Gaetano della Corte

This study empirically examines the impact of digital transformation (DT) on firm environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance using data from Italian listed companies for the year 2023. It also investigates whether board gender diversity has a moderating role in this association. To date, only a handful of empirical studies have examined the moderating role of board gender diversity between DT and corporate ESG performance, and their findings are mixed. This paper is an attempt to bridge this gap. The empirical findings indicate that: 1) DT has a significant positive impact on corporate ESG performance, and 2) board gender diversity strengthens the positive impact of DT on ESG performance. This result diverges from previous research, which suggests that board gender diversity has a negative moderating effect between DT and ESG performance. This study challenges these previous findings and suggests instead that board gender diversity may enhance a firm’s ability to reap ESG benefits from DT.

In today’s economic and social environment, corporate strategy and management play a fundamental role in shaping businesses’ paths to success and sustainability (Meena et al., 2024). In a context characterized by rapid technological change, globalization, and growing societal expectations, companies are called upon to develop innovative and forward-looking approaches to address market challenges.

Building upon the upper echelons theory, this study investigates the effects of CEO characteristics—in terms of age, gender, and human capital (legal background, educational level, and industry expertise)—on CSR reporting assurance. Using a combination of GMM and logistic regression, it analyzes a sample of non‐financial Italian publicly listed companies. The results reveal that older CEOs, female CEOs, and those with higher educational level, a legal background, and prior experience in the firm's industry are more likely to engage in CSR reporting assurance. Consequently, our findings offer both academic and practical insights. This research contributes to the existing literature on the governance antecedents of CSR reporting, while addressing a gap in the Italian context, which has been underexplored. Furthermore, it holds implications for company decision‐making in the selection of CEOs, as well as for accounting firms and other certification bodies in evaluating how executive characteristics influence sustainability reporting assurance.

Purpose: The study aims to empirically examine the effect of board industry expertise on environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, and the mediating role of environmental innovation.Design/methodology/approach: Using an unbalanced sample of 341 publicly traded Italian non-financial firms and data collected from multiple sources over the period 2017–2021, this study applies single-mediator models via ordinary least squares regressions.Findings: Results indicate that directors’ industry expertise improves the corporate orientation toward sustainability strategy that is reflected in ESG objectives. This effect is partly mediated by a greater level of environmental innovation.Practical implications: The article suggests regulators to promote eco-innovation-friendly investment initiatives due to their value in advancing corporate sustainability strategies.Originality/value: The research fills a gap in the literature that has never explored the effect of board industry expertise on sustainability-related outcomes. Moreover, it advances the debate on the implications of board human capital by assessing its influence on ESG strategy and environmental innovation.

Purpose: This paper aims to verify which intangible assets attributable to intellectual capital (IC) influence the anti-cyclical nature and the resilience of social enterprises (SEs) during systemic crises and whether these factors take on particular connotations in female-run SEs.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative methodology based on multiple case studies is used to answer the research questions. A set of SEs operating in the catering sector is analyzed. The analysis is carried out by in-depth interviews with male and female managers of SEs to understand which resilience IC factors were most activated during full emergency and recovery stages.Findings: The results confirm the anti-cyclical nature of SEs and their resilience to systemic crises. No distinct differences emerge between female and male SEs. Concerning the IC, relational capital (RC) is the most relevant intangible asset for small and medium-sized SEs. Internal and external relations support them during the crisis and the consolidation of trusted ties, formal and informal, external and internal, favor the Recovery. The RC is a crucial resource even in bigger SEs, but some differences are detected concerning the smaller ones. In the smaller SEs, informal relations prevail, while formal relations prevail in the larger ones, particularly with institutions. Furthermore, the RC is the sole or primary resource in the smaller SEs, while the bigger SEs can count on more varied intangible resources.Originality/value: This study offers an original contribution to studies on IC by focusing on the factors little analyzed by existing studies: (1) SE management, (2) the contribution of IC to the resilience of non-profit-oriented enterprises and (3) the search for elements of differentiation between SEs with male and female leadership.

The digitalization of processes in healthcare sector firms is expected to reduce costs, improve the quality of healthcare service, customer care experience, and patient safety, and attain efficiency and efficacy in project implementation. This research investigates the impact of digitalization on the financial performance of healthcare-sector firms in the European Union. The study also examines whether a firm’s intellectual capital efficiency mediates the process of digitalization’s impact on a firm’s financial performance. Using a sample of 965 firm observations from 2017 to 2021, we find that digitalization positively affects financial performance. Further analysis suggests that capital-employed efficiency fully mediates the relationship between digitalization and firm performance. Partial mediation is also reported for intellectual capital efficiency, human capital efficiency, and structural capital efficiency in the process of digitalization impacting firm performance. These findings provide fresh insight into how digitalization impacts a firm’s financial performance, establishing intellectual capital efficiency as a mediating mechanism that may explain this impact.