Manoj Bayon and Pablo Aguilera
Highlighting the important role of managerial action in resource orchestration, the purpose of this paper is to explore how differences in managerial perceptions about the…
Abstract
Purpose
Highlighting the important role of managerial action in resource orchestration, the purpose of this paper is to explore how differences in managerial perceptions about the strategic relevance of resources and capabilities influences the resource configurations in SMEs from an emerging economy context.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey-based instrument that was developed by the Global Competitive project (www.gcp.org), the authors identify 62 Mexican SMEs and perform a cluster analysis based on firm size and age and estimate the competitiveness of the SMEs in each cluster.
Findings
The results of our cluster analysis indeed suggest the existence of four configurations of SMEs based on the managerial perceptions of the value creating potential of the different resources and capabilities at the firms' disposal. The authors find evidence that managerial perception of the strategic relevance of resources and capabilities at a firm's disposal could influence firm-level competitiveness. Managers of firms that perceive high value or importance to the resources and capabilities, considered the ten resource pillars for competitiveness in this study, are also likely to be the most competitive.
Research limitations/implications
This study is exploratory in nature and intends to provide an initial and more descriptive analysis of SME competitiveness in an emerging economy context. Additionality, the study does not take into account the effect of industry membership.
Originality/value
The choice of an emerging economy that are often characterized by asymmetric information and informal rules and regulations provides an original context for an understudied area of research in firm-level competitiveness.
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Fabian Osorio Tinoco, Manoj Chandra Bayon and Guillermo Murillo Vargas
Based on a theoretical framework grounded in the social-cognitive theory and its derivative the social-cognitive career theory, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on a theoretical framework grounded in the social-cognitive theory and its derivative the social-cognitive career theory, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the role of entrepreneurial exposure in moderating the relationship between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention in the presence of different levels of outcome expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 643 secondary students from Colombia, the authors tested the validity and reliability of scales used to measure the main constructs of the socio-cognitive career theory and used the construct of entrepreneurial exposure to examine contingent hypotheses using a four-step linear regression analysis.
Findings
The study results suggest that although the main social-cognitive career variables (self-efficacy and outcome expectation) and entrepreneurial exposure directly influence the formation of entrepreneurial intention and thus support previous findings, the authors also discover a new configuration of (interacting) antecedents. While on the one hand, even a low level of entrepreneurial exposure leads to a significant increase in the entrepreneurial intention of secondary students with high outcome expectation and high self-efficacy; on the other hand, high entrepreneurial exposure leads to a decrease in entrepreneurial intention among students with high entrepreneurial expectation and high self-efficacy.
Research limitations/implications
The main implication of the study findings is although entrepreneurial exposure is beneficial for fostering entrepreneurial intention among secondary students, a high level of entrepreneurial exposure can have a detrimental effect especially among those with high self-efficacy and outcome expectations.
Practical implications
The paper suggests implications and suggestions for educators to foster the development of entrepreneurial intentions among students.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical evidence on the formation of entrepreneurial intention in a new setting. In addition, it improves one’s understanding of the main tenets of social-cognitive career theory by taking into account an important environment factor that can have a contrasting impact on the formation on entrepreneurial intention among adolescents.
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Manoj Chandra Bayon, Esteban Lafuente and Yancy Vaillant
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and interaction effect of individuals’ human capital input and human capital output in the form of entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and interaction effect of individuals’ human capital input and human capital output in the form of entrepreneurial self-confidence on the decision to exploit innovative opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a strategic entrepreneurship perspective, the authors suggest that when individuals with high human capital decide to exploit opportunities they do so by thinking and acting strategically. Strategic action(s) involves pursuing competitive advantages that enable a new venture to get a foothold in the market. The authors argue that such competitive advantages arise from the exploitation of innovative opportunities and individuals with high human capital are more likely to exploit innovative opportunities when they develop entrepreneurial self-confidence. The empirical analysis is based on a random sample of individuals from the adult population who are in the process of creating a new venture.
