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Italian worker cooperatives display a high proportion of profits reinvested into asset locks: there is some literature investigating their function, but little has been said about workers' attitude toward them. In this chapter we therefore investigate what workers' motivations are regarding reinvesting profits into asset locks. We propose to interpret them as a common good and we inquire which factors may increase workers' willingness to contribute to it. We test two arguments that are provided in the literature on collective action: the effect of having a long-time perspective within the cooperative and the effect of displaying “collective” motivations and preferences other than self-regarding. We perform this test by means of a survey among workers of cooperatives affiliated to Legacoop Ravenna in Italy.

We identify a positive effect of both factors, although with some distinction. At a first glance, we find a positive correlation between a longer time horizon and a greater concern for profit reinvestment; when looking closer at the data, we nevertheless see a more complex relationship as two other aspects come into the game: the employment insurance role of worker cooperatives and the “feeling of belonging” that links workers to the firm. The positive effect of this second aspect on the willingness to reinvest into locked assets is strong, although it only appears among worker-members. Moreover, its effect seem to become greater as workers' involvement in decision making increases.

This paper describes a comprehensive approach to examine how technological innovation contributes to the renewal of a firm’s competences through its dynamic and reciprocal relationship with R&D and product commercialization. Three theories of technology and innovation (the R&D and technological knowledge concept, product‐process concept, technological interdependence concept) are used to relate technology and innovation to strategic management. Based on these theories, this paper attempts to identify the dynamic relationship between product innovation and process innovation using system dynamics by investigating that aspect of the dynamic changes in the closed feedback circulation structure in which R&D investments drive the accumulation of technological knowledge.

Teuer Furniture is a privately owned, moderately sized chain of upscale home furnishing showrooms in the United States. By the end of 2012, it had regained its financial footing and a number of long-term investors, including several of Teuer’s original non-management investors, now want to sell their shares. At the request of the board, Jennifer Jerabek, the chief financial officer of the company, and her team put together an extensive valuation of Teuer based on a discounted cash flow analysis. When the model was presented to investors, a number of them disagreed with the results. Some investors considered the value too high; others considered it too low. Not surprisingly, some of the differences of opinion were correlated with whether or not the investors wanted to sell their shares of Teuer. Jerabek was instructed to build a valuation of Teuer using a multiples approach instead.

After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:

• Estimate the value of a firm using a multiples approach

• Select an appropriate group of comparable firms and defend the logic behind the selection

• Select a correct set of valuation ratios and defend the logic behind the selection

• Compare the valuations produced by a multiples and DCF approach and if the valuations do not match, explain why the two methods yield different valuations

Estimate the value of a firm using a multiples approach

Select an appropriate group of comparable firms and defend the logic behind the selection

Select a correct set of valuation ratios and defend the logic behind the selection

Compare the valuations produced by a multiples and DCF approach and if the valuations do not match, explain why the two methods yield different valuations

This study aims to explore the presumed relationship between religion and purchase behavior of consumers in the context of Bangladesh.

This research is divided into two main parts. In the first one, the authors reviewed some of the most important studies relative to religion and marketing and those specifically relative to Islamic marketing. In the second part, this research shows the findings of a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of Muslim consumers currently residing in the capital city of Bangladesh – Dhaka. The questionnaire also sought to find out the respondents’ attitude towards the modern marketing tactics, in terms of the physical and visual appearance of local products, their perception of religious principles in the purchase decision and their attitude towards imported products of non-Muslim countries.

Results of this study highlight that religion often represents an essential reference point in influencing the perception and purchase behavior of consumers in the context of Bangladesh. This implies that marketing strategies based on Islamic ethics is going to be quite instrumental in order to reach out to the consumers in Muslim countries. As such, there is largely a strong positive relationship between religion and the purchase behavior of Muslim consumers.

The lack of research on Islamic marketing limits the intensity of arguments in this study. For this reason, the literature review is not completely exhaustive. A small sample size has also been used due to time and resource constraints. Future research can be done on a bigger sample size of Bangladesh or other Islamic countries across the world. Other research avenues may include the study of Islamic marketing mix and exploring the factors that can influence non-Muslim consumers to select products and services based on Islamic ethics.

It is very important for businesses to introduce healthy practices in countries like Bangladesh and this can be rightly achieved through the use of Islamic marketing. Furthermore, the use of Islamic ethics in marketing strategies can eventually influence the religious perception of consumers and make them loyal towards any brands, products, and services in the context of Bangladesh.

The chapter draws attention to Bangladesh as one of the potential markets where the concept of Islamic market mechanism can be established. It also highlights the challenges that global marketers can face with Islamic marketing in Muslim countries like Bangladesh. Besides, it is the only study to date that focuses upon the relationship of religion, marketing, and consumer behavior for consumer products of the manufacturing industry.

This study aims to introduce an important temporal dimension to the research on institution and entrepreneurship in the transition period. This study develops the concept of pre-reform institutional embeddedness, and explores its impact on entrepreneurial reinvestment of private firms in China’s transition economy.

The authors used secondary data of a nationally representative sample of China’s private firms collected in the early days of the institutional transition period and applied ordinary least squares regressions and the Baron and Kenny approach to test the theoretical model.

Pre-reform institutional embeddedness has a negative impact on entrepreneurial reinvestment of private firms in the transition period. This relationship is mediated by guanxi-induced employment, such that pre-reform institutional embeddedness promotes guanxi-induced employment, which in turn discourages a private firm to reinvest. Additionally, the negative impact of guanxi-induced employment on entrepreneurial reinvestment is reduced when decentralization of decision-making is used.

