Valentina Elena Lazzarotti

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.

Circular Business Models (CBMs) are central to firms’ transition towards a Circular Economy (CE), however the lack of integrated tools to evaluate both circular and financial performance limits managerial decision-making. This study addresses this gap by developing and empirically testing a Circular Balanced Scorecard (CBSC). Grounded in thirteen identified managerial practices for CBMs, the CBSC translates these practices into measurable objectives. Using a single case study of an Italian manufacturing company transitioning towards circularity, the research validates the CBSC through over 30 h of interviews with nine top managers and extensive document analysis. The findings propose a strategy map that links 16 quantitative and 4 qualitative measures across four perspectives, unveiling two strategic pathways for the transition towards CE: value discount (i.e., cost reduction through eco-efficiency) and value premium (i.e., turnover growth through CE-based differentiation). The value discount pathway emerges as the primary driver of the transition towards CE, as its profitability can be more readily demonstrated compared to other transition routes. Moreover, the results illustrate how managerial practices can be operationalized within a holistic CBSC that balances circular and financial goals. This study contributes to the literature by bridging performance management and CE research, offering a practical, process-oriented tool for managers to design, implement, and monitor CE strategies in industrial manufacturing contexts, while providing a structured, theory-driven approach to managing and evaluating circular transitions. © The Author(s) 2026.

This study explores the integration of Open Innovation (OI) models with archetypes of sustainable business in Forest-based Bioeconomy (FBB) companies in the digital age. Utilising a multiple case study methodology, four FBB companies were examined to understand their strategic orientations and sustainability practices. Case studies provide detailed insights into processes and interactions within specific contexts, making them suitable for examining emerging phenomena like the Circular Economy (CE). Although OI, CE, and sustainability have been individually studied, little empirical research explores their intersection in the FBB. Existing literature often focuses on theoretical foundations or isolated applications, neglecting how OI supports circular and sustainable business models in the FBB. Additionally, the challenges and opportunities for FBB companies in the Global South remain largely unexamined, despite their importance in global sustainability transitions. Therefore, this research addresses a significant gap by exploring how companies operating in the forest-based bioeconomy sector exploit OI models to enhance circular and sustainable business models in the digital age. The findings reveal that sustainability approaches are dynamic and overlapping strategies rather than fixed archetypes. The study highlights how OI models facilitate the use of both external and internal knowledge at various stages of innovation, demonstrating that the choice of sustainability archetypes both influences and is influenced by companies’ OI models. These insights are valuable for scholars, managers, and policymakers aiming to promote sustainable economic development and environmental stewardship.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of Lean Production (LP) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) on the adoption of Circular Economy (CE) within manufacturing firms, also considering the potential moderating effect of I4.0 on the link between LP and CE. By doing so, it addresses the limited and contrasting empirical evidence on how operational practices facilitate the adoption of CE. Design/methodology/approach. This study adopted the Practice-Based View (PBV) as a theoretical lens and employed a quantitative research design. Data were collected via a survey of 151 manufacturing companies operating in Italy and analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis to test the conceptual model. Findings: The empirical results confirm that both LP and I4.0 are significantly and positively associated with CE adoption. I4.0 technologies have a stronger individual impact on CE adoption than LP. However, the hypothesized moderating effect of I4.0 on the LP–CE relationship is not supported. In other words, the implementation of technologies may not contribute to a positive variation in the level of CE adoption that is already achieved due to the implementation of LP practices. Hence, managers should pursue distinct CE strategies aligned with the unique capabilities of LP and I4.0, respectively. Originality/value: This research contributes to the operations management and CE literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of LP and I4.0 in enabling CE adoption. It offers valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers aiming to foster CE adoption in manufacturing, dealt with the links adopting the PBV, challenging the presumed moderating effect of I4.0, and providing actionable recommendations.

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 article explores how stakeholder collaboration within ecosystems supports the implementation of Circular Economy (CE) principles through Open Innovation (OI). Integrating insights from CE, OI, and innovation ecosystem literatures, it introduces the concept of Open Circular Innovation Ecosystems (OCIEs). Using a mixed-methods approach combining surveys and interviews, the study examines how different stakeholder groups—such as public agencies, academia, and civil society—address contextual, technical, economic, and cultural barriers to circularity. The findings reveal distinct yet complementary roles among actors, highlighting how open, multi-stakeholder networks operate in practice. The study advances understanding of OCIEs and provides actionable insights for policymakers and industry leaders aiming to design more targeted and inclusive collaboration strategies to accelerate CE implementation.

