scholarly journals A Six-Sigma DMAIC Approach to Improve the Sales Process of a Technology Start-Up

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1487-1517
Author(s):  
Desy Wartati ◽  
Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes ◽  
Marcos Dieste ◽  
Simon Peter Nadeem ◽  
Rohit Joshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Process Improvement ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Statistical Validation ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Sales Process ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Service Sectors ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
The One ◽  
Start Ups

Despite the adoption of Six-Sigma in different service sectors, its application in the Sales function of a Technology-based Start-up has not been explored. This paper deploys an action research-based study methodology and conducts a thorough analysis of a Technology Start-up company in Indonesia, using Six-Sigma principles and the Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC) approach. Statistical validation of the causes of problems helped to formulate a strategy that may have otherwise not been possible. The results of the study and proposed solutions confirm the potential benefits of adopting Six-Sigma in the Sales function of technology start-ups to reduce, particularly, customer waiting time. The novelty of this research lies in the fact that it applies Six-Sigma in a transactional process such as sales, which earlier studies have not explored in depth. This paper can be employed as a reference for organisations to undertake and guide specific process improvement projects similar to the one presented.

scholarly journals Comparing Bootstrapping High-Tech Start-Up Companies in the West and in a Transition Country

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14
Author(s):  
Dragana Popovic Renella ◽  
Vojin Senk ◽  
Fuada Stankovic
Keyword(s):  
Essential Feature ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Information Feedback ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Transition Country ◽  
The West ◽  
Start Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Start Ups

This is a study of the process of the development of high-tech start-up companies through the mechanisms of bootstrapping in two extremely different environments: the one of highly industrialized countries, such as USA and Switzerland; the other of Serbia, which is a post-communist transition country with particular difficulties. The research method is the analysis of case studies. One case study of US and two of Swiss start-ups build the base for the analysis. All three cases show common patterns: from the very beginning, these companies sell R&D services in their fields of expertise; and using the cash from these early sales, and the information feedback from cooperation with the early customers, they develop their resources and, eventually, also their own high-tech products. The essential feature of this process is the selling of R&D services and the first products in the neighborhoods. Then also two cases of high-tech start-ups from Serbia are analyzed. Both Serbian start-ups are founded in partnership with small high-tech companies from highly industrialized countries (Switzerland and Germany). The Western partners use their reputations and contacts to enable the early sales of the Serbian start-ups in the industrialized countries. This is crucial for the Serbian start-ups, because they have no domestic market for R&D services. Apart of this element, all other essential patterns of the Serbian cases are very similar to those of the Western cases.

scholarly journals Open accelerators for start-ups success: a case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Battistella ◽  
Alberto F. De Toni ◽  
Elena Pessot
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Open Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Start Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Innovation Practices ◽  
Start Ups

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the context of open innovation offered by accelerators can affect the successful growth of start-ups. The authors explore accelerators practices and tools in sustaining start-ups and increasing survival probability in their innovation process, with the aim of addressing the following research question: how can start-ups benefit from participation in an accelerator programme from an open innovation perspective? Design/methodology/approach A review of the literature on start-up successes and failures and on major practices in the open innovation paradigm was carried out, delineating them in the context of accelerators. Given the absence of literature on accelerator practices for supporting start-ups, and aiming at a comprehensive understanding of how the open environment within the accelerator influences a start-up’s survival (or even success) by mitigating the probability of failure, the authors conducted an exploratory case study in an English accelerator. Findings The open innovation practices mediated by an accelerator and the ones that are not covered, but that can benefit a start-up’s survival, are shown. On the one hand, main effective practices, such as dyadic co-creation with accelerator network partners and crowdsourcing, are revealed to address mostly the lack of, or wrong direction in, product, marketing and relative managerial abilities, which are not usually owned by a start-up due to its “newness”. On the other hand, some causes of failures, such as the intrinsic characteristics of founder teams, do not seem to be addressed by an open approach and neither does participation in an accelerator programme. Originality/value This paper is the first to study and link the literature on accelerators, start-ups and open innovation.

scholarly journals Start-up as a tool for implementation of investment decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Olga Gura
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Start Up ◽  
High Tech Product ◽  
Global Companies ◽  
Technology Talent ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Start Ups

