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This paper challenges the solely rational view of the scenario technique as a strategy and foresight tool designed to cope with uncertainty by considering multiple possible future states. The paper employs an affordance-based view that allows for the identification and structuring of hidden, emergent attributes of the scenario technique beyond the intended ones. The suggested framework distinguishes between affordances (1) that are intended by the organization and relate to its goals, (2) that emergently generate organizational benefits, and (3) that do not relate to organizational but individual interests. Also, constraints in the use of scenarios are discussed. Affordance theory’s specific lens shows that the emergence of such attributes depends on the users’ specific intentions.
Powered by blockchain
(2020)
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to formulate the most probable future scenario for the use of blockchain technology within the next 5–10 years in the electricity sector based on today’s experts’ views.
Design/methodology/approach: An international, two-stage Delphi study with 20 projections is used.
Findings: According to the experts, blockchain applications will be primarily based on permissioned or consortium blockchains. Blockchain-based applications will integrate Internet of Things devices in the power grid, manage the e-mobility infrastructure, automate billing and direct payment and issue certificates regarding the origin of electricity. Blockchain solutions are expected to play an important big role in fostering peer-to-peer trading in microgrids, further democratizing and decentralizing the energy sector. New regulatory frameworks become necessary.
Research limitations/implications: The Delphi study’s scope is rather broad than narrow and detailed. Further studies should focus on partial scenarios.
Practical implications: Electricity market participants should build blockchain-based competences and collaborate in current pilot projects.
Social implications: Blockchain technology will further decentralize the energy sector and probably reduce transaction costs. Originality/value: Despite the assumed importance of blockchain technology, no coherent foresight study on its use and implications exists yet. This study closes this research gap.
Unternehmensleitbilder sind zu einem beliebten strategischen Instrument geworden, dem eine motivationssteigernde Wirkung zugeschrieben wird. In KMU und Startups wird die Notwendigkeit von Leitbildern infrage gestellt, da entsprechende Inhalte in der persönlichen Führung vermittelt werden. Doch gerade die gemeinsame Erstellung eines Leitbilds kann dessen Akzeptanz sowie die Mitarbeitermotivation erhöhen. Entsprechend verfolgen wir einen explorativen Aktionsforschungsansatz und entwickelten in einem Workshop mit Mitarbeitern eines in Berlin ansässigen E-Commerce-Startups ein Leitbild. Eine Woche vor und nach dem Workshop wurde die Motivation der Mitarbeiter quantitativ mit Hinblick auf Engagement, Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit, Commitment und Kündigungsabsicht gemessen. Unsere Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass die gemeinsame Formulierung eines Leitbilds einen signifikanten positiven Effekt auf die Mitarbeitermotivation hat, insbesondere für Mitarbeiter mit einem niedrigen initialen Motivationsniveau.
Sharing economy
(2020)
The sharing economy has received increased attention in entrepreneurship research, resulting in a complex research landscape that is hard to overlook. Using a bibliometric analysis, we aim to further synthesise the field by: 1) summarising the most important definitions given by extant literature to capture the common understanding of the sharing economy; 2) identifying three thematic clusters based on the top 20 most cited publications; 3) conducting a citation analysis to show interdependencies between all authors; and 4) identifying the research methods used in the SE publications. Our results show: 1) many definitions with different emphases; 2) conceptualisation, collaborative consumption/ownership and the disruptive character of the sharing economy as three dominant research clusters; 3) a fairly even citation practice allowing for unbiased future research; and 4) that conceptual publications and quantitative as well as qualitative studies are fairly evenly published.
The scenario technique is widely used to cope with uncertainties plan for alternate future situations. The extensive research led to a scattered literature landscape. To organize the field quantitatively, we conduct bibliometric performance analyses and a bibliographic coupling analysis. Results show an increased interest in scenario research since 2009 and clear distinctions between strategic and operational as well as methodological and applied research. Future research can be expected to further enhance the method towards robust decision making and to combine it with methods searching for most likely scenarios, such as prediction markets, crowdsourcing, and superforecasting. Additionally, cognitive and behavioral aspects of using the scenario technique might draw further attention. The scenario technique is expected to be applied across all industries and will probably play an increasing role in currently underrepresented business functions such as marketing and innovation.
Numerous studies show that high levels of Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) in firms positively influence firm performance. Yet, high levels of Dark Triad (DT) traits - narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy - of managers might work detrimental to EO. Our study empirically tests if top managers who score high on Dark Triad traits have a negative influence on firm performance, reducing the merits of EO. Results of a survey study on 191 firms show that all three dimensions of the DT, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, suppress the positive effects that EO has on firm performance. Accordingly, selfish behaviour, emotional coldness, propensity for duplicity, and top managers' quest for self promotion, status, and dominance lead to behaviour that reduces the positive influences around innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking of EO.
