Search Results (961)

Considering the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential implications for the higher education sector, this article seeks to critically evaluate the strategic adoption of AI in the framework of “smart universities”. We envisage these innovative institutions as the imminent evolution in higher education, harnessing AI and quantum technologies to reshape academic and administrative processes. The core presumption is that through such integration, universities can achieve personalized learning trajectories, enhanced accessibility, economic efficiency, and a boost in overall operational performance. However, venturing into this new educational paradigm necessitates a thorough exploration of potential pitfalls, including questions surrounding educational quality, potential job losses, risks of bias, privacy breaches, and safety concerns. Our primary objective is to offer a balanced assessment to aid stakeholders in making informed strategic decisions about endorsing and advancing the smart university model. A pivotal factor in this discourse is the acceptance of qualifications from AI-enriched institutions by employers, a variable that may drastically redefine the education sector’s trajectory. Within the context of a comprehensive analysis of its broader societal impact, this article also delves into the ramifications of AI-driven innovations for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Full article

The objective of this research is to appraise the level of entrepreneurial activity in South Africa and to identify the challenges to implementation of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) that obstruct the leveraging of 4IR technologies to boost entrepreneurial activity in the country. A conceptual exploratory literature review approach was applied. This study’s results show that a high unemployment rate, the quality of entrepreneurial support initiatives, physical infrastructure, enterprise funds and increased economic freedom are enablers of entrepreneurial activity in South Africa. High data costs, poor digital technological preparedness, an unreliable energy supply, data protection and cyber security risks, among other factors, were identified as obstacles to 4IR implementation. We, therefore, recommend a 4IR fund, mandatory data price laws, proactive policing, further public–private partnerships, enhancement of whistle-blower protection laws, among others, as solutions to buoy entrepreneurial activity through application of 4IR technologies. These results signal the need to ensure a synchronized effort by all relevant spheres of government to address the 4IR implementation challenges and enhance entrepreneurial activity for South Africa’s economy. Full article

As franchising provides several benefits to both corporations and small business owners, a growing number of contracts have been written through which corporations offer the right to use their brand name and business model, and small business owners pay fees for accepting the offers. In this franchisor–franchisee market, the franchise fee plays a pricing role in the exchange between two parties. In this context, we investigate the influence of franchisors’ strategic pricing approaches (i.e., cost- and value-based approaches) on franchise fee decisions. Furthermore, by examining the moderating effect of the competitive condition on the relationships between pricing approaches and franchise fees, we uncover franchisors’ pricing practices in greater detail. The results show that both pricing approaches have significant influences on franchise fee decisions, and the competitive condition moderates the relationship between the value-based approach and franchise fees but does not moderate the relationship between the cost-based approach and franchise fees. The findings contribute to the franchising and pricing literature and to industry practitioners. Full article

Alternative food networks (AFNs) represent local food systems and short supply chain networks alternative to global food systems. These networks are often developed within rural–urban interfaces and take various forms, due to the high propensity towards the innovative organization of the network. The aim of our study is to map the currently applied, distinctive innovative organizational models of alternative food networks by identifying the organizational innovations of these networks in available case studies. Adopting the lens of organizational sociology and using space-filling visualization, the study compares various forms of localized and spatially extended AFNs. The results of our comparative analysis suggest that main aspects of AFNs’ differentiation are the models of network organization, applied coordination models, competences structures of the involved actors, nature of the intermediaries and their roles within the AFNs, and the level of customer engagement. Innovation processes within short food networks can be driven by the producer, intermediaries, and communities of consumers. We identified three types of AFNs defined with regard to the predominant direction of flows in the urban–rural interface: (1) AFNs localized within the borders of the city, (2) AFNs based on interconnecting the rural farmers located within rural settlements adjacent to the city and to the consumers in cities, and also (3) AFNs localized in peri-urban interfaces with distant customers. Full article

