Shane H. Morris and Catherine C. Adley
Genetically modified (GM) food is currently being intensely debated in Ireland and throughout Europe. Academic scientists are important players in both the public discourse and in…
Abstract
Genetically modified (GM) food is currently being intensely debated in Ireland and throughout Europe. Academic scientists are important players in both the public discourse and in the public policy formulation process. This paper reveals and explores the perceptions and attitudes of Irish university based academic scientists to issues regarding GM food. Most notably, 79.1 per cent of respondents stated that there should be no immediate complete ban of all GM foods and their production. The majority of respondents (70.1 per cent) believed it unlikely that within the next 20 years a substantial reduction in world hunger would occur, due to developments within modern biotechnology. Important opinions and standpoints of Irish academic scientists, which the public, industry and policy makers often look to for informed opinion on matters of a scientific content, are discussed. Results also show that the Irish Science community representatives’ pro‐GM food stance at the National Public Consultation process was justified as it reflected the majority view among respondents.
Details
Keywords
Sara L. Cochran and Donald F. Kuratko
The world is changing very rapidly with events that alter the landscape for students during a time when entrepreneurs are needed more than ever. This chapter explores trends in…
Abstract
The world is changing very rapidly with events that alter the landscape for students during a time when entrepreneurs are needed more than ever. This chapter explores trends in entrepreneurship research that are focused in areas of the entrepreneurial mindset, alleviation of poverty through entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, portfolio thinking about entrepreneurial venture types, the crucial nature of racial diversity, and the drive of women entrepreneurs. It also examines COVID-19’s disparate impact on smaller ventures and Black entrepreneurs, while highlighting its impact on spurring entrepreneurial innovations causing an entrepreneurial explosion. Most importantly, this chapter focuses on how the emerging research trends amidst the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted entrepreneurship educators to enact educational innovations. The chapter includes tools and tips to integrate into the changing nature of university programs and entrepreneurship curriculums facing a dynamic future.
Details
Keywords
Donald F. Kuratko and Elise N. Hudson
It is clear that entrepreneurship has a major impact on the economy because of the innovation, competition, productivity, wealth generation, and job creation all developed through…
Abstract
It is clear that entrepreneurship has a major impact on the economy because of the innovation, competition, productivity, wealth generation, and job creation all developed through new ventures. However, researchers have been divided on what specific type of entrepreneurial venture is best for economic growth and job creation. This chapter examines the debate between researchers on whether or not a “gazelle” approach, focusing only on high growth ventures, or a “portfolio” approach, taking in account all the various types of ventures, is better for economic growth and job creation. The gazelle approach’s solution is for the government to only invest in those firms that are high growth. In contrast, the portfolio approach’s solution is to encourage all forms of entrepreneurship because the ventures are interdependent on each other in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and each venture no matter the size is serving some purpose to the economy. This chapter highlights the two sides of the issue but also argues that in order for a true entrepreneurial economy to exist then all various type of ventures need to be encouraged in order for competition to be greatest and for society to reap the highest benefits.
Details
Keywords
Jiejie Lyu, Deborah Shepherd and Kerry Lee
Student entrepreneurs account for a considerable number of start-up ventures derived from university settings. Nevertheless, there is little research that demonstrates how…
Abstract
Student entrepreneurs account for a considerable number of start-up ventures derived from university settings. Nevertheless, there is little research that demonstrates how university entrepreneurship education (EE) directly influences students’ start-up activities. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of various types of university entrepreneurship activities (incorporate entrepreneurial courses, extra-curricular initiatives, and start-up support) on student start-up behavior. This quantitative research utilized questionnaire data collected from university students (n = 1,820) in southeast China and was analyzed with hierarchical Poisson regression in STATA procedures. Research results indicate that engaging in any type of university entrepreneurship activities positively predicts students’ start-up activities, yet this positive effect is contingent on students’ prior start-up experience and the overall university entrepreneurial climate. These findings advance our understanding of crucial elements within university entrepreneurial ecosystems and how various entrepreneurship activities within these ecosystems potentially impact students’ venture creation.
Details
Keywords
Entrepreneurship is a prominent area of inquiry which is enriched by an ample literature base and challenged by definitional deficiencies. Over the years, multiple perspectives of…
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is a prominent area of inquiry which is enriched by an ample literature base and challenged by definitional deficiencies. Over the years, multiple perspectives of entrepreneurship have emerged and a holistic approach to entrepreneurship has been proposed. This can facilitate the continued enlargement of the entrepreneurship field and allow for interdisciplinary research within the African region. This chapter contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship in developing economies by providing an extensive review of the various approaches that entrepreneurship has been conceptualised. Nine themes are explored: the great person, economic perspective, psychological perspective, sociological perspective, behavioural perspective, management, intrapreneurship, cognitive perspective and leadership perspective. This is followed by an examination of entrepreneurship as a process, as a new venture creation and as an art of opportunity recognition and exploitation. In the last section of this chapter, a clarion call is made for more African scholarship and research in the field of entrepreneurship.
