Being successful at transgenerational entrepreneurship is crucial for the long-term prosperity of entrepreneurial families (EFs). While research has highlighted the importance of socialization of next generations into the family and its business(es) for transgenerational entrepreneurship, scant attention has been paid to socialization into social class. To address this gap, we conduct a historical case study of the Florio family, an Italian EF that rose to prominence and declined across four generations between the 19th and 20th centuries. Specifically, we analyze and compare the different socializations each generation experienced. Adopting a Bourdieusian perspective, we identify three mechanisms through which social class socialization shapes the entrepreneurial behavior and outcomes of next-generation EF members: entrepreneurial habitus formation, capital orchestration, and managerial agency. By examining the specificities of these mechanisms across the different generations, we explain both the EF's success and decline. We contribute to research at the nexus of transgenerational entrepreneurship and socialization.

PurposeThe rapid evolution of immersive technologies (IMTs) underscores the need for food enterprises to adopt a flexible mindset, foster engagement, and embrace technological change to embark on a successful journey. This research employs an organizational change approach to empirically investigate the role of individual unlearning (IUNL) in enabling food sector organizations to navigate this transformation effectively. For this purpose, we utilized the AIDUA framework by interpreting the fundamental factors of employees' perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness as catalysts for IUNL during the initial appraisal phase. In the ensuing secondary appraisal phase, the perceived performance expectation and effort expectancy of the IUNL approach were investigated, with the ultimate objective of influencing willingness to adopt or reject these IMTs in the final stage.Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach, utilizing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and Artificial Neural Networks, was employed to analyze data from 223 participants in China.FindingsThe results showed that fulfilling autonomy, competence, and relatedness has a positive impact on IUNL, which subsequently leads to a notable improvement in performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Furthermore, performance expectancy and effort expectancy have a positive and significant influence on the willingness to adopt IMTs in organizations, while demonstrating no considerable impact on the rejection of IMTs.Originality/valueThese findings highlight the crucial role of unlearning in facilitating IMT adoption and have far-reaching implications for shaping organizational strategy, fostering innovation, and facilitating a smooth transition to an increasingly dynamic technology environment.

This paper aims to increase our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics that feature in the development of green energy technologies. Extant research has provided extensive evidence that these technologies tend to be more novel and complex than their non-green counterparts. However, our understanding of the origins and development of green energy technologies remains limited, also considering that these are also based on non-green technologies. Therefore, we examine the development trajectories of electrolysis technologies, a group of technologies that is expected to play a key role in the greening of the energy sector. We rely on a sample of 43,832 electrolysis-related Patent Families from 1987 to 2021 that we distinguish between green and non-green. We then use citation data and Main Path Analysis to delineate the major trajectories of development and adopt the Technology Life Cycle model to identify milestones in this development. Our analysis revealed that, in the different phases of the Technology Life Cycle model, four groups of inventions feature in the main development path of electrolysis technologies. We also found that fundamental contributions to the development path of electrolysis technologies are represented by both green and non-green inventions.

This article integrates the literature on radical innovation, the stewardship perspective, and family business research to develop and test a model examining the influence of a family CEO and the CEO's generational stage on radical innovation, considering different types of family CEOs as distinct manifestations of strategic leaders' stewardship behavior. Furthermore, building on the notion of "doing more with less", we propose and empirically test the notion of "doing better with less"-specifically, whether the presence of a family CEO enhances the pursuit of radical innovation under resource constraints (i.e., with lower R&D intensity). Using longitudinal data over an 11-year period from 227 listed firms in the automotive and pharma/biotech industries from 29 countries, we find that firms led by a family CEO, especially those led by descendants, excel at radical innovation. Descendant-led firms are also better at radical innovation with lower R&D intensity, suggesting they do better with less. That is, our study shows that family CEOs at a later generational stage serve as catalysts for radical innovation, even under resource constraints. In addition to implications for theory and practice, our findings offer a more advanced understanding of the strategic leadership-innovation relationship in terms of distinct manifestations of stewardship behavior for radical innovation in firms with family leadership.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of digitalization on service innovation performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on how external search breadth moderates this relationship. The goal is to understand how digital transformation and external knowledge sourcing interact to influence innovation outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a quantitative analysis of a survey conducted with 489 Canadian SMEs. Probit regression models are used to examine the curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between digitalization and service innovation, and how these changes when external search breadth is introduced as a moderating variable.FindingsThe results confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship between digitalization and service innovation in SMEs. However, when external search breadth is high, the relationship changes to a U-shape, indicating that digitalization's impact on innovation depends on the extent of external knowledge sourcing. Digitalization enhances service innovation but shows diminishing returns when over-applied without appropriate external search breadth.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings are based on a sample of Canadian SMEs, limiting the generalizability to other contexts. Future research could explore longitudinal data to assess changes over time.Practical implications SME managers should balance their investments in digitalization with external knowledge sourcing to maximize innovation performance, avoiding over-reliance on one approach.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by providing empirical evidence on the dual effect of digitalization and external search breadth on service innovation, specifically in SMEs. It introduces the concept of a shape-flip in the relationship between digitalization and innovation, contingent on external search breadth, a novel contribution to the field.