Entrepreneurs are those who take initiative and work tirelessly to turn their business ideas into viable, successful companies through innovation. Understanding entrepreneurial behaviour is essential to comprehend how entrepreneurs establish, promote, and expand new businesses. This study investigates the influence of entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation among undergraduate students of selected universities in southwest Nigeria. The target audience was made up of undergraduate students from selected private universities in southwest Nigeria. To be more precise, the purposive sampling method was used to choose the study’s participants. To gather information from a varied cross-section of students, 370 copies of the questionnaire were distributed. Only 296 copies of the surveys that were sent out were returned, which indicates an 80.2% response rate. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the data gathered. The results showed that opportunity identification significantly influences innovation more than self-efficacy and risk tolerance. Opportunity identification is the most important factor of entrepreneurial behaviour that helps students to be innovative and become entrepreneurs. The study recommended that to foster entrepreneurship behaviour and innovation among undergraduates, universities in Nigeria should integrate experiential learning opportunities across disciplines to nurture self-efficacy, opportunities identification, and risk tolerance through entrepreneurship education. Full article

The current unprecedented globalization of the social economy, with worldwide mobility of people, products and services in an increasingly connected market and society, has promoted the rapid geographic spread of the coronavirus (i.e., crisis management) outbreak, negatively affecting tourists’ behavior and their well-being, whether due to restrictions imposed by governments on international travel, or due to tourists’ fear of catching the disease. This manuscript aims to understand how digital communication has helped the tourism industry in general and the hotel context in particular to face the negative consequences caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The development of the research followed a qualitative methodological approach, constituting an exploratory study, based on four semi-structured interviews with managers of hotel establishments, located in the Northern Region of Portugal and Galicia. As main conclusions, it is possible to highlight that digital communication and the use of social networks were fundamental tools for hotel establishments during the pandemic caused by COVID-19, especially during the confinement period, when establishments had to close, many of them completely. There were many changes brought about in the tourism industry in the Euroregion of Northern Portugal and Galicia (ERNPG), with an increase in domestic tourism, a decrease in the external market and a change in tourist profile and behavior, whether due to sanitary and public health issues that induced fear of travel, or by the measures imposed by the government that prevented such trips. According to the strategies implemented by the hotel establishments, the intensification of digital communication use and social networks stands out, since, for a long time, it consisted of the only connecting tool between the hotel and its customers and the initiatives of the Regional Entities and Turismo de Portugal (regional and national DMOs), through numerous training courses in the area of digital marketing and the implementation of hygiene, sustainable and safety measures in hotel establishments. Regarding the future of tourism, it is expected that it will recover in the coming years and approach the historical values of previous years, given the advance in vaccination against the disease and the tourist’s desire to travel. In the short term, strategies are expected from hotel establishments that include valuing the destination on digital marketing platforms through attracting qualified human resources and a commitment towards tourism sustainability. Full article

This paper aims to explore differences in personality traits, focusing on the levels of primary psychopathy, between formal leaders of family and non-family companies as well as assessing differences in the job satisfaction levels of their employees. Moreover, we assess the relationship between the employees’ perception of their formal leader’s primary psychopathy levels and their job satisfaction levels in family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of 95 Portuguese employees, who responded to a questionnaire that included their perceptions of their formal leader’s primary psychopathy level and job satisfaction measures. All respondents work in small and medium-sized private companies with no management responsibilities and under formal hieratical supervision. The initial idea that family firms’ employees perceive lower levels of primary psychopathy in their formal leaders than non-family firms’ employees was confirmed. However, employees of family and non-family firms did not differ in their job satisfaction levels. The results also support the notion that perceived levels of primary psychopathy in formal leaders are negatively associated with the employees’ job satisfaction levels. These findings contribute to the research literature by addressing two aspects under-addressed in the comparison between family and non-family firms, while offering insights on the relationship between primary psychopathy in formal leaders and job satisfaction levels of employees working in family firms. Full article

