Innovative Contribution of Women in Spanish Companies

Official data in Spain show that women's activity rate is increasing, and women's unemployment rate is decreasing during the last years. Nevertheless, both of these indicators continue being higher in men, although this difference is reduced over time because the women's participation in the labour market continues growing. In this chapter, the main objective is to analyse the added value that women bring to organisations. A qualitative study is carried out, based in an in-depth interview conducted for women that work in the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Spain). Results show the women's perception about their added value in the organisations that is mainly manifest in aspects such as commitment, equanimity, work organisation, creativity, collaboration, and empathy (called “velvet management”). Women bring innovation and creativity in an environment of diversity. Nevertheless, there are still some cultural barriers that affect the family and professional life of women that limit their professional career.

May That Nothing Limit Us, May That Nothing Define Us

The act of undertaking entrepreneurial activity comprises taking advantage of market opportunities, but this does not occur indiscriminately in relation to the gender of the entrepreneur. This chapter aims to analyze the context of the development of startups from the perspective of the women participation in this scenario. Thus, an overview of the development of startups in an international context and their relationship with the characteristics of entrepreneurship as a theoretical background involving this panorama is presented as results. In addition, specifically in relation to the purpose of the study, the text of the chapter deals with the issue of women in the development of startups, the theoretical discussions about women entrepreneurship, and how the experience of female participation in the development of startups is characterized in the academic literature. The chapter situates Brazilian contextual information but brings it to a broader discussion of entrepreneurship under the gender bias.

Entrepreneurship in Border Territories

The territory of Beira Interior Norte in Portugal with the province of Salamanca in Spain have low demographic densities and populations in deep regression and aging as a result of migration movements, economic disarticulation, and specific context costs, given the different administrative framework and public policies. Promoting entrepreneurship in peripheral border regions is a key strategy for their sustainability, as part of the Europe 2020 goals for smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. The chapter aims to provide guidelines for greater interaction between the results from the statistical analysis and its interpretation by local actors. In addition, indicate vectors that will help to design and develop the natural entrepreneurship dynamics for the Portugal/Spain border region, reinforce cooperation in the articulation of strategies, and the development of collaborative networks between entrepreneurs, training entities, business associations, and administrative entities have been explored.

Entrepreneurship Learning

This chapter focuses on entrepreneurship having students as actors. Students were engaged in the development of a business project. They turned ideas into action in a creative and innovative process. The academic study was conducted at a Polytechnic Health school. They used the management common tools to develop the idea and they experienced the role of an entrepreneur. Conversely, one of the aspects that contributed to the motivation for this work lies into the existing gap concerning project management applied to entrepreneurship. The current literature focuses on the definition of the business plan, a static component of entrepreneurship, which is fundamental for financing domains, but it neglects the dynamic component essential for the development of a business idea. The student majors' rewards were related with the teamwork environment: collaboration, communication, and creativity. This chapter provides to entrepreneurship educators, valuable insights on how to improve the effectiveness of the business project requirements in entrepreneurship education curriculum.

Women's Self-Perception of Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurship

The figure of the woman, in the business context, has been gaining strength and space, being perceptible its rise in the entrepreneurship, over the last decades. However, this space is still predominantly male, making it harder for women to join this environment. With this in view, several researches propose to study the entrepreneurship of women, however, with a lack of feminist perspective. In this sense, this chapter aims to analyze the self-perception of female students of the course of business administration on their possibilities and challenges of acting as entrepreneurs. This research uses interviews with young women students of a course of business administration as a data, under a qualitative approach and analytical treatment. As a result, it was found that, from the interviewees' perspective, women still have their entrepreneurial ascendancy restricted mainly by prejudice and male discrimination still in force, although they believe that little by little this reality has changed.

Perspectives on Female Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas

Women are increasingly taking part in the business market, especially in the case of tourism. However, studies reveal that entrepreneurial women, besides the business, have other tasks, such as domestic and family obligations, being the majority responsible for the family management. The main purpose of this chapter is to investigate the contribution of entrepreneurial women in tourism companies in rural areas. A survey was applied, through a semi-structured interview, to a total of 13 tourism companies located in the municipality of Sever do Vouga (Portugal). The results indicate that although women are fewer and working together with their husbands, they are already retired, which facilitates dedication and commitment to the business on a full-time basis. Younger women with children may encounter barriers that make it harder for them to dedicate themselves to the enterprise. This research contributes to a better definition of the profile and behaviour of entrepreneurial women in rural areas, as well as identifying the motivations and barriers to invest in rural tourism.

Portfolio Entrepreneurship and Strategic Decision Making in the Global Context

In recent years, emerging trends in entrepreneurial activity have been changing constantly, and new entrepreneurship types are developing in the global world. Especially, a number of studies have drawn attention to the alternative entrepreneurship approaches. This chapter reviews an alternative entrepreneurship opportunity called portfolio entrepreneurship, also known as multiple business ownership. The main purpose of this chapter is to investigate the importance of strategic decision-making of portfolio entrepreneurs. This chapter also aims to provide a framework that is three-box solution for portfolio entrepreneurs to improve their decision-making performance. The results of the study are expected to be a source for researchers and practitioners in the areas of entrepreneurship and decision making.

Intrapreneurship Initiative Based on an Internal Ideation Contest in the Public Sector

There are few studies that provide empirical evidence of the use of crowdsourcing initiatives within public organizations as an element that favors an innovative culture where employees are able to acquire a sense of accomplishment and recognition by presenting new ideas and innovative possibilities and, consequently, help to improve public sector efficiency and deliver new and better-quality services. Through a single case study, the purpose of this chapter is to assess how an internal ideation contest initiative (internal crowdsourcing) in a local government institution—Madrid City Hall (Spain)—can promote intrapreneurship and be a lever for a culture of innovation in public organizations, for which the authors have used the innovation culture model of Rao and Weintraub as a theoretical framework. The results show that through that initiative, Madrid City Hall was able to enable employees' participation, leverage collective intelligence, and definitely stimulate an entrepreneurial spirit within their organization.

Academic Entrepreneurship, Bioeconomy, and Sustainable Development

The potential of academic entrepreneurship towards achieving sustainable development has been established. Likewise, sustainability is an inherent characteristic of the bioeconomy. Academics are expected to play significant roles in the successful implementation of bioeconomy through scientific research and entrepreneurship. This chapter takes academic entrepreneurship as a process that creates value from research and technology commercialisation in a bioeconomy towards achieving sustainable development in the society. The chapter employs a systematic literature review approach to identify the opportunities at the intersection of academic entrepreneurship, bioeconomy, and sustainable development. The framework of technological innovation systems (TIS) will guide this study. The chapter will conclude that the future of sustainable development in our resources-constrained planet lies in plethora of academic entrepreneurial opportunities and embracing such in the implementation of bioeconomy, an economic system that is viable for the future.

Home Country Institutions and International Entrepreneurship

The extent of internationalization by early-stage entrepreneurial firms may depend upon home country institutional conditions. Using insights from institutional theory, this chapter suggests that national-level institutional conditions facilitate or constrain the efforts made by early-stage entrepreneurs to internationalize. Given the strong linkages between entrepreneurs and the enterprises they drive, the multi-level framework proposed in this study suggests that a strong national system of innovation and better regulatory quality, which supports early internationalization by new entrepreneurial firms. Smaller domestic markets induce such firms to explore overseas markets for their products. The framework also suggests that a strong regulatory environment positively moderates the effects of national innovation systems and domestic market size on the extent of early internationalization. While implications for the internationalization process are discussed, specific reference to the importance of policy to support internationalization by early entrepreneurial firms is made.