Entrepreneurial Firms Research Articles

A Grounded Theory Approach to Technology Adoption in SMEs: An Analysis of Handicraft Companies in Morocco

Purpose – Technology is considered a tool of competency enhancement and a source of innovation and competitive advantage for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although many studies examined the drivers and barriers of technology adoption in SMEs, little is known about handicraft companies (HCs) operating in emerging market settings. This paper aims to analyse and better understand HCs’ attitudes and behaviours towards technology implementation. Design/Methodology/Approach – We conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis to uncover the idiosyncratic experiences related to new technology adoption in HCs located in Morocco. We drew on the underlying principles of grounded theory approach because it allows for new realities and novel interpretations of complex phenomena to emerge directly from the field. Findings – We developed a grounded theory of technology adoption in HCs operating in emerging market settings. This resulted in the identification of a comprehensive process that managers rely on before deciding on a new technology, which is composed of three stages: (1) need recognition, (2) technology approval, and (3) adoption decision. We have also uncovered the intervening conditions that play a crucial role in technology-related decision-making at each stage. Practical Implications – Our study could help managers to gain an in-depth understanding of the intricacies associated with technology adoption in HCs and to be better equipped when attempting to implement new technologies in their own entrepreneurial firms. Originality/Value – This research goes beyond the mere identification of obstacles and motives of technology adoption by advancing a well-defined framework for usage in the understudied handicraft sector in emerging market settings.

Entrepreneurial firms and their foresightedness in a VUCA world

Entrepreneurial firms and their foresightedness in a VUCA world

Различия в инновационном поведении субъектов малого и крупного бизнеса

The authors of the article studied the specifics of innovative behavior of enterprises depending on their size. This specificity was determined in accordance with the following areas of the company’s activities: personnel policy, search for sources of financing, search for market niches, production of innovative products (determined by the nature of the innovations produced and the level of innovative mobility), search for partners and contractors, placement of financial responsibility centers. In preparing the article, a system analysis methodology was used, based on a set of theoretical and empirical research methods, the key of which is the case-study method, based on the results of content analysis, as well as expert interviews and a questionnaire survey. The analysis showed that the qualitative results of the activities of small and medium-sized innovative businesses often have a greater impact on the economic development of the region than large ones. The results obtained during the study have both scientific and practical significance. At the level of regional authorities, understanding the specifics of the innovative behavior of entrepreneurial firms is important from the point of view of determining measures of state support for innovatively active enterprises.

Exploring How the University Ecosystem Can Mobilise Resources for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurial Firms in Sweden

Social innovation and entrepreneurship are argued to be crucial for enabling inclusive and sustainable transformation. However, we know less about how universities can enable social innovation and entrepreneurship amongst students and employees. This article explores one specific channel for university impact - supporting knowledge-intensive entrepreneurs (KIE) in delivering social innovation as services. We conduct a theoretically informed case study at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, analysing one firm started by alumni and one firm started by employed researchers. We propose a conceptual framework, explicating how social KIE entrepreneurs mobilise resources from the university in knowledge-intensive services of social impact.

Blockchain revolutionizes entrepreneurial and marketing capabilities in health tourism

ABSTRACT The benefits of blockchain technology in the tourism industry have increased tourist satisfaction by enhancing security, eliminating existing intermediaries, and improving transparency. This study aims to investigate the effects of blockchain technology benefits on entrepreneurial capabilities, marketing capabilities, and marketing performance of hospitals operating in the health tourism industry. This research applied descriptive-analytical survey used convenience sampling to enrol 187 marketing managers working in medical centres and private hospitals active in the Iranian health tourism industry. The data were collected using the field (questionnaire) method, and analysed in SmartPLS using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) method. Blockchain technology benefits had significant positive effects on entrepreneurial capabilities, marketing capabilities, and marketing performance of medical centres and hospitals active in the health tourism industry. The findings make several contributions to the literature on health tourism, particularly in the areas of marketing and entrepreneurship. The research results also highlight the advantages of blockchain technology for managers and entrepreneurs in health tourism hospitals and firms.

