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There have been few investigations regarding the relationship of gender and role models with students’ entrepreneurial intention (EI). The purpose of this study is to apply a conceptual framework to explain the relationship of gender and role models with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) constructs: attitudes towards behaviour (ATB), subjective norms (SN), perceived behaviour control (PBC) and intentions.

The study is based on data collected from a questionnaire survey completed by 1,496 freshman Saudi students enrolled during the 2016-2017 academic year in business, finance and economics undergraduate programmes. To analyse the data and test the proposed hypotheses, a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) are applied.

The results show that the TPB constructs are validated in the specific Saudi context. In fact, these constructs were significantly related to EI. Only the SN and PBC constructs mediate the relationship between role models and EI. Furthermore, gender moderates the relationships of role models with EI, PBC with EI and role models with the SN. More precisely, this study reveals that gender differences in SN and PBC, and women’s EI are more likely to be influenced by the SN and PBC than men’s EI. However, PBC is a relevant determinant for both male and female students. These results differ from those of previous studies on gender influences. These results could be explained by two main reasons, such as women’s socialization and institutional processes.

The main limitation is that it was not possible to claim generalization of findings. Theoretical and managerial implications are proposed to add new evidence in the field. These results could help all stakeholders engaged in promoting entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia and stimulate appropriate and customized entrepreneurial initiatives, curriculum and policies for both men and women.

This study is one of the first to conduct such investigations in Saudi Arabia and in institutions of higher education. This study removes the stereotypes about the entrepreneurial potential of women.

This research seeks to investigate the impact of individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and entrepreneurial exposure on new-venture gestation activities during COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper adopted negative binomial regression (NBR) modeling with a sample of Saudi female nascent student entrepreneurs (N = 1,032).

The research found that females' IEO is significantly and positively associated with how much progress they make in term of the number of activities they carried out in the new-venture gestation stage. Similarly, females who had high entrepreneurial exposure are more likely to commit to many activities and progress in the new venture. Therefore, those who have entrepreneurial experience perform better different new-venture gestation activities during the COVID-19 pandemic than those who have little or no experience.

Over a transformation of demographic variables and using NBR, this paper is the first paper in Saudi Arabia that develops and tests a theoretically based model linking the perceptual entrepreneurial orientation of nascent student entrepreneurs with objectives variables to the progress of new-venture gestation activities.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of how a country’s institutional environment is impacting the young community’s entrepreneurial intention through perceived desirability and feasibility as mediators.

This research applies and validates a measure of a country’s institutional profile for entrepreneurship to Saudi university students. This research develops a structural model to investigate the young community’s perceptions about their institutional context, desirability and feasibility and their influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Data was collected from 287 Saudi young communities (university students) from several public universities located in Riyadh. Structural equation modeling analysis was applied to examine the structural model of entrepreneurial intentions.

Research findings revealed positive and significant relationships between institutional context dimensions and young community students’ perceived desirability and feasibility and between students’ perceived desirability and feasibility and their entrepreneurial intentions. Their perceived desirability and feasibility were shown to have positive full mediation effects on the relationships between institutional environment dimensions and entrepreneurial intention.

Research Implications are advanced to help researchers and practitioners in considering the institutional environment for promoting entrepreneurship. Limitations and future research directions are discussed for better generalization of findings and renewed streams of research in the field.

To the best knowledge of the author, this research is one of the first studies to apply the scale on the institutional country profile to Saudi Arabia with a young community. Studies linking institutional profile to entrepreneurial intentions were also limited in developing countries having a young population. This might catch the attention of researchers, educators and policy-makers.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to family firm and entrepreneurship literature by providing an examination of how family involvement in management (FIM) moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO)’s dimensions and family firm performance (FFP).

Through a survey study, the research was developed using a sample of 175 family firms in Saudi Arabia to test the proposed hypotheses using hierarchical linear regression.

