The article will contain a scientific analysis, showing thematic links between publications and consist of searching the data in the Scopus database. The timeframe of the searched publications will be 2010–2022. The parameters should also be narrowed down by selecting the following indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), which was intended to eliminate abstracts of books and conference materials, leaving only reviewed works with the highest level of relevance for furthering knowledge. An additional limit of five minimum citations will be introduced. The analysis included 342 articles. Texts cited at least 100 times were highlighted. The research showed that authors focus piecemeal on selected aspects or problems, so an attempt was made to show thematic connections of keywords, illustrating the complexity of the transformations underway. The discussion identifies the most active authors and countries, especially exploring the topic of a transition to a sustainable energy system for smart cities. The authors have employed scientometric analysis to provide an objective and data-driven exploration of the transformation of sustainable energy systems for smart cities. This approach offers valuable insights into the research landscape, trends, and relationships within the field, which can guide future scientific research and contribute to a deeper understanding of the subject matter. As an additional element of this conclusion, the authors proposed supplementing the scientometric analysis with the foresight methodology. The authors’ research approach is distinguished by the following stages: problem formulation, data collection, choice of scientometric methodology, analysis of advantages and limitations of scientometrics, clustering analysis, data analysis, and presentation of results. Our systematic literature review systematizes the existing literature on the sustainable energy systems for smart cities, isolates main research interests, identifies future research avenues, and provides several important hints for researchers.

For companies, sustainable development generally represents a long-term business orientation towards social, economic and environmental well-being. The concept has gained momentum among researchers partly due to the necessity of finding a modern approach to business development that does not deprive the next generation of the opportunity to meet its own needs. Based on a sample of 333 Polish family firms, three groups of businesses were isolated (via k-means clustering) on the basis of low, medium and high deployment of pro-sustainability initiatives. This paper aims to investigate whether family firms demonstrating divergent levels of sustainable development express between-group differences. Measuring diversity using ANOVA with post hoc testing produced results associating business growth and higher levels of family involvement (e.g., via increased participation of family members from different generations in firm management) with the increased absorption of sustainable solutions and actions. These findings support notions from social identity theory suggesting that groups significantly shape the individual identities of their members. This means that family members inclined to implement sustainable development initiatives are likely to stimulate each other to introduce particular solutions and actions in praxis.

Purpose: This paper is a part of the application trend of the development of the grey systems theory. The purpose of this paper is to present the use of the GDM model in the diagnosis of the occurrence of crises in family businesses. The issue of the occurrence of conflicts and crises in family businesses is one of the most important and common in management science in Poland.Design/methodology/approach: In the paper using the GDM model (in which the weights of the criteria were determined using the modified Thurstone method), the authors presented a way to diagnose the occurrence of crises in family businesses for a sample of Polish family businesses using, among others, a questionnaire-based survey.Findings: As a result of the conducted research, it turned out that in eight surveyed businesses no symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed. In three businesses, the symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed, but they did not threaten their existence. In the case of four businesses, the symptoms of crisis that threaten their existence were diagnosed and immediate remedial action was recommended to them.Originality/value: The authors are of the opinion that the presented research results may be a reason for the validity of using the GDM model in the diagnosis of crises in family businesses. At the same time, it is recommended to undertake further research on,inter alia, conflict fields in family businesses, or on the use of the modified Thurstone method as a part of determining the validity of decision-making criteria in GDM models.

Background: Previous research on sustainability has shown that several growing problems—environmental ones related to the uneven implementation of climate protection requirements worldwide; economic ones related to the instability of markets; and finally social ones perceived through the uneven distribution of wealth in different parts of the world (globally) and regions related to political and economic instability—particularly affect family firms because of their need for intergenerational continuity. Methods: The aim of our study is to enrich research by defining the factors that determine the maturity level of family firms in terms of sustainability. Given the scarcity of a general sustainability maturity model for family firms, we propose a model that allows for the comprehensive assessment of a family firm’s sustainability maturity. Results: This study examined the sustainability maturity of family firms and identified its determinants in this sector. The results show that family firms often reach the first level of sustainability maturity, but the highest level remains unattainable for them. The determining factor for a high level of sustainability maturity is the number of employees, while the main inhibiting factor is market experience. The overall conclusion leads us to believe that a high level of sustainability maturity can be achieved by a family-owned company with a manufacturing profile, a large payroll, and 30 years of operational experience. Conclusions: The overall findings lead us to conclude that a high level of sustainability maturity can be achieved by a family-owned company with a manufacturing profile, a large payroll, and 30 years of operational experience in the global market, where long-term decisions are made by experts.

Objective: The aim of the systematic literature review was to assess the state of the art in sustainability and trajectories in Central-Eastern European family firms, identify the research gaps, and delineate future research avenues. Research Design & Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of 30 articles from the Web of Science and Scopus that address the subject of sustainability in Central-Eastern European family firms. To identify the state of the art, analysis of keywords co-occurrence was employed as an analytical tool, using Biblioshiny software. Findings: We identified the most influential journals and subject areas. The research allowed for the identification of seven consistent clusters, which prove the great variety of topics in the discussion on the sustainability of family firms in Central-Eastern Europe. The findings showed vast dispersion of research interests and a lack of a single, accurate or dominant research area addressing the phenomenon in this region. Additionally, our findings revealed that the results reported in CEE countries are only partly consistent with the findings presented in Western literature or referenced in other, economically well-developed regions. Implications & Recommendations: We recommend further research on the specific characteristics of family firms and their impact on sustainable development. Moreover, the lack of comparative studies on family and non-family businesses should be addressed. There is also a need to include the cultural context of Central-Eastern Europe countries in research. Contribution & Value Added: Our systematic literature review systematizes the existing literature on the sustainability of family firms in Central-Eastern Europe, isolates main research interests, identifies future research avenues, and provides several important hints for researchers.

The paper presents the European model of the Balanced Scorecard. It is based on the goals, which take into account the point of view of various stakeholders of the company. The main objective of the study was to demonstrate the differences in the two versions Balanced Scorecard: European and American. The specific objective of the research was the most common diagnosis liquidated barriers to family businesses, which are defined as critical to effective strategy implementation. The results of the study indicate significant differences in the application of both the Balanced Scorecard and include barriers: integration of the objectives of ownership, consistency and competence.