Search Results (571)

As a new type of production factor, releasing data dividends is of great significance in improving corporate energy efficiency. Based on the data of listed enterprises in China from 2011 to 2022, the establishment of government open data platforms in each prefecture-level city is taken as a policy shock event, and the impact of government open data on corporate energy efficiency is empirically examined through a multi-period DID model. The results show that government open data improves enterprise energy efficiency by approximately 2.5% (relative to the mean), and capacity utilization and biased technological progress are the main pathways of action. In addition, the application of big data technology can better fulfill the role of data factors in improving enterprise energy efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis finds that government open data has a stronger effect on enterprise energy efficiency improvement in areas with high manufacturing concentration, environmental tax rate leveling, and high Internet penetration. The study suggests that enterprises should apply big data technology and build a mechanism for integrating data assets and energy management so as to fulfill the important role of data elements in the green development of enterprises. Full article

With the progress of green transformation, government subsidies have become an important incentive for enterprises to invest in green technologies. However, their effectiveness differs markedly under alternative decision-making structures. This study develops a two-tier green supply chain game model comprising manufacturers and e-commerce platform self-operators. Six game structures are examined, covering both scenarios without subsidies and those in which manufacturers receive subsidies. The analysis focuses on product greenness, service levels, retail prices, and the profits of supply chain members. The results show that government subsidies substantially enhance manufacturers’ green investments and motivate platform self-operators to provide higher levels of green services, thereby improving market performance and overall supply chain profitability. Among the different structures, centralized decision-making demonstrates the strongest coordination effect and maximizes the subsidy impact. In contrast, within decentralized structures, subsidies help alleviate double marginalization, but their effectiveness is constrained by the distribution of power. These findings highlight the heterogeneous impacts of subsidies on green supply chain performance, offering theoretical support for targeted government policy design and practical guidance for enterprises to optimize green collaborative strategies. Full article

The construction and enhancement of ecological niches are essential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with digital platforms serving as key carriers for achieving niche improvement. However, SMEs encounter a “distinctiveness–conformity” paradox when leveraging digital platforms: they are expected to sustain differentiation to attract resource tilt while simultaneously integrating into the platform ecosystem to obtain a sense of belonging and complementary resources. Grounded in optimal distinctiveness theory, this study analyzes questionnaire data from 383 Chinese SMEs embedded in digital platforms. Results show that digital platform capabilities (integration and reconfiguration) enhance SMEs ecological niches through organizational agility and platform eco-embeddedness. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses reveal that balanced improvement in organizational agility and eco-embeddedness significantly strengthens niche enhancement, whereas imbalance between the two weakens it. This research clarifies how SMEs leverage digital platform capabilities to advance their ecological niches, offering theoretical and practical insights for achieving strategic balance between distinctiveness and conformity in digital platform ecosystems. Full article

(1) Background: Traditional logistics training faces challenges like high costs, limited scalability, and safety risks. Virtual Reality Movie Training (VRMT) enhances operational accuracy, safety, and accessibility through immersive simulation. However, adoption faces barriers including high equipment costs, immature technology, and coordination challenges among logistics enterprises, design companies, and government entities. This study explores strategic interactions to optimize VRMT adoption. (2) Methods: A tripartite evolutionary game model was used to analyze strategic interactions between logistics enterprises, design companies, and government. (3) Results: System stability occurs when logistics enterprises adopt VRMT, design companies deliver high-quality solutions, and government provides active support. Simulations reveal stronger adoption coefficients through increased employee acceptance and enhanced training quality. Government incentives and brand premiums significantly influence quality design provision, though excessive subsidies may reduce governmental willingness to support initiatives. (4) Conclusions: Cost minimization and accessibility improvement require batch hardware purchasing, optimized training cycles, and shared platforms at logistics enterprises. Design companies should optimize content development for cost-effectiveness while maintaining quality standards to leverage brand benefits. Governments should establish VRMT quality certification, invest in public VR platforms for SMEs, and convert accident savings into fiscal supplements. This tripartite collaboration enables efficient, safe, and sustainable logistics training transformation. Full article

