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Zeljko Tekic, Andrei Parfenov and Maksim Malyy
Starting from intention–behaviour models and building upon the growing evidence that aggregated internet search query data represent a good proxy of human interests and…
Abstract
Purpose
Starting from intention–behaviour models and building upon the growing evidence that aggregated internet search query data represent a good proxy of human interests and intentions. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the internet search traffic information related to the selected key terms associated with establishing new businesses, reflects well the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in a country and can be used for predicting entrepreneurial activity at the national level.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretical framework is based on intention–behaviour models and supported by the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. Monthly data on new business registration from 2018 to 2021 is derived from the open database of the Russian Federal Tax Service. Terms of internet search interest are identified through interviews with the recent founders of new businesses, whereas the internet search query statistics on the identified terms are obtained from Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat.
Findings
The results suggest that aggregated data about web searches related to opening a new business in a country is positively correlated with the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in the country and, as such, may be useful for predicting the level of that activity.
Practical implications
The results may serve as a starting point for a new approach to measure, monitor and predict entrepreneurial activities in a country and can help in better addressing policymaking issues related to entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is original in its approach and results. Building on intention–behaviour models, this study outlines, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first usage of big data for analysing the intention–behaviour relationship in entrepreneurship. This study also contributes to the ongoing debate about the value of big data for entrepreneurship research by proposing and demonstrating the credibility of internet search query data as a novel source of quality data in analysing and predicting a country’s entrepreneurial activity.
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Amir Emami, Shayegheh Ashourizadeh and Mark D. Packard
The novel coronavirus (nCoV) pandemic, and the challenges of social distancing, proffer a unique opportunity to re-explore the role of social network support in entrepreneurship…
Abstract
Purpose
The novel coronavirus (nCoV) pandemic, and the challenges of social distancing, proffer a unique opportunity to re-explore the role of social network support in entrepreneurship. Applying social support theory and gender schema theory, this study aims to examine the gender-based differences in prospective entrepreneurs' reliance on their social networks in their entrepreneurial journey amid social turmoil.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected two-stage primary survey data of prospective entrepreneurs within the pandemic's timeframe from Science and Technology Parks in Iran, one of the first countries to deal with the first, second and third waves of the 2019-nCoV virus.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that female entrepreneurs rely more strongly on their social network support for guidance and encouragement, which positively affects their opportunity intention. While this effect is also seen in men, the effect size is smaller. Also, prospective female entrepreneurs were generally more dissuaded from opportunity intention by the severe perceived environmental uncertainty of the crisis than were men.
Originality/value
Prior research on the interaction between social network support and opportunity intentions has been examined in the context of socio-economic normalcy. The authors test whether, how and why these interactions hold in times of crisis, with especial attention to the mechanisms of experienced stress, perceived environmental uncertainty and idea innovativeness.
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Thilakshi Kodagoda and Ramanie Samaratunge
This study examines women entrepreneurs' understanding of motherhood and entrepreneurial career and how they negotiate this combination with their gendered understandings and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines women entrepreneurs' understanding of motherhood and entrepreneurial career and how they negotiate this combination with their gendered understandings and social norms in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using in-depth, semi-structured interviews from 20 entrepreneurial mothers in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Sub-samples were taken to achieve demographic heterogeneity.
Findings
This study found that entrepreneurial mothers do not perceive their business as separate from their motherhood understanding. They believe that their profession is a part of motherhood responsibilities. This study also found that to negotiate a combination of roles, these mothers employed two coping strategies at different levels: family and business.
Research limitations/implications
As the sample size is small, an extended research strategy would be more effective. Future research could seek to identify strategies that women entrepreneurs use to balance their business–family life.
Practical implications
This research provides implications for balancing business and family life for women entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
The paper extends the cultural and geographical scope of the literature on women entrepreneurs' business–family life experiences.
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Viriya Taecharungroj and Ioana S. Stoica
The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the in situ place experiences of people in Luton and Darlington.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the in situ place experiences of people in Luton and Darlington.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used 109,998 geotagged tweets from Luton and Darlington between 2020 and 2022 and conducted topic modelling using latent Dirichlet allocation. Lexicons were created using GPT-4 to evaluate the eight dimensions of place experience for each topic.
Findings
The study found that Darlington had higher counts in the sensorial, behavioural, designed and mundane dimensions of place experience than Luton. Conversely, Luton had a higher prevalence of the affective and intellectual dimensions, attributed to political and faith-related tweets.
Originality/value
The study introduces a novel approach that uses AI-generated lexicons for place experience. These lexicons cover four facets, two intentions and two intensities of place experience, enabling detection of words from any domain. This approach can be useful not only for town and destination brand managers but also for researchers in any field.
