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1 – 10 of 88Katherina Kuschel, María-Teresa Lepeley, Fernanda Espinosa and Sebastián Gutiérrez
Women in entrepreneurship can have a significant impact on economic and social development globally and particularly in developing countries. But the challenges entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
Women in entrepreneurship can have a significant impact on economic and social development globally and particularly in developing countries. But the challenges entrepreneurial women face are unique and multiple, pressing the need for research and policies to maximize impact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges women start-up founders face to secure funding in the technology industry. The tech industry was selected because it is a non-traditional industry for women with high potential for role models to bridge an existing gap in information on women start-up founders to secure capital financing to attain business sustainability. It covers venture capital investors’ role, Latin American cultural reasons, and gender.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on an inductive, qualitative approach and in-depth interviews with 20 women entrepreneurs and start-up founders from Latin American countries who received support from the Chilean Government sponsored accelerator “Start-Up Chile.”
Findings
The analysis uncovered ten aspects that impact entrepreneurial women founders’ access to capital in three categories: capital needs, networks, and individual characteristics.
Originality/value
This study identifies factors that affect women entrepreneurs in raising capital and in facing the following challenges: first, working in a non-traditional field for women as it is the technology industry, and second assuming a leadership role as start-up founders. The results offer recommendation with potential to drive public policies in Latin America, which may be scalable to other developing and also to developed countries where market systems prevail. The findings show that women entrepreneurs, but also men, seeking start-up financing and alternatives are a viable source of employment and economic sustainability to mitigate the effects of increasing levels of unemployment worldwide.
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Ander Garcia, Maria Teresa Linaza, Aitor Gutierrez and Endika Garcia
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to present gamified mobile experiences as valid tools for DMOs to enrich the experience of tourists, and to present the benefits provided to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: to present gamified mobile experiences as valid tools for DMOs to enrich the experience of tourists, and to present the benefits provided to DMOs by analytics tools integrated on gamified mobile experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
Staff from three DMOs have generated a gamified mobile experience using a custom authoring tool designed and developed to fulfil their requirements. This gamified experience has targeted families with children visiting Basque Country during off-peak season. The experience has been validated over a period of seven weeks within a pilot project promoted by the local tourist information offices of the DMOs. Data directly provided by tourists and data gathered from analytic tools integrated on the gamified mobile experience have been analysed to fulfil the research objectives presented on the paper.
Findings
Both DMOs and tourists can benefit from gamified mobile experiences. The integration of analytics tools to gain insights into the behaviour of tourists can be a relevant information source for DMOs.
Research limitations/implications
The pilot project has targeted a niche tourism market, families with children visiting Basque Country, and has been running during off-peak season. Further studies focusing on other tourist types and different tourism season and destination types will be required to strengthen the validation of the research objectives presented on this paper.
Practical implications
The paper promotes both the development of gamified mobile experiences and the inclusion of analytics tools for DMOs to obtain relevant information about tourists and the mobile experiences.
Originality/value
A gamified mobile experience is generated by DMOs, validated on the basis of experience of real tourists. The analytics tools inside the gamified mobile experience provide DMOs with relevant information.
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Juan Manuel Maqueira-Marín, Sebastián Bruque-Cámara and Beatriz Minguela-Rata
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of Technology Providers, Public Administrations and R&D Institutions on Cloud Computing adoption. This research also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of Technology Providers, Public Administrations and R&D Institutions on Cloud Computing adoption. This research also considers Killer Applications and Success Cases as other environmental factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Factorial analyses and structural equation models were used on a sample of high-technology firms located in technological parks in Southern Europe, with more than ten employees and sustained investments in R&D.
Findings
Results show that Technology Providers and Success Cases are determinant in Cloud Computing adoption. Moreover, Killer Applications are a forerunner for Success Cases.
Practical implications
An appropriate fit between the tools and resources provided by suppliers and the internal resources of the company is needed to create competitive advantages. Firms should evaluate Technology Providers, identify Success Cases to Cloud Computing adoption and implement technological benchmarking.
Originality/value
This study contributes to Cloud Computing adoption literature because it includes Technology Providers, Public Administrations and R&D Institutions simultaneously as well as other variables as Killer Applications and Success Cases. The importance of the external agents on information technology (IT) adoption, especially when the technologies to be adopted are new and in an emergent stage, together with the lack of prior investigations focusing on specific environmental factors affecting the adoption of these new, emerging IT, justify the value of this research.
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Diana Gómez-Bruna, Clara Martín-Duque, Aurkene Alzua-Sorzabal and Aurora Ruiz-Rua
Assessing the impacts generated by tourism has become an essential element for the industry’s sustainability. The increasing intensity of the impacts and the need to evaluate them…
Abstract
Purpose
Assessing the impacts generated by tourism has become an essential element for the industry’s sustainability. The increasing intensity of the impacts and the need to evaluate them from a resident’s perspective calls for new approaches to assist tourism management. This paper aims to advance from the pressure-state-response framework (PSR) to measure the tourism impacts in urban destinations with a holistic model called PSR-ti.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiple linear regression method was adopted to apply the PSR-ti model in the city of Madrid, estimating the relationship between the pressure (objective) and state (subjective) variables. Local statistical yearbook data was used to construct the pressure variables. Regarding the state variables, a survey was designed to assess residents’ perceptions of tourism. A total of 652 responses were obtained.
