Only recently have scholars begun to explore the cross-section connection of entrepreneurship and personal selling and introduced the notion of entrepreneurial selling. This study contributes to the emerging debate by addressing the personal selling role of business owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the business-to-business (B-to-B) market in the context of failure. It examines how business owners make sense of their entrepreneurial selling activities and how underperformance in this role contributes to failure. Based on a literature review and interviews, the paper concludes that entrepreneurial selling is a crucial activity for preventing business failure and one that business owners recognize. Reasons for underperformance include business owners spending too little time on selling, their lack of personal selling skills, and procrastinating their selling activities. Answering the “bird-in-the-hand sales means” questions can produce either success or failure. Future research avenues are then suggested.
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Recent research has indicated an increase in the likelihood and impact of tree failure. The potential for trees to fail relates to various biomechanical and physical factors. Strikingly, there seems to be an absence of tree risk assessment methods supported by observations, despite an increasing availability of variables and parameters measured by scientists, arborists and practitioners. Current urban tree risk assessments vary due to differences in experience, training, and personal opinions of assessors. This stresses the need for a more objective method to assess the hazardousness of urban trees. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of factors that influence tree failure including stem failure, root failure and branch failure. A systematic literature review according to the PRISMA guidelines has been performed in databases, supported by backward referencing: 161 articles were reviewed revealing 142 different factors which influenced tree failure. A meta-analysis of effect sizes and p-values was executed on those factors which were associated directly with any type of tree failure. Bayes Factor was calculated to assess the likelihood that the selected factors appear in case of tree failure. Publication bias was analysed visually by funnel plots and results by regression tests. The results provide evidence that the factors Height and Stem weight positively relate to stem failure, followed by Age, DBH, DBH squared times H, and Cubed DBH (DBH3) and Tree weight. Stem weight and Tree weight were found to relate positively to root failure. For branch failure no relating factors were found. We recommend that arborists collect further data on these factors. From this review it can further be concluded that there is no commonly shared understanding, model or function available that considers all factors which can explain the different types of tree failure. This complicates risk estimations that include the failure potential of urban trees.
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Despite its widespread occurrence, the topic of failure is barely addressed in entrepreneurship education. Consequently, students are given an incomplete and unrealistic picture of the complexity of being entrepreneurs. This study explores the pedagogical potential of introducing vicarious learning about failure in educational programs rather than focusing solely on starting, growing and success. Taking a qualitative approach, this study examined students’ reflective reports written after an interview with an entrepreneur on their experience of failure. Using concepts emerging from these reports and theoretical constructs, it was established whether and how students drew lessons and reflections from the failure stories. The findings show that interviewing and reflecting about the experiences of entrepreneurs allow for vicarious learning from failure, yet without students having to experience it themselves. The lessons learned and the reflections feed each other in a continuous loop. Students recognized that entrepreneurship involves trial and error instead of one straight road. Important lessons include the importance of adaptable behavior, access to key resources, insights in business development and the benefits of networking. Hence, this article contributes to the pedagogy of entrepreneurial education and provides initial suggestions for educators to introduce vicarious learning about failure as a topic in their programs.--Malgré sa fréquence élevée, le sujet de l’échec est à peine abordé dans l’enseignement de l’entrepreneuriat. En conséquence, il est communiqué aux étudiants une image incomplète et irréaliste de la complexité d’être un entrepreneur. Cette étude explore le potentiel pédagogique de l’apprentissage par procuration sur l’échec dans les programmes éducatifs, plutôt qu’une focalisation seulement sur le démarrage, la croissance et la réussite. En adoptant une approche qualitative, l’étude a examiné les rapports de réflexions rédigés par les étudiants à la suite d’un entretien avec un entrepreneur, centré sur son expérience de l’échec. À l’aide de concepts émergeant de ces rapports et de constructions théoriques, la manière dont les étudiants tiraient des leçons et des réflexions des récits d’échec – si tel était le cas - a été établie. Les résultats montrent que les entretiens et la réflexion sur l’expérience des entrepreneurs permettent un apprentissage par procuration concernant l’échec, sans pour autant que les étudiants aient eux-mêmes à vivre un échec. Les leçons apprises et les réflexions se nourrissent mutuellement dans une boucle continue. Les étudiants ont reconnu que l’entrepreneuriat a pour implication des épreuves et des erreurs, plutôt qu’une ligne toute droite. Parmi les leçons apprises majeures, citons l’importance des comportements adaptatifs, l’accès aux ressources-clés, les connaissances en matière de développement commercial et les avantages du travail en réseau. Ainsi, cet article contribue à la pédagogie de l’éducation sur l’entrepreneuriat et fait des suggestions pour les enseignants afin qu’ils introduisent l’apprentissage par procuration sur l’échec en tant que sujet à aborder dans leurs programmes.
