Sustainable Businesses Organisation & Digitalisation

Societal change is largely driven by organisations (businesses). Change for business is often driven by digitalisation. At the same time, today’s dynamic business environment requires businesses to be flexible, adaptive, efficient, and yet innovative. Businesses, thus, need to be agile. At BMO, we research what businesses need to be able to do to thrive.

What we offer

BMO commits to advancing knowledge in various organisational processes and their implications across diverse contexts and transformative business landscapes. Adding fundamental knowledge about organisational dynamics, we study structures and strategies of organisations, the emergence of novel forms of organising such as not-for-profit entities, and the role of organisations in value-based networks.

We analyze the transformative effects of emerging (digital) technologies on organisational structures, workflows, and employee roles. New technologies (e.g., AI) shape organisational practices and decision-making processes.

We explore how organisations reshape their resource base, restructure their internal organisation and modes of governance, and cultivate their human resources. We examine multilevel organisational processes, and explore how academia influences societal stakeholders, and vice versa.

Employing a diversity of qualitative and quantitative research methods, we do so with a view to understanding better how businesses can perform themselves, as well as contribute to a more sustainable society.

Key Publications

Annosi, M. C., Mattarelli, E., Dentoni, D., & Petruzzelli, A. M. (2024). The micro-foundations of ambidexterity for corporate social performance: a study on sustainability managers’ response to conflicting goals.Long range planning,57(1), 102412.

Annosi, M.C., Brunetta, F., (2021). How is digitalization affecting agri-food? Strategic and organizational research issues. London: Routledge.

Garst, J., Blok, V., Branzei, O., Jansen, L., & Omta, O. S. (2021). Toward a value-sensitive absorptive capacity framework: Navigating intervalue and intravalue conflicts to answer the societal call for health. Business & Society 60(6): 1349-1386.

Garst, J., Maas, K., & Suijs, J. (2022). Materiality assessment is an art, not a science: Selecting ESG topics for sustainability reports. California Management Review 65(1): 64-90.

Ayamga, M., Annosi, M.C., Kassahun, A., Dolfsma, W., & Tekinerdogan, B. (2024). Adaptive organizational responses to varied types of failures: Empirical insights from technology providers in Ghana. Technovation 129: 102887.

Bijman, J., & Höhler, J. (2023). Agricultural cooperatives and the transition to environmentally sustainable food systems. In: Handbook of Research on Cooperatives and Mutuals (pp. 313-332). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bijman, J., & Iliopoulos, C. (2014). Farmers’ Cooperatives in the EU: Policies, strategies and organization. . Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics 85(4): 497-508.

Wang, X., W. Dolfsma & J.D. van der Bij. (2020). Knowledge sharing in inter-organizational teams: The role of the advice network and the substitutive role of the formal network in an R&D alliance.Industry & Innovation27(10): 1160-1185.

De Wit-de Vries, E.; Dolfsma, W.; van der Windt, H. J., & Gerkema, M. P. (2019). Knowledge transfer in university–industry research partnerships: a review. Journal of Technology Transfer 44: 1236-1255.

Amiquero, K., Wubben, E., Van Dam, Y., and Trienekens, J. (2023). Success and failure factors in agricultural cooperatives. International Journal on Food System Dynamics 14(1): 1-21.

Bloem, V., & Salimi, N. (2023). Role of knowledge management processes within different stages of technological innovation: evidence from biotechnology SMEs. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 21(4), 822-836.

Weituschat, C. S., Pascucci, S., Materia, V.C., Tamas, P., de Jong, R., & Trienekens, J. (2022). Goal frames and sustainability transitions: how cognitive lock-ins can impede crop diversification. Sustainability Science 17(6): 2203-2219.