Samuel Adomako

Despite growing scholarly interest in social innovation, limited research explains how and under what conditions social innovation orientation is associated with corporate social performance. This study develops and tests a moderated mediation model in which frugal innovation is proposed to transmit the association between enacted social innovation orientation and corporate social performance, and reverse engineering is proposed to condition the second stage of this pathway. Using three‐wave survey data from 260 manufacturing SMEs in Vietnam, we find that enacted social innovation orientation is positively associated with frugal innovation, which in turn is positively associated with corporate social performance, measured as managers' aggregated perceptions of customer‐, employee‐, and community‐related outcomes. The results are consistent with an indirect association through frugal innovation alongside a remaining direct association. Moreover, the association between frugal innovation and corporate social performance is stronger when reverse engineering is high, and the indirect association is correspondingly stronger at higher levels of reverse engineering. Because the data are observational and come from single informants, the findings indicate temporal associations rather than causal effects.

Firms increasingly commit to sustainability, yet ecological degradation and social exclusion continue to intensify. This has prompted interest in regenerative approaches that restore rather than preserve socio‐ecological systems, although evidence on their organisational consequences remains scarce. Drawing on the natural resource‐based view, this study examines whether regenerative orientation promotes sustainable entrepreneurship through inclusive innovation capability, and whether social legitimacy conditions that process. Two‐wave, multi‐informant data from 236 entrepreneurial firms in Vietnam indicate that regenerative orientation is positively associated with inclusive innovation capability, which is in turn positively associated with sustainable entrepreneurship. The indirect effect is significant and accounts for roughly half of the total effect. Social legitimacy moderates the second stage: inclusive innovation capability is strongly related to sustainable entrepreneurship when legitimacy is high, but the relationship is not significant when legitimacy is low. Inclusive innovation capability therefore appears to yield little return without stakeholder endorsement.

To understand the heterogeneous performance outcomes of sustainable entrepreneurship, this study investigates the role of founder impression management. We develop and test a moderated mediation model, drawing on signaling and impression management theories, using a dual‐study design with longitudinal data ( n = 217) and survey data ( n = 259). Our findings reveal that while corporate reputation mediates the sustainability‐performance link, this effect is contingent on the founder's self‐promotion. This demonstrates that founder agency acts as a critical amplifier, unlocking the financial and social returns of sustainability commitments. By integrating micro‐level entrepreneurial actions with macro‐level sustainability goals, this research advances theory and offers entrepreneurs a clear strategic pathway: combine sustainable practices with compelling communication to build reputation and drive performance.

This paper offers a novel theoretical account of how and when stakeholder pressures translate into environmental performance. Building on the Natural Resource‐Based View, we develop a moderated‐mediation model showing (a) stakeholder integration mediates the effect of primary and secondary stakeholder pressures on environmental performance (how) and (b) organizational ethical orientation moderates this mediated effect (when). We tested our model in the context of Ghanaian manufacturing small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). A time‐lagged survey of 367 firms showed that both primary and secondary stakeholder pressures positively influence environmental performance via stakeholder integration, and this mediated effect is stronger when ethical orientation is high rather than low. Our study advances research in three ways. First, it highlights the role of stakeholder integration as a relational capability distinct from traditional technical environmental capabilities. Second, it demonstrates the contingent role of ethical orientation in shaping sustainability outcomes. Third, it provides context‐sensitive insights from SMEs operating in institutionally fragile environments.

Multinational enterprises from emerging markets (EM MNEs), acting as latecomers in global markets, strategically leverage their networks to facilitate their international expansion. As a rapidly developing phenomenon, the findings and theoretical foundations of EM MNE networks remain fragmented and inconsistent. Through a systematic review of the literature, we examined research themes across networks, internationalisation, and EM MNEs to identify key theoretical perspectives and how EM MNE network research engages with established internationalisation theories. We analysed papers published between 2000 and 2025 to include high-quality academic research and assess the current state of the art. Our review provides a comprehensive framework encompassing the analytical levels, theoretical perspectives, and network dynamics present in current research. This is the first systematic review to examine the network mechanisms behind EM MNE internationalisation. It pays particular attention to how network mechanisms identified in EM MNE studies engage with, extend, and challenge established theories developed in advanced economies contexts. It also encourages managers and policymakers in emerging economies to strategically deploy collaborative networks to maximise their efforts.

What enables top management teams (TMTs) to turn trust into entrepreneurial action? This article answers this question by proposing a novel theoretical account to explain why and when trust-based relationships within TMTs create strategic benefits. Drawing on social exchange theory, we examine a moderated-mediation model that shows how: (a) TMT psychological safety mediates the effect of TMT cognitive and affective trust on corporate entrepreneurship (CE; the why ) and (b) social integration within TMTs moderates this mediated effect (the when ). We tested our model through a multi-wave survey of 372 TMT members in 124 established firms in Ghana. Our findings reveal that the two distinct dimensions of trust (i.e. cognitive and affective) influence CE through TMT psychological safety. Our results also demonstrate that the mediated effects are more pronounced when TMT social integration is high rather than low. Implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.

This study examines how sustainability orientation shapes entrepreneurial performance in bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BoP) markets by theorizing responsible entrepreneurship as a central mechanism and BoP orientation as a contextual contingency. Using survey data from 283 small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, we integrate perspectives from sustainability, entrepreneurship, and inclusive‐market research to explain how firms pursuing sustainability create economic and social value under severe resource constraints. Our findings show that sustainability orientation promotes responsible entrepreneurship and that this behavioral pathway translates into stronger entrepreneurial performance. This mediating effect highlights responsible entrepreneurship as a key strategic channel through which sustainability‐driven firms realize superior outcomes. We also find that BoP orientation attenuates the performance benefits associated with responsible entrepreneurship. This moderating effect suggests a tension between deep social inclusivity and financial returns in low‐income contexts. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.