Celia de Anca and Salvador Aragón
The purpose of this paper is to explore inhibitors preventing Spanish women from attaining positions of leadership.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore inhibitors preventing Spanish women from attaining positions of leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a qualitative approach based on focus groups and structured personal interviews on 42 Spanish male and female executives, the study tests the main gender normative expectations applicable to specific work and personal roles.
Findings
The findings suggest that there is a significant consensus about the existence of traditional and emerging models. Research also suggests there are still clear gaps between traditional and emerging roles that are easily identified and recognized. Contrary to expectations, the research suggests there is no a clear model of emerging gender roles, and instead considerable diversity in the construction of individual aspirational models.
Research limitations
This is a first exploratory research limited to a reduced sample in the Spanish context. To confirm the findings, the research will benefit from a quantitative approach based on larger samples. Moreover, additional surveys in different cultural contexts will provide a broader understanding of the proposed research questions.
Practical implications
The gender gap framework can enable policy makers to correctly diagnose the barriers women face in their professional lives and to come up with efficient instruments to correct existing inequalities.
Originality/value
The principal contribution of this paper is that it provides important insights into traditional and aspirational gender gaps that constitute one important internal barrier for women’s development.
Objetivo
El objetivo de este artículo es explorar los inhibidores que impiden a la mujer profesional española alcanzar puestos de liderazgo.
Diseño/ Metodología/ Enfoque
El artículo utiliza un enfoque cualitativo, basado en grupos enfocados y entrevistas personales estructuradas a 42 ejecutivos españoles, hombres y mujeres, con el propósito de examinar las principales expectativas normativas de género correspondientes a funciones y comportamientos específicos en el trabajo y en la vida personal.
Resultados
Los resultados apuntan a un significativo consenso sobre la existencia de modelos tradicionales y emergentes. La investigación asimismo comprueba la clara existencia de brechas de roles de género tradicionales y emergentes que pueden fácilmente reconocerse e identificarse. Contrariamente a lo esperado, los resultados de la investigación indican que no existe un modelo claro de roles de género emergente, sino que existe una considerable diversidad en la construcción de modelos individuales aspiracionales.
Limitaciones
El presente artículo es una primera investigación exploratoria limitada a una muestra reducida en el contexto español. Ayudaría a confirmar los resultados, un enfoque cuantitativo basado en muestras más amplias. Por otra parte, encuestas adicionales en otros contextos culturales proporcionaría una mejor y más amplia comprensión de las cuestiones objeto de la investigación.
Implicaciones prácticas
El marco de brecha de género, que introduce esta investigación, puede ayudar a los responsables políticos, a diagnosticar correctamente algunas de las barreras que enfrenta la mujer en su trayectoria profesional, y poder así elaborar instrumentos eficientes para corregir las desigualdades existentes en la actualidad.
Originalidad/ Valor
La contribución principal de este artículo es la de proporcionar nuevos conocimientos claves para entender brechas de género tradicionales y aspiracionales que hoy por hoy representan una importante barrera interna para el desarrollo de la mujer
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This chapter deals with the development of banking in the Crown of Aragon from the end of the thirteenth century through the establishment of money changers, which followed…
Abstract
This chapter deals with the development of banking in the Crown of Aragon from the end of the thirteenth century through the establishment of money changers, which followed similar patterns as in other Western European territories. It starts with a review of existing literature and follows with an explanation on the different banking services provided by money changers and the specific legal framework that supported such activities. It then examines the geographical distribution of private banks in cities and towns within the domains of the kings of Aragon, as well as their evolution throughout the fourteenth century. After that, it offers an analysis of the most common professional profiles among these bankers and financers. Finally, drawing on a heterogeneous pool of unpublished data, it seeks to shed light on the diversity of investors and clients of these establishments, a crucial proof of their role in integrated financial markets.
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Pedro Antonio Martín-Cervantes, Salvador Cruz Rambaud and María del Carmen Valls Martínez
This paper aims to examine the functioning and organizational structure of the historic Andalusian water courts, institutions of Islamic origin whose basic model should be…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the functioning and organizational structure of the historic Andalusian water courts, institutions of Islamic origin whose basic model should be considered in light of the regulation of modern Islamic banking and finance.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of this study has been focused on the contextualization of al-Andalus during the European Middle Ages, highlighting its enormous contributions and implications in the creation of Western knowledge. In the same way, the ordinances of the Castilian-Aragonese kings, aimed at the persistence of the Andalusian water courts in the Southeast of Spain after the Muslim period, have been used as the main sources of reference.
