International entrepreneurship and the small business

The topic of ‘international entrepreneurship’ is becoming increasingly popular with researchers concerned with examining how international and entrepreneurial activities intersect when people in organizations engage in pro-active brokering and risk-taking behaviour in cross-border contexts. Some caution is needed in over-generalizing the meaning and significance of international entrepreneurship – especially in relation to small businesses. Not all entrepreneurial risk-taking, brokering and opportunity-seeking activities lead to internationalization (as the statistics on small business international activities indicate). This might suggest then that the only truly internationally entrepreneurial firms are those that are ‘born global’. However, their entrepreneurial activities are more ‘spatial’, concerned with what can be constructed again in relation to global markets rather than in relation to the local/regional context in which the business is located. For small firms that internationalize a few years after start-up (late starters), processes of international entrepreneurship are different. For ‘later starters’, international entrepreneurship is distinctive in that it is characterized by extending and modifying entrepreneurial understandings and practices that have been socially constructed in relation to the local and regional context in which the small firm is located.     

Individual entrepreneurship,collective entrepreneurship and innovation in small business: an empirical study

The study reported in this article examines simultaneously the impact of individual entrepreneurship and collective entrepreneurship on innovation in small business. It intends to address the weakness in previous entrepreneurship research that either only focuses on the individual entrepreneur's role in innovation (Miller 1983 Management Science, 29:770-791), or only stresses the importance of collective entrepreneurship (Reich 1987 Harvard Business Review, 65 (3), 22-83; Stewart 1989). The results of structural equation modeling analysis of data from more than 200 small businesses show that both individual entrepreneur(s) and the collective contribute to innovation in small business. Analysis results also reveal the complex relationships between the two types of entrepreneurship in terms of their impact on innovation in small business. Factors that contribute to collective entrepreneurship were found to contribute to individual entrepreneurship, while factors that are often associated with individual entrepreneurship were found to have negative impact on collective entrepreneurship. Communication among members of the small business, which was found to directly contribute to collective entrepreneurship, was found to contribute to individual entrepreneur's knowledge of emerging markets, products, and technologies. In contrast, centralized decision making, which was found to have direct negative impact on innovation, was found to have negative impact on collaboration and communication. Implications of the study are discussed.     

On the contribution of public procurement to entrepreneurship and small business policy

Public procurement in industrialized nations accounts for a significant share of gross domestic product; hence it is imperative for local, regional and national economic development to utilize this potential. However, previous discussions of entrepreneurship and small business policy have by and large marginalized public sector procurement. As a contribution to giving greater salience to the linkages between regional development, entrepreneurship and public procurement, this paper presents empirical results of a qualitative study into local government authorities in the United Kingdom. In particular, it draws out a range of enablers and barriers for sourcing from small- and medium-sized enterprises that were perceived by procurement managers. The focus on public sector procurement furthermore leads to a more systematic theoretical elaboration of entrepreneurship policy as being based on legal authority or the market or network effects from geographic proximity.     

HRM institutional entrepreneurship for sustainable business organizations

As businesses experience greater pressures from a variety of stakeholders concerned with promoting a balanced approach to managing the competing demands for increased profitability, improved social conditions, and restoring the health of planet earth, new opportunities arise for HRM scholars and professionals to contribute to the pursuit of sustainability. However, the foundational logic of sustainability diverges significantly from the dominant perspective in today's business environment. Building upon the institutional theory literature, we introduce the concept of HRM institutional entrepreneurship to examine the paradoxes and emerging opportunities associated with the urgent need for more sustainable approaches for managing business organizations. As a guide to future work, we describe how the actions of HRM scholars and professionals can stimulate evolution from an HRM philosophy that relies on financial indicators to assess effectiveness towards an HRM philosophy that promotes a tripartite approach to sustainability, showing equal concern for economic, environmental and social performance. Focusing on organizational changes that improve environmental performance, we apply the concept of HRM institutional entrepreneurship to consider ways for HRM professionals to engage internal and external stakeholders in order to create value in organizations pursuing sustainability. Ultimately, activities that constitute HRM institutional entrepreneurship for sustainable business drive the development of capabilities that characterize ambidextrous organizations.     

