Human Resource Management Challenges in a Slovenian Social Enterprise: A Case Study

There is a growing number of studies exploring social enterprise in order to increase the understanding of business sustainability and resilience in the social economy. However, little is known about how social enterprises or social entrepreneurs emerging from not-for-profit sectors have faced human resource management (HRM) challenges in practice. In this study, we focus on a hospitality social enterprise founded by social workers in Slovenia as a single case study. Through a series of combined interview and observation methods, we investigate the HRM challenges this social entrepreneur faced when pursuing sustainable social business. We uncovered four strategic and HRM challenges that contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the social enterprise literature. This study paves the way for future studies to focus on HRM in social enterprise

Challenges in a Social Enterprise from the Case of a Social Enterprise in Slovenia

There are a growing number of studies exploring the capacity building and business aspects of social enterprise in an attempt to increase the understanding of business sustainability and resilience in the social economy. However, little is known about how social enterprises or social entrepreneurs emerging from notfor-profit sectors have faced challenges. In this study, we focus on a hospitality social enterprise founded by NGO workers in Slovenia as a single case study. We investigated challenges that a social entrepreneur and her team faced when pursuing sustainable social business. We uncovered several challenges at different levels, which existing studies have neglected. We found two organisational level challenges, such as managing the dual purpose of a social enterprise and absence of a business strategy, and two HRM level challenges, such as people management and leadership issue. This study can pave a path for future studies to focus on various challenges and even some resolutions

Firm characteristics, debt maturity structure, and innovation performance of small firms

Based on a large sample of 497 small Slovenian manufactory firms and applying structural equation modeling, we investigate the relationship between six different firm characteristics (firm legal status, firm age, assets tangibility, cash flow, long-term financing of long-term assets and inventories ratio, and the quick ratio) and debt maturity structure of small firms in terms of short-term debt and long-term debt. In addition, we uncover the relationship between debt maturity structure and innovation performance of small firms. The results of our study point to the importance of external financial sources for firm innovation performance and to the relevance of specific firm characteristics to explain debt maturity structure of small firms

FIRM FINANCING AND GROWTH: THE INFLUENCE OF OWNER’S AND FIRM’S CHARACTERISTICS

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of owner`s characteristics (strong social ties, weak social ties, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy) and firm’s characteristics (legal status, firm age, and tangibility of assets) on small firm financing in terms of bank loans and trade credits. Based on a sample of 497 respondents and using structural equation modeling, research results show that weak social ties, legal status, and tangibility of assets are significantly related to small firm bank financing, whereas strong and weak social ties, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and legal status are significantly related to trade credit use. Results also show that bank financing and trade credits are significantly related to firm growth. The paper contributes to a better understanding of determinants that are important when entrepreneurs apply for external financial resources

The relationships between technological turbulence, flow experience, innovation performance and small firm growth

The main objective of the paper is to address the question of how to foster innovation and small firm growth under different levels of technological turbulence. Specifically, the paper examines the relationship among risk-taking, arising from different levels of technological turbulence, flow experience, innovation and small firm growth (i.e. market share and ROI growth). The underlying premise of our research is that there are substantial differences in low and high technological environments in terms of the relationships of risk taking, flow at work, innovation and small firm growth. Based on a survey among 188 entrepreneurs, the paper tests the proposed relationships in technological diverse environments with structural equation modelling. The results show that, when the level of technological turbulence is high, flow experience is significantly related to innovation and small firm growth, while in low-technological turbulence environment such relationships are not present. The study contributes to the entrepreneurial literature by demonstrating that in highly turbulent environments, flow experience may promote entrepreneurs’ innovation and the efficiency of small firm performance. The study also provides new empirical insights about the relationship between entrepreneurs’ behaviour, which is influenced by environmental conditions, on the one hand and innovation and small firm growth on the other hand

