Public policies for entrepreneurship and internationalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 975-995
Author(s):  
João Campos ◽  
Vitor Braga ◽  
Aldina Correia

Purpose The main concern of policymakers is to avoid the problems resulting from the economic crisis. One way to avoid these problems is to stimulate economic growth, as well as the economic activity, needed to reduce unemployment and increase well-being. Recent academic literature shows entrepreneurship as a key factor to increase economic growth, so it is important to understand a set of concepts related to this topic and their relevance to the economic growth of these firms. The purpose of this paper is to analyse some concepts about public policies associated with entrepreneurship and the internationalization processes of firms. Design/methodology/approach The findings result from a number of multivariate techniques based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 survey. Findings The data allowed calculating a coherence index that shows that respondents tend to associate the different responses, which suggests that there is a reputation effect when experts evaluate public policies. Research limitations/implications This paper takes advantages of one of the GEM limitations, i.e. data refer to perceptions, rather than on real data, to explore how different countries see a more or less dispersed perception of public policies effectiveness. Practical implications This paper informs policymaking and sheds light into the importance of building on a reputation to make policies more effective. Originality/value The coherence index developed in this paper is an original contribution, based on the dispersion of experts' perceptions on the effectiveness of public policies.

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cary Bennett

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how school-based drug education programmes in Australia have sought to reduce adolescent drug use. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on insights from Foucault's later works and writers on governmentality, the paper considers how, through the use of various technologies, techniques and strategies, students have been encouraged to problematise their understanding of self by way of a series of choices they are required to make in relation to recreational drug use. Findings – Drugs are positioned as a key factor in the psychic and social well-being of youths insofar as their health and personal happiness is said to depend on the decisions they make concerning their use of drugs. In the process, moral and political objectives are met as students internalise norms, values and objectives consonant with a self-disciplined, self-governing society. Practical implications – By bringing into question school-based drug education, a space is created for further discussions around this historically controversial strategy. Social implications – What is common to all school-based drug education programmes is that the problem is conceptualised in terms of individual and interpersonal deficiencies or inadequacies. Conceptualised thus, both the problem and the solution lay with the individual; it is the individual who must change. Originality/value – The focus of this paper has not been on why school-based drug education is needed or how to improve it (the focus of most research on the subject), but rather on the methods employed to influence student use of recreational drugs. By identifying how school-based drug education has sought to shape student subjectivities, this paper has exposed specific moral and political dimensions of the project.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Rindell ◽  
Tore Strandvik ◽  
Kristoffer Wilén

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore ethical consumers' brand avoidance. The study contributes to brand-avoidance research by exploring what role consumers' ethical concerns play in their brand avoidance. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach is adopted by interviewing 15 active members of organizations that represent ethical concerns for the well-being of animals, the environment and humans. Findings – The study indicates that consumers with a strong value-based perspective on consumption (such as ethical consumers) may reject brands in two different but interrelated ways. In essence, the study reveals characteristics of brand avoidance that have not been discussed in earlier research, in terms of two dimensions: persistency (persistent vs temporary) and explicitness (explicit vs latent). Practical implications – The study shows the importance of considering the phenomenon of brand avoidance, as it may reveal fundamental challenges in the market. These challenges may relate to consumer values that have not been regarded as important or that have been thought of as relating only to a specific group of consumers. Originality/value – The ethical consumers' views represent new insights into understanding brand avoidance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore Van Gorp ◽  
Smaranda Boroş ◽  
Piet Bracke ◽  
Peter A.J. Stevens

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how repatriates’ emotional support network affects their experience of re-entry. Design/methodology/approach This inductive, qualitative study is based on 27 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Belgian organizational repatriates. Findings The analyses suggest that expatriation empathy is a key attribute of organizational repatriates’ main emotional support providers. In addition, the results show that although partners are a main source of emotional support on re-entry, they are also important potential causes of distress. Lastly, the results suggest that the cultural diversity of a repatriate’s emotional support network is linked with characteristics of the assignment and that it affects the experience of repatriation. Research limitations/implications The results provide empirical evidence that the expatriation empathy of repatriates’ support providers is a more informative characteristic to consider compared with whether they have personal experience of expatriation. In addition, the results suggest that research should also take into account the negative side of social support, and, for example, consider the influence of crossover distress of partners who experience relocation difficulties themselves. Practical implications This study points to the possible benefits of organizing social activities or training for repatriates and their partner and any children, as well as the advantages of encouraging expatriates to invite home-country friends to visit. Originality/value Although most scholars agree on the importance of support for expatriates’ well-being, the sources of relevant emotional support have received little research attention so far, as has how this influences the repatriation experience.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Seymour ◽  
Michael Murray

