Navigating institutional challenges in Mexico

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Estrada-Robles ◽  
Nick Williams ◽  
Tim Vorley

Purpose Focusing on the family as the central unit of analysis, the purpose of this paper is to examine how entrepreneurial families, with more than one owner/entrepreneur, utilise social capital in a challenging institutional environment. Design/methodology/approach The empirical focus of this paper is the institutional context of Mexico and how it impacts on entrepreneurial families and their access to social capital. The authors employ an in-depth qualitative approach to understand entrepreneurs’ perspective as being part of an entrepreneurial family. A total of 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted with multiple respondents of each entrepreneurial family. Findings This study shows that social capital allows members in the entrepreneurial family to access a wider pool of resources to utilise to benefit their ventures, while also helping them to operate in a challenging institutional environment. It also illustrates how social capital is used to overcome institutional asymmetries. Originality/value This paper contributes to research by examining the links between institutions and entrepreneurial families through a focus on social capital. It provides a nuanced understanding of how the entrepreneurial family serves as an intermediary through which social capital gives family members access to resources and capabilities to enable their pursuit of entrepreneurial endeavours and overcome the institutional challenges they face in Mexico.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Benavides-Salazar ◽  
Cristina Iturrioz-Landart ◽  
Cristina Aragón-Amonarriz ◽  
Asunción Ibañez-Romero

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how entrepreneurial families (EFs) influence the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) by using the family social capital (FSC) approach. Design/methodology/approach For this paper, the authors analyzed the Manizales EE as a case study. The authors used a variety of data collection procedures, including in-depth interviews with 26 entrepreneurs and mentors. Findings The authors established how EFs affect EE development, identifying how the FSC bridging mechanisms impact the EE’s social and cultural attributes, boosting entrepreneurial dynamics. Originality/value The results indicated the relevance of EFs’ embeddedness and the degree of the FSC institutionalization in promoting of entrepreneurship within the EEs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-402
Author(s):  
Bradley Edward Roberts

Purpose Phenomenology is widely recognised for its power to generate nuanced understanding of lived experience and human existence. However, phenomenology is often made inaccessible to prospective researchers due to its specialised nomenclature and dense philosophical underpinnings. This paper explores the value of the researcher’s lived experience as a pathway into phenomenological inquiry. The purpose of this paper is to improve the accessibility of phenomenology as a method for qualitative analysis. It achieves this by aligning Husserl’s concept of phenomenological epoche, or bracketing of preconceptions, and the author’s lived experience as a practitioner of kendo, or Japanese fencing. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs the narrative vignette as a means of illuminating the intersections between kendo practice and the application of phenomenological epoche as it applies to the understanding of embodied sensemaking. Reflections on the narrative vignette identified a suite of techniques from kendo practice that were applied to a phenomenological approach for critical incident interviews. These techniques were then applied to 30 critical incident, semi-structured interviews as part of a PhD research project into embodied sensemaking. Findings The results from these interviews suggest that the kendo-derived techniques were effective in generating thick narratives from participants during semi-structured interviews. Examination of the results provided insights into the linkage between phenomenology as a continental philosophy and eastern perspectives such as those found within the Zen traditions and other aesthetic practices. Originality/value This research suggests that lived experience such as kendo practice can provide a ready-to-hand pathway to phenomenological inquiry.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 716-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantino García-Ramos ◽  
Nuria Gonzalez-Alvarez ◽  
Mariano Nieto

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of the institutional environment on entrepreneurial failure of certain characteristics, both formal (regulatory complexity and tax pressure) and informal (social capital and fear of failure). Design/methodology/approach The authors use data drawn from a panel of 37 countries over a period of nine years (2006-2014). Findings Results show that the greater the regulatory complexity, the higher the rate of entrepreneurial failure; also that the higher the country’s stock of social capital, the lower the rate of entrepreneurial failure. Finally, the greater the tax pressure, the lower the rate of business failure. Research limitations/implications Among the limitations of this paper is the difficulty of directly measuring the variables it analyses, making it necessary to use proxies. Practical implications This study has important practical implications for policymakers. First, the study provides important insights on how regulatory complexity positively affects entrepreneurial failure. In other words, the study represents a response to the call for the development of a better regulatory environment since this plays a significant role in entrepreneurial failure. Second, regarding tax pressure, the authors found that the greater the tax pressure, the lower the rate of entrepreneurial failure. In this respect, entrepreneurs, academics and policymakers should be aware of this result. Finally, this study also demonstrates the important role of social capital in preventing entrepreneurial failure. Originality/value In line with the findings, this study provides proof of how the institutional framework can have an influence on entrepreneurial failure.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukanya Ayatakshi-Endow ◽  
Jiselle Steele

