Margaret Fitzsimons, Teresa Hogan and Michael Thomas Hayden
Bootstrapping is a practitioner-based term adopted in entrepreneurship to describe the techniques employed in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to minimise the…
Abstract
Purpose
Bootstrapping is a practitioner-based term adopted in entrepreneurship to describe the techniques employed in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to minimise the need for external funding by securing resources at little or no cost and applying strategies to effectively use resources. Working capital management (WCM) is a term used in financial management to define a set of practices used to manage business resources, including cash management. This paper explores the overlap and divergence between these two disciplinary distinct concepts.
Design/methodology/approach
A dual methodology is employed. First, the usage of the two terms in prior literature is analysed and synthesised. Second, the study uses factor analysis to explore how bootstrapping practices described by owners of 167 established MSMEs relate to the components of WCM in financial management.
Findings
The factor analysis identifies two main bootstrapping practices employed by MSMEs: (1) delaying payments and owner-related bootstrapping and (2) customer-related bootstrapping. Delaying payments is an integral practice in trade payables management and customer-related bootstrapping includes practices that are integral to trade receivables management. Therefore, links between bootstrapping practices and WCM practices are firmly established.
Research limitations/implications
The study is not without limitations. Based on cross-sectional evidence for established firms in Ireland only, future studies could explore cross-country longitudinal panel data to fully examine life cycle and sectoral effects, as well as other external shocks (for example, COVID-19) on bootstrapping and WCM practices. This study does not explain why some factors (for example, joint utilisation and inventory management) are present in some bootstrapping studies and not in others; further case study research might help explain this. Finally, changes in the business environment facing start-ups and established enterprise, including increased digitalisation, online trading, self-employment, remote hub working and sustainability, offer new avenues for bootstrapping research.
Originality/value
This is the first study to comprehensively explore the conceptual and empirical links between bootstrapping and WCM. This study will enable researchers and practitioners in these two distinct disciplines to learn from each other. Accounting researchers and practitioners can broaden their understanding of how WCM “works” in MSME settings. Similarly, entrepreneurship researchers and practitioners can deepen their understanding of how bootstrapping can be adopted by businesses to manage resources effectively.
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Marco Marinucci, Iolanda Tortù, Teresa Traversa, Luca Pancani and Paolo Riva
Prison officers face severe work-related stressors stemming from their interactions with detained people and the professional attitudes they enact, both of which are shaped by the…
Abstract
Purpose
Prison officers face severe work-related stressors stemming from their interactions with detained people and the professional attitudes they enact, both of which are shaped by the prison culture’s social norms. However, research neglected to investigate the role of prison social norms on officers’ behaviors and well-being. This study aims to test whether promoting prisoner-supportive norms can improve officers’ relationships with and attitudes toward detained people, in turn promoting their professional and psychological well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted on 1,080 Italian prison officers and adopted a mixed correlational-experimental approach. The first correlational part of the study tested the hypothesized processes linking social norms to officers’ well-being. The second part of the study adopted a two-level between-subject experimental design to manipulate supportive vs. punitive norms toward detained people using a priming procedure.
Findings
The correlational results indicated that supportive norms were associated with higher supportive attitudes and emotional closeness with detained people, in turn sustaining officers’ well-being. However, emotional closeness with incarcerated people also contributed to higher burnout. The experimental results confirmed that priming prisoner-supportive norms increased officers’ supportive behavioral intentions toward detained people, in turn predicting greater anticipated psychological and professional well-being.
Originality/value
The research provides correlation and experimental evidence of how prosocial norms can influence officers’ well-being by shaping their attitudes and relationships with prisoners, offering practical implications for interventions in prisons and contributing to improving correctional environments and officers’ mental health.
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Teresa Almeida, Nelson Ramalho and Francisco Esteves
Follower's individual differences have been receiving increased attention in studying destructive leadership because followers may enable or disable it. One of these yet…
Abstract
Purpose
Follower's individual differences have been receiving increased attention in studying destructive leadership because followers may enable or disable it. One of these yet under-researched features is the role of followers' leadership coproduction beliefs (a role construal) in explaining their resistance to destructive leaders. Departing from the proactive motivation theory, this paper explores the robustness of coproduction beliefs by testing its ability to predict followers' resistance to destructive leaders across four situations – abusive supervision, exploitative leadership, organization directed behaviors and laissez-faire.
Design/methodology/approach
With a sample of 359 participants that answered a scenario-based survey, the present study tests the relationship between coproduction beliefs and resistance behaviors in the four mentioned groups, while controlling for alternative explanations. A multigroup analysis was conducted with PLS-SEM.
Findings
Constructive resistance is always favored by coproduction beliefs independently of the leader's type of destructive behavior. Dysfunctional resistance, however, is sensitive to the leader's type of destructive behavior.
Originality/value
This paper extends knowledge on the role of coproduction beliefs as an individual-based resource against destructive leaders.
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Nicola Cobelli and Emanuele Blasioli
The purpose of this study is to introduce new tools to develop a more precise and focused bibliometric analysis on the field of digitalization in healthcare management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to introduce new tools to develop a more precise and focused bibliometric analysis on the field of digitalization in healthcare management. Furthermore, this study aims to provide an overview of the existing resources in healthcare management and education and other developing interdisciplinary fields.
Design/methodology/approach
This work uses bibliometric analysis to conduct a comprehensive review to map the use of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) research models in healthcare academic studies. Bibliometric studies are considered an important tool to evaluate research studies and to gain a comprehensive view of the state of the art.
Findings
Although UTAUT dates to 2003, our bibliometric analysis reveals that only since 2016 has the model, together with UTAUT2 (2012), had relevant application in the literature. Nonetheless, studies have shown that UTAUT and UTAUT2 are particularly suitable for understanding the reasons that underlie the adoption and non-adoption choices of eHealth services. Further, this study highlights the lack of a multidisciplinary approach in the implementation of eHealth services. Equally significant is the fact that many studies have focused on the acceptance and the adoption of eHealth services by end users, whereas very few have focused on the level of acceptance of healthcare professionals.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a bibliometric analysis of technology acceptance and adoption by using advanced tools that were conceived specifically for this purpose. In addition, the examination was not limited to a certain era and aimed to give a worldwide overview of eHealth service acceptance and adoption.