Purpose: As online social platforms have increasingly become a key arena for enterprises to disseminate information, enhancing the heat of enterprise positive topic on such platforms plays a critical role in improving brand value and achieving high-quality development. Against this backdrop, it is critically important for enterprises to precisely identify the key factors influencing positive topic heat and to reveal the causal relationships between these factors and topic heat. Method: This paper focuses on the influencing factors and causal pathways of enterprise positive topic heat on online social platforms. To achieve this, this paper collects data on enterprise positive topic publicity from Sina Weibo, taking topic heat as the dependent variable, and uses regression analysis to examine its causal relationships with independent variables such as topic host attribute and activity level. Subsequently, a cost performance indicator was constructed and quantitatively evaluated to assess the effectiveness of different host attributes based on both performance and cost. Result: This research shows topic hosts play an active role in the topic spreading process, but some of them an exhibit asymmetric ability to increase topic heat compared to their level. The relationship between the topic heat contribution and host’s activity level changes with the change of the host attribute. In addition, the host’s cost performance for each attribute is significant different. By empirically analyzing the influencing factors of positive topic heat and revealing their underlying mechanisms, enterprises can identify the key factors for enhancing positive topic heat on online social platforms and optimize decisions such as the selection of hosts for related topic promotion. Full article

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are vital to economic growth, innovation, and job creation across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Women entrepreneurs are key contributors to this sector, yet they face persistent barriers to accessing finance, which constrain their business growth and broader economic participation. This study investigates the role of financial institutions in closing the financing gap for women-owned SMEs and assesses the effectiveness of various financing mechanisms, including traditional banking, micro-finance, fintech innovations, and government-backed credit schemes. Adopting a quantitative approach, this study utilises structured surveys with women SME owners across multiple SSA countries. Supplementary secondary data from sources such as the World Bank and national financial statistics provide additional context. Econometric modelling and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) are employed to identify key factors influencing loan accessibility, such as collateral requirements, interest rates, financial literacy, and the regulatory environment. Findings reveal that high collateral demands and interest rates remain major obstacles, particularly for smaller or informal women-led enterprises. Financial literacy emerges as a critical enabler of access to credit. While fintech solutions and digital lending platforms show promise in improving access, issues around infrastructure, regulation, and trust persist. Government-backed schemes also contribute positively but are hindered by implementation inefficiencies. This study offers practical recommendations, including the need for harmonised regional credit reporting systems, gender-responsive policy frameworks, and targeted financial education. Strengthening digital infrastructure and regulatory support across SSA is essential to build inclusive, sustainable financial ecosystems that empower women entrepreneurs and drive regional development. Full article

Business financing involves supplying funds or capital to initiate, expand, or maintain a business. This study investigates entrepreneurial funding in South Africa, emphasizing microloans, venture capital, and gender-sensitive grants as tools to facilitate inclusive business growth. Using a qualitative desktop research methodology, this study relies on policy documents, institutional reports, and peer-reviewed studies to assess how these funding strategies tackle access barriers for marginalized populations, specifically women, youth, and rural entrepreneurs. Guided by Access to Finance Theory, Gender Finance Theory, and Innovation Ecosystems Theory, this study indicates that microloans offer immediate funding for informal businesses but show minimal long-term effects without additional assistance. Venture capital promotes rapid innovation, yet it is predominantly based in urban regions and unattainable for underrepresented populations. Grants that address gender issues foster equity but are obstructed by institutional fragmentation and insufficient scale. The results highlight the necessity for unified financing frameworks that merge financial and non-financial assistance, facilitating scalable and inclusive business ventures. Policy suggestions involve aligning public financing tools with the National Integrated Small Enterprise Development Masterplan, integrating gender-sensitive budgeting frameworks, and utilizing digital financial platforms to enhance access. Future studies should utilize mixed-methods or longitudinal approaches to assess the ongoing developmental effects of coordinated financing models within the South African setting. Full article

The manufacturing supply chain has been exposed to natural disasters and geopolitical risks whose impacts, such as disruptions in the supply of materials and parts, can be devastating. In recent years, the data space has become more widely implemented, and it is expected to be used as a platform for widespread collaboration between companies. This article discusses how companies participating in the manufacturing supply chain cooperate to recover from disruption and mitigate risks using a data space platform and a flexible manufacturing system. Employing enterprise architecture modeling, we explore a comprehensive strategy for enhancing the resilience of a data space-based manufacturing supply chain. The proposed strategy adopts a comprehensive approach to addressing physical security and cybersecurity risks from a security perspective. By combining enterprise architecture modeling with the Unified Architecture Framework and conducting a scenario-based simulation, we discovered that an alternative manufacturing process with a flexible method in the data space can be a key security control measure for mitigating the risk associated with parts supply. The results of the alternative manufacturing simulation show that flexible manufacturing using BJT and MIM methods elicits better performance in terms of parts production volume and cost compared with conventional methods. The proposed method and the findings of this study contribute to consolidating a profound understanding of security and the mitigation of disruptive situations in a data space-based manufacturing supply chain. Full article

