Search

Digital technology has produced deep changes in the business world. However, companies have a hard time understanding consumers' changing needs and new consumption patterns, especially small and medium-sized enterprises that currently face growing challenges in an era characterized by a lack of time and information overload. New mechanisms must be found that not only can keep businesses competitive in digital environments but can do so in innovative and sustainable ways. This study sought to address this issue by adopting a process-oriented approach and developing a decision-support tool for SMEs that are considering joining online marketplaces. The proposed analysis model helps these companies decide whether they are ready to take advantage of these digital platforms or whether they have to take action to improve in specific areas of their business operations. The model-building process relied on a combination of cognitive mapping and the best–worst method. An expert panel was recruited to identify the most relevant factors determining SME readiness to join online marketplaces. The model was applied to a set of real companies to assess their propensity for online marketplaces. The practical applicability of this decision-support system was then discussed in a consolidation session with a member of Portugal's Agência Nacional de Inovação (National Innovation Agency), who acknowledged the strong potential of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on understanding the features that identify and characterise knowledge spillovers in Business Intelligence (BI) organisations from a strategic entrepreneurial perspective. Thus, we carried out exploratory qualitative research through recourse to case studies involving twenty professionals holding leadership roles in BI organisations. The results enable the identification of six dimensions that characterise knowledge spillovers in an organisational environment: Organisational dynamics, Internal flows, Maintenance and responsibility, Learning and training, Teams, and Critical points. This study sought to counter the gaps in understanding how knowledge flows within organisations and thereby provide a more detailed vision of interactions within BI organisational environments. We conclude that professionals are concerned over internal processes capable of maintaining, fostering and sharing the knowledge captured by the organisation and the importance of specific channels for such processes. In addition, preparing and training teams represent engaging professionals and promoting and disseminating the knowledge captured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Entrepreneurial University constitutes a phenomenon that highlights the prominent roles played by academic organizations as aggregators of capabilities, enabling the establishing of bridges between innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. This research therefore sets out to analyze the relationship between the Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activities of individual graduates and their entrepreneurial attitudes and social values towards entrepreneurship. This applies data sourced from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report on innovation-driven countries. The main research findings stem from the regression models (Study 1) and fsQCA analysis (Study 2) returning evidence that the likelihood of adult graduates setting up firms or owning young companies rises whenever such individuals deem they hold the knowledge/skills required to start a business. The results also stress the importance of devoting high levels of media attention to entrepreneurship and fostering entrepreneurial cultures capable of fostering economic growth and prosperity. This research makes substantial theoretical contributions to the literature. Firstly, the findings reinforce the applicability and suitability of fsQCA analysis of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data. Secondly, this study strengthens the credibility of the Institutional Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior theoretical frameworks, correspondingly lending support to the importance of institutional or organizational factors as determinants of entrepreneurship and the need to focus on the linkage between entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial intentions, and entrepreneurial behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyse the efficiency of sports clubs belonging to the Academic Federation of University Sports and the influence the organisational structure holds over their performance standards. First, we included 92 clubs that registered points in the University Club. The analysis was carried out using the two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology to analyse their efficiency. Second, we analysed how strategy, stakeholder relations and funding issues influence organisational efficiency, through a semi-structured interview with the dually efficient club manager. The results show the relevance of analysing the efficiency of these non-profit and public sport organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic capabilities (DCs) are a growing field of research within the scope of theoretical structures based on resource and strategic management. Given the demonstrated impact of DCs on company performance, it is important to study the effects of DCs on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, this research evaluates the role of DCs during the pandemic and its impact on the performance levels of SMEs. Analysing the responses of 209 SMEs using a structural equations model, we report that DCs positively affect company performance both prior to and during the pandemic. However, we also verify that while prior to the pandemic companies placed greater emphasis on the search for new opportunities, following the onset of the pandemic the focus shifted to getting their products to the market. These results contribute to the literature on strategic management and the DC based approach during periods of turbulence and pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequality is still a very expressive phenomenon nowadays. This reality is