The ongoing megatrend of digitalization has transformed how organizations innovate with their stakeholders, building on the prevalence of Big Data (BD), Open Data (OD), and Open Innovation (OI). Since the involvement of external actors is a common feature across these three phenomena, this special issue gathered contributions to understand their interplay and dynamics. Indeed, data are a valuable source for organizational innovation capacity, value creation, and value capture, representing possible inputs for OI. At the same time, OI practices, which emphasize knowledge exchange beyond organizational boundaries, also serve as mechanisms through which data can be acquired, generated, shared, and refined. In this sense, BD and OD can also originate from OI, as outputs of collaborative innovation processes in data-rich ecosystems. This bidirectional relationship between data and open and collaborative innovation demonstrates a new digital frontier for innovation activities. Yet, the current literature has only recently started to make sense of the distinctiveness of the new data-driven and data-enabled OI landscape. The individual studies published in the special issue adopt diverse methodologies and settings towards filling this gap. In this editorial, in addition to summarizing the special issue contributions, we develop a conceptual framework of “Open Innovation and the Convergence of Big and Open Data”, highlighting how the joint and contingent implementation of BD/OD and OI can lead to new and expended innovation outcomes and opportunities. The editorial concludes by outlining future research directions, calling for more empirical work across varied organizational contexts to deepen understanding of this intersection and guide managerial practice in leveraging BD/OD and OI in a mutually reinforcing manner.

Crowdfunding has arisen as a prominent alternative to more traditional forms of financing, with equity crowdfunding (EC) becoming increasingly significant for its economic relevance and unique dynamics. While previous research has explored various factors contributing to EC campaign success, the role of firm governance, particularly family governance - i.e., the involvement in management and/or ownership of members of the same family - remains underexplored. Therefore, this study tackles this gap by examining the influence of family governance on EC success. Family-governed businesses, known for their long-term orientation and more conservative risk behavior, may inspire greater trust from investors, hence enhancing their campaign success. Additionally, the growing importance of business and campaign sustainability orientation in investors' decision-making suggests it could further strengthen the positive relationship between family-governed businesses and EC success. Using data collected on 500 EC campaigns from leading Italian platforms, we find support for our hypotheses. This study contributes to the EC literature and family business research and has important implications for family-governed businesses seeking to optimize their EC campaigns.

Purpose This paper aims to address the imbalance in smart tourism strategies that often prioritize technology over sustainability. This study introduces the Smart Tourism Model Canvas (STMC), a framework designed to support tourism destinations in aligning innovation with environmental, social and cultural objectives, leveraging knowledge management (KM) as a core enabler of strategic alignment. Design/methodology/approach The STMC is developed through a comparative case study analysis of three global cities – Barcelona, Singapore and New York City – selected for their relevance in both urban tourism and smart city innovation. The methodology involves thematic mapping of initiatives and policies, with a specific focus on KM practices that inform and support integrated tourism governance. Findings This study identifies five recurring dimensions across the cases: technology integration, stakeholder collaboration, policy alignment, cultural and social inclusivity and sustainability focus. These form the structural pillars of the STMC. The framework illustrates how combining these elements through effective planning and knowledge sharing can foster more sustainable and resilient tourism models. Originality/value This research contributes a novel and transferable planning tool – the STMC – that helps policymakers and destination managers co-design sustainable smart tourism strategies. This study advances the discourse on tourism governance by demonstrating how KM can serve as a strategic lever for integrating innovation and sustainability in diverse urban contexts. In addition, this study offers practical implications by translating KM principles into actionable components of urban tourism planning, thus enhancing the replicability and scalability of smart tourism approaches across different governance settings.