Purpose – This study aims to explore the interaction between social media and firms’ absorptive capacity (ACAP), which involves acquiring, assimilating, transforming and exploiting external knowledge. While existing research often examines these topics separately, this paper bridges the gap by analyzing their interconnectedness to provide a holistic understanding. Design/methodology/approach – A data-driven approach combining bibliographic coupling and authors’ keyword network analysis was used to mitigate the subjectivity of traditional literature reviews. A total of 50 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles from Scopus were analyzed using VOSviewer to identify thematic research streams (RSs). Findings – The analysis identifies five RSs: the impact of social media and ACAP on innovation performance; their effect on performance in a multi-level landscape across different analytical units (individual, team, organization); the role of social media in specific contexts, including internal and external collaborations; online communities; and the new product development process. A key finding is the internal inconsistency in the literature regarding the relationship between ACAP and social media constructs. To address this, two alternative research frameworks are proposed, offering theoretical foundations for future studies. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to comprehensively address the interaction between social media and ACAP by resolving theoretical inconsistencies, clarifying variable roles and proposing frameworks to guide future research. It also offers actionable insights for R&D and innovation managers to strategically leverage social media for acquiring and exploiting external knowledge, thereby enhancing competitive advantage.

Product innovation is a relevant aspect to consider when transitioning towards a circular economy. However, product innovation encounters several barriers that must be overcome. This article explores how companies exploit open innovation practices to overcome barriers while developing circular products. To address this research gap, the study employs a multiple case-study approach of four companies in the manufacturing sector. Two of them operate in European industrialized regions, and other two operate in less developed regions of South America, emphasizing the need for context-specific approaches to circular economy implementation and circular product development. Our results show that, among other barriers, technical ones, including material quality concerns and a lack of skills, represent significant obstacles in both contexts. In addition, among the open innovation practices, the inbound ones, such as sourcing external knowledge and ideas, support companies to overcome these technical challenges, by leading to more innovative and higher-quality products, enhanced reputation, collaboration, and cost reduction. Consumer co-creation is especially crucial for stakeholder engagement and aligning practices with sustainability goals. Finally, collaboration with universities mostly benefits highly industrialized regions and is recommended for acquiring essential capabilities for successful circular product development. From a theoretical perspective, our study contributes to emphasize the re lationships between circular economy and open innovation, as well as region-specific circular economy chal lenges. From a managerial perspective, we show how inbound open innovation practices can aid circular economy implementation, fostering external knowledge and innovation.

Purpose – This study aims to explore how firms can enhance their innovation processes by effectively utilizing external knowledge and employing digital technologies. Specifically, it emphasizes the role of absorptive capacity (ACAP) in external knowledge acquisition and assimilation (potential ACAP), as well as transformation and exploitation (realized ACAP), highlighting the necessity of equipping firms with digital technologies to support ACAP activities. Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the research purpose, we conducted a structured literature review of academic papers sourced from Scopus-Elsevier. Findings – The key findings encompass the identification of common digital technologies supporting ACAP and explore how these technologies contribute to knowledge acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation. The main results show that social media and online communities are the most studied technologies in relation to ACAP activities. Research predominantly centres on potential ACAP – with acquisition activity more studied than assimilation – rather than realized ACAP – with only social media and online communities demonstrating full support for transformation and exploitation activities. Research limitations/implications – This research represents a pioneering joint study of ACAP and digital technologies, advancing understanding beyond organizational perspectives and expanding open innovation literature by integrating ACAP role in technology collaborations. A call for qualitative investigations into the relationship between digital technologies and ACAP emerged. Practical implications – The findings offer valuable guidance to innovation managers, aiding them in selecting appropriate digital technologies to strengthen ACAP activities. Originality/value – This work's uniqueness lies in bridging the gaps between open innovation, ACAP and digital technologies, which are often studied in isolation.

Purpose: The study aims to test the success of university-industry (U-I) collaboration in terms of innovation process efficiency. Then, this study explores the moderating role of a set of organizational routines in the U-I relationship, which can help in overcoming the issues undermining the collaboration success. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on an international Open Innovation (OI) survey. The survey investigated the items to build the main variables of the conceptual framework, measured through seven-point Likert scales. Steps to ensure the reliability and validity of the variables were conducted. Then, hypotheses were tested with an ordinary least squares regression. Findings. Results show that the higher the collaboration intensity (depth) with universities, the higher the innovation process efficiency. Furthermore, organizational routines aimed at improving firms’ assimilation absorptive capacity further strengthen the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency. Practical implications: Findings indicate that R&D managers should strive to build deep collaborations with universities to enhance process efficiency and invest in the quality of these relationships. Managers should create and maintain an internal environment that further enhances the positive effects of intensive collaboration on innovation process efficiency. Originality/value: The OI literature has not reached a shared view on the positive contribution of universities toward industrial firms’ innovation performance. The study adopts a process-efficiency view, rarely used by other OI studies usually focused on output indicators; this study unpacks, respectively, the role of the intensity of collaboration and the organizational routines, thus disclosing the benefit of U-I collaboration on innovation efficiency.