The mission of Business Horizons is to publish research that practitioners can understand to help them change their thoughts and actions. However, this mission remains an elusive ideal for many business school academics as they struggle to overcome the research-practice gap. To help scholars bridge this gap, we present social media as a boundary-spanning technology to be open to connecting with, learning from and working with academics and other stakeholders outside their field. Social media can be used as a boundary-spanning technology to help bridge the research-practice gap. To support this idea, we present a process model of five research activities--networking, framing, investigating, disseminating, and assessing--and describe how social media can make each activity more open. We present a framework of four social media-enabled open academic approaches--connector, observer, promoter, and influencer--and outline some do's and don'ts for engaging in each approach. We also discuss the potential dark side of openness through social media and offer some coping strategies. As per the mission and scope of Business Horizons, this article aims to help business academics rethink and change their practices so that our profession is more widely regarded for how our research positively impacts business practice and society in general.

Dolf van den Brink, CEO of HEINEKEN, left the company's global headquarters in Amsterdam for a company retreat. Over the next three days, the entire executive team would gather to discuss the company's future. The preliminary results for 2022, presented during the recent two-day Capital Markets Event, were positive, and the company's progress on its key strategic pillars painted an encouraging picture - a sign that HEINEKEN's EverGreen strategy was in full swing. However, rising prices and global inflation were expected to put pressure on operating costs and consumers' purchasing power. In addition, geopolitical and macroeconomic developments were threatening to create a post-pandemic world characterized by uncertainty and volatility. Finally, society was changing at a rapid pace, along with consumer and customer expectations. In June 2020, when van den Brink was appointed CEO at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was faced with a daunting task. Not only did he need to lead the company through an unprecedented crisis, he also had to future-proof the organization well beyond the end of the pandemic. In February 2021, after months of exchanges with over 200 colleagues around the world, van den Brink unveiled the company's new strategy, EverGreen. This multiyear plan was designed to turn HEINEKEN into a highly adaptive organization capable of thriving in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, while at the same time creating long-term sustainable value for stakeholders. The strategy was underpinned by HEINEKEN's analysis of its core strengths, emerging macro trends and perceived opportunities. As van den Brink made his way through the evening traffic, he thought about the upcoming company retreat, which he felt was coming at just the right moment. The team needed to reflect on EverGreen's implementation while deep-diving on key strategic initiatives that, if successfully implemented, would future-proof the company for years to come.

It was on Monday. 4 July 2022, when Swarovski's newly appointed, first-ever external CEO, Alexis Nasard, began his challenging journey of guiding the company back to a profitable growth trajectory. In past years, Swarovski experienced strong market growth and share gains from its well-established position in the costume jewelry segment. However, the company had started to face competition within the jewelry market and rampant digitalization trends threatened to weaken the company's stronghold on mid-range luxury jewelry and grand physical stores. In response, Robert Buchbauer, who had previously taken over the management of Swarovski as CEO in April 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, told a news agency at the company's headquarters, "We are forced to reimagine and rescale our entire Swarovski business." However, Buchbauer's vision for the company's growth was not well-received by Swarovski's family board members. Just 18 months after his appointment, he resigned from his role due to differences with the family. On Friday 22 July 2022, after just two weeks as Swarovski's newly appointed CEO, Nasard was reflecting on the journey ahead as he left the company's headquarters in Wattens, Austria. He knew he had important choices to make to get the company back on track. Building on the company's unique strengths and learning from the difficulties faced in the recent past, he pondered, which strategic initiatives should he prioritize to restore Swarovski back to its former glory?

In August 2019, Paraguayan sports journalist Edgar Cantero, correspondent for various international media outlets and digital channels specializing in football (soccer in the US), wondered which of the world's football coaches was most qualified to receive 'The Best' award, granted annually by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in various representative categories (coaches, players, goals etc.). FIFA had 209 affiliated national associations in 2019, so its annual awards were an event of global interest. The voting system was designed to ensure votes were as impartial and transparent as possible, with the way in which each participant voted later being made public on the FIFA website. The final three nominees were generally somewhat predictable, however, usually based on the winners of the world's most prestigious footballing trophies the previous year. Cantero was surprised and honored to be invited to represent Paraguay for the first time in the voting. In an industry where several professional generations with long careers co-exist, Cantero was part of a new generation of younger journalists, all in their early thirties, who were beginning to receive recognition in various countries for their coverage of major international tournaments, such as the World Cup in Russia 2018 and the 2019 Copa America. Cantero was pleased generational diversity was being considered, as it was a topic that generated passionate debate. He only had a couple of weeks to make his decision and cast his vote, although he did favor four of the top ten candidates in particular: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool FC coach), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham Hotspur) and Erik ten Hag (AFC Ajax). Cantero and his colleagues were aware of the media importance of the FIFA awards, which is why their decision was far from an obvious one.

