Data Congruence in What They Say, Do and Feel: The Role of Researcher's Sensory Processing Sensitivity Trait

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Emerald via the DOI in this recordThis chapter focusses on how qualitative research can capture the lived experiences of entrepreneurial individuals by exploring their subjective experiences. Traditional methods of data collection involve listening to what entrepreneurial individuals say and observing their actions, although particular attention to their feelings is often absent. To achieve data congruence and to gain a deeper understanding of their lived experiences, it is crucial to also take into consideration how they feel. This chapter will recount a confessional tale recorded during a recent field study in entrepreneurship that will shed light on the pivotal role that a researcher’s sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) trait can play during qualitative data collection in helping researchers becoming mindful of the feelings of entrepreneurial individuals, even when those feelings are not directly expressed by them. The introduction of the researcher’s SPS trait in promoting data congruence during qualitative data collection will be this chapter’s principal contribution

Perceived uncertainty and behavioral logic: Temporality and unanticipated consequences in the new venture creation process

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.In this study, drawing on effectuation theory, we combine analytical strategies for process data to examine inductively and theorize how founder teams' perceptions of uncertainty and behavioral logics develop during new venture creation processes. The results reveal four phases and suggest a possible evolution from a causal conditional relationship between perceived uncertainty and behavioral logics to an integrative relationship. We bring to light the notion of temporality and unanticipated consequences, discuss their central roles in perceived uncertainty, effectuation, and causation, and offer revelatory insights into why and when effectuation is used in relation to uncertainty and entrepreneurial action

The Formation of Environmentally Friendly Intentions of SME Owner-Managers in an Emerging Country: The Case of Tunisian’s Textile–Clothing Industry

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.We have little empirical evidence about the environmentally friendly, intention of owner-managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging country context despite recent developments of proenvironmental, practices. The main objective of our study is to address this gap by exploring the antecedents of environmentally friendly intentions among SME owner managers in, emerging market context. To achieve this objective, we test our, hypotheses in the textile–clothing industry in Tunisia. The textile–clothing industry represents high ecological risk due to the waste discharged into the environment. Our empirical observations confirm that the reasoned action approach is particularly robust to predict environmentally friendly intentions of SME owner-managers in an emerging market context

Technology-Based Competitive Advantages of Young Entrepreneurial Firms: Conceptual Development and Empirical Exploration

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordWe explore the factors that contribute to the technological distinctiveness of young entrepreneurial firms. We claim that a young firm's technological distinctiveness is partly the result of entrepreneurs and their orientations toward uncertainty. In certain locations, however, young firms have more means to invest in their technology base. We integrate these two perspectives together, and provide an original explanation and understanding of the technological distinctiveness of young entrepreneurial firms. Our empirical observations among Finnish firms give support to our main hypotheses and therefore highlight the factors that contribute to technology-based competitive advantage of young firms.Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES

The Environmental Intention of Owner-Managers: The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Tunisian Industry

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from World Scientific Publishing via the DOI in this recordEnvironmental intention is a key predictor of environmental behavior but there is little theoretical and empirical evidence on environmental intention, especially in developing countries. To address this gap, we study the environmental intention of industrial owner-managers in Tunisia. Based on Tunisia’s participation in sustainable development programs of the United Nations, it seems to be representative of developing countries. We study the environmental intention of owner-managers through a multidimensional concept rarely mobilized in the environmental field, namely, entrepreneurial orientation. We test our hypotheses in the textile-clothing industry, which is the source of significant amounts of water and air pollution and is among the priority industries designated by the Tunisian state as part of an environmental improvement program in 2014. Based on a survey of 226 owner-managers, the results show that the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation, namely, innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking, are robust to predict the environmental intention of Tunisian owner-managers

Mobilising finance and achieving early growth in new technology-based firms: a legitimacy perspective

