Download or read book Towards Success in a Competitive Market The Importance of Entrepreneurship and Innovation written by Marcin Gębarowski and published by Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science. This book was released on 2019 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nine papers published in this issue of the Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation point to various problems which are important for effective management in a turbulent and dynamically changing contemporary market. The authors of the articles come from universities in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, Taiwan and Ukraine. The scientists present current and original views on issues related to: research & development expenditure and innovation levels in EU countries; the role of innovative entrepreneurship in economic development; the competitiveness of small innovative companies; social networking in family businesses; the connections between socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage of family firms; agrirural entrepreneurial alertness; the assessment of human resources` interactions; the impact of seasonality on employment in tourism; and socio-economic clients’ requirements for food packaging. However, regardless of the subject matter, all the papers indicate an organizational framework and solutions for achieving success in a competitive market. The first article, by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, addresses R&D expenditure and innovations in the EU, which are the foundations for competitiveness in contemporary economies. The author focuses on the following three essential questions: How much is spent on R&D? How many patentable inventions are filed and succeed, and how many other ideas lead to innovations? Is it possible to imply a potential relationship and what are the trends? The described study entailed secondary data while exploring hard data sources, such as Eurostat and the European Patent Office databases, official or legislative documents, such as Europe 2020, and the academic literature. Furthermore, the author used direct observations, field search and her own experience, gained over 20 years by participating in many patent applications and other instruments protecting future innovations. Answering the questions, it was found that: the 3% threshold will not be met in the larger part of the EU, the number of patent applications and granted patents keep growing along with digitalization, and the possibility of a relationship between these factors and trends exists but is not conclusive or dramatically strong. The research challenge, taken by Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, requires an appreciation that, as she notes, “one of the limitations of the study was caused by the intangible, ephemeral and hardly predictable nature of innovations, and the impossibility to collect and mathematically process all the involved phenomena.” The second paper, written by Rodica Crudu, refers to the importance of entrepreneurship in driving innovation, economic growth and welfare, as well as job creation, and draws attention to the fact that innovation is seen as a driving force in the economic development of nations. Since innovative entrepreneurship has begun to be considered a key factor in modern economic development, finding a prominent place at the core of the European Union’s development strategy – Europe 2020, the author aims to analyse the role of innovative entrepreneurship in the economic development of EU member states by testing a model that captures new or young innovative firms as manifestations of innovative entrepreneurship along with determinants of economic growth rates. The key findings of the paper show that innovative entrepreneurs are more often present in countries with higher development levels and higher incomes, being motivated by the improvement opportunity they see in becoming entrepreneurs. However, a higher degree of entrepreneurship, especially in the creation of new firms, does not substantially contribute to accelerated economic development. This is explained by the variation in the motivation (necessity or improvement-oriented) of entrepreneurs across EU countries. In developed countries, entrepreneurs are most likely to be of Schumpeterian type, while in developing countries most of them are shopkeepers. The presented paper has significant practical implications for decision and policy-making authorities in terms of the possible directions of innovative entrepreneurship policy development, including friendlier and more efficient policies aimed at the creation of new firms and the development of SME-supporting tools. Edward Stawasz, whose paper is based on the results of conducted research, carried out an analysis and evaluation of the importance of selected determinants of competitiveness of small innovative enterprises operating in international markets and using business advice services. The first part of this article is a comprehensive literature review concerning the identification of determinants of competitiveness of small enterprises and the characteristics of motives for using, as well as the areas and effects of using, business advice. The second part of the article presents an analysis of the results of a survey conducted among 67 small, innovative enterprises operating in international markets and at the same time using business advice services, carried out with the use of the CATI method. The conducted analysis has shown that the use of business advice extends the scope of determinants of competitiveness of enterprises operating in international markets. Business advice can be considered an effective factor in improving the competitiveness of enterprises already characterized by high competitiveness, which means that a high level of competitiveness favors the effectiveness of the use of business advice. An important conclusion reached by the author is the existence of a positive relationship between business advice and enterprises’ capacity to absorb business knowledge. Therefore, improving the competitiveness of enterprises requires using business advice and improving the business knowledge absorptive capacity. The focus of the next article, written by Kenneth Chukwujioke Agbim, is the conceptual considerations regarding social networking and family businesses, presented in a review of the contribution of social networking to the financial and non-financial performance of family businesses. Based on an analysis of 55 peer-reviewed, published journal articles, the author identified the most frequently used social networking platforms, the measures of financial performance, the measures and proxies of non-financial performance, and the differences between the financial and non-financial performance. The study proposes the use of both financial and non-financial measures in assessing the performance of family businesses due to their complementary roles. Therefore, the presented research contributes to the family business literature by highlighting the importance of combining financial and non-financial measures in assessing family business performance, indicating that due to the specificity of a family business, its performance should be assessed in such a joint manner. The research topic of the fifth article, by Katarzyna Bratnicka-Myśliwiec and Martyna Wronka-Pośpiech, is socioemotional wealth in the context of competitive advantages of family businesses. These authors argue that socioemotional wealth may trigger or limit family firms’ strategic initiatives that ultimately shape their competitive advantage. The basic assumption is that, unlike non-family firms, family businesses have some unique qualities that should be considered. The research was conducted in almost two hundred firms through a telephone survey. The obtained results reveal that, indeed, socioemotional wealth and competitive advantage are partially associated, and socioemotional wealth can be regarded as an important strategic antecedent to firm performance. Therefore, the first main theoretical implication is the emphasis on the importance of socioemotional wealth as a strategic resource. The second main conclusion is the recommendation that socioemotional wealth is a relevant determinant of competitive advantage. Family businesses rely on more complex social dynamics than the dynamics of a pure market, where the informal sphere is critical for current functioning. Moreover, the connections between family business attributes and firm performance are by no means easy to understand. Consequently, this paper makes a significant contribution to the scientific literature. In the next article Chaoyun Liang presents research on agrirural entrepreneurship and the results of a series of three studies conducted to develop a measure of entrepreneurial alertness in the agrirural environment which is empirically valid, easy to use, and can analyze how the personality traits of agrirural entrepreneurs affect their entrepreneurial alertness. The results indicate that both extraversion and openness affect all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness, whereas conscientiousness only influences scanning and searching, and agreeableness has an impact solely on evaluation and judgment. The presented findings also demonstrate the interactive relationships between extraversion and openness for all of the dimensions of entrepreneurial alertness. The research provides a new understanding of how agrirural entrepreneurial alertness can be assessed more practically and how personality traits can help predict various dimensions of agrirural entrepreneurial alertness. The author states that, due to the fact that agriculture remains the basis of socioeconomic development, governments worldwide are actively formulating relevant policies to aid in the restructuring and upscaling of their agricultural industries. Thus, providing essential guidance in agricultural entrepreneurship for diversifying rural regions should be their central concern. Therefore, recognizing and interpreting opportunities are the most crucial abilities that should be fostered in developing agrirural entrepreneurship. The seventh paper is devoted to the subject of human resources, in particular interactions. The author of this text is Anna Pereverzieva, who indicates that there is a need to develop a methodological approach to the assessment of united communities` human resources` level of interactions. Hence, in light of the gap in the scientific literature, she tries to determine such an approach. The author’s work is based on the example of a united community and a structural unit and, in addition, considers two determinants of human resources` interactions – the group size and the nature of labor. As a tool of the empirical study, the author used expert assessment and the application of certain mathematical dependencies that allowed the coefficient of interactions to be determined. It transpired that small groups with intellectual labor have higher levels of interactions than large groups with a predominance of manual labor. It is worth noting that the proposition of a methodical approach is universal and might be used by both communities and business entities. Moreover, an additional advantage of the study is the proposal of a 4-stage procedure for assessing the level of human resources` interactions. The eighth paper, written by Aleksandra Grobelna and Katarzyna Skrzeszewska, connects tourism seasonality with employment in the travel and tourism sector. The issue, raised by these authors, is a current and important topic, since nowadays seasonality plays a decisive role in creating demand in the tourist industry. The problem is investigated from the perspective of tourism and hospitality students of higher educational institutions located in the northern part of Poland (Southern Baltic Sea Region). The main point of the authors’ interest was the students’ attitudes towards seasonality in tourism employment and its impact on students’ tourism employment aspirations. As a research method, a direct questionnaire was used and the obtained data were analyzed statistically. According to one of the conclusions, more students agree that seasonality contributes positively rather than negatively to tourism employment. The authors indicate that the depicted results of the research study can be of substantial importance to managers in the industry, which suffers from low employment status and experiences chronic shortages of skilled and well-qualified employees. The last article by Agnieszka Cholewa-Wójcik, Agnieszka Kawecka, Carlo Ingrao and Valentina Siracusa presents interesting results of research on the requirements for packaging to answer contemporary consumers’ needs. The study represents a holistic approach to the topic. The authors conducted a survey among clients of shopping malls in the Małopolska region of Poland. Analysis of the obtained data indicated the following order of priority of consumers’ needs: ensuring safety, meeting legal regulations, wants related to lifestyle, improving consumers’ life quality through added value, and protection of the environment. Furthermore, the team of authors proposed the model packaging. According to them, modern food packaging should be characterized by health (safety), simplicity (reduction, convenience), identity (belonging), aesthetics (design), and meaning (sustainability, intelligence). These conclusions have a managerial dimension because they might be valuable premises for developing packaging and introducing innovative solutions in this area. The paper confirms that both the design of food packaging systems and the production of such kinds of packaging should be developed after giving due consideration not only to the technical requirements but also to the socio-economic and the environmental ones. As the editors of this issue, we would like to thank all the authors for their contribution, and for sharing their own theoretical considerations and the results of empirical research. We are convinced that the presented studies constitute a valuable contribution to management sciences in the area of effective organizational management in a turbulent environment. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their efforts in reviewing the articles for this issue, as well as their valuable comments and suggestions that have influenced its final shape. We hope that the articles presented in this issue will interest readers, scientists and researchers from around the world, in addition to inspiring them to conduct further research on the topics discussed.

