Common dimensions for entrepreneurship and strategy: the need for strategic entrepreneurship

Research about the combination between strategy and entrepreneurship is in the early stages. While the benefits of combining entrepreneurship and strategy are well established, specific details and relations between common elements of strategy and entrepreneurship as a concept remain under-developed and unsubstantiated. This paper explores the relation between entrepreneurship and strategy. The common conception is that entrepreneurship has a strong effect on strategy process.entrepreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, opportunities, uncertainty in business, strategic entrepreneurship.

Evaluation of ICT Investments toward an Increased Competitiveness

This paper focus on the analysis of the impact of investments in IT industry in the general frame of globalization and the drafting of a model for evaluation so that to address the subject of the theoretization of possible measures and efforts in strategic resource consumption for growing of IT competitiveness. To reap the gains from globalization it is necessary to undergo a process of adjustment as factors of production – such as investment capital – towards the ITC applications. The extent by which e-Government will make a difference and add value is seen as dependent on three factors: strong leadership, management of the ‘digital divide’, and well managed innovation.ITC; e-government; investments; digital divide; Internet.

Benchmarking and Performance Management

The relevance of the chosen topic is explained by the meaning of the firm efficiency concept - the firm efficiency means the revealed performance (how well the firm performs in the actual market environment) given the basic characteristics of the firms and their markets that are expected to drive their profitability (firm size, market power etc.). This complex and relative performance could be due to such things as product innovation, management quality, work organization, some other factors can be a cause even if they are not directly observed by the researcher. The critical need for the management individuals/group to continuously improve their firm/company’s efficiency and effectiveness, the need for the managers to know which are the success factors and the competitiveness determinants determine consequently, what performance measures are most critical in determining their firm’s overall success. Benchmarking, when done properly, can accurately identify both successful companies and the underlying reasons for their success. Innovation and benchmarking firm level performance are critical interdependent activities. Firm level variables, used to infer performance, are often interdependent due to operational reasons. Hence, the managers need to take the dependencies among these variables into account when forecasting and benchmarking performance. This paper studies firm level performance using financial ratio and other type of profitability measures. It uses econometric models to describe and then propose a method to forecast and benchmark performance.benchmarking, competitiveness, innovation, indicators.

The organizational culture role in promoting innovations

The term "culture" represents a system of values, ethical norms, thinking and acting models that are thought and accepted by a collectivity and determine the given social group to act distinctly from other social groups. The issue of organization culture is very often discussed in relation to innovation. The common conception is that an entrepreneurship culture has a strong effect on innovation. A organization culture that creates value supposes respect for people and services which not only satisfy the consumer's needs, but also surpass them.organisation culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, promoter

Energy Transition Future with Hydrogen as a Sustainable Energy Source

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and efficiency improvements are the key factor for future energy transition. The huge amounts of fossil fuel that are burned daily through human activities and demand by the growing world population, change dramatically our environmental situation on earth in the coming decades. RES like Wind, Solar, PV, Hydro and efficiency improvement in our energy infrastructure can solve our future energy dilemma on earth. Hydrogen (H2) as a green sustainable secondary energy carrier can help moving in the energy transition future. The objectives of the article demonstrate with two technical applications the possible impact and important issues using Hydrogen (H2) as a green secondary energy source. Energy conversion processes, sustainability, production processes and key applications for H2 fuel, are the scientific aspects. Methodologically a primary energy model is used to show the efficiency chain from Well to Wheel or Room and possible consequences for environmental, economic and technical issues. Practical Hydrogen applications will be analyzed and compared with today´s technology. Out of this analysis general issues can be derived for a possible energy transition future using H2. The result of the analysis shows the critical factors for the transition process working with H2 as a renewable and sustainable energy carrier

Models for analysing the dependencies between indicators for bioeconomy in the European Union

In the past decade, bioeconomy has become a main field of interest, especially in terms of innovation, as it was often considered a potential solution to several global sustainability issues, such as environmental challenges. Through the conversion of biomass into value-added products for a full reintegration of used renewable biological resources, this sector has played a significant role in the efforts to transfer from petroleum-based economies to biobased economies. The present article has the objective of developing panel regression models for determining the dependency between some of the main indicators of the bioeconomy development and sustainability for the European Union in the period 2008–2013. One main interesting finding of the study emphasised that higher gas emissions from agriculture are associated positively with higher turnover in the bioeconomy, implying the fact that the development of the bioeconomy is surprisingly not necessarily associated with sustainability. The relevance of the present study lies in the novelty of the subject, as bioeconomy was mainly researched in terms of theoretical knowledge, but less in terms of statistical analysis. Thus, the article offers a comprehensive research regarding the connection of the bioeconomy quantifying indicators and other selected economic influence factors of the European Union

New Energy Policy Directions in the European Union Developing the Concept of Smart Cities

In the context of the European Union promoting clean energy, sustainability and better living conditions for its citizens, the development of smarts cities is an initiative supported at the European Union level, in line with the new energy policies of the European Union promoted by the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”. The concept of smart cities gains increasing importance in the European Union, a fact that is reflected in the project “European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities” of the European Commission. Smart cities are a practical example of how the new energy policies shape the lives of the European Union citizens, trying to improve it. As a consequence, new business models arise in big cities, involving the use of technology for better living conditions. These new, technology-based business models are important, as they improve the life quality of the inhabitants, they reduce the climate change impact, and they contribute as well to job creation in the IT-industry, promoting innovation. They have as well a social impact, as they bring experts from energy policies, business, economics, legal and IT together in order to project a new type of city—the smart city. The research hypothesis of the present article is that there is a high acceptance towards the concept of smart cities at the European Union level and that this concept could be implemented with the help of information technology and of artificial intelligence. This way, legal provisions, economic measures and IT-tools work together in order to create synergy effects for better life quality of the citizens of the European Union. The research hypothesis is analyzed by means of the questionnaire as a qualitative research method and is as well assessed by using case studies (e.g., Austria, Finland, Romania). The novelty of the case studies is that the development of smart cities is analyzed due to the new trend towards sustainability in two countries with different living conditions in the European Union

Buchbesprechung

Volkmann, Christine K./Tokarski, Kim Oliver/Grünhagen, Marc: Entrepreneurship in a European Perspective – Concepts for the Creation and Growth of New Ventures. Wiesbaden: Gabler 2010, 499 Seiten, ISBN: 978–3-8349–2067–6

Key factors affecting disposal of radioactive waste in the sustainable development approach

The radioactive waste disposal is a well investigated issue worldwide because of its importance for a safe and sustainable use of nuclear energy. Such waste is subject to final storage in deep geological disposals. Many factors have a direct contribution to the success of such innovative facility. The objective of the study is to identify the principal factors which contribute to the radioactive waste location. Factors that influence public acceptance are recognized and emphasized in the paper. The methodology is based on a questionnaire for empirical data obtaining and interviews with a selected group of experts to explore the insights of a disputed topic. The study reveals the quantitative analysis of the key factors as well-established contributors for understanding how and where to construct a radioactive waste facility. General information about the respondents was considered, as well as the possibility and the level of cooperation with stakeholders, the degree of information and the motivation of the given benefits as important influential factors over location and construction of a radioactive waste disposal. Overall, the study has shown that various factors influence the general public attitude, and this aspect leads to a direct influence on the location and construction of such a facility. The novelty of the research consists in key factors investigation that specially influence the location and the construction of a radioactive waste disposal, especially because the available literature studies in this area are not so strong developed yet