Details
Keywords
There is progress in entrepreneurship research. Important works in entrepreneurship increasingly appear in highly respected, mainstream journals (see Busenitz et al., 2003;…
Abstract
There is progress in entrepreneurship research. Important works in entrepreneurship increasingly appear in highly respected, mainstream journals (see Busenitz et al., 2003; Davidsson, Low & Wright, 2001). There is conceptual development that attracts attention (e.g. Shane & Venkataraman, 2000) and handbooks are compiled, providing the field with more of a common body of knowledge (Acs & Audretsch, 2003a; Shane, 2000a; Westhead & Wright, 2000). Further, there is evidence of methodological improvements (Chandler & Lyon, 2001) and accumulation of meaningful findings on various levels of analysis (Davidsson & Wiklund, 2001). Moreover, due to time lags in publication the reported improvements are likely to be underestimated. This author’s experience as organizer, reviewer and participant in core entrepreneurship conferences on both sides of the Atlantic (e.g. Babson; RENT) suggests that much of the lower end of the quality distribution has either disappeared from the submissions or is screened out in the review process. Much more than used to be the case a few years back we find among the presented papers research that is truly theory-driven; research on the earliest stages of business development, and research that employs methods suitable for causal inference, i.e. experiments and longitudinal designs.
George Puia and Joseph Ofori‐Dankwa
There is an established link between national cultural differences and documented variations in technological innovations across countries. To move beyond a narrow emphasis on…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an established link between national cultural differences and documented variations in technological innovations across countries. To move beyond a narrow emphasis on national cultures, scholars have suggested using within‐country diversity to compensate for known limitations in national culture measures. Given that ethno‐linguistic diversity is a known source of cultural variation, this paper specifically aims to explore the relationship between culture, ethno‐linguistic diversity and national innovativeness.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers used publicly available data on patents and trademarks in a multivariate regression context to study the effects of national culture and within‐country diversity on national levels of innovativeness.
Findings
The research found that culture and ethno‐linguistic diversity are independently positively associated with national innovation. More importantly, cultural and intra‐cultural variation measures when taken together account for significantly greater variance in levels of national innovation than does national culture when measured separately.
Research limitations/implications
While this study points to the importance of ethno‐linguistic diversity in explaining national levels of innovativeness, there are other measures of within‐country diversity to be explored.
Practical implications
If national culture were the sole factor in innovativeness, then companies would be limited by their host cultural legacies; since within‐country diversity is also associated with innovation, it provides entrepreneurs, government policy makers and executives with important options for increasing innovativeness.
Originality/value
While previous studies pointed to the potential link between ethno‐linguistic diversity and innovation, prior research has generally not taken this variable into account.
Details
Keywords
Gary Dushnitsky and Thomas Klueter
An important precondition for resource redeployment is that firms are aware of the commercial applications for which their resources can be used. We take an inventing-firm…
Abstract
An important precondition for resource redeployment is that firms are aware of the commercial applications for which their resources can be used. We take an inventing-firm perspective and ask: how many new commercial applications will a firm associate with an existing technological invention? We note that both technological and organizational characteristics determine the number of distinct applications firms consider feasible for a given technological invention. In particular, we suggest that inherently fungible technologies, that is, technologies that have a broad impact on other technological fields (highly general technologies), will be associated with a larger set of commercial applications. We also suggest that linking applications to an inherently general technology can be challenging when the technology is already embedded in organizational (commercial) routines. Proprietary data from an online marketplace allow us to investigate the applications firms consider feasible for their technological inventions. In line with extant work, a firm assigns a greater number of applications to more general technologies. As expected, however, this relationship is shaped by how the technology is embedded within the organization. Our results have implications for redeployment as firms may face challenges in the initial step of redeployment when fungible resources need to be linked to emerging market opportunities.
Details
Keywords
Xaver Neumeyer and Andrew C. Corbett
Entrepreneurship ecosystems have become ubiquitous in the discussions around economic growth and new venture creation. Despite growing scholarly interest, however, the theoretical…
Abstract
Entrepreneurship ecosystems have become ubiquitous in the discussions around economic growth and new venture creation. Despite growing scholarly interest, however, the theoretical and conceptual foundations are still rudimentary, causing much debate among researchers and practitioners. At the center of these debates are questions like What are the boundaries of ecosystems? Are ecosystems build from the top-down or from the bottom-up? Or How can we measure the success of ecosystems? In this chapter, we summarize these discussions, present an overview of the existing research, and give an outlook on future directions.