Previous research on digital transformation of Finance & Accounting is largely conceptual, lacking insights into financial specialists’ roles in adopting and implementing digital technologies. By employing Resource Orchestration Theory, this study examines digitalization’s impact on F&A functions through four case studies. Findings reveal diverse adoption strategies, evolving F&A processes, and data-driven decision-making. The results show that due to the adoption of digital technologies, the elusive boundaries of F&A functions have become opaque. This paper contributes to F&A functions literature and provides new knowledge on how to seize the opportunity arising from the more elusive boundaries of F&A within diverse organizations.

This research investigates how professional designers engage with sustainability in their practices, focusing on the early ideation phase. A comprehensive literature review identified gaps in existing tools and methods, highlighting a lack of practical guidance for addressing sustainability within organisational and societal contexts. Semi-structured interviews with design practitioners provided insights into the challenges designers face, including conflicting stakeholder priorities, greenwashing, and the need for alignment across diverse perspectives. A co-creation session further refined these insights, leading to the development of the Tactical Sustainability Cards—a tool designed to inspire sustainable thinking, guide decision-making, and foster collaboration. The Tactical Sustainability Cards were validated through expert feedback and iterative refinement, emphasising their utility in overcoming limitations of existing Design for Sustainability (DfS) tools, such as complexity and narrow focus. By providing actionable prompts and a shared language, the cards empower designers to navigate sustainability challenges, align stakeholders, and justify sustainable initiatives effectively. This research contributes to bridging the gap between sustainability theory and practice by offering a practical tool that integrates sustainability into design processes. The findings lay a foundation for future work exploring the broader applicability of the cards and elaborate on the potential for design to harmonise innovation and sustainability, addressing the environmental and societal challenges.

Household food waste plays a crucial role in the overall global food waste problem. A significant portion of this waste consists of edible leftovers that could be repurposed instead of discarded. However, leftover reuse remains an underexplored strategy for reducing food waste, despite its potential to contribute to more sustainable food consumption. By framing leftover reuse as a sufficiency-driven behavior, this study positions it as a key strategy for reducing food waste and fostering responsible consumption. Following a mixed method approach consisting of qualitative interviews, a survey and creative sessions with designers, this research explores the psychological factors that influence individuals' intentions to reuse food leftovers and provides practical design strategies to encourage leftover reuse. Based on a dataset of 244 households in the Netherlands, we use Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test a conceptual model grounded in psychological constructs, assessing factors influencing intention to reuse leftover food. The findings reveal that attitudes, and personal norms are significant factors in encouraging reuse of leftover food, while perceived health risks negatively affect attitudes towards reuse. Based on qualitative and quantitative insights, six evidence-based design strategies were developed to address both psychological motivators and practical challenges. The results contribute to the literature and practice by highlighting the psychological determinants of food leftover reuse and proposing interventions to foster sustainable food consumption practices.

Acting in a dynamic market, organizations experience global competition, face Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements, they must keep pace with rapid technological developments, and be resilient to handle geopolitical turbulence. To maintain their competitive position in the market, organizations use Global Business Services (GBS), which includes Shared Service Centers (SSC), to respond to customer demands adequately. GBS is considered to be a complex model, and various factors need to be orchestrated continuously to ensure proposed benefits. However, it is unknown which factors affect the implementation of GBS from a holistic perspective. Importantly, it is assumed that digital technologies may overcome GBS implementation challenges. Based on an international study, the authors identified six factors that form a part of an organization’s GBS orchestration capability, namely: plural sourcing strategy, business services portfolio, customer orientation, modularized business processes, information technology (standardization) and governance (decision rights). In addition, we find that various digital technologies are applied that overcome GBS implementation challenges. Our findings contribute to the effective implementation of GBS by practitioners.

This chapter addresses the positioning of business services from three different perspectives. First, we describe the increasing demand and rise of business services and corresponding delivery modes. Second, we address the growth and position of global business services and their multi-nature. Next, we address GBS implementation challenges specifically. Fourth, we describe the importance of digitalisation as a means to overcome global business services implementation challenges. Finally, we summarise this chapter by addressing the key findings on business services.

