The aim of this work is to ascertain how the digital divide interferes with the value creation process of firms. The main source of value is the customer, and therefore, both the terms digital divide and customer are analysed through the assumption that firms can create value by focusing on their customers. To achieve this objective, a bibliometric analysis of the current literature is proposed. This bibliometric analysis follows SPAR-4-SLR and PRISMA 2020 guidelines for rigour and transparency and uses POWER to structure the review and derive an actionable future research agenda. A total of 487 papers from the Web of Science database, published between 2001 and 2024, were analysed. The SciMAT software was employed to identify the relevant themes and their evolution arising from the association of the digital divide and customers. The results underscore the importance of health services in the development of knowledge and highlight how digital literacy remains a salient topic for exploration in marketing strategy. Moreover, the digital divide is presented as an opportunity both to serve new markets and to provide value for firms and society.
Globalization motivates organizations to adopt modern technologies in order to improve their efficiency. These technologies may impact not only exploration innovation (EXO) but also exploitative innovation (EXI) capabilities, while enhancing organizations’ international performance (IP). Previous studies have mainly focused on examining the impact of technology on sustainability and firm performance. However, these studies have not investigated how adopting these technologies can impact a firm’s innovation capabilities and IP. Bridging this gap, the present study investigates the impact of Industry 4.0 adoption (IA) on EXO, EXI and IP. It also explores the moderating impact of organizational globalization motive (OGM). The data were collected from 217 respondents through a structured questionnaire and analysed using PLS-SEM 3.0 software. The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between IA and EXO, EXI and IP. Additionally, a considerable moderating impact of OGMs has been identified on EXO and EXI. The results will help practitioners in comprehending the significance of IA for their organizations’ IP, especially from a globalization point of view. It also theoretically contributes by advancing the resource-based view and innovation ambidexterity theories in the domain of Industry 4.0.
Societal grand challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change and livelihood insecurity are increasingly interconnected. However, limited research explains how organizations respond to these interconnected challenges in practice. This study examines how cooperatives address such challenges through localized organizing. Drawing on a qualitative multiple-case study of 17 cooperatives across diverse sectors in India, the study uses semi-structured interviews, field observations and archival materials collected between April 2024 and May 2025. The analysis identifies five interdependent organizing mechanisms, namely member-embedded problem sensing, hybrid resource mobilization, distributed experimentation and innovation, resilience-building across domains, and cross-scale coordination and weaving. These mechanisms are supported by democratic governance, member participation and federated structures. Together, they enhance the capacity of cooperatives to address interconnected social, economic and environmental challenges through sustained collective action. The study contributes to grand challenge scholarship by explaining how organizations engage interconnected challenges through localized organizing. It also extends the hybrid organizing theory and highlights cooperative governance and federated structures as important organizational capabilities for coordination, resilience and adaptive action. The findings suggest that cooperatives offer a distinctive organizational approach for addressing complex societal challenges.
Live-streaming commerce is rapidly changing the business and has been crucial for boosting customer engagement in the digital age. This study presents a systematic literature review and uses a hybrid approach combining bibliometric and thematic analyses to analyse customer engagement, trust and perceptions of live-streaming commerce. After a careful screening procedure, 201 Scopus-indexed articles were analysed using PRISMA and the theory–context–method framework to identify the performance and science mapping of the extant literature published from 2014 to June 2025. The findings highlight the key publishing countries, notable authors and their contributions to the literature on live-streaming commerce. Four major themes were identified: customer engagement in live-streaming commerce, consumer drivers for purchasing via live streaming, live-streaming selling strategies and consumer behaviour, and consumer attitudes towards live-streaming commerce. The results offer valuable insights for stakeholders in the live-streaming commerce industry, including sellers, consumers, influencers, streamers and marketers, to better engage with viewers and customers. Key research questions are provided to guide future research directions in this context.
