International business scholars are increasingly calling for more awareness of the local context in which international entrepreneurs pursue business opportunities. In this paper, we respond to this call, arguing that an entrepreneur’s business network engenders self-sustaining dynamics that bear upon the entrepreneurial opportunity itself. We conclude that the dynamics that we observe can be interpreted as ‘multidimensional embeddedness’. Through a qualitative inquiry, we study how a Korean entrepreneur seeking to establish an agri-business venture in Cambodia embeds himself in the local business environment as a means to create an opportunity structure. We analyze how the international business venture initially thrived but ultimately failed, attributing these outcomes to the entrepreneur’s multidimensional embeddedness in the wider business environment. In so doing, we contribute a critical perspective to entrepreneurship research, widening the prevailing individualistic focus on entrepreneurship by engaging with the societal context within which an opportunity structure develops. We also extend international business studies by explaining how the opportunity structure underlying international ventures impacts upon opportunity pursuit, beyond the entrepreneur’s control.
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PurposeAll entrepreneurs interact simultaneously with multiple entrepreneurial contexts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. This conceptual paper has two central aims: (1) it synthesises the current literature on gender and entrepreneurship, and (2) it increases our understanding of how gender norms, contextual embeddedness and (in)equality mechanisms interact within contexts. Illustrative contexts that are discussed include entrepreneurship education, business networks and finance.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper draws upon extant literature to develop its proposed conceptual framework. It provides suggestions for systemic policy interventions as well as pointing to promising paths for future research.FindingsA literature-generated conceptual framework is developed to explain and address the systemic barriers faced by opportunity-driven women as they engage in entrepreneurial contexts. This conceptual framework visualises the interplay between gender norms, contextual embeddedness and inequality mechanisms to explain systemic disparities. An extra dimension is integrated in the framework to account for the power of agency within women and with others, whereby agency, either individually or collectively, may disrupt and subvert the current interplay with inequality mechanisms.Originality/valueThis work advances understanding of the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs. The paper offers a conceptual framework that provides policymakers with a useful tool to understand how to intervene and increase contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. Additionally, this paper suggests moving beyond “fixing” women entrepreneurs and points towards disrupting systemic disparities to accomplish this contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. By doing so, this research adds to academic knowledge on the construction and reconstruction of gender in the field of entrepreneurship.
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Previous bankruptcy is often seen as sign of poor entrepreneurial skills but few have examined whether renascent entrepreneurs actually perform worse or better upon reentering and how performance differences might be explained. Using a sample of 1,745 Dutch SMEs firms of which 67 were managed by renascent entrepreneurs this study examines potential differences in performance between renascent and other firms and explores to what extent this can be attributed to effects of the bankruptcy involvement on embeddedness, innovativeness, ambition and financial discipline. Non-parametric and multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test a set of hypotheses. Renascent entrepreneurs were found to show better sales level and were more innovative but also indicate more negative growth rates. Further, they show less financial discipline, but do not differ in their overall embeddedness and ambition levels. These mixed findings suggest that previous bankruptcy involvement is not necessarily a clear admission of failure.
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Societal aspects play an important role in successful implementation of renewable energytechnologies such as hydrogen. In Work package 10 (WP10) within the Hydelta 2.0 research program,we investigated the societal challenges and lessons learned for deploying hydrogentransport/distribution and application within the built environment in the Netherlands. Furthermore,we studied how these societal challenges can be successfully embedded within an implementationstrategy. In this deliverable (D10.3), the conducted field research of four cases, each in a differentphase of implementation (Rozenburg, Lochem, Wagenborgen, Stad aan ’t Haringvliet), is described.The central themes that we covered in this research are public support, (risk) communication, safetyand the experience of safety, and perceived success of the project. For each case, we interviewedlocal stakeholders (24 interviews in total) and residents, including people living nearby the hydrogenpilot (17 interviews, 68 questionnaires and approximately 90 conversations). The results show mostlypositive indications for public support (although this is not yet known for Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet). Inall cases, the importance of communication between stakeholders and between stakeholders andpotentially participating residents is acknowledged, even though there seems to be a lack ofcommunication with residents living in the vicinity of hydrogen pilots. This is a missed opportunityand a potential risk, as these residents may have questions and doubts, for instance about theprogress and decisions that have been made in the project. Positive attitudes concerning the safetyare partly attributed to the trust people have in the involved stakeholders. It also seems importantthat there is a contact person whom people can reach in case of questions or concerns. Additionally,in some of the cases a demonstration house, where people can experience what it means when ahouse is heated with hydrogen, seems successful. Thus, the findings emphasize the importance ofbroad and frequent communication, not only with the directly involved residents, but also withpeople who live in the vicinity of a hydrogen pilot. Communication is not only important in theplanning and implementation phase of the project, but also at the end of the implementation phase.Finally, shared ownership of the project and inclusion of all stakeholders in all phases of the projectseems important to prevent delays in the project.