Pink, White and Blue is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate courses in management, business ethics, organizational behavior, leadership, or human resources management. Students analyze a right versus right ethical dilemma, are introduced to challenges that transgender people might experience in organizations and discuss ethical and other justifications for DEI management. The case includes epilogue and update, which provide an opportunity to discuss broader organizational issues regarding whether and how organizations should expand DEI programs. The case encourages students to critically examine their personal beliefs, attitudes, and biases about historically marginalized people. Landon Wilson, a transgender male, was a U.S. Navy sailor on a special assignment with the Army in Afghanistan. He worked as a cryptologic technician-collection specialist (CTR) collecting and analyzing top-secret data and creating special intelligence and was recognized as an excellent performer. Wilson enlisted as a female and began transitioning from female to male less than a year later, at his Navy home-base. When a special Army assignment in Afghanistan provided the opportunity, Wilson presented male. When he arrived in Afghanistan, his teammates and Army leaders accepted him as male. He was in male barracks, and his leaders and colleagues referred to him with male pronouns. At the time, Department of Defense (DoD) policy prohibited transgender people from entering the Navy and a sailor could be discharged for physical or mental conditions, including gender and identity disorders. Thousands of transgender individuals, however, successfully served in the military during the ban. Wilson was performing well in the critical assignment in Afghanistan. But then, Wilson's mentor revealed Wilson's secret to his Navy home-base leader in the U.S. The Navy home-base leader called Wilson and urged him to "come out" to his leaders in Afghanistan. Wilson had to decide if he should follow his

Payton McGriff, founder of the nonprofit S H E (Style Her Empowered) must decide on a plan to meet S H E's goal of sponsoring one million girls in primary schools in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. The COVID pandemic has created a renewed sense of urgency for McGriff and her board. The specific decision McGriff must make is whether to continue to produce the innovative Dress that Grows in-house combined with the production and sale of fair-trade goods to fund operations or to outsource the production of school uniforms, relying on fundraising to generate the funds needed. Key to this decision is the fit with the multi-mission of S H E: 1. to educate girls, 2. to employ women, and 3. to practice environmental sustainability.

Entrepreneur Pau Bach, who has tetraplegia, built Batec Mobility with an inclusive business model in which profit and purpose are tightly integrated. A personal mobility device company, Batec was created by people with disabilities, employs people with disabilities, and that aims to revolutionize mobility for people in wheelchairs. In June of 2019, Bach is considering an offer to purchase his company. Accepting the offer is one of three available courses of action; he could also leverage the offer to speed negotiations with a pair of Spanish impact investors, or work to persuade his current investor to reinvest and sell for a higher price in the future. He must evaluate which course of action will best address his main goals: ensuring the continued growth of the business and its positive social impact, providing an acceptable exit to his current investor, and meeting his personal and family needs. Leading up to this moment, the case reviews the company's stages of development, the funding it has received, and the process Bach has undertaken to sell the company. In this way, students explore the opportunities and challenges of developing, funding, and selling an inclusive business.

Sara Ferrer launched Zoey Koko in 2017 with the idea of designing bath and body products for young girls and "tweens" (ages 5-12). From the start-up of her venture through the end of 2020, Ferrer had worked as a medical esthetician at a Boston spa as an independent contractor, developing Zoey Koko after work and on the weekends. Ferrer had persevered through a series of setbacks, but not without enduring a lot of stress. After three years of marginal financial performance and zero compensation for her hard work, she had reached a turning point at the end of 2020. Ferrer was unwilling and financially unable to go through another year like 2020. She was committed to deciding by the end of January 2021 whether to continue with Zoey Koko full-time or to wind down her company and pursue a full-time job.