Opportunity recognition
(2020)
This paper provides an overview of the ever-increasing literature on opportunity recognition, with a focus on its antecedents and determinants. With a two-step research approach, a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review, we structure the current research in this field. By using bibliometric techniques, we analyzed 161 publications and, consequently, clustered the 30 most influential references. Apart from economic theories and the role of opportunity recognition in entrepreneurship, a strong research focus is on antecedents of opportunity recognition. Therefore, in our subsequent literature review, we focus on determinants which influence opportunity recognition. We find that the opportunity recognition process is influenced by various personal, organizational and environmental factors. We conclude with a research outlook for future research opportunities on opportunity recognition.
The economics of COVID-19
(2020)
Purpose
Within a very short period of time, the worldwide pandemic triggered by the novel coronavirus has not only claimed numerous lives but also caused severe limitations to daily private as well as business life. Just about every company has been affected in one way or another. This first empirical study on the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on family firms allows initial conclusions to be drawn about family firm crisis management.
Design/methodology/approach
Exploratory qualitative research design based on 27 semi-structured interviews with key informants of family firms of all sizes in five Western European countries that are in different stages of the crisis.
Findings
The COVID-19 crisis represents a new type and quality of challenge for companies. These companies are applying measures that can be assigned to three different strategies to adapt to the crisis in the short term and emerge from it stronger in the long run. Our findings show how companies in all industries and of all sizes adapt their business models to changing environmental conditions within a short period of time. Finally, the findings also show that the crisis is bringing about a significant yet unintended cultural change. On the one hand, a stronger solidarity and cohesion within the company was observed, while on the other hand, the crisis has led to a tentative digitalization.
Originality/value
To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first empirical study in the management realm on the impacts of COVID-19 on (family) firms. It provides cross-national evidence of family firms' current reactions to the crisis.
Leadership development (LD) is a crucial success factor for startups to increase their human capital, survival rate, and overall performance. However, only a minority of young ventures actively engage in LD, and research rather focuses on large corporations and SMEs, which do not share the typical startup characteristics such as a rather young workforce, flat hierarchies, resource scarcity, and high time pressure. To overcome this practical and theoretical lack of knowledge, we engage in foresight and explore which leadership development techniques will be most relevant for startups within the next five to ten years. To formulate the most probable scenario, we conduct an international, two-stage Delphi study with 27 projections among industry experts. According to the expert panel, the majority of startups will engage in leadership development over the next decade. Most startups will aim to develop the leadership capabilities of their workforce as a whole and use external support. The most prominent prospective LD measures in startups include experiential learning methods, such as action learning, developmental job assignments, multi-rater feedback, as well as digital experiential learning programs, and developmental relationships such as coaching in digital one-to-one sessions. Self-managed learning will play a more important role than formal training.
Firms engage in forecasting and foresight activities to predict the future or explore possible future states of the business environment in order to pre-empt and shape it (corporate foresight). Similarly, the dynamic capabilities approach addresses relevant firm capabilities to adapt to fast change in an environment that threatens a firm’s competitiveness and survival. However, despite these conceptual similarities, their relationship remains opaque. To close this gap, we conduct qualitative interviews with foresight experts as an exploratory study. Our results show that foresight and dynamic capabilities aim at an organizational renewal to meet future challenges. Foresight can be regarded as a specific activity that corresponds with the sensing process of dynamic capabilities. The experts disagree about the relationship between foresight and sensing and see no direct links with transformation. However, foresight can better inform post-sensing activities and, therefore, indirectly contribute to the adequate reconfiguration of the resource base, an increased innovativeness, and firm performance.
User Experience (UX) describes the holistic experience of a user before, during, and after interaction with a platform, product, or service. UX adds value and attraction to their sole functionality and is therefore highly relevant for firms. The increased interest in UX has produced a vast amount of scholarly research since 1983. The research field is, therefore, complex and scattered. Conducting a bibliometric analysis, we aim at structuring the field quantitatively and rather abstractly. We employed citation analyses, co-citation analyses, and content analyses to evaluate productivity and impact of extant research. We suggest that future research should focus more on business and management related topics.
