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1 – 10 of 10Thomas G. Pittz, Laura T. Madden and David Mayo
We implement an inductive, case study approach to explore the motivations and methods of five successful social entrepreneurs. Our findings show that founders noticed, felt, and…
Abstract
We implement an inductive, case study approach to explore the motivations and methods of five successful social entrepreneurs. Our findings show that founders noticed, felt, and responded to someone else's pain, demonstrating compassion as the genesis of the business venture. Successful social innovation, however, was the result of the creation of an organization structured to include diverse stakeholder input and participation in the decision-making process. Thus, compassion motivates entrepreneurs to pursue broad gains as opposed to singular interests and enhances a willingness to incorporate others' ideas through an open-strategy process. Our study suggests that interaction with stakeholders can impact the structure of the firm, the business model it employs, and intended and unintended business consequences.
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Melissa Intindola and Laurel Ofstein
The purpose of this paper is to explore bricolage as the missing link in understanding how cross-sector social partnerships form and operate in response to grand challenges. It is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore bricolage as the missing link in understanding how cross-sector social partnerships form and operate in response to grand challenges. It is proposed that the weaving together of resources employed by members of cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) is bricolage in action and can be linked to Gray's (1985) facilitating conditions for collaboration. While existing research examines bricolage primarily at the individual level, this research studies collective bricolage, as implemented by a cross-sector social partnership in its process to address a grand challenge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors follow the evolution of a Midwestern initiative aimed at the grand challenge of generational poverty. The deductive case study approach identifies the mechanisms of bricolage being employed in the initiative's evolution and ties these to Gray's (1985) seminal paper on interorganizational collaboration.
Findings
This case study has implications for academics conceptually struggling to understand grand challenges and the role of entrepreneurial initiatives in the public and nonprofit sectors, as well as practitioners currently involved in collaborative efforts to address said challenges.
Originality/value
This study enriches the discussion and enhances the link between the CSSP literature and new notions of social entrepreneurship that embrace the collective as their unit of analysis. This is the first work of its kind to link bricolage to a nascent CSSP and demonstrate how the entrepreneurial concept of bricolage is an inherent part of CSSP formation and operation.
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Valentina Cucino, Giulio Ferrigno, James Crick and Andrea Piccaluga
Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this…
Abstract
Purpose
Recognizing novel entrepreneurial opportunities arising from a crisis is of paramount importance for firms. Hence, understanding the pivotal factors that facilitate firms in this endeavor holds significant value. This study delves into such factors within a representative empirical context impacted by a crisis, drawing insights from existing literature on opportunity recognition during such tumultuous periods.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a qualitative inspection of 14 Italian firms during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The authors collected a rich body of multi-source qualitative data, including 34 interviews (with senior managers and entrepreneurs) and secondary data (press releases, videos, web interviews, newspapers, reports and academic articles) in two phases (March–August 2020 and September–December 2020).
Findings
The results suggest the existence of a process model of opportunity recognition during crises based on five entrepreneurial influencing factors (entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial proclivity, entrepreneurial personality and entrepreneurial purpose).
Originality/value
Various scholars have highlighted that, in times of crises, it is not easy and indeed very challenging for entrepreneurs to identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities. However, recent research has shown that crises can also positively impact entrepreneurs and their capacity to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities. Given these findings, not much research has analyzed the process by which entrepreneurs identify novel entrepreneurial opportunities during crises. This study shows that some entrepreneurial influencing factors are very important to identify new entrepreneurial opportunities during crises.
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Maria Vincenza Ciasullo, Raffaella Montera and Alexander Douglas
This paper aims to enhance the small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) ability to develop resilience in the face of any turbulences, addressing the question on how these…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to enhance the small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) ability to develop resilience in the face of any turbulences, addressing the question on how these organizations can maintain business continuity when faced with a critical event.
Design/methodology/approach
A mediated regression analysis is conducted to investigate the relationships among big data analytics (BDA) capabilities, coinnovation (CI) and organizational resilience (OR) with reference to 192 big data SMEs in Europe.
Findings
Research reveals that the BDA capability and CI are positively associated with OR. Moreover, this study discovers the mediating impact of CI on the relationship between BDA capability and OR.
Originality/value
This paper provides important implications for considering CI as a viable strategy especially in a time of crisis and shows how SMEs are more able to recognize business opportunities. The microfoundations of the resilience building capacity of SMEs are also identified. These microfoundations become recommendations for practitioners to enhance SMEs’ responsiveness in light of coronavirus-related crises.
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Ahmet Maslakci, Lütfi Sürücü and Harun Şeşen
To encourage entrepreneurship, which accelerates economic growth by increasing employment opportunities and competitiveness, stakeholders must conduct studies and develop policies…
Abstract
Purpose
To encourage entrepreneurship, which accelerates economic growth by increasing employment opportunities and competitiveness, stakeholders must conduct studies and develop policies that consider both the current situation and future expectations. This study aims to examine the environmental and personal factors that influence students’ entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), using a model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and social cognitive theories (SCT).
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposed an institutional framework demonstrating contextual features to achieve this objective. This theoretical framework is evaluated using a sample of 375 university students in Türkiye.
Findings
The empirical findings can help policymakers develop effective policies to encourage entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on EIs; it is possible that even if a participant indicated a high EI in the survey, they will ultimately pursue a completely different career path.
Practical implications
The study also contributes to entrepreneurship literature studies investigating the relationships between the TPB and SCT.
Social implications
By testing specific hypotheses for Türkiye, this study contributes to the demand for entrepreneurship research in countries that are major global players but have vastly different sociocultural contexts than Western countries.
Originality/value
The study draws a theoretical model that explains the factors affecting the EIs of university students and attempts to explain the EIs of university students with and without business education within this model.
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Andreas Wallo and Alan Coetzer
This study aims to explore how human resource (HR) practitioners conceive of their practice, reveal challenges they grapple with in daily work and generate a conceptual framework…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how human resource (HR) practitioners conceive of their practice, reveal challenges they grapple with in daily work and generate a conceptual framework of HR praxis.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on interviews with HR practitioners in Sweden and a review of articles that examine aspects of HR practitioners' work.
Findings
The HR practitioners' work is fragmented and reactive, filled with meetings and affords few opportunities to work undisturbed. Operational tasks are prioritised over strategic work, and their work sometimes involves tasks that are not HR's responsibility. The nature of HR practitioners' daily work mimics the work of their main “customer”, i.e. managers within the organisations.
Practical implications
The HR practitioners were working mainly in the service of managers, which suggests that they have an internal focus. Consistent with current, prescriptive HR discourse, HR practitioners should adopt a multi-stakeholder perspective of human resource management (HRM) and a more external focus that is necessary to contribute to wider, organisational effectiveness. The findings could enrich what is taught in higher education by providing students with an account of the reality of HR practitioners' daily work.
Originality/value
The study provides a situated account of the daily work of HR practitioners, which is largely absent from the literature.
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