Purpose This paper aims to explore how women entrepreneurs in Brazil are managing their businesses and gendered role expectations at home in the context of Covid-19. Using the lenses of business-family interface theoretical construct, the paper seeks to explain how women are navigating the business and family commitments in the pandemic context. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts the interpretivist approach using Gioia methodology and 13 individual semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Findings The findings demonstrate that women implement numerous strategies including reliance on social relationships within the family, and externally, to manage the home-business expectations. The findings also reveal entrepreneurial resilience and adaptability in the face of a crisis that marks how women entrepreneurs navigate challenges in their entrepreneurial journeys. Originality/value This paper contributes to the gender and entrepreneurship literature by giving greater visibility to women entrepreneurs in developing society in the context of the pandemic. This paper also demonstrates how negotiating gender roles can empower women entrepreneurs to challenge gendered norms.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin Stoop ◽  
Taco Brandsen ◽  
Jan-Kees Helderman

Purpose Most research into the relationship between social capital and cooperatives takes social capital as the independent variable and the cooperative as the dependent variable, but as yet the authors know little about causality in the other direction. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the cooperative structure helps to maintain organizational social capital. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 46 participants from local banks (chairpersons, directors, managers, team leaders and human resources managers). Findings Although the cooperative structure formally remained in place, integration into financial markets and digitalization effectively disembedded the organization from its original social context. The cooperative model can only remain distinctive, in terms of how it relates to its clients, under certain institutional conditions. Practical implications The findings suggest that scaling, in response to changes in the institutional environment, was an important factor in changing the nature of the organization. Originality/value The paper contributes to the understanding of the social dynamics of cooperatives in the field of financial services.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eman Al-Zyoud ◽  
Mahmoud Maharmeh ◽  
Muayyad Ahmad

Purpose This paper aims to describe and understand the family experience of caregiving to their Alzheimer patients and to explore the impact of caregiving on the family’s caregiver well-being. Design/methodology/approach The study involved eight family caregivers from the outpatient department, specifically from the neurology-medical clinic. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used for data collection through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings Four themes emerged: caregiver perception, tension, the sense of duty and commitment and altruism and sacrifice. The experience of family caregivers was different from their experiences with other chronic illnesses. Originality/value The family caregivers experience new life when providing care to their patients with Alzheimer's. The impact of the process of caregiving on whole life appeared in both positive and negative aspects. The perception and awareness of family caregivers toward Alzheimer’s disease were poor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.M. Wong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the teaching innovations that have been implemented in higher education institutions in Asia and the perspectives of educators on them. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 educators who were affiliated with 23 higher education institutions in ten Asian countries/regions. The interviews covered information about the teaching innovations of the participants’ institutions, the characteristics of the innovative practices and the participants’ views on them. The relationships between the characteristics of institutions and their teaching innovations were also examined. Findings The results showed that the teaching innovations included two main categories, namely, those which involved the use of advanced technologies and those which did not. The innovations that involved the use of advanced technologies were mainly from larger institutions, while the other category was mainly from smaller ones and had been practised for less than 1.5 years. Differences were also identified between the two categories in terms of the aims and importance of innovations, innovative features, the evaluation of innovations and improvements needed for them. Originality/value The results highlighted that technology is only one of the many aspects of teaching innovations, which is different from the view prevailing in the literature. They also suggested that differences in the scale of institutions (in terms of number of students) possibly influences the kind of teaching innovations adopted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (7) ◽  
pp. 2089-2103
Author(s):  
Rosario Michel-Villarreal ◽  
Eliseo Luis Vilalta-Perdomo ◽  
Martin Hingley

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore food producers' motivations and challenges whilst participating in short food supply chains (SFSCs). This paper compares findings with previous literature and investigates the topic in the context of producers' motivations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a literature review concerning producers' motivations to engage in SFSCs. A case study was designed to investigate motivations underlying producers' engagement in SFSCs, as well as the challenges that they face. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a farmers' market located in Mexico. Thematic analysis is used to identify the principal issues for producers'. Propositions based on findings are presented.FindingsFindings suggest that small, large, part-time and full-time producers are willing to engage with farmers' markets for diverse primary economic and non-economic motivations. Individual and collective challenges were also identified.Originality/valueThis research helps to explain producers' motivations and challenges within SFSCs in an under-researched context, namely a focus on producers' and in the Global South.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Simons ◽  
Jos Benders ◽  
Jochen Bergs ◽  
Wim Marneffe ◽  
Dominique Vandijck

Purpose – Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Findings – Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions. Practical implications – Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions. Originality/value – Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Arar ◽  
Izhar Oplatka

Purpose It is widely accepted that educational leaders and teachers need to manage and regulate their emotions continually, mainly because schooling and teaching processes expose many emotions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to trace the ways Israeli assistant principals, both Arab and Jewish, manage their emotions at work. Design/methodology/approach Based on semi-structured interviews with 15 assistant principals, it was found that they are required to manage their emotions in accordance with entrenched emotion rules in the culture and society. Findings Most of the Jewish female APs tend to display warmth and empathy toward teachers in order to better understand their personal needs and professional performances. In contrast, Arab APs suppressed or fabricated emotional expression in their discourse with teachers and parents, in order to maintain a professional façade and retain the internal cohesion of the school. Both groups of APs believed their emotion regulation results in higher level of harmony in the school. Empirical and practical suggestions are put forward. Originality/value The paper is original and contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge.


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