While research on customer engagement (CE) through gamification is gaining significant traction globally, the themes from cross-cultural perspectives that characterize this emerging and interdisciplinary research phenomenon remain unclear, exposing an essential gap within the existing literature. To bridge this gap, we undertake a systematic review of 66 studies, employing the Planning, Operationalizing, Writing, Embedding and Reflectiong (POWER), and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) frameworks to comprehensively identify the existing literature on gamification-based CE. We adopt a qualitative research approach to thematically analyse the selected studies through cross-cultural perspectives. Our review identifies four central themes within the literature on gamification-based CE, including (a) global gamification-based customer engagement marketing, (b) conceptualization of customer engagement, (c) industrial and cross-cultural contexts and (d) outcomes of gamification-based customer engagement. Drawing on the observations from extant research, the authors put forward several directions for future research built upon research philosophy, approach, strategy, choices, time horizon, techniques and procedures, and determine areas for further academic research. In addition, they also outline the managerial implications arising from utilizing gamification for CE across various global markets.
This theory-based review explores the application of the social practice theory in household food waste behaviour research using a combination of PRISMA, POWER and TCCM frameworks. Drawing on 40 high-quality peer-reviewed articles, the review offers a new classification of household food waste practices based on their nature, interrelatedness as well as how past research uncovered key elements of household food waste as social practices. This is the first article to conceptualize the continuum of interrelatedness (bundle, compound and complex of practices) and advocates for a shift from individualistic behavioural models to more complex perspectives to reflect shared household practices. The article proposes future research to focus on underexplored areas in theoretical frameworks, elements and contexts of social practice theory, contexts and methodologies.
Greenwashing refers to the practice whereby organizations make misleading or deceptive claims about their products, services or operations to influence consumer perceptions and attract customers. Given the growing scholarly interest in greenwashing, this study presents a hybrid systematic review of greenwashing in corporate disclosures by integrating bibliometric and framework-based analyses. The SPAR-4-SLR protocol guided the systematic review process for assembling, arranging and evaluating the literature. To achieve the research objectives, a bibliometric analysis was first conducted. The findings were subsequently synthesized using the actor-antecedents-decisions-outcomes (AADO) framework along with the theoretical, contextual, and methodological (TCM) frameworks, leading to the development of an integrative framework on greenwashing in corporate disclosures. The framework on greenwashing in corporate disclosures outlines the primary actors and their evolving roles, while synthesizing the key antecedents, decisions and outcomes alongside the dominant theories, contextual dimensions and methodological approaches. Finally, the study presents future research agenda and highlights key areas for further study.
Brand boycotts in politically sensitive markets increasingly arise from symbolic and geopolitical interpretations rather than operational failures, challenging dominant explanations of brand rejection. While the self-congruity theory (SCT) explains how consumers withdraw from brands perceived as identity-incongruent, it offers limited insight into how such incongruence becomes moralized, publicly contested and collectively mobilized under conditions of political salience. This study examines how identity-based boycotts are constructed and mobilized in politically sensitive contexts and how brands attempt to realign value congruence in response. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive and comparative case study design, the research analyses two high-profile boycotts of McDonald’s and Zara during the Gaza conflict. Drawing on triangulated secondary data, including news coverage, corporate communications, news-reported social media content and market reporting, the analysis traces how controversies unfolded, escalated and stabilized over time. SCT serves as the primary interpretive lens for understanding identity-based meaning-making, while the Brand Controversy Response Framework is used as an organizing scaffold for cross-case comparison. The findings show that identity-based boycotts evolve through a patterned interpretive sequence involving perceived identity violation, moral outrage, symbolic amplification, collective mobilization and partial value realignment. Recovery efforts centred on procedural clarification proved insufficient; symbolic and value-oriented responses were central to restoring legitimacy. The study offers contextual insights into how political identity and mediated meaning-making shape brand crises in conflict-affected markets.
Increased demands to lower carbon emissions and conserve natural resources have heightened attention on circular supply chains (CSCs). This article aims to examine how digitalization improves the effectiveness of CSCs. It systematically employs the scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR 4–SLR) and the POWER frameworks. Following the framework protocol, 60 peer-reviewed articles from the Scopus database were included for a detailed review. Four overarching themes emerged: (a) the use of digital technologies such as IoT, blockchain, AI and big data to optimize CSC processes; (b) key industries adopting circular economy (CE) principles; (c) links between CSC innovations and some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and (d) measurable impacts on operational, environmental and economic performance. Notably, digital technologies enhance traceability, resource efficiency and stakeholder collaboration within CSCs. Industries such as manufacturing, electronics and motor vehicles lead in practising CE. Theoretically, this contributes systematic insights into how digital transformation influences CSC performance. Practically, it provides policymakers and practitioners with insights to develop digital strategies aligned with sustainability objectives to advance the SDGs.