reflected in several areas, namely, in the opportunities/barriers placed on women who aspire to perform top management functions. This study aims to analyze the workers' perceptions of women's organizational leadership. A questionnaire was given to 186 employees that work in different hierarchical positions in organizations that supply sports services. Two dimensions were analyzed related to (i) the identification of the stereotypes that label women in the performance of domestic work, family, or professional issues, and (ii) the evaluation of their roles and skills as managers/leaders. Through a multivariate analysis, three factors were identified in each dimension. Significant differences were found between the gender variable and in the different factors except in the factor about women and family life. Despite the several policy interventions in the field of gender equity, the results of this study suggest a preference for male managers. Thus, study gives relevant contributions showing different gender perceptions in the organizational context, contributing to the analysis of the problem around gender discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concept of digital transformation (DT) reached a solid and leading position in the discussion of the key elements which influence the development and survival of contemporary organisations. Integrating and exploring new digital technologies is one of the biggest challenges that companies currently face. No sector or organisation is immune to the effects of digital transformation. Through a systematic review of the literature, this study aims to understand how digital transformation has changed business strategies. The results show that studies dealing with the relationship between DT and strategic management are incipient. The existing literature was categorised into six main areas of research: (i) analysis of external environment, (ii) analysis of internal environment, (iii) strategy formulation, (iv) strategy implementation, (v) evaluation and control, and (vi) feedback and learning. This paper establishes the grounds for grasping the gaps existing in the literature and proposes a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on gazelles (high-growth) companies has been increasing exponentially in the last decade. It is especially evident from 2013 onwards. This article offers an overview of academic literature development published from 2000 to 2021 regarding Gazelles firms in 84 peer-reviewed articles from the Web of Science. We applied a novel methodological approach to compare results from different bibliometric analyses using VOSviewer software, analysing three indicators, journals, articles, and author by citations, co-citations, and bibliographic coupling. We also analysed the co-occurrence of keywords Plus. The results provided four thematic clusters: entrepreneurship, performance, innovation, and dynamics. We presented the most relevant contributions and a future research agenda for each cluster to address the field gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review articles or literature reviews are a critical part of scientific research. While numerous guides on literature reviews exist, these are often limited to the philosophy of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures, triggering non-parsimonious reporting and confusion due to overlapping similarities. To address the aforementioned limitations, we adopt a pragmatic approach to demystify and shape the academic practice of conducting literature reviews. We concentrate on the types, focuses, considerations, methods, and contributions of literature reviews as independent, standalone studies. As such, our article serves as an overview that scholars can rely upon to navigate the fundamental elements of literature reviews as standalone and independent studies, without getting entangled in the complexities of review procedures, protocols, and nomenclatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how government investments in infrastructure affect new firms' creation and location. We analyze two scenarios. With an optimizing government, optimal location is a function of government expenditures in infrastructure. With a passive government, optimal location is independent of government expenditures in infrastructure. Productivity effects in the formal sector, as contrasted with informal sector, yield a greater impact on the formation of capital stock, and shadow price of location. The impact of fees on informal firms and taxes of formal firms affect output and welfare. With an optimizing government, entrepreneurs in the formal sector will have higher output and welfare; with a passive government, it is likely that the welfare of informal entrepreneurs is smaller than the one of formal entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a diverse range of research on the factors enabling informal entrepreneurship as well as the means to avoid or to eradicate its incidence. Several researchers argued that venture capital and financial flows, in general, contribute to economic growth and development. There have also been observations of how the investor level of trust in institutions facilitates investment decisions. This trust comes into play at the level of informal entrepreneurship and the ability of governments to control this type of entrepreneurship. Given that a great deal of research on this subject focuses its analysis on developing countries, we have chosen to investigate the reality of European countries precisely because of the scarcity of studies on the effect of informal entrepreneurship in this context. Our research aims to assess how informal entrepreneurship effects on venture capital flows. We use aggregated data at country level collected from a variety of sources, including the World Bank, Organization for Cooperation and Development and World Economic Forum, between 2006 and 2015 and 23 countries in Europe, corresponding to 230 observations (panel no. balanced). Through econometric estimation, which took place according to methodologies based on multiple regression models for panel data, the results demonstrate how informal entrepreneurship has a negative moderating effect