Pär Åhlström

Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, is widely expected to transform organizations, yet effective adoption and use remain challenging. Although organizations recognize AI’s potential, capability gaps and unintended employee-level consequences persist. Despite rapid growth, management research on AI in organizations is fragmented across domains, levels of analysis, and assumptions. This article presents a systematic literature review of 458 peer-reviewed business and management studies published between 1991 and 2025. Adopting a longitudinal and integrative perspective, we expose implicit assumptions about AI, clarify core constructs by distinguishing analytically distinct domains (e.g. development, adoption, use, and impact), and establish field-level boundary conditions. The review reveals a heterogeneous and unevenly developed research landscape and offers a framework and methodological approach to guide cumulative and coherent future research.

Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions constitute 75-90% of firms' total carbon footprints yet present a governance paradox: firms are held accountable for emissions they do not directly control. Environmental supply chain management (ESCM) practices represent the primary instruments for extending environmental governance beyond organizational boundaries. Yet despite widespread adoption, aggregate Scope 3 emissions continue rising, suggesting that how practices combine matters more than whether firms adopt them. Prior research examines practices in isolation, neglecting configurational interdependencies. This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on panel data comprising 239 firm-year observations from U.S. manufacturing firms (2018-2024). Eight ESCM practices serve as conditions; year-over-year change in Scope 3 emission intensity serves as the outcome. Results reveal five distinct upstream and three downstream configurational pathways to emission reduction, confirming equifinality. Monitoring appears in all successful configurations; commitment and management systems function as near-core elements. Upstream pathways exhibit higher enforcement intensity, while downstream pathways rely on collaborative mechanisms, consistent with power-based governance differentiation. Temporal analysis reveals consolidation from diverse experimentation (2019-2020) toward convergent configurations (2023-2024). This study contributes to sustainable supply chain management by demonstrating that ESCM effectiveness derives from configurational complementarity rather than additive accumulation.

Purpose This study addresses the inconsistent evidence on whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) hinders or enhances performance. Drawing on the practice-based view (PBV) and the competitive progression theory (CPT), we argue that this inconsistency stems from how firms approach sustainability, prioritizing ESG reporting over the operational foundation for ESG integration. We conceptualize this foundation as Operational Excellence (OE), a firm-wide commitment to excellence through the persistent adoption of multiple practices and theorize that OE results in ESG adoption and effectiveness. We also hypothesize about the mediating effect of OE-driven ESG adoption on performance. Design/methodology/approach. Using a longitudinal panel of 3,394 U.S. manufacturing firm-year observations (2010-2023), we apply System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to test the role of OE in ESG adoption and effectiveness. To capture the key elements of our OE conceptualization, we consider the breadth (number of practices) and persistence (the consistency of adoption over time). Several robustness tests are conducted to ascertain the findings. Findings OE facilitates sustainability engagement and the adoption of a broad range of ESG practices. It also enhances ESG effectiveness, as performance gains occur when ESG practices are grounded in prior OE. Results reveal a sequential pattern: firms first adopt OE practices, then ESG practices, leading to improved performance. This reflects temporal mediation, where OE influences performance through ESG practices. Originality/value We conceptualize OE as a firm-wide commitment to excellence that underpins ESG effectiveness-enabling ESG to improve performance by being fully integrated into core operations and aligned with other practices.

Manufacturing firms increasingly face pressure to integrate sustainability practices into their operations, yet research shows mixed findings regarding the performance implications of such integration. We argue that these inconsistent results stem from insufficient attention to how sustainability practices are positioned within firms’ operations, as a network of practices- specifically whether they function as core or peripheral practices. Drawing on organization theory and the practice-based view, we analyze longitudinal data from 65 U.S.-based public manufacturing firms (910 firm-year observations) from 2009 to 2022 to examine: (1) how sustainability practices transition between core and peripheral positions over time, and (2) how this positioning affects operational performance. Our findings reveal significant dynamism in how sustainability practices are positioned within firms’ operations networks, with practices shifting between core and peripheral positions rather than maintaining fixed positioning. Moreover, while core sustainability practices consistently drive positive performance outcomes through enhanced operational efficiency, peripheral practices show negative performance effects, likely due to implementation challenges and resource conflicts. Contrary to expectations, we find no evidence that peripheral practices complement core practices to enhance performance. These results advance the understanding of how the positioning of sustainability practices within operations’ network shape their performance implications while offering practical guidance for managers on effectively integrating them into their operations.

