The Rise in the Sharing Economy

Peer to Peer sharing economy has tremendous potential for decentralized innovation and new ventures in a developing country like India but apart from self regulation there is need for a new regulatory framework to realise its full potential. The regulatory policy should concurrently enhance the key efficiencies of sharing platforms along with protecting consumers' rights. Government should aim to secure the opportunities offered by these sharing platforms to optimise their operations and better utilisation of public resources. Thoughtful regulatory intervention can serve to encourage the development of new ideas and new ventures in the sharing economy.

Critical Success Factors of Innovation and Creativity for Global Entrepreneurs

Innovation, is a subject of considerable interest for entrepreneurs. They share a keen interest in learning how to foster innovation and creativity in ways that help firms to create increasing amounts of wealth. Research on innovation and creativity has increased ever since they were considered to be the key to building a competitive advantage. In fact, it is a challenge for organizations to sustain innovation. In this chapter, we explore the factors that entrepreneurs should address to channel innovation in their organizations. Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, requires the funneling and implementation of creative ideas, leading to innovation. This chapter is particularly relevant to global managers seeking to identify inhibitors of creativity and business innovation and how to combat the roadblocks and create a sustainable innovation environment. The chapter discusses the three essential components that must be considered to spur innovation. We highlight the best practices associated with these factors through a case study of three organizations.

Branding Impetus for Start-Ups

Startups face multiple challenges in the initial stages of their existence, characterized by resource constraints, they encounter – financial, legal and reputational risks. Gaining traction in the market, and scaling-up is the main thrust of any such business. Most start-ups come into existence on the basis of an innovative idea for a service or product, presented in the form of a business proposition. The consequence of this is - how do they establish this ‘new' idea/concept or product in the chosen market. A bigger question to answer is also the reputational non-existence of the start-ups when they are relatively unknown to most stakeholders and publics - relevant for growth and success. This chapter explores the relevance and importance of branding for startups based on literature and industry cases. The chapter concludes with outlining directions for brand building in the context of both B2C and B2B startups.

Challenges and Opportunities for Shared Economies

Shared economy or access economy has ushered in a new revolution. It is often mentioned that the fourth industrial revolution will be propagated by sharing economies. This study reviews the nature of shared economy and its impacts. It focuses on the challenges posed by access economy, especially in context of emerging nations. It discusses the unique nature of trust as a construct, the potential of sharing economy platforms to reduce the information barrier, the changing nature of relationship with the factors of production and most importantly, the regulatory challenges in this particular market structure.

Entering a New World

This chapter focuses on the identity work engaged in by two older Indian male entrepreneurs and their use of technology in their business enterprises. The chapter briefly outlines the concepts of older entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial innovation and gives an overview of the South African context that pertains to Indians. McClelland's theory of motivation, Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and identity theory serve as the theoretical frameworks. The author conducted interviews with two older Indian male entrepreneurs to ascertain their use of digital technology in their respective businesses. The result of the investigation indicates that older Indian males' use of digital technology is minimal and that they engage in entrepreneurial professional identity work to a minimal extent. Some recommendations are made regarding solutions to the problems identified.

Culture Dimensions Supporting Subgroup Entrepreneurs in Nigerian Business Environment

This study examined the effect of cultural value perspectives of entrepreneurs from three subgroups of Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba in Nigeria. The results of this study are interpreted within the cultural context of the study. A major research question was whether the results of this study can help illicit information on cultural differences and similarities among the subgroups. The results show Ibos displaying more power orientation, Yorubas displaying high uncertainty, the Hausas at ease with uncertainty. On starting one's own business, experience and lack of alternatives do have a great influence on the subgroup respondents, while desire for creativity, independence and power were factors that motivated the subgroup entrepreneurs involved in the study. Lack of training, cash flows and bad planning were identified as the top three factors contributing to business failures. Family was found to be the most important life-related value factor highly shared by the respondents.

Dynamics of Entrepreneurship Education

Drawing upon an extracurricular university course on entrepreneurship, this work explores the dynamics among human and social capital and four learning outcomes: entrepreneurial intentions, perceived behavioral control, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and startup activities. Following a longitudinal perspective, the study examined those dynamics in a sample of 66 students. Findings reveal that the influence of human capital decreased by the end of the course, yet played a fundamental role in improving intention and startup activities at the beginning of the course. A different pattern emerged for social capital (e.g., having friends who work as entrepreneurs), which maintained its relevance in enhancing perceived behavioral control, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and startup activities after the course. Such results support the equalizer function of entrepreneurship education with respect to human capital, as well as underscore the paramount role of peers in sustaining the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.

Access to Finance

Over the years, Malaysian government has attributes to a number of supports programs to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector. These includes the involvement of several government agencies, at both the federal and state levels, providing variety of programs to SMEs sector in achieving sustainable levels of growth and development. A well-developed financial infrastructure that is able to meet the diverse financing needs of SMEs is essential to support the competitiveness and continuous growth of SMEs.

Convergence of Technology in the E-Commerce World and Venture Capital Landscape in South East Asia

Every time technology changes, it creates threats to established ways of doing business and opportunities for new ways to offer services. This is being shown in the E-payment E-commerce world with the convergence of the technologies. In this chapter, we will discuss the recent economic surge of Southeast Asia and analyze the E-commerce payment systems with the latest development of the convergence of the technologies. We present an empirical study of E-payment systems and implications of our findings on E-payment systems in Southeast Asia. Finally, we present an overview of recent research on business angel investing in Southeast Asia focusing on investor's high-tech investment strategies. We propose that management can tap the opportunities of the electronic payment technologies for E-commerce by providing electronic payment solutions that meet the consumers' intention to use.

Entrepreneurship and the Halal Wave in Malaysia

The concept of halal was once perceived as solely a religious matter but now it has become a branding platform for entrepreneurs to expand their products worldwide. The role of halal in the development of entrepreneurship as a response to the demand of Muslim consumers in Malaysia is explored in this chapter. Furthermore, this chapter looks at exploring the role of the Malaysian government in institutionalizing halal, establishing halal certification and thus, analyzing the development of entrepreneurship towards halal certified business. In a nutshell, this chapter aims to provide an overview of the development, institutionalization, halal certification, the challenges of halal entrepreneurship and moving forwards traits for halal entrepreneurship. Keywords; Entrepreneurship, halal, certification, institutionalization.