Search results
21 – 30 of over 56000The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature that has sought to deconstruct this ideologically driven depiction by demonstrating how the existent enterprise culture in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature that has sought to deconstruct this ideologically driven depiction by demonstrating how the existent enterprise culture in post-Soviet spaces not only challenges the depiction of the entrepreneur as a heroic icon of the legitimate capitalist culture but also opens up the feasibility of alternative futures beyond legitimate profit-driven capitalism. The starting point of this paper is that the enterprise culture is often viewed as inextricably related to the legitimate capitalist economy.
Design/methodology/approach
To unravel the nature of the enterprise culture in lived practice, this paper reports a 2006 survey involving face-to-face interviews with 90 entrepreneurs in Moscow.
Findings
Only 7 per cent of the Muscovite entrepreneurs surveyed pursue profit-driven legitimate entrepreneurship. The vast majority adopts social goals to varying degrees and operates wholly or partially in the informal economy. The outcome is to challenge the depiction of an enterprise culture and capitalism as inextricably inter-related and to open up entrepreneurship and enterprise culture in this post-Soviet space to re-signification as demonstrative of the feasibility of imagining and enacting alternative futures beyond capitalism.
Research limitations/implications
These findings are tentative, as they are based on a small-scale study of just one post-socialist city. Further research is now required to analyse whether the lived practices of entrepreneurship and enterprise cultures are similarly diverse in other post-Soviet spaces as well as beyond.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to evaluate critically the assumption that enterprise culture is a part of the legitimate capitalist economy in post-Soviet spaces.
Details
Keywords
To study the nature of social entrepreneurship from the viewpoint of activities associated with the perception of opportunities to create social value and the creation of social…
Abstract
Purpose
To study the nature of social entrepreneurship from the viewpoint of activities associated with the perception of opportunities to create social value and the creation of social purpose organizations to pursue them.
Design/methodology/approach
The ways in which social enterprises adopt financially sustainable strategies to pursue social aims and address a wide a range of social problems, such as unemployment and inequalities in access to health and social care services, are discussed. Applies the results of existing research to summarize the size of the social enterprise sector in the UK, Europe and US. Proposes eight research themes for social enterprises research and endorses the need for researchers to build on current knowledge and to work together to generate a theory and produce valid, reliable and comparable data capable of being shared by researchers, policy makers and those with an interest in social entrepreneurship.
Findings
The eight research themes identified by the study comprise: defining the scope of social entrepreneurship; the environmental context; opportunity recognition and innovation; modes of organization; resource acquisition; opportunity exploitation; performance measurement; and training education and learning about social entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
Facilitates research into social entrepreneurship in the UK by overcoming the handicaps caused by the lack of standard and universally acceptable definitions of social enterprise, social entrepreneur and social entrepreneurship as well as the absence of a national register of social enterprises.
Details
Keywords
Piriya Pholphirul, Pungpond Rukumnuaykit, Teerawat Charoenrat, Akkaranai Kwanyou and Kitisak Srijamdee
The objective of this study is to determine how service marketing strategies affect enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry, especially, operators in small towns that…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to determine how service marketing strategies affect enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry, especially, operators in small towns that are not tourism destinations and visited only by small numbers of tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates the impact of 4P strategy implementation on the potential and profitability of service operators in Nong Khai Province, Thailand, by using an econometric model and defining dependent variables in order to classify firm performance into 3 areas, namely, (1) revenue, (2) cost/expense and (3) profit—in log form.
Findings
Study results show that tourism and hospitality service operators have to place emphasis on “development,” starting from upstream processes such as research and development and utilizing local wisdom and reflecting cultural identities as well as focusing on downstream activities, including adoption of modern media. At the same time, operators should also emphasize marketing and sales promotions as well as seek publicity through websites and online social media in parallel with developing downstream activities.