The case features Dax Holding, Managing Director of Mungo Mill, Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape Province, South Africa, considering the decisions he needs to take to scale the business given the market demand for their products. He needs to find a way to resolve the apparent values conflict between a number of factors. Their family business was built around being environmentally conscious, sustainable and valuing the tradition of using antique weaving looms. Intrinsic to this, is the preservation of their traditional craft textile business. This may present a conflict when considering the need to achieve a higher volume of sales through digital distribution channels, which was regarded as an impersonal approach and requiring more efficient machinery.. Central to their distinctiveness as a business is their concern for the environment reflected in an ethos of transparency and eco-friendly production with a focus on organic sourcing of materials such as cotton and bamboo earning them the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification. These factors reflect a strong identity and values framework and also includes their commitment to the upliftment of their staff and the local community as evidenced in their "Move" program. As Dax considers various options for growing the business, his concerns revolve around continuing Mungo's growth trajectory whilst retaining their identity as an authentic, sustainable, quality, craft products business.

THE DRAX POWER STATION AND BIOMASS ENERGY case explores strategic decision making in the energy sector characterized by intensive government regulation and environmental sustainability concerns. The Drax facility was the largest electrical power plant in the United Kingdom, providing 7% of the country's electricity. It was also the largest coal-fired power producer - and therefore greenhouse gas emitter - in the UK. In response to governmental policy changes and rising concerns about climate change, Drax management began a conversion away from coal to a renewable source of energy, biomass and the plant quickly became the single largest biomass-powered facility in the country. The company was making expansive public claims that the plant was generating environmentally sustainable power, but the strategy was not without its critics. A growing set of experts were reconsidering the assertion that biomass was consistent with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These shifts in scientific understanding and potentially policy threatened the long-term viability of the Drax biomass conversion strategy.

In 2002, Dr. Michael Crow was appointed as the 16th president of Arizona State University (ASU) which, at the time, was known to be one of the biggest party schools in the United States (U.S.). Under his leadership, ASU transformed into the New America University. The New American University was designed to enhance access to education and deliver social impact. In 2016, ASU was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as being the most innovative university in the U.S. Despite recognition as an innovative academic institution, ASU's own University Technology Office (UTO) considered itself the place where good ideas went to die. Terms such as digital transformation were buzzwords, and the culture hearkened back to the technological ideals of the 1970s. The case presents the benefits of digital transformation to enhance the higher education experience. These same benefits apply to any organizational cultures seeking large-scale digital transformation. The case offers a front row view on how digital transformation unfolds in a large organization with users who demand unique functionalities. It offers a realistic discussion of the integrated role that leadership, strategic thinking, and technology play in a successful transformation.

Simon Roca, founder of Neovida, a social enterprise startup, was contemplating next steps in striving to fulfill the company's aspirational mission and vision. Neovida created cascara-based superfood products by upcycling what had traditionally been the wasted husks of coffee cherries. This upcycling reduced methane emissions and had the potential to provide an additional revenue stream for small-scale coffee farmers in developing countries. He imagined a future in which the Internet of Things (IOT), machine vision, and artificial intelligence (AI) would create transparency in his cascara supply chain and offer fair and rapid payment to small-scale farmers. Simon was beginning to realize that some compromises had to be made before Neovida could become the type of social enterprise that he envisioned. His two founding partners resigned, and Simon was working with attorneys to dissolve his original and start a new LLC under the name Neovida. One of his former cofounders let a batch of biodynamically grown organic cascara spoil at a farm in Chiapas, Mexico, so Simon had to resort to different suppliers that further distanced him from fulfilling the startup's social and environmental goals. With a loan of $22,000 to keep the company afloat for six months, what should Simon do next?

The case focuses on the evolution of Einride, a Swedish startup that provides supply chain logistics capacity as a service (CaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) through its Saga platform. Initially, it may seem that Einride is a manufacturer of unique cabless autonomous electric trucks. In fact, the company doesn't manufacture anything. It is a tech company that designs the different elements of a trucking freight and logistics ecosystem that includes autonomous electric trucks, trailers, charging stations, remote operator pods and a software platform that consists of multiple apps needed to manage and optimize a fleet of electric trucks.

