Rafaela Gjergji

The sustainability balanced scorecard (SBSC) has become an influential framework for integrating sustainability into strategic management. Despite its growing adoption, research remains fragmented, and insufficiently aligned with the sustainability regulatory frameworks. Drawing on institutional and goal-setting theory, this study examines whether SBSC indicators enable strategic integration or reveal compliance lags with respect to sustainability requirements. A Systematic Literature Review is conducted combining bibliometric analysis of 205 peer-reviewed papers and content analysis of the 66 most influential contributions. Findings reveal persistent reliance on early conceptual foundations of the SBSC and limited integration of regulatory requirements. Relevant gaps emerge at the indicator-level alignment between SBSC and ESRS, particularly regarding pollution, water use, biodiversity, value-chain social aspects, and governance-related metrics. This study contributes to the SBSC literature by providing an overview of its evolution, evaluating its alignment with ESRS, indicating potential avenues for future research, and highlighting some managerial implications.

ESG practices offer various benefits for family firms; however, there has been limited focus on how these practices can specifically advantage the owning family. To address this gap, we conduct a multiple-case study of six Italian family firms. Responding to recent calls for research (Stock et al., 2024) and building on the growing literature on ESG in family business, we adopt the family as the primary unit of analysis and investigate the outcomes that the owning family derives from the firm's ESG practices. Our findings reveal that engagement in ESG fosters a set of interrelated, family-level outcomes. We conceptualize these outcomes as Continuity, Alignment, Relationships, and Ethics (summarized as C.A.R.E.), four concepts that are reinforced, nurtured, and developed through sustained ESG engagement. These concepts together function as key intangible resources that contribute to the long-term success of family businesses.

The accelerating convergence of digital transformation and ESG dimensions has created a new strategic frontier for firms seeking to enhance sustainability. This systematic review examines how digital tools drive and are shaped by ESG initiatives. Using the PRISMA model, 113 peer-reviewed papers were selected from Scopus and Web of Science up to September 2025. A structured content analysis was conducted, and a conceptual framework was developed to address two research questions: How does digital tool adoption affect ESG, and how does ESG influence digital tool adoption? Descriptive analysis reveals that the literature is highly fragmented across theoretical lenses, geographical contexts, and journals. Content findings highlight three main patterns: 89 papers examine how digital tools affect ESG, seven explore the reverse relationship, and seventeen investigate the digital-ESG interplay on firm outcomes. Overall, digital-ESG relationships are mutually reinforcing, generally enhancing organizational outcomes. An extended conceptual model is proposed, framing digital technologies and ESG as both enablers and outcomes, and illustrating their dynamic interplay. The review concludes that digitalization and ESG are not only interlinked but co-evolve: responsible digital transformation strengthens ESG performance, while ESG commitments drive digital innovation, thereby enhancing legitimacy, social value, and overall firm performance over time.

This study investigates how successors, by acting entrepreneurially, contribute to family firm transgenerational value creation. By focusing on the transgenerational value creation process, we investigate transgenerational entrepreneurship in family businesses under successor leadership. Employing a multiple case study approach, we analyse 15 Italian family firms, based on direct interviews, follow-ups, field observations, and approximately 300 historical documents spanning the period 1894 to 2023. Our findings reveal how individual, contextual, business, and familial drivers, alone or in combination, point to various pathways influencing entrepreneurial outcomes, thereby reflecting the diverse forms of successor entrepreneurship. Specifically, we develop a taxonomy comprising five entrepreneurial profiles: revolutioner, orchestrator, venturer, renewer, and improver. Our findings offer novel insights into the family business and entrepreneurship literature, along with practical implications and potential contributions to regional development.

This volume examines sustainability reporting among SMEs in the European Union, focusing on the interplay between mandatory and voluntary ESG disclosure. Targeted to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, it brings together interdisciplinary contributions that integrate theoretical frameworks, regulatory analyses, and empirical evidence to provide a comprehensive understanding of ESG practices within European SMEs. The chapters explore the pivotal role of SMEs in the EU economy, recent policy and regulatory developments, including the CSRD, ESRS standards, and the Omnibus package, and the relevance of SME Growth Markets in facilitating smaller firms’ access to capital markets. Drawing on both conceptual and empirical insights, the volume advances knowledge on the effectiveness of ESG disclosure and contributes to the broader academic and policy debate on the challenges SMEs face in adapting to evolving sustainability frameworks and regulatory requirements.

Despite significant growth in strategic management literature, research on firm-level capabilities in family business remains fragmented. This paper aims to consolidate this field by comprehensively examining ordinary and dynamic capabilities in family firms. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of the resource-based view and dynamic capability theories, we conducted a systematic literature review of relevant theoretical and empirical studies, including 76 journal ar ticles, spanning a period of more than 20 years. The study proposes a framework that systematizes the literature, outlining main drivers (e.g., family influence and other factors), types of capabilities (ordinary and dynamic), and related outcomes (competitive, financial, and non-financial). The review emphasizes the critical role of family influence—in terms of family business status and family involvement—in shaping capability development and highlights the importance of family behavioral dynamics, including familiness and socioemotional wealth. Finally, the study identifies gaps in existing literature and proposes research questions to guide future research.