Social media has become a vital part of global communication, with increasing relevance in the healthcare sector. This study systematically examines the benefits, drawbacks, enablers and barriers of social media use in healthcare to inform best practices and policy development. Guided by the SPAR-4-SLR protocol and the TCCM framework, the review synthesizes findings across four dimensions: theory, context, characteristics and methods. Forty peer-reviewed articles were included, sourced from PubMed, CINAHL Ultimate, ProQuest One Academic and ScienceDirect databases. The findings indicate that social media’s characteristics offer benefits such as information sharing, health promotion, user engagement and public health surveillance. However, misinformation and privacy concerns were identified as major challenges. Policies, guidelines, governance and trust emerged as both barriers and enablers, depending on their presence or absence. The review highlights a critical gap in theory, with most studies lacking a robust theoretical foundation. Methodologically, primary empirical methods, particularly surveys and secondary/review designs dominated, while qualitative and mixed methods remained rare, suggesting the need for a broader methodological base, including longitudinal designs, grounded theory and in-depth qualitative inquiry to capture the experiences of users and organizations. This study emphasizes the importance of integrating theory into future research and adopting a more diverse range of methodologies. Effective governance, digital literacy and strategic oversight are crucial for maximizing the benefits of social media in healthcare while addressing its challenges. The findings support the development of a guiding framework to ensure the ethical and effective use of social media in healthcare.
This study adopts a social identity and gratifications perspective in the context of over-the-top (OTT) platforms to examine continuance intention among OTT retail users. This study assesses the influence of brand experiences, brand-lifestyle congruence, OTT platform quality and brand identification on identity-sustaining behaviour and consumer satisfaction. In this cross-sectional survey study, the purposive sampling method was used to collect 401 responses. Structural equation modelling was utilized to analyse data, and mediation was tested using PROCESS Macro. The findings revealed that brand experience has the most potent effect on brand identification, and brand identification mediates the effect among memorable brand experiences, brand-lifestyle congruity, OTT platform quality and identity-sustaining behaviour. This study is the first to explore the behaviour of OTT consumers at the post-adoption stage by integrating the theoretical perspective of social identity and uses and gratification. This study is based on cross-sectional responses obtained in a single country.
This article aims to investigate the influence of continuous usage of fintech and blockchain among Jordanian users. The study solves the puzzle of users’ trust and perceived risk reduction or the role of information technology (IT) quality, which encompasses system quality, service quality and information quality, in affecting perceived risk, trust and continued use of fintech. Despite the growing body of fintech research, empirical evidence on post-adoption (continuance) behaviour that integrates IT quality, trust and perceived risk remains limited, particularly in developing countries such as Jordan. Using exploratory design and structured questionnaire, data collected from 400 active fintech users in Jordan were subjected to further analysis. The proposed model and mediation effects were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results show that trust is important for continuing to use fintech and blockchain, while risks hamper the use or transaction of products. The service quality dimension of IT quality has the most effect on trust and the mitigation of perceived risk. And the quality of information increases trust, while the quality of systems mitigates the perceived risk. The model explains 61.4% of continuance intention behaviour; thus, it has a strong ability to explain. The study confirmed several mediation paths, indicating that IT quality shapes risks and trust perceptions of Jordanian fintech users. The results mentioned can help decision-makers, fintech start-ups and digital financial service providers in Jordan. They stress the significance of creating trust, reducing risk and improving IT services for the sustainable growth of the Jordanian fintech ecosystem. As Jordan is not a country routinely linked to new technologies, this study provides the first empirical model that links IT quality, trust and risk with continuance intention. Also, it offers the first Jordan model that can expand the fintech literature for the Middle East area.