Findings
This research has detected that the main features of the Andalusian water courts, i.e. integrity, democracy, transparency, credibility, moral authority or simplicity (among many others), can be conveniently replicated in the scope of the current Islamic banking and finance.
Research limitations/implications
Several implications can be derived from this study: first, it highlights the total resilience of a regulatory model that “it was already there,” given by the history of the Andalusian civilization. This model will be always welcomed by the Muslim community in Western countries as it is a matter of regulating themselves according to the way their ancestors did. The main limitation faced by this research is the relative scarcity of original sources, which is justifiable given that most of the royal ordinances come from the 13th century, having unfortunately lost a good number of sources over time.
Originality/value
This paper seeks a feasible alternative to the controversy arising from the resolution of possible disputes in Islamic banking and finance taking into account that Western judges do not know (nor do they have to) the principles on which this discipline is based. The application of the historical Andalusian model would allow the creation of an independent jurisdiction, while subordinated to the established juridic power, without contravening the principle of “jurisdictional unity.” The last element that gives an added value to this research is spreading the achievements of the Andalusian culture and civilization, unjustly omitted by a great part of the existing literature.
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Rada-Orellana Mauricio, Jiménez María-de-León and Fernanda Fierro María
While in some districts having drinking water is a given reality, there are others where there is a lack of access to this resource. Unfortunately, even today, 10.2% of the world…
Abstract
While in some districts having drinking water is a given reality, there are others where there is a lack of access to this resource. Unfortunately, even today, 10.2% of the world population lives this situation and it could be worse in the coming years, according to UNICEF. Inhabitants in Pamplona Alta at southern Lima, Peru, daily suffer this harsh reality. This social challenge study attempts to define a methodology for an effective logistic planning of water distribution in Torres Minas. Currently, they obtain it from unsanitary and informal vendors. This chapter provides the basis of a new layout of the water distribution network based on clusters to efficiently satisfy water demand. Specifically, we propose the use of orderly delivery points called “bus-stops of water” in a two-echelon distribution system, whose optimization relies on a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) technique. The objective of these guidelines is minimizing the transactional and transportation cost, while increasing the bargaining power of the community. Results showed a reduction of 52.67% and 26% in transactional and transportation costs, respectively, and a reduction of the associated risks of shortage and contamination of a tight delivery of water. Moreover, we foster the application of this methodology in other similar situations to produce sustainable growth for human settlements; regardless, there is a lack of access to water or a steep geography.
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Araceli Galiano-Coronil, Sofía Blanco-Moreno, Luis Bayardo Tobar-Pesantez and Guillermo Antonio Gutiérrez-Montoya
This study aims to analyze communication from the perspective of social marketing, positive emotions, and the topics chosen by Spanish tourist destinations to show their…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze communication from the perspective of social marketing, positive emotions, and the topics chosen by Spanish tourist destinations to show their destination image. Additionally, this research shows a message classification model, based on the aforementioned characteristics, that has generated a greater impact, offering clarity to tourism managers on the type of content they should publish to achieve greater visibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used in this work combines content analysis and data mining techniques. The classification tree using the chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID) algorithm was selected to determine predictors of like behaviour.
Findings
The results show that the predictor variables have been emotions, social marketing and topics. Also, the characteristics of the messages most likely to have a high impact are those related to emotions of joy or happiness, their purpose is behavioural, and they talk about rural, cultural issues, special dates, getaways, or highlights of a town or city for something specific.
Originality/value
This study is the first to analyze the content of the tweets shared by destination tourism managers from a social marketing, positive emotions, and sustainability perspective, determining the possible predictors of likes on Twitter. The authors contribute to the literature by deepening the understanding of how social marketing and the positive emotions promoted drive a more significant impact in tourism communication campaigns on social media. The authors provide destination managers with a way better to understand the variables relevant to users in tourism content.
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This is a selective annotated bibliography of the literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. The subject is particularly relevant considering the approach of the…
Abstract
This is a selective annotated bibliography of the literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. The subject is particularly relevant considering the approach of the Quincentenary of the “discovery” of America in 1992. For that same reason, there has been an outpouring of literature on the subject since 1990, a significant subset of which contributes to are interpretation of Columbus the man, his voyages, and their impact on the new world. It is hoped that this more recent literature will be part of a subsequent annotated bibliography.
