EU E-Commerce Policies

Author(s):  
Anne Wiggins

This chapter not only presents an overview of the theoretical awareness and understanding of innovation, but also identifies and discusses existing EU innovation policy initiatives for SMEs, deliberating on the impact such policy initiatives have on their specific considerations. This chapter examines the strategic implications of the adoption and implementation of e-commerce by two successful start-up SMEs in the UK presented against a backdrop of relevant EU policy initiatives. SMEs, and start-ups particularly, find themselves having to operate without role models and tested business plans within an increasingly complex and competitive environment.

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.


2020 ◽  
pp. 436-463
Author(s):  
Jukka Ojasalo ◽  
Katri Ojasalo

Business models have made a breakthrough both in the academic and in business community in the area business development. Old fashioned business plans are in many cases considered as a waste of time and resources. Particularly start-ups and SMEs have a great potential to take advantage of business model approach which allows lean and agile product and service development. However, the existing widely used business model frameworks are lacking the new service logic orientation. They mostly see the world in terms of goods logic. Since all sizes of businesses in all industries are increasingly adopting the service logic or service-dominant logic, there was a clear need to develop a new service logic based business model framework. Based on an extensive empirical study with both practitioners and academics, a new Service Logic Business Model Canvas was developed to fill this need. This chapter explains the theoretical foundations of this framework in SME and start-up context, as well as the framework itself and its application.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Štefan Slávik

A start-up already at its origin has to solve the crucial existential condition that is a viable business model. The purpose of the research is to deepen and expand the knowledge about the structure of the start-up business model and its impact on entrepreneurial performance. Field research was carried out in three stages over one and a half years. The source of knowledge about the studied start-ups has been the personal experience recorded in the questionnaire. Start-ups are small closed communities that do not sufficiently shape external partnerships, cannot reach the customers, although they can identify them well enough, try to improve the business model blocks but they do not pay attention to their coordination and perceive the monetization in a simplified way. The impact of the business model on start-up performance has been confirmed but the internal blocks affect business performance unambiguously over the three stages of the research. The best conversion of users to customers and subsequently to revenues are distinctive for the start-ups with their own simple distribution channel and partners who are experienced distributors. The lessons learned can directly improve the results of start-ups when their incompleteness and imperfection will be substituted by appropriate partners. Start-ups provide a space for the new jobs and the self-realization of ambitious people with a sense of service for society. Empirical research on start-ups identifies their weaknesses and possibilities to increase their entrepreneurial performance.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Manuel Muñoz-Herrera ◽  
Jacob Dijkstra ◽  
Andreas Flache ◽  
Rafael Wittek

Abstract We develop a model of strategic network formation of collaborations to analyze the consequences of an understudied but consequential form of heterogeneity: differences between actors in the form of their production functions. We also address how this interacts with resource heterogeneity, as a way to measure the impact actors have as potential partners on a collaborative project. Some actors (e.g., start-up firms) may exhibit increasing returns to their investment into collaboration projects, while others (e.g., established firms) may face decreasing returns. Our model provides insights into how actor heterogeneity can help explain well-observed collaboration patterns. We show that if there is a direct relation between increasing returns and resources, start-ups exclude mature firms and networks become segregated by types of production function, portraying dominant group architectures. On the other hand, if there is an inverse relation between increasing returns and resources, networks portray core-periphery architectures, where the mature firms form a core and start-ups with low-resources link to them.


2007 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Woodward

PurposeThe “work‐life balance” literature is mainly concerned with the provision and up‐take of flexible employment patterns. The purpose of this qualitative study of women managers' coping strategies for reconciling work with their other roles and responsibilities is to provide a complementary perspective.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured extended interviews were carried out with 16 women managers of academic or “support” departments in eight UK post‐1992 universities, about their working practices and how they sought to integrate work with other parts of their lives.FindingsThese women reported high workloads, requiring long working hours, which consumed time and energy otherwise available for other relationships and commitments and their own leisure. Various strategies were adopted to manage the situation, including establishing rigid boundaries between work and non‐work, and shifting these boundaries in favour of work when necessary. Temporal, spatial and symbolic distinctions were used to contain work. Women without dependent children were more likely to be able to redefine boundaries when necessary to favour work.Research limitations/implicationsAs a small and possibly unrepresentative sample of UK women managers in higher education, the study could usefully be extended through comparisons with male peers, and with women managers in other sectors. (It is the preliminary phase of a comparative study of women employed in universities in the UK and Japan.) However, the findings broadly replicate other studies.Practical implicationsThere are policy implications for universities, which need feedback from staff about the impact of equal opportunities initiatives to inform further progress.Originality/valueThis study provides qualitative information on women working in non‐traditional key posts in higher education, who are well‐placed to challenge organisational cultures and act as role models.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
PAMELA BURNARD ◽  
GARY SPRUCE

The articles in this issue encompass topics that range from the musical behaviours of primary school children in Singapore, to the use of podcasting in an undergraduate programme in Wolverhampton, UK, and from the musical role models of secondary school children in Stoke-on-Trent (also in the UK), to the impact of the social and cultural context on school music education in Hong Kong. This issue also brings together articles that explore how university music students develop skills as instrumental and vocal teachers and reconsiders how musical skills can form a meaningful relationship with music education research. These articles, taken together, reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary music education research and the range of contexts in which it takes place. How should music educators respond to the changing tapestry of cultural themes and diversity which underpin the field of music education?