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Purpose: Preventing business failure remains a significant challenge for small businesses in the Netherlands. Given their importance for the Dutch economy, understanding the causes of business failure and equipping business owners with strategies for resilience is imperative. This dissertation seeks to address this challenge by examining the sales role of business owners, referred to as ‘Entrepreneurial Selling,’ within the context of small-scale Dutch businesses. The goal is to identify how business owners can develop effective sales behaviors to mitigate the risk of failure and enhance the long-term viability of their businesses. The research into Entrepreneurial Selling is rising, yet further advancements, including this dissertation, are required to better support business owners in their continuous sales responsibilities. The main research question, therefore, is: How do small-scale business owners in the Netherlands behave in their Entrepreneurial Selling role and how can they become more effective in their sales behavior? Methods: To address the research question, a multimethod research approach is utilized. The research design comprises a literature review, three progressively linked studies, and practical applications. The first study (Chapter 4) involves a content re-analysis of 55 interviews to underscore the pivotal nature of Entrepreneurial Selling in preventing business failure. The second study (Chapter 5) conducts 12 semi-structured interviews, employing thematic analysis to categorize business owners' sales behaviors based on their entrepreneurial motivations. In the third study (Chapter 6), quantitative methods are employed (N=276) to explore the relationship between Entrepreneurial Selling Role Orientation (ESRO) and effective sales behavior. These studies provide the foundation for the practical applications developed in collaboration with practitioners (Chapter 7).Findings: The first study found that Entrepreneurial Selling is a crucial activity for preventing business failure and one that business owners recognize. Reasons for underperformance can include business owners allocating inadequate time to selling, deficient sales skills, and procrastination of sales activities. The subsequent studies build on this foundation. The second study introduces an Entrepreneurial Selling typology, linking business owners' motivations with their sales role strategies, offering insights into how motivations influence sales behavior. The third study introduces the concept of ESRO and substantiates its impact on sales behavior. Furthermore, a positive connection is identified between sales training and effective sales practices. The findings of the studies are individually applied to Sarasvathy’s Bird-in-Hand principle of Effectuation theory and are synthesized within the Entrepreneurial Selling Matrix. Originality/Value: This dissertation contributes to the Entrepreneurial Selling field by advancing our understanding of the business owners’ sales role in enhancing business resilience. It underscores the connection between ineffective sales practices and business failure and delves deeper by investigating the interplay between entrepreneurial motives and ESRO on sales behavior. Additionally, this study bridges the gap between entrepreneurship- and sales research by applying the Bird-in-Hand principle to business owners' sales behavior. In practical terms, the research's outcomes are twofold. First, it refines the Entrepreneurial Selling Matrix, providing a pragmatic typology that aids sales training practitioners in guiding business owners toward aligning sales behaviors with entrepreneurial goals. Second, it introduces an Entrepreneurial Selling Training Program, accompanied by tools, facilitating sales trainers in evaluating and improving current and desired sales behaviors. This practical approach contributes directly to nurturing resilient and thriving businesses.
