ABSTRACT This case study examines the strategic acquisition of TransX (TransX Group of Companies) by CN Rail (Canadian National Railway Company) on March 20, 2019. This acquisition aimed to enhance CN Rail's capabilities, particularly in the intermodal and temperature‐controlled segments. CN Rail, a leader in North American transportation, sought to integrate TransX's extensive trucking operations to offer a seamless door‐to‐door service combining rail and truck transportation. The acquisition was seen as a move toward vertical integration, allowing CN Rail to provide more comprehensive services to its customers. TransX, with its over 50‐year history and significant presence in North America, continued to operate independently as a wholly‐owned subsidiary of CN Rail. The case study presents the potential benefits of the acquisition, such as improved service offerings and cost efficiencies, as well as the challenges, including cultural integration and operational disruptions. Regulatory approval and customer perception were critical factors in the acquisition's success. The case highlights the strategic importance of combining rail and trucking services to meet the evolving demands of the transportation and logistics industry, emphasizing the potential for growth in the intermodal market.
ABSTRACT This paper proposes a novel approach to costing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by integrating traditional single‐sector models with advanced multi‐input frameworks. The method improves accuracy by addressing key limitations of conventional unit cost models, which often misestimate costs by neglecting interaction effects and nonlinear relationships. Using Egypt's fiscal data and SDG indicators for health, education and water and sanitation, the study quantifies the impact of sectoral spending and cross‐sectoral synergies. Results indicate that increasing expenditure alone is insufficient to achieve the SDGs. Instead, targeted and coordinated investments across sectors yield greater efficiency and impact. Under the optimal allocation scenario, Egypt can meet all six SDG targets analyzed at a total cost equivalent to 3.3% of GDP, compared with only partial achievement under the business‐as‐usual scenario. These findings highlight the importance of integrated policy design and strategic expenditure reallocation to accelerate sustainable development.
ABSTRACT Previous research presents conflicting evidence regarding the substitution or supplementary relationship between bank credit and trade credit. In this paper, we construct a local bank competition index for China by weighting bank specific Lerner indices with their regional branch proportions. We explore the impact on firms' use of bank and trade credit of bank competition. Our findings offer support for the substitution hypothesis, suggesting that in more competitive banking areas, firms tend to favour an increase in bank credit usage while simultaneously reducing reliance on trade credit. Analyses based on external credit shocks, accounts payable aging, and accounts receivable provide additional evidence.
ABSTRACT Drawing on conservation of resources theory, our study examines why and when abusive supervision provokes subordinates' unethical behaviors that benefit the supervisors, namely unethical pro‐supervisor behavior (UPSB). Based on a multi‐wave, multi‐source matched survey of 197 subordinates nested within 46 supervisors in China, the results show that abusive supervision is positively related to UPSB via subordinate moral disengagement, and that this positive indirect effect is stronger when supervisor moral identity symbolization is lower. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.
ABSTRACT First Nations in Canada are exercising inherent sovereignty through cannabis entrepreneurship, enacting community‐based regulatory frameworks and asserting jurisdictional authority over economic activities within their territories. Through analyzing 71 Canadian media articles, this study examines how First Nations governance innovation and economic self‐determination are represented in public discourse. Grounded in self‐determination theory (SDT), this media analysis study contributes to entrepreneurship scholarship by demonstrating that Indigenous economic development must be understood as expressions of autonomy and self‐governance. Despite growing discourse on Indigenous entrepreneurship in Canada, there is a stark gap in understanding the cannabis industry, regulations, and entrepreneurship through the lens of Indigenous self‐determination. We argue that Indigenous cannabis entrepreneurship extends beyond economic opportunities to encompass self‐determination and sovereignty rights but remains constrained by impositions of federal and provincial legal jurisdictions and conflicting community perspectives.
ABSTRACT About 35% of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets are on track after a decade, pointing to a need for stronger, system‐wide responses. This paper explores how the National Systems of Innovation framework could offer a timely and analytical strong foundation for advancing the SDGs. It traces the evolution of innovation systems thinking and recent geopolitical shifts that have renewed interest in industrial policy and national coordination. The paper argues that achieving the SDGs requires moving beyond technological solutions toward institutional arrangements that align governance, direction, and collaboration with clearly defined social priorities. The contributions in this special issue, spanning health, migration, sustainability transitions and conceptual approaches to transforming innovation systems, collectively demonstrate the relevance of the innovation systems frameworks.