Daniel Jones and Niki Lewis of Bext360 are struggling to persuade a potential corporate client to use their software as a service (SaaS) solution that focuses on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics. In a meeting with a big-box retailer, initial enthusiasm for the platform's capabilities, including measuring Scope 3 emissions, turned to caution when a senior corporate attorney raised concerns about legal liability. The deep transparency offered by the platform could expose the company to risks related to their suppliers' actions, leading the executives to postpone their decision. Jones and Lewis now face a paradox. Their technology offers in-depth ESG oversight, which companies should theoretically want. However, this transparency also introduces risks and responsibilities that potential clients may be hesitant to assume. The challenge lies in persuading clients to see the transformative potential of their ESG practices despite these risks.

This topical case covers the period from 2019 to 2022, when Prakash Arunkundrum, head of global operations and sustainability at Logitech, was focusing on reducing the company's carbon footprint. It recounts how he and his team gained internal support to embark on an ambitious carbon labeling initiative and created a transparent methodology to assess, validate and communicate the life cycle carbon value of Logitech's products. The case highlights Logitech's journey to becoming climate positive, based on four key pillars; 1) reducing carbon in its products, 2) transitioning to renewable energies, 3) restoring forests and supporting climate impacted communities, and 4) rethinking how to support and enable reuse. However, Prakash realized that the real hurdle would be gaining industry-wide adoption of carbon labeling by other companies and competitors in the tech sector. Logitech tried to garner support for Carbon Clarity by making its approach open source, by investing significant time and energy to raise awareness about the benefits of carbon labeling, and by holding discussions with interested companies, including competitors. Yet despite interest from other companies, they had not yet committed to supporting Carbon Clarity. Prakash was baffled as to why they would not commit and wondered how to make progress to drive sustainability.

Sunit Raj was the Vice President, Marketing of Schematic Software Company (SSC), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company. He was pondering how to preserve the company's growth momentum it had achieved over the last few years. In the third quarter of 2021, the company's valuation reached USD 25 billion, representing a year-over-year gain of 50%. Within 12 years of operation, it had over 50,000 employees worldwide and over 100,000 paying customers in more than 150 countries. Raj had to decide the company's future direction among new territories, buyer segments and product categories that would bring revenue and aid in sustaining its growth.

In December 2022, Juan Luciano, Chairman and CEO of agribusiness and nutrition giant ADM, considered the next phase of the historic company's future. Beginning in 2011 when he joined as COO and moving into his tenure as CEO in 2015, Luciano led a transformation of ADM from a commodities-focused trading company to a customer-centric solutions firm. Upon coming aboard at ADM, Luciano saw changes in the agribusiness industry that warranted pivots in ADM's business strategy to ensure long-term success. To shepherd the company through a changing industry, Luciano conceptualized three "strategic horizons"-general timeframes to pursue specific goals. The first horizon was aimed at getting ADM financially fit including raising ROIC above WACC and reducing CapEx. The second horizon was characterized by moving closer to customers through identifying global macro-trends and offering corresponding products and services to generate better margins. As part of the second horizon, ADM acquired flavor company and food and beverage solutions provider WILD Flavors which resulted in Luciano creating a Nutrition division that used rapid design-for-market capabilities to create complete product solutions for customers. As a leader, Luciano exhibited the traits of both a learner (e.g., seeking out a variety of perspectives before ultimately making key decisions himself) and a teacher (e.g., utilizing drawings, vivid analogies, and hands-on demonstrations). Luciano needed to define the company's next horizon. He knew his general goal was sustainable growth, but balancing profitability with innovation and pace of change with durability of change could prove challenging in the years to come.

Virgilio "V" Bento, CEO of Sword Health-a startup that provided virtual physical therapy to patients in self-insured firms via AI and sensor technology with supervision by a physical therapist with a doctorate-considered how to increase its U.S. market share. To do so, it could use lower-cost supervisors, such as health coaches; sell a direct-to-consumer product; or work with retailers, among other options. Sword Health's main competitor, the unicorn-valued Hinge Healthcare, had the first-mover advantage, but Sword had FDA clearance, a fuller stack of applications and higher-credentialed supervision. Sword and Hinge charged the same price to the client. How should Sword Health best optimize its business opportunities? This case is suitable both as a general business case for undergraduate and MBA students of any level with focus on strategy, entrepreneurship, digital health, artificial intelligence, muscular skeletal issues, the healthcare industry, and physical therapy.