Research limitations/implications
This paper only focuses on Nong Khai Province as the research area because, first, Nong Khai has a relatively low income per capita and is located in Thailand's Northeast, the country's poorest region. Second, Nong Khai is a border province, adjacent to the Lao PDR, and thus there are numerous tourists from the Lao PDR and overseas countries who travel in and out of the province through the Thailand–Lao border checkpoints.
Practical implications
Relevant government agencies should provide support throughout the development process from upstream to downstream in order to upgrade the potential of tourism and service operators in this small province by incorporating local identities used for creation of service products and by supporting marketing and sales promotions whether in the form of organizing various exhibitions events, publicity via the Internet, etc.
Social implications
Raising service standards of an organization and developing an acceptable quality brand and setting fair prices without taking advantage of consumers were strategies that played important roles. This set of strategies was implemented together with a development strategy for people also through the process of team building and knowledge management, including skill development through a training system, which also played an important role toward the sustainability of tourism and hospitality enterprises in Nong Khai Province.
Originality/value
It is believed that this paper is the first study to apply Stan Shih's innovation smiling curve in a small border province of Thailand. This study could shed the light for tourism and hospitality enterprises in a small and poor town in attempt to be the sustainability.
Details
Keywords
Zhang Wenxian, Ko Chenhung and Gao Weifu
The principle of distributing the incomes according to the production elements implies that the value of employees’ human resources should be considered in the distribution. The…
Abstract
The principle of distributing the incomes according to the production elements implies that the value of employees’ human resources should be considered in the distribution. The incomes should be distributed according to employees’ abilities and performances in the course of generating wealth (including realized or unrealized portion). The employees have the rights and interests of participating in the course of distribution, and share the losses which can achieve the goal of combining the rights, responsibilities and interests.
Details
Keywords
Shuwen Guo, Junwu Wang and Han Wu
This paper examines the profit distribution of engineering projects in the integrated project delivery (IPD) mode. IPD is a new delivery method that can ameliorate many of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the profit distribution of engineering projects in the integrated project delivery (IPD) mode. IPD is a new delivery method that can ameliorate many of the disadvantages of traditional delivery methods and improve project results. In the implementation of IPD, the profit distribution is key for ensuring the success of IPD projects.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper described a new method for characterizing profit distribution in the IPD mode. The payment function and Shapley value of the cooperative fuzzy game of fuzzy alliance were defined by considering the Choquet integral of the fuzzy measure. The participation of each player was considered, and the influence of participation on the profit distribution was discussed. Lastly, changes in the profit distribution of core participants under different alliance combinations were studied.
Findings
A case from a report of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) was used to verify the fuzzy alliance model. There was a significant correlation between the degree of participation of the owner, architect and builder and the profit distribution among these three participants.
Research limitations/implications
The theoretical research in this paper has some limitations. Initially, this paper selects a case with only three key participants in order to simplify the research. When there are many core participants, how to establish the alliance in the IPD mode and how to establish the corresponding profit distribution model, further work is certainly required to disentangle these complexities in models. Second, in this case, BIM technology has little impact on the income of the whole project. Therefore, this paper does not consider the impact of BIM technology on the marginal effect of the IPD project. Third, the contract type in the case is a custom tri-party based on IFOA. There is no classified discussion of the impact of different contracts on the profit distribute in the paper.
Practical implications
Based on the in-depth study of cooperative game with alliance structure, this paper promotes the classic cooperative game with alliance structure. The authors define the payoff function of fuzzy cooperative games by Choquet integral of fuzzy measure, and introduce the idea into the field of IPD. It aims at extending the solution to a cooperative game without a core. It can be obtained through a simple calculation. In the IPD alliance, the fuzziness and uncertainty of the participation degree of each participant will affect the profit of the whole project. The authors find that the higher the participation rate of players, the more profit each participant has. The greater the influence weight of the designer on the alliance, the lower the influence weight of the contractor on the alliance, the lower the participation of the contractor and the designer, and the lower the income distribution value of the three core participants. It shows a monotonous decline status.
