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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2021

Malin Tillmar, Helene Ahl, Karin Berglund and Katarina Pettersson

Contrasting Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to explore the experiences of women entrepreneurs affected by entrepreneurialism. This study discusses the impact on their…

1391

Abstract

Purpose

Contrasting Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to explore the experiences of women entrepreneurs affected by entrepreneurialism. This study discusses the impact on their position in society and on their ability to take feminist action.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analysed interviews conducted in the two countries over 15 years, using a holistic perspective on context, including its gendered dimensions.

Findings

The results amount to a critique of entrepreneurialism. Women in Sweden did not experience much gain from entrepreneurship, while in Tanzania results were mixed. Entrepreneurialism seems unable to improve the situation for women in the relatively well-functioning economies in the global north, where it was designed.

Research limitations/implications

In mainstream entrepreneurship studies, there is a focus on the institutional context. From the analysis, it is apparent that equal attention must be given to the social and spatial contexts, as they may have severe material and economic consequences for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. The paper raises questions for further studies on the gendering of markets in different contexts, as well as questions on the urban-rural dimension.

Practical implications

In Sweden, marketisation of welfare services led to more women-owned businesses, but the position of women did not improve. The results strongly convey the need for a careful analysis of the pre-existing context, before initiating reforms.

Originality/value

The paper adds to the understanding of context in entrepreneurship studies: Africa is largely an underexplored continent and contrasting North and South is an underexplored methodological approach. This paper further extends and develops the model of gendered contexts developed by Welter et al. (2014).

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 16 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 March 2023

Maria Jose Zapata Campos, Ester Barinaga, Richard Dimba Kiaka and Juan Ocampo

Highly deprived urban contexts, such as informal settlements in the global south, can turn into niches of extreme innovation and sparkle ingenuity out of necessity. But what are…

Abstract

Purpose

Highly deprived urban contexts, such as informal settlements in the global south, can turn into niches of extreme innovation and sparkle ingenuity out of necessity. But what are the rationales behind the participation of disadvantaged communities in social innovations? Why do they engage in grassroots innovations? What is it that makes these grassroots try novelties and continue experimenting with them, even when the perceived benefits are not clear yet? This paper aims to examine and conceptualize the rationales for engaging in grassroots financial innovations in the context of extremely deprived urban settings.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on the case of grassroots organizations which have started experimenting with the development of a community currency in Kisumu, Kenya. This paper is informed by in-depth interviews with members of three grassroots organizations involved in the community currency, together with observations and meeting participation since 2019.

Findings

The rationales argued by the participants for engaging in this grassroots innovation are framed in various ways: as a means for seeking poverty alleviation (the development framing); as a challenge to conventional imaginaries of innovations (the digital framing); and as an innovation embedded in community and trust relations (the community framing). These framings have a mobilizing effect that initially draws participants into the innovation. Yet, what explains persistent participation despite the decreasing influence of these framings over time is the organizational space and strategies of incompleteness accommodating these experiments.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the emerging body of grassroots innovations movements literature. While research has progressed in its understandings of the challenges of scaling up innovative practices, the examination of the grassroots initiatives stemming from extremely deprived settings, and the rationales and framings behind, have been under examined. This paper comes to bridge this gap.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 July 2021

Malin Tillmar, Helene Ahl, Karin Berglund and Katarina Pettersson

Contrasting two countries with different gender regimes and welfare states, Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to analyse how the institutional context affects the ways in which…

1822

Abstract

Purpose

Contrasting two countries with different gender regimes and welfare states, Sweden and Tanzania, this paper aims to analyse how the institutional context affects the ways in which a neo-liberal reform agenda is translated into institutional changes and propose how such changes impact the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses document analysis and previous studies to describe and analyse the institutions and the institutional changes. This paper uses Scandinavian institutional theory as the interpretative framework.

Findings

This study proposes that: in well-developed welfare states with a high level of gender equality, consequences of neo-liberal agenda for the preconditions for women entrepreneurs are more likely to be negative than positive. In less developed states with a low level of gender equality, the gendered consequences of neo-liberal reforms may be mixed and the preconditions for women’s entrepreneurship more positive than negative. How neo-liberalism impacts preconditions for women entrepreneurs depend on the institutional framework in terms of a trustworthy women-friendly state and level of gender equality.

