Di Dong, Jos Akkermans and Svetlana N. Khapova
This exploratory research aims to unravel how Chinese international students form their decisions regarding the school-to-work transition (sometimes also referred to as the…
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory research aims to unravel how Chinese international students form their decisions regarding the school-to-work transition (sometimes also referred to as the university-to-work transition) when studying abroad.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the concepts of school-to-work transition and cultural approaches to investigate how Chinese graduate students make career decisions to navigate the school-to-work transition in the context of international mobility. The authors' empirical study is based on 30 semi-structured interviews conducted with Chinese graduate students studying in the Netherlands.
Findings
The authors discovered four patterns with two major subgroups among Chinese students studying in the universities in the Netherlands based on their initial intentions: return-return, open-return, open-stay and stay-stay. These patterns made sense when navigating the school-to-work transition: participants experienced varied international experiences, cultural perceptions and acknowledgment influences when enhancing employability and shaping their career decisions. Participants in the return-return and stay-stay groups indicated strong resilience and consistency in achieving their goals and strongly focused on long-term objectives. However, participants' open-return decision demonstrated a thoughtful alignment of personal goals and knowledge of the possible beneficial influence they may have in their home country. Open-stay participants utilized the overseas study opportunity to finalize their decisions and increase their employability in the local labor market, thereby creating a transition from university to work in the host country.
Originality/value
The authors highlight the way Chinese graduate students manage their international experience and provide novel insights into the role played by the cultural characteristics of their home country and host country.
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Amir Shariati, Cécile L’Hermitte and Nadia Millis Trent
This study aims to review the prepositioning of relief items literature through a decision-making lens to explore the decisions involved, the factors guiding them and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to review the prepositioning of relief items literature through a decision-making lens to explore the decisions involved, the factors guiding them and the influence of model design on these decisions. Despite their potential to inform decision-making, quantitative prepositioning models remain underutilised in practice. Understanding the foundational principles that shape model design and their connections to decision-making is crucial for effectively developing and implementing more practical models.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted, and 97 relevant papers were analysed bibliographically and thematically. The thematic analysis is guided by the value-focused thinking approach, which provides a structured understanding of the decision-making process by focusing on the decision makers’ values.
Findings
This study identifies key prepositioning decisions related to facilities, inventory and distribution. It highlights efficiency, effectiveness and equity as the main values guiding prepositioning decisions and examines the mutual influence of model design and decisions. Moreover, a decision-making framework for prepositioning problems has been developed, outlining key steps and relevant decisions.
Originality/value
This research provides novel insights into how the decision-making process regarding prepositioning is reflected in quantitative models. It helps researchers choose model designs that better align with decision makers’ priorities and requirements, increasing the models’ practicality. Additionally, it helps decision makers comprehend quantitative models and the reasons behind their mathematical complexities, ultimately improving the effectiveness of decision-making for prepositioning.
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Chong Huang and Lu Liu
China has established 14 marine economic development demonstration zones in 2018, which has become an important step in exploring the high-quality development of the marine…
Abstract
Purpose
China has established 14 marine economic development demonstration zones in 2018, which has become an important step in exploring the high-quality development of the marine economy. The paper statistically analyzes the documents related to the field of marine economy and special economic zones (SEZs) and strives to find out the hot spots, intersections and related development contexts of the two in the research direction, so as to provide some ideas for later research.
Design/methodology/approach
By taking the bibliographic information data of “Marine Economy” and “Special Economic Zone” in the Web of Science database as a sample, the paper applies the Citespace bibliometric tool to analyze the evolution of disciplinary distribution, research country, author collaboration and research hotspot trends in the two fields.
Findings
It can be found from the paper results that the current research on marine economy and SEZs involves the intersection of many disciplines. China and the United States are the leaders in this field. However, there is more extensive cooperation between authors from different countries, but the cooperation depth needs to be strengthened. At the same time, compared with the terrestrial economy, the trend of its research hotspots is lagging to a certain extent. Moreover, there is still no systematic and professional research paradigm on marine economy.
Research limitations/implications
At present, there are a few research studies on marine economic development demonstration areas or marine SEZs, and related bibliographical references are incomplete, which leads to insufficient samples, and bibliometric methods cannot fully reveal the general research rules and development trends in this field.
Originality/value
The research on the marine economic development demonstration area is still in its infancy. The paper jointly analyzes the literature in the two fields of marine economy and SEZs, aims to find the intersection and related research hotspots of the two, and provides references for the future research of marine development demonstration areas, which is of certain practical significance.
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Chiara Xhindole, Lara Tarquinio and Laura Sierra-García
This study aims to analyse the reporting practices of a sample of companies listed in Italy and Spain that prepare a Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the reporting practices of a sample of companies listed in Italy and Spain that prepare a Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report. The main purpose is to analyse the reporting’s compliance with the TCFD framework and the extent of climate-related information disclosed.
Design/methodology/approach
This study performs a content and comparative analysis of climate-related information disclosed by Italian and Spanish companies listed on the FTSE MIB and IBEX-35, following the consolidated narrative interrogation (CONI) model. The analysis is carried out on 31 TCFD reports published in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, using NVivo software for content analysis and information coding.