First, entrepreneurs should be aware of pre-reform institutional embeddedness’ negative influence on firms’ risk-taking abilities and incentives. Private firms already constrained by this connection could alleviate the negative impacts through a widespread delegation of decision-making authority. Second, policymakers should be cautious about improper government-business relationships, which may discourage private firms from fully pursuing entrepreneurial growth opportunities.

This paper makes theoretical contributions to the literature on entrepreneurial reinvestment, embeddedness perspective of entrepreneurship and imprinting theory.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing economies has increased sharply since the beginning of the 2000s. While most investment flows correspond to firms from large economies, small developing economies have also witnessed the increase of outward investment flows from their domestic companies. The literature on outward FDI (OFDI) from developing economies has focused mainly on large emerging countries, such as China and India. In the case of small developing economies, for which there is scant empirical evidence, firms willing to invest abroad face a different business environment with several barriers such as a small domestic market to achieve economies of scale and a limited supply of specialised resources. In this setting, the purpose of this paper is to examine firm-level strategies and the home-country effects in a small developing economy.

A research case study is conducted through a representative sample of Costa-Rican firms investing abroad. Costa Rica makes a strong case since it stands out among small developing economies investing abroad in terms of both the number of operations and the amount of OFDI.

The main findings are: outward investment is not only for large and mature firms, as medium and small-sized firms are actively investing abroad; most firms pursue a market-seeking strategy; the benefits for the firm and the home country are stronger when companies follow a clear outward investment strategy; and there is a positive relationship between international trade and OFDI.

This paper provides novel empirical evidence to better understand an emerging trend in OFDI: in an increasingly integrated world economy, even SMEs from small developing economies are compelled to internationalise their operations in order to compete successfully.

Examines the impact and significance of marketing strategy variables on performance in a developing country which has instituted market reform measures. Changes in marketing strategy and performance were expected. Results were obtained from a survey of chief executive officers of the top 200 manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The findings suggest that customer service and reinvestment of profits had a significant positive effect on market performance. However, reduction of subsidiaries and employee were negatively related to performance.

This study aims to explore the political dimension of social network theory and assess how these connections motivate entrepreneurial activity and enhance postentry stages. The authors take an individualistic approach to the topic of institutional deterioration by uncovering the potential opportunities it can create, as entrepreneurship often arises when a market opportunity is perceived.

This study used a quantitative approach, using a self-selection sampling method to target private entities that own electric generators (also known as “illicit SMEs”) who are providing electricity services to the community despite the deterioration of the public energy sector in Lebanon. Data was collected through a survey administered electronically to 230 illicit SMEs, using a judgmental sampling method to ensure representation from all Lebanese governorates. The collected data was analyzed using ordinal least squares regression models.

The findings indicate a significant relationship between institutional deterioration and the reinvestment rate of entrepreneurs, with the moderating effect of political connections suggesting that the impact of institutional deterioration is dependent on the strength of an entrepreneur’s political connections.

The research findings demonstrate the significant influence of social ties and political connections on entrepreneurial activities, particularly in the context of SMEs that are providing services “illegally”. These results shed light on the importance of considering the role of social and political factors in the success and sustainability of entrepreneurial ventures operating in challenging environments.

Entrepreneurial studies typically focus on free market platforms and supply-demand associations, assuming perfect government conditions. However, this study differs from previous research by highlighting the positive impact of social ties on entrepreneurial market access within a socially linked environment. The findings suggest the importance of considering social connections in entrepreneurial studies, particularly in challenging economic and political contexts.

The paper argues that the classical Marxist theory of capitalist accumulation is inadequate to understand new forms of capitalism and their accumulation processes determined by “platforms” and “big data”. Big data platforms are shaping the processes of production, labour, the price of products and market conditions. “Digital platforms” and “big data” have become an integral part of the processes of production, distribution and exchange relations. These twin pillars are central to the capitalist accumulation processes. The article argues that the classical Marxist theory of capitalist accumulation is inadequate to understand new forms of capitalism and their accumulation processes determined by “platforms” and “big data”.

As a conceptual paper, this paper follows critical methodological lineages and traditions based on non-linear historical narratives around the conceptualisation, construction and transition of the “Marxist theory of capital accumulation” in the age of platform economy. This paper follows a discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2003) to locate the way in which an artificial intelligence (AI)-led platform economy helps identify and conceptualise new forms of capitalist accumulation. It engages with Jørgensen and Phillips' (2002) contextual and empirical discursive traditions to undertake a qualitative comparative analysis by exploring a broad range of complex factors with case studies and examples from leading firms within the platform economy. Finally, it adopts two steps of “Theory Synthesis and Theory Adaptation” as outlined by Jaakkola (2020) to synthesise, adopt and expand the Marxist theory of capital accumulation under platform capitalism.

This article identifies new trends and forms of data driven capitalist accumulation processes within the platform capitalism. The findings suggest that an AI led platform economy creates new forms of capitalist accumulation. The article helps to develop theoretical understanding and conceptual frameworks to understand and explain these new forms of capital accumulation.

This study builds upon the limited theorisation on the AI and new capitalist accumulation processes. This article identifies new trends and forms of data driven capitalist accumulation processes within platform capitalism. The article helps to understand digital and platform capitalisms in the lens of digital labour and expands the theory of capitalist accumulation and its new forms in the age of datafication. While critiquing the Marxist theory of capitalist accumulation, the article offers alternative approaches for the future.