Research limitations/implications

The study calls for bringing the effects on the gender of the neo-liberal primacy of market solutions out of the black box. Studying how women entrepreneurs perceive these effects necessitates qualitative ethnographic data.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates why any discussion of the impact of political or economic reforms on women’s entrepreneurship must take a country’s specific institutional context into account. Further, previous studies on neo-liberalism have rarely taken an interest in Africa.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 March 2023

Judit Végh, Andrea Dúll and Lan Anh Nguyen Luu

This qualitative study explores how trailing spouses form their relationships before and after a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and what patterns can be observed. It…

1214

Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative study explores how trailing spouses form their relationships before and after a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and what patterns can be observed. It explores their significant relationships with friends and extended family, focusing on dynamics and change.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with seven trailing spouses in Malaysia: before the pandemic, in the beginning and at the end of the first year of the pandemic. The authors used longitudinal interpretative phenomenological analysis (LIPA).

Findings

Being aware of the limits of resources emerged as a key factor in how trailing spouses develop and maintain relationships with friends and extended family. The fact that the pandemic changed the dynamics of their social networks illuminates how crucial these relationships or their absence are in their adjustment and readjustment process. Children play a significant role in these relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Comparative research into the friendships and relationships of different groups of trailing spouses in various locations could capture more specificity of the relationship dynamics.

Practical implications

The explored patterns can promote a better understanding of the relationship dynamics of trailing spouses' networks, which can, in turn, support and facilitate both adjustment and repatriation processes. They can help explain how and what kind of social networks best support trailing spouse transition during a time of crisis or adjustment. These findings could be incorporated into intercultural training programs.

Originality/value

No current study that the authors know of has explored trailing spouses' relationship dynamics in a longitudinal study before and during a crisis.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 25 April 2024

Byrne Kaulu, Goodwell Kaulu and Pearson Chilongo

This study assesses the factors influencing customers’ intention to adopt e-banking in the context of the technology acceptance model and the moderation role of cybercrime.

Abstract

Purpose

This study assesses the factors influencing customers’ intention to adopt e-banking in the context of the technology acceptance model and the moderation role of cybercrime.

Design/methodology/approach

The variables in the study are measured using a five-point Likert scale with measures adopted from existing literature. The independent variables are perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and security and privacy. These are postulated to be moderated by the perceived risk of cybercrime and to influence e-banking adoption intentions. A quantitative approach is used. Primary data are collected from a sample of 209 randomly selected bank customers. The study uses a two-step (measurement model and structural model) approach to data analysis.

Findings

The key findings in this study are that perceived risk of cybercrime strengthens the positive relationship between perceived ease of use and e-banking adoption intentions but dampens or weakens the positive relationship between perceived usefulness and customers’ e-banking adoption intentions. The study makes several recommendations to inform scholarship, policy and practice.

Originality/value

Unlike existing literature, the study makes a unique contribution by including perceived risk of cybercrime as a moderating variable of theoretical significance in the relationship between adoption of e-banking and its determinants.

Details

Journal of Money and Business, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-2596

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 June 2022

Mandlakazi Ndlela and Maureen Tanner

Literature reveals ongoing debates around the role of business analysts in agile software development (ASD) teams. This can be attributed, in part, to a knowledge gap concerning…

2813

Abstract

Purpose

Literature reveals ongoing debates around the role of business analysts in agile software development (ASD) teams. This can be attributed, in part, to a knowledge gap concerning how business analysts contribute to overall team capabilities, particularly those which are essential in enabling teams to respond to fast-paced environmental changes. The purpose of this study was to address this gap by investigating how business analysts (BAs) contribute to the dynamic capabilities of ASD teams.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a deductive approach, this study adapted and applied a research model based on the team dynamic capabilities (DC) theory to explore the contributions of BAs in agile teams. The study was executed using a qualitative, single case study research strategy directed at an ASD team in the financial services industry. Moreover, data were collected through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews; a focus group; non-participant observation and physical artefacts review. The thematic analysis technique was used to analyse the data.

Findings

The study contributes to teams DC theory through four theoretical propositions centred on the role of BAs. The proposition highlights how BAs relationship management, tacit knowledge sharing, task mental models and transactive memory are key contributors of ASD teams' DC. The study also found that BAs contribute to ASD teams' ability to embrace agile principles 2, 4, 6 and 12. This study can inform the design of capacity development programmes for individual team members and BAs and thus help managers curate teams that will best promote DC.

Practical implications

This study can inform the design of capacity development programmes for individual team members and BAs and thus help managers curate teams that will best promote DC.

