Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano’s research while affiliated with University of Valencia and other places

Purpose The aim of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of digital transformation (DT) on the relationship between innovation capacity and the performance of agrifood businesses. Design/methodology/approach Based on a structured questionnaire, data on 98 agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Spain were collected. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the proposed model and study the moderating effect of DT on the relationship between the innovation capacity and performance of agrifood businesses. Findings The study finds support for the hypotheses and shows the existence of a direct positive relationship between the DT and performance of agrifood businesses. Developing new practices focussed on customer service and performing actions such as improving sales, promoting a new product or service and including a post-sales service influence the capacity of a business to undertake DT. Research limitations/implications Future studies should include other factors in the analysis. For example, the impact of knowledge transfer and research and development (R&D) on agrifood businesses' performance should be studied. Education and training, as well as having a diverse network, can help develop and boost businesses' capacity to use and apply the required innovation. Networks play an important role in learning how to apply DT. Originality/value This quantitative study is the first to examine the moderating effect of DT in the Spanish agrifood sector on the relationship between innovation capacity and performance. The study examines the role of the DT of companies and explores the competitiveness and efficiency tools that digitalisation offers. Innovation capacity is crucial for the application of these tools.

Achieving the sustainable development goals is a major challenge for all the countries. The possibilities are constantly being sought to ensure environmental sustainability and economic sustainability at the same time. The optimal tool in this process is green finance, which is greatly important to achieve the sustainable devel-opment goals (SDGs) from the point of view of environmental and economic sustainability. The study's main goal was to analyze and quantify the relationships between the selected categories of eco-innovations and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Annual data were collected from all the countries that have been European Union members since 2013. The outcomes of the regression models confirmed the assumption of a relationship between the eco-innovations and SDG 8. The closest relations were found in the field of employment, meaning that with the growth of eco-innovations, the employment rate should also increase. We also examine the countries' position in eco-innovations and SDG 8. Northern European countries received the most positive evaluations, while southern countries had negative evaluations. The study results provide valuable information to support the decision-making processes for the eco-innovation policymakers, as well as for the institutions and the regulatory authorities. Our findings clearly illustrate achieving SDG 8 through eco-innovative development and confirm the detailed insights into the explored relations between eco-innovations and human resources. This study's findings also support the creation of a national and international comparative platform and the devel- opment of benchmarking indicators in the eco-innovations and green growth field.

The metaverse, understood as a new digital world, is gaining ground due to digitisation, technological advancements, and growing societal interest. Users and organisations are actively exploring this metaverse for interactions with other users or avatars, as well as for conducting business. Consequently, it is crucial to comprehend the factors fuelling user interest and to discern the prevailing opportunities and challenges for the adoption of this technology. To achieve this, Twitter, now referred to as “X", serves as a valuable data source, being one of the primary social media platforms for gathering user-generated content (UGC). In this study, we analyse a data set comprising 309,616 tweets spanning from 2015 to 2022 that discuss the metaverse. Our analysis seeks to identify predominant themes, opportunities, challenges, and concerns derived from its use and wider adoption from a user perspective. We employ Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, outlining the Non-Negative Matrix Factorisation (NMF) topic-modelling algorithm, to extract hidden insights and analyse emotions. The results shed light on various challenges concerning users, such as the absence of security and regulatory measures, as well as financial risks associated with the evolution of decentralised finance (De–Fi). In conclusion, user interest in the metaverse will continue to grow as its architecture evolves, encompassing a widening array of applications across diverse domains, especially as technology matures.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adapt their business models and business strategies to the consequences caused by the pandemic. In order to identify the main innovations and technologies adopted by SMEs in the pandemic, in the present study, we used a database of 56,941 tweets related to the coronavirus to identify those that contained the hashtag #SMEs. The final sample was analyzed using several data-mining techniques such as sentiment analysis, topic modeling and textual analysis. The theoretical perspectives adopted in the present study were Computer-Aided Text Analysis, User-Generated Content and Natural Language Processing. The results of our analysis helped us to identify 15 topics (7 positive: Free support against Covid-19, Webinars tools, Time Optimizer and efficiency, Business solutions tools, Advisors tools, Software for process support and Back-up tools; 4 negative: Government support, Payment systems, Cybersecurity problems and Customers solutions in Cloud, and and 4 neutral: Social media and e-commerce, Specialized startups software, CRMs and Finance and Big data analysis tools). The results of the present study suggest that SMEs have used a variety of digital tools and strategies to adapt to the changing market conditions brought on by the pandemic, and have been proactive in adopting new technologies to continue to operate and reach customers in a connected era. Future research should be directed towards understanding the long-term effects of these technologies and strategies on entrepreneurial growth and value creation, as well as the sustainability of SMEs in the new era based on data-driven decisions.

Purpose Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a global initiative that is becoming increasingly important in the industrial and service sectors. This paper analyses how the SDGs are being implemented in the agrifood supply chain by social economy enterprises. Design/methodology/approach Case study methodology was used to understand how companies implement the SDGs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers from two cooperatives in the agrifood sector. Findings There are no differences in the way that the SDGs are implemented by social economy enterprises involved in the food sector supply chain. Therefore, the SDG approach is an alternative that can be applied by food sector supply chain companies to achieve the sustainability favoured by the cooperative model. Originality/value The value of the present study lies in its analysis of the sustainability of the agrifood supply chain from an SDG-based approach that is more comprehensive than other commonly cited approaches in the academic literature.

The recent development of new technologies has enabled the global enhancement of production in numerous industries. This has caused changes in society on the cultural, economic and sociological levels. In 2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formulated by the United Nations (UN), aiming to be achieved by the year 2030. There are a total of 17 SDGs that are concerned with such important areas as poverty, hunger and well-being, gender equality, sustainability or climate change, among others. In this context, the present study explores the role of business associations known as cooperatives in the SDGs and discusses its role in the current resource curse. To this end, a bibliometric analysis using VOSViewer is applied to the dataset of scientific contributions (n = 874 studies) published between 2015 and 2022 in Web of Sciences (WoS). The analysis fo-cuses on co-citation of references and authors, bibliographic coupling and occurrence of keywords in the dataset. The results show and link 8 types of cooperatives with their influence on each of the 17 SDGs. These links are then discussed and analyzed with the main contributions made to date in the literature linked to the current resource curse and future solutions. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the study in relation to the state-of-the-art in this field of research are presented.

In recent decades, advances in technology have led to the adaptation of business models to the connected era. This has resulted in the modification of the goals of both startup and cooperative models, leading to the emergence of a new hybrid business model combining the two and known as cooperative startups. The present study aims to investigate the evolution, functioning and characteristics of cooperative startups as a potential research area that may be of future relevance due to its potential growth. To this end, a bibliometric analysis using Web of Sciences academic database and VOSViewer software is conducted to identify specific characteristics, opportunities, and challenges that cooperative startups should understand in order to achieve business success. In this regard, a co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling and keyword concurrency analysis are computed to understand the literature published in this research field to date. The findings of this analysis contribute to the creation of knowledge on cooperative startups identifying 19 future research questions linked to 5 research categories in cooperatives startups: strategy, members of the team, performance, finance and economy and innovation. The results provide insights on the challenges and characteristics of this new business model that is characterized by the management of investments and economy democracy while boosting innovation and handling competence. Finally, theoretical and practical implications are presented.