The purpose of this paper is to explore whether there is a prevalent entrepreneurial learning style trait associated with successful knowledge industry entrepreneurial practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether there is a prevalent entrepreneurial learning style trait associated with successful knowledge industry entrepreneurial practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews prior entrepreneurship studies utilizing experiential learning theory and examines the learning style preferences of 168 knowledge industry entrepreneurs to deduce a hypothesized entrepreneurial learning style. The entrepreneur participants’ Kolb Learning Style Inventory scores are modeled to explore causal links to individual and firm level entrepreneurial success.
Findings
Preference for the Kolb Active Experimentation (AE) learning mode over Reflective Observation (RO) predicts adoption of a key entrepreneurial innovation behavior and significant entrepreneurial performance benefits. In contrast to published theories, the RO learning mode exhibits surprising negative effects on entrepreneurial performance. Data analysis also reveals that 90 percent of sampled co-founder/partners had at least one partner with the hypothesized entrepreneurial style.
Research limitations/implications
The study fills a major research gap in entrepreneurial learning literature by identifying learning style traits associated with entrepreneurial success. The study findings can also be used by educators, practitioners and investors to help identify, appraise and develop entrepreneurial talent.
Originality/value
The study provides novel insights into the learning styles of practicing technology entrepreneurs by establishing a significant preference within this community for the AE and Concrete Experience learning modes. The study illustrates the negative effects of the RO learning mode which has previously linked to successful entrepreneurial practice.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Preference for the Kolb Active Experimentation (AE) learning mode over Reflective Observation (RO) predicts adoption of a key entrepreneurial innovation behavior and significant entrepreneurial performance benefits. In contrast to published theories, the RO learning mode exhibits surprizing negative effects on entrepreneurial performance. Data analysis also reveals that 90 per cent of sampled co-founder/partners had at least one partner with the hypothesized entrepreneurial style.
Practical implications
The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Zorica Zagorac-Uremović and Christian Marxt
Entrepreneurial opportunity (EO) identification pertains to the core processes of entrepreneurship and innovation. The initial phase of this process starts with individual…
Abstract
Entrepreneurial opportunity (EO) identification pertains to the core processes of entrepreneurship and innovation. The initial phase of this process starts with individual cognition, which is why cognition has been established as a critical theoretical perspective.
Knowledge and new information have been confirmed as essential cognitive impact factors. However, it is not understood well, how individuals apply those factors and how they actually identify innovative and economically viable EOs. To address the limitations of current research, this chapter investigates the current literature on underlying cognitive processes of opportunity identification.
The literature analysis demonstrates that there is not a single cognitive process but rather a magnitude of different micro-mechanisms that are necessary for the successful identification of EOs. The findings are grouped to four categories of cognitive processes and entail their micro-mechanisms: pattern recognition, information processing, and creative thinking. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that those micro-mechanisms have seldom been related to each other within the scope of opportunity identification. This chapter closes this gap by discussing and contrasting and the different process categories and respective micro-mechanisms and suggests an integrative theory development and avenues for future research.
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J. Campbell Gemmell and E. Marian Scott
This paper aims to provide an overview of environmental regulation and recent trends and developments in this area, rooted in the practical regulatory implementation activities of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an overview of environmental regulation and recent trends and developments in this area, rooted in the practical regulatory implementation activities of EPAs worldwide and drawing connection to sustainability, environmental risks, economics and environmental justice.
Design/methodology/approach
The design and methodology in developing “Better (Environmental) Regulation” is addressed drawn on experiences from different regulatory systems. It addresses the linkages between environment, economy, regulation and sustainability and adopts and develops Sparrow's approach to a focus on tackling harms.
Findings
A range of challenges in policy and practice terms – e.g. economic growth versus sustainability – is described. Arguments against the political economy convention of reducing burdens are made and a spectrum of compliance for regulators is offered, leading to a proposed agenda to help deliver better regulation generally.
Research limitations/implications
A major challenge in arguing for an anti‐burden approach is the lack of a general ecosystem services approach and the dearth of valuation data to validate industry claims, demonstrate the costs of compliance and non‐environment and the value of protection.