Despite extensive research on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the specific role of CSR committees in banking remains unclear. Using a panel of 227 listed banks in 28 countries from 2002 to 2024, we examine how these committees influence profitability. Our results show that banks with CSR committees achieve superior financial performance, driven by improved governance quality and a reduction in ESG controversies. However, board characteristics moderate this effect. The positive correlation is most pronounced in banks characterized by gender-diverse leadership and a high proportion of independent directors. The relationship is robust across European banking systems but attenuates in Asian markets. These findings are robust after using two-stage least squares, staggered difference-in-differences, and dynamic panel models. The results contribute to the literature on CSR governance and have implications for regulators and bank boards on governance design.
Commercial markets are institutional environments that shape which products are available and how value is signalled to and perceived by consumers. This study examines how such environments shape Indigenous participation in market exchanges, using Traditional Foods (TFs) in grocery retail as an empirical case. Using loyalty card data from 244 grocery stores in Quebec (2015-2016), we first assessed TF availability and found that only 34.5% of reference TF items appeared in retail assortments, with representation concentrated in categories compatible with conventional supply chains and no products supplied by Indigenous enterprises. We then estimated TF demand using two-level Tobit models, comparing First Nations and general population consumers. Results revealed no differences in baseline price sensitivity, but stronger responsiveness among First Nations consumers to local, organic and fresh product attributes, as well as promotional cues. Together, the findings revealed inequalities in Indigenous market participation reflected through selective availability and the interpretation of standardized market signals rather than differential price responsiveness. Results are discussed in terms of the possibility spaces opened for Indigenous entrepreneurs on both supply/demand sides of the food value chain to build bridges between local and industrial markets and partake in economic reconciliation at scale. Merchandizing and marketing pathways in this direction are suggested.
An increasing number of companies in the hotel industry are embracing the integration of sustainable practices to gain an advantage in a competitive digital market, where online travel agencies are predominant. However, marketing literature remains divided regarding the effectiveness of communicating the green image of a hotel in relation to consumer response. This research aims to explore how communication of stimuli reflecting a green hotel image influences consumer response in terms of hospitality and visit intention, incorporating the study of family firm ownership as a communicational element. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on an online survey involving 453 people. Participants viewed stimuli in the form of fictitious hotel advertising, which included narrative and visual elements. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed, complemented by linear regression analyses. In terms of the study's findings, on one hand, no significant results were found to dispel doubts regarding the effectiveness of a green image in obtaining a better response from consumers. On the other hand, communication of family firm image positively and significantly influences consumers in terms of perceived hospitality and intention to visit the hotel, maintaining its effect when communicated in conjunction with a green image. This study contributes to the literature on green branding by discussing the communicational effectiveness of a hotel's green identity as a commercial asset. It also advances the literature on branding for family businesses by suggesting signals that integrate both family and corporate identities. Lastly, it contributes to the literature on hospitality and tourism, particularly concerning the management of signals within online travel agencies.
Innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a key driver of sustainable and quality development in Africa. This study investigates the impact of financial constraints and the business environment on SME innovation in sub-Saharan Africa. The data used in this research come from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) conducted in 2022 and 2023 on a sample of 1685 SMEs in eight African countries. A composite index of the business environment was constructed based on firms' subjective assessments of the constraints they faced, using a principal component analysis (PCA) method. Probit model estimation shows that financing constraints negatively affect product innovation, whereas their impact on process innovation is more nuanced. Interestingly, a less favorable business environment appears paradoxically to encourage product innovation. The findings also reveal that investing in research and development (R&D) positively affects both types of innovation. This study contributes to institutional theory by highlighting that institutional weakness can, under certain conditions, be leveraged to stimulate SME innovation. It also calls on policymakers and SME leaders in sub-Saharan Africa to rethink investment strategies to more effectively overcome constraints and stimulate innovation.
This study examines whether corporate involvement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is associated with corporate tax avoidance (TA). Using a large international panel of publicly listed firms, we quantify SDG involvement through text analysis of sustainability and integrated reports, identifying explicit references to the SDGs. Tax avoidance is measured as a 3-year average difference between statutory and cash effective tax rates, based on standardized financial data. Pooled logistic regression models with country-year and sector fixed effects show a small but marginally significant positive association between SDG involvement and TA. A decomposition of the TA measure indicates that this association is driven by persistent differences between firms, while year-to-year changes within firms exhibit no detectable relationship. The effect size is economically limited but statistically robust. Overall, the results indicate that SDG communication and corporate tax behavior remain largely independent domains, even as global expectations for responsible corporate tax behavior continue to rise.
