Market orientation, market disruptiveness capability and social enterprise performance:An empirical study from the United Kingdom

This study investigates whether and how the pursuit of certain commercial business practices such as market orientation and market disruptiveness capability improves both the economic performance and social performance of social enterprises. Based on the empirical data collected from 164 UK social enterprises, our results show that market orientation improves social performance and economic performance simultaneously, whereas market disruptiveness capability improves only the economic performance, not the social performance, of social enterprises. However, we found that a positive interaction effect of market disruptiveness capability and market orientation on social performance, while its effect is negative on economic performance

Linking an autonomy-supportive climate and employee creativity: the influence of intrinsic motivation and company support for creativity

Purpose Employees’ creativity is critical for the growth and survival of firms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose a motivational model of creativity to address the effect of an autonomy-supportive climate on employee creativity. This study investigates whether this effect is mediated by intrinsic motivation in employees and depends on company support for creativity. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative approach to collect data by conducting a survey in a developing country using paper-based questionnaires. From 220 questionnaires distributed, 151 usable survey responses were gathered for this study. In addition, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis. Findings The results suggest a motivational contingent path through which employees’ creativity would be promoted. The findings indicate that employees in autonomy-supportive climates are more intrinsically motivated and more creative only when the company supports creativity. Practical implications The findings suggest that managers should provide employees with an autonomy-supportive climate. Furthermore, rewarding, recognizing and encouraging creativity in employees should be considered by companies. Originality/value This research integrates Amabile’s (1996) model of creativity and basic needs theory to empirically shed light on the inconsistent findings of the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the relation of contextual factors to creativity. This study extends Amabile’s (1988) model to include an autonomy-supportive climate and explain how and when this kind of interpersonal climate contributes to enhanced creativity in employees. This research contributes to the basic needs theory by demonstrating that satisfaction of basic needs can also enhance creativity. The findings also add to the interactionist perspective of creativity because this study examines the interaction effect of company support for creativity and intrinsic motivation

Staying in or stepping out? Growth strategies of second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs

Second generation immigrant entrepreneurs (SGIEs) in developed economies have contributed to the emergence of new areas of business activity, especially in information technology, business services, and creative industries. An understanding of their growth strategies can shed light on the role of individual immigrants in the founding of potentially global firms competing with large multinational enterprises. Based on eleven case studies of SGIEs of Indian origin in the UK, our findings reveal that SGIEs are heterogeneous in their growth strategies contingent on their a) founding or succession context, and b) use of social ties. Founder SGIEs combining non-co-ethnic ties with non-family co-ethnic ties geographically expand outward to other foreign countries, including their country of origin. In contrast, successor SGIEs combining non-co-ethnic ties with family ties expand their product/ service scope within the UK; they exploit foreign market links, including their country of origin, to source supplies or customers through inward internationalization. These findings contribute to the immigrant entrepreneurship, international business and international entrepreneurship literatures

The role of organizational mindfulness on Covid-19 crisis management: A case study of health tourism SMEs

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for many businesses, specifically small and medium-sized enterprises. This research investigates how organizational mindfulness can enable small and medium-sized enterprises which are engaged in health tourism in an emerging market to manage the crises they have faced during Covid-19. Organizational mindfulness involves noting changes in the environment, understanding them, and adapting to them. It is built upon the two key concepts of anticipation and containment. ‘Anticipation’ has three aspects: preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, and sensitivity to operations; ‘containment’ involves a commitment to resilience and deference to expertise. This research has employed a qualitative, multiple-case study approach. Interviews were carried out with 11 top managers. Our findings illustrate the benefits of "increasing organizational reliability through pre-crisis preparation and capacity-building", "creating a learning culture, "change management and inspirational leadership", "prioritizing innovation and making the best use of the organization's capacity”, and “the need to maintain organizational agility in responding efficiently to environmental turbulence”. IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has created innumerable challenges for many businesses around the world, specifically small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this research, we focus on health tourism SMEs and investigate how they can avert crises and respond to unforeseen incidents. To answer this question, we employ the concept of organizational mindfulness. Organizational mindfulness refers to the understanding of everyday activities, noting environmental changes, collecting information about changes, and being open to embracing new information and adapting to unpredictable environmental changes. In this research, we follow the conceptualization of Weick & Sutcliffe (2001), who explain that organizational mindfulness is built upon the two key concepts of anticipation and containment. According to them, ‘anticipation’ has three aspects: preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, and sensitivity to operations; ‘containment’ involves a commitment to resilience and deference to expertise. We have employed this theoretical perspective to understand how being a mindful organization supports SMEs in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.MethodologyTo conduct this research, qualitative research has been used. Multiple case study research has been employed and 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the top managers of health tourism SMEs in Iran. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. To analyze the interviews, thematic analysis was utilized, and key themes were identified.FindingsThe findings of this research shed light on how organizational mindfulness can support health tourism SMEs to tackle crises. Our interview analysis revealed five main themes. These included "increasing organizational reliability through pre-crisis preparation and capacity-building", "creating a learning culture, "change management and inspirational leadership", "prioritizing innovation and making the best use of the organization's capacity”, and “the need to maintain organizational agility in responding efficiently to environmental turbulence”.ConclusionTheoretically, our research contributes to the health tourism literature by highlighting how SMEs in this industry can effectuate post-crises management. In addition, we add to the organizational mindfulness theory. While this theoretical perspective has mainly been applied to the context of highly reliable organizations, we apply it to the context of health tourism SMEs and reveal specific aspects of this theoretical perspective that are critical for SMEs. Managerially, our research offers new insights into health tourism SMEs on how to manage the COVID-19 crisis