Download or read book Towards Success in a Competitive Market written by Marcin Gębarowski and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Entrepreneurship and Economic Development written by Wim Naudé and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-12-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading international scholars provide a timely reconsideration of how and why entrepreneurship matters for economic development, particularly in emerging and developing economies. The book critically dissects the evolving relationship between entrepreneurs and the state.

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Creativity Innovation and Entrepreneurship written by Christina Ellen Shalley and published by Oxford Library of Psychology. This book was released on 2015 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Creativity can be viewed as the first stage of the overall innovation process, an important dimension of the entrepreneurship and new venture creation processes, and as such, it is considered to be a cornerstone of organizational competitiveness in this global, knowledge-based economy. Research on creativity has increasingly become multilevel, with most work conducted at the individual or team level of analysis. At the same time, there is a large body of research being conducted at the organizational level of analysis on innovation, and there has been a significant amount of entrepreneurship research at the individual level, with an increasing focus on organizational entrepreneurship. However, these three research streams have developed independently, and there has been very little knowledge transfer between the three areas. Because entrepreneurship is often said to be a process that is required to convert innovation into business ventures that will deliver benefits to stakeholders, it is typically driven by an individual or small group of individuals. Creativity research, innovation research, and entrepreneurship research have the potential to inform each other, enriching our knowledge of each area, particularly with regard to the cognitive processes and behaviors that are most effective. This Handbook includes contributions from the leading scholars in these three research areas, who integrate contemporary research findings on organizational creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and provide fruitful new research directions."

Download or read book Entrepreneurial Innovation for Securing Long Term Growth in a Short Term Economy written by Gamez-Gutierrez, Jorge and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2021-03-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fundamental process for a company to achieve stable growth levels over time in a highly competitive economy is the ability to improve, adapt, and overcome a variety of challenges, whether they be internally or externally based. Therefore, being capable of understanding how any operational changes or improvements impact consumers must likewise be taken into consideration. Entrepreneurial Innovation for Securing Long-Term Growth in a Short-Term Economy is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of corporate decision making on the overall success of a company in the long term. While highlighting topics including organizational values, trust management, and social entrepreneurship, this book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, executives, business consultants, researchers, industry professionals, and students who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of entrepreneurial innovation at different levels defined by globalized markets inserted into the information and knowledge society.

Download or read book Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Part II My Firm written by Patri K. Venuvinod and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2011-11-06 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent times, Technology (T), Innovation (I) and Entrepreneurship (E) have become matters of critical importance to the economic and competitive success of nations, firms, and startups. Yet a depressingly large number of people-politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, engineers, academics-are still locked up in the 'isms' and managerial mindsets of the last century. One reason is the paucity of academic books addressing TIE issues in a manner empathetic to the concerns of developed as well as developing societies. This book is the second part of a new textbook trilogy that seeks to fill this gap. A special feature is the inclusion of comparative insights derived by the author during his academic pursuits in India, the UK, Hong Kong/China, and the USA. Part I had examined TIE interactions from the perspectives of the world and nation-building. Part II (this book) focuses on issues of importance to individual firms. Part III will adopt the perspective of a startup.

Download or read book Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth written by David B. Audretsch and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-04-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By serving as a conduit for knowledge spillovers, entrepreneurship is the missing link between investments in new knowledge and economic growth. The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship provides not just an explanation of why entrepreneurship has become more prevalent as the factor of knowledge has emerged as a crucial source for comparative advantage, but also why entrepreneurship plays a vital role in generating economic growth. Entrepreneurship is an important mechanism permeating the knowledge filter to facilitate the spill over of knowledge and ultimately generate economic growth.

Download or read book Innovation and Entrepreneurship written by Elias G. Carayannis and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to meet the needs of education and training in modern techniques of innovation and entrepreneurship, and focuses on the detailed presentation of successful business practices. As today's global economic landscape is changing rapidly, the ability of businesses to introduce new products and services to the market faster than their competitors is perhaps their most distinct competitive advantage. This becomes obvious by the significant market share that the most innovative companies gain while increasing profitability. Extensive research in this field has demonstrated that companies that are constantly innovating normally double their profits compared to others. Moreover, establishing successful practices and policies of innovation management, through which ideas evolve from conception through evaluation to implementation and commercialization, become the basis for economic growth at the firm, industry, national, regional, and global levels. Taking Greece as an example, this volume identifies systemic weaknesses in development of new products, risk capital, patenting, broadband penetration, lifelong training, investment in research on the part of firms, high-tech exports, and employment in medium-high-technology manufacturing that place the country at the bottom of the European Union in economic performance and threaten its potential to achieve sustainable growth. To address these weaknesses in Greece and similar countries around the world, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the principles of innovation and entrepreneurship, with particular respect to their relationships to knowledge, learning, and creativity. Drawing from a strong theoretical foundation, and illustrated through in-depth case studies and examples from both private and public sectors, the authors present a framework for innovation management that integrates research, education, practical application, and policy. Specific topics include technology transfer, intellectual property rights management, the practice of knowledge management intellectual capital investment, business incubators, and Cooperation Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs).

