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John Williams, senior director of marketing for Microsoft's .NET, was trying to build the .NET brand, a comprehensive family of next-generation connectivity software products. Highlights the challenges of branding and positioning a complex technology offering. The first challenge facing Microsoft was to develop a common definition of .NET, which had been in flux over the prior two years. The second challenge was to choose between an umbrella branding strategy, a sub-branding strategy, and an ingredient branding strategy. The third challenge was to create a value proposition that would appeal to three very different target audiences: business decision makers, IT professionals, and developers.

To analyze the branding and positioning of a complex new technology offering: by defining a new product offering for public understanding and comprehension; evaluating brand strategies for optimal effect, considering possible hurdles to implementation of each strategy; and developing a value proposition attractive to differing audiences.

Despite the growing numbers of internationally active nonprofit organizations (NPOs), research on various facets of NPOs’ internationalization has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of target-country related factors on international market selection of NPOs.

Analysis is based on a logistic regression procedure using a self-compiled data set of 2,440 observations of de-facto entry or non-entry occurrences made by 19 large development-focused NPOs.

The study reveals that NPOs select target markets that are less developed, characterized by greater risk profiles, where other NPOs tend to cluster, and those that are preferred by their home-country governments. Moreover, findings suggest that with respect to institutional strength, NPOs balance mission to help strengthen institutions where needed, and avoidance of environments with extremely dysfunctional institutions, hence opting to operate in environments with medium levels of institutional strength.

The study only looked at external environmental factors, it must be acknowledged that a more complete understanding of NPO market selection decisions must also include variables internal to the organization. Further the study is based on a sample of NPOs dealing with poverty alleviation, which limits the generalization. Finally, the use of data from secondary sources creates its own limitations.

This study represents one of the few cross country studies done on the area, thus contributing for the development of the field.

In an age when a tourist’s gaze is more involved in the daily lives of locals, it is evident that traditional food markets are being rediscovered as a space for recreation. Yet, the pressure of tourism development may result in retail gentrification to the point of losing the sense of local identity. Focusing on the “boutiquing” process at Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, this paper aims to measure the physical change in the marketplace, to understand merchants’ attitudes towards tourism development, and to differentiate merchants based on their responses to these changes.

Two main research methods were used: comparative mapping of the business mix and in-depth interviews with merchants. The first method was used to characterize the physical change in the market, and the second method was used to examine merchants’ attitudes and responses to tourism development.

There has been a significant physical change in the business mix of the market, with displacing mainly of traditional uses. A strong link between the merchants’ responses to tourism development and their stall ownership status has found.

The limitations of the study lie in its nature as a qualitative study of a case study; there is difficulty in generalizing and drawing universal conclusions.

Add to existing knowledge regarding merchants’ responses in traditional food markets to tourism development in the context of retail gentrification.

The purpose of this study is to identify motivations for the uptake of crowdfunding by micro-entrepreneurs in an emerging economy and the extent to which these vary by entrepreneur characteristics, sector and crowdfunding model.

The authors conduct qualitative analyses of data collected in interviews with 57 micro-entrepreneurs in Morocco, all of whom used crowdfunding in fundraising.

The authors identify six key motives for crowdfunding adoption by micro-entrepreneurs including financing needs, legitimacy seeking, sense of achievement, network-building, entrepreneurial and marketing competence enhancements. They also find evidence for moderation effects of fundraiser characteristics on likelihood of adoption, including gender, age, education, training experience and sectoral affiliation. Furthermore, the authors show that the relative importance of different motives varies by the type of crowdfunding model used.

The original aspects of the study include the examination of adoption motives in an emerging market context and the distinguishing between entrepreneurs’ adoption motives based on different gender, age, education, training experience, sectoral affiliation and crowdfunding model used. Moreover, the authors show that enhancement of competencies is a more dominant motive in the emerging market context than mentioned in earlier studies in developed contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of choice overload to examine how entrepreneurial tenure and involvement in entrepreneurial teams influence passion for engaging in entrepreneurship.

A survey was administered to 262 Swedish hybrid entrepreneurs, which refers to individuals who engage in entrepreneurship while also maintaining wage work; this arrangement is becoming more and more common in the Nordic economies. Hypotheses proposed associations between the entrepreneurial tenure (the length of engagement in the side business) and entrepreneurial teams (leading the business with one or more team members) with passion for entrepreneurship. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses.

Results from logistic regression support the hypotheses with three findings: the longer the individual has had the side business, the less likely passion to be the main motive behind entrepreneurship; passion is less likely to be the main motive behind entrepreneurship among those who are part of an entrepreneurial team; and, involvement in an entrepreneurial team strengthens the negative association between entrepreneurial tenure and passion for entrepreneurship.

The data are limited to the creative sector in Sweden and to the hybrid entrepreneurship context.

The results support the impact of choice overload and the notions that entrepreneurship passion will decrease the longer the business is up running and if the venturing occurs with another team member. In practice, this means that interventions for re-kindling passion in entrepreneurship should focus on dealing with choice overload under conditions of long-term tenure and team-funded ventures. If entrepreneurs want to maintain high levels of passion, quick and isolated entrepreneurial processes reduce the choice overload that may threaten maintaining a high passion for entrepreneurship.

