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This paper is on the growing importance of strategic human resource management (SHRM) for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Many small firms encounter serious human resource problems, while at the same time these human resources play a vital role in developing and sustaining their competitive advantages. In (S)HRM literature specific issues concerning small firms are rarely addressed. This paper explores this issue further. We conclude that the available knowledge on HRM in small firms is highly descriptive and fragmented. We propose the application of the strategic labour allocation process – model (SLAP) as a tool to analyse HR problems in SMEs. This model focuses on the balance between the supply of and the demand for labour on a firm level. The application of the SLAP model produces two strategic scenarios for Dutch SMEs presently confronted with a tight labour market.

The two main objectives of this study are to systematically and formally test for differences in the impact of various determinants of e‐commerce adoption depending on the current level of e‐commerce, and to investigate the possible direct impact of the current level of adoption on the intention to further adopt.

A conceptual framework is developed from the literature. The model is tested using survey data from 98 small and medium‐sized enterprises in The Netherlands.

The results indicate significantly smaller effects of both knowledge and satisfaction for companies at the advanced level of e‐commerce compared with companies at the basic level. The current adoption level has a highly significant positive direct effect on adoption intention. These findings imply that at the higher levels of adoption the classical adoption determinants have less effect and other less explored factors are more important.

This study is one of the first empirical studies to deal with multiple levels of innovation adoption. It is concluded that, when innovations can be adopted at various levels, the determinants of innovation adoption vary between different levels of adoption. This finding deserves further attention from researchers, consultants and policy makers.

This paper sets out to present a detailed empirical investigation of the entrepreneurial intentions of business students. The authors employ the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), in which intentions are regarded as resulting from attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norms.

The methodology used was a replication study among samples of undergraduate students of business administration at four different universities (total n=1,225). Five operationalisations of intentions are used as well as a composite measure. Prior to the main study, qualitative research conducted at two other universities (total n=373) was held to operationalise the components of the TPB.

The results show that the two most important variables to explain entrepreneurial intentions are entrepreneurial alertness and the importance attached to financial security.

Various research design features are used that result in better and more detailed explanations of entrepreneurial intentions.

Should one want to stimulate entrepreneurship in educational or training settings, then this paper's results provide guidance. Several suggestions are offered on how entrepreneurial alertness can be improved and financial security concerns can be reduced.

The study provides detailed and solid results on entrepreneurial intentions which are positioned in the career literature.

Elmar Mock's extraordinary story began in a small village in Switzerland. Born in 1954, he was the son of an Austrian immigrant and a Swiss mother. School was difficult, as he struggled with dyslexia. Nevertheless, he graduated from engineering school, obtained a job with a Swiss manufacturer, ETA. By the age of 26, he had co-invented the Swatch. Following the accidental death of his brother, Stéphane, in 1985, he decided to leave his job and launch his own creativity and innovation consulting company, Creaholic, in 1986.

In 2014, Elmar retired from Creaholic and created with his second wife Hélène Mock née Kett, a second company: ‘Mock-Kett’. He has created more than 80 families of patents in various industries and has been involved in more than 600 projects. He is also a member of the advisory boards of some of the spin-offs incubated by Creaholic. He remains active as a speaker and international consultant with ‘Mock-Kett’, which promotes the motivational side of invention. He has received numerous awards and his book ‘The Innovation Factory’ has been published in three languages.

The case depicts a one-of-a-kind creative mindset and offers in-depth reflections on the concepts of creativity, innovation and intrapreneurship and their applications in organizations. ¹