Download or read book Pivot written by Remy Arteaga and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A proven approach to achieving entrepreneurial success in new corporate ventures and startups Every day, business and corporate startups take action based on assumptions. Yet these assumptions are based largely on guesswork that leads to everything from costly mistakes to the failure of ventures. Fortunately, there are ways to overcome these issues and excel in your business endeavors—and this book will show you how. Engaging and informative, Pivot provides entrepreneurs with practical guidance for achieving success in corporate ventures as well as new startups. Based on more than fifteen years of academic research and many more years of experience in business and corporate startups, this book skillfully addresses topics ranging from resources and organizational uncertainties to the scope and scale of new business opportunities. Reveals how to successfully conceptualize new business opportunities, pivot as required to experiment with these opportunities, and accelerate to the marketplace Captures the capabilities needed to quickly build a business by understanding and systematically reducing uncertainties from market landscape and technology to talent and organizational positioning The digital component of this book includes a world-class strategic innovation methodology that is in demand from corporations worldwide Written with today's serious entrepreneur in mind, Pivot will provide you with the tools you'll need to get ahead of the competition and achieve consistent success.

Download or read book Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us written by Paul B. Brown and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today when the competition, technology, and the economy are evolving faster than ever before, organizations and the people like us who work in them need a proven approach to help us adapt--and succeed. The key, according to Paul B. Brown, is to think like an entrepreneur, no matter what your position or industry. What works for the most successful entrepreneurs will work for us, Brown argues, whether we want to stay employed working for someone else or are thinking of going off on our own. Based on extensive research, Entrepreneurship for the Rest of Us reveals the best practices of the most successful entrepreneurs, those who are adept at continually innovating and seeing opportunity where others do not. They do that by following a rigid approach. For example: They never start with a new idea, but by trying to solve a market need. Financing is an afterthought. They get started with the resources at hand (not only does that allow them to move quickly, if things don't work out, they are not out much). Perfect is the enemy of good, it is much more important to get out into the marketplace with a prototype than to keep fiddling with what you have. In short, the entrepreneurial mindset is a protection against economic uncertainty, and Brown's goal is to spread that thinking to individuals and large organizations alike. Though of course we won't all start or run our own companies, we need to learn to think like entrepreneurs so that when uncertainty hits, as it will again and again, individuals and companies will be better prepared to not only survive but win.

Download or read book Extraordinary Entrepreneurship written by Stephen C. Harper and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2006-12-13 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 21st Century brings all new rules. Entrepreneurs are challenging conventional wisdom and thinking outside the box. One of the first challenges involves challenging the assumption that a business has to be big to be successful. While most of the 20th century heralded big businesses, it is clear that businesses no longer have to be big to do big business. Now it is possible for a handful of people to operate a global business from virtually any place on the planet. Today, the keyboard has overtaken the boardroom. Financial markets, alliances, and joint ventures have eliminated the need for entrepreneurs to put up substantial capital investments. Today's businesses are driven by ideas, innovation, and execution. This book will show entrepreneurs and business leaders will provide CEOs and entrepreneurs with the tools that they will need to become leaders in their market.

Download or read book Technology Entrepreneurship written by Thomas N. Duening and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2014-08-12 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The focus of this book is on technology ventures — how they start, operate, and sometimes exit profitably. In short, it covers all the elements required to launch a successful technology company, including discussion of cutting-edge trends such as "entrepreneurial method" and "lean startup," emphasis on the ideation process and development of an effective business plan, coverage of product and market development, intellectual property, structuring your venture, raising capital, sales and marketing, people management, and even strategies for exiting your venture. This is not another armchair book about entrepreneurship. It’s a working guide for engineers and scientists who want to actually be entrepreneurs. An intense focus on product design and development, with customers and markets in mind Extensive discussion of intellectual property development, management, and protection Potent insights into marketing and selling technology products to the global marketplace Techniques for forecasting financials, raising funds, and establishing venture valuation Best practices in venture leadership and managing growth Overview of various exit strategies and how to prepare the venture for exit

Download or read book New Venture Creation written by Marc H. Meyer and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2013-01-04 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Structured around the idea that innovation is at the core of successful entrepreneurship, this insightful guide by Meyer and Crane establishes innovation as a necessary first step before writing a business plan or developing a financial model. With a focus on pragmatic methods for gaining industry and customer insight and translating this insight into innovative product and service solutions, Meyer and Crane help students design robust business models, financial projections, business plans, and investor presentations. New Venture Creation is devoted to helping students develop compelling business ideas. This is based not only on the authors’ well-known research in product and service innovation, but also on their extensive experience as successful entrepreneurs and investors. In the updated Second Edition, part I guides students through six elements that comprise a clearly defined and focused venture: defining your target industry; defining your target customers; defining the needs and wants of those customers; defining winning product and service solutions; carefully designing a strong business model; determining competitive positioning, and then testing the entire concept against a small population of target customers—all before writing the plan. Think, design, test, and learn are the guiding principles. Part II then focuses on different types of investors and the process for raising capital, creating realistic financial projections, writing a concise but powerful business plan, organizing the venture team, and creating a compelling pitch that speaks to the needs and concerns of investors. The book also includes a number of independent case studies that focus on product, service, and business model innovation—all from recent ventures by students as well as recent college or master’s level graduates.

