Purpose - Currently, the hype surrounding digitalization proclaims that the way in which companies create and capture value will change dramatically. Companies that adjust their business models to embrace digital technologies will need different skill sets and competences. Current research tends to focus on the impact of digital technologies on corporations or more generally the labor market, but the authors lack detailed insights into how companies perceive this development to influence their needs regarding employee qualifications. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how companies perceive the impact of digital technologies on the education and training needs of current and future employees.
Design/methodology/approach - This study draws on eight case studies from the food industry. It focuses on one occupation certified within the German “dual system” of vocational education and training (VET), the machine and plant operator with focus on food technology.
Findings - The findings suggest that the impact of different digital technologies on employees’ job positions, working tasks and training needs is carefully considered in decisions regarding the implementation of digital technologies. Despite some company- specific contingencies, the perceived implications for VET needs are largely similar across the sample.
Originality/value - This study draws attention to the importance of reviewing VET needs in relation to the decision of implementing digital technologies.
Current changes in the media industries not only provide a range of new business opportunities for entrepreneurial start-ups, they also force legacy media firms to engage in corporate entrepreneurship and (re-)develop their entrepreneurial orientation as part of their strategic renewal. In recent years, media entrepreneurship has emerged as an area of study within media business studies, but it still lacks theoretical anchoring. While in mainstream entrepreneurship research entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has developed into a highly prominent theoretical concept, it has been largely overlooked for the study of media firms to date. This paper introduces entrepreneurial orientation to media business studies. It characterizes EO’s different dimensions and reviews relevant studies, and then illustrates the dimensions of the EO concept by drawing on the case example of a European online publisher. The case shows how different dimensions of EO are at play in the media firm and how the relevance of these dimensions is not stable over time, but in constant flux. Such process perspective on EO is outlined as a major future research opportunity for media entrepreneurship studies.
Export has a positive impact on economic growth, and exporting companies often achieve a higher level of productivity than non-exporting companies. Most companies in Sweden are small, and it is of vital importance for the Swedish economy that they successfully develop and grow. In a small home-market economy like Sweden, an important direction for growth is to expand internationally. But many companies do not dare to internationalize due to a perceived lack of competence. This report aims at providing a comprehensive overview of academic research related to different kinds of competences relevant for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The overview leads into recommendations to SMEs regarding what kind of issues they might want to keep in mind when preparing for international business activities, e.g. to develop an appropriate set of resources and competences. In addition, implications relevant to policy-makers are derived from the literature overview.
This editorial reviews current research about media entrepreneurship and introduces the four papers published in this special issue. These papers move the emerging academic field of media entrepreneurship forward by outlining the relevance of context for enhancing our understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena, by introducing the theoretical concept of ‘entrepreneuring as emancipation’, by analyzing the institutionalization of media entrepreneurship education, and by categorizing different investment types in corporate entrepreneurship. The editorial concludes by calling for continuing efforts to theory-building to further develop the field.
Reviews the book "Organisationslernen--institutionelle und kulturelle Dimensionen (WZB-Jahrbuch)," edited by Horst Albach, Meinolf Dierkes, Ariane Berthoin Antal and Kristina Vaillant.
SMEs in high-technology industries, such as life sciences, face a fundamental challenge. On the one hand, i.a. high product development costs push firms to early-stage internationalization to speed up the amortization of those investments. On the other hand, a number of factors constitute hinders to internationalization, such as insufficient endowments with financial resources and the need to adapt to local regulations, which differ between countries. To date, little is known about how SMEs in practice master this challenge. Based on a longitudinal, in-depth case study of a young company from a high-technology sector, this paper aims at providing a better understanding of early internationalization processes of startups in these industries. This paper is closely linked to practice, while at the same time is contributing to the literature on international entrepreneurship.
This book series publishes monographs and edited volumes devoted to studies on entrepreneurship, innovation, as well as business development and managementrelated issues in Africa. Volumes cover in-depth analyses of individual countries, regions, cases, and comparative studies. They include both a specific and a general focus on the latest advances of the various aspects of entrepreneurship, innovation, business development, management and the policies that set the business environment. It provides a platform for researchers globally to carry out rigorous analyses, to promote, share, and discuss issues, findings and perspectives in various areas of business development, management, finance, human resources, technology, and the implementation of policies and strategies of the African continent. Frontiers in African Business Research allows for a deeper appreciation of the various issues around African business development with high quality and peer reviewed contributions. Volumes published in the series are important reading for academicians, consultants, business professionals, entrepreneurs, managers, as well as policy makers, interested in the private sector development of the African continent.
