Much has been written about theory and practice in the law, and the tension between practitioners and theorists. Judges do not cite theoretical articles often; they rarely "apply" theories to particular cases. These arguments are not revisited. Instead the Essay explores the working and interaction of theory and practice, practitioners and theorists. The Essay starts with a story about solving a legal issue using our intellectual tools - theory, practice, and their progenies: experience and "gut." Next the Essay elaborates on the nature of theory, practice, experience and "gut." The third part of the Essay discusses theories that are helpful to practitioners and those that are less helpful. The Essay concludes that practitioners theorize, and theorists practice. They use these intellectual tools differently because the goals and orientations of theorists and practitioners, and the constraints under which they act, differ. Theory, practice, experience and "gut" help us think, remember, decide and create. They complement each other like the two sides of the same coin: distinct but inseparable.

Of Theory and Practice

The relationship between organizational culture, sustainability, and digitalization in SMEs: A systematic review

The pressure of globalization has raised social concerns related to the protection of the environment, forced companies to use sustainability as a strategic weapon to fulfill the legal obligations and achieve overall competitiveness. It is reported that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are globally responsible for approximately 70 percent of the industrial pollution, justifying urgent attention to the operations of these businesses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of sustainability orientation (SO) and supply chain (SC) integration implemented by SMEs on their sustainable procurement (SP) and design. Moreover, this study examines how SMEs’ SP and design affect their environmental and cost performance (CP).,The authors develop a comprehensive model to test the relationships among SC, SC integration, SP, sustainable design (SD), environmental performance (EP) and CP at the SMEs level. The authors investigate the relationships of the mentoned factors by a data set that is collected from 358 Indian manufacturing SMEs.,The results indicate that in the SMEs’ context: SO positively influences both SP and SD; external integration positively affects SP; internal integration positively affects SD; SP positively influences EP and has not impact on CP; and SD positively influences both EP and CP.,This study provides a broad view of the relation between driving factors that may direct SMEs toward a better sustainability performance and offers practical managerial insights into these important business entities.

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Sustainability orientation, supply chain integration, and SMEs performance: a causal analysis

Identifying critical factors for success in Cross Border Cooperation (CBC) development projects

The experiences of cross-border cooperation (CBC), undertaken not only in Europe but throughout the world, have enabled areas to gain greater importance in recent decades at an international level, showing potential for integrative functions and joint development as exemplified by several CBC projects. The present paper assesses the impact of CBC projects by analyzing a protocol established in 2013 between the cities of Elvas and Badajoz, which induced the creation of the Eurocity Elvas-Badajoz. The paper kicks off with a critical review on territorial factors for success in CBC areas, considering the analysis of several case studies throughout Europe. The lessons learned, taken from the analyzed case studies, and the identified territorial success factors were used as assessment points for the investigation of the target study area, the Eurocity ElvasBadajoz. The investigation explores public participation perceptions towards the identification of what changes with respect to standards of life with the CBC project, providing the current state of affairs and identifying where to place efforts in order to reach sustainable development for the region. While being a transition area, it presents several opportunities for growth. These opportunities have not yet been object of analysis and debate with respect to lasting, sustainable successful growth. The present research enables the identification of several territorial factors for success in the study area, such as the connectivity/movement between cities and strong political commitment. From the identified critical factors, it was possible to highlight the importance of public transportation as a priority for achieving success in this CBC project.

https://dehesa.unex.es:8443/bitstream/10662/9348/1/su9030360.pdf

Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) in Southern Europe—An Iberian Case Study. The Eurocity Elvas-Badajoz

The subject of the paper is the analysis and evaluation of cross-border entrepreneurship development opportunities on the basis of cross-border cooperation, which has gradually evolved from consisting of bilateral partnerships to a networking model or even a cluster. The study conducted at the Polish–Czech border area indicates that, in terms of the development of cross-border cooperation, the economic sphere is lagging far behind social activities such as culture, education and tourism. At the same time, Polish and Czech enterprises are not sufficiently mobilized to develop cross-border entrepreneurship, although a number of support instruments in this regard have been proposed. Sustainable development of the border should take into account both social and economic aspects. An important research problem therefore becomes determining the possibility of boosting the development of cross-border entrepreneurship on the basis of the existing forms of cross-border cooperation, including cooperation in the social sphere. The aim of this paper is to define the conditions and opportunities for the development of cluster cooperation in the area of cross-border entrepreneurship. The author has attempted to resolve whether the intensity of cross-border cooperation can be a factor which mobilizes companies to develop their cross-border entrepreneurship and whether cross-border entrepreneurship can be further developed within the cluster model.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/3/230/pdf

Opportunities for Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Development in a Cluster Model Exemplified by the Polish-Czech Border Region

