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1 – 10 of 18John Rice, Nigel Martin, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq and Peter Fieger
In this paper, the authors will examine Welch's legacy and aftermaths, both for GE and more broadly within management practice and academic thought. As a complex character, indeed…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors will examine Welch's legacy and aftermaths, both for GE and more broadly within management practice and academic thought. As a complex character, indeed a person of many contradictions, the authors try to avoid polemics in this, instead focusing on his accomplishments and the unanswered questions about his impact.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a historical case using secondary and published materials to assess the case of Jack Welch's leadership of General Electric over the period 1981–2001.
Findings
Welch's proponents suggest he emphasized controlling corporate destiny, being open to new ideas, pursuing quality and low cost, having confidence, a vision founded on reality, a global focus and possessing energy and enthusiasm. However, his short-termist perspective undermined the long-term success of the company and his “win at any cost” mantra predisposed some employees to cutting ethical or environmental corners. As the market capitalization gains evaporated that had been used to justify the “end justifies the means” rationale, little is left of his legacy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper discusses the implications of the GE case for issues associated with corporate governance, financialization and human resource management.
Originality/value
This is a timely reconsideration of the Jack Welch legacy two years after his death. In avoiding polemics and seeking a considered assessment of his positive and negative outcomes, the paper is an important addition to the research on Welch and American management thought.
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Marcello Risitano, Giuseppe La Ragione, Alessandra Turi and Marco Ferretti
The purpose of this article is to better understand the relevance of value creation in the interconnection amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation by reviewing the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to better understand the relevance of value creation in the interconnection amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation by reviewing the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed a systematic review methodology using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol to analyse the literature in depth. The articles were selected from the Scopus database and dated from 1987 to 2021. An initial total of 1,158 articles was successively narrowed down to a final list of 123 papers matching the selection criteria. Moreover, content analysis on the sample was performed to explore and analyse whether value creation directly or indirectly appears as a goal or antecedent amongst entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation.
Findings
The findings suggest that the literature does not clearly define the topic linkage, and with the authors' results, the authors provide a comprehensive mapping of the contributions to a theoretical framework that synthesises knowledge. Moreover, the authors highlight that the interconnection between marketing and entrepreneurship, i.e. entrepreneurial marketing, requires an innovative approach for satisfying customer needs and creating value. Co-occurrence analysis of the keywords also allowed to identify four clusters that were open to new research streams.
Originality/value
Entrepreneurship, marketing and innovation are recognised research topics in the business and management literature. However, prior research has not provided clear and comprehensive evidence about how these three research topics are linked to each other. This work analyses the hidden relationship amongst them.
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Sudhir Rama Murthy, Thayla Tavares Sousa-Zomer, Tim Minshall, Chander Velu, Nikolai Kazantsev and Duncan McFarlane
Advancements in responsive manufacturing have been supporting companies over the last few decades. However, manufacturers now operate in a context of continuous uncertainty. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Advancements in responsive manufacturing have been supporting companies over the last few decades. However, manufacturers now operate in a context of continuous uncertainty. This research paper explores a mechanism where companies can “elastically” provision and deprovision their production capacity, to enable them in coping with repeated disruptions. Such a mechanism is facilitated by the imitability and substitutability of production resources.
Design/methodology/approach
An inductive study was conducted using Gioia methodology for this theory generation research. Respondents from 20 UK manufacturing companies across multiple industrial sectors reflected on their experience during COVID-19. Resource-based view and resource dependence theory were employed to analyse the manufacturers' use of internal and external production resources.
Findings
The study identifies elastic responses at four operational levels: production-line, factory, company and supply chain. Elastic responses that imposed variable-costs were particularly well-suited for coping with unforeseen disruptions. Further, the imitability and substitutability of manufacturers helped others produce alternate goods during the crisis.
Originality/value
While uniqueness of production capability helps manufacturers sustain competitive advantage against competitors during stable operations, imitability and substitutability are beneficial during a crisis. Successful manufacturing companies need to combine these two approaches to respond effectively to repeated disruptions in a context of ongoing uncertainties. The theoretical contribution is in characterising responsive manufacturing in terms of resource heterogeneity and resource homogeneity, with elastic resourcing as the underlying mechanism.
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Saskia Stoker, Sue Rossano-Rivero, Sarah Davis, Ingrid Wakkee and Iulia Stroila
All entrepreneurs interact simultaneously with multiple entrepreneurial contexts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. This conceptual paper has two central aims: (1) it…
Abstract
Purpose
All entrepreneurs interact simultaneously with multiple entrepreneurial contexts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. This conceptual paper has two central aims: (1) it synthesises the current literature on gender and entrepreneurship, and (2) it increases our understanding of how gender norms, contextual embeddedness and (in)equality mechanisms interact within contexts. Illustrative contexts that are discussed include entrepreneurship education, business networks and finance.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper draws upon extant literature to develop its proposed conceptual framework. It provides suggestions for systemic policy interventions as well as pointing to promising paths for future research.