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This online STS muhabbet, friendly but critically engaging conversation that took place between Yetiskin and Lovink will walk you through the stages of identifying the problems, threats, and possibilities that media technologies have brought to the table of not only users but also social science researchers who are mostly outside the current modes of technical knowledge production. It is a frank discussion on the biases of codes and algorithms upon which social media platforms have been built, the lack of technological awareness in academia, and the effect of this lack in terms of centralizing governance structures. Yetiskin and Lovink not only elaborate on the embeddedness of the political, economic and cultural in the technical but also the embeddedness of technical means in the way that we think and express ourselves. They also discuss the ways of politicizing the contemporary technologies, making them the matter of concern for both the users and the social scientists, and opening the black boxes of them i.e. making visible the invisible: media infrastructures, biased filters, the firewalls against the democratization of technologies. Enjoy your STS muhabbet!
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Het delen van spullen en diensten tussen onbekenden is een groeiend fenomeen in onze consumptiemaatschappij. Dit fenomeen wordt ook wel de deeleconomie genoemd. Wat de deeleconomie zo interessant maakt is dat transacties worden uitgevoerd tussen mensen die elkaar niet kennen. Deze transacties kunnen echter grote risico’s met zich meebrengen, omdat wet- en regelgeving vaak afwezig is. Vertrouwen tussen consumenten is daarom van groot belang. Mijn onderzoek laat zien dat gebruikers in de deeleconomie elkaar vertrouwen door middel van vertrouwenssignalen die gelinkt zijn aan de context en de intrinsieke eigenschappen van de ander. Dit artikel wordt afgesloten met aanbevelingen voor de praktijk en theorie en suggesties voor toekomstig onderzoek.
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Until 2012 Fontys OSO used a triangle as a conceptual framework to visualize the key concepts in the programme. Recently this was transformed into a visual model: the triade. The essentials of this triade are the central position of the student as a professional, a collaborative approach of knowledge sharing and development and embeddedness in the society. Students are challenged to integrate their own experience (the person), the essentials of their practice (=praktijk) and theoretical insights (= theorie).
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Presentation by Rutger Leukfeldt on Financially motivated cybercriminal networks, during workshop on Cybercrime Offenders. Cybercrime perpetrators are as diverse and complex as the cybercrime that they commit. For example, they come from different backgrounds and have different (egotistical, technical, monetary, ideological, political, professional, vengeful, sexual or other) motivations. They may or may not be professional criminals, and individuals or part of organised groups or networks (example of Advanced Persistent Threats). Some may commit crime on their own account or make their services available to others, and some may be supported by or be state actors. A better understanding of the types of perpetrators and their motivations and techniques can be instrumental for the prevention of cybercrime and for a more effective criminal justice response. The aim of this workshop is to contribute to such a better understanding and to initiate steps towards a typology of offenders.
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De populariteit van traineetrajecten berust voor een groot deel op de ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden die ze deelnemers bieden. Het is echter niet duidelijk of trainees hierdoor ook meer verbonden raken met de organisatie. Dit is echter wel een belangrijk onderwerp. Zo wil de gemeente Rotterdam trainees aantrekken die over “public service motivation” beschikken en zich langer aan de overheid committeren. Verblijfsduur in de organisatie kun je zien als een aspect van het “rendement” van een traineetraject, zij het niet het enige. Bij alle investeringen in de ontwikkeling van medewerkers, kun je trouwens vergelijkbare rendementsvragen stellen. Ondanks de huidige crisis, blijft dat – gelet op de door de vergrijzing toenemende vervangingsproblematiek – de komende jaren een belangrijke thema. Overigens willen wij hier niet bepleiten dat een investering in een trainee volledig verloren zou zijn als deze vroegtijdig de organisatie verlaat. Ook zijn wij niet van mening dat het altijd goed is als medewerkers lang in de organisatie blijven. Ons onderzoek licht misschien een tipje van de sluier op.
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In de rede gaat Ingrid Wakkee in op de veranderende aard van het ondernemerschap vanuit een social-embeddedness-perspectief. Ze gaat in op de toenemende populariteit van het zelfstandig ondernemerschap en bespreekt ook hoe de organisatie van het ondernemerschap verandert: ondernemingen blijven kleiner, worden meer experimenteel van karakter, werken meer samen maar overleven ook korter.Deze ontwikkelingen vertaalt zij vervolgens naar drie onderzoekslijnen, te weten: collaborative entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial failure & recovery en entrepreneurship education & support.Tot slot beschrijft zij hoe ze via het lectoraat en het Programma Ondernemerschap een bijdrage wil leveren aan de hogeschool en haar stakeholders.
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