Growth aspirations and social capital: Young firms in a post-conflict environnment

We explore the social determinants of growth aspirations of young firms’ owners and managers in a post-conflict economy. We focus on social capital, which we treat as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, studying not only the effect of owners’ and managers’ personal networks on growth aspirations, but also other facets that facilitate cooperation such as trust in institutions and generalised trust in people. We posit that that the generalised trust amplifies the beneficial effects of personal business networks, explaining how this conclusion diverges from earlier literature. We argue that in a post-conflict country, preservation of ethnic diversity is indicative of tolerance and low communication barriers and social capital appropriable for entrepreneurship. Our empirical counterpart and hypotheses testing rely on survey of young businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

It’s all about Trust and Loyalty: Partner Selection Mechanisms in Tourism Networks

Does expected partner or task related criteria affect how trust and loyalty is developed between tourism firms? This paper poses a model, which is developed on the assumption that well defined partner and task related partner expectations and experienced trust, should build loyalty between tourism firms. The model provides a more precise assessment for scholars, which believes that trust is related to the risk that is associated with personal relationships between two or more firms, and that risk depends on expectations that are derived from personal relationships. The model also integrates the role of experienced trust in transforming different partner selection criteria into loyalty. The contribution of the model is that it provides insights into cooperative relationships by examining the role of trust between small tourism firms when cooperation is established. Data from a sample of 96 tourism firms in the Northern U.S. is used to test the model. The findings provide implications for tourism scholars and policy-makers who are interested in developing managerial strategies that are based on personal relationships

Web 2.0 and micro-businesses: An exploratory investigation

This is the author's final version of the article. This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.This article was chosen as a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2013.Purpose – The paper aims to report on an exploratory study into how small businesses use Web 2.0 information and communication technologies (ICT) to work collaboratively with other small businesses. The study had two aims: to investigate the benefits available from the use of Web 2.0 in small business collaborations, and to characterize the different types of such online collaborations. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses a qualitative case study methodology based on semi-structured interviews with the owner-managers of 12 UK-based small companies in the business services sector who are early adopters of Web 2.0 technologies. Findings – Benefits from the use of Web 2.0 are categorized as lifestyle benefits, internal operational efficiency, enhanced capability, external communications and enhanced service offerings. A 2×2 framework is developed to categorize small business collaborations using the dimensions of the basis for inter-organizational collaboration (control vs cooperation) and the level of Web 2.0 ICT use (simple vs sophisticated). Research limitations/implications – A small number of firms of similar size, sector and location were studied, which limits generalizability. Nonetheless, the results offer a pointer to the likely future use of Web 2.0 tools by other small businesses. Practical implications – The research provides evidence of the attraction and potential of Web 2.0 for collaborations between small businesses. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first to report on use of Web 2.0 ICT in collaborative working between small businesses. It will be of interest to those seeking a better understanding of the potential of Web 2.0 in the small business community.WestFocu

Management of e-technology in China

"e" technology is bringing about many challenges for companies, in particular for their managers. This concerns a vast range of business processes in many sectors of the economy and in nearly every country of the world. In rapidly industrializing China, companies and other organizations are actively finding their way by adapting, developing and exploiting new e-technologies. The paper's focus is the identification of the management issues in implementing e-technology in China. The paper reports on research into difficulties of establishing and operating e-business in China. In particular, it discusses management related to e-technology sharing and application. A brief review of literature is followed by the analysis of three recent case studies: an international IT services alliance, a financial services provider and an international manufacturing joint venture. All case companies are applying e-technology in China, but the role of e-technology differs in the three cases: adding a service line to the existing business processes; developing a new business process; and increasing efficiency and effectiveness in business processes. The conclusions present the emerging management issues: cooperation is a key asset in networking; the choice of business models plays an important role; adequate management attention for details such as a training program is require

The measurement of guanxi: Introducing the GRX scale

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Industrial Marketing Management. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This study posits and examines a measurement scale for measuring guanxi based on three Chinese relational constructs – ganqing, renqing and xinren. Focusing on Anglo-Chinese buyer–seller relationships, the research reports the findings from six qualitative in-depth interviews and survey data obtained from over 200 Taiwanese trading companies. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses the findings from the final second-order confirmatory factor analysis of the guanxi model identified 11 items for measuring ganqing, renqing, xinren and guanxi respectively. The results offer a useful starting point in order for business practitioners to assess their guanxi and at the same time provide academics with a scale for operationalizing the measurement of guanxi