Raj Mahto

• Ph.D.
• University of New Mexico

This editorial highlights how emerging technologies and data-driven solutions can foster sustainability and address the current global challenges. Fourteen articles form the core of this Special Issue, analyzing diverse applications of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms in domains such as supply chain optimization, s...

Industry 4.0 is transforming businesses offering multinational companies a technological framework to structure their global operations. This has attracted the attention of internationalization scholars and practitioners on the use of emerging technologies for it. In this paper, we seek to consolidate and synthesize the scholarly evidence published...

This paper aims to conceptualize whether revenge tourism is an apt description of travel in the post global health emergency period from the perspective of travelers. Furthermore, it examines the outcomes of post global health emergency travel. The multiphase work included screening and three phases of qualitative study. Participants perceived the...

The sharing economy is primarily a socio‐economic concept that is built upon organizations sharing resources between each other. It includes sharing a single platform by multiple organizations. These organizations can be rivals competing in the same marketplace. Often, organizations can share their employees, data, and other resources. Although the...

The recent COVID-19 pandemic was a large-scale, prolonged crisis for the tourism industry. However, there has been an unprecedented surge in travel in the post-pandemic period. This study explores the motivation and coping strategies employed by travelers in the post-pandemic period. A multi-stage qualitative study was undertaken using three waves...

COVID-19 pandemic, a consensus crisis that has had a profound effect on societies and economies globally, compelled family businesses to respond strategically in order to remain afloat. We examine the role of their owner-managers’ emotions in the strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on 38 in-depth interviews with owner-managers of s...

Religion is a key factor in how American consumers spend their time and money. It serves as a significant component of the U.S. economy, with religiously affiliated people contributing trillions to the economy annually. The majority of religious consumers in the U.S. are Christians, making them a critical segment for marketers. Influencer marketing...

Entrepreneurship education has gained widespread attention in both education practice and research over the past three decades. However, whereas research has a strong focus on its effects and many normative concepts exist, little is known about how entrepreneurship is actually taught. To address this research gap, we conduct a curriculum analysis o...

Purpose To further extend the understanding of the aggregating functions of an entrepreneurial business network, this paper attempts to explore the antecedents enabling the organisation of diverse entrepreneurs to engage in a collaborative inter-firm business network project. This paper also elucidates the development of the relational capabilities...

This article investigates the effects of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) collection quality on pricing and quality improvement decisions for different recycling modes by considering the discrepant heterogeneity of ELVs due to individual utilization and component degradation. This article examines the pricing and quality improvement decisions within an EL...

Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is a critical tool for fostering innovative behaviour and obtaining competitive advantage in firms. This study examines various organizational factors that are critical for building an internal environment in a firm conducive to CE. It utilizes the Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) for identifyi...

Natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes and pandemics) negatively affect firms and their stakeholders. These disasters disrupt the operations of firms and lives of people by generating a shock in the system. Small firms are especially vulnerable to the shocks and disturbances resulting from these disasters. Since small firms, especially family firms,...

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon associated with wealth generation and economic development in a region or country. However, despite significant advancement in our understanding of this complex concept our understanding of its heterogeneity in countries across the world is limited. In this paper, we utilize barriers to entrepreneurship to explain t...

It is essential to improve the efficiency and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to their pivotal role in powering a country’s economy. For SMEs, the limited capital available for investments is a barrier to growth. However, optimizing financial flows in the supply chain can improve the functioning and investment potential of SM...

Research suggests that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India are hesitant to adopt the leading management practices. This exacerbates their competitive disadvantage against larger firms in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace. Indian SMEs’ reluctance to embrace advanced management practices may be explained by their sa...

Extant research suggests that formal and informal measures are substitutive. However, this study builds theory and empirically tests an additive effect of the three institutional pillars (i.e., cognitive, normative, and regulative) on entrepreneurial activity and venture capital availability. Using panel data from 2007 to 2014, we test the impact o...

Contrasted with their larger counterparts, small firms are disadvantaged due to their limited resources, economies of scale, and managerial expertise. However, the ability to respond and adapt promptly in today's rapidly changing environment provides SMEs advantage over larger firms. In this paper, we argue that SMEs need to overcome resource disad...

