bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An individual‐level perspective for assessing nascent venturing outcomes
Authors: Delanoë Servane 
Published: May 2011

PurposeEntrepreneurship scholars have become more demanding concerning detailed investigations of nascent venturing processes. The purpose of this paper is to propose indicators measuring the impact that these processes in general, and support actions in particular, have on individuals.Design/methodology/approachExisting theories that could be used to analyze the impact of nascent venture experiences on individuals are reviewed. Literature and official statements regarding the underlying objectives of different stakeholders in company creation in France are then presented. Following this, performance indicators used by researchers and French support networks are discussed in relation to these objectives.FindingsIt is shown that indicators that could provide information regarding the potential effects of startup processes on individuals exist but remain to be used with nascent entrepreneurs. A proposal as to how these indicators might be adapted to the specific needs of nascent entrepreneurship research is made.Research limitations/implicationsThe indicators proposed here are identified in a review of the literature, in which studies are primarily undertaken on student samples. Their practical adaptation to populations of nascent entrepreneurs remains to be implemented.Practical implicationsThe suggested indicators should be of use to professional support actors who constantly look to improve their service to nascent entrepreneurs. They should also provide valuable information to the individuals considering or involved in startups on how to use support more efficiently, to policy makers for assessing the impact of specific support efforts and to academics designing entrepreneurship programmes.Originality/valueThe paper proposes readily applicable indicators for nascent entrepreneurship outcomes by drawing on a variety of research streams and linking them to practical information.
The entrepreneurial process trigger: a modelling attempt in the French context
Authors: Degeorge Jean‐Michel , Fayolle Alain 
Published: May 2011

PurposeIn France, there seems to be no immediate correlation between the desire to opt for an entrepreneurial career and actually starting or taking over a business. Based on this observation, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the entrepreneurial process and more specifically on its trigger phase; the exploratory research question is: how to model the entrepreneurial process trigger phase?Design/methodology/approachFirst, based on a review of the literature, the authors seek to identify the main concepts that can be used to study the entrepreneurial process trigger. Second, the authors try to show the articulation between these various concepts with a view to proposing a typology of the entrepreneurial process trigger. In order to model the trigger phase, the authors rely mostly on the concepts of intention and displacement and works by Shapero and Sokol, by Ajzen, and by Krueger and Carsrud. The authors study the case of French engineers by drawing on previous research, notably the database of French engineers assembled by Fayolle. Concerning the methodological approach, first a quantitative analysis was performed on the sample, which was completed with a qualitative study.FindingsThanks to the questionnaire, the authors were able to identify eight possible career paths based on the initial measurements made by Fayolle in 1996; then various trigger paths were tested. Finally, a model of the trigger phase is proposed based on the qualitative study. Two determining dimensions emerge through analysis of the results: the trigger paths evolve differently over time. Furthermore, the intensity and impact of displacements are perceived differently by individuals. This leads the authors to propose a mapping of the four identified trigger processes.Originality/valueAt the theoretical level, this research contributes to mapping out the various trigger processes of new venture creation. By incorporating the time dimension, it was possible to outline the sequence of events. The authors shed some light on the entrepreneurial process by showing the main factors that can lead an individual to go from intention to action. In light of the results, the authors feel it necessary to reject any determinist interpretation of the French engineers' career paths. The interactions between personal and contextual variables add to the complexity of the phenomenon, as contextual and environmental factors play a significant role in the trigger of the entrepreneurial process. The present work provides insights into the decisive factors in the career orientation of French engineers, and it can be replicated with samples from various nationalities.
The role of resources: micro‐firms internationalization in the French context
Authors: Hermel Philippe , Khayat Imane 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze resources and capabilities that distinguish between traditional, slow born‐global and rapid born‐global micro‐firms.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses multiple case study methodology. Three case studies are presented to compare the internationalization pathways of three French micro‐firms.FindingsThe paper emphasizes the importance of leveraging between internal and external resources for rapid internationalization of micro‐firms. The rapid internationalization is driving and facilitated by managerial abilities, innovation and network. The study shows that analysis of micro‐firms in terms of resources and capabilities enhances the understanding of internationalization.Research limitations/implicationsBecause it is limited to three case studies, the generalization of findings to a broad sample of French micro‐firms will be needed.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that two‐level analysis (i.e. individual level and micro‐firm level) should be considered when examining rapid internationalization. Micro‐firm top managers need to be aware of the importance of developing internal resources to facilitate incorporation of new external resources. Their experience and expertise in addition to the micro‐firm's innovation capacity or reputation can be used to expand rapidly abroad.Originality/valueThe distinction between traditional, slow born‐global and rapid born‐global French micro‐firms in terms of resources and capabilities makes this study original.
