Swedish multinational SMEs contribute to sustainable development goals (SDGs) by implementing various business processes and practices that are internal and external to the organization. However, research related to SDGs and business practices contributing to their implementation often focuses on large enterprises, whereas small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) receive limited attention. By addressing the scarce literature, this study investigates the barriers and enablers Swedish multinational SMEs face when contributing to SDGs through their operations. A qualitative, multicase study involving six multinational SMEs in Sweden was conducted using an abductive approach and thematic analysis. The findings revealed several barriers and enablers that SMEs face when implementing practices and processes to contribute to achieving the SDGs. Some factors, such as the alignment of objectives, company and owner incentives, assessment of implemented practices and processes, government incentives, knowledge and competence, time, collaboration, and partnerships, functioned as both barriers and enablers. However, some factors serve more as barriers rather than enablers. It includes adaptability, reporting, standardization, and tools. Meanwhile, certain factors primarily acted as enablers, including legislation, willingness to change, internal alignment, long-term perspective, and transparency. The results were compared with recent research, revealing similarities and discrepancies. The significant contribution of this study is that it provides a roadmap to SDG contribution organized in step-by-step actionable recommendations for policymakers and managers that can be efficiently applied to SMEs.

Purpose: Most often, consumers fall prey to the deceptive green practices of companies, which erode their trust. Using an integrative theoretical framework that combines signaling, attribution and cognitive dissonance theories, this study addresses the issue by examining how non-deception (ethical brand practices), perceived greenwashing concerns and brand nature experiences shape green brand trust and, in turn, influence consumers' purchase intentions. Furthermore, the study examines the mediating role of green brand trust between the independent and dependent variables as well as the moderating effects of non-deception and brand nature experiences on the relationship between perceived greenwashing concerns and green brand trust.

Design/methodology/approach: The collected data from 294 respondents was analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique with the help of SmartPLS 4.0 statistical software.

Findings: The findings indicate that non-deception and brand-nature experience positively influence green brand trust, but greenwashing concerns have a negative impact. Additionally, green brand trust acts as a full mediator. Furthermore, non-deceptive practices significantly influence the relationship between perceived greenwashing concerns and green brand trust, whereas the impact of brand-nature experiences on this relationship is insignificant.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the existing greenwashing literature by examining the mechanisms that alleviate the impact of perceived greenwashing. Thus, it emphasizes the importance of nature-based ads and ethical practices in trust-building.

Green products result from innovations aimed at designing products that cause less environmental harm, but they often come at a higher cost or are perceived as less effective. Therefore, there is a need to highlight the consumption values that trigger green product purchases. In our study, we conceptualize the consumer values, including social, conditional, and knowledge value, and investigate their effect on the green product purchase behavior among consumers in two developed countries. Our main contribution is that aside from looking at the direct impact of consumption values on purchasing behavior, we examine the mediating role of contextual factors that may strengthen or weaken this relationship. We consider the mediators such as environmental and health concerns, functional value, and social pressures. We compare how the mechanism underlying the interaction between consumption and green choices differs in masculine (USA) and feminine (Finland) countries. Our findings underscore the importance of integrating social and knowledge values into marketing strategies to foster green product adoption. Businesses should leverage advertising themes that resonate with customers' desire for social belonging and self-improvement.

Purpose

Against the background of sustainable finance, this study aims to address whether global asset management firms started transforming toward more environmentally friendly investment policies according to the Agenda for Sustainable Development launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors apply qualitative, explorative research methods through the development of the case study of BlackRock, Inc. (USA). Addressing sustainable finance, the authors compare the opposite to the editorial page (op-eds) communication strategy of BlackRock against real life for the period from 2015 until today.

Findings

The op-eds communication strategy by BlackRock is multi-faceted targeting to develop a leading sustainable reputation supported by fine-grained relationships to business and policy makers. This study empirically proves that there is a discrepancy between BlackRock’s op-eds communication contends concerning sustainable finance and the reality. Among others this study found that BlackRock still invests in fossils and increasingly launches passively managed funds with limited transparency standards in terms of sustainable finance.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to the corporate social responsibility literature focusing on fossil energy and sustainable finance. As BlackRock did not reply to the authors’ requests for conducting interviews, the authors rely on a broad range of secondary sources including material provided by non-governmental organizations. This study proposes that research should be amplified by further empirical studies among various sustainable finance stakeholders based on the research propositions the authors have developed as a result of this study.

Practical implications

This research provides empirical evidence for business executives and policy decision-makers involved in the energy industry, corporate ethics and global financial asset management.

Social implications

This study provides insights toward sustainable finance policies of BlackRock with corresponding outcomes related to global climate change and its impact on societies.

Originality/value

This study delivers empirical evidence on the energy transformation from fossils toward renewables against the background of sustainable finance strategies of large asset management enterprises such as BlackRock which is rare to find in the literature.