Marketing in a family firm context has been increasingly researched over the past years. This study reviews 104 publications at the intersection of marketing and family firms to identify their theoretical roots, research trajectories, and themes and to propose new research avenues. For this, we integrated three bibliometric analyses: co-citation an...

Purpose This study examines the collaborative value practices of cause-based social entrepreneurship alliances. We investigate key drivers of value creation in such alliances. Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes a longitudinal case study design approach involving four northern Italian businesses for investigating the cause-based social...

Sustainability is a relevant and established topic in the family business literature. However, family business scholars lack a comprehensive understanding about the different streams of research and the potential new areas for exploration on this topic. This limitation is a significant hinderance to the advancement of both theory and practice in th...

Social Indicators Research (SIR) publishes novel and groundbreaking research focusing on social indicators related to quality of life and sustainability. Using bibliometrics, this study aims to offer a retrospective of the major trends (e.g., publication, citation, and top contributing authors, institutions, and countries) and intellectual structur...

Today's rapidly changing and volatile markets demand a novel set of skills from organizations and employees that allows them to agilely adapt to and surmount the ever-evolving challenges posed by the ongoing development of digital technologies and changes in market conditions. Previous research conducted on structured workplaces using traditional i...

We examine opportunity regret, which entrepreneurs may feel as they compare their own new venture opportunities with superior opportunities others have realized. We conjecture opportunity regret will be associated negatively with entrepreneurs’ equity stake in the venture and work–life satisfaction. In addition, we predict entrepreneurs with high p...

The Covid‐19 crisis has hit SMEs particularly hard. Numerous business models (BM) have been limited or rendered downright impossible due to decreased social contact. SMEs can respond to this exogenous crisis via temporary business model innovation (BMI). This empirical study investigates these temporary BMs using a multiple case study approach base...

The growth of literature in a discipline indicates advancement of knowledge and a richer understanding of associated phenomena, factors, and context. However, an unplanned growth in literature can impede the advancement of a discipline by introducing the possibility of complex, competing, and occasionally counterintuitive arguments in the ongoing s...

Multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) workforce is made up of people from diverse backgrounds and different locations around the globe. The cross-border transfer of knowledge, skills, and best practices among MNE employees is important to maintain global standards and competitiveness. In the post-COVID-19 period, there is a greater need to exchange kn...

Succession in family firms is an extremely difficult and complex event in which advisors are often involved or sought. Advisors, especially business consultants, frequently play an important role in shaping and guiding such complex strategic processes. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether and to what extent the involvement of advisors, especially...

Purpose: The study presents an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the IJLSS since its inception. Design/methodology/approach: The study analyses articles published between 2010 and 2019 in IJLSS using bibliometric technique. The results of data analysis identify the most prolific authors, their affiliatio...

Branding and reputation plays an important role in determining firm behaviour and outcomes. These well-known marketing concepts have attracted attention of family firm scholars as well. However, despite the significant growth in family firm literature over the last two decades, the application of marketing theories and concepts in family firm conte...

We propose that social entrepreneurs may act as altruistic brokers helping their beneficiaries patch the structural holes that separate the disenfranchised and marginalized individuals and groups from the opportunities, resources, and capabilities available to more privileged actors. We test our model on a database of social entrepreneurs that rece...

Central to economic development is entrepreneurship. Using an agency theory lens, we seek to better understand how national policy can spur entrepreneurship. Guided by capitalist and socialist logic and ideals we investigate the direct and joint effects of market freedom and social spending national policies. In drawing from a sample of 19 countrie...

Extant literature suggests that green intellectual capital (GIC), green human resource management (GHRM), and green innovation (GI) impacts the environmental performance of firms. In this paper, we argue that the relationship between GIC, GHRM, GI and environmental performance is more complex than previously suggested. We propose that neither GIC n...

Scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of innovation and collaboration for enhancing business performance. Gender diversity also influences business performance, either directly or indirectly. Gender diversity in a board of directors improves companies' innovative performance and, consequently, their performance. However, research on i...

Purpose The authors propose a theoretical basis for understanding the role of ecosystem intermediaries in the configuration of social entrepreneurship identities in social purpose organisations (SPOs) and their business model innovations (BMIs). Design/methodology/approach Adopting a retrospective multiple-case study, the authors offer insights in...