Introduction. Start-up is the first necessary stage of a life cycle of innovations. Discovering of foreign experience shows us a limited count of theoretical researches  in case of the start-up business methodology. A high-speed system of a support of the start-ups  is the fundament for an activation of innovations deals, the increase of the volume of innovations production, the export of high-tech product. Aim and tasks. The aim of the article is discovering of the matter and conditions of Ukrainian IT-business, finding the main sources of a financing of the start-ups in conditions of national economy instability and the detection of potential investment sources for some innovation projects on the data of the start-ups modern financing condition. This article uses dialectical method of research of economy actions and processes in their development and interconnection, systematically way for researching issues. Research results. The start-up business has differences from the ordinary business, because the investors invest money in it in the beginning of existence, not in time of successful working. One of the main spheres of the modern start-up business is IT-industry. The biggest spheres of modern investment: the outsourcing, the “Angels’ investments”, the crowdfunding. The Venture Capital and Direct Investment Association (UVCAeu) was founded in Ukraine and the task of this association is the assistance for global companies development in Ukraine and connecting Ukrainian and world’s start-up communities. Conclusions. Ukraine is becoming the IT-nation. The Technology talent is the unique feature of our country. The one we really need is the entrepreneurial grip in meaning of the right presentation of our product. Today we have to be confident in our start-ups prospective, and each year the world will talk more and more about the success of the Ukrainian projects and our country in general.

scholarly journals Positive local externalities of immigration on entrepreneurship: Evidence from the UK East Midlands region

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Wedzerai Nyakudya
Keyword(s):  
Critical Factor ◽  
Direct Link ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
East Midlands ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Neighbourhood Characteristics ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Start Ups

This article examines the effects of immigration on entrepreneurship, making a distinction between the individual level and the neighbourhood characteristics. The study combined individual level drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data with neighbourhood level data for the English Index of Multiple Deprivation East Midlands region in the UK and applied a maximum likelihood logit model to test the hypotheses. The empirical evidence suggests that there is no direct link between the internal immigrants and start-ups on the one side; yet, there is direct link between the external immigrants and start-ups on the other side. However, the findings point to the importance of indirect effect of neighbourhood characteristics, as external immigrants have a significant effect on an individual’s perception of new entrepreneurial opportunities which predicts start-up activity. Their presence in the neighbourhood has a positive monotonic effect on individual entrepreneurship. Therefore, the critical factor is not that external immigrants come with unique knowledge and skills they utilise in the creation of their own businesses, instead they produce positive local externalities enabling others to start-up businesses.

Investigating the Challenges of Crowdsourcing for Engineering Design: An Interview Study With Organizations of Different Sizes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Forbes ◽  
Dirk Shaefer ◽  
Murtuza N. Shergadwala ◽  
Jitesh H. Panchal
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Interview Study ◽  
Organizational Size ◽  
Large Organization ◽  
Open Design ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Start Ups

Abstract Crowdsourcing has been identified as a valuable paradigm in the open design movement. In engineering design, it offers various benefits, such as the generation of diverse ideas and the involvement of consumers. Despite the potential benefits, there are many ways in which crowdsourcing initiatives may fail. An example of such a failure is when a previously successful initiative for a large organization fails to attract a suitable number of participants with diverse expertise for a start-up. Consequently, the start-up does not receive good sets of ideas, both in quantity and variety. Such failures of crowdsourcing initiatives are common due to the lack of appropriate design of crowdsourcing initiatives based on the organizational characteristics such as its size. While frameworks and guidelines exist for the design of crowdsourcing initiatives, whether these are useful for all sizes of organizations, is yet to be determined. Large organizations such as Procter & Gamble and NASA, now conduct crowdsourcing initiatives regularly. Furthermore, start-ups are emerging that leverage crowdsourcing as an integral part of their business model. On the contrary, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have fallen behind in the adoption of crowdsourcing processes. In this paper, we aim to identify the challenges associated with crowdsourcing and how and whether these differ according to organizational size. We present the results of an interview study with industry professionals from five organizations of varying sizes, and yield key challenges associated with the application of crowdsourcing. This paper discusses suggested support mechanisms for crowdsourcing in SMEs and directions for further research for crowdsourcing in engineering design.

scholarly journals Incorporation of the Intangibles into the Spanish Start-Ups by Activity Sector and Region. Improving Their Economic Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4268
Author(s):  
María Dolores García-Gallo ◽  
Félix Jiménez-Naharro ◽  
Miguel Torres-García ◽  
Susan L. Giesecke ◽  
José Guadix-Martín
Keyword(s):  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Economic Sustainability ◽  
Financial Status ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The One ◽  
Evaluation And Monitoring ◽  
Start Ups

