Clara Gieure, Maria del Mar Benavides-Espinosa and Salvador Roig-Dobón
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the entrepreneurial intentions of international university students by applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). This paper presents…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the entrepreneurial intentions of international university students by applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). This paper presents a model that considers personal, social and environmental factors that potentially influence students’ intentions to become entrepreneurs.
Design/methodology/approach
An extension of the TPB was proposed, including two additional constructs: entrepreneurial skills and university education. The target population of the study was national and international university students enroled in different universities. A validated survey (n = 276) was used to collect the data. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses and the relationships between variables.
Findings
Students are more likely to acquire entrepreneurial skills through effective education and training. Entrepreneurial skills play a significant role in explaining entrepreneurial intentions because it is assumed that knowledge and training make people highly skilled. This raises people’s propensity to start a business.
Originality/value
This study makes a unique contribution to the literature by considering the role of entrepreneurial skills that are commonly acquired at university. The primary conclusions relate to the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills within the university environment. These conclusions are of interest to practitioners and policymakers.
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Keywords
María del Mar Benavides-Espinosa, Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano and Clara Gieure
The aim of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of digital transformation (DT) on the relationship between innovation capacity and the performance of agrifood businesses.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to analyse the moderating effect of digital transformation (DT) on the relationship between innovation capacity and the performance of agrifood businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a structured questionnaire, data on 98 agrifood small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Spain were collected. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling to test the proposed model and study the moderating effect of DT on the relationship between the innovation capacity and performance of agrifood businesses.
Findings
The study finds support for the hypotheses and shows the existence of a direct positive relationship between the DT and performance of agrifood businesses. Developing new practices focussed on customer service and performing actions such as improving sales, promoting a new product or service and including a post-sales service influence the capacity of a business to undertake DT.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should include other factors in the analysis. For example, the impact of knowledge transfer and research and development (R&D) on agrifood businesses' performance should be studied. Education and training, as well as having a diverse network, can help develop and boost businesses' capacity to use and apply the required innovation. Networks play an important role in learning how to apply DT.
Originality/value
This quantitative study is the first to examine the moderating effect of DT in the Spanish agrifood sector on the relationship between innovation capacity and performance. The study examines the role of the DT of companies and explores the competitiveness and efficiency tools that digitalisation offers. Innovation capacity is crucial for the application of these tools.
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Joan E. Ubeda, Clara Gieure, Carlos de‐la‐Cruz and Olga Sastre
The paper aims at identifying the main social media applications used by new technology based‐firms (NTBFs) and at calculating the volume of followers they have in each…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims at identifying the main social media applications used by new technology based‐firms (NTBFs) and at calculating the volume of followers they have in each application. It also focuses on the amount of activity generated by the firms in those social networks, identifying the key thematic content of their social media activity, analyzing the ability to create dialogue with their stakeholders and clarifying which style of communication they use.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents an exploratory study of the use of social media tools by NTBFs, located in Spanish Science Parks, as an important resource network for firms in the corresponding sector. A total of 432 new technology‐based firms were analyzed to identify which social media applications are more frequently used, as well as to establish the number of followers they registered in the month of February, 2012.
Findings
The results contribute towards a better understanding of how firms monitor public perception of their brand, products, and services in real time. The main conclusion of this study is the low presence of technology‐based firms in the five social media applications analyzed herein.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations of this study are related to the time period analyzed, given that the authors just observed one month of a year, which can lead to distortions regarding the activity of firms throughout the year.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the need of businesses to develop communication strategies focused on social media, which are designed to enable the development of a dialogue with stakeholders and allow firms to implement a communication strategy based on the principles of relational marketing.
Originality/value
This paper fulfils an identified need to study thoroughly how firms use social media.
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Cynthia Maria Katharina Zabel, Alexander Meister, Nicolas Van De Sandt and René Mauer
Although emotional dynamics (EDs) during the entrepreneurial learning (EL) process are acknowledged to promote the growth of an entrepreneurial mindset (EM), while having social…
Abstract
Purpose
Although emotional dynamics (EDs) during the entrepreneurial learning (EL) process are acknowledged to promote the growth of an entrepreneurial mindset (EM), while having social causes, empirical research on learning mainly looks at emotions as socially isolated concepts. This study aims to investigate how socially induced and regulated emotions during the EL process affect EM development.
Design/methodology/approach
We applied a qualitative, inductive approach related to interpretative phenomenological analysis to get deeply involved into individuals’ experienced emotions. We conducted semi-structured interviews with participants of two EL programs. Open-ended questions stimulated free narratives and detailed descriptions of experiences that were analyzed following a five-stage process.
Findings
There is a correlation between socially induced and regulated emotions and the development of EM elements. We suggest a framework for the EL process based on EDs, which triggers four main mechanisms that help individuals develop an EM: “re-assessment of individual emotions through EDs”, “EDs affected by facilitator intervention,” “sharing and co-creation of emotions,” and “sensemaking of experiences and emotions.”
Originality/value
This study adds to the knowledge on EDs during the EL process and contributes to the literature on EL and emotions in learning. Therewith, it helps to sensitize practitioners toward the complexity of emotions in the entrepreneurial process, allows to moderate individual emotional reactions and social Eds, and improves existing EE programs. Future research could investigate the interplay of specific personality traits, learning environments, and socioemotional team dynamics in EL.