Purpose: The performances of family businesses are particularly influenced by the work-life balance of its owners. This is due to the challenges and stress-related issues that affect the owner’s performance on the job, thereby negatively influencing the performance of the organization. Hence, this study investigates the effect of work-life balance on the business survival of copreneur. Specifically, it (i) determines the impact of family responsibilities on business growth; (ii) determines the effect of job demand on business sustainability; and (iii) examines the influence of personal demands and coping strategies on business efficiency. Design/Methodology: A descriptive research design with a population of 782 Copreneur owned businesses in Ilorin with 265 sample size. Purposive sampling was adopted. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regression with the aid of SPSS v23. Findings: The findings show that family responsibilities, job demands, personal demands, and coping strategies significantly affect business growth, business sustainability, and business efficiency with R square values of 50.3%, 46.1% and 75.2% respectively. Research Implications: The study concluded that work-life balance has positive significant impact on the business survival of copreneurs. It therefore recommends, among others, that copreneurs should develop family-friendly policies that support employees in balancing work and family life. Additionally, copreneurs should invest in training programmes focused on effective time management and the development of flexible work schedules. Originality/Value: It provides understanding of how family responsibilities (particularly parenting), job demands (especially time management), and personal coping strategies (notably social support) collectively explain significant variance in the business survival outcomes of copreneurs.
Purpose: Poland’s Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) is divided into the main floor and alternate floor (New Connect). They differ with respect to both regulatory requirements and company types listed. The presented study examined how structural power is shaped within this hybrid institutional environment. Methodology: Drawing on the full WSE data of 500 board members who sat on more than one board, the study compared the main floor only director network to the full director network using non parametric tests. Betweenness centrality was used as a proxy for brokerage, and the clustering coefficient as a proxy for closure. Findings: The results showed that brokerage is more unequally distributed in the full then the main floor only network, directors who were power brokers on the main floor tended to retain their top brokerage positions in the full network, and the tradeoff between cohesion and brokerage was more pronounced in the full network. Taken together this suggests that in hybrid capital market environments top brokerage positions are persistent, concentrated, and that the divide between local cohesion and bridging elites is amplified in the full network. Research limitations: The study relied on cross sectional data, did not include director level covariates, and may have had uneven data quality for the New Connect listed companies. Additionally, although it used known proxies of brokerage and closure, they may have omitted important information on informal power structures. Originality: The study contributes to understanding corporate governance in post socialist economies by offering insight into how structural roles are shaped by evolving market infrastructures.
Purpose: In today’s working environment, constant change has become the norm. Various departments are undergoing transformations from traditional systems to those more suitable for a technology-driven environment. This systematic literature review investigates the evolving landscape of leadership strategies in the context of artificial intelligence integration within organizations. Technological advancements necessitate a transformation in leadership approaches to harness AI's potential effectively while addressing associated challenges such as ethical concerns and human-machine collaboration. Design/methodology/approach: This research is a systematic literature review conducted using the PRISMA framework. Relevant academic publications were sourced from reputable databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO. A total of 50 documents were analysed to identify recurring themes and strategic approaches. Findings: The review identified four primary leadership aspects emerging in the context of AI integration: Implementation of Agile Leadership, AI decision-making, Ethical AI governance and Fostering collaborative environments. The findings indicate that the incorporation of these tactics can significantly enhance organizational responsiveness, accountability, decision-making quality and employee engagement. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by the scope of literature available at the time of review and may not capture the most recent developments in rapidly evolving AI technologies. Furthermore, the findings are based on secondary data and lack empirical testing. Organizations may use this insights to align their leadership practices with the demands of a technology-driven environment. Originality: This review uniquely synthesizes leadership approaches tailored to AI integration and offers a structured strategic framework combining agility, ethics, and collaboration. It contributes to the still limited body of research addressing leadership transformation in the AI era.