Despite the notable body of research, the family firm (FF) internationalization literature has overlooked the role of innovation strategies in explaining FFs' export performance. We focus on the innovation through tradition (ITT) strategy-specifically, the degree to which a firm leverages its firm-specific, mature (i.e., past) knowledge in the innovation search and recombination process. This strategy is particularly relevant for FFs as it can have ambivalent effects on export performance. On the one hand, it may ease the liability of foreignness; on the other, it could exacerbate it, creating tensions that firms must carefully navigate. Drawing from the socioemotional wealth perspective, we argue that FFs will be more prone to adopt an ITT strategy. However, the extent to which they will be able to reap the advantages or suffer the constraints of such a strategy for export depends on the particular type of family governance. Specifically, we contend that family managers will have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the degree to which a firm leverages firm-specific mature knowledge and export intensity thanks to their direct involvement and operational control over innovation activities. Conversely, family owners lacking this direct involvement will have a negative moderating effect on this relationship. Our analyses, based on a global longitudinal sample of 134 listed firms in the automotive and pharma/biotech industries observed from 2008 to 2020, support our hypotheses. Our results contribute to the nexus of the FF internationalization and FF innovation literature streams, the ITT research in FFs, and the broader internationalization literature.

Growth hacking (GH) is a strategy of rapid experimentation and testing aimed at scaling firms' business model. Based on the relationships established in the literature between GH and Lean Startup (LS), we acknowledge LS capabilities play a crucial role in the successful implementation of GH, yet a deeper understanding of how LS capabilities support GH is needed, especially from a theoretical perspective. In this context, through a multiple case study approach analyzing six different startups, we aim to unveil the microfoundations of LS capabilities supporting the implementation of GH, hence opening the black box of GH. This research advances the theoretical development and understanding of GH, with a focus on its relationship with LS and underlying LS capabilities, by leveraging the microfoundations perspective to reconcile theory and practice when examining GH. Additionally, it informs the debate on how GH can create favorable conditions for scaling business models.

PurposeThe conventional notion that adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) positively affects firm performance is often confronted with various examples of failures. In this context, large-scale empirical evidence of the economic performance implications of adopting AI is poor, especially in the context of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Drawing upon the Resource-Based View and the Digital Complementary Asset literature, we assessed whether the adoption of AI affects SMEs’ revenue growth.Design/methodology/approachFirst, we examine the relationship between the adoption of AI and SMEs’ revenue growth. Second, we assess whether AI complements the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics (BDA). We use firm-level data from the European Commission in 2020 on 11,429 European SMEs (Flash Eurobarometer 486).FindingsAmong the key findings, we found that ceteris paribus, the adoption of AI positively affects SMEs’ revenue growth and, in conjunction with IoT and BDA, appears to be even more beneficial.Originality/valueOur results suggest that AI fosters SME growth, especially in combination with IoT and BDA. Thus, SME managers should be aware of the positive impacts of investments in AI and make decisions accordingly. Likewise, policymakers are aware of the positive effects of SMEs’ reliance on AI, so they may design policies and funding schemes to push this digitalization of SMEs further.

Family firm research agrees that family involvement in ownership gives rise to idiosyncratic innovation behaviors. However, whether family ownership fosters or hampers innovation is still debated because the distinction among the types of innovation outcomes has been often overlooked. To address this gap, we focus on exploratory innovation intensity as innovation outcome (i.e., the ratio between exploratory innovations and all the innovations developed by a firm) to improve our understanding of the family ownership-innovation relationship. Rooted in socioemotional wealth and social capital theories, our arguments posit that family ownership negatively influences exploratory innovation intensity. Recalling the literature on search and recombination, we further propose that this relationship is positively moderated when family-owned firms rely more heavily on digital, information and communication technologies (ICT) related knowledge components during the innovation process (i.e., on a digital search). A panel data analysis of 504 US public limited companies supports both our hypotheses. This article responds to calls for distinguishing exploitative and exploratory innovation outcomes in family firm research. Furthermore, it adds to the digital innovation research by studying the role of digital search as a contingency factor in the pursuit of exploratory innovations and, relatedly, contributes to the literature on search and recombination by underlying that the ICT domain is a relevant search space where to search knowledge to innovate.