Il Decreto Legislativo 6 settembre 2024, n. 125, che recepisce la Direttiva (UE) 2022/2464 (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - CSRD), segna una tappa fondamentale nel panorama normativo italiano, estendendo l'obbligo di reporting di sostenibilità e quindi di rendicontazione sui temi ESG (ambientale, sociale e di governance) non solo alle grandi imprese, ma anche alle piccole e medie imprese (PMI) quotate nei mercati regolamentati. Con l'introduzione dei nuovi European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), la sostenibilità e la trasparenza nella comunicazione dei dati ESG diventano tematiche sempre più rilevanti per le aziende, che devono rispondere alle crescenti aspettative di investitori, stakeholder e autorità regolatorie. La ricerca presentata in questo report, condotta tramite un'indagine con questionario, esplora le tematiche ESG dal punto di vista degli investitori istituzionali presenti nell'azionariato delle PMI quotate al mercato Euronext Growth Milan (EGM) di Borsa Italiana. L'EGM, registrato come mercato di crescita per le PMI ai sensi della MiFID II, è un sistema multilaterale di negoziazione (o MTF - multilateral trading facility) e non un mercato regolamentato. Tuttavia, rappresenta per le PMI un'importante opportunità di accesso al mercato dei capitali, favorendo la loro crescita e visibilità a livello nazionale e internazionale. L'obiettivo principale di questa ricerca è analizzare, quindi, le attese degli investitori riguardo l'informativa ESG che le imprese quotate in questo mercato forniscono. Sebbene non siano soggette a obblighi in materia di rendicontazione ESG, le PMI sono fortemente incoraggiate ad aderire ai principi di trasparenza e sostenibilità, al fine di rispondere alle crescenti richieste da parte di investitori e stakeholder. Avviata nel 2021, l'indagine è di grande attualità, offrendo una panoramica sull'informativa ESG delle PMI dal punto di vista degli investitori e fornendo spunti preziosi per future ricerche. I risultati dello studio evidenziano che i temi di maggiore interesse per gli investitori istituzionali riguardano principalmente le questioni ambientali e di governance, con il 47,5% dei partecipanti che considera fondamentale l'informativa ambientale, sebbene questa venga spesso giudicata poco esaustiva. Altri temi rilevanti includono la formazione, la salute e la sicurezza dei dipendenti, la composizione del Consiglio di amministrazione, l'adozione di codici di condotta e le politiche retributive. Guardando al futuro, gli investitori istituzionali mostrano un impegno crescente nell'integrare i fattori ESG nelle loro decisioni di investimento, con particolare attenzione al cambiamento climatico, ai temi di governance, agli aspetti sociali e all'economia circolare. Questo impegno si allinea con le iniziative europee e con la "twin transition" (transizione verde e digitale), che sta assumendo un ruolo sempre più centrale nelle politiche e nelle strategie di investimento.

Lo sviluppo delle competenze è un processo che richiede attenzione e investimenti continui. Questo studio si propone di investigare l’importanza delle competenze aziendali percepita dalle imprese italiane, con un focus particolare sulla governance e sulle imprese familiari. L’analisi considera un ampio ventaglio di competenze che spaziano dalle capacità funzionali a quelle necessarie per affrontare la «twin transition», ovvero la transizione digitale e ambientale. Realizzato attraverso una survey a cui hanno partecipato 264 imprese, il lavoro offre una visione approfondita del ruolo cruciale delle competenze, evidenziandone l’importanza come leva strategica per il successo in un contesto competitivo in costante evoluzione. Inoltre, l’analisi delle correlazioni tra governance (proprietà, CdA e leadership) e dotazione di competenze offre spunti preziosi e pratici alle imprese, familiari e non, orientandole nella ricerca e nello sviluppo delle competenze necessarie per affrontare le sfide del futuro. L’opera nasce dalla collaborazione tra FABULA (il Family Business Lab dell’Università Cattaneo – LIUC) e PwC TLS, il noto Studio italiano di Avvocati e Commercialisti, uno dei maggiori del Paese, presente con 18 sedi su tutto il territorio italiano.

This paper investigates whether and to what extent strategy disclosure influences the cost of capital, comparing family and non-family firms and considering the proportion of women directors. We theorize that voluntary strategy disclosure may be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the perceptions by financial stakeholders about the role of governance attributes. These stakeholders might, indeed, assess strategy disclosure differently based on their stereotyped view of the family firm status and women’s involvement on the board of directors. By referring to a sample of 93 listed Italian small and medium-sized enterprises, we show that, unlike with their non-family counterparts, strategy disclosure increases the cost of capital for family firms. However, an increasing proportion of women directors softens this negative effect. Moreover, when a critical mass of women directors is appointed to the board, the strategy disclosure becomes beneficial for family firms too. We consequently offer a threefold contribution to the literature on gender diversity, family business and corporate voluntary disclosure.