Do entrepreneurs Link(ed)-In? Exploring Entrepreneurs’ Usage of Social Media to Manage Social Capital

L'esperit emprenedor és el procés d'iniciar un nou negoci oferint un producte o servei. Aquestes pràctiques, i en particular les basades en desenvolupaments tecnològics, tenen importants implicacions en l'entorn competitiu actual, en termes de creixement econòmic, ocupació, canvi tecnològic i creació de riquesa. En aquest sentit, una de les principals preocupacions dels emprenedors és per fer front a entorns dinàmics caracteritzats per un alt grau d'incertesa; i l'accés als recursos és un element clau per avançar a través de les diferents etapes d'aquest procés. En el marc de la Resource-Based Theory, es defineix el capital social com la xarxa social de l’emprenedor que li proporciona accés als recursos. En paral·lel, el social media ha qüestionat com les persones manegen la seva xarxa social, ja que ofereix nous mitjans de comunicació i intercanvi d'informació entre individus. Aquest treball ha identificat que, tot i els emprenedors són usuaris actius del social media, no hi ha cap postura clara sobre com el seu ús en les xarxes socials ha afectat el seu accés als recursos: mentre algunes investigacions suggereixen que els emprenedors tenen noves oportunitats per la gestió del seu capital social, altres suggereixen que l'ús del social media no està directament relacionat amb la millora del capital social, sinó que depèn del tipus d'informació compartida. Això suggereix que l'ús que fan els emprenedors del social media pot millorar alguns aspectes del seu capital social. Per tal de entendre millor aquests aspectes, la investigació actual suggereix que els emprenedors fan servir el social media per satisfer unes necessitats específiques pel que fa al seu capital social, i per tant fa servir l'enfocament dels Usos i Gratificacions per explorar els motius i satisfaccions d'aquesta decisió. En concret, aquest treball proposa la següent pregunta d'investigació: "¿En quina mesura els emprenedors fan servir el social mitjana per gestionar el seu capital social?" i dues sub-preguntes per explorar en detall les seves motivacions: Per què els emprenedors fan servir el social mitjana per gestionar el seu capital social? ", I les seves satisfaccions percebudes:" Com es beneficien del social mitjana els emprenedors per gestionar el seu capital social? ". Per respondre a la pregunta i sub-preguntes d'investigació esmentades, aquest treball va seguir un enfocament inductiu basat en un mètode mixt que va fer possible la combinació de la percepció dels empresaris amb la seva xarxa i l'activitat en el social media. En concret, aquest disseny de la investigació es basa en un enfocament de mètode mixt que va incloure dos tipus de dades: (1) l'exploració de les percepcions dels emprenedors a través d'entrevistes semiestructurades i (2) una anàlisi longitudinal dels entorns de social media dels emprenedors que recull de la seva xarxa social i la seva activitat en aquesta plataforma. Aquest treball identifica algunes idees sobre per què i com els empresaris utilitzen el social media per millorar el seu capital social. En primer lloc, pel que fa als motius d'ús del social media, els resultats d'aquesta investigació suggereixen que els emprenedors no només utilitzen el social media per mantenir les seves estructures de xarxa social, sinó que també estan immersos en un procés dinàmic de 'desenvolupament de la xarxa'. En segon lloc, pel que fa a les seves gratificacions, aquest treball identifica que els emprenedors perceben que tenen una millor oportunitat de connectar amb èxit amb potencials propietaris de recursos. En conclusió, els resultats d'aquesta investigació fan importants contribucions tant a acadèmics com a professionals. D'una banda, aquest treball porta noves idees sobre la investigació de l'esperit emprenedor mitjançant l'anàlisi dels motius i les gratificacions d'ús del social media per part de l'emprenedor a fi d'entendre millor com gestiona el seu capital social. D'altra banda, aquest treball també ofereix als emprenedors noves idees sobre les possibles formes de millorar el seu capital.El espíritu emprendedor es el proceso de iniciar un nuevo negocio ofreciendo un producto o servicio. Estas prácticas, y en particular las basadas en desarrollos tecnológicos, tienen importantes implicaciones en el entorno competitivo actual, en términos de crecimiento económico, empleo, cambio tecnológico y creación de riqueza. En este sentido, una de las principales preocupaciones de los emprendedores es para hacer frente a entornos dinámicos caracterizados por un alto grado de incertidumbre; y el acceso a los recursos es un elemento clave para avanzar a través de las diferentes etapas de este proceso. En el marco de la Resource-Based Theory, se define el capital social como la red social del emprendedor que le proporciona acceso a los recursos. En paralelo, el social media ha cuestionado cómo las personas manejan su red social, ya que ofrece nuevos medios de comunicación e intercambio de información entre individuos. Este trabajo ha identificado que, a pesar de los emprendedores son usuarios activos del social media, no hay ninguna postura clara sobre cómo su uso de las redes sociales ha afectado su acceso a los recursos: mientras algunas investigaciones sugieren que los emprendedores tienen nuevas oportunidades para la gestión de su capital social, otras sugieren que el uso del social media no está directamente relacionado con la mejora del capital social, sino que depende del tipo de información compartida. Esto sugiere que el uso que realizan los emprendedores del social media puede mejorar algunos aspectos de su capital social. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre estos aspectos, la investigación actual sugiere que los emprendedores usan el social media para satisfacer unas necesidades específicas con respecto a su capital social, y por tanto emplea el enfoque de los Usos y Gratificaciones para explorar los motivos y satisfacciones de esta decisión. En concreto, este trabajo propone la siguiente pregunta de investigación: "¿En qué medida los emprendedores usan el social media para gestionar su capital social?" y dos sub-preguntas para explorar en detalle sus motivaciones: ¿Por qué los emprendedores usan el social media para gestionar su capital social?", y sus satisfacciones percibidas: "¿Cómo se benefician del social media los emprendedores para gestionar su capital social? ". Para responder a la pregunta y sub-preguntas de investigación mencionadas, este trabajo siguió un enfoque inductivo basado en un enfoque de método mixto que hizo posible la combinación de la percepción de los emprendedores con su red y la actividad en el social media. En concreto, este diseño de la investigación se basa en un enfoque de método mixto que incluyó dos tipos de datos: (1) la exploración de las percepciones de los emprendedores a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y (2) un análisis longitudinal de los entornos de social media de los emprendedores que recoge de su red social y su actividad en dicha plataforma. Este trabajo identifica algunas ideas sobre por qué y cómo los emprendedores usan el social media para mejorar su capital social. En primer lugar, en cuanto a los motivos de uso del social media, los resultados de esta investigación sugieren que los emprendedores no sólo utilizan el social media para mantener sus estructuras de red social, sino que también están inmersos en un proceso dinámico de 'desarrollo de la red'. En segundo lugar, con respecto a sus gratificaciones, este trabajo identifica que los emprendedores perciben que tienen una mejor oportunidad de conectarse con éxito a los potenciales propietarios de recursos. En conclusión, los resultados de esta investigación hacen importantes contribuciones tanto a académicos como profesionales. Por un lado, este trabajo trajo nuevas ideas sobre la investigación del espíritu emprendedor mediante el análisis de los motivos y las gratificaciones de uso del social media por parte del emprendedor a fin de entender mejor como gestiona su capital social. Por otra parte, este trabajo también ofrece a los emprendedores nuevas ideas sobre las posibles formas de mejorar su capital.Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a new business offering a product or service. These practices, and in particular technology-based ones have major implications in nowadays competitive environment in terms of economic growth, employability, technological change and wealth creation. In this vein, one of the main concerns for the entrepreneurs is to deal with dynamic environments characterised by a high degree of uncertainty and rapid change; and access to resources is a key element to advance through the different stages of this process. Under the framework of the Resource-Based Theory, social capital is defined here as the social network of the entrepreneur that provides him with access to resources. In parallel, social media has challenged how individuals manage their social network, as it offers new means for communication and information sharing among individuals. Research has found that despite entrepreneurs are active users of social media, there is no clear stance on how their usage of social media has impacted their access to resources: whilst some research suggests that entrepreneurs have new opportunities to manage their social capital, other work claims that the usage of social media is not directly related to enhancing social capital but it depends on the type of information shared and the active enrolment of the community into these platforms. This suggests that the entrepreneurs’ usage of social media (to manage their social networks) may improve some aspects of their social capital. In order to shed light on these aspects, the current research assumes that entrepreneurs use social media to fulfil specific needs regarding their social capital, and employs the Uses and Gratifications Approach to explore their motives and satisfactions with this decision. Specifically, this work proposes the following research question: “To what extent do entrepreneurs use social media to manage their social capital?” in order to explore the impact of social media in the early stages of the entrepreneurial process. Moreover, two sub-research questions have been proposed to explore this research gap in depth, to identify the entrepreneurs motives for engaging in social media: “Why do entrepreneurs use social media to manage their social capital?”, and their perceived satisfactions: “How do entrepreneurs use social media to manage their social capital?”. Consequently, to respond to the aforementioned research question and sub-research questions, this work followed an inductive approach based on a mixed method approach that made it possible to combine the entrepreneurs’ perceptions with their network and activity on social media platform. Specifically, this research design was based on a mixed method approach that included two types of data: (1) the exploration of the entrepreneurs’ perceptions through direct semi-structured interviews and (2) a longitudinal analysis of the entrepreneurs’ social media network and activity collected from their main online platforms. This work identified some insights on why and how entrepreneurs use social media to enhance their social capital. Firstly, regarding the entrepreneurs motives to use social media, the outcomes of this research suggest that entrepreneurs not only use social media to maintain their social network structures, but that they are also immersed in a dynamic process of ‘network development’, where their resource challenges along the entrepreneurial process encourage them to update their social network structure. Secondly, regarding their gratifications from social media, this work identified that entrepreneurs perceive that by using social media they have a better chance to successfully connect to resource owners through their social network. In conclusion, the outcomes of this research make important contributions to both scholars and practitioners. On one hand, this work brought new insights on entrepreneurship research by analysing the founder’s motives and gratifications for using social media in order to manage their social capital. On the other hand, this work also offers entrepreneurs novel ideas on the potential ways to improve their social capital in order to address changing resource requirements during the new venture formation process

The Rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: Coordination and Growth within Cryptocurrencies

The rise of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is driving a paradigm shift in organization design. Their underlying blockchain technology enables a novel form of organizing, which I call the “decentralized autonomous organization” (DAO). This study explores how tasks are coordinated within DAOs that provide decentralized and open payment systems that do not rely on centralized intermediaries (e.g., banks). Guided by a Bitcoin pilot case study followed by a three-stage research design that uses both qualitative and quantitative data, this inductive study examines twenty DAOs in the cryptocurrency industry to address the following question: How are DAOs coordinated to enable growth? Results from the pilot study suggest that task coordination within DAOs is enabled by distributed consensus mechanisms at various levels. Further, findings from interview data reveal that DAOs coordinate tasks through “machine consensus” and “social consensus” mechanisms that operate at varying degrees of decentralization. Subsequent fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses (fsQCA), explaining when DAOs grow or decline, show that social consensus mechanisms can partially substitute machine consensus mechanisms in less decentralized DAOs. Taken together, the results unpack how DAO growth relies on the interplay between machine consensus, social consensus, and decentralization mechanisms. To conclude, I formulate three propositions to outline a theory of DAO coordination and discuss how this novel form of organizing calls for a revision of our conventional understanding of task coordination and organizational growth

Mind Economy: Dynamic Graph Analysis of Communications

Social networks are growing in reach and impact but little is known about their structure, dynamics, or users’ behaviors. New techniques and approaches are needed to study and understand why these networks attract users’ persistent attention, and how the networks evolve. This thesis investigates questions that arise when modeling human behavior in social networks, and its main contributions are: • an infrastructure and methodology for understanding communication on graphs; • identification and exploration of sub-communities; • metrics for identifying effective communicators in dynamic graphs; • a new definition of dynamic, reciprocal social capital and its iterative computation • a methodology to study influence in social networks in detail, using • a class hierarchy established by social capital • simulations mixed with reality across time and capital classes • various attachment strategies, e.g. via friends-of-friends or full utility optimization • a framework for answering questions such as “are these influentials accidental” • discovery of the “middle class” of social networks, which as shown with our new metrics and simulations is the real influential in many processes Our methods have already lead to the discovery of “mind economies” within Twitter, where interactions are designed to increase ratings as well as promoting topics of interest and whole subgroups. Reciprocal social capital metrics identify the “middle class” of Twitter which does most of the “long-term” talking, carrying the bulk of the system-sustaining conversations. We show that this middle class wields the most of the actual influence we should care about — these are not “accidental influentials.” Our approach is of interest to computer scientists, social scientists, economists, marketers, recruiters, and social media builders who want to find and present new ways of exploring, browsing, analyzing, and sustaining online social networks

Pensiuni in Romania: Rediscovering and Reinventing the Countryside through Tourism

