Accelerators as start-up infrastructure for entrepreneurial clusters

ABSTRACT

Infrastructure is commonly conceptualized as a set of facilities that play a critical role in facilitating activities by individuals and organizations. Conventionally, infrastructure is tightly linked to publicly funded projects that facilitate access to key resources and enable diverse activities. Within entrepreneurial clusters research, infrastructure includes universities, research institutions and telecommunication technologies that facilitate entrepreneurial activities. These capital-intensive investments seek to facilitate start-ups emergence by aiding access to markets and development of ideas. Accelerators facilitate the same activities and have only recently been conceptualized as start-up infrastructure. This study builds upon this research stream by elaborating on how accelerators can play this meaningful role at the cluster level. Specifically, and by relying on the analysis of empirical evidence from three distinct studies, we uncover how accelerators provide tangible and intangible dimensions of start-up infrastructure to form a positively reinforcing cycle of entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, our findings allow us to push further the idea that start-up infrastructure development can be an endogenous process involving multiple actors within the cluster. Our empirical findings and the theoretical insights derived from them have meaningful implications for the aforementioned literature, as well as start-up practitioners and policymakers linked to the funding of entrepreneurial clusters.     

Organizational characteristics explaining participation in sustainable business models in the sharing economy: Evidence from the fashion industry using conjoint analysis

Environmental and social challenges require new sustainable business models, like sharing platforms. However, sharing platforms differ widely in their contribution to a more sustainable society. Whereas idealistic sharing platforms have dominant social goals, other sharing platforms are, or became, commercial. We explore the attractiveness of the typical organizational characteristics of idealistic sharing platforms in the fashion industry context, an industry with negative environmental and social impacts. Based on a literature review and exploratory focus groups, we conduct an online survey using conjoint analysis, completed by 1,512 respondents. Our results reveal that potential users prefer clothes sharing platforms to be small, to not partner with large clothing retailers, to have the possibility to participate in decision‐making, but to not require shareholding.     

Supplier satisfaction and commitment: The role of influence strategies and supplier development

Although considerable research is dedicated to influence strategies and supplier development, a lack of empirical support exists of their effects on supplier satisfaction and commitment. This exploratory study aims to fill this gap by investigating first-tier suppliers in the German automotive industry. Supplier reactions to three different influence strategies and two types of supplier development efforts are examined. Results indicate that supplier commitment is affected by the use of promises and both human- and capital-specific supplier development, while supplier satisfaction is affected by indirect, other direct influence strategies and capital-specific supplier development.     

Environmental accounting,auditing and reporting in Europe: the role of FEE

This paper reviews¹ the activities of FEE (Fédération des Experts Comptables Européens) in the context of the developing environmental agenda. After a brief consideration of the constitution of FEE and of FEE's objectives as a whole, FEE's work in the area of environmental issues is discussed. This discussion covers the setting up and the operation of its Environmental Working Party (EWP), and a review of FEE's environmental work to date. While an overview of past and current work is given, some key areas of topical concern and activity are examined in more detail: in particular the scope for FEE to influence agendas at the European and wider international levels is considered.     

Fernseherziehung in der Deutschschweiz

Parents’ influence on and monitoring of children’s television use has been investigated intensely. In recent years international research has identified different environmental and family factors which influence active mediation, restrictive mediation, and co-viewing. However, there has been no systematic simultaneous comparison of the impact of these factors in German-speaking Switzerland. Therefore the present study analyzes the impacts of parental attitudes as well as family and environmental factors on parental mediation of children’s TV use simultaneously. 252 parents of children aged 3 to 14 answered questions concerning the impact factors, their mediation behaviour as well as children’s media use. Results confirm findings from international research: Most important for parental mediation styles are parental attitudes and the family communication style as well as children’s age. Structural and other sociodemographical factors seem to be less important.     

Can pure play internet banking survive the credit crisis?

This paper positions the pure-play internet banking model (PPI) as a hybrid business model that combines features of both relationship and transaction banking. Although in terms of customer orientation PPI banks may partly resemble relationship banks, they lack their comparative advantage in generating borrower-specific information. Instead, the characteristic features of PPI banks are low costs and easy scalability. While the latter may enable PPI banks to quickly capture market share, it may also generate overexposure in risky markets. We present a case study on ING Direct, one of the leading global PPI banks and address the sustainability of the PPI business model by comparing the ING Direct foreign operations. The findings for ING Direct are validated using data for E-Trade Bank. We conclude that managing growth appears to be the prime challenge to PPI banks.     