Findings
Overall, the study shows that Italian and Spanish companies comply with the TCFD framework. However, some topics, such as governance-related aspects and risk management, are disclosed differently and may merit more in-depth reporting.
Practical implications
The findings of this study are valuable for companies and their stakeholders, in particular investors. The increasing focus on mandatory climate reporting and the adoption of new climate standards are increasing the pressure on companies to manage these issues, and the results of this work already indicate which aspects of the reporting process need to be improved to meet the new information requirement.
Originality/value
This study strengthens the theoretical and empirical literature on climate change information by conducting a cross-country content analysis of TCFD reports. The results provide a basis for future analysis of climate disclosure according to the latest developments in standards and frameworks.
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Paola Bellis, Silvia Magnanini and Roberto Verganti
Taking the dialogic organizational development perspective, this study aims to investigate the framing processes when engaging in dialogue for strategy implementation and how…
Abstract
Purpose
Taking the dialogic organizational development perspective, this study aims to investigate the framing processes when engaging in dialogue for strategy implementation and how these enable the evolution of implementation opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a qualitative exploratory study conducted in a large multinational, the authors analyse the dialogue and interactions among 25 dyads when identifying opportunities to contribute to strategy implementation. The data analysis relies on a process-coding approach and linkography, a valuable protocol analysis for identifying recursive interaction schemas in conversations.
Findings
The authors identify four main framing processes – shaping, unveiling, scattering and shifting – and provide a framework of how these processes affect individuals’ mental models through increasing the tangibility of opportunities or elevating them to new value hierarchies.
Research limitations/implications
From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the strategy implementation and organizational development literature, providing a micro-perspective of how dialogue allows early knowledge structures to emerge and shape the development of opportunities for strategy implementation.
Practical implications
From a managerial perspective, the authors offer insights to trigger action and change in individuals to contribute to strategy when moving from formulation to implementation.
Originality/value
Rather than focusing on the structural control view of strategy implementation and the role of the top management team, this study considers strategy implementation as a practice and what it takes for organizational actors who do not take part in strategy formulation to enact and shape opportunities for strategy implementation through constructive dialogue.
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Tal Berman, Daniel Schallmo and Sascha Kraus
To augment sales revenue, B2B digital start-ups aim to create and sustain commercial relationships with industry incumbents. However, since these incumbents have traditionally…
Abstract
Purpose
To augment sales revenue, B2B digital start-ups aim to create and sustain commercial relationships with industry incumbents. However, since these incumbents have traditionally struggled with implementing disruptive digital artifacts, most studies have almost exclusively concentrated on their challenges, leaving the digital start-ups' side underexplored. Therefore, this study seeks to understand how digital start-ups navigate digital implementation (DI) hardships to ultimately achieve digital entrepreneurship success.
Design/methodology/approach
An abductive explanatory multi-case study of four industries that pose a variety of implementation challenges for B2B digital start-ups (agriculture, insurance, real estate and construction, and healthcare) was conducted using data collected from 40 interviews with Israeli experts and relevant digital data observations.
Findings
This study articulates two main observations. (1) Throughout their journeys, digital start-ups have utilized newly created and/or refined dynamic capabilities (DC) to successfully implement their digital artifacts. Simultaneously, successful DI has enabled digital start-ups to create new DC or sustain and evolve current DC. (2) We provide empirical evidence outlining how digital start-ups using continuous learning have combined causation and effectuation logic throughout their DI journeys.
Originality/value
This study answers a call to explore more explicit digital-related drivers (i.e. DI) for digital entrepreneurship success by studying a highly-ranked country on the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) to achieve this. Moreover, it illustrates how digital start-ups evolve throughout their commercial relationships with industry incumbents, thereby enabling an effective approach for successful DI. Such an approach can be considered very valuable for both practitioners and policymakers. Consequently, it advances digital entrepreneurship as an independent research topic.
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Edoardo Crocco, Elisa Giacosa, Dorra Yahiaoui and Francesca Culasso
Crowdfunding platforms are important innovations that allow nascent entrepreneurs to gain access to financial resources and crowd inputs to better refine and develop their…
Abstract
Purpose
Crowdfunding platforms are important innovations that allow nascent entrepreneurs to gain access to financial resources and crowd inputs to better refine and develop their business idea. The purpose of this paper is to investigate user-generated content (UGC) from both reward-based and equity-based crowdfunding platforms, in order to determine its implications for open and user innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
A total sample of 200 most funded technology products was extracted from four distinct crowdfunding platforms. A latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) analysis was performed in an attempt to identify critical latent factors. The analysis was carried out through the theoretical lens of innovation literature, in an attempt to uncover the implications for open and user innovation.
Findings
The authors were able to highlight the implications of crowd inputs for open and user innovation, as backers provided nascent entrepreneurs with several types of feedback, ranging from product co-development to strategy and marketing. Furthermore, the study provided an overview of the key differences emerging between reward-based and equity-based crowdfunding platforms in terms of crowd inputs.