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Emerald via the DOI in this recordPurpose This study investigates a mediational model between legitimated elements, financial resource mobilisation and subsequent early firm growth among New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) using conformity and control perspectives of legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, a longitudinal database of 303 NTBFs from Sweden, Finland and France is used. The ordinary least square regression analysis method is applied, and the proposed mediation relationships are studied by employing the four-step approach developed by Baron and Kenny (1986). Findings This study finds that based on the conformity principle, two out of three legitimated elements (business plan and incubator relationship, but not start-up experience) have an impact on financial resource mobilisation, which in turn, is associated with early growth in NTBFs based on the control principle. Thus, financial resource mobilisation positively mediates the relationships among the two legitimated elements and early growth in NTBFs. Research limitations/implications This study has several limitations, which also generate promising pathways for future research. Future research should study the relationship between the three legitimacy elements and financial resource mobilisation and early growth across a wider range of firms and settings. The questionnaire was also based on a single point in time and could not capture the evolving nature of the legitimacy elements and fundraising. Hence, future research can examine the multidimensionality of these processes; longitudinal qualitative studies can be a complement, allowing for a better understanding of the impact of legitimacy on NTBFs. Practical implications The findings offer implications for managers of NTBFs because developing legitimacy is critical to NTBFs early growth and development. The findings indicate that NTBFs' founders must systematically develop business plans and that incubators help enhance legitimacy through a signalling. Social implications It is believed that the study meaningfully contributes to the collective understanding of the role of legitimacy in driving the development of NTBFs. Given the importance of NTBFs in our economies, coupled with the lack of attention given to the role of mobilisation of external resources in explaining NTBF early growth, it is believed that the study is both timely and important. Originality/value The findings meaningfully contribute to the collective understanding of NTBF growth. While there are studies that have examined the antecedents of growth and finance separately, this study proposes a novel mediational model that integrates both and tests it empirically.Peter Wallenberg Foundation for Economics and Technolog

Termination of nascent entrepreneurship: The central effects of action crisis in new venture creation

This is the author accepted manuscriptBecause current conceptualizations are insufficient with respect to explaining the termination subprocess of nascent entrepreneurship, little is known regarding the liminal space in which the decision between termination and persistence is made. To solve this problem, we apply the Theory of Action Phases, extend it using the notion of an action crisis, and propose that (i) the extent to which nascent entrepreneurs experience action crises informs the decision between persistence and termination and (ii) the odds of experiencing an action crisis and the temporal length of an action crisis phase depend largely on the goal-directed actions that have previously been taken. We test and find empirical support for our main hypotheses by reference to a harmonized dataset drawn from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED). These findings contribute to both theoretical and practical advancements in the field of nascent entrepreneurship and research on entrepreneurial action. With respect to research, the inclusion of the notion of action crisis allows us to conceptualize termination as a subprocess of nascent entrepreneurship and to explain decisions between termination and persistence in the context of new venture creation. By taking the time-saving and time-delaying effects of actions into consideration, our study also offers a more nuanced view of entrepreneurial action given that the length of an action crisis is informed by the actions of planning and implementation that have previously been taken. In practical terms, we address some lasting problems that arise in the context of entrepreneurship-focused public policies and provide practical advice for nascent entrepreneurs

MAGIC and H.E.S.S. detect VHE gamma rays from the blazar OT081 for the first time: a deep multiwavelength study

OT 081 is a luminous blazar well known for its variability in many energy bands. The very-high-energy (VHE; E >100 GeV) gamma-ray emission from the source was discovered by MAGIC and H.E.S.S. during flaring activity in July 2016, after a trigger from the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi satellite. By analysing the multiwavelength light curves andthe broadband spectral energy distribution (SED), we study the activity of the source and investigate four individual states of activity in the window from MJD 57575 to 57602. The intrinsic gamma-ray spectrum can be described by a power law with spectral indices of 3.27 ± 0.44(MAGIC)and 3.39 ± 0.58(H.E.S.S.) over energy ranges 60–300 GeV and 120–500 GeV, respectively. The combined contemporaneous high-energy (HE;E >100 MeV) through VHE SED shows curvatureand can be described by a log-parabola shape. A simple one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC)model is not sufficient to describe the broadband SED. The presence of broad emission lines in the optical spectrum of the source challenges the categorisation of OT 081 as a BL Lac and, together with the emission scenarios tested, points to the possibility that the source is transitional in nature between a BL Lac and a flat-spectrum radio quasar.ISSN:1824-803