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1 – 4 of 4Emma Fleck, Alexandros Kakouris and Doan Winkel
This study aims to develop insights on how national culture, gender and field of study can influence the impact of entrepreneurship education toward the development of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop insights on how national culture, gender and field of study can influence the impact of entrepreneurship education toward the development of entrepreneurial intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The entrepreneurship education project gathered data from over 18,000 undergraduate student responses, spanning over 70 countries and 400 universities. The sample used in this research examined eight countries with significantly different national cultures, while a quantitative analysis of a sample of n = 5,033 responses was performed. Beyond correlation analysis, a hierarchical multiple regression model is implemented for intention along with moderation analysis.
Findings
The statistical analysis reveals robust correlations among several entrepreneurial concepts and national cultural indices. As expected, national culture interweaves with all entrepreneurial concepts and more significantly for students of socially oriented disciplines. Gendera and field of the study appear moderators of causal relationships between entrepreneurial constructs. Exerting a strong influence by culture, entrepreneurial identity appears the most significant explanator of intention. Overall, the emergent pattern suggests entrepreneurship is intentional, but in a socially justified and accepted manner closely related to local cultural norms and institutions.
Research limitations/implications
Implications pertain to research for entrepreneurial intention and to educators and educational bodies concerning their goal setting for entrepreneurial programs and appropriate scheduling of effective pedagogies.
Originality/value
The study exploits a large data set from eight countries (Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Spain and USA) which permits systematic quantitative search for the influence of culture on the impact of entrepreneurship education. Cross-national studies of entrepreneurship education and the effect of national culture have been scant in literature – a research gap the study responds to. The inclusion of both developing and developed countries contributes in a novel way to a unique understanding of the influence of culture on entrepreneurial concepts through education.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify entrepreneurial conceptions and beliefs of Greek graduates, comparing science and economics graduates and nascent entrepreneurs to general…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify entrepreneurial conceptions and beliefs of Greek graduates, comparing science and economics graduates and nascent entrepreneurs to general population samples. Differences in conceptions are further examined as determinants of entrepreneurial intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper utilizes a 34-item questionnaire for a graduates’ survey in a science and an economics department (n=413). The questions concern five major subjects of entrepreneurial thinking: conceptualizing entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial success factors, motivation, risk management and business financing. Entrepreneurial intention is identified through a six-item scale. Structural equation model is used to retrieve an explanatory pattern for the present variables and data.
Findings
Greek science and economics graduates typically exhibit differences in beliefs that downsize through entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurial nascence is supported by personal competencies, self-confidence, planning capacities and adoption of an entrepreneurial style. Beyond expected dependencies on personal entrepreneurial competencies, motives, organizational skills and other subjective beliefs, possible misapprehension of entrepreneurial notions were found to reduce the entrepreneurial intention. The latter result differentiates nascent entrepreneurs from latent ones.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations concern the full representation of Greek universities, the representation of science disciplines and the exhaustive representation of the spectrum of beliefs associated with business venturing.
Practical implications
Findings have direct implications for entrepreneurship education and educational policies. This is because beliefs are cognitive structures which can be altered through effective education and counseling methods.
Social implications
Findings reflect socio-economic influences on young potential entrepreneurs in Greece during the debt crisis.
Originality/value
The paper originally contributes to the survey of entrepreneurial beliefs in Greece. Beliefs are thought culture and field of study specific, and thus, the paper not only covers a gap in literature for the Greek population, but also adds comparative analyses between: science/economics graduates and the nascent entrepreneurs/general population. In this way, it seeks the origin of different beliefs and also attempts a consistent examination of their relations into relevant conceptualizations as determinants of entrepreneurial intention. Comparisons between economics and science students are scarce in the literature offering insights toward the interdisciplinary fostering of entrepreneurial mindsets.
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Maaria Nuutinen and Katri Ojasalo
The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretically and empirically grounded interdisciplinary framework for understanding service innovation in a business-to-business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretically and empirically grounded interdisciplinary framework for understanding service innovation in a business-to-business (b-to-b) context, particularly from the perspective of the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME).
Design/methodology/approach
This study used an abductive research process, supported by theoretical insights from a literature review, and empirical evidence from a multiple-case study. Six SME case companies were all transforming towards service logic. The empirical data consists of semi-structured interviews with the case companies and their business customers, workshops and business documents.
Findings
The study identified four critical service logic-related perspectives in service innovation in a b-to-b context, and related key questions: How is potential for new service business recognised? How is freedom of action perceived? What kinds of strategies are plausible? What are the reasons, objectives and support for the change? The shared interpretation of these questions within an organisation seemed to be related to the company’s success in doing business in new ways, enhancing service innovations and in their transformation to service logic.
Originality/value
This article offers a new interdisciplinary and empirically grounded perspective on innovation in the b-to-b and SME context framing the phenomenon in service logic. Tackling the questions is a precondition for SMEs in enhancing service orientation in strategy, mutual value orientation in organisational culture, their role in others’ business and collaborative business development, thus enhancing service innovations producing reciprocal value-in-use over time.
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