Purpose: This research paper aims to delve into the perceptions of health susceptibility among Iranian, Afghan and Tajik individuals hailing from asylum-seeking or refused asylum-seeking backgrounds currently residing in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted between May and October 2022 involving a sample size of 27 participants. An adapted framework based on the health belief model along with previous studies served as a guide for formulating interview questions. Findings: Notably influenced by cultural background, religious beliefs, psychological states and past traumatic experiences during migration journeys – before arrival in these countries till settling down – subjects’ perception of health concerns emerged significantly shaped. Additionally impacting perspectives were social standing, occupational status, personal/family medical history, lifestyle choices and dietary preferences nurtured over time, leading to varying degrees of influence upon individuals’ interpretation about their own wellness or illness. Practical implications: Insights garnered throughout the authors’ analysis hold paramount significance when it comes to developing targeted strategies catering culturally sensitive health-care provisions, alongside framing policies better aligned with primary care services tailored explicitly around singular demands posed by these specific communities dwelling within respective territories. Originality/value: This investigation represents one among few pioneering initiatives assessing perceptions regarding both physical and mental well-being within minority groups under examination across Nordic nations, unveiling complexities arising through intersecting factors like individual attributes mingling intricately with socio-cultural environments, thereby forming unique viewpoints towards health-care belief systems prevalent among such population segments.

This chapter describes the quantitative research that we conducted to examine the path relationships depicted in the conceptual research model (see Fig. 3.1). We employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique (Hair et al., 2016) to test the hypotheses and the relationships between the antecedents of business services portfolio. This approach seems to be appropriate for the research at hand. Overall, PLS-SEM offers a flexible and robust approach to test relationships and hypotheses, particularly in situations where sample size is small, and the conceptual model (see Fig. 3.1) is complex, and the research is exploratory or prediction-oriented.

Based on the empirical descriptive results of the four case studies, we relate our findings to the antecedents as described in Chap. 4. Our cross-case analysis comprises of four sections. First, we analyse the antecedents as used in our research model. In addition, we compare the cross-case findings with the outcomes of our fsQCA analysis in Chap. 5. Second, we discuss and show how we use Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT) as a theoretical lens to analyse and explain our findings. Third, we theorise on how enterprises may apply an ecosystem approach to orchestrate the studied antecedents in a coherent manner. Finally, we summarise our findings and provide cross-case study conclusions.

Purpose: Despite the considerable increase in research on entrepreneurship education, few studies examine the role of entrepreneurship educators. Similarly, most frameworks from entrepreneurship education recognize the educator’s importance in facilitating instruction and assessment, but the factors influencing the educator role are not well understood. According to the identity theory, personal factors including self-efficacy, job satisfaction and personal values influence the perspective of self, significance and anticipations that an individual in this role associates with it, determining their planning and actions. The stronger the role identity the more likely entrepreneurship educators will be in effectively developing their entrepreneurial skills as well as the overall learning experience of their students. The objective of this study is to pinpoint the factors that affect entrepreneurial role identity. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing upon the identity theory, this study developed a theoretical framework and carried out an empirical investigation involving a survey of 289 entrepreneurship educators across the globe. Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was applied to analyze and explore the factors that impact the identity of the educators in their role as entrepreneurship teachers. Findings: The findings show that the role identity of entrepreneurship educators is significantly influenced by their self-efficacy, job satisfaction and personal values. Among these factors, self-efficacy and job satisfaction have the most significant impacts on how educators perceive their role. The implications of these results and directions for future research are also discussed. Originality/value: The novelty of the current study is derived from its conceptualization of the antecedents of role perception among entrepreneurship educators. This study stands out as one of the earliest attempts to investigate the factors that shape an individual’s scene of self and professional identity as an entrepreneurship educator. The significance of comprehending the antecedents of role perception lies in the insights it can offer into how educators undertake and execute their role, and consequently, their effectiveness in teaching entrepreneurship.