Practical implications
The argument is presented that environmental regulation is of fundamental value not only to the environment per se but to tackling climate change and protecting society at large.
Originality/value
Hitherto there has been very little in the literature from a practitioner perspective, analysing and proposing improvements to environmental regulation in practice while preserving and securing environmental and sustainability policy objectives. This paper should support and encourage policy makers and implementers in improving practice.
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Mona Al-Amin, Robert Weech-Maldonado and Rohit Pradhan
The hospital–physician relationship (HPR) has been the focus of many scholars given the potential impact of this relationship on hospitals’ ability to achieve socially and…
Abstract
Purpose
The hospital–physician relationship (HPR) has been the focus of many scholars given the potential impact of this relationship on hospitals’ ability to achieve socially and organizationally desirable health care outcomes. Hospitals are dominated by professionals and share many commonalities with professional service firms (PSFs). In this chapter, we explore an alternative HPR based on the governance models prevalent in PSFs.
Design/methodology approach
We summarize the issues presented by current HPRs and discuss the governance models dominant in PSFs.
Findings
We identify the non-equity partnership model as a governance archetype for hospitals; this model accounts for both the professional dominance in health care decisions and the increasing demand for higher accountability and efficiency.
Research limitations
There should be careful consideration of existing regulations such as the Stark law and the antikickback statue before the proposed governance model and the compensation structure for physician partners is adopted.
Research implications
While our governance archetype is based on a review of the literature on HPRs and PSFs, further research is needed to test our model.
Practical implications
Given the dominance of not-for-profit (NFP) ownership in the hospital industry, we believe the non-equity partnership model can help align physician incentives with those of the hospital, and strengthen HPRs to meet the demands of the changing health care environment.
Originality/value
This is the first chapter to explore an alternative hospital–physician integration strategy by examining the governance models in PSFs, which similar to hospitals have a high reliance on a predominantly professional staff.
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Extant literature on entrepreneurial cognition declares that entrepreneurs who are confident in their ability to design a new business perform better than entrepreneurs who lack…
Abstract
Extant literature on entrepreneurial cognition declares that entrepreneurs who are confident in their ability to design a new business perform better than entrepreneurs who lack such a self-perception of efficacy. This is swagger. A different set of literature, including Discovery-Driven Planning, Design Thinking, and Lean Startup Method, recommends that entrepreneurs create, confirm, or reject hypotheses to design and refine the specific elements of their business model. This is the scientific method.
This article used survey data from 353 participants in an international business pitch competition to connect these two literatures. We found that the number of hypotheses that the entrepreneur elucidated and confirmed were linked to business model performance. Counter-intuitively, the number of hypotheses rejected by the entrepreneur showed the strongest relationship to success. We found no significant relationship between the number of interviews that an entrepreneur conducted and the business model’s performance: more effort was not always helpful.
Although we found no direct connection between an entrepreneur’s self-efficacy in searching for a new idea and the business model’s eventual success, entrepreneurs with high levels of this narrow form of self-confidence were more likely to perform the constructive actions of elucidating, confirming, and rejecting hypotheses. In summary, swagger leads to science, and science leads to success.
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The Standing Committee of the House of Commons on Trade, presided over by LORD E. FITZMAURICE, met again on July 16th and proceeded with the Sale of Adulterated Butter Bill.
THE Fifty‐First Conference of the Library Association takes place in the most modern type of British town. Blackpool is a typical growth of the past fifty years or so, rising from…
Abstract
THE Fifty‐First Conference of the Library Association takes place in the most modern type of British town. Blackpool is a typical growth of the past fifty years or so, rising from the greater value placed upon the recreations of the people in recent decades. It has the name of the pleasure city of the north, a huge caravansary into which the large industrial cities empty themselves at the holiday seasons. But Blackpool is more than that; it is a town with a vibrating local life of its own; it has its intellectual side even if the casual visitor does not always see it as readily as he does the attractions of the front. A week can be spent profitably there even by the mere intellectualist.