Innovation consortiums, as a new collaborative innovation model within the open innovation ecosystem, play a significant role in breakthroughs in key core technologies in China and in improving enterprises' technological innovation levels. However, identifying key resource-matching partners is the primary challenge that innovation consortiums face in achieving sustainable innovation. This paper employs resource dependence theory and field theory to propose a method for identifying and dynamically selecting innovative partners: potential partners of leading enterprises are identified through association rules, evaluated and ranked using the R-TOPSIS model, and finally selected by constructing a collaborative innovation field. Through the case study of the data of China Zhaotai Medical Company (Company Z), the applicability and effectiveness of this method were further verified. This research study makes a dual contribution. Theoretically, it enriches the literature on open innovation ecosystems and collaborative innovation by integrating resource dependence and field theories within the context of Chinese practices. Methodologically, it offers a novel, dynamic framework for partner selection in an innovation consortium. By facilitating the effective integration of key resources over time, this approach directly supports the sustainable development of such a consortium, enabling them to tackle complex technological challenges aligned with broader socio-economic goals persistently.
The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has intensified debates on whether innovation system (IS) frameworks remain relevant for governing sustainability transformations. This article argues that IS are essential for understanding how directionality toward sustainability emerges through learning, institutional change, and evolving state roles. The paper distinguishes between reactive approaches grounded in historically accumulated capabilities and proactive strategies aimed at creating new development pathways aligned with societal goals, emphasizing interactions, synergies, and trade-offs across social, economic, and environmental objectives. Four illustrative cases are examined: China and Denmark demonstrate how IS can gradually reorient capabilities toward multiple SDGs, while Seychelles and Costa Rica show how small and less mature IS pursue focused sustainability priorities through governance and institutional innovation.
The celebrity economy is thriving, with more stars now owning businesses instead of merely endorsing products. This study examines the impact of specific factors in celebrity entrepreneurship on business success. Findings indicate that a celebrity's entrepreneurial involvement and attractiveness are crucial for performance, whereas alignment between their public image and business is less essential. Prior experience plays a significant role; however, industry-specific knowledge, entrepreneurial skills, and personal networks carry less weight, as celebrity fame often grants access to valuable connections and opportunities. By examining celebrity-founded ventures as distinct entities, the study reveals how celebrities effectively leverage their fame, networks, and resources to achieve business success. The findings reveal that celebrity attractiveness confers short-term survival advantages, but its effect diminishes over time, whereas sustained entrepreneurial involvement exerts a stronger, more enduring impact on firm performance.
Organizations must simultaneously exploit current competencies and explore new opportunities-yet theory offers limited guidance on when each strategic logic dominates and under what combination of environmental conditions ambidexterity is warranted. We integrate paradox theory with an NK performance landscape framework to examine how exploitation-focused, exploration-focused, and ambidextrous organizational configurations navigate the coupled tensions of environmental complexity, turbulence, and munificence. Using computational simulation, we model the search and adaptation behaviors of each configuration across systematically varied landscape conditions. Our results reveal that ambidextrous configurations outperform under high complexity, high turbulence, and low munificence, whereas exploitation-focused configurations outperform when munificence is high and complexity is low. Critically, we identify a ceiling effect: beyond a threshold of landscape ruggedness, the advantage of ambidexterity reverses, producing an inverted-U relationship between explorative adaptation and combined environmental conditions. These findings extend paradox theory by specifying the boundary conditions under which each organizational logic dominates, and advance NK methodology by introducing a coupled, multi-dimensional landscape that jointly represents environmental complexity, dynamism, and resource availability.
Centuries-old bakeries and caf & eacute; icons are rare exceptions in the food-service world, yet they prove that brand longevity is achievable for multigenerational food-service family businesses. To uncover how such firms endure, we conducted an exploratory, multi-case study built on qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with long-established Indian eateries. The findings suggest that the interplay between product, people and process generates perceived quality associations, which constitute the most important factor for the longevity of family business brands. Successful food-service family businesses create pull demand by prioritizing location primacy and charging normal prices, whilst spending minimally on advertising and undertaking little or no formal promotion. Far from being static, successful food-service family brands weave consistent product innovation into their heritage. By documenting this balance of preservation and renewal, the study extends brand-heritage theory. For founders navigating generational transitions, our findings deliver a clear message: protect your core triad of product, people and process; anchor it visibly in place and price; and innovate at the fringes. Do so and today's neighbourhood favourite can become tomorrow's centennial legend.
