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The purpose of this paper is to use a marketing segmentation approach based upon attitudes and perceptions of centrality, trust, communication, conflict resolution, benefits and satisfaction to create a typology of network members specifically for entrepreneurs as actors in entrepreneurial business networks.

The paper uses a survey of individuals drawn from six entrepreneurial networks located within West Wales and South‐East Ireland. Initial analysis utilised exploratory factor analysis, which was then used as a base for cluster analysis. Validity was established using ANOVA (continuous data) and Chi‐square (categorical data) tests, while reliability was examined through Cronbach alphas.

The findings indicate that a four segment structure existed. Each of the four segments were found to be significantly different regarding attitudes towards centrality, trust, communication, conflict resolution, benefits and satisfaction. The four network member segments are: Benefiters, Doubters, Shadows and Leaders.

The main limitation of this research is the sample size. Consequently, the implications are somewhat limited and more work is required to validate these findings. Further research is needed to test if the segments are generalisable.

The research is an initial attempt to segment actors in entrepreneurial networks through the use of market segmentation. The work creates a pathway for further investigations into this area using the segmentation framework.

The theories of networks have become more popular in recent years when discussing business structures. It can be said that co‐operation is seen as a theory that plays an important role in the survival of many small and medium sized businesses. Co‐operative and networking strategies amongst business in Mid Wales has brought them many benefits and a competitive advantage that they would not be able to afford on their own. These issues were investigated in this research into the practical value of networks in small manufacturing companies. The aim of this study is to look at the provision for small business by analysing their value, by noting the implications, and providing recommendations for the future of networking amongst small and medium sized enterprises. The small manufacturing businesses in this study saw that networking was a very cost‐effective way compared to other strategies to improve their performance. The businesses co‐operate in order to share information and resources and to undertake joint projects. By exchanging information and know‐how, networks can be an important tool for small business entrepreneurs to improve their businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the authors' experiences of designing and implementing an enterprise development programme for female entrepreneurs. The programme targets those women who already have a business and wish to grow it further.

The paper describes the motivation for the programme and the range of issues which is encountered in its design and delivery. It concludes with a brief assessment of lessons learned.

In addition to the importance of design and focus, the experiences of the Female Entrepreneurship Ireland‐Wales (FEIW) project indicate the need for appropriate programme presentation and marketing; networking and mentoring aspects are also hightlighted.

As this is a pilot project with flexibility to adapt to the needs of the participants, it is not possible to apply a robust evaluative framework, although such a framework will need to be developed in due course. That said, the qualitative data collected pre‐, during and post‐programme delivery offer valuable insights to the needs of female entrepreneurs; this learning may be incorporated into the design of future programmes.

The FEIW programme is essentially a pilot initiative and is delivered in only two regions. Thus, it is difficult to generalise findings.

As a case study, the experiences of the FEIW project contribute valuable empirical evidence regarding the design and implementation of an enterprise programme for female entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this paper is to establish whether different gender groups develop in similar or dissimilar ways to conventional group formation patterns. Focussing primarily on Tuckman's model of group development, male, female and mixed gender learning networks (groups) of entrepreneurs were observed over a six month period, with the observations recorded and analysed, to establish whether different gender networks of business people adhere to Tuckman's model of group development in terms of early development and cohesion through the forming, storming and norming stages.

A total of 100 entrepreneurs were recruited in Autumn 2009/Spring 2010 and allocated to three different gender networks, male, female and mixed, in Ireland and Wales (six networks in total), as part of the Sustainable Learning Networks Ireland Wales (SLNIW, for detailed information about SLNIW see www.slniw.com) INTERREG 4A funded project. The groups began networking in January 2010, observed by impartial observers who noted group behaviour and dynamics and recorded observations quantitatively (based on adapted Bales criteria) and qualitatively. It is the results of these observations that form the basis of this paper.

This paper analyses the results of the group dynamic witnessed over subsequent network meetings for different gender mixes in Ireland. Whilst the observations are still ongoing, early results indicate that early engagement with group members, team bonding and group dynamics are formed sooner in the single gender groups. The paper explores why this could be the case and considers factors that could then address problems with early group development in mixed gender networks, so that the ultimate “performing” stage of group development and optimal business performance is achieved as early as possible.

This paper will be of considerable value to academics, theorists and practitioners. It will specifically add to the body of knowledge on single gender networks to see if they provide a more effective learning environment.

The purpose of this paper is to advocate the use of scenario analysis to develop foresight for the improvement of policies supporting rural entrepreneurship and illustrate the approach with an application in Mid Wales.

A general overview of the economic problems of rural areas and their manifestation in the case study of Mid Wales is followed by an outline of the origins and approach of scenario analysis. Application of the technique involved a group of policy makers and entrepreneurs undertaking a structured programme of scenario development. The resulting scenarios, their usefulness for enterprise support, and wider implications are summarised.

The scenario analysis exercise enabled key stakeholders to confront and deal with considerable uncertainties by developing a shared understanding of the barriers to small firm growth and rural economic regeneration.

A major conclusion is that effective approaches for support of rural entrepreneurship differ widely according to context and need to take in to account a range of external issues. Further research, which extends the approach beyond the case discussed in this paper and focuses on the social learning dimension of participation, would help to validate these findings.

The use of scenarios for the analysis of policy questions is rare and this paper opens new ways of working for enterprise agencies and other stakeholders promoting the growth of employment and income in a rural context.

