This article examines the overseas corporate social responsibility (CSR) patterns of Chinese international contractors (CICs). Adopting an institutional and political economy approach, a unique dataset is constructed with country-specific contents drawn from CSR-related reports and website information of 50 top CICs. This dataset provides a foundation for systematic content analysis of CICs’ overseas CSR practices, revealing that both political legitimacy-seeking and strategic competitiveness-seeking motivations drive CICs’ CSR activities abroad, characterized by the prioritization of customer and community engagement. The findings highlight the coexistence of the exogenous pressures for the national image-building purpose and the endogenous awareness of CSR strategic importance for corporate internationalization. The hybridization of political and economic rationales is presented as the defining feature of CICs’ current overseas CSR patterns, with the balance between them being determined by stakeholder type and internal business needs influenced by corporate internationalization experience.

With the rising global consumer demand for green and healthy food, the tea industry is facing unprecedented competitive pressure. Therefore, how to build tea enterprises with sustainable competitiveness has become a key issue facing the industry. This paper firstly reviews the concept of traceability systems and their evolution and, based on the theory of enterprise competitive advantage, explores the influence mechanism of traceability as a strategic resource on the long-term competitiveness of tea enterprises; secondly, it analyzes the multi-dimensional role of traceability on enterprise competitiveness from five aspects, namely, quality and safety control and guarantee, brand image shaping and trust construction, market dynamics response and consumer feedback, risk response and product recall, as well as technological innovation and efficiency enhancement; finally, combined with the above analysis, this paper constructs a theoretical framework for the competitiveness of tea enterprises, integrates the impact of traceability in different dimensions, and proposes a multi-level competitiveness enhancement model. Through this framework, tea enterprises can more comprehensively understand and grasp the close relationship between traceability and the long-term competitive advantage of enterprises and then make strategic adjustments according to their own actual situation so as to realize sustainable competitiveness enhancement in the future market competition.

Working Capital Management (hereafter WCM) is the strategic tool that helps a company navigate through challenging economic growth, and influence its competitive performance. Thus, this study examines the impact of WCM on the competitiveness of firms operating in the non-financial sectors in Pakistan. We use the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique to ensure the robustness of our results. The study findings reveal that both a large net trade cycle and surplus working capital have a substantial negative impact on firms’ competitiveness within their respective industries. These results suggest that companies should streamline their investments in working capital accounts and concentrate more resources on long-term projects that maximize value to improve their competitiveness compared to other companies. Therefore, firms that are effectively managing their short-term financial affairs are experiencing much better performance in all aspects of firm performance. The research findings highlight the urgent need for governmental initiatives designed to improve WCM practices in these industries. It is imperative for the management of  companies with excess net working capital to maximize their working capital efficiency, aligning it with industry standards to enhance competitiveness. Moreover, policymakers should prioritize easing access to financial alternatives that allow enterprises to maintain an efficient working capital structure without relying on excessive measures. Furthermore, policymakers should be cautious when determining minimum cash balance requirements in a cash-strapped economy where external financing is relatively more expensive than in other regional economies.

The main objective of this study is to identify the impact of trust on the construction of corporate value in commerce and services microbusinesses. This work is based on identifying the challenges faced by SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), which are conditioned by the type of business and the regulatory and incentive variables that exist in the territory, affecting their permanence and stability in the market and their financial and commercial development. A local study is carried out in Bogotá, Colombia, through a descriptive research project, using a quantitative analysis method (SPSS) to process data obtained from local microbusinesses. As a result, it was observed that trust has a discrete impact on the creation of corporate value, which is created from the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technology). This leads to the recognition that it is necessary to strengthen horizontal networks with suppliers, clients, and similar businesses, as well as vertical networks with entities and public associations, to generate lasting and strong links that increase the competitiveness of these business units in the face of exogenous risks shaped by the social, economic, and cultural characteristics of the territory, which are increasingly conditioned to the use of communication technology.

Considering increasing concerns about climate change and its implications for global agricultural competitiveness and food security, a small text has assessed the sensitivity of agriculture competitiveness employing a composite scale to the climate change impacts. The world’s food production and supply chains have been jeopardized strain as the world struggles to cope with the far-reaching consequences of climate change, which are worsened by a series of natural disasters, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the continuous fight against infectious diseases like COVID-19. Natural disasters and armed conflicts are overstretching people’s capabilities to acquire nutritive foods at economical/reasonable prices, risking local and global food security and agricultural market competitiveness. The study develops a framework for global agricultural competitiveness assessment by conducting a Delphi Expert survey. The framework has served as a global benchmark for assessing and comparing the national and international agriculture landscape. Its implementation will significantly contribute to the development of policies that promote inclusive and sustainable agricultural practices. Through this action, it guarantees to substantially enhance worldwide food security, thereby effectively tackling the urgent issues that impact communities across the globe.