between GDP and venture cUKapital flows. We intend to contribute to a better understanding of the effect of informal entrepreneurship on the flows of venture capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the contribution of international trade to efficiency in innovation for members of the OECD. It will do so by adopting a novel analysis on this theme by using Data Envelopment Analysis combined with regressions. The results indicate that being a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is significantly correlated to an increase in efficiency gains while being a member of the European Union does not correlate with the same benefits in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance and the definition of an entrepreneurial university (EU), together with the factors that lead to its existence, have been widely discussed in the literature. Moreover, in recent years, the EU has also been the target of some public policies. This study aims to identify the different theoretical approaches to entrepreneurial universities prevalent in the literature. Using information from the Web of Science database, we performed a co-citation bibliometric analysis, which made it possible to identify six distinct EU approaches: the triple helix model, the knowledge society model, the global perspective, the researcher-entrepreneur model, the dual personality approach, and also a frenzied approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reviewed the literature on institutional forecasters of entrepreneurial action across international settings. Our objective was to explain variance in entrepreneurial venture performance based on gender, education, culture, and institutional resources of financing, technology transfer, and state policies. Our conceptual model subsumes various prior approaches to entrepreneurship. Our empirical examination is especially large and includes individual data (n = 198,384) from 69 different regional contexts captured by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. To examine institutional factors in the proper qualitative context, we utilized additional data from the National Experts Survey of Entrepreneurial Climate. We examined interactive effects with rigorous statistical analyses. Our research shows that, for female entrepreneurs, education moderates the effect of institutional factors on performance in general and of technology transfer activities in particular. Our study offers a powerful implication that education is vital to female entrepreneurs across cultures. Moreover, our study shows that technology transfer support is particularly important for females as it creates entrepreneurial opportunities that are uniquely actionable in gendered contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores current trends in knowledge spillover research using scientometric analysis of all papers published in journals indexed in the Web of Science. No chronological filter was applied. The search yielded 1568 articles. The bibliometric study presented herein was based on co-citations analysis. Given that this paper deals with a complex research area, multidimensional scaling was used to map connections between articles that present different approaches. Hierarchical cluster analysis was then applied to group related articles into sets. Finally, principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was applied to obtain further insight into existing knowledge spillover research. This process showed which articles share common elements and which articles have the largest weights for each of the previous factors. The knowledge spillover literature focuses on five main approaches: (i) knowledge spillover location; (ii) knowledge spillover agglomeration; (iii) knowledge spillover institutional approach; (iv) knowledge spillover demography; and (v) knowledge spillovers of entrepreneurship. This is the first comprehensive scientometric study of knowledge spillover research to describe the state of the art and provide suggestions for the future research agenda for this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the potential of existing digital solutions to improve the quality and safety of healthcare and analyse the emerging trend of digital medicine. Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of the period 1973–2018. To select articles, a prioritization index is proposed, aggregating the characteristics of the score of journals (2017 basis), number of article citations and year of publication, through the Simple Multi-attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER) method. Of the 749 articles listed, 53 were selected and analysed. The majority of research in digital medicine has been focused on integrated management, electronic medical records and medical images, but a research trend is observed in new areas such as virtual service, the use of portable devices as instruments for monitoring the patient and concern about the privacy of medical documents. Categorization in seven areas was carried out, focusing on integrated management of information technology in health, medical images, electronic medical records, development of portable, mobile devices in health, access to e-health, telemedicine and privacy of medical data. Longitudinal analysis of systematized studies, keeping the focus on digital technological developments in health is a trend to extend researchers' vision, by providing important indications for further study. Suggestions for future investigations are formulated for each identified category. This study reveals great possibilities for SLR with the use of Simple Multi-attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Ranks (SMARTER). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the need for companies to remain competitive and dynamic in a constantly changing environment, this systematic review on knowledge spillovers and strategic entrepreneurship seeks to identify what type of research, scales, variables and databases have been used in the academia and that seek to increase knowledge on this theme. Thus, this study covers 153 articles published in the last 19 years (1999–2017), in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) via Web of Knowledge. The articles were systematized and classified by different types of research and themes: i) theoretical approaches (history, concepts, definitions, processes and gaps; economic growth; regions and geography); ii) qualitative approaches (endogenous growth; networks and cooperation; strategic entrepreneurship; agglomeration, investment and performance); and iii) quantitative approaches (human capital; economic and endogenous growth; innovation and patents; cooperation; regions and geography; investment and performance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly digital world, almost anything can now be done through a computer or smartphone. Digital entrepreneurship is capitalizing on this trend, which brings numerous advantages to firms and society at large. However, the determinants of digital entrepreneurship's success are still unclear, as well as how they relate to each other. This study sought to develop a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to identify and analyze the determinants of digital entrepreneurship. Two group sessions were held with a panel of decision makers who deal with the digital entrepreneurship phenomenon every day. Based on their shared experience and knowledge, an FCM was developed and validated for this research context. Static and dynamic analyses facilitated a deeper understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between the determinants of digital entrepreneurship, resulting in a well-informed framework that was validated by the panel members. This methodological procedure enabled an objective analysis of the dynamics behind digital entrepreneurship. The advantages and limitations of our constructivist framework are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of ideas into new technologies depends not only on how knowledge diffuses but also on which context/time this transformation is developed. In the assumption that internal and environmental conditions directly affects the decision of exploiting technological opportunities, this paper explores how some strategic dynamic capabilities (entrepreneurial and export market) and supportive environmental conditions (regulative and normative) influence the configuration of technology entrepreneurship initiatives. A proposed conceptual model is tested with 30,648 ventures in 23 countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for the years 2005 (pre-financial crisis), 2008 (financial crisis), and 2011 (recession). The main findings suggest the positive role of entrepreneurial orientation and export market orientation in the development of new technology entrepreneurship initiatives. Also, environmental conditions influence on the development of initiatives of technology entrepreneurship. Particularly, the study evidences how regulative environmental conditions (property rights and government programs) enhance while other regulative conditions (support for science and technology) and normative conditions (opportunity perception and national culture) simultaneously retard the probability that a new/established venture develops new technology entrepreneurship initiatives. These effects are moderated and intensified by the influence of the economic cycles. The paper provides important insights to the field of entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the introduction of quasi-markets into publicly funded healthcare systems, nurse intrapreneurs who create innovations within these systems have become increasingly important to improving healthcare outputs. This study sought to examine how self-motivation and managerial skills mediate the influence of entrepreneurial traits on nurses' intrapreneurial intentions in the Portuguese National Health Service. A structural equation model was assessed using primary data collected from a sample of 536 nurses working at seven public hospitals in Portugal. The results suggest that nurses who are more determined to become intrapreneurs are more likely to take risks, more self-confident about their managerial skills and slightly more self-motivated. In addition, while innovativeness has no significant effect, proactivity contributes to increasing nurses' self-confidence in their own skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using bibliometric techniques to identify connections between existing entrepreneurship studies, this article seeks to understand the scientific structure of entrepreneurship research and how entrepreneurship scholarship is organized. Co-citation data and quantitative approach were used to identify scientific publications, intellectual structures, and research trends interrelated with theories of innovative entrepreneurship. Data were gathered from the citations and co-citations found in the Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Our research reveals six groups of underlying entrepreneurship theories: (1) knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, (2) creation and networks theory, (3) decision-making theory, (4) specialization of labor, (5) social entrepreneurship theory, and (6) entrepreneurship in the informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to identify the antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and exploring what possible relationships that may exist between them. The research focuses on women entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in a quantitative perspective whose methodology consisted of the collection of primary data through a survey distributed to women in Portugal. After structural equation modelling was applied, the results suggested that recognition of opportunities influences EO. This influence is expressed both directly and indirectly through training in management and entrepreneurial skills. These findings led to the conclusion that policies promoting training for community members, in general, need to be rethought and policies need to emphasise training in management that enhances entrepreneurial skills, thereby increasing the proliferation of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education and training should be promoted from basic education onwards in order to develop entrepreneurial skills from an early age. Prior