Religion and entrepreneurship in New Zealand

Author(s):  
Peter Carswell ◽  
Deborah Rolland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship and whether religious practice impacts on how individuals view the individual and societal contribution of business enterprise. As ethnic diversity is increasing within the Western world, so too is the religious mix of value systems and religious belief systems that come with such diversity/religions. Paralleling increasing diversity is the decreasing participation rates in the traditional Christian churches. The paper questions the impact of this changing religious mix on entrepreneurial participation and perception.Design/methodology/approachA total of 2,000 randomly‐selected New Zealanders were telephone‐surveyed to measure their perceptions of individual and societal impacts of entrepreneurial participation and religious practice.FindingsThe findings indicate that increasing ethnic diversity and associated religious value systems are certainly not going to negatively reduce the business start‐up rate. If anything, the start‐up rate may be enhanced.Originality/valueThe paper shows that the value that New Zealand society places upon entrepreneurship is not diminished by the increasing religious diversity in the country.

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 888-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Dilmaghani

Purpose – Does religiosity impact wages differently for males and females? Does the impact on wage of different dimensions of religiosity, namely the importance of religion, the frequency of religious practice with others and individually, differ for men and women? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using the Canadian Ethnic Diversity Survey, made public in 2004, this paper investigates whether there are evidences for a gender difference in the impact of religiosity on wage. A Mincerean wage regression is estimated using both multiple linear regression and Heckit. Findings – Religious females are found to receive a premium over their labour earnings, through the frequency of private-prayer while the same dimension of religiosity penalizes males’ mean wage. The by-gender impact slightly widens for the subsample of employees, while it diminishes for the self-employed. Research limitations/implications – Making use of the most comprehensive data set available and standard methodology, the paper creates stylized facts that are of interest to the scholars of a multiplicity of disciplines. Practical implications – It advances the body of knowledge about the impact of religiosity on productivity and whether it has a by-gender component. Social implications – The research also informs policy-makers in their decision about the appropriate level of accommodation of religiosity in the workplace. Originality/value – The present work is the first research paper examining the by-gender impact of different dimensions of religiosity on productivity thereby wage.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine if and how entrepreneurial assistance programs, through guided preparation, affect start-up success. Design/methodology/approach –This study uses Heckman's two-stage sample selection model to predict the effect of contact and interactions with entrepreneurial support programs on start-up outcomes while taking into account the entrepreneur's self-selection into obtaining support from these programs. Findings – The results indicate that, after controlling for individual characteristics, activities undertaken during the start-up process, organizational characteristics and external factors, guided preparation contributes to a greater likelihood of achieving positive start-up outcome. This finding holds even after controlling for the entrepreneur's self-selection into contacting and using outside assistance. Research limitations/implications – Results suggest that self-selection bias remains a concern when studying the impact of assistance programs on start-up outcomes. Future research should make sure to address self-selection in their analysis. Practical implications – The study's results have implications for the design of start-up programs. It highlights the importance of delivery structures that are fluid, flexible, interactive, experiential, and tailored to the individual entrepreneur's needs. Originality/value – This study focusses on assistance programs broadly defined (includes many different types of programs) and provides an empirical analysis that addresses self-selection.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei-yung Leung ◽  
Chen Dongyu ◽  
Anita M.M. Liu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of personal values on students’ learning behaviours. Hong Kong construction students are often criticized, by both practitioners and educators, as rote learners. To improve students’ learning processes, extensive research on a variety of aspects of construction education has been conducted. However, limited attention has been paid to the influence of personal values on students’ learning behaviours. The impact of personal value factors on the learning approaches of Chinese construction students in Hong Kong is investigated. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted to ethically Chinese construction students in four universities in Hong Kong. A total of 820 questionnaires were distributed and 431 valid returns were collected. Findings – The survey identified six influential values (namely, personal integrity, conservatism, determination, discipline, interpersonal relationships, and achievement), and shows that students who emphasize the virtues of personal integrity, determination, and a positive attitude toward achievement are better able to handle their interpersonal relationships, which will eventually lead them to engage in deep learning. Originality/value – Work to develop appropriate value systems is thus recommended in freshmen courses, as is the use of cooperative learning approaches. Such value systems will have a long-term influence on the learning approaches of construction students.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 517-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wadid Lamine ◽  
Sarfraz Mian ◽  
Alain Fayolle

