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1 – 10 of 255Giuseppe Festa, Matteo Rossi, Ashutosh Kolte and Mario Situm
This study aims to analyze the territory as a distinctive factor through which the concept and practice of “Made in Italy” operates. Specifically, the study considers the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the territory as a distinctive factor through which the concept and practice of “Made in Italy” operates. Specifically, the study considers the role of local and sub-national entrepreneurial collaborations that preserve and enhance factors such as history, style and talent as the essence of Italian “quality” and as the pillar of Italian territorial capitalism.
Design/methodology/approach
The research examines this Italian phenomenon by investigating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that successfully compete abroad (and also in the domestic market) with a “glocal” approach, adopting the entrepreneurial formula of industrial districts.
Findings
The results indicate that international expansion is becoming increasingly more complex (as is every growth/development strategy) but that “glocalism” could represent a potential driver for the success of internationalization strategies. Specifically, for SMEs operating in industrial districts, territorial capitalism could emerge as a unique competitive factor, because it is a component of local structural capital and global reputational capital, as in the case of “Made in Italy.”
Originality/value
In an increasingly globalized market environment, many companies look to foreign markets to maintain and expand competitive advantage and business performance. Once the companies embark on this endeavor, organizations are involved in governing and managing these networks of finance, production and communication and the distribution-related relationships that constitute globalization. The push to engage in international development is currently imperative for SMEs, which need to extend their business engagement beyond conventional local markets and identify and exploit their distinctive competitive advantage to be able to succeed. One possible way of achieving this is the close interaction with the local territories in which these enterprises reside.
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Entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in creating and scaling new ventures. Research on entrepreneurs’ use of AI algorithms (machine…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurs are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in creating and scaling new ventures. Research on entrepreneurs’ use of AI algorithms (machine learning, natural language processing, artificial neural networks) has focused on the intra-organizational implications of AI. The purpose of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurs’ adoption of AI influences their inter- and meta-organizational relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
To address the limited understanding of the consequences of AI for communities of entrepreneurs, this paper develops a theory to explain how AI algorithms influence the micro (entrepreneur) and macro (system) dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Findings
The theory’s main insight is that substituting AI for entrepreneurial ecosystem interactions influences not only entrepreneurs’ pursuit of opportunities but also the coordination of their local entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Originality/value
The theory contributes by drawing attention to the inter-organizational implications of AI, explaining how the decision to substitute AI for human interactions is a micro-foundation of ecosystems, and motivating a research agenda at the intersection of AI and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
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Federico Alvino, Assunta Di Vaio, Rohail Hassan and Rosa Palladino
This paper investigates the literary corpus on the role of intellectual capital (IC) for the sustainable and innovative development of organisations. It provides a quantitative…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the literary corpus on the role of intellectual capital (IC) for the sustainable and innovative development of organisations. It provides a quantitative overview of the academic literature that constitutes this field. The paper discusses whether IC, through the implementation of knowledge management (KM) processes, can influence the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) towards the creation of sustainable business models (SBMs), which are outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 agenda and adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a database containing 45 publications in the English language with a publication date from 1990 to 2019 (October), a bibliometric analysis was conducted. Data on publications, journals, authors and citations were collected, re-checked and examined by applying bibliometric measures.
Findings
The bibliographic analysis identified that the research published on IC in the perspective of sustainability focusses mainly on the measurement of results, in terms of increased business performance. The results show that the IC is linked to the concept of long-term value. Therefore, the development potential of the IC is linked to the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (SD). These results also provide a framework for the literature on IC and SDGs by highlighting the connection with the EO to develop SBMs.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on IC as a driver for SD. In more detail, it provides a systematic review of the literature on these topics under the umbrella of the SDG perspective.