Although the dynamic managerial capabilities research acknowledges the role of cognition, it has not adequately integrated the mechanism of opportunity sensing or clarified how opportunity-recognition competencies shape dynamic capabilities. These gaps are pronounced in platform ecosystems, where algorithmic governance and restricted managerial discretion heighten the reliance on individual cognition. This study proposes a competency-cognition-capabilities framework explaining how managerial planning and networking competencies shape the microprocesses of entrepreneurial alertness (scanning, association and evaluation), which in turn translate into firms' sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities. Drawing on survey data from top-level managers of Indian platform-based e-commerce firms, we employ a two-stage PLS-SEM approach to examine both direct and mediated pathways. Planning shapes dynamic capabilities primarily through an indirect cognitive pathway, strengthening the associative and evaluative microprocesses of alertness. Alertness shapes capability development predominantly through its associative and judgement-oriented components, which drive seizing and reconfiguring, whereas scanning offers limited value in algorithmically governed environments. In contrast, networking influences capabilities mainly through direct organizational pathways, supporting resource reconfiguration and routine modification while exerting limited cognitive effects. The study advances the microfoundational theory by revealing the mechanisms and pathways through which managerial competencies and alertness collectively shape dynamic capabilities in platform ecosystems.
This article connects separate research avenues by clustering the organizational change literature into three key themes and concepts: change types, change enablers and change outcomes. A survey was designed to understand the current position of a change initiative: a well-established change initiative versus a completed change initiative. Addressing research gaps identified by seminal authors, this article investigates the relationship between strategic human resource management concepts of double fit—both vertical and horizontal—and flexible human resource (HR) practices, as enablers of change and the impact on organizational change success, a potential new outcome variable. Based on analyses of a sample of 348 firms from 40 countries, the results of structural equation modelling show a positive and statistically significant relationship between double fit and HR flexibility with organizational change success. This article contributes to both theory and practice by demonstrating how double fit and HR flexibility enable organizations to adapt to both external and internal change.
This study analyses the effect of present bias on a firm’s capital structure decisions. With the growth in behavioural corporate finance literature, researchers have found evidence of financial decisions being affected by managers apart from firm-, industry- and country-level factors. Using panel data of 1,515 firms listed in the BSE A and BSE B categories from 2011 to 2023, the study found a negative relation between present bias and the level of debt. However, in the case of a financing deficit faced by the firm, the present-bias manager is more aggressive in issuing debt. Contrary to the traditional belief, the study found a positive effect of present bias on firm performance. However, the lower level of debt opted for by present-bias managers reduces long-term firm performance. The study contributes to the literature on behavioural corporate finance by providing novel evidence of present bias in capital structure decisions and by connecting this phenomenon with the traditional pecking order theory. It also contributes to the literature by providing large-sample evidence on the determinants of capital structure in an emerging market context.
This study aims to examine the relationship among promotion, job security and work engagement on employee retention in the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh. Drawing on the social exchange theory, the research examines how work engagement mediates the relationships among promotion, job security and employee retention. Data were collected using a quantitative survey questionnaire approach from 309 medical representatives, which was analysed using PLS-SEM. The study results revealed that promotion and job security have a significant relationship with work engagement and work engagement has a significant relationship with employee retention. Hence, this study emphasizes that clear policies to promote and discuss job security may lead to work engagement, which is associated with employee retention. Practical implications highlight human resource management and how they should support sufficient promotion opportunities, guarantee job security and implement active work programmes to boost employee loyalty. This study concludes that specific HR practices influence employee retention through work engagement, highlighting their value in strengthening organizational performance. Although based on a single industry, the findings provide a foundation for broader investigation. Future research should test these relationships across diverse contexts to enhance generalizability.
This study attempts to investigate the value relevance of intangible assets reported in the financial statements of pharmaceutical companies listed on the BSE between 2011 and 2022. We investigate using panel data how intangible asset reporting, with the adoption of Indian Accounting Standards/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by Indian pharmaceutical firms, affects the market value of their shares. The unbalanced panel data set of 1,009 firm-year observations are used for analysis. Closing prices are taken as a proxy for firm value, gross intangible assets are the primary independent variable, while Earnings per share, net worth, cash flow, book value, firm size and market-to-book value, firm and year dummies are used as control variables. The fixed-effect model and difference-in-difference estimation are used for empirically investigating the linkage. Additionally, endogeneity issues are addressed, and robustness checks are done using various econometric tests. Based on empirical investigation, we discover that although value relevance of intangible assets has decreased in the post-IFRS period relative to the pre-IFRS, it still holds significance in forecasting the market value of the shares. The results will help policymakers evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of establishing accounting standards by adding to the body of knowledge already available on the value relevance of gross intangible accounting information.