The findings revealed a strong positive and significant linkage of proactiveness and FIM with FFP, but, no significant relationship between innovativeness and risk-taking with FFP. However, when FIM contingencies were hypothesized, a new significant influence from the interaction between risk-taking and FIM on FFP was found.

The main limitation lies in the fact that it is not possible to claim generalization of findings to family firms in other emerging or transitional countries as the research is focused on Saudi family firms. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in order to produce new knowledge on EO of family firms and to help these firms not consider FIM as an impediment to the development of resources and capabilities necessary to the promotion of entrepreneurial activities within their operations.

There is a contribution to the literature on EO by showing that EO construct and its dimensions have great generality within family firms in a transitional context.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between strategic orientations as well as the role played by them to impact the performance of industrial firms.

The paper formulates some hypotheses from the literature review. These hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling with data collected from 292 randomly selected firms operating in several industrial sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The findings of this study showed the importance of these strategic orientations in enhancing the performance of Saudi industrial firms and emphasized the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation in the relationships of market orientation and technology orientation to new product development performance and firm performance.

The study discusses the findings and advances certain limitations and research and managerial implications for future research avenues. It proposes some recommendations to help Saudi firms to choose more than one orientation simultaneously and adopt an appropriate configuration of orientations. Future research has to consider the interplay between these strategic orientations and the impacts of environmental turbulence in terms of market and technology turbulence on strategic orientations – performance relationship.

The study suggests that managers of Saudi industrial firms should utilize a mix of aspects from several strategic orientations such as market and technology through entrepreneurial capabilities and resources that enhance higher levels of performance.

This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship and strategic management by showing the reliability of scales used and the confirmatory of the factor structure. It also contributes to business practices by showing the importance for Saudi firms to combine different strategic orientations and provide more attention to the interplay of these orientations in order to perform better in such a transitional context.

Little previous research has investigated the relationships among strategic orientations, supply chain integration and firm performance. The purpose of this study is to advance a research model that examines the direct and indirect effects of strategic orientations via supply chain integration on firm performance in the Saudi transitional context.

This study is based on data collected from a survey using questionnaires completed by 187 top management members of Saudi firms from different sectors. To analyse the data and test the proposed hypotheses, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted using the AMOS statistical analysis package.

Results show that both market orientation and supply chain integration have a significant positive direct effect on Saudi firm performance. They also reveal that supply chain integration fully mediates the effect of technology orientation on firm performance, while partially mediating the effect of market orientation on firm performance.

This study contributes to the literature by showing how SCI could serve as an organizational capability that links strategic resources to firm performance. The main limitation of this study is that it was not possible to generalize the findings. Future research perspectives were proposed to address this limitation and add new insights to the field.

The results could help decision-makers in Saudi firms choose the right strategic orientations and aid them in integrating their supply chains by sharing the necessary information and coordinating operations with key partners to enhance their firms' performance.

This study is one of the first to conduct such an investigation in the Saudi context. The study simultaneously examines the role of supply chain integration in linking strategic orientations to firm performance and fills a current research gap in such a transitional context.

Little previous research has investigated the determinants of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) in the context of Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to advance a research model that examines the direct and indirect effects of prior experience with social problems via empathy, moral obligation, social self-efficacy and perceived social support on SEI.

This study is based on data collected from a survey using questionnaires completed by 278 Saudis. To analyze data and test the developed hypotheses, an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to investigate the factorial structural of the constructs, their reliability and validity. Then, goodness-of-fit statistics showed model fits of different alternative models. A hierarchical regression modeling was used to test the direct and indirect effects of main variables on SEI.

Results show positive relationships between prior experience with social problems and SEI antecedents, on one hand, and between prior experience with social problems and SEI on the other hand. Notably, no significant relationships exist between moral obligation and SEI and social support and SEI. Additionally, only empathy and social self-efficacy mediated the relationship of prior experience with social problems to SEI.