Digital innovation is rapidly transforming the agriculture sector, drawing attention from global development institutions, policymakers, tech firms, and scholars aimed at aligning food systems with international goals like Zero Hunger and the FAO agendas. Small and medium enterprises in agriculture (Agri-SMEs) represent a significant portion of processing and production units but face challenges in digital transformation despite their importance. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud services, IoT, and mobile platforms offer tools to improve efficiency, access, value creation, and traceability. However, the patterns and applications of these transformations in Agri-SMEs remain fragmented and under-theorized. This paper presents a systematic review of interactions between digital transformation and innovation in Agri-SMEs based on findings from ninety-five peer-reviewed studies. Key themes identified include AI-based decision support, blockchain traceability, cloud platforms, IoT precision agriculture, and mobile technologies for financial integration. The review maps these themes against business model values and highlights barriers like capacity gaps and infrastructure deficiencies that hinder scalable adoption. It concludes with recommendations for future research, policy, and ecosystem coordination to promote the sustainable development of digitally robust Agri-SMEs. Full article

“The Internet of Things” is a relatively new idea that refers to objects that can connect to the Internet and exchange data. The Internet of Things (IoT) enables novel interactions between objects and people by interconnecting billions of devices. While there are many IoT-related products, challenges pertaining to their effective implementation, particularly the lack of knowledge and confidence about security, must be addressed. To provide IoT-based enterprises with a platform for efficiency and sustainability, this study aims to identify the critical elements that influence the growth of a successful company integrated with an IoT system. This study proposes a decision support tool that evaluates the influential features of IoT using the Pythagorean Fuzzy and Interval Grey approaches within the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study demonstrates that security, value, and connectivity are more critical than telepresence and intelligence indicators. When both strategies are used, market demand and information privacy become significant indicators. Applying the Pythagorean Fuzzy approach enables the identification of sensor networks, authorization, market demand, and data management in terms of importance. The application of the Interval Grey approach underscores the importance of data management, particularly in sensor networks. The indicators that were finally ranked are compared to obtain a good coefficient of agreement. These findings offer practical insights for promoting sustainability in enterprise operations by optimizing IoT infrastructure and decision-making processes. Full article

Based on a comprehensive review of the current research status of ecological compensation both domestically and internationally, combined with field survey data, this study delves into the issue of multi-stakeholder participation in the ecological compensation mechanisms of the Xin’an River Basin. This research reveals that the joint participation of multiple stakeholders is crucial to achieving the goals of ecological compensation in river basins. The government plays a significant role in macro-guidance, financial support, policy guarantees, supervision, and management. It promotes the comprehensive implementation of ecological environmental protection by formulating relevant laws and regulations, guiding the public to participate in ecological conservation, and supervising and punishing pollution behaviors. The public, serving as the main force, forms strong awareness and behavioral habits of ecological protection through active participation in environmental protection, monitoring, and feedback. As participants, enterprises contribute to industrial transformation and green development by improving resource utilization efficiency, reducing pollution emissions, promoting green industries, and participating in ecological restoration projects. Scientific research institutions, as technology enablers, have effectively enhanced governance efficiency through technological research and innovation, ecosystem value accounting to provide decision-making support, and public education. Social organizations, as facilitators, have injected vitality and innovation into watershed governance by extensively mobilizing social forces and building multi-party collaboration platforms. Communities, as supporters, have transformed ecological value into economic benefits by developing characteristic industries such as eco-agriculture and eco-tourism. Based on the above findings, further recommendations are proposed to mobilize the enthusiasm of upstream communities and encourage their participation in ecological compensation, promote the market-oriented operation of ecological compensation mechanisms, strengthen cross-regional cooperation to establish joint mechanisms, enhance supervision and evaluation, and establish a sound benefit-sharing mechanism. These recommendations provide theoretical support and practical references for ecological compensation worldwide. Full article

