hospitality as a case. Using social exchange theory, we investigate the mediating role of innovative climate and the moderating role of psychological empowerment. Survey data from 350 employees shows that TL influences IWB indirectly through an innovative climate. Psychological empowerment strengthens this relationship, with higher empowerment levels producing stronger effects for indirect relationships. The findings emphasize how innovative climate and psychological empowerment help translate TL into enhanced employee innovation.
ABSTRACT Competitiveness in the internationalization of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SME) is a highly relevant topic in academic and business contexts. Although most existing studies focus separately on SME internationalization or the drivers of competitiveness, few articulate the interrelationship between these two areas. The literature thus challenges the need for studies that integrate these areas and provide a more solid basis for future research. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap through a systematic review to consolidate and integrate the various contributions from the literature, facilitating the analysis and understanding of the competitiveness and internationalization of SME. We therefore intend to answer the following research question: What are the drivers of competitiveness in the internationalization of SMEs? To this end, a sample of 253 articles was selected from the Web of Science database. The results allowed us to identify four main themes as competitiveness drivers significantly impacting SME internationalization: (i) innovation; (ii) the strategy; (iii) performance; and (iv) Entrepreneurship. Additionally, our findings establish an integrative framework laying the foundation for identifying existing gaps in the literature and proposing a future research agenda.
ABSTRACT Although e‐commerce is still in its early stages of development in developing regions, the growing economy and improving digital infrastructure have created favorable conditions for positioning a country as an emerging digital commerce hub, attracting both consumers and businesses seeking new opportunities. Impulsive buying is a prevalent consumer behavior in the live streaming domain of e‐commerce, yet empirical research on this phenomenon remains limited. This study fills this gap by integrating the Stimulus‐Organism‐Response (SOR) Model and Self‐Perception Theory to examine the factors influencing consumers’ perceived value and impulsive buying intention in live streaming, focusing on the moderating role of self‐control. Utilizing purposive sampling, survey data was collected from 220 local consumers and analyzed via structural equation modeling. The results revealed that live streaming's promotion time limit, online comments, and consumer‐consumer interaction positively influence consumers’ perceived value formation. However, anchor characteristics showed no significant impact on perceived value. Importantly, a significant positive relationship was confirmed between perceived value and impulsive buying intention, with self‐control moderating this relationship. This study contributes novel insights to researchers and practitioners alike, shedding light on the value‐based determinants of impulsive buying intention in live streaming, while also elucidating the moderating role of self‐control. These findings underscore the significance of live streaming as a potent force shaping consumer behavior in e‐commerce, offering valuable academic and industry implications. Understanding these dynamics can help businesses refine their marketing strategies and empower consumers with better decision‐making frameworks in digital shopping environments.
ABSTRACT As organizations navigate the emphasis on human‐centric innovation in Industry 5.0, understanding artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in creative domains is crucial for organizational success. While established technology adoption models effectively explain AI integration in conventional business contexts, they insufficiently address the unique considerations of creative industries, where technological decisions involve complex negotiations between technical capabilities and artistic values. This study addresses this research gap by developing a comprehensive framework specifically designed to explain and facilitate AI adoption by creative professionals. The integrated framework combines established technology acceptance constructs with novel artist‐centric variables that account for the symbolic, identity‐based, and aesthetic dimensions of technology use in the arts. Through qualitative phenomenological analysis of 42 music professionals from the Indian film music industry and synthesis of multidisciplinary literature, we demonstrate how this framework addresses the limitations of current technology adoption models when applied to creative contexts. A key finding is that partial adoption represents an optimal stable endpoint rather than a transitional state, with 78% of successful adopters maintaining deliberate boundaries between AI assistance and human creativity control. The proposed model offers significant theoretical contributions by expanding technology adoption research beyond utilitarian organisational contexts and provides practical value for businesses seeking to implement human‐centric AI solutions that respect creative values while driving organisational excellence in Industry 5.0.