This study aims at providing exploratory insights into the initiative and capabilities of Chinese SMEs to develop and utilize diverse networks to support internationalization. Such network development and utilization efforts are fundamental to the analysis and explanation of Chinese firms’ internationalization patterns and outcomes. Extending from the existing network studies in the Chinese context that generally put emphasis on strong‐tie and ethnic‐oriented networks, this paper investigates and explains explicitly the use and effects of both strong‐ and weak‐tie networks in the international development of Chinese SMEs. Indepth case studies on four rapidly internationalized Chinese SMEs are conducted. The case findings demonstrate that weak‐tie networks are essential to the firms’ business development in foreign markets; and were proactively developed and utilized in the course of the firms’ development. The cases also provide alternative perspectives to the beliefs and values underpinning strong‐tie networks presumed in existing literature. The findings draw attention to the changing business values and approaches of the Chinese firms aiming at developing internationally. Managerial implications concerning the significant influence of effective networking on internationalization are pinpointed.

I suppose that most noticeable of all the changes in our profession since I came into it has been the multiplicity of the methods by which one can become a librarian. A. E. Standley says in a recent article in the L.A.R., in 1970: “The term librarian includes the Library Association chartered librarian, the graduate with a degree in librarianship, the scholar librarian, the information and intelligence officer, the translator, the abstracter, the non‐library‐qualified subject expert”.

Focusing on the adoption of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in universities, this research paper explores how the “soft” dimensions of TQM trigger its “hard” dimensions considering them at the individual (micro-) and the university (meso-), and eventually at cluster (system-), levels.

Adopting a qualitative approach, this study presents an in-depth, longitudinal case study of University of Siena, one of the oldest Italian universities, that has been at the core of the research-based cluster on vaccines, today converged in the Tuscan Life Science Cluster. In particular, data were collected between 2018 and February 2022 and consists of archival data (press articles, websites, books), nine interviews to key informants, multiyear experience of the Life Sciences sector by two of the authors and other material put at disposal by university offices, and emails. Data analysis relied on a timeline, a coding procedure that considered three levels of analysis (individual, organization and cluster). Finally, the authors looked at the “how” and “why” the emerged themes have contributed to academic excellence.

This paper unveils how “soft” and “hard” sides of TQM are blended across multiple levels for reaching academic excellence. The grounded model emerged enlightens the importance of an individual “soft” dimension, academic passion (composed by its three subdimensions of individual research, teaching and entrepreneurial passion) and also sheds light on the organizational “soft” and “hard” sides that the university has been able to design for encouraging research, teaching and third mission quality. Academic excellence has been possible thanks to the capitalization of the individual and organizational “soft” sides into real outcomes as represented by the organizational and individual “hard” sides.

The paper suggests the importance of TQM principles applied at universities' level, providing an in-depth description of “soft” and “hard” sides dimensions of TQM and their impact on all the three pillars of academic excellence. The study findings suggest implications for managers and professionals in the higher education domain as well as for policymakers emphasizing the importance of supporting the individual and organizational soft sides of TQM. The authors provide practical implications recommending universities to consider not only the organizational dimensions but also individual ones when pursuing higher education excellence. In particular, individual passion plays a crucial role and universities need to identify ways of nurturing it. The authors also recommend policymakers to think about new ways to sustain universities as crucial actors in boosting a cluster development, as well as to consider higher education institutions, especially in more rural areas, as a privileged player not only capable of nurturing academic excellence but also able of creating an internationally renowned cluster.

TQM principles have been intensively analysed from an industrial perspective focusing on manufacturing and services, while this paper focuses on TQM in universities, presenting a grounded model that blends the individual and organizational “soft” and “hard” sides.

In the last 10 years or so, a growing body of research has highlighted the importance of social movements as the mechanism through which fields change or new fields emerge. This article contributes to this body of research by studying how an organization was able to promote institutional change from the center of a field by channeling the legitimacy generated by local religious movements. Data comes from the archives of a special commission within the Catholic Church that developed rules for adjudicating miracles performed by candidates to sainthood. The social movement is composed of candidates and their supporters who mobilized local communities using miracles. The period of the analysis was the aftermath of the Protestant Schism, when long-established practices and beliefs were fundamentally challenged. By approving miracles that created ties between individuals that spanned across kinship and social status boundaries, the commission was able to channel legitimacy into the wounded core of the Church. At the same time, receiving Rome’s approval reduced the competition the candidate’s supporters faced from other religious activists. The noncontentious interaction that occurred between the two actors gave birth to the field of modern sainthood. The main implication for organization theory is that, even in the absence of conflict, a new environment and ideology can emerge endogenously from the center of a field and transform both the organization and the social movement.

The paper examines the different trajectories of externalisation and the development of different kinds of welfare mix in three different sub-sectors of socio-educational services: long-term care for the elderly, early childhood services and kindergartens. By integrating the industrial relations and comparative public administration literatures, it analyses the different rationales underpinning contracting-out decisions of Italian local governments.

The paper adopts a multi-method, multi-level approach: quantitative data on the provision of socio-educational services and the nature of the providers are combined with the analysis of 12 case studies of municipalities through 80 semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis.

The paper argues that differentials in labour regulation across the public/private divide and the consequent possibility to access labour markets characterised by cheaper labour and higher organisational flexibility are a key explanation in local governments' decisions to outsource. Despite labour market factors playing a prominent role, their relevance is significantly tempered by political and social factors and particularly by the strong opposition of citizens, personnel and trade unions to pure market solutions in the provision of such services. However, the centrality of these factors depends on the nature of the services: political sensibility against privatisation proved to be stronger in kindergartens, while services for the elderly were more frequently and less contentiously privatised.

The main contribution is the integration of the two research traditions to analyse patterns of outsourcing in the socio-educational services in Italy, showing that neither of them is able, alone, to explain the different private/public mix characterising different social and educational services.