Nowadays, start-ups, assuming increasing importance, have the possibility to include intangible knowledge as another resource on which they can carry out planning exercises, impact studies, evaluation and monitoring, protection, accumulation and exploitation. The study carried out in this paper allows us to analyze the influence that intangible knowledge has on the financial status of a start-up and, therefore, on its economic sustainability. This enables start-ups to present a good image, become more transparent, have more opportunities, reduce uncertainty, improve sustainability, etc. Moreover, the study presents a descriptive analysis of intangibles according to regions and activity sectors. An analysis of variance was carried out, to see if there is a relationship between the investment in intangible assets and the activity sector and/or regions to which the company belongs. The study concludes that, among all sectors, the differences in the incorporation of intangible assets into financial statements are most recognized in tourism, which may be a key factor for the sustainability of this sector, especially in periods of economic crisis, such as the one Europe and the planet are currently facing.

El método Lean Startup. Cómo crear empresas de éxito utilizando la innovación continua de Eric Ries

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-88
Author(s):  
Ysmael Jesús Ayala Colqui
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
El Paso ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Lean Startup

Una start-up es definida como una empresa destinada solucionar problemas de maneras no obvias, donde el éxito no está garantizado de antemano y, solo en los casos de éxito efectivo, se adquiere un crecimiento rápido y significativo (Robehmed, 2013). Ejemplos clásicos de start-ups serían Facebook, Uber o AirBnB que, con comienzos modestos, pero con ideas innovadoras, se convirtieron con el paso del tiempo en empresas de ingresos millonarios. Una de las tantas preguntas al respecto sería la siguiente: ¿cómo lograr una start-up de éxito a sabiendas que el éxito no está garantizado a priori y, aún más, que la gran mayoría de estas fracasan?

Wer gewinnt den ‚War for Talent’: Konzerne oder Start-ups?

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabea Laugemann ◽  
Christopher Buschow ◽  
Beate Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Start Up ◽  
Soziale Beziehungen ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
War For Talent

Im ‚War for Talent‘ konkurrieren heutzutage große Konzerne mit innovativen Start-ups um vielversprechenden Nachwuchs. Was bestimmt die Attraktivität von Arbeitgebern bei Medien- und Kommunikationsstudierenden? Diese Frage wird im Rahmen einer quantitativen Online-Befragung untersucht, vor allem im Hinblick darauf, ob Start-ups oder Konzerne als erste Arbeitgeber präferiert werden. Befragte, denen Prestige wichtig ist, bevorzugen eher Konzerne als Arbeitgeber. Wer Wert auf ein innovatives Arbeitsumfeld und soziale Beziehungen legt, entscheidet sich vermehrt für ein Start-up. Im Wettbewerb um die besten Köpfe sind damit junge Unternehmensgründungen inzwischen eine ernst zu nehmende Konkurrenz für Konzerne.

scholarly journals Innovation Capabilities and the Performance of Start-Ups in Korea: The Role of Government Support Policies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6009
Author(s):  
Se-Kyoung Choi ◽  
Sangyun Han ◽  
Kyu-Tae Kwak
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Start Ups

What kind of capacity is needed to improve the performance of start-ups? How effective are government support policies in improving start-up performance? Start-ups are critical firm group for ensuring the prospective and sustainable growth of an economy, and thus many countries’ governments have established support policies and they are likely to engage more widely in forward-looking political support activities to ensure further growth and expansion. In this paper, the effect of innovation capabilities and government support policies on start-up performance is examined. We used an unbalanced panel data analysis with a random effect generalized least squares. We investigated the effect of government support policies on 4368 Korean start-ups. The findings indicated that technology and knowledge capabilities had positive effects on the sales performance of start-ups, and government financial support positively affected the relationship between knowledge capability and firm performance. However, when government financial support increased, marketing capability was negatively associated with firm performance. These results demonstrate the significant role of government financial support, including its crowding in but also its crowding out effect. Practical implications: To be more effective, governments should employ innovation-driven entrepreneurship policy approaches to support start-ups. To improve their performance, start-ups need to increase their technology and knowledge capabilities. This study extends recent efforts to understand more fully the effect of government support policies on start-ups differing in their technology, knowledge, and marketing capabilities.

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