Social implications
For any construction enterprise, it can make more profits if it joins the grand alliance. In the IPD alliance, each participant can maximize their own interests, which can also promote the enthusiasm of construction enterprises to participate in the alliance and increase the application of IPD mode in AEC industry. This research method provides a new fast, effective, and more realistic solution method for cooperative countermeasures. It can be further extended to other cooperative game fields and advance a new research perspective and solution for the distribution of cooperative interests.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is the development of a fuzzy alliance model that provides a tool for measuring the profit distribution in IPD. This is the first quantitative model to connect the degree of participation with the profit distribution in IPD using fuzzy alliance.
Details
Keywords
This paper presents some of the findings to emerge from a qualitative study of social enterprise in the UK. The findings discussed in this paper refer to the marketing activities…
Abstract
This paper presents some of the findings to emerge from a qualitative study of social enterprise in the UK. The findings discussed in this paper refer to the marketing activities of social enterprises and consider the extent to which these can be described as “entrepreneurial”. This discussion suggests that while social enterprises do engage in entrepreneurial marketing, the local embeddedness of their activities, their not‐for‐profit orientation and challenges posed by social exclusion impact on their marketing activities.
Details
Keywords
This study considered the dynamic equilibrium decision-making problem in a three-level supply chain comprising a manufacturer, a recycler and an echelon utilization (EchU…
Abstract
Purpose
This study considered the dynamic equilibrium decision-making problem in a three-level supply chain comprising a manufacturer, a recycler and an echelon utilization (EchU) enterprise under the condition of cost-sharing coordination.
Design/methodology/approach
This study constructed a differential game model based on cost-sharing coordinated decision-making among a manufacturer, a recycler and an EchU enterprise operating under a cost subsidy. The study determined the optimal equilibrium strategies and evolutionary characteristics of subsidy mechanisms in a closed-loop supply chain. Finally, this study numerically simulated the path evolution process of vehicle battery EchU, the profit of each stakeholder and the sensitivity of parameters and verified the influences of various parameters on the overall structure and path.
Findings
The results show that a cost subsidy policy has a moderating effect on the EchU decision-making process and supply chain profit. The effect of that policy increases over time.
Practical implications
This study determined the equilibrium decision-making of enterprises in a closed-loop vehicle battery supply chain from a dynamic perspective, as well as the combined effects of government subsidy policies and cost-sharing coordination mechanisms.
Social implications
The results have important guiding significance for coordination and cooperation between enterprises in closed-loop supply chains, for their decision-making and for the development of government subsidies.
Originality/value
This study considered the effects of government subsidies on closed-loop supply chains and the introduction of an EchU market to a closed-loop vehicle battery supply chain.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to review current conceptualisations of social enterprise and present a new theoretical model for social enterprise in the UK.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review current conceptualisations of social enterprise and present a new theoretical model for social enterprise in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper draws on the rise of social enterprise in the UK context. Social enterprise in the UK emerged around the 1980s, in both political consciousness and as an academic discipline. The paper explores organisational antecedents to develop a conceptual model that prioritises different legal forms of social enterprise in the UK regulatory framework.
Findings
In critiquing policy, practitioner and academic publications, as well as the theoretical models that operationalise social enterprise, there are two observations from the literature this paper examines: first, Theories to date have tended to conceptualise social enterprise as a single hybrid form, neglecting a consideration of the various legal identities, ownership and governance types; second, Theoretical models have tended to overlook the cultural, regional and political-economic histories within their conceptualisations.
Originality/value
The value and originality of this paper lies in offering a new paradigm in the conceptualisation of social enterprise in the UK. This is a new contribution to knowledge that strengthens an understanding of the field. This paper creates the space to broaden and appreciate ideologically and operationally different hybrid business types of social enterprises that include charitable, solidarity and entrepreneurial type social enterprises.