Cross-border partnerships are a distinctive example of inter-organizational cooperation, embedded, in terms of territory, in the neighboring borderland regions of two or more countries. The aim of this paper is to identify factors that contribute to the sustainable cross-border cooperation and affect motivation to increase cooperation between cross-border partners. The objective implementation is connected with the verification of a hypothesis referring to the possible impact of the European Union funds on the trans-boundary cooperation transformations. Results of desk research and quantitative research involving IDI, CATI, CAWI and CATI and PAPI data collection methods, implemented in the Polish–Czech borderland in 2016 were used in this paper. Research on the Polish–Lithuanian borderland was also used in the paper to conduct comparative analysis, useful to identify and evaluate factors motivating sustainable cross-border cooperation in the Czech–Polish borderland. The sustainable, cross-border and inter-organizational cooperation in the borderlands results from the simultaneous interaction of three groups of factors: (1) people and institutions (the quality of interpersonal relationships); (2) cross-border planning, procedures and support mechanisms (e.g., the possibility of jointly planning the cross-border cooperation and obtaining EU funds for the development of the borderlands as well as the availability of other funds helpful in this kind of cooperation); and (3) environment (historical affinity and geographical proximity of neighboring border regions, system support at the regional and local level in neighboring countries).

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2226/pdf

The Analysis of the Determinants of Sustainable Cross-Border Cooperation and Recommendations on Its Harmonization

The aim of this paper is to examine the role and scope of the influence of leadership on the sustainable development of SMEs. Research methods included the theoretical analysis of scientific literature and a direct survey. The quantitative sample for analysis contained 138 managers, the representatives of companies (SMEs) located in Poland. The data was collected in November and December 2015.

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Sustainable Business Development Through Leadership in SMEs

In recent years, cooperation among nations has become a critical issue towards sustainable development of neighbor cities in border areas. In this regard, sustainable common planning approaches and policies are an increasing reality, particularly in European territories. Considering the significant amount of cross-border cooperation (CBC) projects and strategies within Europe, it is crucial to promote research approaches that are able to identify the most positive approaches towards the establishment of alliances in border territories, serving as pivotal methodologies for achieving success. Contextually, the present study considered direct and indirect research methods and tools, literature reviews, data collection, computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and computer-assisted web interview (CAWI), all applied over two European border cities: Cieszyn (Poland) and Cesky Tesin (Czech Republic). These methods enabled the assembly of perspectives of local authorities, public and private institutions, non-governmental organizations, and entrepreneurs from the cities under study. Through the analysis of the collected data, five conditions have been identified for the success of strategic alliances in CBC projects: (i) well defining the alliance goals; (ii) ensuring participation in the alliance of various groups of stakeholders; (iii) involvement of both partners with extensive experience in CBC; (iv) ensuring the coherence of the key objective; and (v) guaranteeing the alliance benefits both sides. These conditions might effectively contribute to achieve more successful outputs in CBC projects, highlighting the relevance of previously developed strategies on the definition of future approaches.

https://dehesa.unex.es/bitstream/10662/9861/1/su10051416.pdf

Sustainable Planning of Cross-Border Cooperation: A Strategy for Alliances in Border Cities

Cities have been designed according to their needs and challenges—i.e., structural, social, and technological advances. The city can be understood as a centre where our past, present, and future coexist. Furthermore, cities reflect the actual tendencies and directions, as exemplified by globalization and cross-border cooperation. Similarly, the creation of Eurocities in Iberian Peninsula territories can be an example how these processes can be implement and use the territories’ development, based on shared resources of neighbouring cities. Contextually, the paper addresses not only urban planning models as well as Eurocities case studies, but also projects of planning and territorial management within Iberian Territories—i.e., of the cross-border cooperation projects and strategies. Throughout the present research it was possible to understand the creation and genesis of Eurocities projects and strategies. Furthermore, the research was able to define a timeline of the process of urban and common planning carried out on the Iberian Peninsula, from the past to the present. Moreover, the study reveals the disadvantages or obstacles present during the Eurocities creation, as well as some interactions among planning methodologies, tools, and public policies and the Eurocities conception on the Iberian Peninsula.

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Joanna Kurowska-Pysz

Papers

Opportunities for Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Development in a Cluster Model Exemplified by the Polish-Czech Border Region

The Analysis of the Determinants of Sustainable Cross-Border Cooperation and Recommendations on Its Harmonization

Sustainable Business Development Through Leadership in SMEs

Sustainable Planning of Cross-Border Cooperation: A Strategy for Alliances in Border Cities

How to Reach the Eurocities? A Retrospective Review of the Evolution Dynamics of Urban Planning and Management on the Iberian Peninsula Territories