Purpose – This paper seeks to advance ongoing research in entrepreneurial perseverance. While the concept of perseverance is not new, few researchers paid attention to behavioural persistence in the entrepreneurial context. The purpose of this paper is to explore the emergence of new technology based firms (NTBF) by focusing on the role of nascent entrepreneurs’ social skills in the meeting the changes of entrepreneurial perseverance. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper the authors study the start-up phase of entrepreneurial process. The authors opted for a longitudinal case study approach in order to enhance the knowledge on entrepreneurs’ social skills and perseverance. For triangulation purpose the data were gathered using four different information sources. The use of Nvivo8 as the data analysis tool helped to impose a discipline and structure which facilitated the extraction of core insights. Findings – This paper contributes to the understanding of the entrepreneurial perseverance in the context of new venture creation. Particularly, reading the entrepreneurial process through the lens of the perseverance strategies model (Van Gelderen, 2012) provided a way to identify and then to assess the impact of the social skills on the overall entrepreneurial perseverance and their combined impact on the performance of NTBF creation process. In doing so, the authors identify the impact of entrepreneurs’ social skills to deal with a series of entrepreneurial problems such as scarcity of resources, uncertainty and ambiguity and consequently their impact on the likelihood of survival for new ventures. The issues that arose mostly reflected the inherent complexity of technology transfer processes, the university and entrepreneurs’ diverging cultures, and the very characteristics of the start-up phase of NTBFs. The findings reveal how social skills impact the entrepreneurial paths and probable outcomes. Research limitations/implications – This paper contributes to the understanding of the entrepreneurial perseverance in the context of NTBF creation. The findings reveal how social skills and perseverance impact the entrepreneurial paths and probable outcomes. Practical implications – The paper has implications for entrepreneurial support mechanisms such as technology business incubators in helping them to improve the efficacy and efficiency of their assistance to entrepreneurs through the development of their skill-sets and perseverance and providing enabling networking. In addition, the research has implications for entrepreneurship education and training. Indeed, there is an urgent need to design and implement courses and programs aiming at developing soft skills in entrepreneurship. Originality/value – In exploring networking and issues of perseverance for nascent entrepreneurs operating in new technology-based sectors, which the authors consider as an under searched area in entrepreneurial literature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 791-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zilia Iskoujina ◽  
Joanne Roberts

Purpose – This paper aims to add to the understanding of knowledge sharing in online communities through an investigation of the relationship between individual participant’s motivations and management in open source software (OSS) communities. Drawing on a review of literature concerning knowledge sharing in organisations, the factors that motivate participants to share their knowledge in OSS communities, and the management of such communities, it is hypothesised that the quality of management influences the extent to which the motivations of members actually result in knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – To test the hypothesis, quantitative data were collected through an online questionnaire survey of OSS web developers with the aim of gathering respondents’ opinions concerning knowledge sharing, motivations to share knowledge and satisfaction with the management of OSS projects. Factor analysis, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the survey data. Findings – The analysis of the data reveals that the individual participant’s satisfaction with the management of an OSS project is an important factor influencing the extent of their personal contribution to a community. Originality/value – Little attention has been devoted to understanding the impact of management in OSS communities. Focused on OSS developers specialising in web development, the findings of this paper offer an important original contribution to understanding the connections between individual members’ satisfaction with management and their motivations to contribute to an OSS project. The findings reveal that motivations to share knowledge in online communities are influenced by the quality of management. Consequently, the findings suggest that appropriate management can enhance knowledge sharing in OSS projects and online communities, and organisations more generally.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Maritz ◽  
Quan Nguyen ◽  
Sergey Ivanov

PurposeDespite the significance, university student start-ups and student entrepreneurship ecosystems (SEEs) have been subject to little research. This study aims to apply a qualitative emergent enquiry approach to explore best practice SEEs in Australia, complimented by narratives from leading scholars in higher education institutions with the aim of delineating the integrative components of SEEs.Design/methodology/approachAdopting the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework and aligned to the social cognitive theory, this paper explores the components and dynamics of SEEs, contributing to an understanding of how such components can better support the growth, sustainability and success of student start-ups. The authors extend entrepreneurship research on social construction using narrative research.FindingsThe findings provide guidelines for researchers, entrepreneurship scholars and educators, entrepreneurship students, policymakers and practitioners to enhance the impact and success of university student start-ups by adopting a student ecosystem approach.Research limitations/implicationsThe narratives represent a limited number of universities with an opportunity for further research to empirically measure the impact and outcomes of SEEs. The research is exploratory, inherently conceptual and emergent, providing an opportunity for validation of narrative frameworks in future studies.Practical implicationsThe findings may assist university managers to be more aware of their own subconscious preferences to student entrepreneurship and start-up initiatives, which may be useful in refining their impact and offerings regarding a quest toward the entrepreneurial university.Social implicationsFrom social perspectives, the alignment of the components of SEE has the ability to enhance and shift the entrepreneurial mindset of entrepreneurship students, notwithstanding enhancement of intentionality and self-efficacy.Originality/valueThis is the first study of SEEs in Australia, highlighting the importance of the integration of entrepreneurship education programs, entrepreneurship education ecosystems, the entrepreneurial university and specific start-up initiatives such as university accelerators. Furthermore, students may enhance their entrepreneurial mindset by actively engaging in such ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Kathryn Cyrus