Extant literature suggests that green intellectual capital (GIC), green human resource management (GHRM), and green innovation (GI) impacts the environmental performance of firms. In this paper, we argue that the relationship between GIC, GHRM, GI and environmental performance is more complex than previously suggested. We propose that neither GIC n...

Purpose The booming of the Internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques contributes to knowledge adoption and management innovation for the healthcare industry. It is of great significance to transport the medical resources to required places in an efficient way. However, it is difficult to exactly discover matched transport...

Despite the exponential growth of social media use, whether and how social media use may affect entrepreneurial entry remains a key research gap. In this study we examine whether individuals’ social media use influences their entrepreneurial entry. Drawing on social network theory, we argue that social media use allows individuals to obtain valuabl...

Recent studies have established that non-family CEOs invariably outperform family CEOs. In this paper, we argue that the case against family CEOs could be overstated. Applying a contingency theory, we propose that the growth stage of the firm and management practice domains moderate the influence of CEO type on firm performance. Using the dataset o...

Technological innovation, a complex and multidimensional construct, refers to innovations associated with an organization's operations, such as the introduction of new/improved products or processes. Scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of technological innovation in a firm's ability to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. How...

Cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, EOS, Etherum, Litecoin, and others) are disrupting the traditional banking and financial systems. The cryptocurrencies are based on a set of technologies commonly referred to as blockchain technology. The potential effect of blockchain technology on institutional economics is profound. Already, blockchain technology...

Family commitment is critical for the continuity of a family firm, and family ownership does not always translate into a higher commitment to the firm in family members. The heterogeneity among family firms in terms of family members’ commitment may be due to varying degrees of family participation and influence in the firm. In this study, we utili...

Building on social identity theory, we develop and test a model of turnover intentions in the family business. We argue that the relationship between family member commitment and turnover intentions could be more complicated than it was characterized in prior research. Specifically, we assert that the opportunity costs of staying, i.e., the disadva...

A family’s transgenerational intention (TI) to pass ownership of the firm to the next generation of family members is the defining characteristic of a family. TI reflects a family’s intention to engage in succession planning, which is the primary predictor for succession success. In this study, we draw on psychological ownership theory to develop a...

Entrepreneurship education and training programs are attracting significant student followers in colleges and universities in the US and countries across the globe. The strong correlation between entrepreneurship and economic development has informed policymakers at various levels of government to enact policies and legislations supporting entrepre...

Advancing prior research on the key determinants of firm financial performance, we identify the internal performance-enhancing strategies (i.e., raising employee commitment and investment in employee training) and external performance-enhancing strategies (i.e., boosting the learning orientation and adopting an emphasis on marketing). We argue that...

In entrepreneurship literature, much research effort is focused on differentiating entrepreneurs, recognizing or exploiting opportunities, resources available or required, or a combination of the three entrepreneurship-defining factors. There is, however, very little research on understanding a non-entrepreneur’s motivation to become an entrepreneu...

Research on innovation in the context of small entrepreneurial firms is limited. Limited available studies on innovation in small firms are devoted mostly to firms operating in knowledge-intensive or technology industries and ignore the vast majority of small firms operating in traditional and less knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy. The ra...

Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, is an innovative manufacturing technology that has the potential of disrupting the manufacturing industry on a scale not seen since the industrial revolution. It has the potential to move the current manufacturing paradigm of mass production of a single product to mass customization...

Venture Capital (VC) influence on Technology Entrepreneurship (TE) and economic development has prompted policy makers to devote significant resources for attracting VCs to their area, especially VCs with a higher reputation. The VC literature has traditionally supported the importance of VC firm reputation to success of entrepreneurial firms and e...

Heterogeneity among family firms has become an important research topic. This special issue of Journal of Business Research contributes to the literature on family firm heterogeneity by specifically focusing on variations in governance. In this introductory article, we suggest that governance—particularly family involvement in firm ownership and ma...

Small firms are the backbone of our economy. These firms need to innovate to thrive and compete. However, research on innovation in small firms, especially non-technology and less knowledge-intensive firms, is lacking. In this study, we explore antecedents of innovation in such firms. We build and test a theoretical model that links employee traini...

