Diversity and business performance: 50 years of research

This study has carried out a review of the literature appearing on diversity in the last 50 years. Research findings from this period reveal it is impossible to assume there is a pure and simple relationship between diversity and performance without considering a series of variables that affect this relationship. In this study, emphasis has been placed on the analysis of results arrived at through empirical investigation on the relation between the most studied dimensions of diversity and performance. The results presented are part of a more extensive research.     

The entrepreneurial motivation in academia: a multidimensional construct

In this paper we propose a model to analyse the motivation of academic entrepreneurs that comprises six dimensions: personal, relating to the entrepreneurial opportunity, to scientific knowledge, to the availability of resources, to the incubator organization, and to the social environment. The model is tested based on information from a survey administered to 152 Spanish academic entrepreneurs. Our results show that entrepreneurial opportunity is not part of the entrepreneurial motivation, but is of the utmost importance to academic entrepreneurs. Also, we find the scientific knowledge is the main driver of entrepreneurial activity in the academia.     

Gender and culture: do they matter for norms?

In a natural experiment, we observed that the influence of a norm depended upon the gender and cultural background of participants. Both gender and cultural background contributed to the effect of peer pressure that partly controlled against the act of cheating among participants as they completed a group task. Furthermore, both factors served to describe the characteristics of hardworking individuals in the group. We therefore conclude that the effectiveness of a norm in a group is expected to depend upon the presence of hardworking individuals therein.     

Comparing trade areas of technology centres using ‘Geographical Information Systems’

Advances in geographical information systems have contributed to location and marketing design strategies on the part of retailers. The techniques used in this field are based on delimiting trade areas and spatial analysis. The same approach is applied in this study to technology centres, which are considered as suppliers of knowledge-intensive services to their associated firms. The research objective focuses on analysing the spatial distribution of firms associated with two technology centres from different sectors. The results indicate that firms associated with a technology centre present spatial patterns that are similar to those observed in retailing, while significant differences were also found between the two technology centres used for the study.     

Linking globalization of entrepreneurship in small organizations

The field of entrepreneurship spans a wide variety of topic areas, and among the most important is that of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME). The aim of this paper is to link entrepreneurship and SMEs. Attempting to generalize the outcomes of entrepreneurship in small organizations from different sectors, countries or industries should be activities that are part of daily life on an international scale. In extracting and transferring the outcomes of this research into entrepreneurship and SMEs, policy makers should see an aspect that must be consolidated within the environment of international globalization that surrounds us. It should not be forgotten that what starts out as small (i.e. an SME) can become large over time and this entrepreneurship can form a part of a new organizational structure. A brief overview of the contents of each of the articles included in this special issue on the globalization of entrepreneurship in small organizations is also presented herein.      

Technological innovation versus non-technological innovation: different conditions in different regional contexts?

This study identifies the conditions that, at a regional level, facilitate the emergence of technological and non-technological innovation. One of the most promising lines in the discussion of the processes of regional innovation lies in explaining the different conditions of the various forms innovation process can take. We use fsQCA methodology to test the model. QCA is a method based on set theory that assumes the influence of certain elements in a specific outcome that depend on the combination of those elements; not just on the levels of the individual elements, as in traditional methods. First, we found that the absence of a single condition appears limiting for both types of innovation, which calls for customized innovation policies tailored to the regional context. Second, we found that some sets of innovation characteristics are sufficient conditions for regions to innovate. Among the selected sets, we found that the combination of firm collaboration and public and private R&D are sufficient for both types of innovation, which should be informative for regional policy. The fsQCA also identified alternative pathways—different for both types of innovation. Collaboration seems to be relevant since it is present in all the configurations for sufficient conditions.     

Synergistic effects and the co-existence of networks in clusters

Abstract

Network systems like clusters are characterized by the coexistence of relational architectures with ties and nodes of different nature. While recent research has analysed how a set of structural features shape the dynamics and effects of one cluster network, the outstanding question is to what extent such features and outcomes are influenced by the concomitance of distinct content-related linkages. This paper integrates both network and evolutionary economic geography perspectives to develop and test a model that links innovation performance with the benefits that stem from technical and business relations. Data collected in a biotech cluster in the Valencia region (Spain) demonstrate the changing effect of brokerage and overlapping ties on innovation as a function of knowledge shared. Findings extend the theoretical understanding of how knowledge diffuses in clusters and provide valuable insights for both practitioners and policy makers.