Simona Leonelli, Lea Iaia, Francesca Masciarelli and Demetris Vrontis
This paper analyses how entrepreneurs recognise and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities following a sustainable approach that respects the equilibrium among environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses how entrepreneurs recognise and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities following a sustainable approach that respects the equilibrium among environmental, social and commercial purposes, and how their personality affects this process. The main personality traits focused in this study are narcissism, locus of control and sustainability orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
This single case study involves Essentia Dimora Rurale, a small agritourism business, located in Molise (Italy), characterised by a sustainable business model that generates value for the local environment, thus revitalising abandoned territories. Data are collected using qualitative and quantitative methods and are analysed using the Gioia methodology.
Findings
The Essentia Dimora Rurale's approach is rooted in the concept of sustainability and the development of tourism in the territory. The preservation of traditional values and the creation of a network allow the firm to prosper and survive. The personalities of the two sibling entrepreneurs fuel the process, and the authors show that each personality trait plays a different role in each phase of the firm's growth.
Research limitations/implications
From a theoretical point of view, the study contributes to entrepreneurial, sustainability and personality literature. However, using a single case study can represent a limit for the research.
Practical implications
Various practical implications are recognised concerning several stakeholders, such as the owners and the entities linked to the regional promotion and tourism sectors.
Originality/value
The novelty of the research relies on the importance of entrepreneur opportunity identification, particularly in sustainable firms. Moreover, the authors fill the literature gap investigating the impact of three personality traits in this process.
Details
Keywords
The paper explores the role of narcissism on entrepreneurs' decisions in terms of organizational choices, discussing gender differences. The aim relies in the influence that…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the role of narcissism on entrepreneurs' decisions in terms of organizational choices, discussing gender differences. The aim relies in the influence that entrepreneurs' personality, capabilities and cognitive orientation have in the creation and management of start-ups.
Design/methodology/approach
Analyzing an Italian sample of 207 entrepreneurs and using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and generalized linear model methods, the hypotheses were tested to understand whether and how narcissism affects Research and development (R&D) expenditure, patent ownership and the presence of a specialized team in organizations led by women and men entrepreneurs.
Findings
Differences in the management and organizational choices of narcissistic women entrepreneurs compared to their men counterparts emerged. First, results show that women entrepreneurs are less narcissistic than men. Second, gender is shown to moderate the effect of narcissism on the choice of having a qualified team in a start-up. Third, narcissistic women entrepreneurs were found to engage less in risk-taking activities, such as R&D expenditure, and to patent their ideas more than their male counterparts.
Originality/value
The study expands the existing literature by applying a gendered lens to entrepreneurs' narcissism to investigate whether they behave and manage their start-ups differently.
Details
Keywords
Diego Campagnolo, Catherine Laffineur, Simona Leonelli, Aloña Martiarena, Matthias A. Tietz and Maria Wishart
Against the theoretical backdrop of the embeddedness and the resilience literatures, this paper investigates if and how SMEs' planning for adversity affects firms' performance.
Abstract
Purpose
Against the theoretical backdrop of the embeddedness and the resilience literatures, this paper investigates if and how SMEs' planning for adversity affects firms' performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper develops hypotheses that investigate the link between the risk management of immigrant-led and native-led SMEs and their performance and draw on novel data from a survey on 900 immigrant- and 2,416 native-led SMEs in 5 European cities to test them.
Findings
Immigrant-led SMEs are less likely to implement an adversity plan, especially when they are in an enclave sector. However, adversity planning is important to enhance the growth of immigrant-led businesses, even outside a crisis period, and it reduces the performance gap vis-à-vis native-led businesses. Inversely, the positive association between adversity planning and growth in the sample of native entrepreneurs is mainly driven by entrepreneurs who have experienced a severe crisis in the past.
Originality/value
This paper empirically uses planning for adversity as an anticipation stage of organizational resilience and tests it in the context of immigrant and native-led SMEs. Results support the theoretical reasoning that regularly scanning for threats and seeking information beyond the local community equips immigrant-led SMEs with a broader structural network which translates into new organizational capabilities. Furthermore, results contribute to the process-based view of resilience demonstrating that regularly planning for adversity builds a firm's resilience potential, though the effect is contingent on the nationality of the leaders.
Details
Keywords
Federica Morandi, Simona Leonelli and Fausto Di Vincenzo
Self-efficacy, or a person’s belief in his/her ability to perform specific tasks, has been correlated with workplace performance and role adjustments. Despite its relevance, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-efficacy, or a person’s belief in his/her ability to perform specific tasks, has been correlated with workplace performance and role adjustments. Despite its relevance, and numerous studies of it in the management literature, evidence regarding its function in professionals employed in hybrid roles, such as doctor-managers, is lacking. The aim of this study was to fill this gap by exploring the mediating effect of physicians’ managerial attitude on the relationship between their self-efficacy and workplace performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary and secondary data from 126 doctor-managers were obtained from the Italian National Health Service. A structural equation modeling approach was used for analysis.
Findings
This study’s results provide for the first time empirical evidence about a surprisingly little-analyzed topic: how physicians’ managerial attitude mediates the relationship between their self-efficacy and workplace performance. The study offers important evidence both for scholars and organizations.
Practical implications
This study’s results provide valuable input for the human resources management of hybrid roles in professional-based organizations, suggesting a systematic provision of feedback about doctor-managers’ performance, the adoption of a competence approach for their recruitment, and a new design of doctor-managers’ career paths.
Originality/value
The authors provide new evidence about the importance of managerial traits for accountable healthcare organizations, documenting that behavioral traits of physicians enrolled into managerial roles matter for healthcare organizations success.
Details
Keywords
Simona Leonelli, Francesca Di Pietro and Francesca Masciarelli
Crowdfunding campaigns reflect the personality traits of the entrepreneur, influencing the chances of a successful fundraising. In this study, the authors focus on three different…
Abstract
Crowdfunding campaigns reflect the personality traits of the entrepreneur, influencing the chances of a successful fundraising. In this study, the authors focus on three different entrepreneurs’ personality dark traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Through a text analysis of 338 equity-crowdfunding campaigns in the UK, the authors identified narcissistic expressions used by entrepreneurs in their pitches, and their impact on funding success. The authors found an inverted U-shape relationship between entrepreneurs’ narcissism and the crowdfunding success. On the other hand, entrepreneurs’ psychopathy has a negative linear relationship with crowdfunding success. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature, highlighting the importance of displayed entrepreneurs’ personality traits in engaging with crowd investors.