Purpose There is increasing evidence that participation in various art forms can be beneficial for health and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of participating in a poetry reading group on a group of older residents of an assisted living facility. Design/methodology/approach Six poetry sessions, each on a different theme, were conducted with a group of volunteer participants. These sessions, those of pre- and post-study focus groups and interviews with the group facilitator and staff contact were audio-recorded. The transcripts of the recordings were then subjected to a thematic analysis. Findings Overall the participants were enthused by the opportunity to participate in the project and the benefits were confirmed by the support staff. In addition, reading poetry on particular themes promoted different types of discussion. Research limitations/implications The number of participants in this study was small and the study was conducted over a short period of time. Practical implications This paper confirms the impact of poetry reading for older people. The challenge is to explore this impact in more detail and over community as well as residential settings. Originality/value This paper is the first empirical report on the value of poetry reading for older people.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vartika Kapoor ◽  
Jaya Yadav ◽  
Lata Bajpai ◽  
Shalini Srivastava

PurposeThe present study examines the mediating role of teleworking and the moderating role of resilience in explaining the relationship between perceived stress and psychological well-being of working mothers in India. Conservation of resource theory (COR) is taken to support the present study.Design/methodology/approachThe data of 326 respondents has been collected from working mothers in various sectors of Delhi NCR region of India. Confirmatory factor analysis was used for construct validity, and SPSS Macro Process (Hayes) was used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsThe results of the study found an inverse association between perceived stress and psychological well-being. Teleworking acted as a partial mediator and resilience proved to be a significant moderator for teleworking-well-being relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based at Delhi NCR of India, and future studies may be based on a diverse population within the country to generalize the findings in different cultural and industrial contexts. The present work is based only on the psychological well-being of the working mothers, it can be extended to study the organizational stress for both the genders and other demographic variables.Practical implicationsThe study extends the research on perceived stress and teleworking by empirically testing the association between perceived stress and psychological well-being in the presence of teleworking as a mediating variable. The findings suggest some practical implications for HR managers and OD Practitioners. The organizations must develop a plan to support working mothers by providing flexible working hours and arranging online stress management programs for them.Originality/valueAlthough teleworking is studied previously, there is a scarcity of research examining the impact of teleworking on psychological well-being of working mothers in Asian context. It would help in understanding the process that how teleworking has been stressful for working mothers and also deliberate the role of resilience in the relationship between teleworking and psychological well-being due to perceived stress, as it seems a ray of hope in new normal work situations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atmadeep Mukherjee ◽  
Amaradri Mukherjee ◽  
Pramod Iyer

Purpose Food waste is a big problem where millions of pounds of produce are discarded every year because they are imperfect or unattractive. Despite the societal implications of selling unattractive produce, limited research has been directed toward understanding the effect of imperfect produce on consumers’ evaluations of the produce and retailer outcomes. This paper aims to investigate why consumers tend to discard imperfect produce and how retailer interventions (i.e. anthropomorphized signage and packaging) can alleviate these negative effects. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments were conducted to examine the postulations. Study 1 highlights the role of consumers’ embarrassment in the purchase decision of imperfect produce and retailer patronage intention. Studies 2 and 3 provide managerially relevant boundary conditions of anthropomorphic signage and opaque packaging. Findings Convergent results across three studies (n = 882) indicate that imperfect produce increases purchase embarrassment and reduces purchase intention and retailer patronage intention. Retailer interventions (i.e. anthropomorphic signage and opaque packaging) can allay this feeling of embarrassment and lead to an increased retailer patronage intention and higher service satisfaction. Practical implications This research provides guidance to retailers for effectively promoting imperfect produce. Social implications Retailers’ actions can benefit the well-being of farmers, suppliers, customers and the overall environment. Originality/value This research adds to the literature on unattractive produce by identifying new moderators, namely, anthropomorphic signages and opaque packaging. The research also shows that purchase embarrassment is a key process mechanism.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Thi Thuy Ho ◽  
Hung Trong Hoang ◽  
Pi-Shen Seet ◽  
Janice Jones ◽  
Nhat Tan Pham

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees who have studied and/or worked abroad and then returned to work in different types of international workplaces in their home country.Design/methodology/approachA survey of professional accounting returnees in Vietnam was undertaken and multiple regression analysis was applied to test the proposed relationships.FindingsThis study finds that career satisfaction is affected by career fit, career sacrifice, types of international workplaces (domestically headquartered firms versus globally headquartered firms) and cross-cultural work readjustment. Further, cross-cultural work readjustment partially mediates the effect of career fit and career sacrifice on career satisfaction.Practical implicationsThe research provides the basis for designing career-related employee experiences to support career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees.Originality/valueThis study integrates dimensions of career embeddedness with cross-cultural work readjustment and employee experiences, which are normally studied separately, in different types of international workplaces. It contributes to the limited research on contributors to well-being in the form of career satisfaction among professional returnees in an emerging economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman ◽  
Khalid Latif ◽  
Muhammad Mohsin ◽  
Zahid Hussain ◽  
Sajjad Ahmad Baig ◽  
...  

