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1 – 10 of 83Birgitte Karlstrøm, Tiril Marie Jansen and Marte C.W. Solheim
The venture capital industry is an important provider of capital to start-ups and has grown considerably in recent decades. This study explores how investors' gender perceptions…
Abstract
Purpose
The venture capital industry is an important provider of capital to start-ups and has grown considerably in recent decades. This study explores how investors' gender perceptions influence venture capital investment decisions in an industry that remains highly gender imbalanced, both amongst the venture capital decision-makers and with respect to the allocation of capital to entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' approach was informed by a thorough literature review and in-depth qualitative interviews with ten decision-makers at some of the foremost venture capital funds in Norway. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded using NVivo.
Findings
The authors' findings demonstrate that the Norwegian venture capital industry is influenced by homophily and role congruity. The authors highlight the challenges entrepreneurs face in gaining access to venture capital if they are not already members of the investors' network, a situation that results in a recycling effect that helps maintain the industry’s gender imbalance. Moreover, it appears that venture capitalists (VCs) favour masculine characteristics when assessing entrepreneurs, revealing a potential incongruence between female characteristics and perceived entrepreneurial attributes.
Originality/value
The authors' study contributes to and extends the extant literature on homophily and role congruity. Indeed, through investigating the gender-based perceptions of VCs, the authors shed new light on the mechanisms involved in their assessment of entrepreneurs, as well as on the drivers and barriers affecting female entrepreneurs.
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This chapter is based on experiences from two field studies, conducted in Tanzania and Pakistan, with a focus on women entrepreneurs. When conducting research in the global south…
Abstract
This chapter is based on experiences from two field studies, conducted in Tanzania and Pakistan, with a focus on women entrepreneurs. When conducting research in the global south, there are several ethical challenges to carefully consider, especially when research involves vulnerable groups of people. The aim of the chapter is to shed light on the complexities of power dynamics and to reflect on how to handle ethical dilemmas that may arise. Stories of women I met during the field work are placed at the centre and used as starting points for reflections on power dynamics. These stories lead to a discussion on whether it is legitimate for (privileged) Westerners to engage in research in the global south. The value of ethnography and auto-ethnography within entrepreneurship research is thereafter discussed in hopes of assisting future studies, where different power structures have to be considered.
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Leslie Poljak, Berenika M. Webster and Renee Kiner
This paper aims to uncover characteristics of physical spaces that evoke feelings of welcome and belonging in a diverse student population in an academic library.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to uncover characteristics of physical spaces that evoke feelings of welcome and belonging in a diverse student population in an academic library.
Design/methodology/approach
The photovoice method was used to allow research participants an active role in shaping research questions and collecting and analyzing data.
Findings
The research reveals that space design significantly influences students' feelings of physical safety, emotional well-being and safety and ownership (or sense of belonging) in academic library spaces, thereby emphasizing the importance of considering space design in promoting student well-being and inclusiveness.
Originality/value
This research used photovoice methodology to engage underrepresented student communities in providing input into the design of library spaces.
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Jessica Carlson and Jennifer Jennings
Inspired by the “responsibility turn” in the broader organization/management literature, the overarching aim of this article is to help scholars working at the…
Abstract
Purpose
Inspired by the “responsibility turn” in the broader organization/management literature, the overarching aim of this article is to help scholars working at the gender × entrepreneurship intersection produce research with a higher likelihood of being accessed, appreciated and acted upon by policy- practitioners. Consistent with this aim, we hope that our paper contributes to an increased use of academic-practitioner collaborations as a means of producing such research.
Design/methodology/approach
We selected Cunliffe and Pavlovich’s (2022) recently formulated “public organization/management studies” (public OMS) approach as our guiding methodology. We implemented this approach by forming a co-authorship team comprised of a policy professional and an entrepreneurship scholar and then engaging in a democratic, collaborative and mutually respectful process of knowledge cogeneration.
Findings
Our paper is comprised of four distinct sets of ideas. We start by describing who policy-practitioners are and what they want from academic research in general. We follow this with a comprehensive set of priorities for policy-oriented research at the gender × entrepreneurship nexus, accompanied by references to academic studies that offer initial insight into the identified priorities. We then offer suggestions for the separate and joint actions that scholars and policy-practitioners can take to increase policy-relevant research on gender and entrepreneurship. We end with a description and critical reflection on our application of the public OMS approach.
Originality/value
The ideas presented in our article offer an original response to recent work that has critiqued the policy implications (or lack thereof) within prior research at the gender × entrepreneurship nexus (Foss et al., 2019). Our ideas also complement and extend existing recommendations for strengthening the practical contributions of academic scholarship at this intersection (Nelson, 2020). An especially unique aspect is our description of – and critical reflection upon – how we applied the public OMS approach to bridge the academic-policy divide.
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Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini and Thomas M. Cooney
This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The article critically examines the current state of women’s entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology.