The interaction of actor-independent and actor-dependent factors in new venture formation: The case of blockchain-enabled entrepreneurial firms

AbstractThe study seeks to explore how blockchain technology enables the creation of new ideas for ventures and to examine the activities of founders and entrepreneurial teams in shaping those ideas. We adopted several theoretical frameworks – external enablers theory, dynamic capabilities (DCs), and dynamic managerial capabilities (DMCs) – to explain the interaction of the actor-independent and actor-dependent factors in the process of new firm formation. We analysed four Hungarian blockchain start-ups that operate across financial services, cryptocurrency trading, crypto asset management, energy, information technology, and identity industries and create high value-added and cross-industrial offerings for Hungarian and foreign markets. Using qualitative study research results, the study develops the model of external enablers, founders' and firm capabilities and new venture creation. We identify three interconnected external enablers – namely, market volatility associated with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology, the properties of blockchain, and the ideology behind the technology – and discuss the role of entrepreneurs' DMCs and sensing and seizing activities in discovering and shaping these enablers into profitable business ideas.

An effectuation approach to sustainable entrepreneurship

Purpose This paper aims to explain the occurrence of sustainable entrepreneurship in the underresearched sub-Saharan Africa context and to improve the understanding of how effectuation manifests in this context. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative research approach based on multiple case studies. Responses were sourced from owners, employees, suppliers, the community and customers of sustainable entrepreneurial firms. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, document reviews and observations. The Gioia analytical approach was used. Findings Overall, the authors find the concept of effectuation to be well-suited to capturing the processes through which individuals with limited means seek to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship. The authors also identify three pervasive practices that are key to understanding effectuation in the developing country context: complementation of indigenous knowledge with modern science, compassion and pluriactivity. Practical implications This study underscores the importance of co-creation, diversification of revenue sources and the role of emotional awareness and interpersonal skills in entrepreneurial endeavors. Originality/value This study, therefore, contributes new knowledge about the mechanisms through which entrepreneurs faced with resource constraints use control as opposed to prediction strategies to exploit sustainable entrepreneurship opportunities. In so doing, this study contributes to entrepreneurship theory by proposing the integration of cognitive and affective dimensions in realizing sustainable entrepreneurship goals.

Testing the waters: founding team composition and search heuristics in academic entrepreneurial ventures

Abstract Entrepreneurial action often stems from individual judgment about the value potential of market opportunities. Where entrepreneurs direct their search for and evaluate profitable opportunities has long received scholarly consideration. Attention has been increasingly directed toward how search is conducted, with a distinction between “cognitive” search, where actors are driven by a prior belief about the linkage between actions and outcomes (i.e., “learning-before-doing”) and “experiential search,” in which the solution must be realized through experimentation, trial-by-error, or “learning-by-doing.” We examine founders’ experiential search for market applications in uncertain technological environments. In doing so, we seek to uncover how founder background, experience, and depth of knowledge affect the firm’s degree of experiential search. We examine a sample of technology-oriented start-ups founded by researchers from six major US research universities to investigate the role of experiential search in university technology commercialization. In our context of academic entrepreneurship, we find that founding teams that draw from multiple disciplinary perspectives in selecting a market application to pursue exhibit a broader cognitive map of the technological landscape and thus expend more effort in the experiential search process than do teams with less varied backgrounds. Conversely, teams that include individuals with prior commercial experience conduct less experiential search, although this evidence is less strong. The inclusion of students appears to lead to greater experiential search by the founding team. Our findings add new understanding to the application of search heuristics by entrepreneurial firms in technology commercialization.

Mediating role of green innovation and moderating role of resource acquisition with firm age between green entrepreneurial orientation and performance of entrepreneurial firms

Mediating role of green innovation and moderating role of resource acquisition with firm age between green entrepreneurial orientation and performance of entrepreneurial firms

TANTANGAN DAN PELUANG SMK NEGERI JAGOI BABANG MENGEMBANGKAN SPIRIT KEWIRAUSAHAAN KEARIFAN LOKAL BIDAI PERBATASAN MALAYSIA INDONESIA KABUPATEN BENGKAYANG