This chapter provides an introduction to this edited volume and its main themes Context, Challenges, and Cases. It briefly introduces the different chapters included in each of these themes.
This introductory chapter addresses manangement challenges across different types of African organizations. Based on a literature review of how management challenges in Africa have been studied to date, it introduces this volume´s three parts - Practices, Processes and Performance. It also gives a brief insight of the chapters that discuss these challenges in detail.
This book focuses on management challenges in different types of companies, ranging from small to large, from private to public and from service to manufacturing in the African context. With empirical data from countries as diverse as Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia, it discusses the increasing economic importance of the African continent, covering relevant topics on sustainability and environmental issues, exports, logistics, HR issues, innovation and financial reporting. Through different conceptual insights and empirical case studies, the research presented serves as a useful resource for academics, students, and policy-makers interested in in-depth studies on management challenges in Africa.
Current research commonly investigates two different growth strategies, organic growth and growth by acquisitions. Studies on acquisition-based growth typically draw on cross-sectional quantitative studies of large US-based firms, treating all types of acquisitions as one mode. Our study takes a different approach, and explores different growth strategies of a smaller sample of medium-sized companies drawing on a longitudinal, qualitative design. This research design allows us to identify eight different growth modes. Thereby, we illustrate that dynamic growth processes in medium-sized firms are much more diverse and complex than commonly assumed.
Current research commonly investigates two different growth modes, organic growth and growth by acquisitions. Studies on acquisition-based growth typically draw on cross-sectional quantitative studies of large firms that treat all acquisitions the same. Our study takes a different approach, and explores different growth modes of a smaller sample of medium-sized companies drawing on a longitudinal, qualitative case-study design. This research design allows us to identify eight different growth modes that companies combine in unique ways over time. Thereby, we illustrate that patterns of dynamic growth in medium-sized firms are much more diverse and complex than commonly assumed.
In this chapter, we argue that well-conducted qualitative research can play an important role in advancing the field of media management through theory building. We outline and compare different perspectives to qualitative research and how these can be used in terms of sampling, data collection and analysis. We also introduce relevant criteria to assess the quality of qualitative research and present some ethical considerations.
As a concept stemming from practice, business development has received scarce academic attention. In this paper, we explore core business development activities of micro-firms and the challenges they perceive in conducting them. Based on interviews with 30 micro-firms, we identify three core business development activities that leverage the firm's resource base, complemented by three support activities that secure and organize the firm's resources. We find the business development activities to be tightly related to the three practices of leveraging, securing and organizing resources. We also identify three important contextual influences on business development in micro-firms: industry, age and if the firm is in an incubator. Our findings contribute to developing a conceptualization and theorization of business development for micro-firms, which is relevant as the vast majority of companies worldwide are micro-firms, but many never embark on a growth path. Based on our results, we outline practical implications, for example, how companies could overcome their perceived lack of time and an agenda for future research encouraging further studies comprising micro-firms with different qualities.
The interface of the organization and its industry constitutes a vital space for development. Conducting a systematic literature review, we confirm that management research has paid rather little attention to exploring the relationship between the industry context and family business management to date (see also Le Breton Miller & Miller, 2015). Despite this lack of research, many scholars and practitioners alike could name numerous family businesses that hold world class in their niches. Given the pace of environmental changes, there is a clear need to better understand the interface of family business and industry over time. Building on our findings from a longitudinal, in-depth case study of a 4th generation family business and its niche of high-quality Scandinavian Design furniture, we propose a multi-level model of co-evolution that comprises not only the micro- and macro-levels of family business and its industry, but also the meso-level of inter-actor cooperation in its market niche.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore individual career management by family members in the context of their family firms.
Design/methodology/approach: The interpretative interview study of family members active in family businesses explores how this context affects the choice, planning, goals and development of family members' careers in their family business.
Findings: The authors find that career management in the family business setting focuses on fulfilling the family business goals rather than the personal goals of family members. Career management is rather reactive and less self-directed than current literature on career development recommends. Based on the results, the authors develop a process model for individual career management in the family business context.
Originality/value: Little is known about individual career management of family members in a family business context, as research on careers in family firms has so far focused mainly on transgenerational succession. The authors explore how in family firms, the trend towards self-directed, individual career planning is in tension with a commitment to the family business and its legacy.