Clare Johansson, Rowan Bedggood, Karen Farquharson and Aron Perenyi
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a shared leadership governance arrangement facilitates improved outcomes within a social marketing service eco-system. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a shared leadership governance arrangement facilitates improved outcomes within a social marketing service eco-system. The research was focussed on gaining an understanding of participants involved in a cross-institutional partnership. The case study selected to facilitate this exploration was a social marketing project that aimed to support aboriginal households in Victoria with regard to their energy efficiency. It thus investigated the meso-level insights experienced by partners and those delivering the service.
Design/methodology/approach
Interview (yarn-based) data from 20 individuals involved in an energy efficiency programme were collected and analysed. Participants shared their experiences via informal “yarns” that were conducted in the first 12 months of the programme. This timing was chosen to gain their initial self-reflective perspectives and their interactions within the shared leadership model.
Findings
The results of the analysis identified six key themes that are interrelated and fundamental to building trust between all actors involved. The themes include relationship building, advocating rights, managing competing priorities, being community driven, using communication that translates and using community networks. Four of the themes were found to be components of relationship and trust building, which collectively lead to effectively accessing aboriginal communities. These findings extend current knowledge on the structures necessary to ensure healthy eco-systems are sustained throughout social marketing programmes.
Research limitations/implications
The authors established that shared leadership is well aligned with service-dominant logic, and the findings of this study reveal that it can positively contribute to meso-level service eco-systems and thus improve social outcomes for recipients of social marketing efforts. The findings also underscore the need for social marketers to recognise the importance of having a culturally acceptable value co-creation model in social marketing programmes when working with Aboriginal Australians.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to explore and develop the authors’ understanding of the efficacy of adopting a shared leadership approach in social marketing. Shared leadership has the potential to be an institutional arrangement that facilitates service-dominant logic and the value co-creation process, influencing positive behaviour change at the micro level in aboriginal communities. Specifically, it is the first to identify that “advocating rights” is an important component for partners to adopt in cross-cultural collaborations when collectively running social marketing programmes.
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Aron Perenyi, Roxanne Zolin and Alex Maritz
Why is self-employment an attractive option for certain seniors and what drives seniors into business start-ups? In this study, the motivations and preferences of senior…
Abstract
Purpose
Why is self-employment an attractive option for certain seniors and what drives seniors into business start-ups? In this study, the motivations and preferences of senior entrepreneurs in Australia, to become self-employed, by means of business start-ups, are explored. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical basis for policy implications.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methods study is conducted. Members of the National Senior’s Association in Australia were interviewed and surveyed. The semi-structured interviews identified the key factors influencing senior entrepreneurs in relation to self-employment and entrepreneurial choices at a later career stage. The survey collected information on intentionality, motivation, skills, opportunities, success, satisfaction, participation, barriers, benefits, education and training, and perceptions of policy support for senior entrepreneurs.
Findings
Respondents gave an account of the prevalence of pull factors motivating their choice of an entrepreneurial career. Multivariate statistical analysis of survey responses showed that senior entrepreneurs are more driven by opportunity than necessity and are primarily internally motivated.
Research limitations/implications
Results of this study suggest a weak link between motivation by others and the act of start-up, but this may also imply that those seniors who are more likely to become entrepreneurs are more likely to ignore the impulses from their social context. This requires further investigation to ensure a robust identification of drivers and an elimination of contextual effects. Further research is suggested to compose a relevant model structure in different contexts and a representative sample to confirm the model outcomes.
Originality/value
This is the first mixed methods study of the antecedents of senior entrepreneurs’ start-up intentions in Australia. The study also uses entrepreneurial activity as opposed to intention as its dependent variable, which allows for a more accurate evaluation of antecedents to the senior entrepreneurship phenomenon.
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Andrei Panibratov and Daria Klishevich
This study aims to examine, which dynamic capabilities (DC) are used by companies from post-socialist emerging markets (PSEM) during their internationalization.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine, which dynamic capabilities (DC) are used by companies from post-socialist emerging markets (PSEM) during their internationalization.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a DC perspective together with the new internalization theory to examine the internationalization of companies from PSEM. It uses qualitative data from the interviews with 7 PSEM experts and the 16 cases of the multinational companies from PSEM.
Findings
PSEM companies develop particular DC while expanding abroad whereby innovation capability helps them internationalize beyond neighboring countries and overcome the stigma of being less competitive than advanced economies. Adaptability is the DC that helps private companies, which differ from state-owned PSEM firms, overcome the uncertainties of the changing environment. Innovation capability and absorptive capability help PSEM firms surmount their geographical position. Alliancing activity is the DC that is used at the initial stages of internationalization to boost technological development.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the internationalization of companies from transition economies and sheds light on the nature of DC for the successful international expansion of PSEM firms. It attempts to address the lack of empirical studies on DC. Methodological value is in the combination of case studies’ analysis and interviews with experts, which adds novelty to the studied subject.