Search results

In this study, we question: how do the social costs of failure interact with gendered institutions to affect the early stage entrepreneurship activity? We address this question by employing the institutional theory and a unique dataset of 286,989 entrepreneurs across 35 countries.

To test our hypotheses, we use a multilevel modeling analysis that nests individual entrepreneurs within the countries. To capture individual and country-level variables, we constructed a unique dataset that combines data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), European Flash Barometer (EUFB), World Bank Development Indicator (WDI), World Bank Doing Business Report (WBDB) and World Economic Forum (WEF).

Our analysis confirms that higher levels of the country-level gender equality positively correlate with the early-stage entrepreneurship activity of women. Moreover, we find that this positive relationship is amplified in institutional environments with high social costs of failure, suggesting that societal intolerance for failure can exacerbate the negative effect of gender inequality on the participation of women in entrepreneurship.

Our research contributes to academic interest on the role of legitimacy in women entrepreneurship and is of particular interest to international business scholars, seeking a better understanding of multidimensional construction of institutional frameworks across countries. In this study, we set out to address an important research question: how do the social costs of failure interact with gendered institutions to affect entrepreneurship activity? Our study provides a comprehensive portrait of gendered institutions by including the framework conditions of education, healthcare and political power. We found that in societies with gender equality, the likelihood of individuals engaging in the early-stage entrepreneurship activity is higher and that the positive relationship is strengthened in national environments with high social costs of failure.

Our study findings underscore the need for government policies addressing global gender gaps in economic empowerment. In particular, policies assisting women in obtaining education in high-growth industries like information technology or providing funding to women-dominated industries may foster activity for women seeking to do business in such industries. Such policies connect the early-stage entrepreneurship activities with gender equality concerns and initiatives.

Regarding the social costs of failure construct, specifically, prior studies generally focus narrowly on the context of failed entrepreneurs. We cast a wider net on men and women entrepreneurs’ entry decisions (irrespective of prior experience with business failure) and provide new views on the effects of social costs of failure on entrepreneurial ecosystems. We also extend the research on the legitimacy of women as entrepreneurs with the gender equality construct.

Unlike previous studies, which often focus on the “3Ms” of market, money and management, our research adopts a more holistic perspective. We recognize that the opportunities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs are shaped not only by individual skills and resources but also by the broader macroenvironment. By incorporating the framework conditions of education, healthcare and political power, alongside the intricate interplay of social costs and norms, our study paints a comprehensive picture of the landscape of female entrepreneurship.

Virtual reality (VR) has been explored as a training and testing environment in a range of work contexts, and increasingly so in transport. There is, however, a lack of research exploring the role of VR in the training of tram drivers, and in providing an environment in which advances in tram technology can be tested safely. This study aimed to test a novel haptic tram master controller within a tram-based Virtual environment (VE).

The master controller is the primary mechanism for operating a tram, and its effective manipulation can significantly influence the comfort and well-being of passengers, as well as the overall safety of the tram system. Here, the authors tested a haptically enhanced master controller that provides additional sensory information with 16 tram drivers. The feasibility and user acceptance of the novel technology were determined through surveys.

The results indicate that the haptic master controller is seen as beneficial to the drivers suggesting that it could enhance their driving and demonstrate good acceptance. The VE has provided a potential training environment that was accepted by the drivers and did not cause adverse effects (e.g. sickness).

Although this study involved actual tram drivers from a local tram company, the authors acknowledge that the sample size was small, and additional research is needed to broaden perspectives and gather more user feedback. Furthermore, while this study focused on subjective feedback to gauge user acceptance of the new haptic technology, the authors agree that future evaluations should incorporate additional objective measures.

The insights gained from this VE-based research can contribute to future training scenarios and inform the development of technology used in real-world tram operations.

Through this investigation, the authors showed the broader possibilities of haptics in enhancing the functionality and user experience of various technological devices, while also contributing to the advancement of tram systems for safer and more efficient urban mobility.

This study aimed to explore the psychological and relational processes of a service user reflective group on a medium secure forensic ward. The group was conceptualised by the service as a component of the therapeutic offer contributing to the patients’ journey towards recovery and this study aimed to explore whether the group was being experienced as beneficial, by service users and staff, in relation to recovery concepts.

Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews from 10 participants who had experience of an existing service user reflective group on a medium secure forensic ward. Participants in the study were patients who attended the group (6) and staff members who facilitated the group (4). The data collected were analysed using constructivist grounded theory methodology.

Results formed a flexible, cyclical model based on five key categories: “Group Identity”, “Linking Self with Others”, “The Changing Self”, “Living Visibly in a System” and “Moving On.”

Findings indicate that service user reflective groups in forensic inpatient settings can contribute to increased interpersonal effectiveness and personal recovery.

