Our understanding of the interconnectedness of innovation and internationalization processes in international new technology ventures (INTVs) and established technology-based SMEs remains limited, particularly regarding the influence of decision-making logic in this context. We applied effectuation theory and conducted a longitudinal examination of the decision-making logic of INTVs and established technology-based SMEs in Finland, drawing on 24 semi-structured longitudinal interviews. We found that innovation and internationalization activities in both firms are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. This study contributes to the literature by illuminating how decision-making logic unfolds over time in INTVs and technology-based SMEs.
Tensions can exist between organizational deeds and narratives of purpose. Employees who perceive such inconsistencies may go public with the aim of fostering internal organizational change oriented towards aligning rhetoric and reality. In doing so, they engage in a distinct form of prosocial behavior not yet fully examined in existing literature: societal-oriented prosocial behavior (SOPB) This behavior may be initiated through multiple motivational pathways - identification-repair, moral conviction, hypocrisy-aversion, or strategic calculation - all sharing four defining attributes: (1) employees adopting an external, public stance on (2), a societal-relevant issue with the aim of (3), promoting internal organizational change aligning organizational actions that are consistent with prior statements of purpose, thereby (4) signaling both their allegiance to and dissent from organizational practice. This paper explores both the distinctiveness of these motivational pathways and the specific content of employee societal-oriented prosocial behaviors.
This study examines the antecedents of female board representation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region with one of the lowest global rates of women in leadership but substantial cross-country variation. We introduce the concept of firm-stakeholder tension-the misalignment between a firm's visible gender composition and the characteristics of key stakeholders-and develop hypotheses linking foreign ownership, industry female employment, legal equality, gender parity, and firm size to board diversity. Using a unique hand-collected dataset of 1197 publicly listed firms across 11 MENA countries, our findings show that pro-female foreign ownership, legal equality, and gender parity significantly increase female board presence, while larger firms reduce it; evidence for industry-level effects is weaker. These results advance stakeholder and institutional theories by demonstrating how visible misfits trigger adaptation pressures, but also how local societal norms can reverse expected relationships. Our dataset and context provide novel insights into gender diversity in institutionally challenging environments. Practically, the findings highlight the importance of aligning legal reforms with governance codes, enhancing transparency and enforcement, and embedding inclusive policies and leadership development within firms. Greater female representation can strengthen legitimacy with investors, regulators, and employees, while contributing to women's empowerment, social justice, and inclusive economic growth across the region.
Corporate digital transformation aims to increase total value creation but often fails. We examine digital transformation from an executive view to understand what value creation and value capture interests different stakeholders hold, how they assess the corporation’s digital transformation through these interests, and what frictions arise when interests diverge. We study three large companies and their stakeholders: customers, capital providers, suppliers, partners and complementors, and managers and employees. Our findings show that digital transformation activates heterogeneous stakeholder interests and that divergent assessments generate intra- and inter-stakeholder frictions that reduce value capture and can erode total value creation. Cooperative game theory helps explain why these outcomes occur by distinguishing total value creation from the distribution of value capture among interdependent stakeholders. We contribute by providing an executive-grounded mapping of stakeholder value interests and a friction-based explanation for why digital transformations stall even when strategic intent is clear.
