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Rapid scaling amidst resource constraints is crucial for established firms and startups in today’s business landscape. Despite its increasing popularity and research interest, little is understood about dynamic capabilities in the context of growth hacking. This study explores how growth hacking activities contribute to developing dynamic capabilities by employing a flexible pattern matching approach based on 29 qualitative interviews with growth hacking experts. By filling the gap in understanding dynamic capabilities in the context of growth hacking, the research enriches growth hacking’s theoretical foundations and provides practical insights. The results emphasize effectively managing capability dimensions dualities, distinguishing between startup and corporate challenges, and prioritizing rapid experimentation with big data. The study also examines artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential for automating growth hacking processes, while highlighting data privacy risks. This paper suggests future research avenues for further exploring the interplay of dynamic capabilities and growth hacking.
The has been an upsurge in the significance of sustainability in the business landscape, leading corporations to adopt strategies that extend beyond implementing social responsibility initiatives. While start-ups and social entrepreneurs have excelled in integrating sustainability into their business models, balancing financial goals with the growing demand for sustainability has been far more challenging for large corporations. This study considers the potential of corporate entrepreneurship to foster sustainability within established companies. Sustainable corporate entrepreneurship (SCE) allows companies to leverage innovation for sustainability as a value-creating opportunity rather than a restrictive constraint. This study addresses a critical gap in the literature—the lack of a comprehensive framework for SCE––through a meticulous, systematic literature review of 95 recent publications. Our proposed SCE framework has three dimensions: focus, approach, and evaluation. We provide insights to deepen understanding and guide future research in this evolving field. Specifically, we introduce a model that illustrates how SCE can be cultivated as a dynamic capability for generating value through sustainability-focused innovation. This model captures individual and organisational factors and encompasses factors that enable and limit SCE.
Adopting AI-based solutions is now widely regarded as an essential consideration in organisations’ innovation strategies. For healthcare institutions, such solutions are an especially promising means to address societal and organisational challenges, including rising demand combined with shortages of qualified staff. The technology may enhance the efficiency of, for example, detecting diseases and planning treatments, which are time-consuming when executed manually. However, empirical research related to how AI can be effectively adopted in healthcare to harness these opportunities remains scarce. To address this gap, we conduct an exploratory multiple case study comprising 13 cases in the radiotherapy domain. Taking over an adoption theory perspective, we uncover that organisational, environmental, technological and individual factors are decisive for effective adoption of AI and contribute to the emergence of efficiency gains and standardisation. Our analysis reveals that organisational factors such as pursuing a dedicated innovation strategy within the radiotherapy department as well as a holistic AI implementation strategy are most crucial. In determining and relating the identified relevant factors, we contribute to adoption theory and AI-enabled value creation in healthcare. Further, we advise managers of healthcare institutions on how to effectively adopt AI to overcome challenges at organisational and societal levels.
Purpose
This study aims to explore the potential of entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) in the underexplored sector of small and medium-sized web-based businesses, addressing the succession crisis in industrialized nations and offering insights into the digital ETA landscape.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses a qualitative approach, conducting in-depth interviews with 19 established website owners from diverse backgrounds and industries. The study investigates their business models, selling motivations and characteristics to provide insights for potential buyers in the digital ETA space.
Findings
Web-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) present unique opportunities for ETA, characterized by lower initial investment, higher scalability and diverse revenue streams. Key considerations for buyers include understanding seller motivations, evaluating niche focus and assessing the impact of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence on content creation and search engine optimization. The findings also highlight the importance of authenticity and user engagement in maintaining website value.
Practical implications
The findings offer valuable insights for entrepreneurs considering ETA in the digital space, highlighting critical factors for success, potential risks and mitigation strategies in acquiring web-based businesses.
Originality/value
This paper bridges a significant gap in ETA literature by focusing on web-based SMEs, which have previously been overlooked despite their growing importance in the digital economy. It provides a comprehensive analysis of relevant factors when evaluating web-based businesses in the context of ETA, particularly in light of technological advancements and changing online landscapes.
Organizational agility (OA), the ability of an organization to adapt to rapidly changing environments and reconfigure its structure and operations, has become a critical capability for achieving and sustaining competitive advantage. However, existing frameworks for OA often adopt narrow, industry-specific perspectives, neglecting the broader interplay of contextual factors, internal and external antecedents, and multidimensional capabilities. This study addresses this gap by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) of 110 peer-reviewed articles from three leading academic databases. Guided by an inductive approach and the grounded theory methodology, this research identifies and categorizes the key antecedents of OA into four interconnected dimensions: contextual factors, fundamental attributes, vital enablers, and dynamic capabilities. The findings reconceptualize OA as a bundle of interrelated dynamic capabilities—encompassing macro-agility (e.g., strategic and partnering agility) and micro-agility (e.g., operational, innovation, and workforce agility)—rather than a singular construct. This multidimensional concept bridges theoretical gaps, integrating insights from contingency, agency and resource-based theories to explain the dynamic relationship between internal and external antecedents. The study offers a foundation for future research and provides actionable guidance for practitioners seeking to design agile organizations capable of thriving in dynamic capabilities.
