Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate social capital's effect on family business development in selected family media firms.

The statistical population includes 100 individuals who run a family business in this industry. Eighty individuals are selected as the research sample through the stratified random sampling method. The data are collected using a questionnaire. The authors used structural equation modelling method for data analysis.

The results indicate that social capital affects the development of family businesses in media firms. According to the results obtained from the structural equation test, the effect of the relational dimension of social capital on trust and the effect of the cognitive and structural dimensions of social capital on trust are supported, while the effect of the relational dimension of social capital on commitment as well as the effect of the cognitive dimension of social capital on trust are not supported.

This research could help family firms in media industries improve trust and commitment by paying attention to different aspects of social capital. Besides, it shows that even the impact of relational and cognitive social capital, respectively, on commitment and trust, are not supported; these two could affect trust and commitment, respectively.

The paper is among the first studies that investigate family firms in media industries. Besides, the relationships between relational, cognitive and structural aspects of social capital and trust and commitment are rarely studied in the literature as two determinants of family business development.

The current research aimed to investigate the external enablement role of Digital Infrastructures (DI) in the interplay of entrepreneurial cognitions and innovation.

Data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) were used for analyses. This yielded a sample of 8,601 Generation Z entrepreneurs operating in 25 European countries.

Applying hierarchical moderated regressions showed that socio-cognitive components of an entrepreneurial mindset (self-efficacy, risk propensity, opportunity identification) affect innovation among Generation Z entrepreneurs. More importantly, DI plays an external enablement role in the interplay of cognitions and innovation among Generation Z entrepreneurs.

This study contributes to the socio-cognitive theory of entrepreneurship by integrating an external enablement perspective into the study of cognitions and entrepreneurial outcomes (here, innovation). It contributes to the digital technology perspective of entrepreneurship by connecting the conversation about the socio-cognitive perspective of entrepreneurship regarding the role of cognitions in innovation to the conversation in information systems (IS) regarding technology affordances and constraints. This study extends the application of the external enabler framework to the post-entry stage of entrepreneurial activity and integrates a generational perspective into it.

This paper explores how entrepreneurial culture (EC) and organizational learning (OL) determine the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). These NTBFs are located in Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT), Iran. These entities face substantial challenges in a highly-sanctioned economy, which makes adopting, acquiring or transferring new technologies daunting.

This paper analyzes a sample of 200 NTBFs. The participants were trained chief executive officers and observed by applying pre-test and post-test designs. As a final step, empirical data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed accordingly. The structural equation modeling (SEM) with the partial least squares (PLS) approach was used by the SmartPLS2 software.

OL was found to mediate the relationship between EC and EO in the studied NTBFs. Additionally, the indirect effect of EC on EO and the direct impact of OL on EO were significant (=1.96). Therefore, this study focuses on selected NTBFs within Iran's particular and distinctive context.

This study has several limitations. These were the time consuming nature, the lack of cooperation by managers and the COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges. Nonetheless, the findings offer several important implications for practitioners, scholars and policymakers.

The paper sought to explore how EC and OL determine EO in Iranian NTBFs. It, thus, investigates the case of a highly-sanctioned context during the coronavirus pandemic, which imposed several basic and technological limitations on their practices.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of business process reengineering on organizational performance in the Malaysian electronics manufacturing industry during the coronavirus pandemic. It also studied the moderating effect of strategic thinking on the relationship between these two concepts.

Data of 103 samples are obtained from a survey of the electronics manufacturing companies listed in the Federation of Malaysia Manufacturers’ directory. Data is analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

The results show that business process reengineering dimensions, i.e. top management commitment, organizational readiness for change, information technology capabilities and people management have significant positive impacts on organizational performance; whereas organizational structure and other abovementioned dimensions were found to have a much stronger impact on organizational performance whilst strategic thinking exists in the organization.

As the studied firms have been affected by the pandemic, the results will be useful for managers of the firms in the Malaysian electronics manufacturing industry by highlighting the dimensions of business process reengineering that can have a positive and significant impact on the organizational performance and by advising them to incorporate strategic thinking.

The results extend the literature on business process reengineering dimensions, which impact organizational performance by empirically testing the relationship of those dimensions on the performance, with strategic thinking as a moderating variable in Malaysian electronics manufacturing companies. From the knowledge, studying strategic thinking as a moderator in the relationship between business process reengineering and organizational performance in electronics manufacturing companies in Malaysia is unique, especially during a global crisis, i.e. the pandemic.

Startups play a significant role in improving societies. This paper concentrates on the concept of “startups” and attempts to present a more comprehensive view of this phenomenon. Also, the focus of this paper is on investigating enterprising communities and the startup ecosystem in Iran.

The existing literature is carefully reviewed, definition and views are explored and the story of this phenomenon is told from the formation to the exit stage. The author elaborates the existing stages and challenges of startups in Iran. To do so, 65 tech startup founders are interviewed. Semi-structured interviews (SI) were based on previous studies mentioning the lifecycle of the startups, and were fully recorded. Moreover, secondary sources of data (SS) were used to support the findings.

The paper classifies the extant theories of startups in two levels, i.e. macro level, and micro and meso levels. Also, it defines some steps for the formation of startups and studies the Iranian startup ecosystem. Last but not the least the paper contributes to the startup ecosystem of Iran which is changing disruptively, especially in the last couple of years.

Findings of this research shed light on the existing ecosystem of startups in Iran, which is rarely studied in previous research. Lack of enough evidence in the existing literature of startup ecosystem in Iran was the most significant limitation of the research which increased the need for more investigation and elaboration.

The paper contributes to understanding the startup ecosystem in Iran, and the challenges.