Combining work and informal care: the importance of caring organisations

Population ageing and rising costs of long‐term care mean that organisations will be confronted in the future with a growing number of employees who combine paid work with providing informal care to a relative or non‐kin. Combining work and informal care successfully partly depends on job and care‐related features, but more information is needed on the importance of organisational aspects in this regard. The impact of organisational support on work outcomes (work–care balance and perceived need for job adaptations) was studied among 1,991 employed informal caregivers in 50 different organisations. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that a heavy care burden decreased the odds of combining work and care successfully. Caregivers who felt supported by colleagues and supervisors, and who worked in supportive organisations had higher odds of good work outcomes. The findings imply that organisations should be explicit about their concern for informal caregivers and be particularly aware of colleagues with heavy care responsibilities.     

Published stock recommendations as investor sentiment in the near-term stock market

This paper investigates the role of published stock recommendations in print and online media as investor sentiment in the near-term German stock market. In line with extant literature on other sentiment measures, vector autoregressions reveal that past stock returns drive today’s sentiment, but not the other way around, and that sentiment is a powerful predictor of itself. In particular, sentiment based on printed analyst recommendations follows reversals, that is, when analysts face a stock market downturn, they see a buying opportunity and become optimistic.     

Adipositas: Pflege in Hülle und Fülle

Alle Patienten verdienen Respekt – Nicht selten werden übergewichtige Patienten für ihren Zustand selbst verantwortlich gemacht und erfahren – auch im Krankenhaus – nur geringe Wertsch?tzung. Doch auch diese Patienten verdienen Ihre Aufmerksamkeit. Schon ein Gespr?ch kann helfen, Vorurteile abzubauen.     

Buchbesprechungen

Zusammenfassungen  Im Fach Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft liegen bislang kaum empirische Daten zur Situation des promovierten wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses vor. Diese Studie gibt Aufschluss über Besch?ftigungssituation, Berufszufriedenheit, Betreuung sowie Karrierevorstellungen und -strategien der Post-Doktorandinnen und-Doktoranden des Faches. Die Ergebnisse einer Befragung im deutschsprachigen Raum zeigen, dass die Postdocs mit ihrer beruflichen Situation, vor allem mit den Arbeitsinhalten und der Flexibilit?t der Arbeitszeiten zufrieden sind und eine akademische Karriere anstreben. Die Konkurrenz und die Hürden auf dem Karriereweg werden allerdings als gro? wahrgenommen. Zudem scheinen die als vielversprechend eingesch?tzten Karrierestrategien wie das Publizieren in internationalen Fachzeitschriften nur schwer umsetzbar zu sein. Einzig jene Postdocs, die von ihrer/m vorgesetzten Professor/in beim Publizieren und beim Aufbau eines Netzwerks unterstützt und betreut werden, schaffen es, viel zu publizieren und international in Erscheinung zu treten. Hingegen sind zwei andere Gruppen weniger erfolgreich in der Umsetzung der eigenen Ziele bzw. verfolgen mit der Habilitation eher traditionelle Karrierestrategien.

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Are many paths leading to Rome? Professional situation and career strategies of post-doc scholars in communication and media studies

There are hardly any data on the situation of post-doc scholars in the field of communication and media studies. This study describes the employment, job satisfaction, mentoring, and career concepts and strategies of post-docs in the field. A survey among post-docs in the German-speaking countries shows that they are satisfied with their job situation, especially the kind of work they have to do and the flexibility of their working hours. They also aspire to a career in academia. Competition and obstacles on the career path are, however, perceived as considerable. Some strategies such as publishing in international journals are seen as promising, but hard to attain. Only those post-docs who are supported by the professor they work for succeed in publishing much and getting to be known internationally. Other groups are less successful in reaching their goals or pursue the traditional career path of habilitation.

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Dr. Werner Wirth ist ordentlicher Professor für empirische Kommunikations- und Medienforschung am Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung (IPMZ) der Universit?t Zürich. Ilona St?mpfli (lic. rer. soc.) ist wissenschaftliche Assistentin am IPMZ. Saskia B?cking (Dr. des.) ist ebenfalls wissenschaftliche Assistentin und Dr. J?rg Matthes wissenschaftlicher Assistent am IPMZ.