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In light of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic effects, this paper focuses on how home-based women artisans running their family businesses plan their operations to function in the…
Abstract
Purpose
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic effects, this paper focuses on how home-based women artisans running their family businesses plan their operations to function in the “new normal” environment. The paper emphasises the adaptability and reorientation of business strategies displayed by women entrepreneurs in response to the changing work environment. The paper argues that the women's sense of agency after years of running the family business enables them to bargain and offer passive resistance to the family's power, with the latter aiming to curtail their entrepreneurial gains as the men return to their homes after losing their jobs with the onset of the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws from a qualitative study that was conducted employing field surveys and in-depth interviews with the women entrepreneurs in four important handloom clusters in Nadia, West Bengal (India) in 2022. The empirical evidence is gathered from five months of extensive ethnographic study with 66 home-based women entrepreneurs belonging to 26 handloom family enterprises. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews and the following narrative analysis have been used to comprehend the complex and dynamic conception of female entrepreneurship and women's agency to pivot business strategies during the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
As a result of the abrupt suspension of the textile industry and the partial or total closure of the traditional and contemporary markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic, women from family handloom enterprises are taking steps to strengthen their entrepreneurial resistance. Although women entrepreneurs had spent years running the family business in the absence of their husbands, the pandemic exacerbated the deep-seated gender disparities within the family when social norms threatened to undo the hard-won progress made by them. However, their sense of agency enables them to plan well and resist the patriarchal onslaught with a variety of potentials, utilising tools of active and/or passive resistance within an environment of concrete limits and oppressions.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on women's entrepreneurial capacity by focusing on how the COVID-19 crisis and changing market demands enable gendered reactions in family enterprises. While men, back home after losing their jobs, choose to strengthen their individual identities and power positions by trying to retain control over the family business, women contribute to collective actions for enhancing the resilience of the community by pivoting their business strategies and implementing new ideas to suit new market conditions. Women thus play a central role in fostering social cohesion, helping build and maintain relationships, promoting empathy, and creating a sense of belonging, which strengthen community bonds and cooperation. The paper shows how women's entrepreneurial resilience and responsibility provide an important basis for organizing sustainable collective action for the survival of the artisanal community during crisis situations.
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Omang Ombolo Messono and Simplice Asongu
This study aims to investigate the effects of the historical prevalence of infectious diseases on contemporary entrepreneurship. Previous studies reveal numerous proximate causes…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effects of the historical prevalence of infectious diseases on contemporary entrepreneurship. Previous studies reveal numerous proximate causes of entrepreneurship, but little is known about the fundamental determinants of this widespread economic concern.
Design/methodology/approach
The central hypothesis is that historical pathogens exert persistent impacts on present-day entrepreneurship. The authors provide support for the underlying hypothesis using ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares with cross-sectional data from 125 countries consisting of the averages between 2006 and 2018.
Findings
Past diseases reduce entrepreneurship both directly and indirectly. The strongest indirect effects occur through GDP per capita, property rights, innovation, entrepreneurial attitudes, entrepreneurial abilities, entrepreneurial aspirations and skills. This result is robust to many sensitivity tests. Policymakers may take these findings into account and incorporate disease pathogens into the design of entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper lies in the adoption of a historical approach that sheds light on the deep historical roots of cross-country differences in entrepreneurship.
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Laura Blackburne, Koorosh Gharehbaghi, Ken Farnes, Olivia Moore and Melisa Russo
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the green building certification systems. In doing so, a validation process, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), was undertaken.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the green building certification systems. In doing so, a validation process, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), was undertaken.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive literature review was conducted to highlight the paramount aspects of green building certification systems. Then, using a grounded theory, key findings of the initial literature review were explored. This was necessary to form a broad theoretical framework. Finally, CFA was performed to evaluate various green building certification systems.
Findings
Initially, it was noted that accreditation process was the central key for effective building certification systems, particularly at the international level. Further, using CFA, it was also determined that to increase the sustainable performance of the green building certification, meeting the increasing expectation of the system user is paramount.
Practical implications
When evaluating the green building certification systems, it is recommended to focus on a specific aspect of the programmes holistically. This needs to be done particularly towards delivering a clear message to the stakeholders globally; doing so may alleviate the many challenges of green building certifications.
Originality/value
Currently, various green building certification systems have been developed for local purposes. This raises the question of the adaptability of these systems across varying climates and geography in differing regions. Using CFA, this research will examine various green building certification systems to evaluate their applicability at a global level.
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Ji Fang, Vincent C.S. Lee and Haiyan Wang
This paper explores optimal service resource management strategy, a continuous challenge for health information service to enhance service performance, optimise service resource…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores optimal service resource management strategy, a continuous challenge for health information service to enhance service performance, optimise service resource utilisation and deliver interactive health information service.
Design/methodology/approach
An adaptive optimal service resource management strategy was developed considering a value co-creation model in health information service with a focus on collaborative and interactive with users. The deep reinforcement learning algorithm was embedded in the Internet of Things (IoT)-based health information service system (I-HISS) to allocate service resources by controlling service provision and service adaptation based on user engagement behaviour. The simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the significance of the proposed algorithm under different user reactions to the health information service.
Findings
The results indicate that the proposed service resource management strategy, considering user co-creation in the service delivery, process improved both the service provider’s business revenue and users' individual benefits.
Practical implications
The findings may facilitate the design and implementation of health information services that can achieve a high user service experience with low service operation costs.
Originality/value
This study is amongst the first to propose a service resource management model in I-HISS, considering the value co-creation of the user in the service-dominant logic. The novel artificial intelligence algorithm is developed using the deep reinforcement learning method to learn the adaptive service resource management strategy. The results emphasise user engagement in the health information service process.
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