In response to escalating environmental concerns and the imperative for sustainable development, corporations have turned to eco-innovation (EI) to enhance competitiveness and reduce ecological footprints. This study scrutinizes 17 European Commission EI-awarded companies from 1990 to 2021, uncovering pivotal dimensions and archetypes that drive successful EI implementation. Internal drivers, including management commitment and agile work structures, are paramount for “Believers” who champion sustainability as a core value. “Sellers” strategically respond to market demands, while “Beneficiaries” follow regulatory mandates. The academic implications are profound, providing a robust foundation for future research. This typology contributes to the discourse surrounding EI development and diffusion while offering corporate managers tangible guidance for tailored EI strategies. It illuminates how distinct motives lead to nuanced combinations of internal and external drivers. This empirical study fills a critical research gap, providing best-practice insights for companies seeking to integrate EI effectively.
Purpose
Small businesses are facing evolving environments, with a resulting need to shift their traditional approaches toward new business models (BMs). Many face difficulties within this transition process due to their specific resource constraints. Based on this, incremental changes to the BM – business model transition (BMT) – are proposed as comprising a suitable framework for entrepreneurial small businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) to cover a broad range of relevant literature within a final sample of 89 articles. The SLR method was chosen to integrate research in a systematic, transparent and reproducible way. For qualitative analysis and framework derivation, the study draws on a thematic ontological analysis.
Findings
The broad search criteria, focusing on BM, incremental BM changes and small businesses, pave the way for a comprehensive overview of multiple research streams of BM concepts (e.g. digital and sustainable BM). The main contribution of this work is the resulting holistic BMT framework, comprising the main parts BM innovation, external antecedents (transition of environment, entrepreneurial ecosystem), internal antecedents (dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation, resilience, strategy) and output (firm performance).
Practical implications
The framework provides guidance for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial managers to implement and complete BMT in small businesses. Furthermore, the presented paper sets a future research agenda focusing on small businesses structured according to the derived framework.
Originality/value
This study provides the first SLR of existing BM concepts with a small-business specific perspective on BMI and a focus on various incremental BM changes.
The new normal
(2024)
The recent surge in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has garnered significant research attention. However, the existing literature reveals a fragmented landscape that hinders our understanding and application of insights about AI use in SMEs. We address this through a systematic literature review, wherein we analyze 102 peer-reviewed articles on AI adoption in SMEs and categorize states and trends into eight clusters—(1) compatibility, (2) AI readiness, (3) knowledge, (4) resources, (5) culture, (6) competition, (7) regulation, and (8) ecosystem—according to the technology–organization–environment model. Our research reveals valuable insights but also identifies significant gaps in existing literature, notably the oversight of trends identification as a pivotal driver and the neglect of legal requirements. Our study clarifies the AI implementation within SMEs, offering a holistic and theoretically grounded perspective to empower researchers and practitioners to facilitate more effective AI adoption and application within the SME sector.
Recent years have seen a surge in research on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven business model innovation (BMI), reflecting its profound impact across industries. However, the field’s current state remains fragmented due to varied conceptual lenses and units of analysis. Existing literature predominantly emphasizes the technological aspects of AI implementation in business models (BMs), treating BMI as a byproduct. Additionally, there is a lack of coherent understanding regarding the scope of BMI propelled by AI. To address these gaps, our study systematically reviews 180 articles, offering two key contributions: (1) a structured analysis of evolving research dimensions in AI-driven BMI, differentiating between static and dynamic views of BMI, and (2) a framework presenting distinct research perspectives on AI-driven BMI, each addressing specific managerial focuses. This synthesis facilitates a comprehensive understanding of the field, enabling the identification of research gaps and proposing future avenues for advancing knowledge on the management of AI-driven BMI.
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between family-driven innovation and the incorporation of corporate sustainability in German family firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted 26 interviews with 22 German family firms. Thematic analysis was undertaken on the collected data resulting in five major themes.
Findings
The study identified five main themes of corporate sustainability-oriented innovation in family firms, which include measuring corporate sustainability performances, building corporate sustainability-oriented infrastructure, stabilizing/optimizing operations, enhancing operational flexibility/independence and knowledge management and development. The study also provides an activity-based guide for family firms to use innovation to achieve corporate sustainability goals and present the findings’ implications for policymakers.
Originality/value
The present study is the first study to empirically investigate the relationship between family-driven innovation and the incorporation of corporate sustainability at each of the corporate sustainability maturity levels.