Rural tourism is a long-established practice in the industrialised West, but it is a comparatively recent and on-going development in postsocialist contexts. This thesis examines the development of rural tourism in Romania and draws on fieldwork carried out in one of the oldest and most popular destinations of the country, as well as in a newer and less visited location. As homestays are central to rural tourism, my research has an extensive focus on what happens with guesthouses and their owners. Countryside tourism is a practice grounded in a discourse that praises images of unspoilt nature, close-knit communities, material and cultural heritage and natural healthy food. Discourses about rurality also suggest that for city dwellers, village stays in their own countries can provide a way of getting in touch with their national identity, building, at the same time a sense of belonging. In Romania, such discourses are promoted by NGOs, state institutions and tour operators that aim to develop rural tourism. In spite of their efforts, in the destinations that I studied, rural tourism has strayed away from the ideal model. Instead of bucolic cottages inspired by the vernacular architecture of the region, hosts welcome their guests into large, modern villas equipped with state-of-the art amenities. Tourists too show a strong concern with material aspects of their accommodation, they rarely venture in outdoor pursuits and have little interest in notions of ‘heritage’ or ‘traditions’. My findings show that the lived experiences of local entrepreneurs have shaped worldviews that in many respects are at odds with the ideal models and best tourism practices promoted by various institutions. I also show how hosts and guests share similar notions of achievement and success and how this has turned rural tourism into a house-centred event. In explaining why discourses have little grounding in reality, I pay close attention to the economics of tourism, trying to understand guesthouses as businesses interlinked both with the wider forces of the market and with the socio-economic history of rural Romania. I show how the development of pensiuni was influenced by specific material and social constraints, arguing that a long history of living under oppressive regimes actually endowed locals with qualities that made them ready to embark on entrepreneurial pursuits. I also examine how kinship can be both a catalyst for growth and a factor that contributes to the stagnation or decline of businesses. Most notably, however, it was the unstable and burdensome legislative environment that had perhaps the strongest impact over the evolution of guesthouses, determining over half of the owners to stay in the shadow economy. My findings raise questions about the effectiveness and utility of many of the norms currently imposed on tourist entrepreneurs and I conclude by discussing a few ways in which institutions could respond better to the needs of guesthouse owners

Participatory Instructional Design: a contradiction in terms?

This dissertation is an inquiry into the apparent absence of participatory approaches in instructional design (ID). It explores the question what happens when ID becomes participatory? with the help of three articles. The first article proposes a new approach in ID called Participatory ID, which incorporates principles and techniques of participatory design (PD), a software design approach that calls for genuine user involvement in the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of educational technology. Article 2 explores the feasibility of such an approach in higher education by studying an authentic case of participatory design and development of an electronic portfolio system by its users, namely, by Ph.D. students and faculty members. The design team consisted of 8 Ph.D. students, 1 faculty member, and 1 systems analyst at a large Midwestern US university. The study used qualitative methods to identify activities and processes invented by the design team members to satisfactorily complete their design task. The study also explored ways in which these activities reflected PD principles. Findings indicated five key factors that characterized the design process: (1) maintaining transparency of work processes, (2) continued invoking of the design ethos, (3) maintaining a sense of community, (4) embedding design in user context, and (5) recursive design. Article 3 presents a microanalysis of the participatory ID process described in article 2. It studies the use of language in user-designer conversation during design work. The goal of this article was to understand how design team members used language to negotiate power differences that typically arise when multiple stakeholders participate in a design project. The study used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 1995), a research approach from sociolinguistics and influenced by critical theory, to examine user-designer conversation from the first year of the electronic portfolio design project. Analysis indicated a strong use of modality (words such as would, could, need to ), cohesion ( and, therefore, then ), and intertextuality (repeating or revoicing other people\u27s utterances), which seems to have helped create a non-threatening atmosphere and support a critical, democratic, and constructive environment for creative design work

