{"title":"Turning the tables towards gender inclusivity in entrepreneurial ecosystems","authors":"Elina Isakova , Iulia Stroila","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115620","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115620","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although women entrepreneurs significantly contribute to economic and social progress, entrepreneurial ecosystems remain largely shaped by male-oriented approaches that insufficiently address women’s needs. As a result, gender inequality in entrepreneurship persists, with women facing barriers to starting businesses, securing funding, and accessing networks. Drawing on Giddens’ (1984) theory of structuration, we explore how the cultural, social, and material attributes of entrepreneurial ecosystems interact to influence gender inclusivity. Through in-depth interviews with a diverse range of ecosystem actors, we demonstrate how <em>entrepreneurial DNA</em>, <em>a tight-knit entrepreneurial community</em>, and <em>munificent state infrastructure</em> function as structures that both constrain and enable women entrepreneurs. In response, women act as agents, reshaping these structures through <em>advocacy</em> and <em>solidarity</em>. This study contributes to research on entrepreneurial ecosystems by revealing how ecosystem attributes can simultaneously perpetuate exclusion and enable transformation. It also offers policy implications, calling for holistic, systemic strategies to address persistent gender disparities in entrepreneurship.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115620"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144694839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taewoo Roh , Shufeng Xiao , Byung Il Park , Pervez N. Ghauri
{"title":"Stakeholder pressure, democracy levels, and multinational enterprise corporate social responsibility: Stakeholder and institutional theories","authors":"Taewoo Roh , Shufeng Xiao , Byung Il Park , Pervez N. Ghauri","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115619","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115619","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study analyzes how multinational enterprises (MNEs) respond to stakeholder pressure and institutional environments when engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in foreign markets. By integrating stakeholder and institutional theory, we examine the influence of primary and secondary stakeholder pressure on socially responsible practices and investigate whether political rights, civil liberties, and institutional voids moderate these relationships. Using survey data from 216 foreign subsidiaries operating in South Korea, our findings show that primary and secondary stakeholder pressure positively impact MNEs’ CSR engagement; however, these relationships are contingent on the host country’s institutional context (i.e., democratic distance and voids). Specifically, political and institutional voids intensify the positive effects of primary and secondary stakeholder pressure on responsible conduct, whereas the democratic distance between home and host countries weakens these effects. These findings provide invaluable insights for MNE subsidiary managers on appropriately balancing stakeholder pressure and overcoming institutional challenges to improve CSR activities in host markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115619"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144694840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supplier response to Apple’s friendshoring","authors":"Ziliang Deng , Youhan Wang , Haojun Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115614","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115614","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Friendshoring represents a strategic response by multinational companies that are shifting their overseas supply chains to politically aligned nations in light of escalating geopolitical tensions. This transition compels suppliers to embrace the friendshoring strategies of their clients, which may result in a compromise on efficiency. Our in-depth case study of Goertek, a Chinese electroacoustic supplier for Apple Inc., illustrates its significant relocation of production lines from China to Vietnam in response to Apple’s friendshoring pressures. This research underscores the critical role of balancing supply chain efficiency and security, deepening our understanding of what drives international production decisions. Furthermore, we highlight how Goertek adeptly diversifies its customer portfolio while navigating the complex dynamics of capture and escape in the buyer–supplier relationship of global value chains, demonstrating a proactive approach to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and uncertain world.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115614"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144687048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Manish Das , Charles Jebarajakirthy , Amit Shankar , Haroon Iqbal Maseeh , Raiswa Saha
{"title":"Why the masses purchase prestige products? A meta-analysis","authors":"Manish Das , Charles Jebarajakirthy , Amit Shankar , Haroon Iqbal Maseeh , Raiswa Saha","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Irrespective of exponential rise in mass-prestige based consumption, the findings reported by studies regarding motives and options shaping masstige purchase are inconsistent. This <em>meta</em>-analysis resolves these inconsistent findings by synthesising masstige consumption literature based on an integrated framework developed with the underpinnings of stimulus-organism-response model and shopping preference theory. Four shopping motives (functional value, monetary incentives, desire and emotions) and two shopping options (store environment and offline shopping) prominently drive attitude and buying intention around masstige brands. The variation in the findings reported in masstige consumption literature can be attributed to contextual (cultural perspectives, consumer need, macro-economic conditions and consumers’ geographical locations) and methodological (research methods, sample type and gender dominance) factors. Our study, being the pioneer <em>meta</em>-analytic study on masstige consumption, distinguishes masstige consumption from luxury consumption concluding that functional values and monitory incentives; but not brand prestige and uniqueness, are the prime motives for masstige consumption. Following these intriguing findings, we offer several insightful implications for marketers of masstige brands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115565"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Headquarters–subsidiary exchanges and relationship quality: Moderating roles of subsidiary establishment mode and managers’ identity with the subsidiary","authors":"Fuming Jiang , Li Xian Liu , Jizhong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115622","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115622","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing on social exchange and social identity theories, we examine how the identity orientations of subsidiaries and subsidiary managers interact with interorganizational and interpersonal exchanges between headquarters and subsidiary (HQ–Sub) in shaping the quality of HQ—Sub relationships. Specifically, we argue that organizational and managerial exchanges between headquarters and subsidiaries have a positive impact on HQ–Sub relationship quality. The effect of HQ–Sub organizational exchange on HQ–Sub relationship quality is moderated by the subsidiary’s establishment mode, while the effect of HQ–Sub managerial exchange on HQ–Sub relationship quality is moderated by subsidiary managers’ identity with the subsidiary. Our arguments are empirically tested with survey data collected from senior managers of HQ–Sub dyads in 312 Chinese multinational enterprises. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed in the paper.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115622"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xiaodi Liu , Qiwei Pang , Kum Fai Yuen , Xueqin Wang