PurposeThe basic intention of this research is to investigate the role of information transparency of financial institutions and psychological attitude of the individuals toward their attention to saving and borrowing. This study also tries to know how an individual's psychological factor affects a person's attitude to motivate them to save or borrow and contribute to well-being by giving them confidence that they can face financial challenges. So, the main concern of this study is to explore different factors that ultimately contribute to the financial well-being (FWB) of individual.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted by using a well-structured questionnaire to collect data and test the developed hypotheses by using SmartPLS. Data were collected from 120 customers of seven different commercial banks in Pakistan.FindingsThe findings of this study show that perceived information transparency positively affects FWB. It is also because transparent shared information creates positive change in individuals' perceived self-efficacy and leads to FWB. Furthermore, an individual's psychological attitude toward borrowing and saving did not contribute to the FWB of people who belong to Pakistan.Research limitations/implicationsThe research area is limited to one city of Pakistan and analysis is done with small numbers of sample, it can be increased and more areas can be explored.Practical implicationsThis research provides significant implications for people and economists by providing awareness about the antecedents of FWB. The policymakers or managers who work in financial institutions should provide more transparent information and create less risky opportunities to improve the individual's well-being. If person, manager and financial institution can properly utilize the information of this study, then they are able to improve their FWB. By providing more transparent services and favorable experience with your dealings, it could help to obtain and retain more loyal internal (employees) and external customers. The loyal customers and sincere employees can increase the productivity level of organization. The more productive organizations in countries means better society and progress in the economy.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the body of knowledge that how perceived information transparency and psychological attitude of borrowing create improvement and upward changes in the FWB of a person.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinyun Duan ◽  
Macy Wong ◽  
Yumeng Yue

PurposeResearch examining the effect of helping on outcomes related to helpers has gained some mixed results. The purpose of this paper is to reconcile such inconsistency by understanding the multi-dimensional nature of helping behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first develop a helping behavior scale that differentiates between the proactive and reactive form of helping. Furthermore, the authors also examined whether these two forms of helping are differently related to employees’ well-being. Data were collected from 448 employees and their immediate supervisors working in different organizations in the South Jiangsu province, in which the authors examined the main relationship and also explored the mediating effect of meaningfulness.FindingsResults provided corroborating evidence that helping behavior was a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of proactive and reactive dimensions. Furthermore, the authors are also able to support discriminatory validity between these two dimensions by showing that they are differently related to employees’ well-being.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to management practice by specifying the benefits and detriments of different kinds of helping behaviors.Originality/valueThe findings of this study do not only provide ideas to explain contradictions in the effect of helping behaviors on helpers themselves, but also deepens scholars’ knowledge and understanding toward helping behavior.


Author(s):  
Dave Valliere

Purpose This paper aims to explore cultural attitudes and beliefs about entrepreneurship in the southwestern region of Cameroon. This study also identifies the existence of subcultural variations with important implications for the development of entrepreneurial activities in Cameroon. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the hybrid qualitative/quantitative Q methodology to survey and analyze a purposively diverse sample of individuals and thereby discover subcultural structures and patterns to the attitudes and beliefs that exist in Cameroonian culture. Findings This study discovers three distinct subcultures that differ significantly in their attitudes and beliefs about entrepreneurship. These subcultures can neither be predicted from commonly used national measures of cultures, such as those of Hofstede, nor are they directly attributable to regional effects. Research limitations/implications The author calls into question the continuing use of national culture as a construct in explaining and predicting entrepreneurial activities, through discovery of subcultures at odds with national measures. Further research should be undertaken to assess the prevalence within Cameroonian society of the three widely different subcultures identified here. Practical implications This paper highlights the importance of incorporating subcultural variations in attitudes and beliefs (whether regional, tribal or other) in the development and implementation of public policies to affect national entrepreneurship. Originality/value The paper applies a novel methodology to qualitatively explore the subjective variations in the meaning and value of entrepreneurship in Cameroonian society, and to quantitatively develop a structure or typology to these variations.


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