The process of export information exploitation in French and Romanian SMEs
Authors: Mogos Descotes Raluca , Walliser Björn 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the exploitation of export information in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the contrasting institutional contexts of France and Romania.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative approach is based on 18 semi‐directed interviews with managers in Romanian and French exporting SMEs. With an absorptive capacity (AC) perspective, this study investigates export information processing in SMEs as a beginning‐to‐end process, including antecedents, inputs, and outputs.FindingsThe efficiency of export information acquisition and assimilation in SMEs reflects the richness of their international experiences, as well as the richness of export information sources accessed in foreign settings. The transformation and exploitation of export information in SMEs takes various forms: sense‐making, decision making, and development of new export market‐related know‐how and capabilities. The AC framework appears consistent with exporting SME managers' perceptions. The managers' testimonies are generally homogeneous across both countries.Research limitations/implicationsThis research offers valuable insights into how SMEs can acquire relevant information and then assimilate, transform, and exploit that information. It neither establishes causality across the different dimensions of AC nor links information processing and exploitation to performance.Originality/valueThis research uses a dynamic AC framework to clarify export information processes. Contrary to the vast majority of existing studies that focus on a single element or phase of export information management, this study reviews the entire process, from the antecedents of information acquisition to the transformation and exploitation of export information.
“Method in their madness”: understanding the behaviour of VSE owner‐managers
Authors: Cyr André , Meier Olivier , Pacitto Jean‐Claude 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the sound practical reasons underlying the behaviour of very small enterprise (VSE) owner‐managers with respect to their perceived resistance to the dominant entrepreneurial and managerial models in areas such as management methods, marketing or internationalisation.Design/methodology/approachThe current literature on VSE managers was reviewed in the light of Raymond Boudon's general theory of rationality. Starting from the premise that in science, the simplest explanation tends to be the best, the paper highlights the practical reasons why VSE owner‐managers behave the way they do.FindingsWhile there may be cultural or personality‐based reasons why VSE owner‐managers often appear to reject the traditional entrepreneurial model, these are not the sole or even the main explanation. In most cases, the behaviour in question can be explained much more simply by practical, down‐to‐earth reasons. From the actor's point of view, his behaviour is always rational.Research limitations/implicationsThis new model of the behaviour of VSE owner‐managers has not been empirically tested.Originality/valueThe paper presents a novel vision of the behaviour of VSE owner‐managers, based on the practical reasons underlying their actions, that goes beyond the existing typologies such as the “Traditional‐vs‐Opportunistic” entrepreneur.
Fifty years of entrepreneurship and SME: a personal view
Authors: Marchesnay Michel 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present personal testimony of one of the early researchers on small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship in France.Design/methodology/approachThe story of a half‐century evolution is divided into five decades, of SME and entrepreneurship development in France. The development of the French academic system of research on SME and entrepreneurship is described through some teams.FindingsDuring the two early decades (1955‐1975), both the social legitimacy and economic competitiveness sharply and deeply lowered, while that after the world crisis (1975) until nowadays (2005), the social, political, and economic interest for SME and entrepreneurship has continuously increased.Research limitations/implicationsThe academic research pioneered SME during the 1960s, and entrepreneurship during the 1980s. The historical development of the national network of teams and associations is described, increasingly including the international context.Practical implicationsBeyond the personal testimony, this contribution enlightens the problems entailed by the lack of legitimacy of the spirit of enterprise anchored in French society, and, more generally, in all the societies averse to individual risk taking.Originality/valueThe testimony is based on the personal experience of one scholar who early promoted in the French academic system Master and Doctoral courses on SME and entrepreneurship. It outlines some original concepts relative to small firms.
Generalist or specific studies for engineering entrepreneurs?