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Vitor Koki da Costa Nogami and Andres Rodriguez Veloso
The purpose of this paper is to explore the different concepts of innovation in the subsistence marketplace from top-down and bottom-up approaches. This study analyzes the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the different concepts of innovation in the subsistence marketplace from top-down and bottom-up approaches. This study analyzes the literature on the theme and identified research gaps by constructing a framework based on approaches and innovation concepts, which can guide future research efforts. Additionally, this paper presents two case studies, which can improve the way innovation is developed and diffused in the subsistence marketplace.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a literature review, this study develops a framework by analyzing innovation concepts in the subsistence marketplace (i.e. base of the pyramid innovation, disruptive innovation, frugal innovation, reverse innovation and inclusive innovation) in light of subsistence marketplace approaches (top-down and bottom-up).
Findings
The analysis showed critical research gaps, especially a lack of studies involving disruptive and frugal innovations from a bottom-up approach. This paper also concludes that the top-down approach is more common than the bottom-up one. To fill these gaps, this study presents two business plans by illustrating disruptive innovation vs bottom-up approach and frugal innovation vs bottom-up approach.
Originality/value
The use of real business plans to illustrate proposals having an actual impact on subsistence marketplace regions sheds light on how to address these challenges. By doing so, this paper intends to fill the theoretical gap in disruptive and frugal innovations within a bottom-up approach to promote the development and diffusion of different types of innovation in the subsistence marketplace, and thus provide solutions to alleviate poverty.
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Eduardo Márcio Santos Galdino da Silva, Alessandra Ferrari Weber, Marina Figueiredo Moreira and Severino Moreira da Silva
The purpose of this article is to investigate the interrelationships between innovation climate and human capital in the development of dynamic capabilities related to innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to investigate the interrelationships between innovation climate and human capital in the development of dynamic capabilities related to innovation. The study presents a set of concepts about variables involved in the innovation process and their interrelationship, addressing the analysis of international scientific production related to the antecedents of the innovation climate, human capital and dynamic capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature from 1998 to 2018 was carried out, using descriptive statistical methods, at first, and qualitative analysis of the results in order to visualize the current configuration of the field of study of innovation background.
Findings
The results demonstrate a significant number of studies relating human capital and dynamic capabilities and little quantitative significance in studies relating to a climate of innovation and dynamic capabilities. The research describes how the dynamic capabilities of innovation have been approached in a conceptual model based on the perspective of human capital and innovation climate.
Research limitations/implications
The study did not contemplate the analysis of the interrelationship between the resource configuration construct and the dynamic innovation capacities (part of the gap pointed out by Tuzovic, Wirtz and Heracleous (2018), constituting a perceptible limitation of the analyzes carried out in this article.
Practical implications
The influence of the innovation climate construct and its relationship with dynamic innovation capabilities deserves greater attention in research with an empirical approach, constituting a field to be explored by scientific research in organizations.
Originality/value
The research sought to investigate the gap involving the interrelations between innovation climate and human capital in the development of dynamic capabilities related to innovation, indicating the need for further empirical studies on the subject.
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This paper aims to highlight differences between business and non-business literature regarding base of the pyramid (BoP) and subsistence contexts and reveal discourse’s powerful…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to highlight differences between business and non-business literature regarding base of the pyramid (BoP) and subsistence contexts and reveal discourse’s powerful role in influencing goals, solutions and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses critical discourse analysis to review a convenience sample of business versus non-business literature on the BoP and subsistence contexts.
Findings
Discourse used in business literature on the BoP is oriented toward hegemonic Western capitalist approaches that result in the depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation and, therefore, cannot alleviate poverty.
Research limitations/implications
There are two primary limitations: the study relied on a convenience sample that was not random and comparatively, the business BoP literature is not as mature as the non-business subsistence literature and, therefore, the BoP field of study is not yet fully developed.
Practical implications
Discourse has a powerful role in revealing assumptions and guiding actions. A change in BoP discourse toward a strength-based approach can serve as a model of sustainability and can help powerful entities enact structural and systemic change.
