This article is concerned with the impact of corporate digitalization on the corporate sustainability performance and with barriers and supportive institutional frameworks for corporate digital technology adaptation. Collected from big data sets such as the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) country reports and the Global Innovation Index (GII), our study draws on data from 29 European countries. A series of multiple linear regressions was run to select the most relevant predictors of corporate digital technology adaptation. The results suggest that Rule of Law, Government Effectiveness and Ease of Starting a Business are the institutional framework pillars that best predict corporate digital technology adaptation levels. Our findings further show that high levels of corporate digital technology adaptation occur where institutional frameworks are well-integrated across several social domains (economy, politics, legal system, etc.). We conclude by highlighting implications for the design of digital policies aiming at a strategic integration of digital technology adaptation and corporate sustainability.

The article presents the results of an empirical study investigating the relationships between trust in the employer, the subjective value attained in the negotiation of the employment contract, job satisfaction and employee willingness to (re)negotiate in order to maintain long-term employment relationship. The study develops a research model, based on the existing literature, and uses the partial least-squares technique, and data collected from 373 information technology professionals, to test it. The results indicate the positive effect of the employee’s trust in the employer on job satisfaction and willingness to (re)negotiate. Furthermore, the subjective value perceived by the employee in the employment contract negotiation has an increased positive influence on both employee satisfaction and employee willingness to use (re)negotiation to overcome potential issues and maintain the employment relationship long term. Overall, the results of the study bring evidence about the importance of trust and the subjective value in attaining sustainable employment relationships, and therefore sustainable human resource management (HRM). The results provide valuable insights for managers committed to the development of their organizations by promoting sustainable employment relationships. The study offers to firms a ready-to-use model for promoting sustainable employment relationships in organizations operating in knowledge-intensive sectors, such as information technology (IT).

Purpose: This research objective was to explore how Romanian IT family businesses' co-founders enable entrepreneuring through familiness practices. The authors explored what familiness practices emerge and how these are facilitated and supported by the rhetoric framework.Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on Romanian IT entrepreneurs' practice from five case studies of IT family businesses and purposive revelatory cases, the authors considered the family co-founders' narratives and representations of familiness presented in 31 interviews.Findings: The respondents' communication in entrepreneuring is a joint collaborative effort of the family co-founders to function well. Family entrepreneurs generate positive perceptions in favour of enterprising families using persuasive communication via rhetoric appeals to familiness ethos, familiness logos and familiness pathos, leading to constructive conflict management. The rhetoric of persuasion supports family entrepreneuring.Research limitations/implications: The authors conducted multiple case studies, profiling technological co-founders and family entrepreneurs in the challenging circumstances of an emerging economy.Practical implications: The analysis of the use of rhetoric contributes to a better understanding of familiness practices in the family business. Through appeals to ethos, family business entrepreneurs enforce family values built on shared history, complementarity and moral exemplarity. The appeals to logos in entrepreneuring involve fulfilling complementary roles, alignment and continuous learning and coaching. The appeals to pathos are about emotions and how the family entrepreneurs' discourse enforces constructive handling of emotions.Social implications: The perceived familiness communicated through appeals to ethos, logos and pathos contributes to legitimating the family firm structures.Originality/value: Theorising from family entrepreneurs' familiness practices, the authors suggest that entrepreneuring requires good communication of the representation of familiness for co-founders, employees and other stakeholders to also serve constructive conflict handling. The perceived familiness communicated through appeals to ethos, logos and pathos helps family businesses leverage their unique strengths and resources in the entrepreneuring process.

Entrepreneurship is increasingly acknowledged as a critical economic and growth driver. As a result, practitioners’ and scholars’ inquiry into the link between the entrepreneurial social network and its pursuit of innovation have gained momentum in developed economies. However, it remains scarce in the context of emergent economies. Drawing upon social network theory, this qualitative study explores this knowledge gap by examining how Romanian software as a service (SaaS) entrepreneurs enable innovative performance by using social capital in national and international entrepreneurial networks. This qualitative interpretative study relies on the experiences and practices shared by 24 Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs interviewed to expand our understanding of how these entrepreneurs use social capital-driven networks to achieve innovative performance in international markets. Feeling unsupported by a weak institutional entrepreneurial context, Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs build their international entrepreneurial journeys and achieve innovative performance extensively by relying on social capital-driven networks. This paper contributes to the emergent economies stream on entrepreneurship literature and regional entrepreneurship policies. These findings show that motivated to overcome the challenges of a weak institutional context and pursue their entrepreneurial path, these Romanian SaaS entrepreneurs’ international presence and innovative performance are relational manifestations of bonding and bridging social capital-based networks.

The research investigates the impact of teachers’ emotional intelligence (EI) on constructive conflict management, identifies best practices, and examines the effect of conflict management strategies on the educational institution’s reputation. A mixed methodology was employed for this research as 55 teachers’ ESCQ-T (Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire for Teachers) was assessed, followed by semi-structured interviews with those with the highest EI. The study identified key practices these teachers use to manage conflicts effectively, fostering the integration-based conflict management strategy which implies active listening, empathy, and tailored communication approaches, mitigating the effects of cultural influences. The findings suggest that teachers with higher EI are better prepared to manage conflicts, leading to improved teacher-student relationships and a constructive classroom environment. The principal conclusion is that integrating EI training into teacher development programs could enhance conflict management skills, fostering a more conducive learning atmosphere and bolstering the reputation of educational institutions.