Microfoundations of SME open innovation

Purpose–The purpose of this research is to better understand the human aspects of open innovation in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by exploring how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influence enjoymentin helping others, knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding and consequently firms’open innovation. Design/methodology/approach–We collected data with a survey among CEOs in 140 SMEs andperformed confirmatory factor analysis applying structural equation modeling in IBM SPSS AMOS (v. 26). Findings–Results reveal that intrinsic motivation is positively associated with helping behavior andknowledge sharing and negatively associated with knowledge hiding. We also confirm the positiverelationship between extrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing. Moreover, we find that knowledge sharingincreases and knowledge hiding decreases the firm-level open innovation. Especially in high-tech industry,knowledge sharing is a vital determinant of open innovation. Originality/value–Responding to the calls for a deeper understanding of the individual-level factors thatdetermine organization-level open innovation, in this research we focus on the human aspect of open innovationin SMEs. Open innovation is a widely recognized and implemented concept among large corporations andfacilitates better understanding of new technological and market developments both within and outside oforganizations. However, understanding of the microfoundations of open innovation in smaller firms is stilllimited, but this steam of research is growing rapidly

What do we know about business angels\u27 decision making research development?

Business angels (BAs) mitigate the financial gap of early-stage ventures and get actively involved in ventures they invest in. Their crucial role in the start-up ecosystem is spurring interest in their decision-making processes when making investments. However, the research about their investment decision making is crumpled. So far, we know the knowledge base about BA decision making comes from a blend of interdisciplinary studies where psychology and finance had a significant impact in pushing the research to new levels. With this study, we review knowledge dyads in the BA decision-making field through bibliometric co-citation analysis

An entrepreneur\u27s perspective on entrepreneurial recycling

We propose new insights into entrepreneurial recycling, focusing on the entrepreneur’s perspective on the role of recycling. We define entrepreneurial recycling as the process by which entrepreneurs share, receive, and transform human, social, organizational, and financial capital throughout the entire entrepreneurial lifecycle: entry, growth and exit. However, research on this topic remains fragmented and underdeveloped. We applied a qualitative, interpretive, and inductive lens to explore the lived experience of six entrepreneurs in order to conceptualize entrepreneurial recycling and understand the implications for entrepreneurial theory and practice. We argue that when entrepreneurs recycle, they trigger a reciprocal trust loop with benefits for for receivers and givers involved in recycling and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, the region and the national economy

Keep it positive

Entrepreneurs’ wellbeing is of unprecedented importance given their crucial role in national economies in terms of job creation and innovation. In this research, we used a mixed methods approach to investigate the direct and indirect mechanisms by which entrepreneurs’ wellbeing mediates the effects of stress on perceived entrepreneurial success. We theorize that entrepreneurs experience work-related stress and that the level of perceived wellbeing mediates the relationship between the entrepreneurs’ stress and perceived success. We also hypothesize moderation effects by dispositional positive affect. We find that stress has direct negative effects on entrepreneurs’ wellbeing and perceived success. However, an experience of positive affect significantly weakens the negative effects of stress by broadening and building entrepreneurs’ cognitions. Drawing from our theoretical and empirical findings, we discuss implications for theory and practice in the domain of entrepreneurs’ wellbeing

Spodbujanje latentne ustvarjalnosti s hitrim prototipiranjem

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of group-based prototyping workshops in unlocking latent creativity or stimulating creative expression in adults. Our findings indicate that hands-on exercises might be an effective way to unleash creativity in adults who perceive themselves predominantly as non-creatives. The heterogeneity of groups positively affected the level of creativity as a collective process. *** Namen tega prispevka je bolje razumeti vlogo skupinske prototipne delavnice pri spodbujanju latentne ustvarjalnosti. Rezultati nakazujejo, da so lahko praktične vaje učinkovit način za spodbujanje ustvarjalnosti pri odraslih, ki se sami sicer pretežno dojemajo kot neustvarjalne. Na stopnjo ustvarjalnosti kot skupinskega procesa je pozitivno vplivala heterogenost skupin