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1 – 10 of 245The purpose of this paper is to draw on motivational and cultural theories in entrepreneurship to study the role of culture on the motivational behaviors of female entrepreneurs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on motivational and cultural theories in entrepreneurship to study the role of culture on the motivational behaviors of female entrepreneurs in Mongolia.
Design/methodology/approach
After several exploratory field trips to Mongolia, two women‐founded, women‐owned cases were selected and studied.
Findings
The findings of these case studies support the extant literature that the need for achievement plays a major role in motivating women to become entrepreneurs. Further, the findings suggest that the Mongolian nomadic culture of adventurism, secular culture of feminism and Asian culture of collectivism play important roles in motivating and supporting women to become successful entrepreneurs.
Research limitations/implications
This study has implications for research on entrepreneurial motivations and women entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial motivations are closely related to cultural values. Thus, culture, particularly entrepreneur's cultural orientation, cannot be discarded or treated separately from entrepreneurial motivation and other entrepreneurial behavior research and studies. For further research, building on this case study, a quantitative cross‐cultural research can be conducted (i.e. collecting data from multiple countries) to draw a wider generalization on the role of culture on entrepreneurial motivation.
Practical implications
The findings of this research can have implications for the development of strategies and policies for fostering women entrepreneurship as a means for creating jobs and overcoming gender inequality.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the knowledge and understanding on the role of culture in supporting women entrepreneurship as a means of promoting gender equality.
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Keywords
Abstract
Subject area
Leadership.
Study level/applicability
The case is suitable for MBA, Executive level courses.
Case overview
Yongye Group is a biotechnological enterprise in Inner Mongolia, China. In China, people lack trust in economic transactions due to the transitional state of the economy, especially regarding food safety. To respond to this situation, Wu Zishen, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Yongye Group, was determined to build trust among employees, distributors, farmers, and consumers towards the company. To this end, he started using a creative incentive system with employees and stakeholders: the pay-before-performance incentive system. According to this system, the reward is delivered in advance, contrary to be paid after the fulfillment of the task. This practice is meant to transform employees' work attitude from a passive “being told to work” to a more proactive “I want to work” mentality. When such an incentive system is practiced with customers and external distributors, it sends a message that the company is “treating customers as company employees”, which means that they are trusted as if they were part of the company itself. Wu Zishen also introduced a coherent series of leadership practices that generate a truly proactive culture in the organization.
Expected learning outcomes
From this case, students will learn how to create a proactive culture in business organizations and the effect of pay-before-performance on employees' work motivation.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes and an exercise for class-based discussion are available.
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Stephanie McPhail's description above of the difficult living conditions of the judges in Mongolia in 1995 underscores their vulnerability to corrupt practices and their negative…
Abstract
Stephanie McPhail's description above of the difficult living conditions of the judges in Mongolia in 1995 underscores their vulnerability to corrupt practices and their negative perception by the public. Judicial salaries during that year were comparable to those of civil servants but lower than those of lawyers in private practice and ranged from US$33 to US$51 per month (Quah, 2003a, p. 43). More importantly, the living conditions of judges were difficult, especially in the countryside, where one-third of the judges did not own an apartment, and were forced to live in their offices. Consequently, McPhail (1995, p. 45) concluded that the “relatively low salaries and mediocre working conditions” of the judges were “an impediment to attracting highly qualified candidates to the profession.”
This paper explores the emerging articulations between microfinance and livestock production cycles among Mongolian pastoralists in contexts plagued by disaster and commodity…
Abstract
This paper explores the emerging articulations between microfinance and livestock production cycles among Mongolian pastoralists in contexts plagued by disaster and commodity market fluctuations. Ethnographic investigations of household production and vulnerability in two rural districts of eastern and western Mongolia demonstrates that both poor and wealthy households have become ensnared in a cashmere-debt cycle but that the bifurcation of livestock asset trajectories between large and small herds has also fostered diverse financial and herd management strategies that further exacerbate existing inequalities.
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Dan Wu, Shu Fan, Shengyi Yao and Shuang Xu
Ethnic minorities (EMs), who make up a sizable proportion of multilingual users, are more likely to browse and search in their native language. It is helpful to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
Ethnic minorities (EMs), who make up a sizable proportion of multilingual users, are more likely to browse and search in their native language. It is helpful to identify multilingual users' information needs to provide public digital cultural services (PDCS) for making their life better.
Design/methodology/approach
The in-context interview is an efficient way to explore EMs' information needs and evoke their daily experience with PDCS. The material from 31 one-on-one interviews with EMs in China was recorded and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The findings reveal that language proficiency is a critical factor influencing multilingual information access (MLIA) and multilingual users' information needs. Moreover, language ability, digital literacy and cultural literacy are important components of multilingual information literacy (MLIL), which is helpful for EMs to access PDCS. In light of Kochen's theory, the information needs of PDCS can be classified into the aroused need of resources, the recognized need of functions and services and expressed need. For the expressed need, it is necessary to develop a one-stop convergence platform of PDCS to process various requests of resources, functions and services in the future.
Originality/value
The findings will be valuable for governments, public institutions and social organizations in identifying, addressing and resolving these issues about PDCS.