Women in business: entrepreneurship, ethics and efficiency

This article begins by reviewing some of the main theoretical approaches to entrepreneurship. We then discuss the measures proposed in the literature to benefit women, facilitating reconciliation of work and family life and examining the view of authors who consider the negative effects of these measures. Finally, we contemplate situations where the measures benefiting women are based on economic or ethical reasons. This last section qualifies the universalist approach underlying work-family life reconciliation, describing the context for interaction between women and entrepreneurial activity.     

International entrepreneurship: a bibliometric overview

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the academic research on International Entrepreneurship (IE). To accomplish this, an exhaustive bibliometric analysis was carried out, involving a bibliometric performance analysis and a graphic mapping of the references in this field. Our analysis focuses on journals, papers, authors, institutions and countries. To perform the performance analysis, the work uses a series of bibliometric indicators such as h-index, productivity and citations. Furthermore, the VOS viewer to graphically map the bibliographic material is used. The graphical analysis uses co-citation, bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence of keywords. The results of both analyzes are consistent among them, and show that the USA is the most influential country in IE research as it houses the main authors and institutions in this research field. Moreover, is observed and expected the continued growth of the field globally. Our research plays an informative and complementary role as it presents most of the key aspects in International Entrepreneurship research.

     

International corruption and its impacts across entrepreneurship types

Using a large cross‐country sample, this paper examines the impact of corruption on entrepreneurial activities by uniquely addressing two questions: (a) Does the impact of corruption on entrepreneurship vary across entrepreneurship type? (b) How does the effect of corruption differ across nations with varying prevalence of entrepreneurship? Considering three dimensions of entrepreneurship, nascent entrepreneurship, new business owners, and established new business owners, results, accounting for possible two‐way causality, show that entrepreneurship is negatively affected by corruption across entrepreneurship types, with differences in the relative magnitudes of effects. This sanding effect of corruption, however, varies across the prevalence of corruption and switches to greasing for nascent entrepreneurs.     

小企业的定价策略

随着市场经济的进一步深入,小企业的定价策略渐渐成为一个突出的问题。以往的定价方法大多是为大型公司服务,而小企业(包括新技术企业)没有一套理论上完整、实践中可操作的统一定价方法。本文主要说明小企业的定价特点,同时介绍了几个小企业(包括服务型小企业和新技术小企业)的定价方法。     

小企业的定价策略

随着市场经济的进一步深入,小企业的定价策略渐渐成为一个突出的问题.以往的定价方法大多是为大型公司服务,而小企业(包括新技术企业)没有一套理论上完整、实践中可操作的统一定价方法.本文主要说明小企业的定价特点,同时介绍了几个小企业(包括服务型小企业和新技术小企业)的定价方法.     

Influence of a culture-based entrepreneurship program on student interest in business ownership

This paper reports the results of a study that examined the impact of a culture-based entrepreneurship study abroad program on student interest in business ownership. Ninety-six students were asked to complete a pre-and post-study abroad program questionnaire that asked about their understanding of a variety of program activities and to gauge their interest in starting a business. Little similar research has been reported in the literature. Pre- and post- program mean rankings of the variable are reported. The results indicated that post-program mean ranking of knowledge, understanding, and skill ability variables tend to be higher than pre-program mean rankings. Fifteen of the 22 post-program mean values of the measured variables are significantly different from pre-program mean values. Logit regression analysis indicated that the language and program structure variables were positively associated with interest in starting a business while the Spanish business and entrepreneurial skills were negatively associated with business ownership. The results of this study may be of interest to educators involved in developing entrepreneurship and study abroad courses and programs. The study may be of special interest to those involved in developing integrative entrepreneurship programs.     

Reciprocated community support and small town - small business success

This paper presents an empirical test of the significance of reciprocated community support, in contrast with traditional economic factors and unilateral support, in the success of small businesses in small towns. The central hypothesis is that entrepreneurs who make non-market contributions to their community and whose community supports them, are more likely to consider their businesses to be successful. Logistic regression is used to analyse survey data from over 800 small businesses in 30 small towns of the state of Iowa (USA). The authors found that the interaction effect of an entrepreneur's service to the community, reciprocated by community support of the business, is the single most significant determinant of business success among dozens of indicators and characteristics of the respondent, the business, and the small towns in the sample. In addition, it was found that business people who feel successful expect to expand. These findings are relevant to rural development. The expansion of existing businesses is an important component of regional job growth.     

