Madelen Lagin, Johan Håkansson, Carin Nordström, Roger G. Nyberg and Christina Öberg
Current online business development redistributes last-mile logistics (LML) from consumer to retailer and producer. This paper identifies how empirical LML research has used and…
Abstract
Purpose
Current online business development redistributes last-mile logistics (LML) from consumer to retailer and producer. This paper identifies how empirical LML research has used and defined logistic performance measures for key grocery industry actors. Using a multi-actor perspective on logistic performance, the authors discuss coordination issues important for optimising LML at system level.
Design/methodology/approach
A semi-systematic literature review of 85 publications was conducted to analyse performance measurements used for effectiveness and efficiency, and for which actors.
Findings
Few empirical LML studies exist examining coordination between key actors or on system level. Most studies focus on logistic performance measurements for retailers and/or consumers, not producers. Key goals and resource utilisations lack research, including all key actors and system-level coordination.
Research limitations/implications
Current LML performance research implies a risk for sub-optimisation. Through expanding on efficiency and effectiveness interplay at system level and introducing new research perspectives, the review highlights the need to revaluate single-actor, single-measurement studies.
Practical implications
No established scientific guidelines exist for solving LML optimisation in the grocery industry. For managers, it is important to thoroughly consider efficiency and effectiveness in LML execution, coordination and collaboration among key actors, avoiding sub-optimisations for business and sustainability.
Originality/value
The study contributes to current knowledge by reviewing empirical research on LML performance in the grocery sector, showing how previous research disregards the importance of multiple actors and coordination of actors, efficiency and effectiveness.
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Keywords
Carin Nordström, Charlotta Agneta Sirén, Sara Thorgren and Joakim Wincent
The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of choice overload to examine how entrepreneurial tenure and involvement in entrepreneurial teams influence passion for engaging…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of choice overload to examine how entrepreneurial tenure and involvement in entrepreneurial teams influence passion for engaging in entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered to 262 Swedish hybrid entrepreneurs, which refers to individuals who engage in entrepreneurship while also maintaining wage work; this arrangement is becoming more and more common in the Nordic economies. Hypotheses proposed associations between the entrepreneurial tenure (the length of engagement in the side business) and entrepreneurial teams (leading the business with one or more team members) with passion for entrepreneurship. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results from logistic regression support the hypotheses with three findings: the longer the individual has had the side business, the less likely passion to be the main motive behind entrepreneurship; passion is less likely to be the main motive behind entrepreneurship among those who are part of an entrepreneurial team; and, involvement in an entrepreneurial team strengthens the negative association between entrepreneurial tenure and passion for entrepreneurship.
Research limitations/implications
The data are limited to the creative sector in Sweden and to the hybrid entrepreneurship context.
Practical implications
The results support the impact of choice overload and the notions that entrepreneurship passion will decrease the longer the business is up running and if the venturing occurs with another team member. In practice, this means that interventions for re-kindling passion in entrepreneurship should focus on dealing with choice overload under conditions of long-term tenure and team-funded ventures. If entrepreneurs want to maintain high levels of passion, quick and isolated entrepreneurial processes reduce the choice overload that may threaten maintaining a high passion for entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This study is the first to apply choice theory to an entrepreneurship context and to find support for possible negative effects of choice overload on passion for entrepreneurship.
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Sara Thorgren, Carin Nordström and Joakim Wincent
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motives behind individuals’ choice to have parallel business-employment careers (hybrid entrepreneurship) with a particular focus…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the motives behind individuals’ choice to have parallel business-employment careers (hybrid entrepreneurship) with a particular focus on passion (i.e. to work with something one is passionate about) as the main motive.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered to 262 Swedish hybrid entrepreneurs. Hypotheses proposed associations of the individual's age at business start-up and weekly hours spent on the business with passion as the main motive for the hybrid form. Logistic regression was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicated that first, the ability to work with something one is passionate about is the top motive for combining employment with a side business; second, passion is more likely to be the main motive behind the hybrid form among individuals who are older at business start-up; third, passion is less likely to be the main motive behind the hybrid form among individuals who spend more time on the business.
Research limitations/implications
The study focusses on passion as motive for hybrid entrepreneurship, and in doing so, it does not test the extent to which hybrid entrepreneurs experience passion.
Practical implications
The results support the popular notion that passion drives people to have parallel business-employment careers. Findings indicating that passion as a motive is more common among those who are older at start-up and less common among those who spend more time on the business suggest the importance of acknowledging hybrid entrepreneurs’ various profiles when approaching them in research and practice.
Originality/value
This is the first study on motives behind hybrid entrepreneurship.
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Keywords
In the 1980s, as the United States encountered international economic and technological challenges, the very ability of the American educational system to produce a competitive…
Abstract
In the 1980s, as the United States encountered international economic and technological challenges, the very ability of the American educational system to produce a competitive labor force, able to learn and solve problems, was questioned. During this past decade, renewed concern about educational quality in the United States motivated over one hundred reports analyzing the shortcomings in our system of education and endorsing reform. All of the principal curriculum areas have been reviewed in this process; moreover, science education has been deemed particularly deficient. Major reports sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recommend both content revision of science courses and methodological changes in the way science is presented throughout the elementary and secondary grades.
Denise Maria Conroy, Amy Errmann, Jenny Young and Ilaisaane M.E. Fifita
This research aims to gain insight into how consumers interact with a commercially available genetic nutrition programme, DNAfit, to explore health change via an intervention.
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to gain insight into how consumers interact with a commercially available genetic nutrition programme, DNAfit, to explore health change via an intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups were conducted between June and October 2019, pre-, during- and post-intervention, with a total sample of 14 younger (aged 25–44 years) and 14 mature (aged 45–65 years) cohorts from New Zealand. Qualitative thematic analysis was completed with the help of NVivo software.
Findings
Younger participants in this study engaged less overall with DNAfit, felt the service did not match their lifestyles and did not encourage their believability of genetic personalised nutrition (GPN). In contrast, mature participants had positive engagement with GPN, as their motivation to use the service fit with their motivation for longevity. Overall, social uptake in health changes based on GPN is likely to depend on life stage.
Originality/value
This paper adds to limited social marketing research, which seeks novel avenues to explore how consumers engage with GPN technologies to drive social change, assisting social marketers on how to more effectively deliver health programmes that allow consumer-driven interaction to build health capabilities.