Firms engage in forecasting and foresight activities to predict the future or explore possible future states of the business environment in order to pre-empt and shape it (corporate foresight). Similarly, the dynamic capabilities approach addresses relevant firm capabilities to adapt to fast change in an environment that threatens a firm’s competitiveness and survival. However, despite these conceptual similarities, their relationship remains opaque. To close this gap, we conduct qualitative interviews with foresight experts as an exploratory study. Our results show that foresight and dynamic capabilities aim at an organizational renewal to meet future challenges. Foresight can be regarded as a specific activity that corresponds with the sensing process of dynamic capabilities. The experts disagree about the relationship between foresight and sensing and see no direct links with transformation. However, foresight can better inform post-sensing activities and, therefore, indirectly contribute to the adequate reconfiguration of the resource base, an increased innovativeness, and firm performance.
The hospitality industry worldwide is among the hardest-hit industries from the COVID-19 lockdowns. Initial theoretical and practical observations in the hospitality industry indicate that business model innovation (BMI) might be a solution to recover from and successfully cope with the COVID-19 crisis. Interestingly, some firms in the hospitality industry already started to successfully adapt their business models. This study explores the why and how of these successful recovery attempts through BMI by conducting a multiple case study of six hospitality firms in Austria. We rely on interview data from managers together with one of their main stammgasts for each case, which we triangulate with secondary data for the analysis. Findings show that BMI is applied during and after the crisis to create new revenue streams and secure a higher level of liquidity, with an important role of stammgasts.
Business and management research on scenarios has been highly productive over the decades but led to a complex literature that is hard to oversee. To organize the field and identify distinguishable research clusters, we conducted a co-citation analysis focusing on the long-term history of research. We compare our findings with a previously published bibliographic coupling, focusing on the more recent research to trace its development over time. Our study revealed six research clusters: (1) Planning the Future with Scenarios, (2) Scenario Planning in Strategic Management, (3) Reinforcing the Scenario Technique, (4) Integration of Scenario Planning and MCDA, (5) Combination of Different Methods, and (6) Decision-making through Stochastic Programming, whereas the bibliographic coupling generated 11 clusters. Some former research clusters were divided into separate new clusters, while others were united. Additionally, completely new clusters emerged. Future research on scenarios is expected (1) to further differentiate into strategy and operations, (2) to be based on “behavioral futures” or “behavioral foresight” as a new research stream, (3) to advance the scenario technique methodically and include new specific scenario generation methods, and (4) to put forth new application areas.
In coherence with the progressive digitalization of all areas of life, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a flourishing concept in both research and practice. Due to the increasing scholarly attention, the literature landscape has become scattered and fragmented. With a focus on the commercial application of the IoT and corresponding research, we employ a co-citation analysis and literature review to structure the field. We find and describe 19 research themes. To consolidate the extant research, we propose a research framework, which is based on a theoretical implementation process of IoT as a concept, specific IoT applications, or architectures integrated in an adapted input–process–output model. The main variables of the model are an initial definition and conceptualization of an IoT concept (input), which goes through an evaluation process (process), before it is implemented and can have an impact in practice (output). The paper contributes to interdisciplinary research relating to a business and management perspective on IoT by providing a holistic overview of predominant research themes and an integrative research framework.
Family businesses strive not only for economic prosperity but also for social and environmental values and achievements. In an ever-changing business environment, dynamic capabilities are required to sustain performance across these areas. To understand these mechanisms in order to proactively manage them, it is necessary to identify their specific microfoundations and uncover how these relate to sustainability. However, research on sustainability dynamic capabilities in family businesses and their microfoundations is scarce. To address this research gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 German and Swiss family businesses from different industries of different ages and sizes. Our findings suggest that the majority of dynamic capability microfoundations relate to economic sustainability, with a specific focus on future orientation, traditional mindsets, rapid decision-making, intuition, speed, and resource slack. Further, we find the social aspects of innovative mindsets, human capital investments, and participation to be the specific microfoundations that strongly link with social and, eventually, economic sustainability. However, we did not find specific microfoundations for environmental sustainability.
Technological change and development have been ongoing in the motion picture industry since its beginnings some 125 years ago. What further advancements of digitalization can be expected over the next decade and what are its implications for the industry’s value chain? To answer this question, we conducted an international two-stage Delphi study. The results suggested a more frequent use of smartphones as cameras, the emergence of full digital film sets and digital star avatars, as well as advancements in VR-based and interactive movies. The findings imply challenges for traditional players in the motion picture value chain. Production technology becomes both simpler and more complex, leading to the threat of new entrants.
This paper aims to confirm pitfalls relevant in the integration stage of startup acquisitions mentioned in the literature and to identify new ones. To accomplish this, we conducted a literature review and a multiple case study with semi-structured, qualitative expert interviews. The results indicate the integration of an acquired startup may be challenged by potential pitfalls relating to acquirers or startups or a lack of their concordance. Unfavorable integration process attributes can also harm the integration success. We identified a lack of national-cultural fit and low performance of the integration team as additional potential pitfalls.