Purpose This paper aims to map the evolution of hydrogen-based technologies (HBTs) by examining the patenting activity associated to these technlogies from 1930 to 2020. In doing so, the study provides a novel perspective on the development of HBTs and offers implications for managers and policymakers. Design/methodology/approach We collected patent data at the level of patent families (PFs). Our sample includes 317,089 PFs related to hydrogen production and 62,496 PFs to hydrogen storage. We examined PF data to delineate the state of the art and major technical advancements of HBTs. Findings Our analysis provides evidence of an increasing patenting activity in the area of HBTs, hence suggesting relatively high levels of expectations on the economic potential of these technologies. US and Japan hold the largest proportion of PFs related to HBTs (about 60%), while European applicants hold the highest proportion of highly cited PFs (about 60%). While firms represent the applicant with the highest share of PFs, our analysis reveals that firms holding HBT PFs are primarily from the chemical sector. Research limitations/implications While our analysis is limited to examining patent data which capture some aspects of the innovation activity around HBTs (namelly, patented inventions), our study enriches existing literature by performinng a patent analysis on a much larger sample of data when compared to previous studies. Practical implications Two main implications emerge from our study. Firstly, there seems to be an urgent need to support the emergence of a dominant design so as to facilitate the consolidation and diffusion of the HBTs, hence the transition to a more sustainable energy production. Secondly, the majority of HBT PFs are held by a small number of countries. This, in turn, suggests opportunities to develop cross-country cooperation (e.g. international agreements, research and technology offices) to support the development and adoption of HBTs globally. Social implications Considering the results obtained in this study, from a social point of view, the attention that organizations have paid to hydrogen related technologies is evident. This suggests that the development HBTs can function as a social enabler for a sustianable energy transition. Originality/value Extant research has focused on the individual components of the hydrogen chain. As a result, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the progress made in the area of HBTs. To address this gap, this study examined HBTs by focusing on both production and storage technologies since their initial developments, hence adopting an observation period of about 70 years.

Purpose Given the limited understanding of the process of transgenerational entrepreneurship and that knowledge is a fundamental antecedent of entrepreneurial endeavors, this study aims to shed light on how entrepreneurial families (EFs) nurture entrepreneurship across generations, which knowledge is required within the EF to spur new entrepreneurial activities, and how is this knowledge acquired. Design/methodology/approach Considering the paucity of empirical evidence on the topic under investigation and the related exploratory nature of this study, the authors adopted a qualitative approach by conducting a case study on an Italian wine-making family business. Findings The case analysis reveals that EF members are required to acquire different types of knowledge at different generational stages to spur new entrepreneurial activities, specifically technical knowledge in the second generation and business knowledge in the third generation. Moreover, the data analysis shows two mechanisms, namely, trust among generations and role separation, that, during both generational transitions, enabled and empowered the younger generations to exploit their knowledge to explore entrepreneurial opportunities and engage in new entrepreneurial activities. Originality/value This study provides novel insights into the role of knowledge in transgenerational entrepreneurship, particularly looking at knowledge acquired by EF members across generations. Accordingly, this research contributes to the literature streams of transgenerational entrepreneurship, knowledge management in family businesses and broader knowledge management research.