Internationalisation of service firms through corporate social entrepreneurship and networking

Findings: The findings reveal that, by engaging in social entrepreneurship, these MNCs have focused on the neglected needs of the BOP population, developed sustainable solutions and empowerment, and started with social value creation and postponed value capturing. The pursuit of corporate social entrepreneurship has paved the way for them to establish relationships with NGOs. While the MNCs have mainly had the technical knowledge and financial resources required, collaboration with NGOs have allowed them to learn about the BOP’s specific needs and benefit from the NGOs’ knowledge, human resources and good relationships in this market.Originality/value: This research unravels how service firms can seize opportunities at the BOP. The authors build on social entrepreneurship theory and bring new insights to the field of international business. In addition, the authors broaden the network view and show how networking with social actors such as NGOs enables the mobilisation of resources, actors and activities in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach: This research adopts an exploratory approach employing qualitative multiple case studies. Three service firms that have targeted the BOP markets in India were studied. In total, 25 in-depth interviews were conducted with multinational corporations (MNCs) and their NGO partners. Data analysis was facilitated through pattern matching and systematic case comparison.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how employing corporate social entrepreneurship and developing a network of relationships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can support and contribute towards the internationalisation of service firms into the base of the pyramid (BOP) markets in emerging markets

Development of international market information in emerging economy family SMEs: The role of participative governance

Emerging economy family SMEs pursuing internationalization have to develop international market information acquisition capability. However, there is limited knowledge about how to develop and utilize this capability. We investigate the role of participative governance and the extent to which participation of board and family members enhances this capability. We also examine the mediating role of this capability in the relationship of participative governance and international firm performance. Our analysis of 192 Turkish firms corroborates the role of participative governance. However, we find that this capability plays a mediating role only when family firms measure their performance subjectively but not objectively. Keywords: Dynamic capabilities, Turkey SMEs, International firm performance, Family firms, Participative governanc

The creation view of opportunities at the base of the pyramid

This research aims to understand how multinational corporations (MNCs) enter the base of the pyramid (BoP) by adopting the creation view of opportunities. We employ actor–network theory and explore the key actors, the process and the opportunity development that enable MNCs to tackle the relative poverty of the BoP market. Our qualitative exploratory case study illustrates that, at the BoP, MNCs have to involve beneficiary stakeholders such as non-governmental organizations and BoP communities. In this process, they should be open to modifying their business model continuously to build awareness about the product among the poor and ensure affordability, availability and acceptability. At the BoP, opportunities do not exist in the external environment and they should be developed by identifying and addressing the real needs of the poor, enhancing their quality of life and being patient about earning a profit. This research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by expanding the creation perspective of opportunities and provides implications for the managers of companies targeting the BoP market

How do environmental factors shape entrepreneurial intention? A review and future research

Entrepreneurial intention plays a critical role in the economic growth and development of countries. As a result, an increasing number of studies have examined different antecedents of entrepreneurial intention to understand how to foster entrepreneurial intention in a country. This research focuses on macro-environmental-related factors and endeavors to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the critical factors in these areas that can impact entrepreneurial intention. A total of 40 studies from high-ranked journals were systematically identified and analyzed in the field of entrepreneurship and management. This review sheds light on details of the key cultural, regional, and economic factors as well as governmental and political factors and highlights how they impact entrepreneurial intention. It also provides some suggestions for future research directions. While some systematic literature review papers have been conducted on entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents, environmental factors have only been identified broadly as key antecedents. This research systematically reviews the existing papers and unravels different aspects of these factors and explains how they impact entrepreneurial intention. In addition, it sheds light on related future research directions

A Corporate Social Entrepreneurship Approach to Market-Based Poverty Reduction

In this article, we aim to conceptualize a market-based approach to poverty reduction from a corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) perspective. Specifically, we describe some market-based initiatives at the base of the economic pyramid and relate them to the social entrepreneurship literature. We refer to the entrepreneurial activities of multinational corporations that create social value as CSE. We then conceptualize CSE according to the corporate entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship domains and shed light on how corporations can implement CSE. Finally, by reviewing relevant literature, we propose some of the factors that can stimulate CSE in organizations and some of the benefits companies can gain by implementing CSE

An exploratory study of international opportunity identification among family firms

This research examines how family firms identify international opportunities. Family firms are characterised by long-term orientation, being risk averse, and benefiting from familiness capital, resources and capabilities related to family involvement and interactions. Built upon opportunity identification theory and in two perspectives of accidental discovery and purposeful search, we explore the role of social and business networks, and prior knowledge in a first and subsequent international opportunity identification by family firms. In addition, we attempt to understand the role of family characteristics in the process of opportunity identification. Multiple case studies were carried out with seven family businesses from emerging economies, namely, India, Turkey and Taiwan. The findings of this research illustrate that because of being risk averse and long-term oriented, family firms are more likely to identify the first international opportunity through accidental discovery and subsequent international opportunities through purposeful search. The findings of this research show that, as risk-averse firms, family firms are not proactive in initiating international opportunity identification but rather learn about opportunities through accidental discovery. After the first experience of internationalisation, family firms engage in a more purposeful search to identify avenues that will aid their longevity through internationalisation. In the identification of firms' first international opportunities, it is mainly social networks that play a crucial role, especially those that contain international industry and market-specific knowledge. There is also a positive relationship between a family entrepreneur's prior knowledge and international opportunity identification and this relationship is moderated by the prior knowledge of their network. Familiness capital of these organisations can also play a role in long-term international opportunity identification