Valeria Stefanelli, Vittorio Boscia and Pierluigi Toma
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test if the interaction between universities and spin-offs, as proxy of knowledge translation (KT), which is based in particular on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test if the interaction between universities and spin-offs, as proxy of knowledge translation (KT), which is based in particular on negotiation, semantics and pragmatics, has a positive impact on spin-off performance – in terms of greater distance from the “valley of death” – and allows access to credit and financial instruments.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt an appropriate nonparametric conditional efficiency approach for panel data. The authors provide a unique picture of the innovation environment in Italy using an original dataset. These data provide information regarding the intensity of interaction between universities and spin-offs along with financial balance datasheet of the spin-offs. The nonparametric approach is particularly suitable for nonlinear relationships typical for this type of data.
Findings
The results of the analysis confirm that the translation of knowledge, based on negotiation of interests, semantics of the text and pragmatism, favored by the interaction between universities and spin-offs, improves the productivity performance of the spin-off by allowing them to move away from the “valley of death”. Therefore, universities must pay particular attention to the way they work with spin-offs by making use of the translation of knowledge, based on semantics and pragmatism, in order to encourage an understanding of knowledge, sharing of interests among the partners and stakeholders of the spin-off, often belonging to different backgrounds. These are processes that favor the transfer and development of research outcomes to the market, improving the spin-off competitiveness of the territory and strengthening relations with universities and their stakeholders (banks and financial intermediaries, local and national politicians, institutions and the community at large).
Research limitations/implications
Implications for research can be identified at policy and managerial level and refer to the effectiveness of the so called “Third Mission”, university entrepreneurship through the creation of profitable spin-offs which contribute to innovation, and to the socioeconomic development of the territory. In turn, spin-offs with good performances are more likely to have access to external financing to allow the growth of their business in the market. Further studies can investigate the organizational way of the universities that promote these virtuous results, distinguishing them by spin-off efficiency clusters.
Practical implications
For universities, the results make it possible to envisage organizational processes to support spin-offs that are important both for compliance with the regulations and for the Third Mission. Researchers, teachers and PhD academics have the opportunity to exploit the results of their innovative research on the market. Spin-offs and start-up founders should note that the results of scientific transfer can create value for the firm and the territory. Useful information also derives for banks and financial intermediaries that intend to improve the credit risk assessment of the spin-offs during the loan assessment phase.
Originality/value
The value of the work entails in offering a unique overview of university innovation, through an original dataset and a robust methodology. By adopting a different approach, the contribution of KT at national level was assessed, measuring the impact on the technical performance and on the probability of survival of the companies. Originality of the paper lies not only in the approach but also in the fact that this is the first attempt to use the KT as a key factor for the economic sustainability from a financial perspective of start-up companies.
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Despite the increasing number of small and medium enterprises pursuing international opportunities and penetrating global markets, international entrepreneurship literature has…
Abstract
Despite the increasing number of small and medium enterprises pursuing international opportunities and penetrating global markets, international entrepreneurship literature has paid limited attention to emerging markets and entrepreneur-specific factors that influence internationalisation. Traditional internationalisation theories and international entrepreneurship theories consider organisation as the unit of analysis and lack sensitivity to the context, which influences ventures’ foreign market decisions. Moreover, only a handful of studies related to internationalisation in emerging markets are available. To address this gap, this chapter explores barriers and drivers for SMEs’ internationalisation in Sri Lanka, an emerging market. Semi-structured interviews with forty Sri Lankan youth entrepreneurs suggest structural barriers consisting of access to capital, legal restrictions and lack of legal, institutional and government support were prominent. These barriers suggest a need for policy changes in the entrepreneurial environment, finance, entrepreneurial culture and skill development, technology, research and development and regional balance. The findings also indicate that information communication technology is a driver for internationalisation.
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Oscar Javier Montiel Méndez, Luisa Cagica Carvalho and Adriana Martinez Martinez
The relevance of entrepreneurship in the economic systems of the regions is well documented. Recently, a new concept has emerged in the entrepreneurship literature…
Abstract
The relevance of entrepreneurship in the economic systems of the regions is well documented. Recently, a new concept has emerged in the entrepreneurship literature, entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), to analyze the dynamics of a given territory and its outputs and impact upon entrepreneurship. Moreover, it is also well documented the close relationship between entrepreneurship and family business (FB). Keeping in mind the multidimensionality of the latter, its scholars are beginning to look into the entrepreneurial elements embedded in the family processes and the influence of context.
After an extensive literature review made, a significant gap was found, given the historical relevance that FB (SMEs the vast majority) have in the global economic systems. A FB entrepreneurial ecosystem (FBEE) model is proposed based on the data collected from two case studies, on Portugal's wine industry, and Mexico's shoe industry, both artisan industries confronted with the urge to reinvent and adapt to face deep market and industry changes.
The results should indicate the feasibility of proposing a second level on the theory of EE, the FBEE, where both the family and business itself ultimately play a vital role in its success and impact the whole system.