The role of service user reflective groups in secure recovery has not been explored empirically to date, although they are a suggested intervention to enhance relational security and to aid therapeutic progress within a secure recovery framework. This study aimed to begin to address this gap in research and understanding.

A new Chatbot system is implemented to provide both voice-based and textual-based communication to address student queries without any delay. Initially, the input texts are gathered from the chat and then the gathered text is fed to pre-processing techniques like tokenization, stemming of words and removal of stop words. Then, the pre-processed data are given to the Natural Learning Process (NLP) for extracting the features, where the XLnet and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) are utilized to extract the features. From these extracted features, the target-based fused feature pools are obtained. Then, the intent detection is carried out to extract the answers related to the user queries via Enhanced 1D-Convolutional Neural Networks with Long Short Term Memory (E1DCNN-LSTM) where the parameters are optimized using Position Averaging of Binary Emperor Penguin Optimizer with Colony Predation Algorithm (PA-BEPOCPA). Finally, the answers are extracted based on the intent of a particular student’s teaching materials like video, image or text. The implementation results are analyzed through different recently developed Chatbot detection models to validate the effectiveness of the newly developed model.

A smart model for the NLP is developed to help education-related institutions for an easy way of interaction between students and teachers with high prediction of accurate data for the given query. This research work aims to design a new educational Chatbot to assist the teaching-learning process with the NLP. The input data are gathered from the user through chats and given to the pre-processing stage, where tokenization, steaming of words and removal of stop words are used. The output data from the pre-processing stage is given to the feature extraction phase where XLnet and BERT are used. In this feature extraction, the optimal features are extracted using hybrid PA-BEPOCPA to maximize the correlation coefficient. The features from XLnet and features from BERT were given to target-based features fused pool to produce optimal features. Here, the best features are optimally selected using developed PA-BEPOCPA for maximizing the correlation among coefficients. The output of selected features is given to E1DCNN-LSTM for implementation of educational Chatbot with high accuracy and precision.

The investigation result shows that the implemented model achieves maximum accuracy of 57% more than Bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM), 58% more than One Dimansional Convolutional Neural Network (1DCNN), 59% more than LSTM and 62% more than Ensemble for the given dataset.

The prediction accuracy was high in this proposed deep learning-based educational Chatbot system when compared with various baseline works.

Even after establishing their business successfully, many business owners get demotivated, and it leads to unwillingness to grow. This study aims to propose a comprehensive model that represents interrelationships among various personal factors affecting “unwillingness to grow.”

The personal factors for unwillingness to grow were identified by extant literature, and expert interviews were conducted to establish the contextual relationships among these factors. The interrelationships among the filtered variables have been done using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis was done to determine the importance of each factor in influencing “unwillingness to grow.”

In total, 30 personal attributes were identified from previous literature, out of which 15 were selected for the final study. The result identifies 7 variables having a strong impact on “unwillingness to grow.” These attributes are “absence of strong network,” “lack of vision,” “lack of proactiveness,” “reluctance to involve external consultants,” “absence of/small founding team,” “lack of ambition” and “improper attitude.”

The research attempts to create a bricolage of all the important personal factors affecting “unwillingness to grow.” Previous researches have used few attributes, but with the help of ISM, a graphical modeling technique, it became possible to draw interrelationship between 15 attributes. Further, with the help of MICMAC, the importance of each attribute was determined.

The current research conducts a comprehensive review on FishBAC (fishbone active camber morphing wing surfaces) for researchers and scientists and sheds light on challenges and opportunities of FishBAC development.

This is a review article and this study reviews previous research on FishBAC.

The current FishBAC applications could be upgraded into more efficient designs in materials, design and mechanisms with more perspectives involved. Then, this promising branch of morphing surface design could be integrated with rotor blades, unmanned aerial vehicle wings, general aviation aircraft surfaces and so on.

This is a review article.

The contributions of the study are summarized as follows: to provide an overview of FishBAC research; to compare various approaches and trends in FishBAC designs; to address the research gap in the roadmap for FishBAC design; and to discuss the challenges and opportunities of FishBAC development.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review on a promising morphing method and an alternative for conventional flaps and ailerons.

This study aims to understand the leadership characteristics of founders of social and environmental enterprises in Latin America who have achieved business success with a focus on sustainability despite difficult social, economic, political and even health contexts in which they live.

This nonexperimental research is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study. Twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with social/environmental entrepreneurs of the Kunan Network (an organization that groups the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Peru).

The study analyzes the leadership profile and characteristics of entrepreneurs who have created profitable businesses with a social/environmental focus that solve relevant social problems and contribute to improving people’s quality of life and caring for the environment.

Although only 21 business leaders with outstanding participation and positive social and environmental impact were included in this study, they were supported and recognized by the Kunan Network.