Findings
A literature-generated conceptual framework is developed to explain and address the systemic barriers faced by opportunity-driven women as they engage in entrepreneurial contexts. This conceptual framework visualises the interplay between gender norms, contextual embeddedness and inequality mechanisms to explain systemic disparities. An extra dimension is integrated in the framework to account for the power of agency within women and with others, whereby agency, either individually or collectively, may disrupt and subvert the current interplay with inequality mechanisms.
Originality/value
This work advances understanding of the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs. The paper offers a conceptual framework that provides policymakers with a useful tool to understand how to intervene and increase contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. Additionally, this paper suggests moving beyond “fixing” women entrepreneurs and points towards disrupting systemic disparities to accomplish this contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. By doing so, this research adds to academic knowledge on the construction and reconstruction of gender in the field of entrepreneurship.
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Sha Xu, Xiaojie Wu, Jie He, Renhong Zhu, Alastair M. Morrison and Cheng Xie
Although it is acknowledged that entrepreneurial networks play a crucial role in fostering business model innovation (BMI) for start-ups, it is unclear how and when these networks…
Abstract
Purpose
Although it is acknowledged that entrepreneurial networks play a crucial role in fostering business model innovation (BMI) for start-ups, it is unclear how and when these networks affect BMI. This research developed a moderated mediation model to explore the impact of entrepreneurial networks on BMI in start-ups and examined the dual mediating effects of causation and effectuation, as well as the moderation of environmental dynamism.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework was tested by hierarchical regression analyses and bootstrapping using samples of 248 start-ups in China.
Findings
The results showed that entrepreneurial networks significantly positively impacted start-up BMI. Causation and effectuation played dual mediating roles between entrepreneurial networks and BMI. Furthermore, the entrepreneurial networks-effectuation-BMI association was more substantial in highly dynamic environments, whereas the entrepreneurial networks-causation-BMI relationship was unaffected.
Research limitations/implications
There are several theoretical contributions resulting from this research. The findings offer new insights for understanding the antecedents of start-up BMI from the network perspective. This research adds to the growing literature on resource orchestration (RO) by exploring the dual mediating influences of causation and effectuation in resource management. This investigation revealed the boundary condition between entrepreneurial networks and BMI by testing the moderating influence of environmental dynamism.
Practical implications
Start-ups must effectively use external resources embedded within networks to advance BMI. Start-up entrepreneurs should apply causation and effectuation to transform entrepreneurial network resources into BMI. Start-up entrepreneurs must dynamically manage resources in response to ever-changing environmental conditions. Resource acquisition and management of entrepreneurial networks can vary significantly in their influence on start-up BMI under different environmental contexts.
Originality/value
Unlike previous BMI research focused on internal organizational factors, this study highlighted the critical importance of entrepreneurial networks as a prerequisite for achieving start-up BMI, contributing to the literature on open innovation and resource-based view. Examining the dual mediating roles of causation and effectuation illustrated the bridging role of strategic decision-making logic in connecting resources to value creation, contributing to the developing RO literature. The moderating influence of environmental dynamism was explored, clarifying how start-up BMI benefits from entrepreneurial networks in differing situations. A framework for reconciling contradictory findings concerning the association between entrepreneurial networks and innovation is provided.
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The purpose of this research is to conceptualize, define and measure resource orchestration capabilities of R&D teams pursuing advanced scientific research and technological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to conceptualize, define and measure resource orchestration capabilities of R&D teams pursuing advanced scientific research and technological innovation at public-funded R&D organizations in India.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of five mutually exclusive studies were designed over two years to develop and validate the ROCI scale within public research and development (R&D) organizations pursuing advanced scientific research and technological development in India. The first three studies address the refinement, reduction and rationalization of items for measuring the ROCI construct. The next study explores the factor structure underlying the ROCI construct whereas the subsequent one confirms the three-factor structure within empirical settings.
Findings
The resource orchestration capability towards innovation (ROCI) construct reflected through three sub-dimensions namely – adaptive structuring capability (ASC), synergistic leveraging capability (SLC) and decentralized decision-making capability (DDC), each loaded with their respective items can be used for capability measurement in public-funded R&D organizations.