Sustainable Stoke:Transitions to Sustainability in the Surfing World

What does sustainability mean in the surfing world? This question is answered by more than 40 of the most influential figures from the surf industry, academia, non-profit organisations, and the surfing community, exploring the cutting edge of the surfing world's transition to sustainability. High profile contributors include: 1) President of the International Surfing Association and founder of Reef, Fernando Aguerre, 2) 1978 World Champion and former CEO of the Association of Surfing Professionals Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew, 3) Professional Surfer, former Waterman of the Year and twice inducted into the Surfer s Hall of Fame Rob Machado, 4) President of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Doug Alladini, 5) Founder of Surfrider Foundation Glenn Hening, 6) Co-Founder of Surfers Against Sewage Chris Hines, 7) Fred Hemmings 1968 world champion, founder of the Pipeline Masters and the World Championship Tour, and former state senator, and 8) Bob McKnight former CEO and current chairman of the board at Quiksilver, and many more. Sustainable Stoke systematically explores how surfing culture and industry impacts on social, economic and environmental areas of life at both international and local levels. Innovations and initiatives are highlighted providing the foundations for technological transitions as well as social and environmental initiatives that are improving the lives of thousands of people all over the world

Vietnam as a Counter-Developmental State: The Paradox of the Development of Information Technology

In the course of the global transformation from industrial to post-industrial economies during the twentieth century, the roles of computer technologies have changed. Whereas these technologies began as tools for industrial engineering, as enabling mechanisms to redefine industrial production processes, they eventually became a significant industry in themselves: hence the post-industrial economy has also become known as the information economy. Concurrently, the roles of the state in relation to economic development have been challenged by new conditions shaped by the continuously evolving characteristics of information technology. Against this backdrop, the thesis explores some different technologies in the IT industry to examine how the post-industrial characteristics of these technologies interplay with technology-upgrading approaches conducted by various actors in Vietnam. The thesis also examines how these technology-upgrading approaches relate to the Vietnamese state’s economic developmentalism. The thesis examines four sectors of Vietnam’s IT industry: outsourcing, cloud computing, the app economy and online games. The thesis finds that technology-upgrading approaches for each of these four sectors were conducted in different ways. Moreover, the roles of the Vietnamese state also differed in relation to each of these four technologyupgrading approaches. Based on these findings, the thesis presents three arguments. Firstly, the relationships between technology-upgrading approaches and the state in Vietnam are different from what the literature suggests. Secondly, technology is not simply an instrument of the state to be used for economic development; technology is also a structure shaping the role of the state in economic development. Finally there can be more than one role for the state in the IT industry, and these competing multiple roles can actually jeopardise state economic developmentalism. The thesis characterises this phenomenon as the ‘counter-developmental state’

Digital Roots

Several of the most known and discussed concepts of the digital age predated the digitalization itself and have been previously used in the “analogue times”. Other concepts were coined for the digital society but have transformed and are continuously transforming over time. This edited book selects some of these concepts and starts a time travel through their history, heritage, reinvention, and reinvestment in media and communication studies

From early Tang court debates to China's peaceful rise

This volume presents new topics from Chinese history of the last 1400 years from a broad range of fields such as politics, religion, society, economy and culture. The refreshing eight articles give new insights on events as different as the inter-religious court debates of the Tang, the Jiaqing reform of the Qing, the China display on the Chicago World Fair in 1893, Christianity and state-building in Chaozhou, the Taiwan salt trade, Chinese indentured labour in World War I in France, China's rise and current internet regulation. This book highlights the complexity of multi-level interaction of different agents in the center and periphery of China, inside and outside China, contributing to intellectual debates, political and social dynamics, economy structure, modernization, identity building and interaction with the outside

Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land

Sustainable Life on Land, the fifteenth UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 15), calls for the protection, restoration and promotion of the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Among others, it requires societies to sustainably manage forests, halt and reverse land degradation, combat desertification, and halt biodiversity loss. Despite the fact that protection of terrestrial ecosystems is on the rise worldwide and forest loss has slowed, the recent IPBES report concluded that “nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history”. Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly recently declared 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. There is no doubt that the current global responses are far from sufficient and significant transformative changes of societies are needed to restore and protect nature and ecosystems. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land presents reviews, original research, and practical experiences from different disciplines with a focus on: 1. theoretical and empirical reflection about the necessary transformation of values, institutions, markets, firms and policies, 2. reviews and research on protection, restoration and sustainable use of diverse terrestrial ecosystems, 3. analyses and reporting of encouraging local, regional, national, and global initiatives. Transitioning to Sustainable Life on Land is part of MDPI's new Open Access book series Transitioning to Sustainability. With this series, MDPI pursues environmentally and socially relevant research which contributes to efforts toward a sustainable world. Transitioning to Sustainability aims to add to the conversation about regional and global sustainable development according to the 17 SDGs. Set to be published in 2020/2021, the book series is intended to reach beyond disciplinary, even academic boundaries