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1 – 5 of 5Shamika Almeida, Nadeera Ranabahu and Reetu Verma
Much of the existing literature note how students' academic difficulties result from their background and lack of cultural capital. This paper aims to focus on internal structural…
Abstract
Purpose
Much of the existing literature note how students' academic difficulties result from their background and lack of cultural capital. This paper aims to focus on internal structural inequality where people with particular backgrounds are disadvantaged within an institution.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a case study approach to understand how an in-built faculty programme, Business for Success (B4S), mitigates institutional inequalities.
Findings
The study’s findings demonstrate that students need services to get accustomed to university, settle in and transition to professional work. Student services are both dependent (such as bridging courses, peer mentoring and internships) and independent (such as ongoing communication, resource loans) on the stage of their studies.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to theory and practice by developing a process framework that policymakers could use to design holistic support programmes and improve students' transition to university, learning and professional work.
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Nadeera Ranabahu, Shamika Almeida and Elias Kyriazis
This article explains how business internships can be used to develop innovation skills in undergraduates.
Abstract
Purpose
This article explains how business internships can be used to develop innovation skills in undergraduates.
Design/methodology/approach
Using work-integrated learning and current literature on innovation, this article proposes a theoretical framework to design, implement, and measure outcomes of Innovation-Focused Internships (IFIs). The article also uses an illustrative case study from an Australian university to discuss practical use of this framework.
Findings
The theoretical framework illustrates that stakeholders (i.e., students, industry, and university) need a common goal. Factors associated with managing innovation and student placements are key features of the framework. The illustrative case study demonstrates ways in which students gather both professional work experience and innovative skills.
Practical implications
The illustrative case study outlines practical strategies and challenges in IFI programs. Managing innovation-related challenges requires adjustments from all the stakeholders.
Originality/value
This article modifies the existing stakeholder interdependency model of work-integrated learning by combining it with innovation-related literature. The novel insights from the IFI program demonstrate how factors associated with students, industry, and university, and associations between these key stakeholders shape and determine IFI success.
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This paper explores how financial technology (FinTech) organisations address poverty-related challenges when providing digital financial services. Employing the conceptual…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores how financial technology (FinTech) organisations address poverty-related challenges when providing digital financial services. Employing the conceptual foundation of the liability of poorness (i.e. literacy gaps, a scarcity mindset, intense non-business pressures and a lack of financial slack), this paper explores the innovative strategies that FinTechs use to address these liabilities and promote entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses detailed case data collected from three FinTech organisations operating in one South Asian country.
Findings
FinTech organisations' innovative strategies reflect a combination of “high touch” (human) vs “low touch” (digital) solutions. All the organisations simplified internal systems or procedures to accommodate customers. The degree to which the three organisations adopted each of the identified strategies shows an emerging typology of FinTechs; that is, innovators with high digital interactions, a mix of digital-human interactions and high human interactions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper develops a typology which categorises FinTech innovative strategies. The typology highlights strategies pro-poor FinTechs use and explains the types of entrepreneurial support innovative organisations provide for their customers. Both the typology and the innovative strategies contribute to enhanced financial inclusion and entrepreneurial promotion amongst the poor.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper comes from its focus on FinTechs' innovative pro-poor strategies. Existing studies typically address the technology-side of innovations. In contrast, this paper combines innovative strategies with the liability of poorness to identify issues associated with financial inclusion.
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Nadeera Ranabahu and Farzana Aman Tanima
The purpose of this study is to explore how vulnerabilities arising from physical impairments, age, widowhood, forced displacement due to war or natural disasters and sexual…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how vulnerabilities arising from physical impairments, age, widowhood, forced displacement due to war or natural disasters and sexual orientation affect women’s microfinance-related entrepreneurial activities and economic empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a structured literature review and uses preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method. The paper also uses agency, resources and achievement dimensions of empowerment to assess the findings.
Findings
This study reveals that although microfinance services promote women entrepreneurship, they also exacerbate exclusion and further discrimination. Individual-, household-, institutional- and community-level structures shape women’s agencies to access and use loans and conduct entrepreneurial activities; hence, ultimately economic empowerment.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper arises from the conceptual model we synthesised from our review which illustrates how vulnerable women’s agency is shaped by resources and how it affects their achievements in relation to entrepreneurial activities.
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The purpose of this paper is to explain how rapid ethnography (RE) is used to understand the business decision-making process of micro-entrepreneurs. The objective of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain how rapid ethnography (RE) is used to understand the business decision-making process of micro-entrepreneurs. The objective of this paper is to highlight the applicability of RE in entrepreneurship research and outline practical strategies that can be used by future RE researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is written as a reflection using the author’s experience in using RE.
Findings
This paper highlights that RE can be used as a research technique in entrepreneurship research. The study shows how to incorporate technological advances into RE without violating the underlying ethnographic principles. The paper also explains how preparation, planning, technology-assisted techniques, non-traditional socialisation processes, and multiple and parallel data collection strategies enhance the effectiveness of RE. The paper outlines practical strategies for researchers such as collaborations, using field guides, clear schedules and time gaps in the data collection.
Originality/value
Although RE is widely used in research related to human-computer interactions, medicine, education and marketing, RE in entrepreneurship research seems to be limited. Thus, this paper explores this gap and contributes to the scholarly field of entrepreneurship research by highlighting the methodological potential of RE. In addition, the paper contributes empirically to the qualitative research domain by explaining practical steps in using RE.
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