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The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the business model from a value network perspective and to investigate how top managers' individual characteristics contribute to business model innovation.

On the basis of upper echelons theory and contingency theory, this study empirically examines the micro‐macro link between top managers' human and social capital and firm business model innovation.

Using survey data collected from 146 Chinese firms, the findings indicate that both top managers' managerial and entrepreneurial skills and managerial ties significantly lead to business model innovation. Furthermore, the interaction between entrepreneurial skills and managerial ties enhances, yet the interaction between managerial skills and managerial ties inhibits business model innovation.

By proposing a value network‐based definition for the business model, this study provides additional insights into the current debate on the definition and architecture of business model. Further, the current study contributes to an emerging body of business model research by demonstrating, for the first time, that a manager's individual characteristics can both directly and interactively drive business model innovation in the context of emerging economies.

Research in the area of business model innovation (BMI) has focused on theoretical and exploratory discussions, thereby creating a lack of empirical evidence on the role of top management in BMI. The current study focuses on this research gap and provides empirical evidence by studying the impact of top managers’ managerial skills, managerial ties and entrepreneurial skills on BMI. It also seeks to explore the mediating influence of explorative and exploitative learning.

Data were collected from 200 respondents from top multinational firms in India covering six sectors, which was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal significant positive relationships of BMI with managerial skills, entrepreneur skills and managerial ties, and these relationships are found to be mediated by exploitative and explorative learning.

Given the increasing importance of BMI to organizational success, the study has highlighted that top managers’ skills and ties favorably influence BMI. Organizations can make related investments in training and capacity building by instituting appropriate programs in their organizations. In addition, organizations can exercise caution during recruitment by recruiting and selecting managers in top management teams who excel in managerial skills.

This study is one of the few to validate a comprehensive measurement model that highlights the influence of managerial skills, entrepreneur skills and managerial ties on BMI, explaining these associations with the mediating role of exploitative and explorative learning.

Entrepreneurial competencies are seen as important to business growth and success. The purpose of this paper is therefore to undertake a literature review of research on entrepreneurial competence in order to: provide an integrated account of contributions relating to entrepreneurial competencies by different authors working in different countries and different industry sectors and at different points in time; and, develop an agenda for future research, and practice in relation to entrepreneurial competencies.

The article starts with a review of the development of the concept of competence, with particular reference to its use in the context of management competencies. It then draws together views on the notion of entrepreneurial competence before exploring and summarising research on the link between entrepreneurial competencies and business performance and growth. A core section then compares the models of entrepreneurial competencies cited in the literature, and on this basis proposes a set of entrepreneurial competencies which can be used as the basis for further research and practice. Finally, the different perspectives adopted by researchers to the measurement of entrepreneurial competencies are reviewed.

Conclusions suggest that although the concept of entrepreneurial competencies is used widely by government agencies and others in their drive for economic development and business success, the core concept of entrepreneurial competencies, its measurement and its relationship to entrepreneurial performance and business success is in need of further rigorous research and development in practice.

This article integrates previous models of entrepreneurial competencies towards the development of an entrepreneurial competency framework.

Women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to Asian economies. However, women in this region face an alarming array of barriers to entrepreneurship. This research study aims to examine the factors, i.e. government support, family social support, financial literacy and managerial skills, in building the entrepreneurial capacity of women entrepreneurs under the lens of the person–environment (P-E) fit theory. Furthermore, the study also examines the moderating effect of socio-cultural barriers in the said relationships.

For the study, the data was collected from the owners of 311 women-owned manufacturing and services sector enterprises from the northern Indian community.

Findings suggest that all the factors significantly affect the entrepreneurial capacity of women entrepreneurs, and the barriers work as a moderator between the relationships.

Based on P-E fit theory, this unique research study proposes a model to test the role of factors such as government support, family social support, financial literacy and managerial skills in developing women entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial capacity along with examining the moderating role of socio-cultural factors contributing to the entrepreneurial capacity of women.

This study aims to investigate the effects of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) and entrepreneurial managerial skills (EMS) on project performance at both the individual and team levels using a holistic framework.

Data were collected from 308 university students involved in two different types of projects (entrepreneurship and nonentrepreneurship) in Qatar.

The confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling showed that both IEO and EMS positively and almost equally influenced project performance. However, ESE’s impact on project performance was significantly mediated by both IEO and EMS and, in practice, it should be considered a motivational factor for increasing the impact of IEO and EMS on project performance.

Project managers should recognize the value of the management and leadership skills examined in this study and their implications for project outcomes.

This study provides novel insights into the role these factors play in effective project management, thus allowing organizations to make effective decisions to reinforce these factors and gain a competitive advantage.

This study aims to define, classify and interconnect the wide range of known entrepreneurial abilities with terms such as skills, capabilities and competencies, which have been used inconsistently within the entrepreneurial field.

This investigation is based on a systematic literature review and strengthened by a meta-analysis equipped with a bibliometric study to assist the generation of outcomes with a quantitative investigation.

This study proposes an evolving entrepreneurial ability model which interconnects genetic and acquired skill types, capabilities and competencies and is equipped with an Entrepreneurial Skills Map essential to operate in the 21st century.

The proposed model is specific to the entrepreneurial field.