Motivated by inconclusive findings on the sustainability-performance relationship, this study focuses on the question of whether sustainability should be viewed as a financial burden or a firm performance catalyst. More specifically, this study aims to explore the crucial yet under-examined role of quality management in the sustainability-performance relationship. However, unlike previous studies that narrow their focus to only a subset of quality management practices subsumed under one banner, such as TQM or lean, this research advocates for the integration of multiple quality management practices to cultivate “quality management diligence”, namely, a rigorous and disciplined mindset to ensure that quality is integrated into every facet of a firm. Drawing on a panel of 1876 European firms with 16,901 firm-year observations over the period of 2003-2023, panel data regression is employed to empirically examine the effect of quality management diligence on sustainability and their subsequent impacts on firm performance. The empirical findings indicate a positive relationship between quality management diligence and the adoption of environmental/social sustainability practices and between the adoption of environmental/social sustainability practices and firm performance. Our results also confirm the mediating role of sustainability in the relationship between quality management diligence and firm performance.

This chapter concerns the research process - the sequence of activities that takes you from the start of a research project to publication. The focus is on a set of activities taking place in the early parts of the research process, before data are collected and analysed. The activities are generic and apply to all the different research approaches described in the remainder of the book. The first activity regards the importance of contributing to knowledge. To properly understand the research process, an understanding of its goal is necessary, which is to contribute to existing knowledge. The second activity is choosing a research topic, as any contribution to knowledge starts with finding a suitable research topic. The third activity is the literature review and various ways of using and misusing literature. The fourth activity is developing research questions, which are a fundamentally important part of any research process. The final activity regards some key considerations in choosing a research approach. In this the final part of the chapter three considerations in selecting a research approach are discussed: the achievement of methodological fit, the impact of the researcher's philosophical position and practical considerations.

Longitudinal field studies are in-depth studies of change processes. They are case studies studying a phenomenon over time and often involve real-time studies of organizational phenomena, with the researcher being present in the organization. Research questions often concern how organizational change emerge, develop, grow, or terminate over time. Before entering the field, a framework for data gathering is critical. Longitudinal field researchers rely heavily on participant observation. To avoid going native, the researcher regularly withdraws from the field back to the academic environment. Analysing longitudinal field data is a challenging task due to the large amounts of data. Central to data analysis is data reduction. It starts with the writing of a narrative of the process. The narrative is divided into basic units of information, using explicit decision rules. The third step is to code incidents. The incidents are finally sorted and recoded. Generation of theory starts while the researcher is still in the field. The starting point for building theory is the incidents, but the interest is in the mechanisms underlying them. The analysis requires identifying sequences and patterns in the events. The theory developed needs to be constantly compared with existing theory.

Drawing on the 'dynamic capabilities' perspective, this study empirically investigates whether, or not, and how agile manufacturing contributes to sustainable business performance, including economic, environmental, and social performance. Building on the notion that dynamic capabilities indirectly improve organisational performance through modifying a firm's resources/processes, we argue that agile manufacturing treated as a dynamic capability requires transformation to result in sustainable business performance. Therefore, we hypothesise the mediating effects of two transformational capabilities, namely internal learning, and reconfiguration capabilities, on the agile manufacturing-sustainable business performance relationship. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to explore the validity of the conceptual model and examine the hypotheses using survey data from 99 Italian manufacturers firms. The results show that internal learning fully mediates the relationship between agile manufacturing and economic performance and partially mediates the relationship between agile manufacturing and social performance. Also, the empirical findings indicate that reconfiguration fully mediates the relationship between agile manufacturing and economic/environmental performance and partially mediates the agile manufacturing-social performance relationship. Overall, both transformational capabilities are necessary to maximise the effects of agile manufacturing on sustainable performance.

From its manufacturing origin, the lean concept has been widely disseminated into services, including public services. The term “lean service” first appeared in Bowen and Youngdahl (1998) to describe how the tools and principles being derived in a manufacturing setting were applicable in a service context. There has since been an increase in the interest in lean service both in practice and in literature, with contributions now being published in top operations management journals (e.g., LaGanga, 2011).

PurposeLean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in theory. This paper presents and discusses different expert viewpoints on the role of theory in lean research and practice and provides guidelines for future research. Design/methodology/approach Seven experienced lean authors independently provide their views to the question "is Lean a theory?" before Rachna Shah summarizes the viewpoints and provides a holistic outlook for lean research. FindingsAuthors agree, disagree and sometimes agree to disagree. However, a close look reveals agreement on several key points. The paper concludes that Lean is not a theory but has plenty of theoretical underpinnings. Many lean-related theories provide promising opportunities for future research. Originality/value As researchers, we are asked to justify our research drawing on "theory," but what does that mean for a practice-driven phenomenon such as lean? This paper provides answers and directions for future research.