Originality/value
This paper reveals the role of discourse in business BoP literature and how it perpetuates and even exacerbates the problems they were designed to alleviate: depletion of resources, resource inequalities, poverty and increased consumption, dependence and environmental degradation. The paper challenges researchers, economists and powerful guiding entities to reorient their discourse of the BoP to be more aligned with those of non-business researchers of subsistence markets.
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Tita Anthanasius Fomum and Pieter Opperman
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of economic development for every economy. They contribute to local economic development through household…
Abstract
Purpose
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of economic development for every economy. They contribute to local economic development through household wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction. Despite this pivotal role, MSMEs lack access to finance, and scholarship on the enabling role of financial inclusion on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' performance is scant. The authors contribute to closing the knowledge gap by examining the enabling effect of financial inclusion on MSMEs using the FinScope MSME 2017 survey for the Kingdom of Eswatini. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objective.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the re-centered influence function regression framework to estimate unconditional quantile regressions and the generalized ordered logit model to analyze the data.
Findings
The findings from the unconditional quantile regression revealed that small changes in access to bank accounts, saving for business, formal saving, stokvel and informal saving at the 50th and 75th percentiles have a positive and statistically significant effect on microenterprises' annual turnover profit. Conversely, small changes in formal insurance have a mixed effect on annual turnover profit. At the 10th and 25th percentiles, a small increment in insurance reduces annual turnover profit but increases microenterprise annual turnover profit at the 75th percentile. Meanwhile, the evidence from the generalized ordered logit model showed that financial inclusion reduces the likelihood of microenterprises being classified as least developed and increased the chances of microenterprises falling into emerging and developed business categories.
Research limitations/implications
This study makes use of a cross-sectional survey dataset, as a result, it does not infer causal relationships over the long term, but rather an association between the independent and dependent variables.
Practical implications
Overall, formal and informal financial inclusion enhances the annual turnover profit for microenterprises, particularly at the 50th and 75th percentiles in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The authors recommend a specialized institution such as a micro, small and medium-sized partial credit guarantee scheme to improve the quality and affordability of credit for microenterprises, and a mix of financial and non-financial supports depending on the development stage to boost a sustainable microenterprises' sector.
Originality/value
The study uses two advanced cross-sectional techniques, the recentered influence function framework and the generalized ordered logit model to analyze the data. The paper is original and contributes to the discussion of the role of financial inclusion in enabling microenterprises' success in Africa, using the FinScope 2017 survey of microenterprises in Eswatini as a case study.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2020-0689.
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Stefania Testa, Thaer Atawna, Gino Baldi and Silvano Cincotti
This paper aims at explaining variances in the contribution of Islamic crowdfunding platforms (ICFPs) to sustainable development (SD), by adopting an institutional logic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at explaining variances in the contribution of Islamic crowdfunding platforms (ICFPs) to sustainable development (SD), by adopting an institutional logic perspective (ILP). ICFPs represent a dual institutional overlap between two logics (the Western-mainstream and the Islamic logic) which have an impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR) interpretations, practices, and decisions and whose conflicts are mitigated by choosing different resolution strategies. The authors aim at showing that this choice affects SD differently.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a conceptual typology through the following steps: (1) choice of variables and identification of corresponding variable domains, through literature review. Variables chosen are the elemental CSR dimensions related to various social and environmental corporate responsibilities to whom diverse meaning and emphasis are given under the Western-mainstream and Islamic logics. (2) Identification of three distinct ideal types of ICFPs, building on different resolution strategies to mitigate conflicts between logics; (3) development, for each ideal type, of a set of implications related to SD; (4) implementation of a first test aiming at assigning real cases to each ideal type.
Findings
The authors identify Western-mimicking (platforms adopting as resolution strategy decoupling or compartmentalizing strategies), Islamic-driven (platforms focusing on one prevailing logic) and Syncretism-inspired (platforms adopting hybridizing practices) ideal-types.
Originality/value
It is the first paper suggesting ILP to explain variances in crowdfunding platforms' role in addressing SD. It focuses on a specific type of CF platforms till now neglected.
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