micro-Business Community Responsibility in Australia: Approaches, Motivations and Barriers

Micro and small businesses contribute the majority of business activity in the most developed economies. They are typically embedded in local communities and therefore well placed to influence community wellbeing. While there has been considerable theoretical and empirical analysis of corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the nature of micro-business community responsibility (mBCR) remains relatively under-explored. This article presents findings from an exploratory study of mBCR that examined the approaches, motivations and barriers of this phenomenon. Analysis of data from 36 semi-structured interviews with micro-business owner-operators in the Australian city of Brisbane revealed three mBCR approaches, suggesting an observable mBCR typology. Each mBCR type was at least partly driven by enlightened self-interest (ESI). In addition to a pure ESI approach, findings revealed ESI combined with philanthropic approaches and ESI combined with social entrepreneurial approaches. The combination of doing business and doing good found amongst participants in this study suggests that many micro-business owner-operators are supporters of their local communities and, therefore, driven by more than profit. This study provides a fine-grained understanding of micro-business involvement in community wellbeing through a lens of responsible business behaviour.     

Role and impact of the environment on entrepreneurial learning

Abstract

This article is presenting an overview of the literature devoted to entrepreneurial learning and, more specifically, those research bringing environmental elements into the study of the entrepreneurial learning process. Then, it shows how each of the four Special Issue selected research papers contribute to enhancing our knowledge of the complexity of the learning process vis-à-vis entrepreneurial processes placed in context. By doing this, it makes an attempt to explain the specific context behind each contribution as well as presenting the wider context. Finally, the article is suggesting a set of key challenges and research pathways that might be explored in the future.     

Barriers to innovation through public procurement: A supplier perspective

Public procurement is increasingly viewed as having important potential to drive innovation. Despite this interest, numerous barriers prevent the public sector from acting as an intelligent and informed customer. This paper seeks to understand how barriers related to processes, competences, procedures and relationships in public procurement influence suppliers? ability to innovate and to reap the benefits of innovation. We address this by exploiting a dedicated survey of public sector suppliers in the UK, using a probit model to investigate the influence of structural, market and innovation determinants on suppliers? perception of these barriers.     

Sales force automation systems: An analysis of factors underpinning the sophistication of deployed systems in the UK financial services industry

This study investigates organizational and strategic context variables that are linked to the sophistication of sales force automation systems in UK financial services firms. We find that increasing sophistication in SFA deployment, evaluated as a count of the number of types of results of sales campaigns that are measured, is driven directly by the information orientation of the host firm. We also find that the “sophistication” of deployed systems is, in fact, limited — the information held on the systems cannot underpin the strategic goals of the sales/marketing managers. We theorise that adoption of SFA systems is driven by managerial imperatives and that these have resulted in sales force resistance — shown by the paucity of information held on adopted SFA systems.     

The internationalisation from a network perspective: A longitudinal study

This article explores a range of internationalisation options in terms of their adequacy in explaining the patterns of internationalisation undertaken by contemporary organizations. It is argued that there is a life cycle in the internationalisation of firms and that existing explanations of internationalisation cater for some, but not all, elements in this life cycle. The paper then outlines a longitudinal study of the internationalisation of an Australian firm from its early tentative involvement via export in the 1960's to its acquisition by an overseas firm in 2000. This study shows that network embeddedness appears to offer the most comprehensive explanation for the international life cycle of contemporary organizations.     

外商直接投资与对外贸易技术溢出效应比较——基于面板因果关系的研究

开放经济中,最主要的国际经济关系是国际投资和国际贸易,二者都对东道国的产业有技术上的影响。文章运用面板单位根检验、协整检验以及误差修正模型等现代计量经济学方法,考察外资和进出口对中国整体技术水平的影响。结果显示FDI和技术进步互为长期和短期因果关系,对外贸易是技术进步的长期和短期原因,没有证据显示外商直接投资和进出口有长期稳定关系。     

Mind the context gap: a critical review of engagement within the public sector and an agenda for future research

Abstract

In this review paper, we critically examine the evidence base relating to engagement within the public sector given a wide range of public services have faced acute human resource challenges over recent years. Our review of 188 empirical studies reveals that much of the evidence focuses attention on individual and job level factors, such that specific public sector contextual contingencies have rarely been considered. Through identifying significant ‘context gaps’, we present a future research agenda addressing the following key areas: i) clarifying the relationship between engagement and public service motivation, ii) further contextualizing general engagement models, iii) exploring cultural, socio-political, and institutional factors in more depth, iv) encouraging a more critical perspective on engagement, v) understanding the variation in the experience of engagement across different public services/delivery models, and vi) connecting more strongly with practical concerns and initiatives within public organizations. In presenting this agenda, we highlight how engagement and HRM scholars can more strongly embed their research within a sectoral context.