The current study draws on the upper echelons theory to examine the nature of the relationship between top management team (TMT) tenure and a firm's level of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). We find evidence of an inverted-U relationship between TMT tenure and EO using data from firms across three industries with varied industry dynamics. We further introduce a contingency element by demonstrating that TMT industry background heterogeneity moderates the relationship between TMT tenure and EO, where the inverted U-shaped relationship will be more pronounced when the heterogeneity is low and will flatten when the heterogeneity is high. The findings demonstrate the complexity CEOs and governing bodies face while shaping a diverse TMT that can affect EO.

In this special issue titled ‘Sustainability and SMEs: Opening the black box’, we compile eight articles that dissect the multifaceted relationship between small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and sustainability. This special issue promoted interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the design, management, organisation, and reporting of sustainable actions in the context of SMEs. Stemming from the need to apply different theoretical and analytical lenses to the study of sustainability in SMEs than in large corporations, each paper provides unique insights into the formal and informal approaches, drivers, barriers, and enablers of sustainable practices in SMEs. The collection not only furthers the dialogue on the role of SMEs in sustainable development but also paves the way for future research directions and practical applications in this dynamic and still underexplored field.

We use attribution theory to show that firms that make more internal attributions to positive performance outcomes engage slack resources more freely for corporate entrepreneurship (CE) than firms that make fewer of such attributions. In addition, we show that the way in which companies make external attributions to performance outcomes moderates this relationship. To examine this empirically, we explore how top management teams discuss the factors that contribute to firm performance. Specifically, we look at attributions provided in the Management's Discussion and Analysis section of the annual reports of 144 pharmaceutical firms over a 2-year period. In line with our predictions, we find that greater internal attribution to positive performance outcomes leads to increased use of slack resources for CE. Furthermore, we find that this effect is stronger when firms make more external attributions to negative performance outcomes than positive performance outcomes.

Anchored in conservation of resources theory, this study considers how employees' experience of job stress might reduce their organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), as well as how this negative relationship might be buffered by employees' access to two personal resources (passion for work and adaptive humor) and two contextual resources (peer communication and forgiving climate). Data from a Mexican-based organization reveal that felt job stress diminishes OCB, but the effect is subdued at higher levels of the four studied resources. This study accordingly adds to extant research by elucidating when the actual experience of job stress is more or less likely to steer employees away from OCB – that is, when they have access to specific resources that hitherto have been considered direct enablers of such efforts instead of buffers of employees' negative behavioral responses to job stress.

Safety voice helps organizations to identify safety issues timely and is critical to the long-term growth of the organization. Safety voice has become a hot research topic in organizational safety, and different scales have been developed. However, the unique cultural context in China has led to the need to redevelop safety voice measurement tools. In this paper, we developed an initial scale of safety voice for employees in Chinese organizational contexts fusing in-depth interviews and mature scales. The initial scale based on two samples (n1 = 205, n2 = 420) was revised and validated using item analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability analysis to finalize the final scale. We finally found that the safety voice scale in Chinese organizational contexts contains two dimensions: promotive safety voice and prohibitive safety voice. The scale developed in this paper is a reliable tool to measure safety voice behavior of Chinese employees.

This paper explores how proactive behavior and constructive deviance relate to affective organizational commitment and turnover intention through idea championing. Based on a two-wave study (N = 310), structural equation model analyses revealed that constructive deviance had an inhibitory effect and proactive behavior a facilitatory effect on idea championing. In turn, idea championing was related to increased affective commitment and reduced turnover intention. The analyses of indirect effects further indicated that proactive behavior and constructive deviance had opposite indirect effects on affective commitment and turnover intention. This research underlines the importance of acting proactively upstream rather than deviating from the norm to promote innovation and build employee loyalty to the organization. Finally, this study also indicates that proactive and constructive deviant behaviors are conceptually different and exert opposite effects despite their similar orientation toward innovation and change.

This research aims to unpack how digital technologies can facilitate the flourishing of circular business practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises by structuring a detailed going circular path that explains businesses’ evolution toward circularity. In doing so, it outlines how the observed organizations have adopted – or are adopting – circular economy principles thanks to business digitalization. Following an inductive approach based on a multiple case study methodology, we investigated 16 small- and medium-sized enterprises operating in industries that put considerable pressure on the environment (e.g., manufacturing, chemical, construction, fashion, food, and beverage). Our findings confirm how digital technologies, as well as Industry 4.0 structures, play a fundamental role in shaping, enabling, enhancing, and refining circular products and processes development. Accordingly, we outline a generalizable step-by-step process to pursue circular economy by employing digital technologies. The present study represents a practical handout for guiding companies through their going circular path.

Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystem development is not addressed in research. We define and characterise Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems and their evolution based on a qualitative study comparing Indigenous entrepreneurship in Chile and in Aotearoa New Zealand. We draw on interviews with 10 Mapuche entrepreneurs in Araucanía and 10 Māori entrepreneurs in the Bay of Plenty, observation, and a literature review to address the question – how does an Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystem develop along with the social, economic, and political development of mainstream society? We find that Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems evolve with the economic and social environments of their countries because of an internal imperative towards cultural continuity and the resilience of culture to change. We find that mature Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems are associated with higher states of development and support a broader range of business models. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to build on personal engagement and role theory to develop a conceptual definition of engagement to different organizational roles (job, organization, supervisor, and coworkers) and create and validate the Role-Based Engagement Scale (RBES). Data were collected from four samples (n = 1,302) of employees, including three from multiple organizations and one from an aircraft manufacturer. Results across three studies consistently support the four dimension structure of the RBES, its internal consistency, convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity based on a series of confirmatory factor analyses. The RBES is a psychometrically sound instrument that measures engagement to job, organization, supervisor, and coworkers. This instrument will provide more targeted information for human resource management (HRM) professionals tasked with developing training methods and processes to improve low-scoring dimensions of engagement, optimizing HRM interventions.