Purpose: The aim of this article is to identify and analyse the basic models of funding research and development infrastructure, as well as the challenges associated with them. Methodology: The research methods used include interdisciplinary literature studies (economics, law, management), regulations and reports, as well as interviews with stakeholders. Results: Four models for financing R&D infrastructures embedded in the state aid regime were identified: scientific, mixed, experimental, and economic. National experiences with their application were discussed. Their characteristics, challenges, and risks were presented. Discrepancies in terminology were noted, and directions for their interpretation were suggested. Research limitations/implications: The study is exploratory in nature, and the conclusions presented require further in-depth comparative research across countries and research on the effectiveness and efficiency of models across the full life cycle, as well as analysis of indicators used to evaluate R&D infrastructure projects, particularly financial indicators. Originality/value: The research gap concerns the methods of funding R&D infrastructure, particularly from the perspective of state aid regulations. Addressing this gap can help streamline and facilitate the development and implementation of R&D infrastructure support programs. From the perspective of beneficiaries, the presented characteristics of models and challenges related to them can facilitate the selection of a financing model appropriate to the goals and conditions of planned R&D infrastructure investments.
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the areas of e-commerce that can lead to sustainable logistics. Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology includes a theoretical analysis. It is based on various data collection techniques such as document review, direct observation and archival records from secondary sources such as reports, studies, statistics and internet sources. Findings: E-commerce is not yet a game changer for sustainable logistics. However, it seems to be a matter of time, and it will grow in importance and influence. For this reason, companies that want to maintain a competitive edge need to be aware of the changes and the expectations of customers, who are increasingly paying attention to sustainable development. Research limitations/implications: The research is mainly based on secondary sources. Empirical research is needed to confirm the hypotheses. Originality/value: The sustainability of e-commerce is a critical issue that needs to be addressed. Despite the increasing attention paid to sustainable logistics in e-commerce research, the literature available is still in its infancy and requires further development. This paper fills this research gap.
Purpose: The main goal of the article, identified with the main research problem, is to determine the mediating role of HRM outcomes in the relationships between employee performance appraisal (EPA) and company performance results and to establish whether there are any identifiable regularities in this scope in four specific contexts, i.e. the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods of COVID-19 in the HQs and foreign subsidiaries of MNCs. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical research included 200 MNCs headquartered in Central Europe. To capture the actual relations between the variables under study, the raw data in the variables were adjusted with the efficiency index (EI), which is a novelty in this type of research. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to verify the research hypotheses and assess the mediating effects. Findings: EPA had a positive effect on results in HRM, finance, innovativeness and quality, both in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, although this effect was not always statistically significant. Furthermore, the company’s performance results in HRM mediate positively the relationships between EPA and the other three categories of company performance results, regardless of the organizational level (HQs’ or subsidiaries’) and time period under consideration. Additionally, during the pandemic, the company’s performance results in HRM mediate the relationships between EPA and the company’s performance results in innovativeness stronger than in the pre-pandemic time, both at the HQs and local subsidiaries. This suggests that the EPA used such solutions in conjunction with other HRM subfunctions that stimulated entrepreneurial, creative and innovative behavior of employees in such a way that organizations could achieve better innovation results during the crisis than before it. Research limitations/implications: The study has some limitations, including the research sample’s structure, not fully representing the general population. Only HQs respondents were asked about performance results in foreign subsidiaries, excluding local informants. The qualitative benchmarking method used is problematic, relying on comparisons instead of objective measures. Furthermore, the analysis did not consider potential differences in economic, legal, or social conditions among the various countries where foreign subsidiaries were located. Originality/value: In addition to confirming the results of some other studies, the article also provides new knowledge. It determines the mediating role of HRM outcomes in the relationship between EPA and company performance results in finance, innovativeness, and quality. Moreover, it identifies certain regularities in the four studied contexts, which is a novelty in this type of research. It also uses an innovative approach to including employee KPIs as the efficiency index in analyzing the relationships between the variables under study.
Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate whether perceived authentic leadership has a mediating role in the relationship between employees’ emotional intelligence levels and their self- -compassion perceptions. Design/methodology/approach: All data in the research were obtained from 175 employees in 12 different tea factories. In the study, in which the descriptive and cross-sectional method was followed, the analysis of the data was made with Hayes’ (2013) simple mediation analysis approach within the scope of structural equation modeling. Findings: The results of the analysis show that authentic leadership perceptions of employees are positively related to their emotional intelligence levels and self-compassion perceptions, and that perceived authentic leadership plays a mediating role in this relationship. Research limitations/implications: The research has some limitations. First, the findings obtained in the course of the analyses are not generalized to the whole population, as they are collected from a specific sample. It should be mentioned that the results were obtained from different institutions. It can be said that the perceived authentic leadership approach plays a role in the relationship between individual-oriented positive attitudes such as emotional intelligence and self-compassion. Therefore, it is anticipated that the results obtained from the study contribute to the literature. In addition, handling the statistical aspect of the research only with the mediation analysis approach constitutes a separate limitation. Different statistical approaches can be adopted for future studies. Originality/value: This study presents a fragment of the results of structural equation modeling conducted for tea industry employees in Turkey on the topic of authentic leadership.
Purpose: Cross-sectional research methods are not able to grasp the special characteristics and unique operation modes of family businesses. The aim of the study is to map the type of topics examined and methodologies used in longitudinal empirical studies in family business research. The study examines the topics and methodologies covered in the literature and the advantages and challenges of each methodological approach. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a literature review and drew conclusions based on a detailed analysis of 99 articles. The paper presents the distribution of topics, the applied methodology, and evaluates quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings: Within seven topics identified, most studies were published on family business governance, operation, succession, and the internationalization of family firms. The majority of longitudinal family business research is based on quantitative methodologies, but the proportion of studies using qualitative approaches is also gaining momentum, while the use of mixed-method approaches is negligible. Limitations: We collected the data from the Web of Science database and our study may reflect the limitations of this database. Two of our researchers conducted the article selection process manually and, despite the greatest care, it is possible that valuable articles were left out of the analysis. Due to the applied selection and analysis methods, the comparability of our results with more comprehensive literature reviews on family businesses is limited. The results relate to longitudinal, empirical research papers only. The time span covered by our research is narrow, there are more comprehensive and up-to-date literature reviews available. Originality/value: The study contributes to longitudinal family business research.
Purpose: The present study is aimed at presenting a critical appraisal of the empirical literature on the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis for emerging and developing Asian countries. Design/methodology/approach: A critical appraisal of the relevant studies is carried out across various important dimensions of the empirical estimation of the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis including the scheme of sectoral division followed, definitions and proxy variables used for constructing real exchange rate and price series, choice of output and employment series and their subsequent transformation, empirical methodology followed and (theoretically) different variants of the hypothesis chosen for empirical estimation. Findings: Only a handful of studies have investigated the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis for Asia. Nevertheless, these studies are characterized by a variety of irregularities in dealing with different important features of the theory, which may be of critical importance for yielding consistent empirical estimates. In multi-country studies for Asia, serious inconsistencies are observed whilst handling these critical aspects of the hypothesis. Such irregularities may hold serious implications for model estimates since the empirical evidence from Asia is very mixed, and in many cases, not even robust. Practical implications: The inconsistencies highlighted in this review paper hold strong implications for future research in this area. The selection of price indicators for the construction of real exchange rate series, choice of econometric methodology and the theoretical framework followed are aspects of the empirical verification of the Balassa-Samuelson hypothesis that need to be handled with great caution since they turn out to be most sensitive in relation to yielding intuitively correct and robust model estimates. Originality: To our knowledge, so far, no study on Asia has presented such an extensive appraisal of literature on the productivity-real exchange rate nexus. The present study is therefore novel in the sense that it critically evaluates studies on Asia against all those features of the Balssa-Samuelson theory which may stand responsible for yielding mixed and even contrasting empirical estimates for Asia.
Purpose: Virtual business incubators (VBIs) have become a rising phenomenon, as the role of digitalization in the entrepreneurial context has been gaining increasing relevance. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic additionally underlines the importance of virtual solutions per se. To be effective, virtual business incubators must rely on effective knowledge transfer (KT). This paper aims to identify factors influencing knowledge transfer in virtual business incubators and to determine in which direction these factors influence KT. Methodology: For this purpose, a qualitative single case study is applied within an internationally acting virtual business incubator, using 12 semi-structured interviews with incubator management and staff, as well as incubatees. Findings: The findings suggest that precise communication, weak ties, heterogeneous contexts, and low engagement all influence knowledge transfer in virtual business incubators, each in a different way outlined in the paper. Research limitations/Implications: As a qualitative study, this research might be exposed to researcher bias and cultural bias. Originality/Value: This study extends the descriptive, conceptual VBI literature by adding the level of dynamic processes within the incubator. These new insights into the dynamic level enable precise intervention in the course of the KT, allowing challenges and strengths to be analyzed and understood theoretically and addressed and strengthened practically. This is indispensable to the successful operations of VBI processes.