This study supports universities and government agencies for the development of educational programs to prepare current and future entrepreneurs to match the changes in the new environment that has emerged with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research contributes to the entrepreneurship research domain by shedding light on the inconsistent use of non-standardised terminologies and providing an entrepreneurial model and updated skills map to guide scholars to frame research in the post-COVID era with more clarity.

The intention of the article is to demonstrate the importance of entrepreneurial orientation within a higher education in tourism. A study of students' assessment of the tourism course at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Maribor will be discussed 1) to highlight the entrepreneurial orientation of the course, and 2) to gain some information on the introduction of entrepreneurial and managerial skills into the new curriculum. In particular the paper may help to identify some directions for further development in this challenging education field in order to provide necessary skills in the small business within the Slovene tourism industry.

Entrepreneurship is currently at the focus of much theoretical, practical and political interest. In Europe, agriculture has faced dramatic pressures for restructuring, and facilitation of the entrepreneurial skills of farmers and stronger entrepreneurial orientation in the rural areas have been hailed as possible solutions for the emerging problems. The aim of this paper is to use this nexus of agriculture and entrepreneurship as an illustrative example, through which the nature of entrepreneurial skills and the elements underpinning their adoption can be examined.

The task is carried out by reflecting theoretically on the concept of entrepreneurial skills and on their embedded nature, before demonstrating the usefulness of the concept as a tool in understanding the case of an enterprising Finnish farmer, active both in conventional farming and in diversified business.

The theoretical and case study analyses reveal that the concept of entrepreneurial skills is far from an unambiguous one, as well as is the aim to develop them through teaching. If proper care is taken to distinguish the concept from, and relate it to, the elements in which it is embedded, the notion is a useful tool for empirical investigation. By applying such a procedure, it is shown that the contexts of conventional farming and business diversification call for clearly different entrepreneurial skills, some of which are more amenable to teaching than others.

This paper shows how one can develop a fuller understanding of the skills that farmers need to become entrepreneurial by diversification.

The protagonist of the case is Mr. Prasad Dhumal. Prasad is technically gifted and is considered a subject expert in his line. Prasad exhibits all entrepreneurial traits like high energy, positive and a never say die attitude, technical expertise, etc. In a short career span, Prasad has already been instrumental in opening at least 7 different ventures and is now planning the 8th one and hence the name of the case. None of the ventures have survived. This is a classic case of differences between entrepreneurial qualities and managerial qualities, required for the success of a small business.

The case is ideal for students of management. The focus areas are Career Management and Entrepreneurship. It also discusses the failure of a business unit from a societal and family perspective rather than simply a financial one. The case is also good to impress upon the audience the distinction between entrepreneurial skills and managerial skills. The focus that the protagonist shows in starting multiple ventures is also a good indicator of objective-driven and clear Career Management, but the lack of the identified skill set to run a business.

The case brings about the clear distinctions between entrepreneurial qualities and managerial qualities. Career Management has three objectives, expression of the self as a person through the activities one does (job/entrepreneurship) and personal fulfilment, to have an effective work-life balance so that the workplace does not become simply a chore and finally financial security which is also expressed as a reward for something one does or contributes. Even a well-defined career management plan may at times, not yield the desired results.

This is an attempt at a case-based approach highlighting how entrepreneurial zeal and drive may not result in a success of a business venture. Further, the case highlights the serious financial and social isolation that the protagonists faced due to his business failures. The basic learnings from the case are as follows: (1) Start-ups go through phase after establishment; (2) The skill set used to start a venture and sustain it are different and (3) The venture has to survive in a business environment on its merits.

It is a good source material for students of entrepreneurship to understand that sound entrepreneurial qualities may not ensure business success. Businesses may require a blend of managerial, strategic and entrepreneurial qualities to help them navigate through the business environment.

Although a lot has been written about entrepreneurship, the social implications of a business failure and the impact on the entrepreneurs, his family and his loved ones forms the crux of the case. Financial losses result in social isolation for the protagonist. The humiliation and isolation associated with a business loss and its serious impact on friends and family also is highlighted in the case.

The case is factual and describes the exact entrepreneurial journey of Prasad.

Entrepreneurial competencies have an impact on firm performance and growth. The purpose of this paper is to report empirical research into the entrepreneurial competencies reported by female entrepreneurs who are committed to the growth of their business.

A questionnaire‐based survey of female entrepreneurs in England and Wales was conducted. The core of the questionnaire was a list of entrepreneurial competencies compiled from previous theoretical and empirical frameworks, coupled with Likert scales through which the entrepreneurs were invited to rate their ability in relation to each competency. PCA was conducted in order to identify clusters of competencies, and to identify the competencies that loaded onto those clusters.

Four main clusters of competencies were identified: personal and relationship, business and management, entrepreneurial, and human relations competencies. Whilst previous research on the competencies of entrepreneurs has identified the two clusters of business and management, and entrepreneurial competencies, the competencies in the other two clusters have received less attention and have not been identified as clusters. Arguably, competencies in these clusters are valued more highly by female entrepreneurs than by their male counterparts.

This study is the first to offer a comprehensive analysis of the competencies of female entrepreneurs. By identifying four key groups of competencies, the research provides the basis for an agenda for focus in education, and development of female entrepreneurs. More specifically, the Female Entrepreneur Competence (FEC) framework generated by this research can be used to support female entrepreneurs in the self‐assessment of their competencies.