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Abstract
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Insun Sunny Lee, Charles Arcodia and Timothy Jeonglyeol Lee
The purpose of this paper is to examine why people visit multicultural festivals, with the overall aim being to better understand the apparent popularity of multicultural…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine why people visit multicultural festivals, with the overall aim being to better understand the apparent popularity of multicultural festivals. The paper aims to provide key stakeholders with a platform upon which to better manage and improve multicultural festivals as tourism attractions.
Design/methodology/approach
An on‐site questionnaire survey was administered at one of the multicultural festivals in South Korea in 2010. The reasons for visit were measured using a scale based on existing benefit scales, and literature related to multiculturalism. In total, 17 items were analyzed as visitor reasons for their visit. Demographic questions included age, nationality, the reason for living in South Korea if not a Korean, and gender. Out of 203 collected questionnaires, 183 were considered usable.
Findings
In total, five factors were identified as the reasons for attending a multicultural festival – family togetherness, escape, cultural exploration, socialization, and curiosity. The cultural exploration proved to be the most common reason for attending a multicultural festival for visitors.
Practical implications
The findings of this study will help all key stakeholders to more fully understand what visitors want, and guide festival management to organize sustainable festivals as a niche tourism attraction. Due to the desire for cultural exploration, festivals should offer multicultural themed activities. Sport competitions can be good for socialization between migrants and South Koreans, or migrants themselves.
Originality/value
Although multicultural festivals are held in many countries, there appears to be little research into the multicultural festivals in a country like South Korea, in transit from being ethnically homogeneous to becoming a multicultural society. This paper is a pioneer study in that particular discipline.
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This paper discusses some aspects of the performing arts of the Tibetans and attempts to analyze how they have fared within the context of an extremely large and modernizing…
Abstract
This paper discusses some aspects of the performing arts of the Tibetans and attempts to analyze how they have fared within the context of an extremely large and modernizing state, where since the late 1970s modernization has been accompanied by a contrary revival of traditions. It argues that performing arts traditions remain powerful among the Tibetans and takes issue with the frequently heard notion that Tibetan culture is being destroyed. It contends, however, that the acceleration of modernization in the coming decades could weaken the tradition in Tibetan culture by affecting its link with the society which feeds it. But what is likely to develop is a changed Tibetan culture, with more place given to those features we know as modernity. On the other hand, the traditions are most unlikely to die out in the foreseeable future. The topical focus of the article is on the performing arts, especially the related forms of drama, balladry and dance. The period of focus is that since the early 1980s, and especially the 1990s.
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This paper aims to provide an insight around operationalising CSR and sustainability activities within an Asian‐Pacific subsidiary of a leading CSR global third‐party logistics…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an insight around operationalising CSR and sustainability activities within an Asian‐Pacific subsidiary of a leading CSR global third‐party logistics company; Deutsche Post DHL.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth single case‐study approach was adopted for this study. Using semi‐structured interviews with managers, the research maps various strategic CSR activities from the European corporate centre across to activities within this Asian subsidiary's different business units.
Findings
The research provides evidence of activities and issues around this subsidiary's internalisation of CSR by selectively highlighting local initiatives and solutions that help address and contribute towards the global CSR strategic objectives. It describes some issues and opportunities around global policies and local activities that affect the subsidiary's present scope for decision making and management accountability. Along with the issues and challenges from this loose fit tactic of bottom‐up with top‐down engagement, it highlights influential aspects of social, cultural and business management models and the interpretations, context and limitations of the subsidiary's CSR contributions to date.
Originality/value
Little has been written around the empirical operationalisation of CSR and sustainability from third‐party logistic companies; even less so from the Asia Pacific region. The activities, themes and challenges serve as useful references for practitioners. With new, original data sets, for academic scholars, the findings also serve to provide deeper and more explanatory contributions as complementary theory development resources.
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Research on women-owned business is more extensive in developed countries than in developing countries and such one cannot compare the results. This paper aims to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on women-owned business is more extensive in developed countries than in developing countries and such one cannot compare the results. This paper aims to examine the motives of women in Tanzania (a less developed country) to start their own businesses and the challenges they faced in running their businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on 400 response to a semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interview with 20 female entrepreneurs. Subsequently, descriptive and factors analysis were performed to analyze the data
Findings
Based on survey responses, the primary reason for starting a business was to create employment for the woman herself. Other motives include supplementing income and enabling women to be able to do the kind of work they wanted to do. According to the factor analysis, female entrepreneurs are driven more by push factors than pull factors. The most serious problems faced by female entrepreneurs are lack of access to finance, gender-related problems and social and cultural commitments.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was selected from urban areas of only three regions, out of 26 regions in Tanzania. Researchers may extend the study to other regions; also, the non-probability sampling method used in this study essentially means that there is a limitation to the extent to which the research findings can be generalized to the rest of the population of female entrepreneurs in Tanzania.
Practical implications
Policy makers, financial institutions and all organization that have a stake on development on female entrepreneurs in Tanzania should design policies and programs that encourage and promote the creation and growth of businesses. Collective efforts from the government, public and private institutions and NGOs are needed to eliminate the challenges, especially gender-related problems.
Practical implications
By studying female owner-managers’ motivations and constraints, the author suggests that to a greater extent, gender-related problems, social and cultural commitments and access to finance and networks are the constraints faced by female entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
The research on female entrepreneurs in the context of Tanzania is scarce, this study responds to a need of better understanding women motivations and constraints. By studying these factors, this study shows that startup motives and constraints faced by female entrepreneurs are unique to different contexts.
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