The Indonesia-Malaysia border region has the potential for various natural and cultural resources. The development of entrepreneurial skills is critical, particularly for the younger generation, in order to improve the economic potential of the region near the Indonesia-Malaysia border. This study intends to examine the obstacles and opportunities experienced by students in fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of Bidai indigenous wisdom in Bengkayang Regency, Malaysia-Indonesia border. The qualitative research method was applied in this study. Data was gathered through conversations with students who had prior experience creating Bidai local wisdom entrepreneurial firms. Data analysis employs interactive data analysis techniques such as data reduction, data visualization, and conclusion or verification stages. According to the findings of the study, the problems that students encounter include a lack of funding to start a business, a lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, and competition from imported products. Opportunities include the opportunity for cross-border markets with Malaysia, which expands opportunities for indigenous knowledge goods, as well as government and related organization support. This study's recommendations include enhancing students' entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, government assistance in getting financing and training, building effective marketing tactics, and forming partnerships with connected parties

Entrepreneurial Orientation Impact on the Innovation Ambidexterity: Evidence from the Industrial-Based Sector

Entrepreneurship, in many low-developed economies, plays an important role in defeating external distress. It is crucial in such situation that entrepreneurial firms resist and even grow. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurial orientation brings about organisational ambidexterity through the mediation role of intellectual capital in the context of a developing country. This paper reports research results combining a qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The exploratory study is based on qualitative case studies and in-depth interview data collected from 15 Tunisian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial sector. Then, the methodology included a survey of 155 SMEs using a questionnaire and structural equation modelling analyses. The results reveal that SMEs leverage internal and external resources to pursue ambidexterity separately or simultaneously. The data were gathered from a sole informant from every firm. Consequently, more in-depth longitudinal study may be requisite to expand deeper insights into the used variables. SME managers need to focus on the specific barriers to ambidexterity and design effective mechanisms to advance the drivers of ambidexterity. The mechanisms to realize ambidexterity as branded in this study will assist SMEs in particular, and firms in general. A new shape of organisation is an open design allowing more outer acquaintance and resources to be riveted, which is claimed as a novel model for organisation. This study combined the concepts of entrepreneurial orientation and intellectual capital as the basis of innovation ambidexterity. Human, organisational and relational capitals are the intermediate mechanisms to explain the effect of entrepreneurial orientation. Moreover, the Tunisian specific context adds more novelty to this study.

Entrepreneurial leadership: Putting the “U” in team

Entrepreneurial firms, due to their size and limited resources, are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent. These challenges place the firm’s survival and success in jeopardy, as they waste resources on talent management and operate amid talent shortfalls. Simply put, in the scale-up phase, managing talent could be the most important activity entrepreneurs pursue. While entrepreneurs cannot eliminate their strategic shortcomings (e.g., prestige, the ability to pay top salaries), they can take advantage of their unique strengths (e.g., a more intimate environment, job flexibility, and greater opportunities for growth, advancement, and leadership) to make themselves more competitive among candidates not necesarily destined for large corporations. In this article, drawing upon the lessons of best practice and theory, we make three recommendations for entrepreneurial hiring managers: (1) treat all prospective employees as transformative organizational members, (2) recognize and embrace the contributions of all, and (3) make new and established employees consistently feel valued. While these lessons allow all managers to display their organizational strengths, they provide the best return on investment for those with the greatest hiring challenges: entrepreneurs.

Family firm entrepreneurship: An experimental study

ABSTRACT Family managers’ entrepreneurial intentions (EI) play a crucial role in the long-term success of family firms. Previous research has highlighted education as a key driver of EI but has failed to consider the unique socialization processes within business families and their impact on the education-EI relationship. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the direct and indirect effects of education on family managers’ EI. By combining the integrated model of EI and research on business families’ socialization patterns, a study was conducted with a role-playing experimental design involving 412 family firm managers. The results indicate that entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) serves as a mediator between education and EI, while the ESE-EI relationship is further mediated by risk perceptions. Interestingly, no direct effect of education on EI was found, suggesting that the influence of education on EI follows distinct patterns within business families.

