Models for individual adoption of eCommerce,eBanking and eGovernment in Spain

This paper analyzes the adoption patterns of selected internet services such as eCommerce, eBanking and eGovernment in Spain. High quality official data from the Survey on Equipment and Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Households (ICT-H) of the National Institute of Statistics are used. The dataset is a cross section of 16,209 individuals for 2016. Theoretical demand models, grounded in a standard neoclassical utility maximization framework, are adapted to these services. Logistic regression techniques allow quantifying the impact of the socioeconomic characteristics of the individual on the adoption of each service. The resulting models are statistically significant and with a high predictive power. Age, education and levels of internet and computer skills are all significant in explaining the adoption of any of the three services; as are gender and income, but just for eCommerce and eBanking. Interestingly, the level of trust in internet is only significant to explain participation in eCommerce. Finally, policy recommendations are suggested, highlighting the desirability of using specific measures for the different socio-demographic groups and income strata.     

Business motivation and informational needs in internationalization

We focus on an analysis of entrepreneurs’ motivation in business internationalization. Following on from the Regulatory Focus Theory, two differing approaches emerge: promotion (PMF) and prevention (PVF). PMF entrepreneurs approach internationalization spurred by their own motivation as opposed to PVF entrepreneurs who engage in internationalization motivated by the competitive environment. We propose that entrepreneurs’ motivational orientation depends on their prior international experience relating to business internationalization. Moreover, an internationalization strategy requires information regarding markets, barriers and support programmes. Entrepreneurs’ motivational orientation also impacts their informational concerns and alertness to informative stimuli. For the empirical application, we assess the opinions of entrepreneurs working in the Spanish natural stone sector. Findings reveal that entrepreneurs’ motivational orientation with regard to international opportunities changes as they gain experience, which at the same time alters their alertness and their informational concerns.     

Science-to-Business collaborations: A science-to-business marketing perspective on scientific knowledge commercialization

Exchange between science and industry is a prerequisite for innovation (Kaufmann & Tödtling, 2001; Pittaway, Robertson, Munir, Denyer & Neely, 2004) and has attracted considerable interest to the role of relationships and interactions in the process of bringing ideas to the market and commercializing knowledge ( and ; Story, Hart & O'Malley, 2009). Despite enormous government financing, artificially supporting the development of such collaborative partnerships has proved difficult. This study extends industrial marketing's B-2-B model by looking at public sector participants in collaborations in order to examine the process of establishing scientific–knowledge–commercialization collaborations. It is based on 82 interviews in 17 collaborative-research projects in both Ireland and Germany. The findings suggest that retention is a catalyst for improving established collaborations to facilitate the commercialization of scientific knowledge through repeated projects. Retention results from loyal collaborators. Collaborators become loyal and committed because they are content with the overall relationship, commercialization service and quality. It is fundamental that all collaborators understand each other's roles and motive as incongruities hamper the development of productive collaborations. In addition, universities need to develop a greater appreciation of the role of satisfaction. Overall, the study shows the importance of repeat collaborations and the development of mutual benefits which facilitate scientific knowledge commercialization. The study also demonstrates how contextual differences impact on scientific knowledge commercialization in both Ireland and Germany.     

Satisfaction of individual mobile phone users in Spain

Consumer satisfaction is a key determinant of consumer retention, consumer welfare, and is also a strategic variable for competition and international comparisons. Spain's mobile customer satisfaction is the lowest in the European Union. The focus of this paper is to identify the determinants of residential mobile phone users' satisfaction among private consumers of mobile telecommunications in Spain. Two innovative aspects of this paper are the focus on a nationwide representative sample of residential consumers in Spain, and the usage of rich individual data to convey high quality statistical information. The correlation of each of the aspects to the overall satisfaction are measured. Also, relationships between different aspects of satisfaction and its determinants are formulated. The paper specifies econometric models and estimates them using a survey of 4249 mobile phone users. The results indicate that customers are less satisfied with larger carriers, and are more satisfied with smaller and newer operators. Policy recommendations are suggested to improve customer satisfaction, contribute to customer retention and improve the position of the country in the international rankings.     

Creativity and the role of the leader

In today's innovation-driven economy, understanding how to generate great ideas has become an urgent managerial priority. Suddenly, the spotlight has turned on the academics who've studied creativity for decades. How relevant is their research to the practical challenges leaders face? To connect theory and practice, Harvard Business School professors Amabile and Khaire convened a two-day colloquium of leading creativity scholars and executives from companies such as Google, IDEO, Novartis, Intuit, and E Ink. In this article, the authors present highlights of the research presented and the discussion of its implications. At the event, a new leadership agenda began to take shape, one rooted in the awareness that you can't manage creativity--you can only manage for creativity. A number of themes emerged: The leader's job is not to be the source of ideas but to encourage and champion ideas. Leaders must tap the imagination of employees at all ranks and ask inspiring questions. They also need to help their organizations incorporate diverse perspectives, which spur creative insights, and facilitate creative collaboration by, for instance, harnessing new technologies. The participants shared tactics for enabling discoveries, as well as thoughts on how to bring process to bear on creativity without straitjacketing it. They pointed out that process management isn't appropriate in all stages of creative work; leaders should apply it thoughtfully and manage the handoff from idea generators to commercializers deftly. The discussion also examined the need to clear paths through bureaucracy, weed out weak ideas, and maximize the organization's learning from failure. Though points of view varied, the theories and frameworks explored advance the understanding of creativity in business and offer executives a playbook for increasing innovation.     

The persistence of founder influence: management,ownership, and performance effects at initial public offering

The purpose of this research is to apply a conceptual framework to questions of how, why, and when founders participate in the firms that they establish and to empirically test for the persistent influence of the founder on the firm after start‐up. A definition of the term ‘founder’ is proposed. Empirical tests compare firms with founder CEOs to those with nonfounder CEOs to determine whether governance and ownership relationships are distinguishable at initial public offering (IPO). In addition, investor reaction to founder‐led firms at IPO is tested. Results suggest that founder influence does persist in governance and ownership arrangements and that the stock market reaction to founder‐led firms is higher than for the comparison group, relative to accounting value. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correction to: A multi-country,multi-sector replication challenge to the validity of the cultural tightness-looseness measure

Asia Pacific Journal of Management - The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes. Appendix heading was misplaced and first entry of the Appendix table was incorrectly...     

Industriepolitik 2.0

Europe is a long-run success model in a mid-life crisis. In the wake of the financial crisis, European growth has been low, unemployment is high and income disparity has increased - developments that have resulted in less support for the European project, manifested in populism and Brexit. The best answer to the current problems is a new strategy based on new drivers of growth and “Beyond GDP” goals, as proposed in the WWWforEurope project. A new industrial policy would be an important part of the new European strategy. It has to be systemic, working in alignment with competition, energy and innovation policy, and it must support social and ecological goals instead of calling for cheap labour or energy as a precondition for success. High ecological standards will lead to a competitive advantage for Europe in technologies that will become all-important if the Paris 2015 goal of decarbonisation is implemented. A European technology lead in low-carbon technologies, energy efficiency and renewables constitutes a core part of a new industrial policy that can help Europe end its mid-life crisis. It should be implemented in a European-wide dialogue with industry and citizens.