This study synthesizes the rapidly expanding evidence on how digital technologies reshape international trade, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Guided by two research questions—(RQ1) How do digital tools influence the volume and composition of cross-border trade? and (RQ2) How do these effects vary by countries’ development level and firm size?—we conducted a PRISMA-compliant systematic literature review covering 2010–2024. Searches across eight major databases yielded 1857 records; after duplicate removal, title/abstract screening, full-text assessment, and Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT 2018) quality checks, 86 peer-reviewed English-language studies were retained. Findings reveal three dominant technology clusters: (1) e-commerce platforms and cloud services, (2) IoT-enabled supply chain solutions, and (3) emerging AI analytics. E-commerce and cloud adoption consistently raise export intensity—doubling it for digitally mature SMEs—while AI applications are the fastest-growing research strand, particularly in East Asia and Northern Europe. However, benefits are uneven: firms in low-infrastructure settings face higher fixed digital costs, and cybersecurity and regulatory fragmentation remain pervasive obstacles. By integrating trade economics with development and SME internationalization studies, this review offers the first holistic framework that links national digital infrastructure and policy support to firm-level export performance. It shows that the trade-enhancing effects of digitalization are contingent on robust broadband penetration, affordable cloud access, and harmonized data-governance regimes. Policymakers should, therefore, prioritize inclusive digital-readiness programs, while business leaders should invest in complementary capabilities—data analytics, cyber-risk management, and cross-border e-logistics—to fully capture digital trade gains. This balanced perspective advances theory and practice on building resilient, equitable digital trade ecosystems. Full article

The effective design of logistics platform business models is an important means for platform-type logistics enterprises to gain a competitive advantage. This study employs RRS Logistics as a case study to clarify the dynamic environmental mechanisms of logistics platform business models from the perspective of value co-creation and build a novel structural framework for logistics platform business models with community at their core. The research findings are as follows: First, guided by the idea of “value positioning–value co–creation–value support–value maintenance–value capture”, the conceptual framework of business models is redefined. The key steps in designing logistics platform business models, which can provide guidance and assistance for different logistics platforms, are proposed. Second, the design process for logistics platform business models should be dynamically adjusted in real time according to changes and environmental uncertainty. Third, in the process of transitioning to an ecological platform, logistics platforms’ ecosystem service clusters and ecosystem envelope are key factors in achieving a win–win scenario for all the stakeholders in the community. The case studies show that in logistics platform business model design, methods and key steps based on value co-creation could enhance the core competitiveness of logistics platforms. Full article

This paper introduces the concept of degenerative affordances to explain how social media can unintentionally destabilise family-run influencer businesses. While affordance theory typically highlights the enabling features of technology, the researchers shift the focus to its unintended, risk-laden consequences, particularly within family enterprises where professional and personal identities are deeply entangled. Drawing on platform capitalism, family business research, and intersectional feminist critiques, the researchers develop a theoretical model to examine how social media affordances contribute to role confusion, privacy breaches, and trust erosion. Using a mixed-methods design, the researchers combine narrative interviews (n = 20) with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) on survey data (n = 320) from family-based influencers. This study’s findings reveal a high explanatory power (R² = 0.934) for how digital platforms mediate entrepreneurial legitimacy through interpersonal trust and role dynamics. Notably, trust emerges as a key mediating mechanism linking social media engagement to perceptions of business legitimacy. This paper advances three core contributions: (1) introducing degenerative affordance as a novel extension of affordance theory; (2) unpacking how digitally mediated role confusion and privacy breaches function as internal threats to legitimacy in family businesses; and (3) problematising the epistemic assumptions embedded in entrepreneurial legitimacy itself. This study’s results call for a rethinking of how digital platforms, family roles, and entrepreneurial identities co-constitute each other under the pressures of visibility, intimacy, and algorithmic governance. The paper concludes with implications for influencer labour regulation, platform accountability, and the ethics of digital family entrepreneurship. Full article

This study introduces the concept of DEEPEIA, a novel deep learning (DL) platform designed to recommend the optimal export market, and its ideal foreign champion, for any product or service offered by a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). Drawing on expertise in SME internationalization and leveraging recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI), this research addresses key challenges faced by SMEs in global expansion. A systematic review of existing platforms was conducted to identify current gaps and inform the conceptualization of an advanced generative DL recommender system. The Discussion section proposes the conceptual framework for such a decision optimizer within the context of contemporary technological advancements and actionable insights. The conclusion outlines future research directions, practical implementation strategies, and expected obstacles. By mapping the current landscape and presenting an original forecasting tool, this work advances the field of AI-enabled SME internationalization while still acknowledging that more empirical validation remains a necessary next step. Full article