Management competencies of women business owners

Women owners of small business are known to be better informed about issues relating to starting their own business compared to their male counterparts. Women spend more time conducting market research and have historically spent more time accessing finance because of gender bias within the lending industry. Due to their previous employment history many women have better administrative skills over men which should translate to women having better basic business management knowledge and a higher level of basic business competencies. Research conducted on a sample of 270 business owners found that whereas women rated themselves as more competent than men on a number of issues when they first started their business, they were no more inclined than men to pursue further business skills development or training once they were actively operating their business. Further, both women and men believed that they gained sufficient managerial experience ‘on-the-job’ not to warrant professional assistance in most business competencies.     

文化沟涌——增进国际商务交流

随着经济全球化进程的加速,跨文化的商务活动越来越频繁,不同文化背景人们的跨国往来与日俱增.了解和掌握多元文化背景下的跨文化交流和管理的知识和技巧,减少或消除因文化差异而引起的误会、磨擦和中突,对有效地从事国际商务活动,具有重要的现实意义.     

Beyond portfolio entrepreneurship: multiple income sources in small firms

The economic activities of entrepreneurs are not confined to the ownership of a single firm, but encompass income generation from a variety of sources including wage labour, non-earned income and profit from secondary business ventures. This paper investigates the multiple income sources of a sample of 18 561 business owners in the UK. A latent class analysis revealed seven different groups of entrepreneurs differentiated by their degree of engagement in enterprise ownership and income generation. The results demonstrate the importance of multiple income sources in smaller firms and challenge previous assumptions that portfolio activities are expedited solely as a profit maximization strategy by growth-seeking entrepreneurs. While some use portfolio activities for the purpose of wealth accumulation, others use them as a survival mechanism. The results also highlight time variations in the use of portfolio activities. For some business owners, they are a long-term and relatively stable strategy contributing towards either the economic survival of marginal ventures or the development of high growth enterprises. For others, they are a time-limited strategy facilitating business entry or exit.     

Sustainable entrepreneurship,innovation, and business models: Integrative framework and propositions for future research

This article introduces the business models for sustainability innovation (BMfSI) framework to study how business models mediate between sustainability innovations and business cases for sustainability. The BMfSI framework integrates two major perspectives (implicitly) found in the sustainable business model literature. The first is the agency perspective. It takes into consideration that some form of agency is needed, that is, “someone” who takes decisions and acts. Sustainable entrepreneurs are discussed as those agents who align their new or existing business models with sustainability innovations in order to be successful in business and to create value with and for stakeholders. The second perspective is the systems perspective, which acknowledges that business models are always embedded within sociotechnical contexts through which, for example, public policies, private financing, or stakeholder interests influence whether and how business models can be developed. The agency and systems perspectives are integrated in the so‐called business model mediation space. This theoretical notion embraces the decisions and activities pursued by sustainable entrepreneurs as they align their business models with sustainability innovations on the one hand and the influence of environmental contingencies, barriers, and stakeholders from the sociotechnical context on the other hand. The paper concludes with propositions for future research derived from the BMfSI framework.     

Constructing a mediational model of small business growth

The purpose of this paper is to develop a mediational model of small business growth. It evaluates the links between human, social and financial capital of entrepreneurs, innovation and firm growth. Our goal through this model is to demonstrate that it is through the process of innovation these capitals are converted into growth. Based on an analysis of data from 228 Tunisian micro-enterprises, we concluded the mediation possibility of innovation on small business growth.     

Identifying business opportunities for sustainable development: Longitudinal and experimental evidence contributing to the field of sustainable entrepreneurship

Which factors facilitate the identification of business opportunities for sustainable development? To answer this question, we develop a process model of sustainable opportunity identification. We argue that sustainable opportunity identification is a process with transitions from problem to solution identification and from solution to sustainable opportunity identification. Moreover, the transitions are facilitated by two factors—awareness of adverse consequences and entrepreneurial attitude—providing motivation and direction in the process. We tested our model in a field study (N = 107) and two experiments (N = 53 and N = 69). Our findings show that awareness of adverse consequences and entrepreneurial attitude influence the process of sustainable opportunity identification, explaining under which conditions people are more likely to identify business opportunities for sustainable development. Our study thus contributes to the field of sustainable entrepreneurship.