ABSTRACT Human Resource Digital Transformation (HRDT) has emerged as a strategic capability that enable organizations to integrate people, processes and technology in a rapidly digitizing business environment. Despite growing attention, current research remains fragmented and lacks theoretical coherence. Addressing this gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis of 152 peer‐reviewed articles (2014–2025) from Scopus, mapping the intellectual structure, key themes, and knowledge evolution of HRDT. Anchored in Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the study develops the People–Process–Capability–Technology (PPCT) framework, conceptualizing HRDT as an organization‐level dynamic capability. Findings reveal research clusters, including AI‐driven HR analytics, workforce reskilling, and post‐pandemic hybrid work, highlighting how HRM evolves through sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring resources. The study contributes by (1) establishing conceptual clarity around HRDT as a distinct transformation capability, (2) integrating fragmented insights into a coherent capability‐driven framework explaining how HR functions sense, seize, and reconfigure resources and (3) offering actionable implications for HR leaders on balancing technological efficiency with human‐centric transformation.
ABSTRACT Employee engagement varies substantially across countries, yet research has rarely examined whether national cultural values are systematically associated with these differences. This study uses an ecological design to analyze the relationship between Hofstede's six cultural dimensions and country‐level employee engagement across 59 countries from 2013 to 2025, drawing on Gallup engagement estimates, Hofstede cultural scores, and World Bank economic indicators. Multiple regression analyses, supported by year‐by‐year models, reveal three findings. First, in the 2025 model, power distance and individualism are positively associated with engagement and masculinity is negatively associated, with cultural and structural variables explaining 57% of cross‐country variance. Second, the masculinity‐engagement relationship has strengthened monotonically over the 13‐year window, suggesting that competition‐oriented cultural environments are becoming increasingly costly to engagement. Third, indulgence is not directly associated with engagement but robustly predicts lower active disengagement, indicating that the cultural correlates of engagement and active disengagement are partially distinct. The findings extend cross‐cultural management theory and suggest that multinational organizations should interpret engagement metrics within their cultural context.
This systematic literature review synthesizes 114 empirical studies on social entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) published between 2010 and 2024. Using the theory–context–characteristics–methodology (TCCM) framework, the review maps the key antecedents of SEI into five domains: individual, social, motivational, ethical, and institutional factors, building upon the foundation laid by classical intention theories such as the theory of planned behavior and the Mair and Noboa model. The analysis revealed that empathy consistently predicted SEI, with self‐efficacy acting as a key mediator. This review also highlights contextual variations, noting that developed economies prioritize personal traits, whereas developing economies emphasize institutional support. The study contributes to theoretical advancement by incorporating emotional, ethical, and institutional dimensions beyond traditional theories and by proposing a new conceptual model. The practical implications include designing experiential learning, mentorship programs, ethics education, and supportive policy ecosystems to foster effective social entrepreneurship. This review identifies research gaps, such as the need for longitudinal studies, culturally nuanced frameworks, standardized measures, exploration of gender, and use of emerging theories.
ABSTRACT Gamification is a transformative technology that attracts consumers and motivates them toward desired actions through fun and engagement. Despite its growing popularity and influence on user behavior, gamification faces significant challenges in acceptance and implementation due to behavioral, technological, economic, and regulatory factors that remain fragmented in the literature. Identifying and understanding these scattered impeding factors can help businesses maximize the opportunities that gamification technologies afford. This study adopts an integrated approach combining a systematic literature review, theoretical perspectives, and expert opinions to identify and prioritize key barriers to gamification adoption. The findings reveal eleven key gamification adoption barriers and structure the hierarchical interdependencies among these barriers using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM). Further, the study categorizes these barriers based on their driving and dependence power through MICMAC (Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement) analysis to provide strategic insights. This study is among the first to present insights through the integration of Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), complemented by expert inputs. While regulatory ambiguity, ethical considerations, security vulnerabilities, trend skepticism, budgetary constraints, lack of interactive interfaces, addiction, and negative competitive dynamics emerge as key barriers, culture and the digital awareness gap are identified as the most influential barriers to gamification adoption. The study also catalogues gamification adoption barriers within a comprehensive framework based on their source, namely, those arising from consumers, industry, academia, and regulatory bodies. Finally, this study concludes by offering meaningful mitigation strategies along with theoretical and managerial implications to address these barriers, while also outlining directions for future research.
