Search results

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are the live wire of construction industry in developing countries. These classes of establishments are most affected by economic contraction and turmoil, thus affecting their performance and survivability. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate and prioritize the survival determinants of construction consulting organization during economic contraction in Nigeria using quantity surveying firms as a focal point.

The study adopted the descriptive-survey design and quantitative data were collected through questionnaire purposely administered to quantity surveying firms in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. The data obtained from 99 quantity surveying firms on survival determinants were analysed using various statistical analysis such as mean score, standard deviation, Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, and so on. Principal component analysis was used to identify the principal components of survival determinants, while the factors were prioritized using fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

The result of the analysis reveals eight factors that significantly determines the survival of firms during the period of economic contraction. Furthermore, the eight grouped factors were prioritized accordingly namely firm's innovation and diversification, ownership structure and networking, education level and management skills, and so on.

This study investigated the survival determinants of quantity surveying firms and prioritized it with the opinions of principal partners in quantity surveying establishments. As against obtaining large survey responses from all quantity surveyors in the study area that may not have practical experience of managing firms, the limited responses received provide valid basis to broaden the horizon of professionals and other stakeholders on the key determinants for firms to survive economic turmoil.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing information on prioritized factors that must be considered in an appropriate order by quantity surveying firms to survive economic contraction.

Looking back on the last 12 years, the whole planet went through two major economic crises (2008 and 2019), which both had a profound impact on the survival of businesses. The present study aims to develop and empirically test a conceptual framework that investigates the factors that have an influence on firm survival. More specifically, the study proposes a three-dimensional framework that includes performance drivers (utilizing resource-based view [RBV] factors), performance measures and the measurement of firm survival. Such a multi-dimensional approach has very rarely been explored in the existing literature.

A thorough literature review revealed gaps in the literature and offered the basis for developing the proposed conceptual framework of the study. Its empirical examination (hypothesis testing) was conducted with the use of a newly developed structured questionnaire that was distributed to a group of Greek manufacturing organizations (the final sample consists of 364 manufacturing companies). Empirical data were analyzed using the “structural equation modeling” (SEM) technique (multivariate analysis) and other similar techniques (i.e. exploratory factor analysis and analysis of variance). The study is empirical (based on primary data), explanatory (examines cause and effect relationships), deductive (tests research hypotheses) and quantitative (includes the analysis of quantitative data collected with the use of a structured questionnaire).

On the one hand, empirical results point out that “manufacturing-marketing alignment,” “manufacturing capabilities,” “structural configuration” and “business performance under crisis” have the most significant impact and on short-term survival (current situation). On the other hand, “competitive advantage” and “business performance under crisis” have the most significant impact on long-term survival (future situation). Focusing on RBV factors, only “structural configuration” and “manufacturing capabilities” directly affect short-term survival, while “manufacturing–marketing alignment” has an indirect effect on the same factor. Then again, all RBV factors indirectly affect long-term survival. Also, it is confirmed that short-term survival strongly affects long-term survival.

The present study contributes to the debate concerning the antecedents of firm survival, since current empirical findings are quite inconsistent. Specifically, crucial performance drivers and other measures are incorporated into an original model, which reveals their synergies and their impact on the dynamic dimensions of firm survival. Additionally, it enhances the stream of research that investigates firm survival under crisis since very few similar empirical studies have been conducted. Finally, firm survival is not measured as a static concept but rather as a dynamic one (firm survival – current situation and firm survival – future situation). Overall, the final model can explain 35.2% of the variance in “firm survival – current situation” and 46.3% of the variance in “firm survival – future situation.”

Economy-wide crises create major challenges for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Existing studies emphasize the crucial role of contrasting behavioral strategies, effectuation and causation in SMEs' adaptation to crisis conditions. Yet, prior literature concentrated predominantly on exploring the impact of effectuation and causation on firm performance rather than survival. The authors present and empirically test a theoretical model explaining how behavioral strategies affect SME survival during an economy-wide crisis under different levels of environmental dynamism.

The authors propose a theoretical framework based on the combination of the effectuation literature and the emerging variance-based perspective on entrepreneurial actions. The theoretical model is then tested using a sample of Russian SMEs during a period of economic adversity and recovery (2015–2019).

The empirical results reveal that causation reduces the probability of firm survival in dynamic environments, while effectuation increases the chance of survival irrespective of the state of the environment. In a nutshell, the study provides evidence that the effectuation logic serves a viable way for SMEs to increase the chances of survival through the economic shock and subsequent recovery period.

For the first time in the literature, the authors demonstrate the role of behavioral strategy (effectual and causal) as a crucial antecedent of SME survival in the short and medium term, particularly during an economy-wide downturn. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the power of variability-based theorizing for explaining and predicting the survival/failure implications of entrepreneurial actions.

This qualitative inquiry sheds light on using management accounting systems to address economic sustainability concerns in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan. Building on the dynamic capabilities (DC) theory, this research endeavors to address the recent calls on management accounting and economic sustainability in the context of SMEs.

Qualitative research design was adopted in which 13 semistructured interviews were conducted with SME owners of Pakistan. The transcribed interviews were coded and thematic analysis was performed via NVIVO-12 to generate themes.