Authors: Wang Yifan , Verzat Caroline 
Published: May 2011

PurposeFrench engineering students are traditionally reluctant to envisage entrepreneurship. Can a new engineering school aimed at fostering entrepreneurship reverse this trend? The purpose of this paper is to compare the development of engineering students' entrepreneurial intentions and perceived career orientation of the prestigious engineering training schools (Ecole Centrale de Lille) and ITEEM, whose curriculum is dual (engineering+management), new and based on active pedagogies.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on qualitative analysis of 12 in‐depth interviews and quantitative longitudinal analysis of data obtained from a questionnaire administered each year to all students from both schools.FindingsResults show that ITEEM fosters students' entrepreneurial and project management careers, whereas Centrale promotes the traditional technical model of an engineer. Family background of students is close in both schools. Level of entrepreneurial intention at enrolling is higher at ITEEM than Centrale but cannot fully explain why entrepreneurial career orientations decrease at Centrale while they increase at ITEEM. On the other hand, perception of school culture is weak at Centrale and strong at ITEEM and this difference is significantly with regard to the development of students' career orientation. Qualitative interviews indicate that both cultures highlight different elements.Research limitations/implicationsThe cultural element can then be proposed as a new factor to take into account when studying the impact of entrepreneurship education. However, this result is based here on a simple measure of school culture perception and qualitative interviews. It should be confirmed by a more detailed quantitative analysis of cultural and organizational characteristics of educational institutions.Practical implicationsEngineering schools can foster entrepreneurial orientations if their educational culture is perceived as new and innovative by students. This can be achieved through a new curriculum based on a wider set of courses (management, entrepreneurship and engineering) and the systematic deployment of active pedagogies such as project work and internships. A new question arises: can such a perception of innovation be maintained over time?Originality/valueIn the theoretical literature, culture is considered to be an essential element that can have an impact on entrepreneurial career aspirations and intentions. But as yet, no empirically based study had been carried out to prove it.
Strategic governmental economic activities in support of young French SMEs
Authors: Branchet Bénédicte , Augier Bernard , Boissin Jean‐Pierre , Quere Bertrand 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to closely study young French small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The authors highlight the structure of these target firms and build a typology of corresponding business models.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a dataset of 38,000 young French SMEs. It is constituted of all individual and consolidated year‐end financial statements submitted by French firms to the commercial court. Data analysis techniques (principal component analysis then hierarchical and ascending classification) were used on the data.FindingsThe business models stemming from this typology are typical (to the greatest extent possible) and actionable. The authors are particularly interested in identifying groups of SMEs where government assistance would be particularly effective and strategically valuable for the national economy.Practical implicationsOne of the authors' conclusions is that the typology is not based on a classical growth model that reflects progressive phases of development in the life of a young firm. Furthermore, it is ineffective and wasteful to focus government assistance efforts on firms based on their age. The authors identify groups of business models where assistance would be more efficient and strategically more effective.Originality/valueIt is notable that this paper relies not upon a sample, but upon the exhaustive collection of all available data on the subject. This research questions the allocation efficiency of governmental assistance on the basis of growth models. It intends to provide a better understanding of the criteria that should be taken into account to enhance targeting of assistance toward businesses with the greatest potential for the nation.
A fuzzy goal programming model for strategic information technology investment assessment
Authors: Zandi Faramak , Tavana Madjid 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe high expenditures in information technology (IT) and the growing usage that penetrates the core of business have resulted in a need to effectively and efficiently evaluate strategic IT investments in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel two‐dimensional approach that determines the deferrable strategy with the most value by maximizing the real option values while minimizing the risks associated with each alternative strategy.Design/methodology/approachIn the proposed approach, first, the deferrable investment strategies are prioritized according to their values using real option analysis (ROA). Then, the risks associated with each investment strategy are quantified using the group fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. Finally, the values associated with the two dimensions are integrated to determine the deferrable IT investment strategy with the most value using a fuzzy preemptive goal programming model.FindingsManagers face the difficulty that most IT investment projects are inherently risky, especially in a rapidly changing business environment. The paper proposes a framework that can be used to evaluate IT investments based on the real option concept. This simple, intuitive, generic and comprehensive approach incorporates the linkage among economic value, real option value and IT investments that could lead to a better‐structured decision process.Originality/valueIn contrast to the traditional ROA literature, the approach contributes to the literature by incorporating a risk dimension parameter. The paper emphasizes the importance of categorizing risk management in IT investment projects since some risk cannot be eliminated.