Download or read book Entrepreneurial Strategies for Value Creation in Times of Uncertainty written by Wojciech Dyduch and published by Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation. This book was released on 2024-01-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entrepreneurial (re)orientation in the face of crisis: Is it worth modifying entrepreneurial strategy? Abstract PURPOSE: This article aims to determine how companies in the SME sector modify their business strategies in response to changes in the external environment. The research focused on modifications to entrepreneurial strategies expressed through the fundamental dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO): risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness. Additionally, it identified which types of reactions (modifications in strategies) lead to the most favorable changes in firm performance. The external environment was determined based on the market situation that resulted from the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: This is quantitative research. The study utilized data from 126 small printing businesses operating throughout Poland. Analyses were conducted on the data that reflected modifications in entrepreneurial behaviors and performance during three periods: the pre-crisis period, the initial phase of the crisis (the full lockdown period), and the second phase of the crisis (the period of easing the restrictions). The identification of the behavior types was carried out using cluster analysis. FINDINGS: The results of the research led to the conclusion that, with a change in market conditions, companies significantly change their levels of EO. In particular, the surveyed companies reduced their levels of EO during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, this decrease was mainly due to significant decreases in risk-taking. The levels of EO increased when the conditions improved due to significant increases in innovativeness and proactiveness. Moreover, the analysis enabled the identification of four types of reactions to the emergence of the crisis as well as three types of reactions to the improvement of the external conditions that resulted from the easing of restrictions and the introduction of anti-crisis support measures for businesses. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the type of reaction had a significant impact on the changes in the performances of the examined companies. In particular, it was shown that the lowest decline in performance during the initial phase of crisis could be observed in passive enterprises, i.e., those that did not modify their entrepreneurial strategies (did not alter their levels of individual dimensions of EO). The greatest increase in performance was achieved during the period of easing restrictions by those companies that significantly enhanced their activities across all of the considered dimensions of EO. IMPLICATIONS: The research results provided insights for entrepreneurs in strategic management. Specifically, they learned about the modifications in entrepreneurial behaviors that could lead to the most favorable and optimal improvements in a firm’s performance when market conditions change. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The study contributes to the literature concerning reactions to changes in market conditions. This innovative approach considers dynamics where the changes themselves are variables. In particular, this research identifies types of entrepreneurial reactions to market condition changes in terms of dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation. Furthermore, it provides an answer to how firm performance evolved regarding various reaction types (using the example of the printing industry). Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, crisis management strategies, strategy adaptation, strategy modification, business strategy, risk-taking, innovativeness, proactiveness, crisis, COVID-19, external environment, small businesses, firm performance, cluster analysis, entrepreneurial behavior Redefining rural entrepreneurship: The impact of business ecosystems on the success of rural businesses in Extremadura, Spain Abstract PURPOSE: Regarding the growth of public policies fostering rural entrepreneurship, the primary objectives of this work involve examining the concept of rural entrepreneurship, identifying key aspects that differentiate it from non-rural entrepreneurship, and assessing the role of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem in supporting the initiation and growth of rural ventures. To achieve these goals, the study adopts a novel approach by integrating an analysis of rural entrepreneurship features with an exploration of the entrepreneurial ecosystem’s impact. METHODOLOGY: After a review of the previous academic literature, the characteristics of rural entrepreneurship have been delimited, distinguishing it from non-rural. The research results have been obtained using a questionnaire, after a descriptive analysis of the sample, and an analysis of the difference in means by contrasting hypotheses using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. FINDINGS: This article explores the factors that contribute to rural entrepreneurship, challenging the notion that geographic location is the sole defining characteristic. Through the conducted investigation, it has been determined that a company’s classification as rural is not solely based on its geographical location in rural areas or involvement in primary sector activities. Other aspects, such as a strong connection with the local community or the ability to create value, are also essential in defining a rural enterprise. Additionally, it examines how business ecosystems can foster the growth and success of rural entrepreneurship. IMPLICATIONS: This study provides an analysis of how rural entrepreneurship can drive endogenous development in rural areas. It also offers insights for government entities and policymakers to implement effective support measures and strategies in business ecosystems within rural environments. This study highlights that the resources found in rural entrepreneurial ecosystems may not be sufficient to support rural entrepreneurship. It’s important to acknowledge that rural entrepreneurship requires specific resources that may not currently be available in business ecosystems. To increase the number of viable rural businesses, new resources tailored to rural entrepreneurship must be created, leveraging the area’s endogenous resources and growth models. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study examines the distinctive attributes of rural entrepreneurship, with a deliberate departure from exclusive emphasis on geographical location or primary economic sector. Drawing upon empirical research conducted among a cohort of rural enterprises, the analysis reveals that neither physical location nor primary sector affiliation substantially contribute to the establishment of these rural businesses. Instead, a profound connection to, and a heightened sense of belonging within the rural milieu emerge as pivotal determinants. Furthermore, rural entrepreneurship emerges as a promising avenue for the development of the region, offering substantial growth prospects. The investigation encompasses a scrutiny of the resources within the rural business ecosystem and their capacity to stimulate rural entrepreneurial activity. This emerging focal point represents a novel field of concern for governmental bodies and political institutions operating in rural areas. Keywords: entrepreneurship, rural entrepreneurship, business ecosystems, rural business success, entrepreneurial ecosystem, rural development strategies, endogenous development, rural ventures, geographic location impact, local community engagement, policy implementation for rural areas, value creation, embeddedness Making of intrapreneurial managers: Investigating unethical behavior, risk-taking, and decision-making speed as antecedents Abstract PURPOSE: The entrepreneurship-ethics nexus draws considerable interest from researchers and practitioners with little resolution. Our purpose with this paper is to contribute to the debate by shedding light on the relationship between managers’ attitudes toward unethical behavior and their subsequent entrepreneurial intention (EI) in an emerging economy context. Given the complex and multifaceted interplay between unethical behavior and EI, we extend our investigation by including decision-making speed and attitude toward risk to explain the relationship further. We take a granular approach to facets of unethical behavior to gain deeper insights into the specificity of influences they pose on subsequent behavioral intentions. METHODOLOGY: Primary data were collected from 214 Kosovan managers employed in companies from different industries. Hypothesized relationships were tested by conducting hierarchical regression analyses. FINDINGS: Our results indicate that managers with higher EI are not necessarily unethical overall. We did not find support for the hypothesis that managers with stronger attitudes toward unethical behavior demonstrate higher entrepreneurial intentions. Focusing on dimensions of unethical behavior, we find that managers who favor bribery are more entrepreneurially inclined. Furthermore, we find that managers who are quick decision-makers and risk-takers express higher EI. IMPLICATIONS: Theoretically, we add to the existing body of research on ethics and entrepreneurship by empirically examining the relationship between attitude toward unethical behavior and EI and the viability of the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework for integrating unethical behavior in entrepreneurship research. Our study affirms the extension of the theoretical and empirical underpinnings concerning ethics and entrepreneurship, contemplating that they are pervasive across contexts. We provide important practical implications for managers, especially in the corporate entrepreneurship and training context. Managers are encouraged to foster an entrepreneurial-friendly environment that abides by ethical standards. Our study also informs policymakers of the importance of formal education on entrepreneurship as a mechanism to enforce ethical awareness in future entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study is among the first attempts to test the relationship between unethical behavior and EI in a managerial sample and non-western context. Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, unethical behavior, bribery, risk-taking, decision-making speed, intrapreneurial managers, entrepreneurship-ethics nexus, hierarchic regression analysis, corporate entrepreneurship, theory of planned behavior, ethical standards, entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial agility and organizational performance of IT firms: A mediated moderation model Abstract PURPOSE: The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is playing an important role in the growth of the world`s economy. However, limited knowledge exists concerning the underlying mechanisms and boundary-spanning conditions under which entrepreneurial agility (EA) affects the organizational performance (OP) of IT firms. This study draws on the Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) to examine the effect of entrepreneurial agility (EA) on the organizational performance (OP) of Italian IT firms with the mediating role of open innovation (OI) and the moderating role of environmental dynamism (ED). METHODOLOGY: Employing an explanatory research design and convenience sampling technique via an online survey to gather data from a sample of 411 Italian IT firms, the study tested the formulated hypotheses using the structural equation modeling technique in AMOS statistical software. FINDINGS: The results revealed that EA, directly and indirectly, influences OP of IT firms. Moreover, the mediation analysis unveils that OI plays a complementary, partial mediation role in the EA—OP nexus. Finally, ED moderates this focal relationship, such that in the presence of high environmental dynamism, the relationship between EA and OP gets stronger compared to low environmental dynamism. IMPLICATIONS: The findings imply that IT firms should emphasize adopting agile procedures and structures that allow them to react to new problems and opportunities swiftly by building a culture of innovation through the adoption of OI strategies (inbound, outbound, and coupled) to tap into the broader range of expertise and resources in the business environment. To improve the link between OI and OP, managers should prioritize building relationships with external partners, such as customers, suppliers, and academic institutions. IT firms should also prioritize building a diverse and inclusive workforce that can bring diverse perspectives and experiences to the innovation process to enhance their innovation capabilities and create products and services that better meet the needs of customers. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The study´s value lies in extending the ongoing scholarly discussion on the nexus between EA and OP by exploring OI as an intermediary mechanism that connects EA, OP, and ED as a boundary-spanning condition that moderates the focal relationship. This research highlights the interplay between EA, OI, ED, and OP, using the DCT as a theoretical foundation. It is the first to examine such interrelationships in the IT sector. In addition, the study provides new insight for researchers focusing on the information technology (IT) sector. Keywords: entrepreneurial agility, organizational performance, IT firms, dynamic capability theory, open innovation, environmental dynamism, mediated moderation model, structural equation modeling, information and communication, technology sector, innovation management Decoding startup failures in Indian startups: Insights from Interpretive Structural Modeling and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification Abstract PURPOSE: Start-ups are widely acknowledged as crucial catalysts for innovation and drivers of economic progress. However, their vulnerability to failure continues to pose a persistent and significant obstacle. In light of this, the study intends to ascertain the various elements responsible for the elevated incidence of start-up failures and examine their contextual associations. It further aims to establish the hierarchical structure and identify the crucial factors of start-up failure. METHODOLOGY: The paper uses the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approach to determine the structural hierarchy and interconnections among the causes of start-up failures identified through the comprehensive analysis of existing literature and experts’ opinions. MICMAC (Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification) analysis is also being utilized to categorize these identified failure causes into autonomous, independent, dependent, and linking factors by their driving and dependency powers. FINDINGS: A structural framework depicting the interrelationships among the factors has been derived, showing the failure factor, ‘poor market positioning’ factor at the highest level, and the ‘lack of entrepreneurial efficiency’ at the lowest level of the model. The results also revealed that lack of entrepreneurial efficiency, poor management, and external environmental issues are the most significant independent factors upon which all other failure factors rely. It also categorizes ‘poor market positioning’ as the dependent factor, signifying its passive role in the failure of start-ups. IMPLICATIONS: As previous literature has discussed the various factors responsible for the failure of start-ups in isolation, the current study fills out the gap in the literature by establishing linkages among those factors. The study’s insights emphasize the value of effective management teams and entrepreneurial skills in averting start-up failures. It highlights the importance of skill development and mentorship to enhance the capabilities of entrepreneurs and their teams. Furthermore, the research indicates that policymakers and support groups can create focus initiatives addressing issues like market validation, team dynamics, and financial management to enhance the start-up environment. These initiatives may encompass entrepreneurship training, financial assistance, and mentorship through the ‘Start-up India’ Program, Bharat Fund platform, etc. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: Previous studies on entrepreneurial failure are based on AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process), content analysis, and quality management methodologies. This is potentially the first study using the ISM-MICMAC approach that explores the complex world of start-up failures in India and illustrates the relative influence and interdependence of various failure factors of start-ups through a hierarchical model. Keywords: start-ups, failure factors, start-up failures, Interpretive Structural Modeling, ISM, Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification, MICMAC, entrepreneurial efficiency, market positioning, management competency, external environmental issues, failure prevention strategies, Indian, entrepreneurship skill development. The effectiveness of agile leadership in practice: A comprehensive meta-analysis of empirical studies on organizational outcomes Abstract PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic and the digital transformation have hastened the demand for enterprises to be more flexible and adaptive in a fast-changing environment, making agile leadership a prominent business trend. Agile leadership improves innovation efficiency, employee performance, and team effectiveness. However, there is limited research on agile leadership’s effects on organizational outcomes. Thus, this study provides a meta-analytic review of the impact of agile leadership on organizational outcomes that cover various common dimensions like operational, employee, customer, financial, and social environments. METHODOLOGY: The study has two phases: the first phase performs bibliometric literature analysis, and the second phase performs meta-analysis. In the bibliometric literature analysis, 74 articles that were published between 2004 and 2023 were identified from Scopus and Google Scholar, and their type of publication, year of publication, countries involved in agile leadership research, keywords involved, and their association are examined. For the meta-analysis, 24 articles that performed empirical research were chosen from which the various independent and dependent variables studies, along with their standard regression coefficients (𝛽) and correlation coefficients (𝛾) that represent the relationship between agile leadership or agile leaders and that of other factors, were extracted and examined. FINDINGS: The study found that there was a significant rise in publications on agile leadership after 2020, and Turkey, the United States, and Indonesia were involved more than other countries. Moreover, agile leadership is studied more in terms of operational outcomes and employee outcomes. The results of the meta-analysis indicate that agile leadership has a strong relationship with factors like interpersonal trust (𝛽=0.93), organizational performance (𝛽=0.90), organizational effectiveness (𝛽=0.89), individual career success (𝛽=0.89) and innovation management (𝛽=0.81). Thus, it is clear that agile leadership has a stronger impact on operational outcomes than employee outcomes. Agile leadership characteristics such as digital innovation, trust, competency, result orientation, and wisdom are significant for organizational growth, team collaboration, team effectiveness, and organizational innovation. IMPLICATIONS: Identifying agile leadership concepts helps assess the progress of empirical research, improve leadership theories and models, and identify potential growth opportunities. The success of agile leadership depends on factors like a company’s culture, industry, and size, and this can be studied further. Furthermore, organizations may need to adjust their strategies on customer service, financial management, and investment so that they better reflect the values of agile leadership. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study classifies numerous different research models that shed light on the efficiency of agile leadership based on a comprehensive literature review that serves as the basis for this study. In addition, this study identifies potential problem areas that need to be fixed, and as a result, it makes a contribution to the research on agile leadership. Keywords: agile leadership, organizational outcomes, operational outcome, employee outcome, interpersonal trust, leadership practice, organizational performance, meta-analysis, digital transformation, innovation management, employee performance, interpersonal trust, team effectiveness, COVID-19, strategic flexibility Relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, innovative co-branding partnership, and business performance Abstract PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), innovative co-branding partnership, and business performance. EO was analyzed through five dimensions: innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy. METHODOLOGY: As part of the first phase of brand management research, the quantitative survey was conducted in June 2023 among managers of companies operating in Poland using an online questionnaire. 280 responses were obtained, of which 266 questionnaires were qualified for further calculations. Incomplete questionnaires were eliminated. Hypotheses were formulated regarding the positive impact of the five dimensions of EO (innovation, proactivity, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy) on business performance and innovative co-branding partnership, and the positive impact of innovative co-branding partnership on business performance. Structural equation modeling using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was applied to support the conceptual framework and proposed hypotheses. The calculations were performed in Smart PLS version 4.0.9.5. FINDINGS: The results indicate that three EO dimensions (innovativeness, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness) influence business performance. There was no effect of risk-taking and autonomy on business performance. In addition, three EO dimensions (innovativeness, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy) influence innovative co-branding partnership. No effect of risk-taking and proactivity was found on innovative co-branding partnership. This means that two EO dimensions (innovativeness and competitive aggressiveness) positively influence innovative co-branding partnership and business performance. Furthermore, innovative co-branding partnership was proven to influence business performance. IMPLICATIONS for theory and practice: The results of the study point to theoretical implications for further exploration of entrepreneurial orientation and its dimensions. The practical implications relate to recommendations for managers. Managers should make efforts to increase innovation, market activity, and competitiveness of the market offer. It is necessary to monitor the actions taken in the context of their impact on selected market, consumer, product, and brand performance. In addition, managers should analyze the possibilities of undertaking cooperation of this nature to increase business performance. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study provides a better understanding of the impact of entrepreneurial orientation on business performance using innovative co-branding. Compared to previous studies, it has an advantage in research by introducing the issue of innovative co-branding, which can be used for the development of new business activities. In addition, this study focuses on several areas of business performance, including product, brand, consumer, and financial performance. Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation, innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, autonomy, innovative co-branding partnership, business performance, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), brand management, market performance