Findings
The prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women’s entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance of considering the ontological dimensions of lived experiences of situatedness, intersubjectivity, intentionality and temporality in analysing women entrepreneurs’ agency within gendered institutional contexts. It also demonstrates that feminist phenomenology could broaden the current scope of IPA regarding the embodied dimension of language.
Research limitations/implications
The adoption of feminist phenomenology and IPA presents new avenues for research that go beyond the traditional cognitive approach in entrepreneurship, contributing to theory and practice. The proposed conceptual framework also has some limitations that provide opportunities for future research, such as a phenomenological intersectional approach and arts-based methods.
Originality/value
The article contributes to a new research agenda in women’s entrepreneurship research by offering a feminist phenomenological framework that focuses on the embodied dimension of entrepreneurship through the integration of IPA and conceptual metaphor theory (CMT).
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Mohammed Taha Alqershy, Qian Shi and Diana R. Anbar
This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the social responsibility performance of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) megaprojects. Specifically, it examines the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the social responsibility performance of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) megaprojects. Specifically, it examines the role of isomorphic pressures and the joint influence of perceived benefits and top management support on megaproject social responsibility performance (MSRP).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from institutional theory, social exchange theory, and top management literature, this study established a conceptual model featuring eleven hypotheses. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey was administered to collect data from 238 actively engaged participants in BRI megaprojects. Structural Equation Modelling was utilised to analyse the data.
Findings
The empirical findings indicate that mimetic and coercive pressures positively influence MSRP. Perceived benefits and top management support significantly enhance MSRP. Moreover, perceived benefits and top management support partially mediate the effects of coercive and mimetic pressures. However, when it comes to normative pressures, their impact on MSRP is solely channelled through the support of top management.
Originality/value
This study is one of the early endeavours to explore the factors influencing the social responsibility performance of BRI megaprojects. It sheds light on the interplay between external pressures and internal factors in shaping social responsibility efforts in these projects. These findings are of particular significance for BRI actors and stakeholders, offering guidance for enhancing social responsibility strategies within the context of BRI megaprojects.
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Marta Olmo-Extremera, Lucía Fernández-Terol and Diana Amber Montes
This study aims to describe and evaluate various visual and creative tools for supporting the in-depth biographical interview aimed at analyzing educational communities and their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe and evaluate various visual and creative tools for supporting the in-depth biographical interview aimed at analyzing educational communities and their stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Researching educational spaces today requires new ways of understanding, analyzing and studying. The complex characteristics, functions and realities demand research that responds to educational singularities. It is a matter of deeply understanding the educational phenomenon's peculiarities. For these purposes, instruments and research paradigms are needed to extract data and reach information saturation regarding the data obtained from the proposed objects of study. With this in mind, the following paper suggests reflecting on data collection tools that can complement the interview and biographical-narrative research approach. The authors highlight the use of photo-elucidation, the biogram-based timeline, the organigram and the flight of the geese, all of which are instruments endowed with a visual character that allows a deeper understanding of the object studied.
Findings
The main contribution of this paper is to unpack the uses and applications of four visual tools that support the interview technique. First, photo-elucidation is presented as a sensory strategy to stimulate the narrative during the dialogical exchange of the interview. Next, the timeline is described as a visual concretization of the traditional biogram widely used in educational research. Next, the authors unravel the uses of the organizational chart in educational research, which, due to its nature and utility, provides a glimpse of the organizational functioning of an institution and is particularly suitable for research in institutional frameworks. Finally, the tool known as the flight of the geese is presented. This tool is recommended for use in educational leadership and teamwork studies due to its simplicity and high representativeness of the hierarchy of roles and functions.
Originality/value
Researching educational spaces today requires new ways of understanding, analyzing and studying. The complex characteristics, functions, and realities demand research that responds to educational singularities. It is a matter of deeply understanding the educational phenomenon's peculiarities. For these purposes, instruments and research paradigms are needed to extract data and reach information saturation regarding the data obtained from the proposed objects of study. With this in mind, the following paper invites us to reflect on data collection tools that can complement the interview and biographical-narrative research approach. The authors highlight the use of photo-elucidation, the biogram-based timeline, the organigram, and the flight of the geese, all of which are instruments endowed with a visual character that allows a deeper understanding of the object studied.
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Laura-Diana Radu and Daniela Popescul
The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly affected urban communities, generating the need for an immediate response from local governance. The availability of urban data platforms in…
Abstract
Purpose
The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly affected urban communities, generating the need for an immediate response from local governance. The availability of urban data platforms in some smart cities helped the relevant actors to develop various solutions in an innovative and highly contextual way. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of data platforms in smart cities in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 85 studies were identified using the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science electronic library. After applying exclusion and inclusion criteria, 61 publications were considered appropriate and reasonable for the research, being read in-depth. Finally, only 52 studies presented relevant information for the topic and were synthesized following the defined research questions. During the research, the authors included in the paper other interesting references found in selected articles and important information regarding the role of data in the fight against Covid-19 in smart cities available on the Internet and social media, with the intention to capture both academic and practical perspectives.