BESP – benchmarking of Portuguese secondary schools
Authors: Conceição A. Silva Portela Maria , Santos Camanho Ana , Nóvoa Borges Diogo 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate the implementation of a web‐based platform integrating benchmarking and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the Portuguese secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachThe benchmarking platform is designed around a set of key performance indicators that are displayed using benchmarking graphs. These indicators are also aggregated through the methodology of DEA to provide a summary measure of performance.FindingsThe benchmarking platform developed enables schools to perform internal and external evaluation through a standard model that is based on indicators of school activities. It encourages schools' efforts of continuous improvement and increases society awareness regarding schools' context and results obtained.Practical implicationsThe benchmarking platform can be useful for schools and general public. For the general public, there is a tool that allows the construction of user‐defined rankings online and benchmarking tools that allow the comparison of performance of a specific school with others. In addition to these features, schools have in the BESP platform a repository of historical data, and the possibility to see a set of graphs that show for some indicators their evolution over time.Originality/valueThis paper describes a breakthrough in the Portuguese education context. The BESP platform is the first in this context to combine DEA and benchmarking tools in a web‐based environment, designed to enable real‐time performance assessments.
An integrated model for performance management of manufacturing units
Authors: Parthiban P. , Goh Mark 
Published: May 2011

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to develop an integrated model for performance management (PM) of manufacturing industries.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed integrated model consists of performance measurement by the extended Brown Gibson model by considering the objective and the service quality factors. The quality factor measure has been evaluated by using the analytic hierarchy process. On the non‐compliance of the performance measures with the satisfactory levels, quality function deployment is used to redesign the existing manufacturing process.FindingsThis study provides a way to identify the current performance of an organization and a methodology for further improvement. An important contribution of this model is that it combines both the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of manufacturing performance measurement. Both the objective and manufacturing quality factors have been converted into consistent dimensionless indices to measure system performance.Practical implicationsThis study has demonstrated the applicability of the model to support a manufacturing unit. It has shown how performance measures have been identified and how they can be used to calculate the two different manufacturing units using time, cost and service quality dimensions. Improving performance is a never‐ending process and organizations should strive to achieve it to attain the optimal level of cost and profit, as well as increase customer satisfaction and goodwill, and gain potential future business. Hence, the process of measuring and redesigning manufacturing performance measures needs to be monitored and the implementation plans reviewed often, which is successfully done by this integrated model.Originality/valueWe contend that the integrated model for PM, illustrated with a practical case in this paper makes a contribution to the never‐ending process of performance enhancement for both theory and application, and assists in expanding the boundaries of theory and practicality in this area, thus highlighting the novelty of our approach.
Benchmarking the service quality of fast‐food restaurant franchises in the USA
Authors: Min Hokey , Min Hyesung 
Published: May 2011

PurposeTo help fast‐food restaurants enhance their competitiveness and then increase their market share, the purpose of this paper is to measure the service performances of fast‐food restaurant franchises in the USA and identify salient factors influencing the service performances of fast‐food restaurants over time.Design/methodology/approachThis paper develops a set of benchmarks that helps fast‐food restaurants monitor their service‐delivery process, identify relative weaknesses, and take corrective actions for continuous service improvements using analytic hierarchy process and competitive gap analysis.FindingsThis study reveals that a service attribute considered most important to the fast‐food restaurant customers' impressions of service quality is taste of food. This preference has not been changed over time. Also, we found a pattern of the correlation between the overall level of customer satisfaction with the fast‐food restaurant and its word‐of‐mouth reputation. Furthermore, we discovered that the customers tended to be more favorable to easily accessible and national fast‐food restaurant franchises than less accessible, relatively new, and regional counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study is limited to the evaluation of comparative service quality in the USA. Thus, this study may not capture the national differences in the restaurant customers' perceived service quality.Practical implicationsFor the last four decades, Americans' obsession with fast serving, cheap meals has made the fast‐food restaurant a mainstay in their daily life. As the appetite for fast food grows, every corner of the American Society has been infiltrated by fast‐food restaurants. With the increasing number of fast‐food restaurants competing in the market, their survival often rests on their ability to sustain high‐quality services and meet changing needs/preferences of customers. This paper provides practical guidelines for enhancing the competitiveness of the fast‐food restaurant franchise.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first to compare the service quality of fast‐food franchises in the USA and develop dynamic service quality standards for fast‐food restaurant franchises using a longitudinal study.