Support Organizations and Remediating the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Case Study of St. Louis

Author(s):  
Karren K. Watkins ◽  
Banu Ozkazanc-Pan ◽  
Susan Clark Muntean ◽  
Yasuyuki Motoyama
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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
pp. 1252-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip T. Roundy

Purpose The formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems is recognized as an activity that can produce economic development and community revitalization. Social entrepreneurship is also an activity that is receiving growing attention because of its potential for addressing social and economic problems. However, while scholars have focused on how the participants in entrepreneurial ecosystems, such as investors and support organizations, influence ecosystem functioning, it is not clear what role social entrepreneurs can play in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Nor is it known how the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which social entrepreneurs are located can influence the founding and operation of their ventures. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In this conceptual paper, theory is proposed to explain the interrelationship between entrepreneurial ecosystems and social entrepreneurship. Findings It is theorized that entrepreneurial ecosystems will influence the operations and effectiveness of social entrepreneurs through mechanisms such as the ecosystem’s diversity of resource providers, support infrastructure, entrepreneurial culture, and learning opportunities. In turn, social entrepreneurs can shape the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which they are situated by influencing the heterogeneity of ecosystem participants, garnering attention for the ecosystem, and increasing its attractiveness to stakeholders. Originality/value Scholars examining entrepreneurial ecosystems have not studied the role of an increasingly important market actor: the social entrepreneur. At the same time, work on social entrepreneurship has not emphasized the community of social relations and cultural milieu in which social entrepreneurs found their ventures. The theory developed addresses both of these omissions and has important implications for practitioners focused on spurring entrepreneurial ecosystems and social entrepreneurship.


Author(s):  
M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández

The research question in this chapter is whether clusters are good entrepreneurial ecosystems to enhance social and responsible behavior in SMEs at regional level. We will address institutional efforts in Corporate Social Responsibility carried out in the Autonomous Region of Extremadura in Spain as case study because the regional government, with the aim of promoting business cooperation to enhance competitiveness, decided to develop a clustering policy for SMEs in the region. Additionally, since 2010 the region has developed its own plan for the promotion of responsibility at regional level. To answer the question we have carried out focus groups with representative businesses´ managers belonging to the existing and operative clusters in Extremadura at the moment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7476
Author(s):  
Sara Belisari ◽  
Daniele Binci ◽  
Andrea Appolloni

This paper aims to analyze e-procurement adoption projects with specific focus on the Italian market. E-procurement adoption is critical for organizations, both for its internal efficiency and for the deep impact on sustainability issues. E-procurement adoption, however, is a complex journey as its implementation deals with various obstacles and the adoption costs can limit the overall organizational performance. Advisory services can support organizations in reaching the overall benefits of the e-procurement solution also by reducing the setbacks related to low technology literacy of end-users. Accordingly, we analyze adoption of e-procurement, its main variables and outputs, by focusing on a comparative case study based on an exploratory-inductive investigation of two Italian leading providers. The data have been collected through primary (semistructured interviews) and secondary (companies’ internal documents and companies’ websites) sources. Results highlight that when firms decide to adopt e-procurement, advisory services have an enabling role that can support them into implementation, and particularly for overcoming barriers and helping them to achieve the expected benefits.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
Angelina M. Gomez

The underrepresentation of female Administrators in higher education is not decreasing even though education continues to be a field dominated by women. The overall percentage of women leading colleges and universities in the United States remains disproportionately low at 26%. This ambiguous case study examines whether or not the Higher Education Administration continues to perpetuate gender inequalities through simplistic and, often times, unconscious hiring and mentoring practices scaffolding upon good intentions.


Author(s):  
Philip Rosson ◽  
Carolan McLarney

This chapter examines a nascent biotechnology cluster in a city that lies outside Canada’s industrial heartland. The purpose of the study was to focus attention on the nature of cluster development in peripheral regions. The research findings reveal that many support services are provided to Halifax-based biotechnology companies and made use of by companies. However, barriers to development still exist, and support organizations and companies are not certain that a cluster truly exists in Halifax at this time. What results is a case study of a cluster at an early stage in its development cycle and in a peripheral region. The authors encourage other researchers to examine cluster development outside of major industrial centers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 526-543
Author(s):  
Isabell Loeschner

Purpose Given the reality of expectations of constant connectivity with work anytime, anywhere, this paper aims to investigate the gendered implications of these new expectations in the workplace focusing on the gender gap in work connectivity as well as the reasons behind it. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a large cross-national mixed methods study, using a quantitative survey within one multinational technology company (N = 7,256) and 69 in-depth interviews with female employees from five different countries all employed by the case study organization, exploring the extent and reasons behind the gender gap in work connectivity. Findings New communication technologies enable us to work temporally and spatially flexibly by providing us the opportunity for constant work connectivity from anywhere, anytime. This paper finds that women across a diverse set of cultural backgrounds reject the possibility for work connectivity significantly more often than their male peers leading to a gender gap in connectivity and it brings to the fore how and why women negotiate their level of connectivity as they do. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing work-family-balance and gender workplace study literatures by statistically and qualitatively expanding our knowledge on the gender gap in work connectivity across multiple countries and cultural contexts and by dismantling a further mechanism that leads to the glass ceiling.


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