Purpose: The purpose of the article is to investigate the relation between two novel management concepts: Green Competences (GCs) and Responsible Innovation (RI). Design/methodology/approach: The research is based on an integrative literature review. Findings: The research based on extensive literature studies confirms that the relationship between managers' and employees' GCs and a firm's RI orientation is dynamic and reciprocal. This means that GCs acquired by organization members contribute to the development of a firm's RI orientation and also that a company's RI orientation has an impact on the increase of GCs among managers and employees in a firm. The conducted literature review enabled formulating five propositions regarding the relationship between GCs and RI. Research limitations/implications: The author of the article is aware of the limitations of the conducted research. First, the concepts of GCs as well as RI are very broad, defined and explained in the literature in numerous different ways. This makes them difficult to describe and assess with certainty. Due to the number of publications necessary to study in regard to the concepts of green competences and responsible innovations, the conducted studies should be treated as an initial stage for further analyses. Moreover, as the study is restricted by the re-interpretation of existing research, further empirical research is needed to test the five propositions. Finally, due to a very dynamic development of the research field, a static, one-time analysis seems to be insufficient. Therefore, the replication of the study in the future is recommended to observe changing trends and shifts in the research field over time. Originality/value: Based on the propositions regarding the relations between the GC and RI concepts, several models can be built to analyze the impact of organization members' GCs on a company's orientation towards RI as well as the impact of a firm's RI orientation on the level of GCs acquired by managers and employees. Future research pathways refer mainly to the operationalization of the RI dimensions as well as a firm's RI orientation.
Purpose: To explore the work motivation of managers of tourism enterprises during the COVID-19 period. Design/methodology: Qualitative research conducted from April to May 2021 in a form of semi-structured interviews with twelve tourist entrepreneurs from the Silesian region. Findings: The COVID-19 caused changes in work performance, including a decrease of work motivation, in the tourism industry. However, at the same time, it stimulated the appearance of new sources of work motivation like, e.g., a desire to overcome the crisis, survival on the market, caring for the staff, a sense of professional passion or concern for the development of the branch or region. Several sources of work motivation were identified that were divided into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of people managing tourism enterprises in the COVID-19 pandemic. Research limitations/implications: Research findings are not representative and cannot be generalized. It would be worthwhile to undertake future research on: how – over time – the pandemic and its course changed the attitudes of tourism entrepreneurs, including their motivation to work; whether this motivation differs when different: types of enterprises (e.g. catering and MICE), enterprise location (e.g. seaside/mountain), segment of tourists (e.g. holiday/business tourists) are considered; a larger sample of respondents with the use of a quantitative approach. Originality/value: COVID-19 caused not only a decrease in motivation to work, which is more often stressed in the literature, but also became an impulse to the emergence of new sources of managers’ work motivation that are completely different than before the pandemic. The identification and exploration of those sources, divided into intrinsic and extrinsic work motivation, create an added value of the paper.
Purpose: The paper aims to answer the question of how the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem (DEE) shapes the activities of companies from highly traditional industries. In particular, we want to identify different types of actors from the DEE and how they foster the entrepreneurial activities of very traditional companies with a high proportion of manual labor, as well as to identify the kinds of entrepreneurial activities fostered by the DEE. Methodology: This paper applies a case study method based on the analysis of highly traditional companies in the confectionery industry that cooperate through a digital platform to sell their products. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with key informants from three companies in the confectionery industry, as well as with the provider of the digital platform, the IT supplier and a final B2B customer. Findings: The concept of DEE needs to be extended to include an analysis of two settings – digital and traditional – as both interfere with and influence entrepreneurial activities. Digital actors within the DEE play a key role in both the digital and the traditional entrepreneurial activities of highly traditional companies. Traditional actors, meanwhile, play a supporting role in the process. Additionally, the study determines the unique characteristics of the DEE, in which traditional companies are active. Originality: The paper develops the concept of the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. The originality of the paper lies in the analysis of the DEE from the perspective of companies from a highly traditional industry. This is a novel approach towards the DEE that has not been proposed in the literature to date.