Findings
The authors' main conclusion suggests that based on their previous expertise in collecting, processing and analyzing data from multiple sources, some smart cities quickly adapted their data platforms for an efficient response against Covid-19. The results highlight the importance of open data, data sharing, innovative thinking, the collaboration between public and private stakeholders, and the participation of citizens, especially in these difficult times.
Practical implications
The city managers and data operators can use the presented case studies and findings to identify relevant data-driven smart solutions in the fight against Covid-19 or another crisis.
Social implications
The performance of smart cities is a social concern since the population of urban communities is continuously growing. By reviewing the adoption of information technologies-based solutions to improve the quality of citizens' life, the paper emphasizes their potential in societies in which information technology is embedded, especially during a major crisis.
Originality/value
This research re-emphasizes the importance of collecting data in smart cities, the role of the diversity of their sources and the necessity of citizens, companies and government synergetic involvement, especially in a pandemic context. The existence of smart solutions to process and extract information and knowledge from large data sets was essential for many actors involved in smart cities, helping them in the decision-making process. Based on previous expertise, some smart cities quickly adapted their data platforms for an efficient response against Covid-19. The paper analyzes also these success cases that can be considered models to be adopted by other municipalities in similar circumstances.
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Enrique Bigne, Aline Simonetti and Diana Y.W. Shih
This study aims to investigate how brand love and brand loyalty for three brands evolved during critical moments of the 2020 pandemic, and how they performed in the long run up to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how brand love and brand loyalty for three brands evolved during critical moments of the 2020 pandemic, and how they performed in the long run up to 2022.
Design/methodology/approach
An online longitudinal study, including a survey and Twitter data for three brands: Corona Extra, with a direct semantic association with the word coronavirus; Virus Vodka, with an indirect association; Modelo Especial, with no association with the virus name but from the same company as Corona Extra.
Findings
Despite external data indicating a harmful association between Corona Extra and coronavirus, this study's findings revealed that the brand maintained its brand love in the long run and increased brand loyalty during the critical moments of the pandemic. This study's data suggest that brand love and brand loyalty may be the underlying reasons for the increase in Corona Extra's brand equity during the pandemic.
Originality/value
The COVID-19 pandemic created a highly stressful situation for consumers and brands. Some brands' names had unfortunate semantic similarities with the virus terminology, which became an additional stressor during that time. This study harnessed the opportunity to investigate brand love and brand loyalty during the pandemic at four points in 2020 and one in 2022. The authors also examined relevant Twitter data during 2020.
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Muhammad Arif Mahmood, Chioibasu Diana, Uzair Sajjad, Sabin Mihai, Ion Tiseanu and Andrei C. Popescu
Porosity is a commonly analyzed defect in the laser-based additive manufacturing processes owing to the enormous thermal gradient caused by repeated melting and solidification…
Abstract
Purpose
Porosity is a commonly analyzed defect in the laser-based additive manufacturing processes owing to the enormous thermal gradient caused by repeated melting and solidification. Currently, the porosity estimation is limited to powder bed fusion. The porosity estimation needs to be explored in the laser melting deposition (LMD) process, particularly analytical models that provide cost- and time-effective solutions compared to finite element analysis. For this purpose, this study aims to formulate two mathematical models for deposited layer dimensions and corresponding porosity in the LMD process.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, analytical models have been proposed. Initially, deposited layer dimensions, including layer height, width and depth, were calculated based on the operating parameters. These outputs were introduced in the second model to estimate the part porosity. The models were validated with experimental data for Ti6Al4V depositions on Ti6Al4V substrate. A calibration curve (CC) was also developed for Ti6Al4V material and characterized using X-ray computed tomography. The models were also validated with the experimental results adopted from literature. The validated models were linked with the deep neural network (DNN) for its training and testing using a total of 6,703 computations with 1,500 iterations. Here, laser power, laser scanning speed and powder feeding rate were selected inputs, whereas porosity was set as an output.
Findings
The computations indicate that owing to the simultaneous inclusion of powder particulates, the powder elements use a substantial percentage of the laser beam energy for their melting, resulting in laser beam energy attenuation and reducing thermal value at the substrate. The primary operating parameters are directly correlated with the number of layers and total height in CC. Through X-ray computed tomography analyses, the number of layers showed a straightforward correlation with mean sphericity, while a converse relation was identified with the number, mean volume and mean diameter of pores. DNN and analytical models showed 2%–3% and 7%–9% mean absolute deviations, respectively, compared to the experimental results.
Originality/value
This research provides a unique solution for LMD porosity estimation by linking the developed analytical computational models with artificial neural networking. The presented framework predicts the porosity in the LMD-ed parts efficiently.
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