Download or read book Organizations in the Face of Growing Competition in the Market written by Anna Ujwary-Gil and published by Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essence of the functioning of any organization, whether commercial or non-profit, is to provide value to groups of recipients whose expectations undoubtedly change over time. Various competition mechanisms in the market apply to both business-oriented organizations and organizations operating in the sphere of public utilities. This monograph includes examples of the problems facing contemporary organizations, and at the same time provides evidence, confirmed by research results, that indicates the direction of current changes. The analysis of changes taking place in organizations was carried out in many dimensions. The content layout adopted in the monograph presents four research perspectives, where the subject of the research is the organization; the modern tools used in organization management, the impact of the market economy on organizations, and sectoral or industry aspects of the organization’s functioning. In the first chapter, four studies related to commercial and non-commercial organizations have been collated. Researchers of academic organizations who in order to meet the expectations of students increase their activity in the field of entrepreneurship and their support for the most talented students. Both examples show the need to conduct research, develop knowledge about own activities, and focus on the needs of the environment. Entrepreneurial universities are open to the implementation of joint ventures with entities in their environment, which affect the development of the university, its students, as well as the entities. Entrepreneurship, which is based on the ability to take advantage of market opportunities, also creates opportunities for developing the ability to flexibly shape and adapt programs, methods and operating principles to the growing expectations of their environment. The ability to develop your potential as well as the potential of your students plays a crucial role. In the pursuit of excellence, a strong focus should be placed on talented students and the development of all possible forms of support that could determine an output of graduates with particularly high development potential. In the research presented in this monograph, the authors compare the activity of universities in the USA, the Netherlands, and Poland in the area of talent development. The comparative analysis becomes a valuable source of indicating imperfections, but also examples of potential forms of positive activity in this area. Equally important in this part of the monograph is the research on the learning organization. Through a bibliometric analysis, the author identified the fields of research on the learning organization. In addition to research areas related to various dimensions, primarily human, cultural and managerial, the types of organizations in which such research is most often conducted have been indicated. They also include the organizations of the two sectors presented: education and healthcare. The same part of the monograph also presents the results of research in the hotel sector, where the main research problem was the creation of customer value, taking into account the conditions stimulating the dynamics of the business models of hotel enterprises. Referring to business models was considered important because of the significance of decision-making patterns that help to build a competitive advantage and achieve market success by creating value for customers. The concept of creating value for customers is currently treated in cross-sectoral or industry categories and is a universal approach to managing organizations. The second chapter of the monograph presents research on the modern tools used in organization management. Concepts such as work–life balance, shaping the innovation process within the framework of decisions taken in the process, marketing communication, or the use of gamification in research and development, are examples of a wide range of relationships between today’s organization and its surroundings. Finding employees, and retaining them, is also a growing challenge in developing countries, where labor supply is steadily decreasing. The expectations of employees are increasing, especially in relation to respecting the personal, non-professional side of life. Thus, it should be recognized that research on work–life balance is a developing space for organization and management researchers. Modeling the innovation process in an organization is another research trend that is important today, especially in terms of developing competitiveness. Decision-making is one of the key components of the innovation process. This aspect, in qualitative terms, was presented in the next study in the second part of the monograph. Similarly, marketing communication is invariably an important area of research in organizations, which has evolved due to rapidly developing information technologies and, at the same time, the changing preferences of users of these technologies. The last study in this second part of the monograph relates to innovation and the use of computer games. The tools of gamification are used to shape the attitudes of individual energy consumers. The observations presented show that it is worth making attempts to use unconventional methods and tools, in this case, to develop customer knowledge and strengthen the behaviors desired in the energy market. The third chapter of the monograph is devoted to the financial aspects of the functioning of commercial and non-profit organizations in a market economy. Increasing the efficiency of public entities, specifically conditioned in economic policies and dependent on political decisions, has been the subject of numerous studies. The research study presented in the monograph refers to the relationship between financial strategies and profit management in public industrial companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It is worth noting that no research in this field has been conducted to date in the context of the Polish capital market. The next study refers to the French market. Its purpose was to evaluate and test long-term memory in the French stock exchanges. Research results contribute significantly to explaining the lack of consensus regarding long memory in stock returns. The research covers a significant, 25-year period of operation of the Euronext platform during which 6634 observations were provided. The conclusions of the study may be particularly important for regulators and risk managers. Another study presents the results of bankruptcy risk tests for Polish and Czech logistics companies using a comprehensive classification approach. As a result of the research, a tool for risk assessment and forecasting was developed, enabling the early prediction of bankruptcy of enterprises. At the end of the third chapter of the monograph, the results of health expenditure analysis based on information provided by the Health Account System are presented. Particular attention has been focused on the programming sources of financing healthcare in new European Union countries. Socio-technical and environmental aspects of the organization are the subject of interest of researchers presenting the results of their research in the fourth chapter of the monograph. The problems of economic migration and working conditions have been the subject of interest for many years in the strongly developing trend of labor market research. The research results contained in the study relate primarily to the issues of occupational safety of Ukrainians employed in Poland. These issues are gaining importance, especially when the number of people migrating from Ukraine to Poland in search of work has been growing for several years. In the face of such a large scale of Ukrainian immigrants employed in Polish enterprises, there is still a lack of regulations protecting or securing the interests of employees and employers. The next research presentation highlights the problems of the “circular economy,” which, according to the author, is developing too slowly in Poland. The research is valuable for systematizing the idea of a circular economy based on the theoretical and practical aspects of this phenomenon. The results of the analysis are also of practical importance for the process of modeling and implementing this idea in Poland. Further, the innovation paradigm of economic health and the prosperity of society is the subject of the research carried out, based on a review of the health economy considering innovation and its impact on population growth and prosperity in the world. The research particularly highlights the consequences of socio-demographic, environmental and business changes in the field of consumer goods. The socio-technical, as well as the environmental, aspects of the organization are also included in the last study presented. The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of IT employees in the Polish ITC sector towards remote work. Since the effective and efficient collaboration of distributed employees performing remote work has become even more necessary for the success of projects, numerous research works are being conducted focusing on the consequences of remote work. The presented research results are an important contribution to the discussion of researchers and management practitioners. By publishing this monograph, which covers a wide spectrum of research problems in contemporary commercial and non-profit organizations, the editors and authors presenting the results of their research express a hope that they are contributing to the widespread dissemination and enrichment of knowledge and, consequently, socio-economic development.