Organizations involved in safety-critical operations often deal with operational tensions, especially when involved in safety-critical incidents that is likely to violate safety. In this paper, we set out to understand how the disclosures of safety-critical incidents take place in the face of reputational tension. Based on the case of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), we draw on image repair theory and information manipulation theory and adopt discourse analysis as a method of analyzing safety-critical incident press releases and reports from the NNPC. We found NNPC deploying image repair as part of incident disclosures to deflect attention, evade blame and avoid issuing apologies. This is supported by the violation of the conversational maxims. The paper provides a theoretical model for discursively assessing the practices of incident information disclosure by an organization in the face of reputational tension, and further assesses the risk communication implications of such practices.

This paper addresses an important knowledge gap regarding the internationalization of family businesses. To understand the specific factors that influence the internationalization of these firms, this paper investigates the role and articulation of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and family social capital (FSC) on internationalization performance. Our findings reveal that the more entrepreneurial the family business, the higher the likelihood of identifying and exploiting business opportunities in foreign markets. The moderating effect that FSC can have on the dynamics between EO and internationalization indicates that this relational family specific asset facilitates organizational stability and performance enhancement.

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) refer to customized work arrangements and employment conditions employees negotiate with employers. Significant scholarly attention has been paid to understand the responses of i-deals' recipients. However, little attention has been paid to coworkers' reactions to the i-deals. This study examines how coworkers react to focal employees' i-deals. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 253 employee–coworker pairs and found that coworkers are more likely to accept focal employees' flexibility i-deals than development i-deals. Specifically, we found that coworkers view focal employees' development i-deals as more threatening to their status than flexibility i-deals, and status threat mediates the relationship between development i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. In addition, flexibility i-deals increase coworkers' perception of obtaining future i-deals more than development i-deals, and this perception mediates the relationship between flexibility i-deals and coworkers' acceptance. Furthermore, the results show that coworkers' relative leader–member exchange moderates the above relationships.

An increasing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are focusing on sustainable development and on embracing sustainable business models (SBMs). Despite the growing interest of academics and practitioners in SBMs, and the benefits for stakeholders, there is limited knowledge regarding the factors enabling SME transition toward SBMs, leading them to integrate sustainable principles in their BMs. This study explores the enabling factors for SBM adoption by SMEs and provides an improved understanding of this recent phenomenon. Understanding what factors enable adoption of SBMs is crucial for both SMEs and policymakers. The research uses an inductive qualitative research design approach focused on multiple case studies. The findings reveal that both internal and external factors play a key role in enabling SME transition toward SBM adoption. The internal factors that emerged include openness, change of mindset, problemistic search, social exchange, and resource valorization, while external factors included markets change, technological innovation, stakeholders’ influences, policy and institutions.

Addressing major global environmental and social challenges requires transformation of the private sector. Small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute 90% of private organisations globally, resulting in calls for research into the strategic roles SMEs can play in shaping sustainable futures through adopting sustainable business models (SBMs). The purpose of our study is to understand the factors that allow SMEs to successfully adopt SBMs. We used an exploratory qualitative approach drawing on interviews with SMEs implementing SBMs. Our findings extend contemporary insights by revealing the important role of the external support (‘enabling’) environment, and identifying—potentially transformative—capabilities that can help steer SMEs’ transitions to SBMs. These include persistence, tenacity, flexibility, adaptability, and a willingness to learn and fail. They enable SMEs to successfully operate in times of uncertainty and rapid changes in the external environment, and respond to new requirements through changes to their business models.

To develop entrepreneurial orientation (EO), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to possess managerial and organizational capabilities. In this paper, we posit that adaptive capabilities (AC) and network capabilities (NCs) are assets that allow an SME to distinguish itself and establish an entrepreneurial culture. We investigate the direct effect of AC on EO. Furthermore, we consider the mediating effect of NCs on the AC–EO relationship. The results show that a high level of AC fosters EO. In addition, NCs are shown to be influenced mainly by the SME's ability to cope with change and build relationships with external partners to detect entrepreneurial opportunities.

The most common method of assessing outcomes of change projects is to compare the final outcomes with predefined goals and conclude that the project has been a success, or more commonly, a failure. We question whether such simple conclusions pay due respect to complex processes. In this paper, we apply a sensemaking perspective to explore how and when outcomes of change projects are assessed. We report from a longitudinal case study of a project in the Norwegian public sector that was initiated to suggest and implement changes in response to major challenges in the health sector. We found outcome narratives in all project phases, including those not based on change objectives. The study contributes to the literature by suggesting that outcome narratives are continuously constructed throughout change projects and that competing outcome narratives can co-exist, be reinforced or be merged over time.

In rapidly changing work environments, individuals need a willingness and ability to learn new skills and knowledge to contribute to their organization's goals and their own employability. As the baby-boomer generation begins to exit the workplace, organizations need to pay attention to developing the capability of younger, novice workers who will increasingly comprise the core workforce of the future. The present study, grounded in social cognitive theory, develops and examines a model of learning and development for younger workers. In total, 1,732 employees in New Zealand aged 16–24 years completed a survey relating to their perceptions, beliefs, and intentions regarding learning and development. The results from structural equation modeling show that individual and work-environment factors both influence younger workers' developmental intentions but affect this through different pathways. The study contributes to a better understanding of the development process for younger workers and offers implications for management based on these findings.