Originality/value

This study builds on the relatively few studies which focus on DC within software development (SD) teams and ASD project teams. Moreover, the study explores how an individual (i.e. a BA) can contribute to the DC of a team.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 June 2022

Gary Linnéusson, Thomas Andersson, Anna Kjellsdotter and Maria Holmén

This paper applies systems thinking modelling to enhance the dynamic understanding of how to nurture an innovative culture in healthcare organisations to develop the innovation…

3678

Abstract

Purpose

This paper applies systems thinking modelling to enhance the dynamic understanding of how to nurture an innovative culture in healthcare organisations to develop the innovation system in practice and speed up the innovative work. The model aims to provide a holistic view of a studied healthcare organisation's innovation processes, ranging from managerial values to its manifestation in improved results.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on empirical material from a healthcare unit that, within a few years, changed from having no innovations to repeatedly generating innovations. The study uses the modelling language of causal loop diagrams (CLDs) in the system dynamics methodology to identify the key important aspects found in the empirical material.

Findings

The proposed model, based on the stories of the interviewees, explores the dynamics of inertia when nurturing an innovative culture, identifying delays attributed to the internal change processes and system relationships. These findings underscored the need for perseverance when developing an innovative culture in the entrepreneurial phases.

Practical implications

The approach of using systems thinking to make empirical healthcare research results more tangible through the visual notations of CLDs and mental simulations is believed to support exploring complex phenomena to induce and nurture both individual and organisational learning.

Originality/value

The results from this approach provide deepened analysis and provoke the systems view to explain how the nurturing of the culture can accelerate the innovation processes, which helps practitioners and researchers to further expand their understanding of their healthcare contexts.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Adelaide Sheik, Deidre van Rooyen and Micaela Mazzei

Social innovation (SI) acknowledges socio-economic challenges as opportunities to make communities more sustainable and cohesive through inclusive grassroots practices. The…

1923

Abstract

Purpose

Social innovation (SI) acknowledges socio-economic challenges as opportunities to make communities more sustainable and cohesive through inclusive grassroots practices. The question remains, however, as to whether and how socially innovative practices can be effectively supported in developing inclusive economies. Drawing on the findings from two South African in-depth case studies, This paper aims to discuss how social innovation ventures may be supported to drive inclusiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper purposively sampled two social enterprises (SEs) and conducted in-depth case studies through interviews and secondary data review.

Findings

The SEs selected promoted digital, economic and social inclusion. Despite the diversity of the two organisations, they shared similar challenges in undertaking their practices mostly deriving from South Africa’s lack of legal recognition and policy framework for social purpose-driven businesses.

Originality/value

Applying Moulaert et al.’s (2007) SI classification criteria to the case studies in focus, this paper seeks to extend our understanding of the challenges that innovative SE organisations face in tackling exclusion and contributing to build inclusive economies in the South African context.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 January 2022

Abdullah Al Mamun, Mohammed Kamal Hossain and Md. Akhter Hossain

In this paper, the authors show that ecological restoration potential through natural regeneration of degraded tropical rainforest is possible. This is significant because at…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the authors show that ecological restoration potential through natural regeneration of degraded tropical rainforest is possible. This is significant because at present most of the tropical forest of the world, including of Bangladesh, are degraded.

Design/methodology/approach

Regeneration status of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) was assessed through stratified random sampling method using sample plots of 5 × 5 m in size covering 269 sample plots.

Findings

A total of 3,256 regenerating seedlings/saplings of 105 species belonging to 35 families were recorded from CWS. From regenerating tree species, maximum (37.83) family importance value (FIV) index was found for Euphorbiaceae followed by Myrtaceae (18.03). Maximum importance value index (IVI) was found for Aporosa wallichii (21.62) followed by Grewia nervosa (16.41). Distribution of seedlings into different height classes of regenerating tree species was also calculated.

Practical implications

Forest scientists are working to find out the best nature-based solution for ecological restoration of tropical rainforests to attain climate resilient ecosystem in a sustainable way. Tropical rain forest has huge plant diversity, and we find that ecological restoration is possible through natural regeneration from its rich soil seed bank. Natural regeneration is the best nature-based solution for sustainable management of the forest.

Social implications

The authors believe that the findings presented in our paper will appeal to the forest and environmental scientists. The findings will allow readers to understand degraded tropical hill forest ecosystem and its management strategy.

Originality/value

The authors believe that this manuscript will give a clear picture about degraded tropical hill forest ecosystem and its genetic composition, diversity and soil seed bank status to apply appropriate management strategy.

Details

Ecofeminism and Climate Change, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-4062

Keywords

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