In this chapter we discuss a global construction and building enterprise. The context of the case company will be outlined, and then we describe how the company established their Financial Shared Service Centre (FSSC). At the end of this chapter, the antecedents that are part of the research will be explored and elaborated, and the analyses of the findings and concluding remarks will be presented.

In the present chapter, our investigative focus shifts towards a nuanced exploration of the determinants shaping the orchestration of a business service portfolio by applying fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). This methodology is renowned for its capacity to elucidate complex causal configurations within complex systems. Our methodological rationale for adopting fsQCA resides in its inherent suitability for accommodating the intricacies inherent in our research objectives. This allows us to create a deeper understanding and comprehension of the conditional interplays driving business service portfolio orchestration.

The pervasive integration of digital platforms into daily life has amplified their perceived indispensability. This study investigates the factors influencing this perception across countries with contrasting platform landscapes, focusing on platform quality and usage patterns. We conducted surveys in Finland and Korea, countries representing distinct platform ecosystems. The results revealed higher perceived indispensability in Korea than in Finland, with usefulness and habitual platform use emerging as significant predictors of indispensability in both countries. However, the specific aspects of platform quality influencing this perception diverged. In Finland, the platform’s comprehensiveness and security risk significantly impacted indispensability, while social interaction features played a negligible role. Conversely, in Korea, social interaction features significantly influenced indispensability, while platform comprehensiveness and security risk were non-significant. These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of digital platform indispensability, shaped by the interaction of platform quality and usage patterns. The contextual variations highlighted by our cross-country comparison suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to platform regulation or user education may be ineffective. Future research should explore these cultural and platform-specific nuances to devise tailored policies.

In this chapter we describe the second case study, which is a global operating employment agency. We first outline the context of the employment agency. Next, we describe how the agency established their Financial Shared Service Centre (FSSC). Then, the antecedents that are part of our research will be elaborated. As a final step, the analyses of the findings and concluding remarks will be presented.

In this chapter, we describe the fourth case study, which is a global operating service provider specialised in financial services. We first sketch out the context of the service provider, and next, describe how they established the delivery of financial business services (FSSC). Then, we elaborate on the antecedents that are part of our research. As a final step, we analyse the findings and summarise our conclusions.

In this book, we introduced four objectives to explore which antecedents form a part of an enterprise orchestration capability that aims at integrating internal and external resources. We theoretically developed and empirically validated a business services portfolio model and its corresponding antecedents. More specifically, we demonstrated how digitalisation may overcome business services implementation barriers. Overall, we focus on digitalised Global Business Services (GBSs) in the context of a plural sourcing strategy and provided evidence how an enterprise ecosystem approach may decrease GBS implementation challenges. In doing so, we operationalised our definition as described in the introduction “An enterprise ecosystem is a socio-technical environment in which individuals within organisational units, which are supported by digital interactions, collaborate in co-creating, implementing and orchestrating GBSs in order to create business value”.

This chapter describes the first case study, which is a logistic service provider in Europe. First the context of the logistic service provider will be outlined, and next we describe how they established a Financial Shared Service Centre (FSSC). In addition, the antecedents, as discussed in Chap. 3, that impact an FSSC will be identified and presented. Subsequently, the findings are analysed, and a summary of the conclusions is presented.