A review of previous studies on the voices of employees and knowledge workers clarifies that paying attention to employees' voice is critical in human resource management. However, limited studies have been conducted on it, and much less emphasis has been placed compared to other human resource management activities such as human resource planning. Therefore, the voice of knowledge employees has been one of the critical issues that have attracted a great deal of attention recently. Nonetheless, there is no evidence of various comprehensive and integrated voice mechanisms. As a result, this study aims to design knowledge workers' voice patterns in knowledge-based companies specialising in information and communication technology (ICT) in Iran in May and June 2020.

This study is a qualitative grounded theory research. We collected the data from a target sample of 15 experts in knowledge-based ICT companies using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Since all the participants had practised the employee voice process, they were regarded as useful data sources. Data analysis was also performed using three-step coding (open, axial and selective) by Atlas T8, which eventually led to identifying 14 components and 38 selected codes. We placed identified components in a paradigm model, including Personality Characteristics, Job Factors, Economic Factors, Cultural Factors, Organisational Policies, Organisational Structure, Climate Of Voice in the Organisation, Management Factors, Emotional Events, Communications and Networking, Contrast and Conflict and, etc. Then, the voice pattern of the knowledge staff was drawn.

The results showed that constructive knowledge voice influences the recognition of environmental opportunities and, additionally, it helps the competitive advantages among the employees. By forming the concept of knowledge staff voice, it can be concluded that paying attention to knowledge staff voice leads to presenting creative solutions to do affairs in critical situations. The presentation of these solutions by knowledge workers results in the acceptance of environmental changes, recognition and exploitation of new chances and ideas, and sharing experiences in Iranian knowledge-based companies.

Strengthening and expanding the voice of employees in knowledge-oriented companies can pave the way to growth and development towards a higher future that prevents the waste of tangible and intangible assets.

Companies' ability to engage in knowledge workers is a vital factor in human resource management and strategic management. However, the employee voice has not been involved integrally in the context of corporate.

The onset of a crisis demands that businesses respond quickly and effectively. So, it might be helpful to examine the effect of business model innovation and how to increase its impact on better crisis management. This study aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.

The present study is applied in terms of aim and a quantitative descriptive survey regarding the data collection method. The structural equation model with the partial least squares approach and Smart PLS 3 software was used for the structural analysis of the questionnaire.

The findings revealed that business model innovation could lead to better crisis management. In addition, the components of entrepreneurial capability, resilience and business performance played a mediating role.

Some factors may mediate the effect of business model innovation on crisis management. Thus, future research can investigate them and identify their impact.

The present study suggests that managers should re-examine business model processes and make them innovative to improve crisis management.

The present study examines the factors that affect crisis management with an emphasis on innovation, assesses the impact of mediating factors in this regard and attempts to provide a model to facilitate better crisis management.

This study aims to distinguish businesses by their degree of complexity and to analyse the influence of complexity on the performance of firms during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Data were collected from 468 businesses, and various multivariate statistical techniques were used. Initially a factor analysis was conducted, organising variables into five factors. A discriminant analysis, performed with the five factors, allowed discriminating firms based on whether they internationalise or not. A linear regression was performed in order to estimate the contribution of each factor in the business performance.

The results suggest the existence of additional variables for measuring the complexity. From the factorial analysis it is possible to conclude that business complexity can be explained by size, indebtedness and profitability, internationalisation, number of employees, and age and leverage. Total assets, indebtedness and age are the variables that contribute the most to business performance. On the other hand, indebtedness, internationalisation, age and leverage are the independent variables that most contribute to explain business performance.

This paper presents advances in two ways. First, it proposes measures of complexity (highly debatable in the literature). It also proposes internationalisation as an explanation of complexity. Second, this paper sheds light on businesses decisions to grow, taking into account how complexity may affect performance.

This study explores the effect of internal branding on organisational financial performance and brand loyalty with the mediating role of psychological empowerment.

The data gathered from 200 Pasargad insurance employees in Iran were analysed. Structural equation modelling and R were used to evaluate the model. Financial performance was measured by four concepts (ROI, ROE, Sales growth, ROA) based on available data from March 2010 to March 2020.

The results revealed that internal branding and psychological empowerment have no significant effect on financial performance, but both have a significant positive effect on brand loyalty. Likewise, the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the subject of the impact of internal branding on brand loyalty was confirmed. Furthermore, psychological empowerment did not play a mediating role in the impact of internal branding on financial performance.

The findings of this study could be important for managers of organisations active in the insurance industry to highlight internal branding and enhance psychological empowerment and employee brand loyalty. Moreover, managers' perception of the effective role of psychological empowerment to enhance employee brand loyalty is another practical aspect of this research.

Considering the mediating role of psychological empowerment to the effect of internal branding on financial performance and brand loyalty is an innovative aspect of the present study. Meanwhile, the use of R software for VB-SEM was another point to surge the value of this paper.

The Iranian entrepreneurial ecosystem has grown dramatically during the past decade. Several improvements have been made at different levels, and, therefore, one could witness its unique achievements. Digital entrepreneurs are an integral part of this ecosystem, as most of the early achievements are the results of their proactive behaviors. Hopefully, the number of female digital entrepreneurs has increased, and their entrepreneurial activities have profoundly changed the competition scene. Therefore, this chapter provides a better understanding of the multilayered entrepreneurial ecosystem of Iran and then elaborates how female entrepreneurs are positioned in this ecosystem. Moreover, six well-known award-winning female digital entrepreneurs are introduced, and their challenges are scrutinized accordingly through narrative research. Finally, the chapter concludes with some remarks and directions for future research.