The present study seeks to shed further light on what favors the conversion of inventions into innovations in for‐profit firms and to advance our understanding of how to tackle cancer grand challenges (CGCs). Specifically, following the literature on knowledge search and recombination, we analyze whether and how cancer‐related inventions developed through an intense adoption of scientific knowledge (scientific search intensity) result in (i) a higher number of approved drugs and (ii) a shorter approval time for new drugs. Notably, while the role of science with regard to technological development has been widely studied, the extent to which science‐based solutions relate to new product introduction, especially in terms of coping with grand challenges such as approved cancer drugs, is less known. Furthermore, considering the digitization of (health) R&D and the role of information and communication technologies (i.e., digital technologies) to address grand challenges, we examine whether and how cancer‐related inventions developed through an intense adoption of digital knowledge (digital search intensity) directly affect the extent and speed of cancer drug approval, as well as whether interaction effects between scientific and digital search intensity exist. We develop hypotheses that we test on a sample of 65,861 cancer‐related patents owned by 139 for‐profit firms, collected from the USPTO Cancer Moonshot Patent Data. These have a priority date between 1990 and 2010, and have led to 1035 approved drugs. Results reveal that scientific search intensity is not associated with the number of different drugs developed from a single cancer‐related invention but is associated with the speed at which the invention leads to a newly approved drug. Digital search intensity appears not to directly affect cancer drug approval, but it lessens the effects of scientific search intensity, thus pointing to a limit of digitization in cancer R&D and innovation processes.

This study investigates the association between the intensity of innovation activities that firms perform offshore with host-country inventors (IHCI) and the time before back-shoring, a rising form of de-internationalization. IHCI is viewed as a pull factor that alleviates liabilities of both foreignness and outsidership, hence creating incentives for more extended offshoring stays. Additionally, the study investigates whether specific types of IHCI are associated with offshoring duration, namely IHCI leading to exploratory innovation and IHCI leading to an innovation portfolio with a broad scope. The study employs a Cox model to analyze 301 offshoring initiatives implemented by US firms, partially or totally ended through back-shoring. Results suggest that IHCI is associated with longer offshore duration. Further, duration is longer when IHCI leads to a broader innovation portfolio.

Given the lethargic acceptance behaviour of sustainable technologies (STs) by the public, the most crucial factor to contemplate is the influential form of organization endorsement strategy that can effectively enhance user intentions and behaviour. Using the social identity theory (SIT) and source credibility theory (SCT), this research examines the moderating potential of an attractive celebrity (CET) and social media influencer (IET) on user intention and behaviour in low- and high-involvement sustainable technologies (LISPs and HISPs). Based on an SEM-ANN analysis of data from 605 Chinese respondents, our empirical findings show that in the LISPs context, IETs moderate the intention-behaviour relationship positively whereas CETs have the opposite impact. In contrast, the moderating effect of CETs on HISPs is positive, whereas the effect of IETs is negative. Furthermore, it was shown that HISP users' income level significantly influenced their behaviour, while education level had no significant impact on either category. These outcomes have both theoretical and practical implications in developing resilient strategies to retain users and provide guidance on how to efficiently optimise, integrate, and evaluate the STs.

Digital product innovation (DPI) is critical for the survival of firms, especially those operating in traditional industrial-age industries. While research has started to investigate digital innovation in family firms (FFs) considering them as a monolithic group, we still lack a more nuanced perspective that considers heterogeneity among FFs with respect to DPI and what drives such variance. Drawing on construal level theory to explain the risk behavior and goal time horizon of FF owner-managers, we propose and find that the presence of later family generations in control positively influences DPI in FFs, while the presence of a family CEO is detrimental to DPI. Furthermore, we propose that these relationships are moderated by the size of the top management team (TMT), finding that a larger TMT weakens the positive relationship between later generations in control and DPI. We base our analysis on a longitudinal sample of 103 FFs in the automotive, industrial engineering, and pharmaceutical sectors observed from 2013 to 2020. This first empirical study applying construal level theory to the family business literature has important implications for the FF digital innovation literature and for FF owner-managers interested in achieving DPI.

The relevance of the sharing economy model has attracted the academic interest, leading to distinct lines of inquiry. However, an empirical examination of the factors influencing customer satisfaction in the sharing economy context – regarded as the degree to which a customer is willing to recommend a purchased service – is yet to be conducted. We aim to fill this gap by examining the influence of some relevant barriers related to the adoption of sharing economy on customer satisfaction across diverse sectors. We conduct our analysis based on data from the Flash Eurobarometer 467. Results reveal differences in the barriers-customer satisfaction relationships across sectors. Lack of trust and confidentiality issues negatively affect customer satisfaction in all sectors, inadequate ICT infrastructure has a significant negative effect only in the accommodation sector, and the remaining barriers mainly have a negative influence in sectors as transport, accommodation, food-related services.