The strategic reasoning in real option suggests entrepreneurial avenues for the creation of new opportunities (Alvarez et al., 2013) other than effectuation (Sarasvathy, 2008), disruption process (Hang et al., 2015), or relational entrepreneurship (Fuller & Warren, 2016). The two companies studied use a flexible decision-making system in line with Real Option Thinking, they illustrate operative and strategic real options relating to new opportunities in production processes and new products or markets. Little research has been conducted on the use of real options in practice (Ipsmiller et al., 2019). This research attempts to address this gap by clarifying the entrepreneurial dimensions for the appearance of real options.
For the past decade, the automotive industry has been operating within a context of energy transition, driven by the rise of electric vehicles, the transformation of industrial strategies, and evolving competitive and financial conditions across the sector. At the same time, the rise in geopolitical instability has increased uncertainty for the sector. To shed light on these issues, this study, based on a sample of 29 major automobile manufacturers, identifies several key factors influencing the profitability and market valuation of automotive firms. The results show that asset turnover and reinvestment rates are important determinants of firm performance. In addition, they highlight the need to manage risks associated with financial leverage. Finally, internationalization appears to be a positive and statistically significant driver of performance.
This article contributes to the characterization of social clusters through an analysis of Pôles Territoriaux de Coopération Economique (PTCEs) in France. A systematic literature review of previous studies on PTCEs was conducted using an analytical framework that combines two complementary strands of literature: Social Enterprise (SE) and Meta-Organizations (MO). The study advances the literature on social clusters by proposing a novel characterization, based on the constitutive features of PTCE, one of the most developed and institutionalized forms of social cluster in France and Europe. They can be characterized by the membership of locally embedded social enterprises and a shared commitment to ecological and societal challenges. We finally propose an analytical framework that can inform the characterization of social clusters.
This study examines how banks communicate ethical commitments through annual reports, comparing ethical and conventional institutions across national contexts. We develop an AI-based model (BERT) to detect customer- and society-oriented ethical themes in disclosures from 2019 to 2023. We then conduct panel regressions to examine how governance, culture, and financial health are associated with ethical communication patterns. Drawing on institutional theory and cultural evolution, we show that while customer ethics dominate across the sample, societal ethics are more prominent in ethical banks and selectively adopted by conventional ones. The findings highlight how global sustainability pressures interact with national traditions and institutional settings, producing differentiated ethical narratives and informing debates on legitimacy and responsibility in international banking.
The current international context is marked by profound upheavals, with a rise in protectionist measures that pose numerous challenges for the implementation of companies' international strategies. At the same time, we are witnessing a major rise in firms from emerging countries, notably China. The automotive industry is a striking example. The aim of this research is to analyze the adjustment strategies of Chinese automakers, or those producing in China, in the face of retaliatory measures introduced by European Union at the end of 2024. Based on extensive secondary data collection, we propose a theoretical model to analyze the link between the protectionist measures implemented and the five types of strategic responses we have identified.