Findings
The results suggest that although human capital inputs and human capital output in the form of entrepreneurial self-confidence are significant factors in influencing the decision to exploit innovative opportunities, human capital inputs interact in different ways with human capital output in influencing this decision.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the authors’ study is the use of single item measures as indicators of innovative opportunity and human capital output (entrepreneurial self-confidence).
Practical implications
From a macro-perspective, the main implication of the study is that it is possible to assess the quality of entrepreneurship in an economy through individuals’ human capital and the proportion of innovative opportunities in the economy. Moreover, because not all types of human capital inputs influences the exploitation of innovative opportunities, policy makers can be selective in their policy interventions in spawning quality entrepreneurship in their economy.
Originality/value
Based on population-level data the authors’ study provides empirical evidence of the nature of entrepreneurial decisions being at the earliest phases of the entrepreneurial process. The study shows the importance of founders’ human capital inputs and outputs in influencing the quality of entrepreneurship in an economy. Moreover, the study extends the understanding the individual-opportunity nexus in promoting innovative entrepreneurship in an economy.
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Manoj Chandra Bayon, Yancy Vaillant and Esteban Lafuente
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effect of two individual-level resources, one subjective and the other objective, and their interaction in influencing the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct effect of two individual-level resources, one subjective and the other objective, and their interaction in influencing the business entry decision. By distinguishing perceived ability from actual ability and using theoretical underpinnings from the human capital theory and self-efficacy theory, the proposed hypotheses are tested on a data set comprising respondents from the adult population.
Design/methodology/approach
Using 20,046 observations from the adult population survey (APS) collected according to the global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) methodology, a logistic regression analysis controlling for robust interaction term is used to determine the direct and interaction effect of perceived entrepreneurial ability and actual ability in influencing the decision to initiate nascent entrepreneurial activities.
Findings
The results reveal that perceived entrepreneurial ability has a distinct positive influence on the decision to initiate entrepreneurial activities and its impact is greater than that of actual abilities. Furthermore, the authors find evidence of a positive interaction effect suggesting that perceived entrepreneurial ability is a key determinant of entrepreneurial initiatives among those with high actual ability.
Originality/value
The main contribution of the study is to highlight the role of subjective judgements of ability in influencing entrepreneurial behaviour. Whereas prior research has found that actual ability influences new venture performance, its influence on new business entry was inconclusive. By including perceived entrepreneurial ability to the model the authors not only establish a link between objective (observable) abilities and subjective (unobservable) abilities of individuals but also suggest the mechanism through which subjective ability perception drive the business entry decisions of individuals.
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Alejandro Valencia-Arias, Diana Arango-Botero and Javier A. Sánchez-Torres
The purpose of this study is to verify some relationships between entrepreneurial attitude, university environment, entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial training, which can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to verify some relationships between entrepreneurial attitude, university environment, entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial training, which can be used to promote entrepreneurship among university students.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 3,005 questionnaires answered by students from ten universities in Colombia was gathered and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis.
Findings
The results show that the more a student perceives an entrepreneurial culture and the more training he or she receives, the more entrepreneurial attitude he or she will have. Also, it was found that entrepreneurial culture has a positive effect on university environment, and the latter has a positive effect on entrepreneurial training.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study was that only ten Colombian universities were sampled; therefore, general inferences cannot be made. Additionally, the variables investigated here may have not accurately measured the full scale of the entrepreneurship programmes in such universities or the way the culture of these institutions had a direct impact on students. Projects such as the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS), which measure variables related to entrepreneurship at the university level, enable universities to shape their policies around this important topic. This study indicates that universities should offer training in entrepreneurial, problem-solving and communication skills to produce entrepreneurs who can better face current challenges.
Originality/value
Other studies have discussed entrepreneurial culture, but they usually deal with university environment, entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurial attitudes separately. This study integrates all these factors and measures the level of interaction between them.