Search results

Outer space has been described as a liminal landscape. As such, it appears to have an intricate connection to the concept of the monster, which is a powerful metaphor that reflects and demarcates the culture that constructs it. In this vein, the scientific search for extraterrestrial life has been previously argued to possess characteristics of monstrosity. Consequently, the object of this search, that is, alien life, also bears the mark of the monster, as it can effortlessly tap into the particular leitmotifs of the monstrous that are largely constant across cultures, despite the situatedness of the monster. This foreshadows a risk of monsterization of the parties involved in a future discovery of extraterrestrial life, that is, the monsterization of both the humans and the extraterrestrial life. In turn, this can adversely affect moral appraisals in future encounters with extraterrestrial life by rendering theoretical ethical approaches ineffective, as monsters are not only always outside the moral order but essentially defy and transgress it. Grounded on the intertwinement of moral imagination and anticipation and drawing on the inherent educational power of monsters, this chapter offers a theoretical exploration and a practical intervention in the form of a novel futures literacy workshop to help pre-emptively decrease the potential for the monsterization of humans and extraterrestrial life in the case of a future discovery. This contribution is in line with pragmatist ethics and is envisioned as a preparatory, complementary pedagogical approach to the traditional teaching of ethical theories and applied ethics to university students.

Many organizations currently transition towards digitalized process design, execution, control, assurance and improvement, and the purpose of this research is to empirically demonstrate how data-based operational excellence techniques are useful in digitalized environments by means of the optimization of a robotic process automation deployment.

An interpretive mixed-method case study approach comprising both secondary Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project data together with participant-as-observer archival observations is applied. A case report, comprising per DMAIC phase (1) the objectives, (2) the main deliverables, (3) the results and (4) the key actions leading to achieving the presented results is presented.

Key findings comprise (1) the importance of understanding how to acquire and prepare large system generated data and (2) the need for better large system-generated database validation mechanisms. Finally (3) the importance of process contextual understanding of the LSS project lead is emphasized, together with (4) the need for LSS foundational curriculum developments in order to be effective in digitalized environments.

This study provides a rich prescriptive demonstration of LSS methodology implementation for RPA deployment improvement, and is one of the few empirical demonstrations of LSS based problem solving methodology in industry 4.0 contexts.

Entrepreneurial action under uncertainty has captured the interest of scholars and practitioners alike. However, this growing body of research has yet to connect entrepreneurial action with actual actions of entrepreneurs. We combine insights from effectuation theory and the psychology of entrepreneurship to investigate drivers of entrepreneurial actions involved in starting and running ventures, particularly optimism, self-efficacy and the use of causal and effectual logics.

The study employs a unique mixed-method approach combining a survey with experience sampling data. After measuring demographics, preference for effectual or causal logics and psychological variables, the 197 US entrepreneurs sampled entrepreneurs logged their daily actions in the form of asks during 60 consecutive days.

Results suggest that self-efficacy and causal logics are key drivers of entrepreneurial actions, while optimism serves as a deterrent. Interestingly, the impact of self-efficacy on actions is moderated by the entrepreneur’s experience level, measured both in years and past asking experience.

The potential of the ask as the basic mechanism for entrepreneurial actions is explored. Based on the findings, the authors offer new and fertile insights by linking psychological traits to entrepreneurial actions, causal and effectual logics and entrepreneurial expertise development.

The study aims to investigate the relationship between certain key attributes of the board of directors as their international experience, tenure, age, independence and size and internationalization strategies of firms in an emerging economy.

The study uses random effects panel Tobit regression on a data set of 418 Indian companies spanning over a time frame of nine years from fiscal year (F.Y.) 2009–2010 to F.Y. 2017–2018.

Board members substantially associate with internationalization choices of emerging economy firms. Specifically, board members with extensive international experience, shorter tenure, higher age, greater independence and larger board size are associated with high level of internationalization in these firms.

The study advocates that Indian companies should focus on recruiting board members with international experience, periodically refreshing their boards, valuing wisdom and experience, adhering to regulatory requirements of independent directors and increase the number of board members to expand internationally. By following this, Indian companies can successfully expand into international markets.

The study’s originality lies in its focus on the role of board members in the internationalization strategy of emerging economy firms, which remains an under-researched area.

Applying the broaden-and-build theory, this paper aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial wellbeing (EWB) on the opportunity recognition (OpR) ability and how it changes over entrepreneurial stages.

This study was based on the survey data of 307 entrepreneurs in Vietnam, which is an emerging market with full support for entrepreneurship by the government.

The results indicated that EWB has a salient effect on the OpR ability of entrepreneurs. Besides, in the later stages of the entrepreneurial process, EWB increases in its importance toward the ability to recognize potential business opportunities.

This study contributes to EWB and entrepreneurship research by providing theoretical and empirical evidence of wellbeing as a crucial psychological resource in entrepreneurship. Besides, this study uncovers the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship by analyzing when EWB can produce higher levels of entrepreneurs’ OpR along entrepreneurial stages.