Findings
The results obtained from the study of pressure indicators unveil that these indicators can support decision-making processes as an underused management tool. This work represents a step forward in considering the transversality of tourism concerning urban planning, the development of equipment and infrastructures or activities such as commerce and culture for the analysis of the state indicators; the results obtained determine the need to periodically evaluate the perception of residents on the impacts of tourism, given its crucial role in the sustainability of the destination.
Originality/value
The PSR-ti model offers a holistic vision, including objective and subjective indicators in the model, which enhances the appraisal of the impacts of tourism by identifying pressure and state factors as a starting point for possible responses by the decision makers of the tourist destination.
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Luis Orea, Inmaculada Álvarez-Ayuso and Luis Servén
This chapter provides an empirical assessment of the effects of infrastructure provision on structural change and aggregate productivity using industrylevel data for a set of…
Abstract
This chapter provides an empirical assessment of the effects of infrastructure provision on structural change and aggregate productivity using industrylevel data for a set of developed and developing countries over 1995–2010. A distinctive feature of the empirical strategy followed is that it allows the measurement of the resource reallocation directly attributable to infrastructure provision. To achieve this, a two-level top-down decomposition of aggregate productivity that combines and extends several strands of the literature is proposed. The empirical application reveals significant production losses attributable to misallocation of inputs across firms, especially among African countries. Also, the results show that infrastructure provision has stimulated aggregate total factor productivity growth through both within and between industry productivity gains.
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Arantza Zubiaurre, Eduardo Sisti and Jabier Retegi
This paper aims to analyze how integration into global value chains has impacted the evolution of the Basque machine tool cluster from the 1990s to the present day.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze how integration into global value chains has impacted the evolution of the Basque machine tool cluster from the 1990s to the present day.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was carried out in three steps. First, a comparative analysis was made of the renewal process of the 1990s and the current situation. Next, a quantitative analysis was undertaken to test whether the cluster has entered a new maturity period, and finally, qualitative data was gathered about the past and present challenges facing the companies in the cluster.
Findings
The empirical evidence of the present study shows that integration into global value chains has led to a hierarchization of the strategic trajectories and performances of the companies in the cluster. Additionally, evidence of a sustained period of new maturity and decline has been observed. The period of maturity and foreseeable challenges of the coming years were mentioned repeatedly during the interviews.
Research limitations/implications
Although the participants in the interviews were relevant individuals with a broad view of the cluster’s situation, their limited number and the lack of representation of companies that closed down during the renewal process, despite the efforts made by the authors, could be considered a limitation.
Practical implications
This paper sheds some light on the renewal/transformation period facing the cluster. Several of the main challenges and two extreme, hypothetical scenarios are discussed. The companies in the cluster will have to establish a position somewhere between those two scenarios.
Social implications
This paper presents two possible cluster transformation scenarios. The authors offer suggestions as to how to go about transforming the cluster with a view to secure a better position for dealing with future challenges.
Originality/value
Using quantitative and qualitative data, the paper reflects on the hierarchization and decline of the Basque machine tool cluster and provides new insight into the transformation and renewal needs of the cluster in a globally competitive environment.
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Katherine Gajardo, Félix Lobo de Diego, Guillermo Alejandro Campos Cancino and Enrique-Javier Díez-Gutiérrez
The study aims to provide relevant information on the educational processes experienced by university students in Spain during the period of compulsory confinement. To this end…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to provide relevant information on the educational processes experienced by university students in Spain during the period of compulsory confinement. To this end, the key factors of the emergency educational model implemented by the country's universities have been analysed.
Design/methodology/approach
The study investigated, through qualitative, exploratory research and 30 in-depth interviews, how university students have lived the process of change to alternative forms of education during the crisis, what training experiences stand out and what factors related to virtual education they identify as relevant keys.
Findings
Participants usually focus on three main topics: (1) The impacts of changes in training development with regard to methodologies and forms of assessment; (2) The facilities and difficulties in this new modality of online training; and (3) The consequences of the crisis on higher education in the medium and long term.
Originality/value
Students participating in the study offer relevant and critical information on the adaptations developed by Spanish universities during the Coronavirus crisis. This information can be fundamental for the conscious decision making of the institutions, so that they can develop educational processes more adequate to the needs and possibilities of the university students in times of crisis.
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Marga Marí-Klose, Albert Julià and Pedro Gallo
Despite the increasing evidence on the effects of the economic crisis and austerity policies on the health of the population, we lack knowledge of how the young population is…
Abstract
Despite the increasing evidence on the effects of the economic crisis and austerity policies on the health of the population, we lack knowledge of how the young population is being affected. High unemployment rates, labour instability, high housing costs and cuts in public policies have placed the young in a vulnerable situation. We explore changes (2006–2017) in the both physical and mental health of young people in Spain using a selection of health indicators. By doing so we draw the reader’s attention to three elements with a close relationship to neoliberalism: the prominence of social determinants of health, the importance of inequalities and the accumulation of multiple sources of disadvantage in certain groups and individuals which ultimately condition the course of their lives; and the use of medicalization as a common and legitimised response to poor mental health.
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