This study explores an important issue in tourism, namely, the competitiveness of tourism. In the present paper, we aim at analyzing the relationship between tourism and national prosperity. The term competitiveness is a research topic intensively addressed in various fields, and it can answer current research questions related to a constantly changing tourism industry. Thus, the possibility of knowing how competitive this particularly important sector is for the five emerging countries considered in the study, namely, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, allows public authorities and entrepreneurs to estimate the revenues that can generate the field of hospitality. Also, based on these results, a series of national strategies specific to the tourism industry can be founded to lead to the increase of its competitiveness. We used cross-country multiple regression analysis to determine variables that are particularly important for the competitiveness of the hospitality industry, a fact for which the study has a theoretical and practical applicability. The study offers the possibility to anticipate the values of this index (TTCI), thus enabling government and industry bodies to take the necessary steps to increase specific competitiveness in the international market. Full article

This research draws upon an institutional theory framework to explore the underlying factors that influence opportunity-driven and necessity-driven entrepreneurship. The objective is to analyze how the institutional environment either supports or impedes the establishment and expansion of ventures within the Thai hospitality industry. By examining the interplay between the country’s institutional determinants and entrepreneurial behaviors, the study contributes to the existing body of academic literature on entrepreneurship and institutional theory. Furthermore, education support is treated as a moderator in the relationship between the three determinants of the institutional environment theory: regulatory, cognitive, and normative dimensions, and opportunity-necessity-driven entrepreneurship activity. This study adopted a mixed methods approach. For the quantitative approach, national data were mainly collected from the GEM and IEF databases from 2015 to 2018 (n = 939) using binary logistic regression to validate the hypotheses. Regarding the qualitative approach, data were obtained through in-depth interviews with 20 hotel and restaurant entrepreneurs. The findings indicated that the normative and cognitive determinants have a direct impact on both opportunity-driven and necessity-driven entrepreneurship activity. Additionally, the study reveals that the relationship between a regulative environment and opportunity-necessity entrepreneurship activity is moderated by educational support. The results provided new insights into Thailand’s hospitality-oriented entrepreneurship at large. Full article

While existing studies regarding organizational vacillation theory have focused on examining how vacillation may lead to ambidexterity, few studies have focused on how vacillation itself happens and whether it happens symmetrically or not. To bridge this research gap, this paper analyzed organizational vacillation over time with two canonical cases while examining patterns of organizational structure over time. Unlike previous studies that only revealed the existence of vacillation between centralization and decentralization, this study revealed that vacillation is observed with an asymmetric ratio of duration in the business world by finding that each company within the same industry spends a greater portion of time in a certain organizational structure than the other. By analyzing these changes throughout the business history, this study found that organizational vacillation happens asymmetrically while alternatively shifting between centralization and decentralization. Based on the case study result, this study draws propositions that can enable future researchers to advance theoretical and empirical understanding toward asymmetric vacillation. Full article

CSR is a strategy to realize sustainability. CSR needs to be understood based on a priority scale and objectives to build a solid organizational structure and ensure sustainable CSR implementation. In this regard, CSR implementation at the micro and macro levels needs further explanation. The study aims to analyze the effect of CSR on employee performance through assessment and job satisfaction using the micro foundation framework. This causal study surveyed 382 state-owned enterprises’ non-manager employees in Indonesia. The results demonstrate employees’ responses to internal and external CSR. Internal CSR, which primarily aims to improve employee performance, was found to improve employee satisfaction and engagement and lead to better performance more significantly than external CSR. Internal CSR had a higher effect on employee performance than external CSR. Compiling a scale of top priorities for corporate stakeholders became the leading choice to encourage long-term performance. The originality of this study is that the foundation of long-term performance ensures the corporation’s performance, and CSR lies in the strength of the microstructure at the individual level. The implementation of CSR based on the legal system requires paying attention to the scale of priorities based on the internal function of CSR in strengthening a corporation’s microstructure. Full article