Purpose: There are many different approaches to the concept of entrepreneurial competences. Therefore, it is not easy to choose one universal set of these competences (for example: Rivera-Kempis et al., 2021). In order to make an attempt to measure the level of entrepreneurial competences in students, it was necessary to conduct a literature review. Design/methodology/approach: As a result of this review, a concept was selected that seems to be the most similar to the majority of contemporary concepts describing entrepreneurial competences. Based on the description of this concept, a research tool was developed to measure the level of entrepreneurial competences. Using this tool, a study of the level of entrepreneurial competences was conducted among management students of three leading universities in Warsaw – the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw School of Economics and the Kozminski University. Findings: The study shows that the most significant differences in the level of entrepreneurial competences were observed between students planning to start their own enterprise in the future and students who do not intend to start their own enterprise in the future and people who do not know yet whether they want to start their own enterprise in the future. Gender, university and year of study did not significantly differentiate the level of entrepreneurial competences in the respondents. Research limitations/implications: The study is a pilot study, so it was conducted on a small, unrepresentative sample. In order to generalize the results, it should be repeated on a larger, representative sample. Moreover, due to the variety of concepts of entrepreneurial competences, it is not possible to measure the level of all entrepreneurial competences. Originality/value: This article contributes to the literature in that it checks which entrepreneurial competences are present in management students. The level of entrepreneurial competences was verified on the basis of a new and pre-validated tool for measuring the level of entrepreneurial competences.
Purpose: This paper attempts to answer the question to what extent the entrepreneurial ecosystems theory fits in with the social entrepreneurship phenomenon. The objective is to fill this gap by presenting findings from an integrative review of prior systematic reviews available in the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature.Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, we apply a scoping review and an umbrella review focu-sed on an in-depth analysis of findings obtained in previous reviews, thus taking the form of a review aiming for theory development. Findings: Our paper contributes to addressing the gaps in the current literature on social entrepreneurship and ecosystems. First, it points to the different types of actors in social entrepreneurial ecosystems (SEE), whose existence may foster social entrepreneurship and facilitate creating social impact. Second, it brings into focus the potential of SEE by drawing attention to the fact that a productive entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) results in job creation and reduction of unemployment, both of which are crucial for social entrepreneurship. Third, as a result of this scoping review, it proposes an extension of Isenberg's model of EE which can be seen as a cumulative contribution to existing knowledge in the field.Research limitations/implications: This study has certain limitations typical for reviewing investigations.Originality/value: The special value of the paper can be seen in the scoping literature review itself. So far, there has been limited study on social entrepreneurial ecosystems, the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in development of social enterprises, and conversely, the role of social "components" in entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Purpose: The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of transparency on the performance of banks, which are among the most important units of the financial sector. Methodology: The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) analysis was applied using the annual data from 22 deposit banks operating in Turkey. Four models related to profitability, credit risk, deposits, and stock returns were established by calculating a transparency score derived on the basis of 106 criteria for each year and for each bank. Findings: According to the GMM results, it was observed that transparency, credit risk, and profitability were negatively correlated, while stock returns had a positive relationship. Research limitations: There are not enough public-traded banks, especially in the stock returns section. Although this research has the largest sample size among the studies conducted to date, all banks in Turkey could not be included in its scope. Value: The analysis reveals the importance of reporting and sharing information from banks. Banks should set a transparency criterion, and a transparency score should be established using the researched criterion.
A certain level of attention to bodily signals may be adaptive in the management of chronic skin conditions, as a lack of attention may lead to inadequate self-care behaviour and, consequently, may affect functioning and treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop a body awareness questionnaire and to investigate its psychometric properties and physical and psychological correlates in a cross-sectional study in patients with psoriasis (n = 475). The 16-item Body Attention, Ignorance and Awareness Scale demonstrated a 3-factor structure that could be interpreted as body ignorance, body attention, and body awareness (Cronbach's α of 0.73, 0.74, and 0.68, respectively). Higher body ignorance was significantly related to more physical symptoms and worse psychological functioning. Body attention and body awareness showed small significant correlations with coping and personality. Given the negative influence of impaired psychological functioning on treatment outcomes, it may be clinically important to screen for theses constructs of body awareness in chronic skin conditions.