The study examines how Indigenous entrepreneurial motivations vary when cultural continuity is pursued under contrasting institutional conditions. Based on 29 semi-structured interviews and contextual material from the Kalash of northern Pakistan and Bedouin entrepreneurs in the United Arab Emirates, the study adopts a qualitative cross-national comparative design to trace how motivations take shape at the intersection of culture, economy and state support. Kalasha entrepreneurs describe enterprise as a means of sustaining households, preventing out-migration, and maintaining an anchored presence on ancestral land in a setting marked by poverty, weak infrastructure, and limited recognition. Bedouin entrepreneurs, situated in a resource-rich and heritage-oriented policy environment, frame their ventures as acts of stewardship, public representation of Bedouin identity and participation in a state-supported heritage economy. The analysis shows that shared commitments to land, lineage, and collective identity generate distinct motivational logics once institutional conditions are brought into view. The paper shows that Indigenous entrepreneurial motivation unfolds along a trajectory from defensive preservation to expressive projection, mediated by institutional conditions rather than confined to a single scarcity-driven pattern.
Digital contact tracing (DCT) has emerged as a promising tool for controlling infectious disease outbreaks, yet its adoption has been hampered by widespread privacy concerns. Prior research studies mainly rely on privacy calculus theory. We extend this view by integrating agency theory to explain how delegating sensitive data to government authorities generates anticipatory concerns about misuse. Building upon the social risk concept introduced in earlier DCT studies, we theoretically refine and contextualize surveillance drift concern, defined as an anticipatory belief that personal data collected for legitimate and time-limited public health purposes may be repurposed, prolonged, or expanded once the original emergency ends. We model this concern as a key mechanism linking privacy uncertainty and societal utility to DCT acceptance and examine how public health crisis-induced anxiety moderates these effects. A scenario-based experiment (N = 315) supports our model. Our findings advance theoretical understanding of how DCT acceptance emerges under conditions of delegation, uncertainty and crisis governance, while offering actionable insights for designing and communicating trustworthy digital public health systems.
Public innovation labs are multiplying, yet their long-term sustainability remains uncertain. This article examines the appropriation mechanisms that underpin their sustainability, drawing on a longitudinal case study conducted in a French regional government. Findings suggest that, over time, cycles of reappropriation emerge in response to new actors, competing dispositives and strategic or organizational changes. In these situations, actors engage in symbolic adjustments to preserve coherence between the identity of the dispositive and a shifting environment. Such adjustments determine the lab's legitimacy and longevity, whereas their absence or weakening lead to its marginalization or disappearance. This study advances the appropriation literature by emphasizing the pivotal role of symbolic mechanisms in the trajectory of public innovation labs and offers practical insights for management. Les laboratoires d'innovation publique se multiplient, mais leur p & eacute;rennit & eacute; reste incertaine. Cet article analyse les m & eacute;canismes d'appropriation qui conditionnent le maintien de ces dispositifs dans le temps, & agrave; partir d'une & eacute;tude de cas longitudinale men & eacute;e dans une collectivit & eacute; territoriale fran & ccedil;aise. Les r & eacute;sultats sugg & egrave;rent que, sur la dur & eacute;e, apparaissent des cycles de r & eacute;appropriation li & eacute;s & agrave; l'arriv & eacute;e de nouveaux acteurs, & agrave; l'& eacute;mergence d'autres dispositifs ou & agrave; des changements strat & eacute;giques et organisationnels. Dans ces contextes, les acteurs op & egrave;rent des ajustements symboliques afin de maintenir une coh & eacute;rence entre l'identit & eacute; du dispositif et un environnement en & eacute;volution. Ces ajustements conditionnent sa l & eacute;gitimit & eacute; et sa p & eacute;rennit & eacute;, tandis que leur absence ou leur affaiblissement conduisent & agrave; sa marginalisation, voire & agrave; sa disparition. Cette contribution compl & egrave;te la litt & eacute;rature portant sur l'appropriation des dispositifs de gestion et comporte des implications pour les d & eacute;cideurs publics.
Using the cognitive appraisal theory of stress and coping, we hypothesized that employees who face supervisor undermining would show a decrease in citizenship behaviours and an increase in negative gossip directed at the supervisor through the development of fear of negative evaluation. We also hypothesized that the relationship between supervisor undermining and fear of negative evaluation would be stronger for those individuals high on rejection sensitivity. We tested our hypotheses using three-wave time-lagged data (N = 206 dyads) from independent sources (for outcomes). The findings support the mod-med relationship, which holds that individuals high in rejection sensitivity in the case of high supervisor undermining might engage in increased negative workplace gossip as well as decreased citizenship behaviours due to fear of negative evaluation. Our study contributes to the OB and emotions literature by suggesting fear of negative evaluation as a pertinent underlying mechanism through which supervisor undermining translates into higher gossip and lower OCBs.
