Entrepreneurial education and learning at universities: exploring multilevel contingencies

AbstractDespite the worldwide increase in entrepreneurship education offered at universities, there is an ongoing debate whether and under which conditions this type of education contributes to students' entrepreneurial learning. Building on human capital theory, we hypothesize that the exposure to various entrepreneurship education initiatives has an inverted U-shaped relationship with entrepreneurial learning outcomes. We also argue that this relationship is moderated by the entrepreneurial experience of the students, the teaching pedagogy applied in entrepreneurial initiatives offered at the university and the prevalence of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship in the country. A multi-level analysis on a cross-country sample of 87,918 students resulting from GUESSS ('Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey') strongly confirms our hypotheses, and allows us to discuss implications for researchers, educators and policy makers with respect to the nature of entrepreneurial learning, the desi..

Under which circumstances do family SMEs achieve high growth?:A behavioral perspective

High-growth firms, particularly SMEs, contribute disproportionately to the creation of employment, wealth, and economic development around the world. Yet, knowledge of the circumstances under which such growth patterns occur is limited, and the findings with regard to SMEs are inconclusive. Adopting the behavioural agency model, we analyse the effect of family control and related nuances (i.e., degree of family ownership and presence of a family CEO) on SME growth. Furthermore, we argue that the type of slack resources and their availability are a crucial organisational contingency when investigating high growth in SMEs. Using a sample of 39,631 European SMEs over a 13-year period, we find that family SMEs are less likely to achieve high growth compared to non-family SMEs, and having a family CEO further reduces this likelihood. Instead, at higher (vs lower) levels of family ownership, the probability of family SMEs achieving high growth increases. Furthermore, the availability of high- and low-discretion slack resources influences these relationships. Our study advances current understanding of high growth in general, and in family SMEs in particular

Conflicting selves:family owners’ multiple goals and self-control agency problems in private firms

This study examines the self-control agency problems associated with family ownership in private firms. Theorizing that family owners’ inner conflicts between economic and non-economic goals lead to competing preferences in the allocation of financial resources, we predict that the relationship between financial slack and firm profitability is contingent on factors that increase the potential salience of either economic or non-economic goals for family owners. Accordingly, our findings suggest that self-control is a separate source of agency costs in private firms and that family ownership is not as crucial as owners’ goals in predicting the impact of financial slack on firm profitability

Management processes and strategy execution in family firms: from “what” to “how”

The distinctiveness of family firms’ goals, structures, resources, strategies, and performance has been studied in terms of what family firms do or are able to achieve that are different from those of nonfamily firms. This dominant approach to studying family firm behavior has contributed significantly to our understanding of such organizations. Currently, however, we know little about how family firm decisions are made and the processes by which family firms plan and execute. We develop a conceptual framework and set out an agenda for future research on how the distinctive/unique interaction between the business and the family influences the management processes by which family firms implement their strategies

Does Growth Represent Chimera or Bellerophon for a Family Business?:The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Family Influence Nuances

Growth brings lifeblood to sustain longevity across generation, but also critical challenges for family business. Relying on the behavioral agency model and its assumptions on risk-bearing in family firms, we discuss and test the effect of family involvement in the top management team (TMT) on family business growth. We use an input-behavior-outcome framework based on the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation. We also consider the moderating role of different ownership structures on the relationship between family involvement in the TMT on entrepreneurial orientation (EO). Results based on survey data collected by the STEP research consortium support the hypothesized negative effect of family involvement in the TMT on growth, fully mediated by EO. We also find that the presence of passive family members as majority shareholders and multigenerational involvement in ownership are important contingencies of the direct effect. Our evidence points to the fact that risk-bearing in family firms is not just dependent on the degree of family involvement in management, but also on the interests of different types of shareholders. We show that the at-times stylized negative traits of family firms are not universally valid, and that a comprehensive view of family influence over the business is needed to ascertain whether and to what extent these firms actually achieve growth. © 2019 European Academy of Managemen

Оцінювання технічного стану механічних вузлів гідрогенератора

В роботі визначено підхід до оцінювання технічного стану механічних вузлів гідрогенератора. Розроблено нечіткі моделі типу Мамдані для визначення технічного стану підп'ятника та підшипників гідрогенератора, які дозволяють ефективно використовувати наявні характеристики стану та експертну інформацію для кількісної оцінки надійності вузлів гідрогенератора в задачах визначення ресурсу та імовірності відмови обладнання на інтервалі часу

What makes next generation members found their own firm: knowledge, contacts, or money?

To increase our understanding of the formation of students' intentions to found an own firm, research needs to systematically integrate theory of planned behavior, resource-based view, and family business literature. To date, however, an explicit and systematic integration of these perspectives cannot be found. We attempt to close this gap by explicitly investigating founding intentions of students with family business background. More specifically, we examine how the provision of human, social, and financial resources by the family affects students' desirability and feasibility perceptions, and ultimately founding intentions. Our analysis based on a sample of 14'290 students from 26 countries reveals that both desirability and feasibility perceptions mediate the relationships between all three types of resources and founding intentions. Interestingly, the provision of financial resources is negatively related to both desirability and feasibility perceptions. These findings illustrate the research potential of a combination of theory of planned behavior with the resource-based view, especially in the family business context. Our study thus offers valuable contributions to literature on career choices, theory of planned behavior, and family business, as well as to practice