Based on the DC theory, the findings revealed that SME owners in Pakistan use management accounting systems to ensure economic sustainability. The authors found that DC are a co-created phenomenon and refer to them as collective DC. Furthermore, the authors found the theme of accounting literacy which played a critical role in the exhibition of DC in a collective manner.

This is one of the earliest studies on management accounting systems that examine economic sustainability in Pakistani SMEs. This research provides novel insights into the use of management accounting systems in Pakistan from the perspective of DC. In Pakistani SMEs, dynamic capacities are co-created and contingent on accounting literacy.

Survivability capital is a unique resource resulting from the “familiness” constituting an inherent feature of family firms. Familiness represents the ability of family members to reinforce the financial and non-financial resources of businesses facing threats to their economic existence. This work proposes and examines various dimensions of the survivability capital construct, verifying whether family firms expecting deterioration of their economic situation or problems with survival due to the COVID-19 crisis can mobilise sufficient capital to survive.

This article provides empirical evidence based on a cross-sectional online survey of 167 Polish family firms, conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The method (scale) of survivability capital measurement was elaborated and validated using principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Next, the mobilisation of the different dimensions of survivability capital was examined using PLS-SEM modelling.

The survivability capital of family firms is composed of two dimensions: internal (based on directly involved family members) and external (based on not directly involved family members). Family firms facing crisis-induced deterioration of the economic situation engage its internal component. Subsequently, family firms forecasting decreasing probability of survival during a crisis try to engage both the internal and the external components of survivability capital. Such behaviour is in line with the resource-based view as well as with the sustainable family business theory.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine analytically the survivability capital construct. While previous studies mentioned the existence of survivability capital, this study attempts to introduce its various dimensions and test the mobilisation of survivability capital during the COVID-19 crisis.

An economic leader in the Caribbean, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has incorporated micro‐business development as one of its main strategies to alleviate poverty and unemployment and to spawn economic growth since the late 1980s. Although the discovery of natural gas in the early nineties catapulted Trinidad’s economic growth rate to four per cent per annum, unemployment and poverty continue to affect a large portion of the population. The majority of the population has not benefited from Trinidad’s economic growth. Thus, the government has attempted to create “a nation of entrepreneurs” in order to relieve some of the inequality that defines the society (Ministry of Trade and Industry 1997).

The aim of this chapter is to advance an understanding of the value of informal entrepreneurial activities in relation to context using an institutional perspective arguing that heterogeneity in institutional embeddedness affects the value individuals attach to entrepreneurial actions.

We draw empirically on 100 interviews with individuals engaged in informal cross-border activities in eight EU border regions across four countries that have experienced changes of regulatory, economic and social nature.

The analysis offers important insights on how three institutional logics – market, state and community – guide entrepreneurial action at the micro-level and affect value creation. Our evidence supports the use of these activities to fulfil important economic functions and to nurture family and social relations in closely-knit communities. Differences in the embeddedness of individuals in each of these logics contributed to their perception of the value of their informal entrepreneurial actions along economic and social dimensions at the individual, community and society level and also at the short and long run.

Our main contributions lie in extending discussions of economic and social value of informal entrepreneurial activities and in providing a dynamic view of the value of informal entrepreneurial activities that account for changes or shifts in institutional logics, the responses they generate and the value created as a result.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the success of the US economy at the end of the second millennium do not necessarily mean the end of socialism. In fact both capitalism and socialism are beneficial for a unitary human development, which consists of both material and spiritual development. Capitalism, with its emphasis on self‐interest and individual freedom, has been crucial to material development. But socialism, with its preference for other‐interest and collective necessity, is conducive to spiritual development. Thus, what is needed for further development of the human race is a unitary economics that synergizes capitalism and scoialism.

The paper aims to enrich current debate about human–technology dichotomy in socio-economic settings by decoding and systematizing the main phases through which it has been approached in managerial and social studies.

A multi-interpretative framework is built thanks to the adoption of a qualitative approach inspired by the inductive logic, and for analyzing the historical evolution of the approach to human–technology dichotomy and for explaining them through an innovative conceptual model.

An innovative conceptual model is proposed for depicting connections and evolutions among the main four phases in the evolution of the approaches to human–technology dichotomy.

Reflections and conceptual model herein can support researchers in rereading the multiple theoretical and practical contributions provided with reference to human and technology relations in socio-economic settings.

The paper can support managers and entrepreneurs in defining and evaluating managerial approaches for efficiently enhancing human–technology interaction.

The paper proposes an innovative conceptual model based on a multi-interpretative framework for decoding the historical evolution of the approaches to human–technology dichotomy in business settings. New variables are added to the current debate about the topic for building an original interpretive viewpoint.

Labor market studies which focus on dichotomous categories such as employed and unemployed miss a variety of marginal employment situations. This article addre‐sses the recent proliferation of jobs created by democratically controlled alternative organizations. We argue, from a population ecology perspective, that the economic potential of small alternative organizations is limited. Although current environmental con‐ditions favor small specialist organizations, the salience of non‐material incentives prevents alternative organizations from fully exploiting emerging opportunities. Alternative employment is best considered an instance of underemployment with strong tendencies toward impoverishment and self‐exploitation.