Examining entrepreneurial successes and failures during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2023)

PurposeWhen entrepreneurship scholars and policy makers turned their attention to entrepreneurial ventures during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2023), its full effects on entrepreneurial firms and systems presented radically challenging questions and unresolved puzzles. In this paper, the authors shed light on these questions and puzzles with a large-scale empirical examination of the pandemic's overall effects on entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial firms, entrepreneurial environments and responses with a view toward success and failure over time.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a broad exploratory approach and examine different perspectives to develop a deeper understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial firms, entrepreneurial environments and responses especially regarding the success and failure of entrepreneurial ventures during the pandemic. Thus, the authors built a dataset with 10 survey waves from 2020 to 2021, with an average of 7,000 Brazilian entrepreneurial ventures (SMEs) in each wave of the survey. The authors used this data to examine their performance and survival.FindingsThe findings suggest that the increase of the COVID-19 virus contagion per se did not severely affect entrepreneurial ventures' performance and survival. However, the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic did weaken entrepreneurial ventures' performance and survival. Moreover, the findings suggest that entrepreneur education has an inverted U-shaped relationship with entrepreneurial ventures performance. Indigenous, Brown and Black entrepreneurs experienced decreased entrepreneurial ventures survival compared to White entrepreneurs. While entrepreneurial ventures that adopted digital technologies and had access to loans increased their performance and survival during the COVID-19 pandemic, those who failed in these aspects experienced negative performance and survival effects. Thus, although the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted many entrepreneurial ventures and even forced some to close, others survived and even prospered during the environmental shock.Originality/valueThe paper sheds light on a little understood topic: entrepreneurial venture success and failure in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and Tourism Firms' Survival in the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: A Case Study of Daklak Province, Vietnam

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the entrepreneurial situation during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on firms in the tourism sector. Specifically, we seek to identify factors that belong to the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE) of Dak Lak province, supporting entrepreneurial firms' survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretical framework: We applied the EE model developed by Isenberg (2011) to the province of Dak Lak, where we analyzed the effects of EE on the ability of new businesses in the community-based tourism sector to withstand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a survey of 206 entrepreneurs, of whom 108 are entrepreneurs in the tourism sector or communities-based tourist destinations. These surveyed entrepreneurs participated in two startup contests the Dak Lak Province organized in 2018 and 2020. Findings: It was found that the COVID-19 pandemic particularly devastated small businesses in the travel and tourism sector. In addition, only two components of EE provide relief to these companies: FINANCE and CULTURE. Without a doubt, microcredit, loans, and debt refinancing funds, as well as the general liquidity of the financial market, help young businesses stay afloat. Additionally, the community's culture of risk-taking, failure acceptance, success-seeking, and lofty aspirations underpins their attempt to keep the business afloat during difficult times. Research, Practical & Social implications: We suggested that Dak Lak province develop its EE by upgrading its elements as soon as possible to cope with future crises. Originality/value: This study gives a new direction on the specific approach to improve the EE of a province of Vietnam and shows ways for better performance of the EE. Conclusion: We found that FINANCE and CULTURE components play a positive role in assisting early-stage tourism firms. Specifically, the availability and accessibility of the financial market, including micro-credit, support entrepreneurial firms in maintaining their operation. In addition, the culture of tolerance of risks and failure, efforts for success, and high ambition is the basis for the action of entrepreneurs to continue their businesses.

The effect of employee goal orientation on change-supportive behavior: a moderated mediation approach

PurposeBased on goal orientation theory, this study aims to examine how and when employees' performance goal orientations (PGOs) affect their change-supportive behavior in entrepreneurial firms undergoing change.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave time-lagged research design was applied to collect data from companies undergoing change in China.FindingsThe results showed that employees' performance-proving goal orientation (PPGO) was positively related to change-supportive behavior, and employees' performance-avoiding goal orientation (PAGO) was negatively related to change-supportive behavior. Openness to change played a mediating role in these mechanisms, and employees' learning goal orientation (LGO) played a moderating role.Originality/valueBy solving the mechanism of the relationship between PGOs and change-supportive behavior that has not been explored before, this study answers the question of how and when different PGOs affect support behavior.