Purpose: Students' satisfaction with e-learning outcomes is a vital component in determining the adoption of e-learning systems. Understanding the antecedent factors impacting students' satisfaction with e-learning outcomes helps decision-makers at the higher education to take the necessary actions to enhance the quality of students' performance, especially during the exceptional times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This paper aims to determine and analyse the antecedent factors influencing students' satisfaction with e-learning outcomes during the pandemic. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to analysis a proposed research model. Findings: The SEM results show that digital communities in e-learning, information technology (quality and accessibility) and the online course design quality directly influence students' satisfaction with e-learning outcomes. More interestingly, results show that the COVID-19-related factors (1) awareness of the COVID-19, (2) perceived challenges (negatively) and (3) the educational institutions' preparedness also influence e-learning outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The results suggest that the decision-makers at the educational institutions should consider adopting a blended learning system approach to deliver e-learning during the emergency, such as the COVID-19 outbreak situation. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies in higher education context, which seek to identify the antecedent factors that influence students' satisfaction with e-learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The choices that international students make regarding abroad study destination selection or leave the host country after graduation are influenced by a variety of factors that are both related to positive and negative aspects of the host country. Design/methodology/approach: This study builds on the push-pull factor theory and examines the factors that influence international students' decision to choose abroad study destination (Finland) or leave the country after their graduations. The data were collected through an online survey of 195 international students currently studying in Finland and were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. This method offers a flexible and robust approach to test relationships, particularly in situations where sample size and the conceptual model are small and complex. Findings: The results show that international students' choice of study destination (Finland) is influenced by the host country's quality of life, academic excellence and economic factors such as salary and benefits. Unfamiliarity with the culture and language barriers have a negative impact on their decisions to stay in the host country after graduation. Originality/value: By utilising a comprehensive analysis of both push and pull factors in relation to the host country, this study unveils a novel perspective in the field of international student mobility. The results provide insights to the institutional leaders and policymakers into how to attract and retain international students by focusing on the factors that matter most to international students. To attract more international students, higher education institutions (HEIs) should include career development activities, e.g. job fairs, language training, scholarships and internships in their curriculum. Moreover, it provides recommendations on how to create a welcoming and supportive environment that promotes academic excellence and career development.

Purpose: Due to high demand for international talents and skilful workforces, many countries around the world, especially the ageing populations are now looking for new ways and strategies to attract more international talent. Drawing on push-pull factor theory, integrated with theory of reasoned action (TRA), this research examines international students' intention to stay or to leave the host country after completion of the students' studies. Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual model has been proposed and evaluated aimed at understanding the factors that influence the decision-making of international students studying in Finland. Data were collected from a sample of 292 international students in Finland and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and examine the relationships between various constructs in the model. Findings: The SEM results show that several factors influence students' decision to stay or leave the host country after graduation. Aspects related to host country, institutional and economic factors and social influence (norms) directly impact students' attitude towards staying. In addition, attitude towards staying not only has a direct impact on the intention to stay, but also mediates the relationship between different pulling factors and students' intention to stay in the host country. Moreover, challenges and barriers (such as local language, challenge of finding employment and challenge of assimilating into the community or making friends) have a negative impact on the decision to stay in the host country. Originality/value: This study uses push-pull theory in the Finnish context, contributing to the growing body of literature on international education policies and practices. The findings highlight the need for a more holistic approach to supporting international students, one that considers the students' unique needs and experiences in the host country and provides the students with the necessary resources and support to succeed.

Purpose: To co-create value through dynamic collaborations, enterprises and their suppliers need to orchestrate the integration of complementary resources when providing business services. As such enterprises' strategic decision to apply a plural sourcing strategy to establish dynamic collaborations with their suppliers implies that both in-house and outsourced business services should be bundled into a business services portfolio. However, the antecedents that affect a business services portfolio have rarely conceptually been identified. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on resource orchestration theory, the authors theoretically developed and empirically validated a business services portfolio conceptual model. The model aims at explaining the critical antecedents to a business services portfolio based on a unique data set, comprising 121 international enterprises with variation in the degree of outsourcing, size, geographies and maturity. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationships among the antecedents and a business services portfolio. Findings: The findings show that the antecedent, i.e. plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation have a direct and significant effect on the enterprises' business services portfolio orchestration. The results of the mediation test indicate that modularised business processes fully mediate the relationships between three independent variables with the orchestration of business services portfolio. Originality/value: This study is the first to analyse the impact of plural sourcing strategy, modularised business processes and customer orientation on the business services portfolio orchestration from a plural sourcing context. Additionally, it examines the mediating role of modularised business processes in the relationship between the antecedents and business services portfolio orchestration.