{"title":"Transforming last-mile delivery into marketplaces of logistics services: An investigation on consumer participation motives, resources, and contextual differences","authors":"Xiaodi Liu , Qiwei Pang , Kum Fai Yuen , Xueqin Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115624","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115624","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Contemporary logistics services have reshaped last-mile delivery into dynamic marketplaces, where consumers engage directly through self-collection or by assisting others in social delivery. This shift signals a move towards consumer-centrism in logistics, which recognises the necessity of consumer participation and value co-creation. Drawing on the service-dominant logic perspective, this study examines consumers’ willingness to participate in logistics value co-creation by focusing on the dual motives of individualising and relating, the mediating role of resource integration tendency, and the moderating effects of two logistics scenarios: self-collection and social delivery. Structural equation modelling (n = 500) reveals that while both motives positively influence consumer participation, resource integration tendency unexpectedly plays a negative mediating role. Additionally, the results demonstrate contextual differences: the individualising motive is more influential in self-collection, whereas the relating motive dominates in social delivery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115624"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144687049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Influence of Lighting on Perceived Product Size: The Role of Surface Curvature and Attention","authors":"Itrat Batool , Patrick J.N. L’Espoir Decosta , Hamish Simmonds , Aaron Gazley","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115615","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115615","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While the affective and behavioural effects of bright lighting in retail settings have been widely explored, its influence on visual perception—particularly product size perception—remains overlooked. This research fills that gap by uncovering a novel link between bright lighting and object shape, showing how their interaction shapes consumer perception. Bridging two previously disconnected streams of literature—lighting and perceived product size—we demonstrate that under bright lighting, convex products are perceived as significantly larger, while concave products appear smaller. Across three controlled experiments, we find that bright lighting heightens visual attention, which amplifies the perceived size of products—but critically, only when the surface curvature is convex. These findings advance theoretical understanding of visual processing in retail environments and offer actionable insights for product display, packaging, and lighting design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115615"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Russell Fralich, Alireza Ahmadsimab, Marie-Ann Betschinger
{"title":"Liability of not being known: CEO media visibility and acquisition timing in acquisition waves","authors":"Russell Fralich, Alireza Ahmadsimab, Marie-Ann Betschinger","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115610","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115610","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine the role of CEO media visibility on the timing of the CEO firm’s acquisitions in a merger wave. We propose that when CEOs are more visible in the media, their capability to acquire increases while their motivation to acquire decreases. Using a sample of U.S.-based acquisitions between 2000 and 2018, we show that less visible CEOs delay merger wave entry, but that CEOs already in the media spotlight also tend to delay, albeit for different reasons. High CEO financial incentives moderate this relationship to encourage earlier wave entry. A CEOs’ performance track record also moderates this relationship such that low visibility CEOs with good past performance tend to join earlier. Our findings contribute to our understanding of CEO factors affecting the timing of acquisitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115610"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144670549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Locked in tradition? Clan culture and network closure: Evidence from China","authors":"Nan Zhang, Zhefei Li, Jinxuan Wu, Yuanxu Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115617","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115617","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how clan culture, as an informal institution, may affect a focal firm’s alliance network structure. Using data from Chinese A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2021, our research suggests that clan culture within the focal firm’s locality increases its alliance network closure. Furthermore, we examine the moderating role played by two formal institutional factors, local protectionism and trade openness, and discover that they both weaken the impact of clan culture on alliance network closure. These findings deepen our understanding of the connections between an informal institution and inter-organizational network structure, while further validating informal institutions’ role in strategic contexts, such as alliances, which are often viewed through a rational lens. Moreover, by elucidating the weakening effects of two distinct formal institutional factors, despite their opposing characteristics, our study enriches the scholarly discourse on the interaction between formal and informal institutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115617"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144679464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Optimal or detrimental? Distinctiveness in high risk aversion contexts","authors":"Huajie Shen , Zhongyuan Sun , Stan Xiao Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115613","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115613","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optimal distinctiveness—a strategy where firms distance themselves moderately from their peers to gain a competitive advantage while maintaining legitimacy—is widely regarded as a desirable positioning tactic. However, the competitive benefits and legitimacy penalties of distinctiveness are shaped by various contingent factors. To address this gap, we investigate how the legitimacy penalties associated with distinctiveness vary depending on the risk predispositions of audiences. Our findings suggest that firms occupying moderately distinctive positions frequently experience suboptimal performance, as distinctiveness is perceived as a high-risk strategic choice. Audience risk aversion exerts considerable pressure on firms to conform, amplifying the extent to which distinctiveness undermines their legitimacy. Furthermore, we propose that by signaling a firm’s genuine commitment to its market position, authenticity helps alleviate audience risk concerns and reduce the legitimacy penalties associated with distinctiveness. Our analysis of the Canadian insurance industry from 1960 to 2020 provides strong empirical support for these arguments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15123,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business Research","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 115613"},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144670550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}