Purpose: The study assessed how owner-managers’ psychological attributes (attitude towards behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control) influenced sustainability reporting among SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: The study was based on cross-sectional data gathered using a structured questionnaire as the research instrument. The population of the study comprised SMEs in Kumasi metro of Ghana. The study focused on 213 SMEs, and respondents were owner-managers. The data analysis was based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) run in Amos (v.23). Findings: Owner-managers’ attitude towards behavior had a significant positive influence on sustainability reporting among SMEs. Similarly, SME owner-managers’ subjective norms positively influenced sustainability reporting. Also, SME owner-managers’ perceived behavior control positively influenced sustainability reporting. Among these variables, however, attitude towards behavior had the greatest impact. Research limitations/implications: The study used a closed-ended questionnaire to solicit responses from respondents. Such a questionnaire acknowledges the presence of inherent problems of not permitting respondents to explicitly express their own views as they may wish. Practical implications: The findings of the study have an important implication for considerations by the government in trying to encourage owner-managers to adopt or improve sustainability reporting behavior among SMEs in Ghana. Social implications: This study contributes to solving the societal need for sustainability by identifying how owner-managers’ psychological characteristics influence sustainability reporting. Originality/value: The theory of planned behavior has been used widely in a number of studies, but very little is known about how it could predict sustainability reporting among SMEs, especially in developing countries.
Purpose: To validate the impact of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies on stable competitive advantage of companies. Confronting the existing ambiguous research. Design/methodology/approach: In step one, 757 publications were verified in a systematic literature review to establish precise CRM technology implementation success indicators. In step two, phone surveys were conducted with 608 corporate respondents to link CRM technology implementation success indicators with stable competitive advantage. Step three involved statistical inference applying machine-learning powered association rules/basket analysis. Findings: The best and the worst-performing companies simultaneously reported only low to moderate levels of CRM technology implementation success indicators. Both groups of companies do not differ significantly as far as CRM technology applications are concerned. Hence, direct impact of CRM technology on achieving stable competitive advantage was negatively validated. Research limitations/implications: Spatial positioning of this research in the Polish market demands studies in other markets to ensure the generality of findings. Research on CRM technology does not embrace other industry 4.0 technologies. Studies dealing with other technologies would shed more light on the overall role of the industry 4.0 revolution and the constraints in implementing new technologies. Originality/value: The research supposed that the ambiguity in existing research is caused by the methodical mistake: mixing the best and the worst-performing companies in one research survey. A hypothesis was established stating that the CRM technologies will only significantly impact stable competitive advantage of the best performing firms that have the competence to exploit their potential. This hypothesis was negatively verified.
Purpose: The complex nature of inter-organizational relationships can be reflected in the number, level, and changes of their features. Focusing on two essential features of relationships – trust and commitment – we explore how they change in the particular phase of the relationship life cycle. Design/methodology/approach: Using the existing findings from a systematic literature review on IOR features, we aimed to qualitatively verify the changes over the time of two crucial relational characteristics – trust and commitment. Next, using a quantitative surveying, we tested the changeability of these two on a large-scale sample (786) from the software industry in Poland. Findings: With strong empirical support, we found the level of trust and commitment intensity as changing in a non-linear manner through the relationship life cycle. Logically, they both increase across the initial, development, and maintenance phases, while in the termination phase they decline. However, the results show that they can rise when the relationship is reactivated. Research limitations/implications: Due to the industry and cultural-specific limitations, comparative studies on several industries in cross-cultural conditions are recommended. We need further research on a holistic view of relationship characteristics and their changeability through the relationship life cycle. Furthermore, the validity of the cyclical treatment of relationship dynamics is worth reviewing. Originality/value: We investigate the significance of trust and commitment in inter-organizational relationship development using a mixed research approach. Additionally, as a methodological contribution, this article offers the operationalization and measurement of the above-mentioned features.
