Purpose: Drawing on the combined theoretical perspectives offered by the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices view and the resource-based view (RBV), this study aims to examine whether pursuit of environmental, social and economic sustainability measures of SSCM practices drive competitive advantage (CA) among fashion-apparel manufacturing organizations in an emerging economy. Furthermore, the study investigates whether the above relationships are mediated by productivity.Design/methodology/approach: Based on a theoretically supported conceptual framework, a set of hypotheses are tested by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling on a sample of 345 export-oriented fashion-apparel manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. SmartPLS (v.3.2) is applied to analyze the path model through bootstrapping procedure.Findings: The findings suggest that the direct relationship between social sustainability dimension of SSCM practices along and CA is positive and significant. While the direct relationships between environmental sustainability and CA, and economic sustainability and CA, were found to be non-significant. However, when productivity was applied as a mediator, all the paths were significant.Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to the strategic management literature by presenting a combined theoretical perspective proposing the idea that sustainable supply chain practices can influence both productivity and CA, where productivity is a pertinent mediator.Practical implications: The study presents evidence for ready-made garments manufacturers in emerging economies on how compliance with environmental, social and economic sustainability measures in the supply chain of apparel manufacturers leads to gains in CA for the firms. Additionally, the study shows that such measures must also have a net positive impact on productivity to be able to influence CA significantly.Originality/value: This paper appears to be among the first study that presents a framework based on a combined view of SSCM practices and RBV to empirically investigate the role of productivity as a mediator in the relationships between the sustainability dimensions of SSCM practices and CA in apparel manufacturing.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the interplay between family commitment as a family-centric resource and professionalization of the organization as a firm-centric resource to determine how the two phenomenon come together to enhance business performance in the context of privately held family firms.Design/methodology/approach: Deploying the theoretical lens offered by the resource-based view, a conceptual link is developed between family commitment to the firm and firm performance with the potential moderating influence of firm professionalization. The hypotheses are tested using data collected from 357 privately held medium-to-large family-owned manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. The data are analyzed through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS (v.3.2).Findings: The data analysis suggests that in absence of the moderator; professionalization, family commitment has a positive and significant association with firm performance. While in the presence of the moderator the above relationship is substantially stronger. The findings indicate that when family-specific resources and firm-specific resources are synchronized, it enhances performance of the family firm and puts it on a strong economic footing toward a more sustainable future.Research limitations/implications: Cross-sectional nature of the study exposes it to the specter of common method bias despite the fact that procedural remedies were initiated to minimize the impact of such occurrence. Furthermore, data were collected from a single individual in each organization. Therefore, a longitudinal study with data obtained from multiple individuals at different levels of the organization would possibly yield more robust findings.Practical implications: Leaders of family firms may find pertinent clues from the outcome of this study. Particularly, the confluence of family commitment to the firm as a family-specific resource and professionalization as a firm-specific resource can be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate and substitute source of competitive advantage for the family business organization.Social implications: Survival of family businesses is vital to the global economy as one of the primary drivers of global gross domestic product growth and source of new employment. Policymakers can benefit from the findings of this study to customize policies to nurture growth of family enterprises and incentivize family firms to adopt professionalization through better governance and transparent managerial procedures.Originality/value: A nuanced understanding of how family commitment and firm professionalization combine to significantly improve performance of family firms has not been dominant in the literature. Therefore, findings of this study carry special theoretical implications, because it suggests that both family-specific features and firm-specific features are necessary for enhanced levels of firm-centric business outcomes such as economic performance.

Purpose: The goal of this research is to examine the influence of digital leadership (DL) on adaptive capacity (ADC) of small- and medium-sized family businesses (SMFBs). Moreover, the study investigates the mediating influence of the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities represented by sensing capability (SC) and organizational agility (OA), both parallelly and sequentially. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) and supporting empirical evidence, a conceptual framework is developed along with a set of hypotheses. Using survey data collected from 263 SMFBs in Oman, the hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling through partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: The analysis reveals that DL positively influences ADC, SC and OA. Additionally, SC and OA both parallelly mediate the link between DL and ADC. Finally, both SC and OA act as sequential mediators in the relationship between DL and ADC among SMFBs. Practical implications: For practitioners, the study reveals critical role of DL in strengthening SMFBs. Family business leaders may consider the evidence and invest in leadership development programs to enhance digital competencies, enabling better SC and agility. Policymakers can offer training programs and resources, helping family businesses to build DL and dynamic capabilities essential for thriving in a competitive and evolving business environment. Originality/value: This study makes four key contributions. First, this study expands the literature at the crossroads of the family business, digitalization, dynamic capabilities and resilience, to investigate the influence of DL on ADC. Second, the role of SC as a mediator in the above relationship, tested in the current study, seems to be overlooked in the empirical literature. Third, the findings demonstrate the mediating role of OA in relationship between DL and ADC. Finally, this appears to be the first study that presents sequential mediating role of SC and OA between DL and ADC, adding a finer-grained understanding of how influence of DL is transmitted to ADC.

When migrating to Industry 4.0, organizations face the need to adapt to a new context characterized by high levels of uncertainty and complexity. The main driving force in this process are the meta-competencies that ensure high competitiveness and innovativeness. However, their content, classification levels, intersections, and development potential under the influence of digitalization are insufficiently covered by the literature. This article attempts to fill this gap by analyzing the impact of new technologies on meta-competences. It presents a conceptual model based on the assumption that the degree of digitalization enhances the effects of the interaction between the top-level meta-competencies - Foresight, strategic flexibility, and ambidextrousness. Additional factors, the inclusion of which in the model will allow for a better study of the nature of the relationship under consideration, are proposed.

Purpose: With the rapid movements toward digital transformation, the study of organizational resilience has become crucial, particularly in the SME sector. Grounded in Dynamic Capability View (DCV), this paper aims to examine the direct impact of digital leadership orientation on organizational resilience and indirect effect through dynamic capabilities of the organization (strategic foresight, agility, and flexibility). Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered from 317 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in Oman who have initiated digitalization by using a structured questionnaire and analyzed with PLS-SEM. Findings: The outcomes reveal that digital leadership orientation positively influences dynamic capabilities of the organization and organizational resilience. The findings also demonstrate that dynamic capabilities mediate the relationship between digital leadership orientation and organizational resilience. Practical implications: The findings of this study have practical implications toward policy makers, owners as well as managers of SMEs. The government can take more initiatives to increase the digital orientation in the leadership of SME through training. The owners and managers of SMEs could benefit from focusing on building dynamic capabilities to tackle the unforeseeable events in their organizations. Moreover, from an institutional standpoint, universities, business incubators, and SME support centers can play a crucial role in building digital leadership capability. Originality/value: Grounded on the DCV, this study advances the resilience literature by confirming that digital leadership orientation plays a vital role in shaping organizational capabilities and resilience.