Search results

Considering that the social-cultural context is important as in which the entrepreneurs are embedded to conceptualise entrepreneurial orientation (EO), the purpose of the study is to explicate the influence of the key decision-makers’ internalised cultural values and perceptions of government regulations, to offer nuanced explanations of micro-level variations in EO of firms embedded in the same institutional context.

Using a quantitative approach, relationships are explored in a sample of 201 Malaysian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used for the sample, and an additional test is conducted for a robustness check.

The study finds that three cultural values of the key decision-maker, namely individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance, exhibit a significant association with the EO of the firms. Further, the analysis reveals that the positive effects of individualism and masculinity are enhanced when moderated by favourable perceptions of government regulations to entrepreneurship.

The study uses a single key informant in data collection, therefore, the possibility of single-respondent bias. The results must be interpreted in light of these limitations.

The study contributes to the existing literature regarding the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship. Specifically, it articulates a microfoundations lens to explain the influence of institutions in terms of key decision-makers’ internalised cultural values (informal institutions) and their perceptions of government regulations (formal institutions) on the EO of the firm. It further elucidates the need to embrace informal and formal institutions as interdependent factors instead of treating them as standalone constructs in entrepreneurship research and policy design.

The study seeks to differentiate informal firms with high-growth prospects by their resource acquisition acts and to improve identification of growth-oriented informal firms for effective design and targeting of support measures.

An original set of firm-level data was collected using face-to-face survey in Lusaka, Zambia. Six clearly defined criteria were used to sample informal firms, apart from general informal business. Regression analyses were conducted to test the association of different resource acquisition acts with two growth dimensions: number of employees and business earnings of the 325 informal firms sampled.

Accessing clientele beyond local market, linking up with formal businesses and acquiring information and knowledge via online sources were found influential to growth in business earnings. Surprising, acquisition of finance and skills showed no effect. Employment expansion, though widely used, may not be a stable indicator of informal firm growth.

The study highlights the relevance of the emerging entrepreneurship perspective to understanding the topic. It cautions against pre-setting a size threshold for sampling informal firms and against relying on employment expansion as the sole proxy of growth.

The findings prompt a rethink of the effectiveness of conventional support programmes to drive growth of informal firms such as funding and training. Directing support measures to target growth-oriented informal firms will lead to creation of decent and sustainable jobs and formalisation.

With an original firm-level dataset, the study challenges a long-held assumption that growth of informal firm is negligible and shows that segments of informal firms are sustainable and could attain significant growth and derives new insights into researching and supporting informal firm growth.

This study aims at providing exploratory insights into the initiative and capabilities of Chinese SMEs to develop and utilize diverse networks to support internationalization. Such network development and utilization efforts are fundamental to the analysis and explanation of Chinese firms’ internationalization patterns and outcomes. Extending from the existing network studies in the Chinese context that generally put emphasis on strong‐tie and ethnic‐oriented networks, this paper investigates and explains explicitly the use and effects of both strong‐ and weak‐tie networks in the international development of Chinese SMEs. Indepth case studies on four rapidly internationalized Chinese SMEs are conducted. The case findings demonstrate that weak‐tie networks are essential to the firms’ business development in foreign markets; and were proactively developed and utilized in the course of the firms’ development. The cases also provide alternative perspectives to the beliefs and values underpinning strong‐tie networks presumed in existing literature. The findings draw attention to the changing business values and approaches of the Chinese firms aiming at developing internationally. Managerial implications concerning the significant influence of effective networking on internationalization are pinpointed.

This paper uses a probit model to analyse 100 observations in terms of three hypotheses about the formation of owners’ corporations in high‐density private housing estates in Hong Kong within the context of Mancur Olson’s group theory. The findings do not reject the theory, revealing that it is more likely for an older urban estate with fewer owners to form owners’ corporations. The discussion includes a brief introduction to Olson’s group theory and the development of the probit analysis. Some speculative thoughts about public participation in local level urban management and planning are offered in the conclusion.

The paper aims to explore the extent to which the legal experience of minority shareholder actions in Hong Kong supports the sociological model of the Chinese family firm as developed by Wong Siu‐lun and reports some preliminary findings for the period 1980‐1995.

This paper is based upon the analysis of 275 minority shareholder petitions in the High Court of Hong Kong between the years 1980 and 1995 inclusive. It also draws upon material from a questionnaire sent to law firms involved in those petitions and interviews with members of the Hong Kong judiciary with experience of hearing minority shareholder cases, members of the legal profession and accounting and company secretarial professions directly or indirectly involved in the administration of companies in Hong Kong and regulators.