Download or read book Innovation Entrepreneurship and Success Insights from Diverse Ventures written by Anna Ujwary-Gil and published by Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science. This book was released on 2023-09-22 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expatriation-enhanced competencies: A multiple case study of technology-based entrepreneurs Abstract PURPOSE: Facing the research gap of entrepreneurial learning by self-expatriated technology-based entrepreneurs, the purpose of this research is to explore those entrepreneurs’ beliefs and experiences across expatriation to identify the enhancement of their competencies. METHODOLOGY: Within a qualitative and exploratory multiple case theory-building approach, data was collected from twelve technology entrepreneurs from Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and Israel that went to the following destination countries: Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Ireland, Turkey, and the Netherlands. With interview data as the primary source, the data analysis rests on a qualitative content analysis. FINDINGS: Data allows structuring techpreneurs’ experience of expatriation along the following steps: (a) arrival in the destination country and initial process of socialization, (b) engaging in activities to get familiar with the culture of the destination country, (c) the gradual comprehensive understanding of the new context, and (d) comparisons between the home and destination country. Expatriation had an evident impact on the technology-based entrepreneurs that materializes in three groups of competencies: entrepreneurial competencies, knowledge and innovative competencies, and international competencies. Entrepreneurial competencies relate to relational and behavioral skills and the learning of doing business in different contexts. Concerning knowledge and innovative competencies, creativity, learning new techniques and international innovation environment stand at the fore. Finally, international competencies relate to the acceptance of different cultures (multicultural learning and perception of cultural differences), developing a sense of an international community and an international innovation culture. IMPLICATIONS: This study evidenced the influence of expatriation experiences on the training of skills of technology-based entrepreneurs, in a specific approach to entrepreneurial, innovative, and intercultural competencies. The research portrays self-expatriation as an opportunity for technology-based entrepreneurs to develop different competencies being helpful to innovate, to manage business and to operate in international markets. Universities and innovators may recognize their discretion to develop programs for people like former students who want to self-expatriate. In the same vein, government can design policy to attract self-expatriate in innovations hubs, considering that local inhabitants can benefit from the cultural exchange. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This study contributes to better understanding the influence of self-expatriation experiences on the development of skills of technology-based entrepreneurs. Compared to previous studies, it advances research through providing a wider range of learning from expatriation experiences beyond the effect of internationalization on market knowledge and cultural aspects. Furthermore, this study focuses the process, not the results of self-expatriation to understand entrepreneurs’ learning. Keywords: technology-based entrepreneurs, innovation, entrepreneurs, skills, competencies, expatriation A phenomenological exploration of technology start-up failure in Sri Lanka PURPOSE: The main purpose of this qualitative study was to explore tech start-up failures in Sri Lanka to emerge themes that explain the critical factors that are impacting failures of Sri Lankan tech start-ups and also to identify recommendations that could help evade those factors. The paper also presents the finding to enrich tech entrepreneurs to build their strategies with an understanding of factors that leads to failure and to make well-educated decisions. METHODOLOGY: The study is based on a qualitative research approach that helps to present findings in a theoretical way. A phenomenological analysis has been used to identify, understand, and analyze the phenomena of tech start-up failures. Twelve start-up leaders participated in this study and shared their lived experiences of tech start-up failures in Sri Lanka. Interviews were conducted with them based on twelve interview questions and twelve core themes emerged based on the participants’ lived experiences. In analyzing data, the modified Van Kaam approach was used, utilizing a seven-step framework that considers the structural and textual aspects of experiences, as well as the perceptual characteristics of the phenomenon. FINDINGS: The themes answered the key research question of the study: What are the critical factors that are impacting on failures of tech start-ups in Sri Lanka? The cause of tech start-up failures according to the current study varied including, financial uncertainty, no market research, no product–market fit, paranoid behaviors of innovators, lack of timely response to changing conditions, and location of the venture. IMPLICATIONS: The paper concisely presents twelve critical reasons for tech start-up failures. The results of the research will enable Sri Lankan tech start-ups to identify key factors of failure for the growth of their surviving strategies. Identifying secret obstacles in the industry helps entrepreneurs prepare for pitfalls and provides guidelines for policymakers to make informed choices when implementing national policies. More importantly, it has been discovered that the major areas that require more attention are leadership, funding, marketing, and innovation. Finally, four groups of recommendations have been discussed under financing, market research, leadership, and inventors. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The comparison of the current study themes with the findings of related studies is inconclusive because the literature on tech start-up failures in other countries and in Sri Lanka is minimal. Some of the themes align with the findings of research conducted in other countries, although there were some themes that were explored uniquely. Keywords: entrepreneurship, tech entrepreneur, start-up failure, critical success factors, software start-up, survival strategies, technology start-up Going green to keep talent: Exploring the relationship between sustainable business practices and turnover intention PURPOSE: This study explores the association between sustainable business practices (SBP) and turnover intention (TI) to understand the role of sustainability initiatives in influencing employee retention and organizational commitment. METHODOLOGY: The present study conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement. From an initial selection of 326 articles, a rigorous double-blind screening process identified 31 key papers for in-depth analysis. FINDINGS: The systematic review provides compelling evidence that SBP have a robust positive association with employee outcomes, especially in reducing TI. This relationship is notably mediated by job satisfaction and organizational commitment and moderated by psychological safety and ethical leadership elements. Further, key gaps were discerned, including the necessity to explore the varied impact of SBP across industries, the enduring effects of SBP on TI, the influence of cultural and contextual facets, and the urgency for methodological advancements in cross-cultural research. In response to these gaps, four hypotheses were conceptualized to provide deeper insights into the complex interplay between SBP, TI, and overarching cultural/contextual variables. IMPLICATIONS: Theoretically, this research adds to the existing literature by empirically validating the relationship between SBP and TI, highlighting critical mediators and moderators, and suggesting avenues for future research. Incorporating the identified gaps and proposed hypotheses provides a structured direction for subsequent investigations. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating SBP into organizational strategies to promote sustainability while enhancing workforce well-being and retention. Organizations can align with sustainability goals and boost employee satisfaction by focusing on organizational commitment, open communication, and leadership grounded in ethical and sustainable principles. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: This research provides a comprehensive overview of the interplay between SBP and TI, integrating insights from various studies. By emphasizing understudied mediators and moderators, identifying research gaps, and outlining derived hypotheses, the study sets the stage for future inquiries. Its practical recommendations are essential for organizations that balance sustainability goals with workforce stability, benefiting organizational performance and employee satisfaction. Keywords: sustainable business practices, turnover intention, TI, job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, employee involvement, employee empowerment, systematic literature review, PRISMA, future research directions, hypotheses, research gaps, green HRM What are the real motivations and experiences of silver entrepreneurs? Empirical evidence from Poland PURPOSE: Along with demographic changes, it is increasingly frequent that many mature people resign from their full-time jobs and decide to start their own businesses at a later age. Entrepreneurial activity among this group of so-called silver entrepreneurs can be caused by many motives, but these factors usually remain unknown to current employers or do not constitute a valid reason for understanding and keeping a mature person in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to present new scientific results concerning entrepreneurial motivations, both internal and external, and the previous experiences of silver entrepreneurs from Eastern Europe based on an example from Poland. METHODOLOGY: We analyzed a unique sample of 1,003 owners of micro and small enterprises from Poland. The sample included only people over fifty. Our empirical study used a survey to explore the motivations and experiences of silver entrepreneurs that influenced their decision to start a business later in life. We linked attitude toward the behavior with motivation and utilized the “pull” and “push” factors. We utilized logistic regression to determine the factors related to starting a business above fifty. We also used the ordinary least square regression to determine the relationship between the explanatory variables and the age of starting a business by the respondents. FINDINGS: We found that the main “pull” factor positively influencing the start of business activity by silver entrepreneurs is the fulfillment of dreams as a broadly understood need for self-realization. However, the “push” factors (such as the occurrence of ageism in the workplace, as well as the loss of employment and lack of other opportunities on the labor market) significantly reduced the probability of starting a company at the age of over fifty. On the basis of the positive impact of a “pull” factor, it can be concluded that entrepreneurial activity at a later age is the result of opportunity-based entrepreneurship. Due to the negative impact of the job-loss factor, people made redundant started their business activity at an earlier age, before the age of fifty. Regarding external entrepreneurial motivations, the support received from family is the most important factor related to the individual’s environment affecting starting a business by silver entrepreneurs. However, the support from friends and the support from government bodies were not significant factors influencing starting a business at a later age.IMPLICATIONS: Findings from our study have implications for both employers and groups who support entrepreneurship. First, from the point of view of employers, the occurrence of ageism in the previous workplace could have resulted in resignation from full-time employment at an earlier age and a faster start of business activity. It is surprising that negative behavior towards older employees may also be associated with resignation from work by younger people. From the point of view of government bodies and other stakeholder groups related to the development of entrepreneurship, it is interesting that the support received from government bodies in conducting business activities was statistically insignificant for each group of respondents. This suggests the need to identify effective support and to design a comprehensive strategy for the development of silver entrepreneurship. