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).

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.

Purpose: The goal of this study is to explore how trust manifests in early-stage Romanian ICT ventures and navigates from personal to organisational addressability. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research examined narrative interviews to investigate experiences related to trust and its formation among ICT entrepreneurs during the company's early stage. The methodological approach is inspired by the theoretical background of social systems theory. Findings: Early-stage venture ICT entrepreneurs promote communication as a medium for building swift trust considering six dimensions. Our findings indicate that entrepreneurs leverage their legitimacy and reputation as a scalable “trust currency”. In early-stage venture ICT, entrepreneurs aim to establish more non-addressable trust through the addressability of swift trust. Their goal is to imprint trust-based communication into the organisation's communicative expression. Originality/value: The article presents what swift trust involves and how it is transferred into organisational reliability, moving the startup closer to the continued functioning and self-validation characteristic of system trust.

The analysis considers the similarities and differences of strategic human resource practices at country level in the European Union and seeks to assess the level of convergence of Romanian practices to the European ones. The purpose of the study is to calculate the closeness of Romania to one of the European Human Resource Management clusters previously identified by M. Ingjatovic and I. Svetlik considering practices as strategy formalization, involvement of human resource department in developing the organizational strategy and devolution of human resource decisions to line management. Cluster analysis was used, considering that is one of the complex methods in systematic research and it is useful in multidimensional analysis where significant similar cases are looked for. The results show that Romania is closer to the Peripheral cluster with the management-focused model of medium intensity HRM and Central Southern cluster with the HRM model of low intensity. Keywords: human resource management clusters; convergence; human resource strategic practices; Romanian HRM;

Purpose: The present study examines how transformational leadership and perceived organizational support jointly influence employees’ sense of job security in a hybrid work context. Design/methodology/approach: Using a cross-sectional survey of white-collar employees in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, we tested a structural model linking transformational leadership, perceived organizational support and job security. Findings: The results indicate that transformational leadership by itself does not significantly enhance perceived job security unless it operates through heightened organizational support. Transformational leadership showed a strong positive effect on perceived organizational support, which in turn had a significant positive impact on job security, fully mediating the leadership–security relationship. The findings underscore the importance of supportive leadership practices in bolstering employees’ job security. Originality/value: The study offers novel insights into how leaders can cultivate an organizational environment that makes employees feel secure in their roles, especially under prevalent hybrid work arrangements.