The post-pandemic age has heightened the importance of digitalizing organizational practices and fostering innovation for SMEs to ensure resilient business operations in a volatile work environment. This research paper examines the impact of digital transformation leadership on the digitalization of business practices and the development of innovative business models while considering the roles of organizational agility and knowledge transfer. A survey of 270 employees from SMEs in Lebanon was conducted using the convenience sampling technique. Data analysis was performed quantitatively through Partial Least Squares—Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that adopting digital transformation leadership fosters organizational agility, enabling effective digital transformation and business model innovation with a robust knowledge transfer system. This study contributes to the fields of digital transformation and innovation, and offers practical insights for SME managers navigating uncertainties and market volatility in the post-pandemic period. Full article

This study explores the adoption of digital technology in sustainable tourism destinations and provides insights into current research. Using a bibliometric analysis approach, it comprehensively evaluates research outputs, identifies trends, and highlights key themes and collaborative networks. Employing a bibliometric analysis approach, this study utilizes the Scopus database and bibliometric software. After rigorous data cleaning, bibliographic coupling maps, collaboration networks, and keyword maps are generated using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer for comprehensive analysis. Analyzing 559 papers, the study reveals a consistent growth in publications, indicating increasing research interest in digital technology adoption in sustainable tourism destinations. Europe, Asia, and North America are the primary regions of research activity. Interdisciplinary collaboration is high, emphasizing the multidimensional nature of the field. While valuable, the bibliometric analysis is limited by data availability and quality in the Scopus database. Relevant research outputs may be excluded. The study focuses on overall trends and patterns rather than individual paper content. The study’s findings have practical implications for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in sustainable tourism. The identification of key themes and collaborative networks can guide future research and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. This study contributes to the existing literature on technological innovations in sustainable tourism destinations through its bibliometric analysis approach. Through providing an overview of the research landscape, identifying trends and collaborative networks, it offers valuable insights into the current state of research. The findings serve as a foundation for further exploration and advancement in sustainable tourism and digital technology. Full article

The link between entrepreneur’s network centrality and innovation performance has been broadly studied in knowledge-intensive industries such as biotechnology. However, little research has been focused on the social mechanisms that allow innovators to reach such a central position. We contribute to the existing literature by exploring the factors that may lead or prevent entrepreneurs from reaching a central position in their professional networks of knowledge exchange and social support in French biotech milieu. We use a unique quantitative and qualitative database of 138 and 126 biotech entrepreneurs observed, respectively, in 2008 and 2013. When accounting for entrepreneurs’ position in the social (friendship) and knowledge (advice) domain, we draw on three dimensions through which entrepreneurs build their position: their professional experience, their inter-organizational (or political) engagement, and the financial and geographical situation of their company. Results from a regression analysis showed that the specific individual and organizational aspects of the trajectory of the entrepreneurs explain their position in the observed networks. Factors such as the previous experience in the health industry, the training expertise, the international experience, the political engagement, and the geographical and financial situation of the company help entrepreneurs to build up their centrality. The two observations allow us to describe indirectly the evolution of norms that are considered legitimated to carry out innovation in the biotech field. Full article

Frugality is an important psychological trait that is currently of interest as a research construct in a range of fields, from consumer behavior to financial literacy and financial well-being. Increasingly, the concept of frugality is also being linked to environmental responsibility and behavior, as the core of frugality is the reduction or minimization of resources used and consumed, an emphasis on the long-term use of purchased products, and an overall conservation of resources. For many years, researchers have used the Frugality Scale (FS), the specific research tool introduced to measure frugality in a standardized and valid way. The aim of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of FS translated into the Czech language, to evaluate the uni-dimensionality of the construct, and to analyze associations with relevant variables documenting respondents’ attitudes and behavior. For this purpose, the research based on face-to-face interviews among respondents representing the 15–74 years old population of Czechia was conducted. The obtained results showed that the previously developed FS achieved very good results in the Czech environment, where the obtained scores supported the hypothesized uni-dimensional structure of the scale. The CFA results show that the tested model fits well with empirical data. Convergent and construct validity is also shown to be high. Therefore, the Czech version of the Frugality Scale can be considered a reliable and valid instrument that is recommended for further use. By utilizing the FS, researchers and practitioners gain access to a robust tool for quantifying frugality and comprehending its pertinent aspects across diverse contexts. Full article