This research proposes an extended value–attitude–behavior (VAB) model to explain consumers’ environmentally friendly consumption behavior (EFC) in India's emerging market. It examines how green consumption values (GCV) influence behavior through the sequential mediation of environmental and pro-environmental self-identity. The study further introduces green stigma as a moderating variable in the extended model to address the attitude–behavior gap reported in prior literature on environmentally friendly consumption. The results showed a substantial direct effect of GCV on environmentally friendly consumption behavior, thereby supporting the foundational VAB assumptions. However, when mediators were incorporated, this direct effect decreased, confirming the presence of indirect effects through both environmental attitude and pro-environmental self-identity, suggesting sequential mediation. Furthermore, the results confirm that green stigma significantly weakens the link between pro-environmental self-identity and actual behavior, thereby offering a possible explanation for the attitude–behavior gap identified in earlier studies. The moderated mediation analysis further revealed that the indirect effect of GCV on behavior via self-identity decreases as green stigma increases. Overall, these findings contribute to the ongoing debate on the role of pro-environmental self-identity in the VAB model and highlight the importance of considering green stigma in explaining the attitude–behavior gap in environmentally friendly consumption research.
This article investigates the impact of coerced AI adoption on the psychological well-being of academic staff within higher education institutions. Data were collected from a sample of 470 faculty members randomly selected from higher education institutions in Pakistan. An innovative hybrid SEM-ANN analytical model, combining Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Artificial Neural Network Analysis (ANN), was employed to analyze the data. The results of the study uncover the profound psychological effects of coerced AI adoption on academic staff. Specifically, coerced AI adoption significantly amplifies technostress and technophobia among faculty members. Furthermore, a noteworthy finding is the identification of a reciprocal relationship between technostress and technophobia, with the latter often arising as a consequence of the former. Importantly, academic staff members with lower levels of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy demonstrate increased susceptibility to technostress. This research has critical implications for higher education institutions as it sheds light on the psychological challenges associated with coerced AI adoption. Recognizing the potential for exacerbated technostress and the emergence of technophobia among academic staff is essential for institutions seeking to implement AI technologies effectively.
The pandemic and supply chain disruptions are all examples of events that are forcing companies to do business differently. The study was conducted among 405 manufacturing and service companies in Malaysia and analyzed using PLS-SEM. The role of integration and agility was key to determining how ambidexterity affected the performance of the supply chain. The most important findings are: 1) the role of organizational ambidexterity (OA) in influencing the performance of the supply chain is primarily of an indirect nature and is channeled through the integration of the supply chain, rather than through the performance of the supply chain directly; 2) In the ability to manage and mitigate disruptions, the performance of the supply chain is affected by how well the supply chain is integrated, which in turn enhances the agility of the supply chain, and is thus one of the most important factors that positively affects the performance of the supply chain; 3) A powerful means of achieving an “ambidextrous” organization is the integration of the supply chain and the agility of the supply chain, and 4) In the context of supply chain disruptions, OA and supply chain agility are related, but OA and supply chain integration (SCI) are not.
This study examines the impacts of the Russia–Ukraine war on global supply chains across key industries, including food, energy, automotive, electronics, and shipping, and explores the countermeasures employed by these sectors. Using a qualitative methodology, the research synthesizes existing literature, industry reports, and news sources due to the limited availability of peer-reviewed studies on this crisis. The findings reveal severe disruptions in the energy and food supply chains, while the automotive, electronics, and shipping sectors have faced varying degrees of impact. To address these challenges, this study proposes a strategic framework for enhancing supply chain resilience amid geopolitical crises. Understanding these impacts is crucial for economic and strategic reasons, assisting industries and policymakers to develop risk mitigation strategies, ensure economic stability, and reinforce global business continuity. This study provides valuable insights into the state of various industries’ supply chains during the crisis and their responses, addressing a critical gap in the literature on the impact of conflict on GSCs.