The economic philosophy of abundance has provided a new portal to view disruptive innovation. After decades of the world's middle class shrinking and the poor becoming poorer the abundance concept has created an interest in the "Rising Billion" transforming the poor into a more viable economic force and grow a worldwide vibrant middle class through...

Prior research has shown that past financial performance and risk-taking proclivity influence firms' goal setting and future performance expectations. In this study, we analyze how such factors manifest themselves in the context of the family business. Drawing from the behavioral theory of the firm, we argue that owners–managers of family firms sat...

This paper develops a theoretical framework to examine the impact of human resource management orientation on the transfer of knowledge within MNCs. Adaptive, Exportive, andIntegrative are the three common strategic human resource orientations employed by MNCs to achieve either internal (intra-organization) or external (between organization and env...

Venture capitalists (VCs) follow elaborate procedures to identify the top candidates, out of countless aspiring start-ups, for financing and other types of investor support. Purportedly, VCs also carefully evaluate, based on venture performance, whether or not it deserves to receive follow-on funding. But could decision making biases interfere with...

This study investigates what influences families’ commitment to continue a family business, or continuation commitment. We hypothesize that top executives’ cultural capital, family members’ satisfaction with the firms past performance and their aspirations regarding its future performance, as well as the level of family involvement in the family bu...

The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have expanded their export sector considerably in the last two decades. Their export portfolios range from commodities to knowledge-intensive products. In this paper, we use two portfolio approaches (Markowitz and single index models) to assess export diversification strategies. The results indi...

The authors define family–business embeddedness as confluence of values and objectives stemming from the overlapping institutional contexts—family, business, and symbolic—in the family firm. Hence, the family–business embeddedness perspective investigates the effect of integrating divergent institutional values and objectives, economic and nonecono...

Purpose Companies vary in their attitudes toward regulatory (ethics) risk. The purpose of this study is to assess how regulatory risk‐averse, risk neutral and risk seeking companies employ distinct managerial risk and slack accumulation strategies and differ in their auditor scores and bankruptcy risk. Design/methodology/approach The authors test...

This study investigate strategic consensus in organizations. Previous studies have examined consensus in thetop management team and between the top management team and middle managers. In our study we propose theimportance of considering consensus among lower level employees. We argue that intra-organizational flow ofinformation influences the deve...

Business goals in family businesses are often subsumed by family goals. As a result, reference performance for each family business is different. This makes the popular financial performance measure of publicly traded companies, profit maximization, insufficient for family businesses. We believe that for evaluating family businesses, the family mem...

Majority of family businesses fail to survive inter-generational ownership transition process (Aronoff, 1999). The next generation of family members, heirs, responsible for leading the business, either refuses to join the business or is not committed to continue the family entity (e.g. Kets de Vries, 1993). Family business owners with uncommitted h...

Recruitment theory and research show that objective characteristics, subjective considerations, and critical contact send signals to prospective applicants about the organization and available opportunities. In the generating applicants phase of recruitment, critical contact may consist largely of interactions with recruitment sources (e.g., newspa...

Extant research has been divided as to whether VCs are likely to offer a venture additional financing after they had provided it with the initial round(s) of investment. Some scholars have argued that VCs prefer not to continue investing in a portfolio company for diversification reasons (Dean & Guglierano, 1990). Conversely, proponents of escalati...

Prior research has examined the objective determinants (Fredrickson et al., 1988) of founder-CEO dismissal including firm size and growth (Boeker & Karichalil, 2002); triggering events (Wasserman, 2001); and CEO vs. VC power (Fiet et al., 1997; Boeker, 1998). Scholars have also analyzed the sociopolitical aspects of CEO dismissal, such as VCs’ dism...

The developments in the biological microelectromechanical systems (BioMEMS) industry have gone largely unnoticed by pharmaceutical and health care firms. We propose that the lack of linkages between the pharmaceutical and BioMEMS industries is based on the disruptive nature of BioMEMS technology. Using resource dependence and network theories, we p...

In this paper, we review the literature on venture capitalists' (VCs') investment criteria from its early beginnings (Wells, 1972; Poindexter, 1975) to current studies (Silva, 2004; Khanin, 2006). We identify the most important decision criteria of investment in new ventures discussed in the literature, such as top management team, market, product,...