BMJ Leader ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 144-148
Author(s):  
Judy McKimm ◽  
Jane Povey

BackgroundThe role of the general practitioner (GP) is central to the UK National Health Service, with the vast majority of healthcare being delivered in the community. Although a range of policy initiatives aim to address the immense pressures on GPs, the GP workforce in England is struggling to keep pace with demand. GP retention is therefore key.ObjectivesIn the light of these issues, a confidential coaching programme for GPs at risk of leaving the profession or who had recently returned to practise after some time out was commissioned.MethodsA structured impact evaluation of the programme was carried, which included interviews and surveys of both GP participants and coaches.ResultsCoaching was found to be very beneficial for the GPs, with many indicating it had helped them to address workplace issues and encouraged them to stay in their job role.ConclusionsThis paper reports on the evaluation of the pilot programme and sets out recommendations for future action, including how to introduce coaching as a means of retention of GPs.


Author(s):  
Kassandra A. Papadopoulou ◽  
Robert A. Phillips

The Masters of Enterprise Programme is a postgraduate programme whereby a student attempts to start a business during the course of their studies. Established in 2001, we have analysed the success of the 59 companies created from the course and found that as expected the start-up rate is higher than the general population. We also found that ratio of male to female founders (70-30) was similar to start-ups from the general population; however, the survival rate of ventures created from the programme was significantly higher. Also, a higher rate of the businesses were employing more than just the founder, implying they are what could be considered “Entrepreneurial” businesses rather than simply someone self- employed as might be normal in some careers. Despite many overseas students completing the course, only 3 of the businesses were founded outside the UK, suggesting the UK economy is benefitting from the ventures created. We also discuss other outcomes from the course such as these entrepreneurial students are often recruited by top corporates. We further discuss what we believe are the contributing pedagogic factors to its success.   Keywords: Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education, Employability, Start-ups, UK economy.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahseen Anwer Arshi ◽  
Venkoba Rao ◽  
Sardar Islam ◽  
Swapnil Morande

Purpose Existing business model frameworks show weak conceptual unification, a paucity of measurement focus and limitations when applied in emerging economies. The study proposes a new business model framework – “Start-up Evaluation Calculus Using Research Evidence” (SECURE). The purpose of this study is to allow the measurement of the impact of business model design on start-up performance in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach Data collected from 713 entrepreneurs in select cities of India, Oman and the United Arab Emirates is analyzed through structural equation modeling. The study uses measurement and structural models to examine the validity of measures and additionally tests the five hypothesized relationships proposed in the study. Findings The SECURE’s components comprising desirability, marketability, feasibility, scalability and viability showed validity and reliability. They synergistically demonstrated a statistically significant effect on a mix of financial and non-financial start-up performance outcomes. An alternative structural relationship that examined the impact of SECURE on only financial performance outcomes showed a weaker model fit. The findings indicate that a business model framework is useful when its ex ante measures show a positive causal effect on the desired performance outcomes. Practical implications The scores obtained by the SECURE framework serve as an evaluative tool that informs entrepreneurs and start-ups on the readiness of their proposed, incubated or existing start-ups. Originality/value Replacing subjective judgments with objective assessment criteria, SECURE is one of the first quantitative and performance-driven business model frameworks that contain measures from all functional domains of a start-up business. Start-ups can evaluate their business models against the SECURE model’s research-driven quantitative criteria and assess their impact on start-up performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-440
Author(s):  
Onkar Nath Mishra ◽  
Saurabh Gupta

Newly created ventures face many challenges, of which, successfully competing with rivals is a daunting task. In order to grow, and turn profitable, start-up firms must extensively search for strategies that create and sustain competitive advantage. Adoption of e-commerce is considered as a very potent strategy to beat competitors and generate profits. Taking tourism and hospitality, an information-intensive industry, this study set two primary objectives regarding e-commerce adoption. First, to investigate the antecedents of e-commerce adoption and second, to gather empirical evidences about the impact of e-commerce adoption on such firms. The study was motivated by the paucity of literature on adoption of e-commerce by start-up firms, especially in the tourism and hospitality industry. The empirical results showed that market- and organization-related factors were prime determinants of e-commerce adoption by start-up firms. The study also confirmed the improved performance of tourism and hospitality start-ups as a result of e-commerce adoption.


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