The study contributed to the conceptualization and understanding of the profile of leaders of social and environmental enterprises, whose main challenges are to solve social or environmental problems of society and contribute to improving the quality of life of people and the environment. Knowing the profile of these entrepreneurs generates value to the knowledge of the subject and contributes to understand and propose strategies to improve the ecosystem of social-environmental entrepreneurship in emerging countries such as Peru. This will contribute to the creation of relationships and alliances with various social actors: public, private, third sector, academia, among others, for the management and promotion of sustainable business.

El estudio busca conocer las características de liderazgo de los fundadores de empresas sociales y ambientales en América Latina que lograron el éxito de sus negocios desde un enfoque de sostenibilidad a pesar del difícil contexto social, económico, político e incluso sanitario en el cual viven.

En la investigación no experimental de tipo estudio cualitativo, descriptivo y exploratorio, se realizaron 21 entrevistas en profundidad a emprendedores socio/ambientales de la Red Kunan (organización que agrupa el ecosistema emprendedor en el Perú).

El estudio analiza el perfil de liderazgo y las características que tienen los emprendedores que crearon negocios rentables con enfoque social/ambiental que resuelven problemas sociales relevantes y contribuyen al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de las personas y al cuidado del ambiente.

El estudio incluyó solo a 21 líderes emprendedores con destacada participación y impacto social y ambiental positivo, sin embargo es importante el reconocimiento y respaldo que estos tienen de parte de la Red Kunan.

El estudio contribuyó a la conceptualización y comprensión del perfil de los líderes de empresas sociales y ambientales cuyos principales desafíos son resolver problemas sociales y/o ambientales de la sociedad y contribuir al mejoramiento de la calidad de vida de las personas y del medio ambiente. Conocer el perfil de estos emprendedores creemos que genera valor al conocimiento del tema y contribuye a entender y proponer estrategias para mejorar el ecosistema del emprendimiento social/ambiental en países emergentes como el peruano; lo cual contribuye a generar relaciones y alianzas con diversos actores sociales: públicos, privados, tercer sector, academia, entre otros para la gestión y promoción de negocios sostenibles.

O estudo procura conhecer as características da liderança dos fundadores das empresas sociais e ambientais na América Latina que alcançaram o sucesso desde uma abordagem sustentável apesar do contexto social, econômico, político e sanitário difícil no qual vivem.

Na pesquisa não experimental de tipo de estudo qualitativo, descritivo e exploratório, se realizaram 21 entrevistas detalhadas a empreendedores socio/ambientais da Kunan Rede (organização que agrupa o ecossistema empreendedor no Peru).

O estudo analisa o perfil de liderança e as características dos empreendedores que criaram negócios rentáveis com uma abordagem socioambiental que resolvem problemas sociais relevantes e contribuem ao melhoramento da qualidade de vida das pessoas e ao cuidado do meio ambiente.

O estudo só incluiu 21 líderes empreendedores com destacada participação e um impacto socioambiental positivo. Não obstante, é importante mencionar que aqueles líderes têm o reconhecimento e apoio da Kunan Rede.

O estudo contribui para a conceptualização e compreensão do perfil dos líderes de empresas sociais e ambientais e cujos desafios principais são resolver problemas sociais e/ou ambientais da sociedade e ajudar ao melhoramento da qualidade de vida das pessoas e do meio ambiente. Conhecer o perfil desses empreendedores pode gerar valor ao conhecimento do tema e ajudar ao seu entendimento e propor estratégias para aprimorar o ecossistema do empreendedorismo socioambiental em países emergentes como Peru, assim pode contribuir ao relacionamento e parcerias com diversos atores sociais do setor público, privado, terceiro setor, academias, entre outros, para a gestão e promoção de negócios sustentáveis.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Unemployment is the biggest issue for all the developing countries, especially India, where millions of educated people are passed out every year from different educational institutes, but against this, the jobs are not being generated. This situation will only be addressed effectively when the government/authorities make more efforts to identify/create potential entrepreneurs. The present study investigates the relationship of entrepreneurial characteristics on entrepreneurial attitude and intention among engineering undergraduates engaged in various technical institutions in Chhattisgarh state.

Stratified random sampling was used to collect sample of 1,000 engineering undergraduates enrolled in third and fourth year at different technical institutions of Chhattisgarh state.

Structural equation modelling and hierarchal multiple regression analysis were incorporated, and the analysis revealed that the entrepreneurial characteristic was found to be a significant predictor of entrepreneurial attitude and intention of engineering undergraduates. The study also discusses managerial implications, limitations and avenues for future research.

Looking at the current scenario, the present study discusses with several factors influencing entrepreneurial attitude and intention of engineering undergraduates, which might be the only solution to a significant issue, i.e. unemployment. In addition, there is a huge lack of research in addressing unemployment issue through entrepreneurship in the state of Chhattisgarh.