Research limitations/implications
The present study features intrinsic limitations of the LDA approach being adopted. More specifically, it only provides a “snapshot” in time of the current sample, rather than investigating its development over time.
Practical implications
The present study solidifies the value of UGC as a resource to mine for trends and feedback.
Originality/value
The study contributes to both the innovation literature and the crowdfunding literature. It bridges several gaps found in both literature streams, by providing empirical evidence to test and verify pre-existing exploratory research.
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Ali Abdallah Alalwan, Abdullah M. Baabdullah, Joma Omran Mahfod, Paul Jones, Anshuman Sharma and Yogesh K. Dwivedi
The crowdfunding concept and activities have recently been the focus of attention of many researchers and practitioners over different business contexts. However, there is a…
Abstract
Purpose
The crowdfunding concept and activities have recently been the focus of attention of many researchers and practitioners over different business contexts. However, there is a dearth of literature considering the main aspects of e-equity crowdfunding activities and their impact on the innovation performance for entrepreneurial business. Therefore, this study aims to explore how entrepreneurs' engagement in e-crowdfunding activities could enhance both knowledge acquisition and innovation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model will be proposed based on three main theoretical perspectives: relationship marketing orientation (RMO); Kirzner's alertness theory; and the DeLone and McLean model of information systems. The data of the current study were collected using an online questionnaire from a sample of 500 entrepreneurs who have actively engaged in e-crowdfunding in Saudi Arabia.
Findings
The statistical results of structural equation modelling (SEM) approved the impacting role of RMO, entrepreneurial alertness, system quality and service quality on the entrepreneurs' engagement in e-equity crowdfunding, which in turn, predicts both knowledge acquisition and innovation performance.
Research limitations/implications
There are several limitations which could be addressed in future studies, for example, this study has only considered one form of crowdfunding (equity based crowdfunding) and due to its nature these findings would not be easily generalized to other kinds of crowdfunding (i.e. donation-based crowdfunding; rewards-based crowdfunding; and debt-based crowdfunding). Future studies could consider these kinds of crowdfunding activities.
Originality/value
This study has contributed to the understanding of e-equity crowdfunding in several aspects. For example, this study presents results that assist both researchers and practitioners in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia to develop an in-depth knowledge of e-equity crowdfunding by considering new dimensions such as RMO and information system success factors.
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Carlotta D'Este and Marina Carabelli
This study aims to investigate the relationship between family managers and firms’ risk levels in a context characterized by low investor protection and firm opacity…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between family managers and firms’ risk levels in a context characterized by low investor protection and firm opacity. Specifically, this paper examines whether the level of risk faced by firms is affected by family shareholders’ ownership stake and activism.
Design/methodology/approach
Corporate governance data were hand-collected for a sample of 90 Italian listed companies and 540 observations from the year 2018. Regression analysis was then used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
This study provides evidence of a positive association between active family ownership and risk faced by sampled firms. This study also finds that the number of inside directors is negatively correlated with firms’ risk-taking. Overall, the results confirm family managers’ influence on firms’ risk choices and show consistency with theoretical arguments in favor of hiring professional managers to guide family-owned firms.
Practical implications
Practical implications emerge from the study findings. First, family owners should consider to hire a larger number of professional managers to support firms’ wealth maximization and retention and to reduce default risks. Second, investors should take into account the firms’ board of directors and management composition to better assess the investments risk level. Finally, the positive correlation between active family owners and systematic risk suggests the opportunity for regulators to improve the legal requirements related to minority directors to increase their effectiveness and, therefore, minority shareholders’ protection.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on the association between ownership structure and firms’ risk levels, showing the effect of family managers on firms’ risk levels. Besides, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study investigates professional executives’ influence on risk when family ownership prevails.
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Hafiz Muhammad Naeem and Eleonora Di Maria
The use of modern technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, commonly known as “Industry 4.0” (I4.0), is believed to have considerable potential for product customisation…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of modern technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, commonly known as “Industry 4.0” (I4.0), is believed to have considerable potential for product customisation. In this context, this paper aims to explore whether or not using these technologies impacts customer participation (CP) in a firm's new product development (NPD) process.
Design/methodology/approach
To empirically test the proposed relationships, the authors collected the North Italian manufacturing firms' data and applied regression analysis.
Findings
Empirical results indicate that, on the one hand, the technologies have their specific and individual impacts, and on the other hand, the firms which use more I4.0 technologies allow more customer participation in their product design and production process. This positive impact is more robust in product design than in the production process.
Practical implications
Managers aiming to benefit from CP should broaden the scope of adopting I4.0 technologies and consider different roles concerning the design and production phases of the new product development process. Recognising the importance and allowing CP in NPD will enable firms to meet the customised demands.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, the proposed relationships of this study have been extensively debated theoretically in the I4.0 context but never empirically tested before. It is one of the few studies which discusses the strategic adoption and the combined use of I4.0 technologies to create more opportunities for product customisation.