Details
Keywords
Jacques Defourny and Shin‐Yang Kim
This paper aims to compare profiles of social enterprises as they are emerging in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and to highlight common features across countries…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to compare profiles of social enterprises as they are emerging in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and to highlight common features across countries allowing the identification of (partly) East‐Asian‐specific model(s) of social enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first examines the socio‐economic contexts in which new public policies and new NPOs' initiatives were launched to offer innovative solutions to current challenges, especially unemployment. Interactions between Eastern Asia and Western regions (EU, USA) are also analysed as to experiments and conceptions of social enterprise. In order to identify major convergences and divergences across countries in Eastern Asia, we rely on country studies presented in this issue as well as on a broad literature, related more specifically to the development and roles of NPOs and co‐operatives in this region.
Findings
Five major models of social enterprise with specific dynamics can be identified in Eastern Asia. State influence and driving forces linked to public policies make these models rather different from the typical US social enterprise; as for the role of civil society, it seems weaker than in Western contexts but is growing significantly. Co‐operative movements also play a significant role in shaping some social enterprise models. Finally, two conditions identified as critical for the development of social economy organisations – a “condition of necessity” and a “condition of shared destiny” – seem to be valid in Eastern Asia as well, provided they are properly reinterpreted.
Research limitations/implications
As in other regions, the concept of social enterprise itself only begins to be used in Eastern Asia, and no specific legislation deals explicitly with social enterprise as such, except in South Korea. So the main challenge was to identify all categories of initiatives which can be described as part of the new “social enterprise phenomenon”. The understanding of the latter may evolve over time and vary across countries.
Originality/value
The present analysis, just like the other four papers in this issue, is a result of a joint research project of the EMES European Research Network and East‐Asian researchers. Country studies were conducted along common broad guidelines, and they were discussed and revised at various stages, which insured a fairly good level of comparability. Moreover, this seems to be the first systematic comparative analysis on social enterprise involving all industrialised countries in Eastern Asia.
Details
Keywords
Raul Eamets, Niels Mygind and Natalia Spitsa
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of employee financial participation in Estonia from patterns of employee ownership which was promoted during…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development of employee financial participation in Estonia from patterns of employee ownership which was promoted during the privatization of enterprises in the transition period, to the emergence of different forms of employee participation, including employee share ownership and profit sharing schemes. The analysis of the changing institutional setting and legislation in Estonia in the context of EU accession serves as a basis for examining the actual diversification of forms of employee financial participation, and provides some suggestions of likely further development.
Design/methodology/approach
The study combines results from earlier research, analysis of Estonian legislation from the late 1980s to the present time, interviews with social partners, data collected through enterprise surveys during the transition period and case studies, examining recent examples of financial participation.
Findings
There is no historical tradition of employee financial participation in Estonia. By far the most important development was in relation to early privatization, with the employee takeover of many small enterprises. However, majority ownership by employees in these firms has changed quite rapidly, so that now the dominant ownership pattern is of ownership by managers and outside owners. This phenomenon was observed both in quantitative studies and in case studies. There are very few cases of profit sharing. The need to transform acquis communautaire into national law in connection with the EU accession has recently led to debates about employee participation in decision making. Although the government and other influential political players do not promote financial participation, the discussion on the implementation of EU directives shows that the issue will be addressed and even new legislation could be adopted if an EU act on financial participation of employees were approved.
Research limitations/implications
In contrast with employee share ownership, the incidence of which was quite recently assessed in a survey study of January 2005 for 722 enterprises, profit sharing has not been the subject of regular and/or recent studies. Thus, one should be cautious when estimating the extent of the spread of diverse forms of financial participation in Estonian companies.
Practical implications
Description of the current status of employee financial participation can be important for policy makers for further development of the labour market in Estonia. Development of legislation following the trend in the EU, together with changes in the taxation system, could promote different forms of financial participation by employees, and could lead to strengthening employee motivation and productivity, especially in knowledge‐based companies.
Originality/value
The paper is a comprehensive description of the development and current status of employee financial participation in Estonia. The paper provides suggestions for further research.
Details