This study contributes to the literature by showing how most of the SEI’s antecedents can play a mediating role between prior experience with social problems and SEI. The main limitation of this study is that it was not possible to generalize the findings. Future research perspectives were proposed to address this limitation and add new insights to the field considering the context of an emerging country.

This study is one of the first to conduct such an investigation in the Saudi context. It validates the scales of previous empirical models on SEI and partially replicates their results.

This study aims to examine the impact of transformational leadership on leadership effectiveness and the mediating effect of emotional skills in this relationship.

The study used quantitative methodology, collecting data from 350 respondents from the Lebanese context. The data were analysed using AMOS for structural equation modelling.

Results indicated that transformational leadership positively impacts leadership effectiveness, and this relationship is partially mediated by emotional skills. Specifically, adaptability, assertiveness and relationship management partially mediate the relationship of transformational leadership to leadership effectiveness. The findings suggest that leaders who possess emotional skills, especially those related to adaptability, assertiveness and relationship management, can be more effective in their roles by inspiring and motivating their followers through transformational leadership.

The study relies on self-reported data, which can introduce potential biases such as social desirability bias and subjectivity. The study uses a cross-sectional design, which hinders establishing causal relationships or examining changes over time.

This study highlights the significance of transformational leadership on leadership effectiveness and its potential benefits on emotional skills as a mediator in this relationship.

The research is unique and provides potential contribution to the Lebanese context.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial intention literature by applying the theory of planned behavior to Saudi context and determining the factors that affect the intentions of final-year Saudi university business students to become entrepreneurs.

Through a survey study, the paper aims to investigate the significant theory of planned behavior (TPB) antecedents (attitudes toward behavior, subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control) to determine entrepreneurial intentions of 177 students by using correlations, linear and hierarchical regressions models.

The results showed that the antecedents of theory of planned behavior significantly explain 33.4 percent of the variance in students’ entrepreneurial intentions. However, the authors also found that SN associated with entrepreneurial intention had a higher regression coefficient than those of the two other antecedents. Hence, SN has a more significant influence on attitudes and less on perceived behavioral control (PBC). The results also showed that some demographic characteristics have an indirect influence on entrepreneurial intentions through SN and PBC. The findings suggest, therefore, that the TPB is a valuable tool for predicting entrepreneurial intentions.

The main limitation stems from the fact that it is not possible to claim generalization as the research is the result of a study focused on one Saudi university. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed in order to promote entrepreneurship amongst Saudi students and an entrepreneurially friendly culture in Saudi society.

In this paper, the TPB is validated tool to a Saudi university context for predicting entrepreneurial intentions. Broader reflections about the generalizability of results is also considered by undertaking new researches with other Saudi universities and developing contextualized framework based on cultural considerations.

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of personal background and entrepreneurial attitudes on entrepreneurial intentions of Saudi Freshmen students of Al Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University. After reviewing the literature and related theories on entrepreneurship, attitudes and intentions, this study provides a conceptual framework trying to identify the effects of most influential factors on individual’s intention to become an entrepreneur.

Through a survey study developed from previous empirical studies, the paper aims to investigate the significant elements of intentions from a sample of 103 students randomly selected. This study is both descriptive and analytical using correlations and multiple regressions.

The findings show that significant correlations among variables were found. The achievement and innovation attitudes are significant elements to entrepreneurial intentions. Students scored quite high on them, but, moderate on personal control and self-esteem attitudes. Students might have a real intention for starting their own businesses later that could be sustained during their studies at university. Additionally, entrepreneurs among relatives and entrepreneurship training were also the other significant elements to intentions.

Implications for future research are described and some pragmatic recommendations are provided to promote students’ entrepreneurial initiatives and behaviors at university.

The exploratory analysis suggests the need to develop more the awareness of students to entrepreneurship as potential career choice to help them to be active in the society.

In this paper, the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation model is validated for a Saudi university considered as a specific context. Broader reflections about a freshman student entrepreneurship as refocused research agenda is also considered by undertaking some new research and developing a comprehensive and contextual framework.