The findings indicate that the problematic early, emergent stage of the model as described by Wong Siu‐lun is quite accurate. Whilst there is considerable support for some aspects of the model of the Chinese family firm, the experience indicates a number of complex dynamics at play, some of which the model does not take into account. However, the findings, at least by implication, do point to the cohesive strength of the Chinese family firm with occasional fault lines resulting in some “disputes” of earthquake proportions which may rumble on in some cases for years.

The findings demonstrate the usefulness of lifecycle modeling of the family and other type of corporate firm. It also demonstrates some of the complex subtleties at play. The findings also have implications for the law matters thesis of La Porta et al.

This is one of the first studies to actually examine the legal experience of minority shareholder protection in a particular jurisdiction (Hong Kong) by examining the petitions and writs actually filed and relating them to a sociological model of the Chinese Family firm.

This study aims to systematically review the work–family enrichment (WFE) studies in hospitality and tourism management and provide insight into the patterns and trends of WFE literature to practitioners and future researchers.

This study design followed the guidelines of preferred reporting items of systematic reviews and meta-analysis. A final sample of 23 studies related to WFE that published from 2000 to 2021 was selected and systematically analyzed.

This study resulted in a framework that the antecedents and outcomes of WFE at the organizational, job and individual levels. Moderators between antecedents and outcomes were also identified. Theories such as conservation of resources theory, boundary theory, role theory and expansion theory were frequently applied in the investigation of WFE.

This study generated a framework that illustrates the organization characteristics, the job characteristics and individual factors that have examined in hospitality literature on the topic of WFE. This study also pointed out theories that have been used in investigating WFE. However, this systematic review may subject to publication bias and number of reviewed articles remained relatively small.

This study provides suggestions on how hospitality operators could use internal marketing strategies and certain leadership styles (e.g. transformational and servant leaderships) to enhance employees’ WFE.

This study summarized the publication trends and patterns of the WFE studies in hospitality and tourism management in the past two decades, which provides suggestions for future scholars to further explore this research topic.

Anchored in a social control theory framework, this study aims to investigate the mediating effect of defensive silence in the relationship between employees' perception of supervisor ostracism and their creative performance, as well as the buffering role of proactivity in this process.

The hypotheses were tested using three-wave survey data collected from employees in North American organizations.

The authors found that an important reason for supervisor ostracism adversely affecting employee creativity is their observance of defensive silence. This mechanism, in turn, is less prominent among employees who show agency and change-oriented behavior (i.e. proactivity).

For practitioners, this study identifies defensive silence as a key mechanism through which supervisor ostracism hinders employee creativity. Further, this process is less likely to escalate when their proactivity makes them less vulnerable to experience such social exclusion.

This study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between supervisor ostracism and employee creativity, with particular attention to mediating mechanism of defensive silence and the moderating role of proactivity in this relationship.

The establishment of design criteria is an important activity in the initial phase of housing development. A lack of adequate information regarding design criteria will result in poor satisfaction of homebuyers, pre-occupancy obsolescence, high maintenance costs, property overhang and the abandonment of houses. In Malaysia, many of these consequences are prevalent. However, while information on homeowners’ requirements is inconclusive, paper aims to investigate the criteria upon which design teams/developers base their decisions in the design of affordable housing.

The present research conducted a cross-sectional survey questionnaire comprising 25 design criteria administered to 200 stakeholders in the housing industry. The design criteria were determined through a weighted mean. The associations between the criteria were analysed through a principal component analysis.

The results found that safety and security of home occupants and property, maintenance costs, noise and nuisance minimisation, extent of future modifications and waste disposal were the five major design criteria. Factor analysis narrowed down the 25 criteria to six factors, which explained 77 per cent of the total variance. The six underlying factors named of significance were operating costs, sustainability, comfort, neighbourhood, transportation and spatial. The findings also indicated that the design teams/developers paid little attention to a few critical design criteria.

Future studies should involve a large sample size and increase the design criteria.

The study is important for improving homebuyers’ satisfactions because it provides information design team and developers decision-making factors.

This study is the first to address design criteria of affordable housing in Malaysia and elsewhere. This research provides fresh information on design management of affordable housing. The findings will be useful to policymakers, urban planners, place managers, design consultants and developers.