Purpose Overview of coaching for recovery. The paper aims to show an overview of work that was carried out over 11 years with groups of mental health and physical staff. As the facilitator who had run this course for the duration in Nottingham, this was an excellent opportunity to be at the forefront of a brand new project. Design/methodology/approach The introduction of the skills are taught over two consecutive days followed by a further day a month later. The idea of coaching is to be enabled to find the answers in themselves by the use of powerful questions and using the technique of the grow model, combined with practice enables the brain to come up with its own answers. Using rapport and enabling effective communication to deliver the outcome. Findings Evidence from staff/clients and the purpose of the paper shows that when you step back it allows the individual patients/staff to allow the brain to process to create to come up with their solutions, which then helps them to buy into the process and creates ownership. Research limitations/implications The evidence suggests that the approach that was there prior to the course was very much a clinical approach to working with clients and treating the person, administering medication and not focussing on the inner person or personal recovery. The staff review has shown that in the clinical context change is happening from the inside out. Practical implications “Helps change culture”; “change of work practice”; “it changed staff focus – not so prescriptive”; “powerful questions let clients come to their own conclusions”; “coaching gives the ability to find half full. Helps to offer reassurance and to find one spark of hope”. Social implications This has shown that the approach is now person-centred/holistic. This has been the “difference that has made the difference”. When this paper looks at the issues from a different angle in this case a coaching approach, applying technique, knowledge and powerful questions the results have changed. The same clients, same staff and same problems but with the use of a different approach, there is the evidence of a different outcome, which speaks for itself. The coaching method is more facilitative, therefore it illicit’s a different response, and therefore, result. Originality/value The results/evidence starts with the individual attending and their commitment to the process over the two-day course. Then going away for the four weeks/six for managers and a commitment again to practice. Returning to share the impact if any with the group. This, in turn, helps to inspire and gain motivation from the feedback to go back to work invigorated to keep going.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 872-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongli Wang

Purpose Creativity itself does not necessarily lead to idea implementation. The purpose of this paper is to deeply understand the impact of the individual culture value orientation on employees’ motivation on whether they want to push creative ideas into implementation. Design/methodology/approach In this study, drawing on socially desirable responding (SDR) theory, the author reasons that individual value on power distance and superficial harmony and that these two factors interact to influence employees transform their creativity into implementation. The author argues that prevalence of the failure where creativity cannot be transformed into implementation results from the lack of understanding for two elusive individual culture value orientations: individual superficial harmony orientations (ISHO) and individual power distance orientations (IPDO). Data from 66 middle managers and 301 members of five high-tech firms provide a considerable support for the hypothesized model. Findings The results showed that individuals were able to improve the possibility of putting their creative ideas into practice when they are both lower in IPDO and ISHO. Originality/value Such findings help the author to understand how individual cultural value orientation complements each other to generate joint impact on the relationship between their creative ideas to idea implementation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hogan ◽  
Daniel Huerta

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between gender and ethnic diversity in managerial positions and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) operating performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ two-stage Heckman correction models on an unbalanced panel of US Equity REITs for the time period from 2000 to 2015. The second-stage model uses multiple operating performance measures regressed on a dichotomous variable that indicates if the REIT promotes diversity in middle management in addition to a vector of control variables. Findings The results indicate that REITs that promote diversity in middle management with profit-and-loss responsibilities have lower operating performance than comparable counterparts. That is, gender and demographic diversity is negatively related to REIT performance as measured by return on assets, return on equity and funds from operations. Practical implications The analysis indicates that while gender and ethnic diversity is socially responsible and may provide many benefits, diversity among managers and decision makers has to be carefully implemented in order to achieve positive financial results. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by investigating whether diversity in leading managerial positions, other than in top officer ranks and on the board of directors, have an impact on REIT operating performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 892-906
Author(s):  
David A. Gilliam ◽  
Teresa Preston ◽  
John R. Hall

Purpose Narratives are central to consumers’ understanding of brands especially during change. The financial crisis that began in 2008 offered a changing marketplace from which to develop two managerially useful frameworks of consumer narratives. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Consumer focus groups, interviews with bankers and qualitative consumer surveys were used to gather consumers’ narratives about retail banking. The narratives were examined through frameworks from both the humanities and psychology (narrative identity). Findings The individual consumer narratives were used to create first a possible cultural narrative or bird’s eye view and later archetypal narratives of groups of consumers for a ground-level view of the changing marketplace. Research limitations/implications Like all early research, the findings must be examined in other contexts to improve generalizability. Practical implications The narrative results revealed the impact of change on consumers’ identities, views of other entities and retail banking activity to yield managerially actionable information for segmentation, target marketing, branding and communication. Originality/value Frameworks are developed for consumer narratives which are shown to be useful tools in examining consumers’ reactions to changing markets and in formulating marketing responses.


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