On the (in)effectiveness of standardized versus adapted international promotion strategies: Evidence from entrepreneurial firms

This study investigates how internationally active firms’ international promotion strategy is linked to international marketing performance. It addresses the issue of effectively balancing the economic benefits of standardized strategies with the potential performance gains achieved when adapting to local customer preferences and market situations. Based on contingency theory and the strategic fit paradigm, we argue that there is no panacea solution to the promotion strategy standardization versus adaptation debate. Instead, our empirical results from 298 international entrepreneurial product-market ventures based in Sweden support the view that international firms must fit the promotion strategy to relevant macro- and micro-environmental conditions in order to optimize their international marketing performance. Our results caution against assuming that all environmental factors exert an equivalent effect on the level of international promotion strategy standardization and reveal that neither standardization nor adaptation is a superior strategy in pursuing international marketing performance.

Resource configurations among digital academic spin-offs: finding the technology-market fit

PurposeManaging resources is crucial for firms to gain competitive advantages and succeed, particularly for startups with limited resources. It is important to understand how digital startups in general and digital academic spin-offs (ASOs) in particular may orchestrate their resources to optimize value. This paper integrates the resource-based perspective with digital entrepreneurship to analyze the resource configurations leading to success of digital ASOs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts an inductive approach and applies qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) on a longitudinal dataset of digital ASOs to identify the resource configurations for a successful outcome.FindingsThe authors' paper identifies two main paths to success among digital ASOs, consisting of five distinct resource configurations. The first path is termed “market exploiters” that operate in favorable market conditions where specific technological resources and research collaboration resources are lacking. The second path involves “technology explorers” that combines both technological and commercial resources to achieve success.Research limitations/implicationsBy outlining distinct pathways to the success of digital ASOs, this paper contributes to the digital academic entrepreneurship literature and the resource-based view of entrepreneurial firms. The paper also suggests implications for policymakers and managers in managing resources for the success of digital ventures.Originality/valueBy exploring the resource configurations leading to the success of ASOs commercializing digital technologies, the paper shows that favorable market conditions and complementary resource configurations can be alternative pathways to success.

Digital creatives and digital engineers: entrepreneurial firms, institutional context, and the organization of innovation

Abstract The comparative capitalisms literature has developed an increasingly dynamic approach to conceptualizing capitalism variety, and has suggested mechanisms to explain shifts in institutional practices under the surface of formal stability of the institutional context. Less is known, however, about how new entrepreneurial firms engage with institutions to develop organizational arrangements needed to support their innovation activities. Such engagement with institutions can represent sources of heterogeneity within and across national institutional contexts, with incremental changes in practices resulting, in some instances, in major transformations in institutions over time. We draw on a study of fifty-three independent mobile games firms in the USA and Japan and the structures and processes used by these firms to develop innovative activities in their institutional context. Our research advances our understanding of organizational diversity and institutional change in two ways. First, our study identifies two new ‘variants’ of how entrepreneurial firms organize their innovation activities in their institutional context—digital creatives and digital engineers. Second, we characterize the mechanisms through which entrepreneurial firms engage and respond to institutions that support the establishment of these variants—defecting, intensifying, and positioning vis-à-vis large firms.

Family firm entrepreneurship and sustainability initiatives: Women as corporate change agents

AbstractFamily businesses are often seen as key players in efforts to increase sustainability due to their transgenerational focus. Researchers have reported that companies strengthen their commitment to sustainability as they consolidate their entrepreneurial commitment, but the existing knowledge about drivers of family firms' sustainability choices is limited. This study sought to fill related research gaps by exploring the relationships between five entrepreneurial orientation (EO) components—risk taking, innovativeness, proactiveness, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy—and family businesses' sustainability initiatives. These companies comprise a unique research context in terms of the EO‐sustainability link due to their focus on continuity and propensity to create value for future generations. In addition, women increasingly hold leadership positions within family businesses, and studies have categorised both entrepreneurship and sustainability as gendered processes. Thus, this research also explored female chief executive officers' (CEOs) moderating role as corporate change agents who influence the EO‐sustainability initiatives relationship. Analyses were conducted using primary data collected from 195 privately held family firms in Poland. The results indicate that only one EO component (innovativeness) is significantly associated with family businesses' sustainability initiatives and that CEO gender moderates the links between two EO components (proactiveness and autonomy) and sustainability. Thus, this article contributes to the management literature by exploring the role of women leaders as change agents for sustainability in family firms. Other significant theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.