Purpose This study investigates the relationship between perceived supervisor support and teleworkers' productivity and life satisfaction, examining voluntariness and involuntariness as motivational mechanisms. Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and Self-Determination Theory, the research explores how supervisor support relates to employees' motivational experiences and subsequent outcomes in telework settings. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was administered to 316 teleworkers in Portugal. Participants completed validated measures of supervisor support, telework voluntariness and involuntariness, perceived productivity, and life satisfaction. A parallel mediation model was tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 4), with 5,000 bootstrapped samples and bias-corrected confidence intervals. Findings Supervisor support was directly associated with increased productivity and life satisfaction. Additionally, although the link between supervisor support and voluntariness was marginal, a significant negative relationship with involuntariness in telework was observed. As expected, voluntariness in telework was linked to higher perceived productivity and life satisfaction, while involuntariness in telework was linked to lower perceived productivity and life satisfaction. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of supervisory practices in reducing telework involuntariness. Human resource strategies and leadership development should foster supportive environments that minimise coercion and promote employee productivity and life satisfaction in remote settings. Originality/value This study adds to the limited literature on telework motivation by distinguishing between voluntariness and involuntariness as separate motivational constructs. It introduces a dual-path mediation model integrating contextual (supervisory) support and motivational pathways to predict telework outcomes, namely perceived productivity and life satisfaction.
Purpose This study asks under what firm-level conditions public funding fosters innovation in European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moving beyond aggregate policy evaluation, it adopts a management-oriented perspective that foregrounds firm-level capabilities and managerial decision-making, and synthesizes the fragmented empirical evidence on how subsidies, tax credits and policy mixes shape SME innovation outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) 2020, peer-reviewed empirical articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science between 1984 and December 2025 were screened. After relevance and quality criteria, 32 firm-level studies on European SMEs were retained. The review combines descriptive analysis with structured content analysis of instruments, outcomes, research designs and contingencies, interpreted through a capabilities-based framework integrating the resource-based view, absorptive capacity and dynamic capabilities. Findings The reported effect of public funding on SME innovation is predominantly conditional rather than uniform: most studies find effects contingent on firm and contextual characteristics. Absorptive capacity and prior innovation experience emerge as the dominant moderators, followed by strategic alignment and instrument-specific capability demands. Direct subsidies and policy mixes dominate the evidence base, whereas R&D tax incentives remain under-examined. A salient negative finding is an eco-innovation gap: only one of the 32 studies addresses eco-innovation directly. Research limitations/implications The corpus is restricted to peer-reviewed, firm-level studies on European SMEs in upper-half-ranked journals, and outcome measures and designs are heterogeneous, limiting effect-size comparison. The evidence concentrates on subsidies, leaving tax credits and eco-innovation thinly covered. Future research should examine these instruments, extend to regulation and demand-side tools, exploit longitudinal and cross-country firm-level data and strengthen identification to address the endogeneity of funding allocation. Practical implications Managers should treat public funding not as a guaranteed input but as an external resource whose innovation value depends on the firm's absorptive capacity, prior experience and the alignment between funding objectives and strategy. Firms with weaker internal capabilities may capture less benefit, suggesting that capability-building should accompany funding applications rather than follow them. Social implications Because the innovation returns to public funding are conditional on firm-level capabilities, undifferentiated support risks benefiting already-capable firms. Support schemes attentive to firm heterogeneity combining financial aid with capability development and clearer selection criteria – could distribute public resources more equitably and improve the societal return on innovation spending. Originality/value By synthesizing fragmented, methodologically heterogeneous evidence through a capabilities lens, the review reframes public funding as an external resource whose value is contingent on firm-level absorptive and dynamic capabilities. It offers an integrative framework linking instruments, managerial conditions and innovation outcomes, and explicitly documents the eco-innovation gap as a contribution.
Purpose This study examines the well-being of public servants by utilizing the Job Demands-Resources model during a crisis, contributing to research on human resources management in public institutions. Design/methodology/approach The research investigates the potential moderating roles of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and resilience relative to demanding jobs, available resources, and adverse outcomes in an unprecedented scenario-a situation of adversity. The survey was conducted among civil servants directly involved in serving refugees in main provincial offices that had established crisis centers for Ukrainian refugees in Poland between March and May 2023, when demand for work permits rose due to the protracted war. A total of 138 complete responses were collected. The regression models were supplemented using Johnson's Relative Weight Analysis (RWA). Findings Results indicated that respondents faced heightened job demands and limited job resources, leading to significant stress and extended fatigue; however, the anticipated moderating effects of PSM and resilience were not evident. Originality/value The research advances management scholarship by identifying factors that shape mental health and performance measures in public-sector employees operating in extreme conditions. It offers empirical insights into how crisis-induced workloads challenge human resource management and organizational functioning, which have been insufficiently examined in prior studies.
Purpose Nowadays networks are one of the key factors supporting career development, while personal brand ensures visibility on the network, thus increasing chances of employment. Together, networking competence and personal brand allow finding new opportunities for career development and achieving professional success. The purpose is to identify and provide an in-depth assessment of the interdependencies between the variables of employability, networking competence and personal brand of managers in the latest journal publications. Design/methodology/approach The first stage consisted of a systematic literature review (SLR) conducted using PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The second stage involved a bibliometric co-word analysis (BA) carried out using VOSviewer software for data visualization. Findings Networking competence and personal brand impact employability, but among managers this impact is limited to networking competence contained in social media. Research limitations/implications Managers can increase their employability not only by delivering high-quality knowledge-based work, but also by demonstrating networking competence. A manager's personal brand creates a strong, consistent and specific association between its owners and the perceived professional value they offer. Originality/value The originality and value of the research result from the recognition of networking competence and personal brand simultaneously as determinants of managers' employability.
Purpose This study examines the role of digital technologies in human resource (HR) operations and their impact on competitiveness and reputation in five-star hotels. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design was employed, involving purposively selected 41 human resource managers from five-star hotels. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed in MAXQDA using a hybrid thematic analysis approach. Findings Digital HR practices act as strategic assets in dynamic capabilities (DC). While identifying significant benefits in recruitment efficiency, employee orientation, and organizational communication, it highlights critical emerging challenges such as “human touch anxiety” and “trust and privacy dilemmas”. These findings suggest that the hospitality industry's digital transformation requires a delicate balance between technological integration and its inherent human-centric nature. Practical implications The study provides strategic recommendations for hotel executives, emphasizing the need to establish digital ethics protocols and adopt an “HR marketing” approach. These strategies help optimize digital HR tools while maintaining employee loyalty and service quality in competitive markets. Originality/value The study offers rare qualitative evidence from a major developing tourism economy, filling a significant gap in a field often dominated by quantitative research from developed markets. By integrating the technology acceptance model (TAM), diffusion of innovations theory (DOI), the resource-based view (RBV), and the DC perspective, digital HR is positioned as a core strategic capability that generates sustainable competitive advantage in hospitality organizations.