This study is the first to apply choice theory to an entrepreneurship context and to find support for possible negative effects of choice overload on passion for entrepreneurship.

Despite the critical contribution of serial backers in advancing crowdfunding volumes, few studies have addressed the phenomenon of serial backing. Research on the motivations of backers suggests that cognitive antecedents influence pledging in crowdfunding projects according to the theory of planned behavior. However, intrinsic factors associated with different dimensions of well-being may also explain crowdfunding support. This study seeks to advance the understanding of drivers of serial backing by combining the theory of planned behavior and the theory of well-being.

The study draws on survey data from 336 serial backers, complemented by objective data on the number of campaigns and amounts invested by backers from Headstart, the largest crowdfunding platform in Israel. The research model is tested using structural equation modeling.

The findings indicate that the well-being of serial backers mediates the impact of attitude, subjective norms and social norms on their loyalty. However, while loyalty can be explained by elements of both theories, it does not translate into actual serial backing behavior.

This study is the first to systematically explore serial backers' motivations in crowdfunding and the influence of these motivations on their actual behavior. It combines two previously separate theories, the theory of planned behavior and the theory of well-being.

The purpose of this paper is to set the papers included in the special issue into their unique contextual stage of entrepreneurial eco-systems in Nordic and Baltic countries.

The editorial first presents the current status of entrepreneurship in the Nordic and Baltic regions. It then provides an overview of the papers included in this special issue, while highlighting their contributions. Finally, it concludes with suggestions for further research, while pointing out promising areas for future investigations.

The papers included in this special issue help advance the understanding of important aspects of entrepreneurship in general, and within the context of Nordic and Baltic countries in particular. The first two papers focus on antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour, namely – education and passion, while the last two papers address entrepreneurial behaviour and its outcome in terms of both growth aspiration and actual growth. Finally, the editorial identifies three important themes for future research, namely – the roles of Web 2.0 and online communities, crowdfunding and alternative finance, as well as current immigration trends on entrepreneurship development and dynamics in Nordic and Baltic Europe.

This editorial and special issue are in tune with current calls for better understanding of entrepreneurship-related phenomena within their social context, and some of the linkages between social settings and manifestations of entrepreneurship. And while most papers concentrate on themes that may be associated with mainstream entrepreneurship research, each introduces new angles and/or conceptual combinations surrounding such themes and variables, which are unique and inspirational.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the carbon intensity of “last mile” deliveries (i.e. deliveries of goods from local depots to the home) and personal shopping trips.

Several last mile scenarios are constructed for the purchase of small, non‐food items, such as books, CDs, clothing, cameras and household items. Official government data, operational data from a large logistics service provider, face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with company managers and realistic assumptions derived from the literature form the basis of the calculations. Allowance has been made for home delivery failures, “browsing” trips to the shops and the return of unwanted goods.

Overall, the research suggests that, while neither home delivery nor conventional shopping has an absolute CO₂ advantage, on average, the home delivery operation is likely to generate less CO₂ than the typical shopping trip. Nevertheless, CO₂ emissions per item for intensive/infrequent shopping trips by bus could match online shopping/home delivery.

The number of items purchased per shopping trip, the choice of travel mode and the willingness to combine shopping with other activities and to group purchases into as few shopping trips or online transactions as possible are shown to be critical factors. Online retailers and home delivery companies could also apply measures (e.g. maximising drop densities and increasing the use of electric vehicles) to enhance the CO₂ efficiency of their logistical operations and gain a clearer environmental advantage.

Both consumers and suppliers need to be made more aware of the environmental implications of their respective purchasing behaviour and distribution methods so that potential CO₂ savings can be made.

The paper offers insights into the carbon footprints of conventional and online retailing from a “last mile” perspective.

Through life stories and the unique lens of military combat service, this study analyzes how Israeli Jewish women construct their relationship to the Jewish nation-state.

This qualitative study establishes a theoretical relationship between gender and the nation, including concepts such as the nation-state, the public/private divide, Jewish womanhood, and militarization in Israel. It utilizes in-depth semi-structured life story interviews with 17 Israeli Jewish women, who served in combat roles in the Israeli military.

These women demonstrate ambivalent and gendered narratives of sacrifice and success and of loyalty and resistance as they transgress and comply with the idea of the national Jewish home. They reveal a strong desire for national belonging that can be seen as an attempt to challenge the gendered public/private divide and secure their status as qualified citizens.

Women’s integration in the military is a political issue in Israel where liberal and radical feminists, religious, bureaucratic, and other civil groups are pushing for contrasting demands. I engage in this debate by emphasizing the voices of women soldiers.

Instead of focusing on subjugation and marginalization owing to the unsolvable conundrum of partial military inclusion leading to (partial) political and societal exclusion, I offer an analysis of military combat service as a meaning-making practice providing a new understanding of Israeli women’s relationship to the Jewish nation-state.