to this study, the relationships between opportunity recognition, management training and entrepreneurial skills have never been studied in relation to women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to present the progress and development in research carried out on the strategies put into practice at nonprofit organisations. To this end, we carried out a systematic review of the literature making recourse to the ISI Web of Knowledge platform for the data collection process that resulted in the 62 scientific articles (published between 1981 and 2016) analysed in this review. This analysis correspondingly sets out a description of the studies, a timeframe for their respective dates of publication and details about the research methods applied. The results convey how, over the last four decades, there have been a range of studies of nonprofit organisation strategy-related themes with the greatest incidence clustered around the terms strategic management, strategic planning, strategic typology (Miles and Snow 1978), innovation strategies and the strategic management of human resources. We found that the 1980s focused on the theoretical foundations of strategy in nonprofit organisations and the 1990s showed a theoretical consolidation of strategy in nonprofit organisations. The first decade of the twenty-first century shows a focus on improving the management of nonprofit organisations, and in the past decade there has been a diversification in the strategies adopted by these organisations. We furthermore set out suggestions for future research alongside the theoretical and practical implications of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a hierarchical differential game between universities and scholars in order to examine innovation and research in higher education. In this stylized setup, scholars maximize the impact of their research, and universities maximize their market value. Innovations play a key role among the incentives given by the university to boost scholars’ productivity, as measured by academic publications and citations, which translates into scholars’ professional success. The scholars’ academic productivity increases university reputation and market value. Using Brazilian data, seemingly unrelated regression estimations suggest that the number of published papers grows with external funding and the percentage of faculty holding doctorate degrees, while the number of citations is associated with the presence of graduate programs and higher teaching quality. Market evaluation is, however, negatively affected by innovation, suggesting a lack of focus on patenting and technology transfer in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to advance the common domain of knowledge spillovers (KS) and strategic entrepreneurship (SE) by pinpointing further links between these two fields, and by providing a series of real examples of how KS can be strategically applied for the long-term gain of all parties involved in the KS process. Unlike it is assumed as per the traditional view of the KS literature, there is a win-win scenario benefiting both the knowledge generating, sending and the knowledge reaping, receiving economies. As the main conclusion of this analysis, transnational entrepreneurship (TE) is an example of how international KS can be beneficial for both the incumbent and recipient economies. This benefit is derived from the mobile and multiple-embedded nature of transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) and realised through providing economic, cultural, social and institutional assets to both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue “Geography & Entrepreneurship: Managing Growth and Change” in the Journal of The Knowledge Economy includes a collection of seven papers. Through theoretical and empirical research, this special issue aims to clarify the connection between geography and entrepreneurship. In doing so, growth strategies and change trajectories of countries, regions, and firms are analyzed. The papers use extensive data that enable the models to provide a rich picture of how academic institutions, companies, and regional governments contribute to regional development. As a result, these studies provide new perspectives on regional entrepreneurial transformation. Theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and their application to several contexts provide an advancement of our understanding about Geography and Entrepreneurship. Perspectives on R&D and knowledge, internationalization strategies, high-growth businesses, technological entrepreneurs, university spin-offs, transnational entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial networks are dominant themes included in this special issue. A brief description of the authors’ contributions is offered to attract a broader readership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to explore the existing academic literature on female entrepreneurship to assess how this field of research is organized in terms of publications, authors, and periodicals and/or sources. In addition, the research focused on mapping knowledge networks through citation and co-citation analysis and identifying natural clusters of the main keywords used. The study also examined the challenges (i.e., opportunities and difficulties) the literature reveals for the study of female entrepreneurship. That is, the knowledge gained from the bibliometric study (i.e., what has already been researched and the limits of these studies) was used to identify what research opportunities are present in this area. The articles gathered in the search were submitted to a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and TreeCloud software. The results obtained from the analysis of document citations reveal three clusters: (1) entrepreneurial profile, (2) gender identity and theoretical conceptualizations, and (3) the entrepreneurial process context. By studying the articles’ citation profile, this study’s findings contribute to a better understanding of the flow of production and research-related practices in this stimulating area of research, which is still in its infancy phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]