Aiming a cleaner production in course of fighting the ongoing global warming, solar photovoltaic (PV) together with wind and hydro energy, indicate the most important industry segments in the transformation from fossils to renewable energy sources. During the last two decades, the solar PV industry experienced decisive changes of its global business network configurations where Chinese firms comparatively have gained competitive advantages. According to the business network theory, inter-organizational relationships indicate important vehicles for exchanging valuable resources such as advanced technology and privileged market knowledge aiming to gain leading industry positions.

Based on a sample of globally leading solar PV manufacturers originated in Canada, China, Germany, South Korea, and the United States of America we conduct a detailed analysis and provide insights into solar PV industry upstream and downstream network dynamics examined for the period 2007–2023. We found that Chinese firms have focused more on upstream industry network relationships compared to their Western counterparts.

Thus, we emphasize on the importance of building competitive regional solar PV industry networks instead of relying only on government subsidies which often come along with rather short-term effects.

We study the process of value co-creation in physiotherapist-patient relationships and the underlying mechanisms of this process. We present the Googling Effect Model outlining the relationship between patients' pre-encounter online information search and their commitment to compliance in physiotherapy service exchange. We tested the model on a sample of physiotherapy service patients (n = 446) in the United States. We analyzed the collected responses using the partial least squares method, using SmartPLS 4.0. Our study contributes to the existing body of knowledge in several ways. We developed and tested the Googling Effect Model. Doing so adds to the healthcare literature on value co-creation in physiotherapy. The Googling Effect Model increases the predictive value of the Service-Dominant Logic as it outlines the mechanism underlying value co-creation in healthcare, including the role and importance of pre-encounter online information search in collaborative healthcare. Moreover, the findings illustrate how the underlying mechanism through which pre-encounter online information search affects commitment to compliance differs between men and women and different ethnic groups. These findings can be used to create an environment that increases service engagement and commitment to compliance by accounting for patients’ gender and ethnicity.

Firms in the past have based their marketing and promotion strategies on the assumption of infinite resources and zero environmental impact. With the growing importance of environmental costs associated with finite resources, firms need to revisit their marketing and promotion strategies. This study defines and conceptualizes horizontal/vertical individualism–collectivism (H/V I-C) cultural value orientations as antecedents of sustainable consumption. Drawing on H/V I-C value orientations, this study attempts to build a sustainable consumption model to better understand how horizontal/vertical individualism–collectivism cultural values are reflected in consumers’ sustainable consumption motives and how they can be translated into persuasive advertising appeals tailored to specific cultural segments. This study contributes to provide new theoretical and managerial insights into understanding culturally relevant sustainable consumption motives and to establish appropriate strategies of sustainable consumption promotion in cross-cultural contexts. Most importantly, this study provides implications to companies for balancing more carefully their growth goals with the need to pursue sustainability across different cultures.

In light of an ongoing climate change and an increasing fragility of fossil energy supply due to global political tensions, the adoption of renewable energy sources is of utmost importance for economic and social prosperity. This study targets to endeavor major value chain configurations within the global wind power industry network based on a data set of 326 relationships established by the 10 globally leading wind turbine firms covering a time span of 15 years. We discuss the demand side and provide an overview of the main wind power investment target countries and compare the importance of different regions. On the supply side, we analyze and identify eight important firm clusters within the global wind power business network. Concerning our sample, we elaborate horizontal and vertical relationship links, their collaboration patterns, regional partner preferences, and their value chain competences, thus providing valuable insights into the competitive structures of the wind power industry. By doing so, we open the debate on appropriate and efficient firm strategies within renewable industries. As consequence, we provide robust empirical evidence on global wind power industry architectures and corresponding competitive firm forces for the future. As we found that the industry is currently divided into eight main global industry clusters, our study delivers valuable industry network insights addressing managerial, political, and socioeconomic decision makers in order to secure future ecological and economic prosperity in a challenging world.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the US-based (American) physiotherapy customers’ goals to engage in value cocreation activities during their well-being experience. Design/methodology/approach: The authors perform Smart PLS-SEM analysis of the primary data of physiotherapy service customers in the USA. Findings: The findings show that the US well-being customer engages in physiotherapy for individualizing, empowering, development, concerted and ethical motives but not for relating motives. These findings are contrasted with previous research to show that the service-dominant logic is not sufficient to account for the contextual complexity of the well-being experience and to explain the identified differences across culturally different customer segments. Research limitations/implications: By integrating insights from health-care and cross-cultural literature, the authors highlight the importance of relationship dynamics, culture and institutional context in well-being sector and develop a more comprehensive understanding of the cocreation behaviors in this industry. This helps advance the value cocreation research in well-being sector and promote the well-being experiences such as physiotherapy. Originality/value: The authors draw from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and challenge the service-dominant (S-D) logic as insufficient in explaining the value cocreation between the customer and expert in the well-being sector. The authors adapt physician–patient relationship model from health-care literature and cultural values of power distance from cross-cultural literature to complement the S-D logic to account for the complexity and nuanced context of the well-being cocreation experience.