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This comprehensive document shares up-to-date knowledge on Early Warning Signals of business crisis, presents detection and intervention opportunities, and makes a clear case for their beneficial application to SME leadership and overall business resilience.
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The main purpose of this dissertation is to identify the factors that explain success and failure in SME business transfers. Three key concepts have been defined in the research framework: firm resources, capabilities (of predecessor and successor) and (successor’s) strategic renewal. Altogether these three key concepts serve as predictors for the transfer outcomes: exit choice, transfer duration, obtained price, satisfaction and the post-transfer firm performance. Testing reveals that both firm resources and owner capabilities are of importance for exit choice. Results indicate further that especially “acquisition experience” and “years of ownership” predict the exit choice in well performing firms. In poorly performing firms, firm resources prevail as the predictors for exit choice. Most consistently, owner capabilities like “familiarity with the successor” and “flexibility” and not firm resources predict success during a transfer. The firm resource “succession planning” predicts only the level of satisfaction with the transfer. Regarding owner capabilities, a distinction is made between generic and specific human capital. Results indicate the importance of specific human capital (owner competencies and experience) rather than generic human capital (level of education). All types of renewal (i.e. product/market innovation, organizational change or a combination of the two) after succession show better post-transfer firm performance compared to no changes in the first two years.
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Planning of transport through inland shipping is complex, highly dynamic and very specific. Existing software support is focusing on road transport planning and/or is merely a visual representation of shipments to be manually assigned to particular vessels. As a result inland shipment planning is time-consuming and highly relies on the personal skills of the planner. In this paper we present a business rules based model that aims to further support inland shipping organizations in their shipment planning by identifying the characteristics and constraints that are of interest and the related explicated business rules. The model is derived from transport-related literature, explorative expert interviews and transport management software vendors. The usability and applicability of the model is subsequently successfully empirically tested using identified performance measures through a case study at a major European inland shipping broker
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We give a refinement of the well known business model canvas by Osterwalder and Pigneur by splitting the basic blocks into further subblocks to reduce confusion and increase its expressive power. The splitting is used in an online tool which in addition comes with a set of questions to further structure the business modelling process and help doing thought experiments.
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Pressure on natural resources, unsustainable production and consumption, inequality and a growing global population lie at the base of the big challenges that people face. This chapter investigates how businesses can take responsibility in dealing with these challenges by means of frugal business model innovation. The notion of ‘frugal innovation’ was first introduced in the context of emerging markets, giving non-affluent customers opportunities to consume affordable products and services suited to their needs. Business modelling with a frugal mindset opens up a path that provides significant value while minimizing the use of resources such as energy, capital and time. Business models require intentional design if they are to deliver aspired sustainability impacts. Diminish or simplify resources can be described as the means to remove or reduce features, resources, required activities and/or waste streams. Decompose can be described as the removal of resources from the commercial value proposition and replacing them with resources the user/consumer already can access or uses. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in Circular Economy : Challenges and Opportunities for Ethical and Sustainable Business on 2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367816650
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World globalisation drives companies to undertake international expansion with the aim of retaining or growing their businesses. When companies globalize, managers encounter new challenges in making international marketing strategy (IMS) decisions, which are influenced by perceived cultural and business distance between their home- and foreign country. Telkom Indonesia International (Telin) was formed by Telkom Indonesia (i.e. the state-owned company in the telecommunication industry in Indonesia) to engage in international business within a global market. The central question in this study is to what extent do managers’ perceived cultural and business distance between home- and foreign country influence their IMS decisions? A mixed research strategy will be employed by applying qualitative and quantitative methods concurrently. The data collection will involve interviews with CEOs and managers, alongside a web survey to 55 managers of Telkom's. Results suggest important consequences for IMS decisions and emphasizes the need for dialogue on perceptions of cultural and business characteristics of countries.
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