Practical implications
R&D managers can use this ROCI scale to measure, monitor and improve the innovation-oriented resource orchestration capabilities of their R&D teams and help them improve their innovation performance.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the extant literature on resource orchestration for innovation management in three unique and original ways – theoretically-grounded conceptualization, empirical measurement and rigorous validation through multiple studies conducted in public-funded R&D organizations in India.
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This study systematically assesses and empirically examines the research question: How do social skills influence resource acquisition and social performance? Specifically, this…
Abstract
Purpose
This study systematically assesses and empirically examines the research question: How do social skills influence resource acquisition and social performance? Specifically, this study applies RBV theory from strategy to link social skills, resource conditions and the performance of social enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
For this, we surveyed social enterprises in Korea to collect data and used SPSS 18.0 for hierarchical regression analysis.
Findings
In the Korean context, first, the results show that all social skills of social entrepreneurs are positively related to social performance. Second, among independent variables, self-promotion is positively associated with financial support and expressiveness is positively associated with marketing support. However, the rest of the independent variables have no significance. Finally, obtaining financial support from their partner mediates the relationship between self-promotion and social ventures' social performance, and obtaining marketing support from their partner mediates the relationship between expressiveness and social ventures' social performance.
Originality/value
This study provides two contributions. First, this is the first study to apply and test the RBV systematically and empirically in the context of social enterprises. Second, the results suggest that social skills and support types are important to social value creation.
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Olena Khlystova, Yelena Kalyuzhnova and Maksim Belitski
Institutional trust is vital for social and economic activity and crucial in reducing uncertainty for entrepreneurs and society. To shed light on the role of institutional trust…
Abstract
Purpose
Institutional trust is vital for social and economic activity and crucial in reducing uncertainty for entrepreneurs and society. To shed light on the role of institutional trust on productive entrepreneurial activity, this paper analyses the impact of six urban entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) using the contexts of the transition economies of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. This study aims to pursue the research question: what role does institutional trust play in the relationship between formal institutions and productive entrepreneurship in the EEs of transition economies? This paper aims to posit that the development and enforcement of formal institutions and institutional trust enhance productive entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors apply a mixed-method approach. The authors’ dataset includes 657 respondents (ecosystem stakeholders) from six city-level entrepreneurial ecosystems in the transition economies of Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, as well as 51 semi-structured interviews from EE representative stakeholders to examine the validity of the findings.
Findings
Institutional trust in many cities has been negatively affected by institutionalised corruption and continuous non-transparent reforms, furthering prior research in developing and transition economies. The authors’ findings suggest that institutional trust can be investigated not as a country phenomenon but as a regional phenomenon extending prior research towards understanding the institutional trust – productive entrepreneurship research domain at the city EE level.
Originality/value
The authors apply the institutional trust perspective to the EEs in cities in order to examine how institutional trust affects productive entrepreneurship in challenging institutional environments. The authors contribute to the literature on institutions and entrepreneurship by using a mixed-method analysis to examine the relationship between formal institutions and institutional trust in the context of EEs in transition economies.
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This perspective article highlights the importance of future research that explores how intra-family communication in family businesses was affected during challenging times such…
Abstract
Purpose
This perspective article highlights the importance of future research that explores how intra-family communication in family businesses was affected during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a literature review of current perspectives on the role of informal communication in family businesses. The author offers some research insight into contributing to redirect the study of informal intra-family communication in family businesses.
Findings
The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequential effects have presented a series of challenges that possess the capacity to affect communication in any business. Nevertheless, these challenges in informal communication within family members hold a particular relevance for family businesses and require a reassessment of the fundamental assumptions that serve as the basis for research in challenging times.
Originality/value
This paper synthesizes the existing research on informal communication in the family business context and proposes some key research opportunities.
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This study aims to conceptualize and measure strategic leadership capabilities within research and development (R&D) teams pursuing high-tech innovation at public-funded R&D…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to conceptualize and measure strategic leadership capabilities within research and development (R&D) teams pursuing high-tech innovation at public-funded R&D organizations in India.
Design/methodology/approach
A rigorous five-stage multi-method approach defines, conceptualizes and validates the core construct “strategic leadership capabilities for innovation” (SLCI). The first stage correlates the insights generated from theoretical analysis and expert opinions on the importance of leadership for innovation. The second study identifies a three-dimensional factor structure underlying the SLCI construct and the third validates it through a confirmatory factor analysis. Replication provides additional validation.
Findings
SLCI emerges as a three-dimensional construct with sub-dimensions: dynamic envisioning, ambidextrous resource utilization and empowering support for innovation.
Originality/value
Conceptualization of the SLCI construct and its measurement through a 15-item scale that has been empirically validated in the public-funded R&D organizations in India.
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