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The vast majority of previous studies used secondary data or focused mainly on Western Europe, in particular the United Kingdom, Finland, and France. Our contribution is to provide empirical evidence about the silver entrepreneurs from Eastern Europe, especially Poland. Our research included individuals who actually run their own businesses, opposite to previous studies that take into account people who are just considering starting a business. This is particularly important in relation to research on the entrepreneurial intentions of mature people to undertake entrepreneurial activities at a later age, and the real motivations of silver entrepreneurs. Keywords: silver entrepreneurs, ageing, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial motivations, push/pull factors Team members’ direct participation in decision-making processes and the quality of decisions PURPOSE: Do teams manage to reach better decisions than those made by individuals? Numerous studies have delivered inconclusive results. Meanwhile, participation in decision-making can take various forms and is not limited to consensus group decisions, and the influence of the various forms of participation on the quality of decisions has been less frequently examined. The aim of the research was to determine the effect on decision quality of changing the form of direct participation in the decision-making process in the case of complex, multi-stage problems. METHODOLOGY: The article presents the results of a long-term experiment in which 598 teams of 2,673 people took part. The participants were asked to solve a decision problem using three decision-making styles: autocratic, consultative, and group. The participants played the role of members of a newly established project team that must plan its own work. The task concerned a problem that requires the analysis of a number of dependencies between sub-problems, in contrast to eureka-type problems. The decision problem was new to the participants, making it impossible to apply known solutions; a creative approach was therefore required. The decision was then compared with the optimal solution established by experts. Decision quality was based on the deviation of the proposed solution from the optimal solution. FINDINGS: The results of the experiment confirm the significant synergistic potential of increasing direct participation in decision-making for complex, multi-stage problems. A significant proportion of teams made better decisions as a result of increasing direct participation – replacing autocratic decisions with consultative and group decisions. The quality of consultative decisions was roughly in the middle of autocratic and group decisions. By using group decision-making, teams made better decisions than the average individual decision and came closer to the decision quality achieved by the best team members. This effect was universal, observed both in the strongest and weakest teams. It should be remembered that, while group decision-making has the potential for synergy, it is not always achieved. Group decision-making markedly reduced the risk of making highly misguided decisions, and it can be reasoned that direct participation protects against serious mistakes more than it guarantees the best possible results. IMPLICATIONS: Team leaders should be familiar with different decision-making styles, their advantages and disadvantages, and the scope of their application. This research suggests that increasing team members’ participation to a consultative role and even better, a full participatory role, increases the quality of the decision. With the growing complexity of organizations that have to deal with accelerating change, technology development and increased competition, creating structures that can flexibly respond to the challenges of the environment requires the participation of team members at all managerial levels. The use of consultative and group decision-making styles for complex and multi-stage problems supports this process. The group decision-making style can bring better quality, but it has its limitations and it is not always possible to use it. It requires a team of highly competent people who identify themselves with the interests of the organization. Otherwise, the consultative form will bring better results. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: For the first time, an empirical study analyses the case of consultative decision-making, in which the team leader consults the individual opinions independently to finally come up with a final “team” decision. This approach is widely used by team leaders and managers in the field. This study shows that this approach constitutes an improvement over the individual (autocratic) one but still falls short of the group decision-making approach. Finally, this study which has been done with the largest number of participant teams (598 teams, 2,673 individuals), professionally active post-graduate students and over a 24-year period allows a sound statistical confirmation of the proposed decision quality improvement when moving from individual to consultative and group decision-making styles. Keywords: participation in decision-making (PDM), decision quality, consultative decision-making, group decision-making Bankers' job stress, job performance, and job commitment trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic PURPOSE: The global COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted multiple sectors across industries and regions, including medical services, financial institutions, and others. The escalating global pandemic in both emerging and developed nations has resulted in the implementation of stringent lockdown measures and unparalleled disruptions to economic activities. Consequently, individuals have become accustomed to relying on banking operations as a routine aspect of their lives, regardless of the circumstances. Learning how bankers engage with customers in response to the given circumstances would be intriguing. Hence, the study aimed to unearth the relationship between bankers’ job stress, job performance, and job commitment, as well as the stress-based job performance and its impact on job commitment during the second to third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in an emerging market. METHODOLOGY: A number of 287 data (response rate 71.75 percent) were collected by online platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic through the simple random sampling technique. The exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were run to test the proposed research framework with the help of MS Excel 2007, SPSS 22.0, and AMOS 23.0. FINDINGS: The findings showed that bankers’ work-related stress has a positive impact on job performance but no relationship with job commitment; acute stress has a negative impact on job commitment but no significant relationship with job performance; and stress-based job performance has a significant positive impact on job commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPLICATIONS: The outcomes of this study provide value to the field of behavioral science by introducing the phenomena of COVID-19 in the context of bankers and emerging economies. The demographic variables and the revealed relationships of bankers’ job stress, job performance, and job commitment trajectories would help policymakers rethink stress management practices and policy building in the bank job and the long-term relationship building with their existing employees. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The novelty of the research is the COVID-19 phenomenon and an emerging economy’s bankers’ context. Keywords: work-related stress, acute stress, job performance, job commitment, bankers, COVID-19 pandemic Entrepreneurship education for women through project-based flipped learning: The impact of innovativeness and risk-taking on course satisfaction PURPOSE: The primary aim of this research is to explore the correlation between learners’ characteristics and the perceived value and satisfaction associated with Project-Based Flipped Learning (PBFL) methodologies. A secondary objective involves investigating how these PBFL methodologies can be employed to enhance the quality of entrepreneurship education for women. METHODOLOGY: During the first semester of 2018, a total of 80 students enrolled in the Communication Society class were engaged in a longitudinal study, involving bi-weekly online surveys prior to the semester’s conclusion. The survey instruments utilized Likert-scale measurements, with a 5-point scoring system. The data acquired was subsequently analyzed using structural equation modeling, which facilitated the examination of both the pre- and post-change scores and the structural properties of their relationships with overall course satisfaction. In terms of statistical evaluation, the study employed Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA), a powerful component-based SEM technique, thus ensuring a robust and academically rigorous interpretation of the data. FINDINGS: Our research sought to understand the effects of learners’ characteristics, specifically innovativeness and risk-taking, on course satisfaction in Project-Based Flipped Learning (PBFL). We found that female learners’ innovativeness positively influenced their perception of the project’s entertainment and educational value, which in turn increased preference for PBFL and course satisfaction. Interestingly, risk-taking did not significantly influence perceived project value, which provides insights into the role of personality traits in learning outcomes. IMPLICATIONS: Our study invigorates entrepreneurship education theory by highlighting the key role of learner innovativeness in PBFL course satisfaction, urging a nuanced examination of personality traits in educational contexts. Further, we question the established importance of risk-taking, necessitating a critical reassessment in this domain. These pivotal theoretical contributions challenge prevailing assumptions, enrich scholarly discourse, and open new avenues for research. On the practical side, our findings emphasize the imperative of fostering innovativeness in women’s entrepreneurship education. These insights underscore the need for a strategically tailored, creative learning environment, with the potential to enhance learner engagement and satisfaction significantly. In sum, our research generates transformative theoretical insights and provides actionable strategies for improving the practice of entrepreneurship education. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: Our research presents a novel approach to fostering women entrepreneurs in the media sector through PBFL. This unique focus on the intersection of gender, media entrepreneurship, and PBFL distinguishes our study from existing literature. Furthermore, our findings offer educators invaluable guidance for enhancing female entrepreneurship education, thereby enriching the pedagogical landscape of this domain. Keywords: entrepreneurship education, women entrepreneurship, project-based flipped learning, innovativeness, risk-taking, course satisfaction

Download or read book The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth written by Michael J Andrews and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-03-17 with total page 633 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Innovation and entrepreneurship are ubiquitous today, both as fields of study and as starting points for conversations among experts in government and economic development. But while these areas on continue to attract public and private investments, many measurements of their resulting economic growth-including productivity growth and business dynamism-have remained modest. Why this difference? Because not all business sectors are the same, and the transformative gains of some industries have been offset by stagnation or contraction in others. Accordingly, a nuanced understanding of the economy requires a nuanced understanding of where innovation and entrepreneurship occur and where they matter. Answering these questions allows for strategic public investment and the infrastructure for economic growth.The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, the latest entry in the NBER conference series, seeks to codify these answers. The editors leverage industry studies to identify specific examples of productivity improvements enabled by innovation and entrepreneurship, including those from new production technologies, increased competition, new organizational forms, and other means. Taken together, the volume illuminates whether the contribution of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic growth is likely to be concentrated, be it selected sectors or more broadly"--