more specific topics are covered such as competition among firms, the particular characteristics ... more more specific topics are covered such as competition among firms, the particular characteristics of IS in knowledge-based SMEs and business process reengineering. A larger part is devoted to the role of electronic business (e-business). The authors seem to be both sceptical and at the same time optimistic about ebusiness in SMEs. On the one hand, they find the e-business adoption rate among SMEs to be still quite low. Moreover, if SMEs engage in e-business, they do so primarily by putting static, brochure-like websites into practice and abstain from implementing transaction-oriented or business-transforming e-business concepts. Therefore, governmental initiatives fostering e-business adoption in SMEs in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy do not seem to take effect. On the other hand, the reason for this result, which is only at first sight devastating, is quite simple: decision makers in SMEs do only invest in e-business if customers force them to and when a clear path to profitability can be envisioned. Naturally, if those conditions are met, investments in e-business are made. Consequently, against this background an enormous task for academia and government initiatives alike arises: not only do we need valid e-business concepts and business models; equally, there is the necessity to develop and communicate such concepts, which are appropriate not only for large corporations but for SMEs as well. All in all, the book constitutes an impressive starting point of Elsevier’s relaunched ‘Information Systems Series’. While the preceding series placed emphasis on technological aspects, Strategies for Growth in SMEs and future publications do and will focus on social and organizational aspects of IS. Hence, this well-written and interesting book which focuses on SMEs is a most suitable starting point for this shift in perspective as we can safely assume that most owners and managers in SMEs have their area of expertise rather in their specific industry than in IT.
Globally crowdfunding is experiencing rapid growth, expanding by 167% in 2014 to reach$16.2 billi... more Globally crowdfunding is experiencing rapid growth, expanding by 167% in 2014 to reach$16.2 billion raised, up from $6.1 billion in 2013 (Massolution, 2015). Unsurprisingly, therehas been much media and practitioner attention devoted to rewards based crowdfunding. Yetthe emergent research suffers from selection bias, insofar as the focus has been mainly onfirms that have succeeded in raising the target finance. Consequently, the generalunderstanding of how firms undertaking rewards based crowdfunding fail remains deficient.This gap in our understanding is addressed in the context of a potential International NewVenture (INV). We seek to understand the antecedents to failure, and the subsequentconsequences and cognitive impacts on the entrepreneurs utilising a single in depth casestudy built from both primary and secondary sources. This case focus on one firm (Alpha)who had internationalisation intentions for their educational game offering, and who failed toclose the Kickstarter project.Key issues were identified with respect to rewards based crowdfunding failure. Alpha soughtcrowdfunding to overcome an impending funding scarcity and bring their educational game tothe market. Arguably, the entrepreneurs did not fully evaluate the pros and cons ofcrowdfunding as a financing option and under estimated the risk resulting in an overlyoptimistic crowdfunding attempt. The offline rules with regard to understanding the marketdynamics for products/ services should still apply to companies contemplating rewards basedcrowdfunding. Alpha clearly had several key resources/knowledge absent (key productionskills, key marketing resources, the right team in place) and ultimately low exposure failed tobuild the right crowd.We suggest that rewards based crowdfunding is a high risk strategy with an extremely highchance of failing, and that increased understanding of failure in this context is urgent, as untilthis is the case, many more small firms may jump on the crowdfunding bandwagon, to theirdetriment. It was evident that failure held severe consequences for the firm. Undoubtedlyrewards based crowdfunding brings many non-fiduciary benefits, however these also havethe potential to cause operational and reputational damage to the firm when projects fail. Theinformation was freely available to potential funders, clients, partners and the wider industry,allowing the wide dissemination of the failure and the attendant reputational damage. Theoutworking was that this firm did not attract any further funding and almost failed entirely,eventually changing its business model to survive.The cognitive processes at work after rewards based crowdfunding failure were similar tothose experienced after a venture failure. The entrepreneur’s attribution processes sought torecognise if the causes were beyond their control or due to some internal reason. The internalattribution of blame was associated with effective post-failure learning as the actions taken bythe entrepreneurs were identified as possible causes of the failure. Finally a set of questionsare posed for those contemplating rewards based crowdfunding are posed:1. Are you willing to gamble your reputation?2. Is it the Funding or Crowdfunding3. How much do you really need?4. Have you researched other projects in your industry,5. Have you enough experience?6. Do you assume the crowd will come?
International entrepreneurship is the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities across national bo... more International entrepreneurship is the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities across national borders (Reuber et al., 2018), behaviourally a combination of innovative, proactive and risk-seeking behaviours that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations (McDougall & Oviatt, 2000). Agile and resilient entrepreneurial firms and individuals are able to take advantage of their international entrepreneurial orientation and find international opportunities even in times of global uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic conditions (Torkkeli, 2021a; Torkkeli, 2021b ; Zahra, 2020a). In such environments characterized by high volatility and uncertainty, the role of entrepreneurial resilience (Bullough et al., 2014; Bullough & Renko, 2013) can differentiate between survival and failure of enterprises, and the speed with which international new ventures can learn can determine their growth and survival in the long term (Zahra, 2020a). The uncertainty brought on by crises and external shocks also presents opportunities to firms for digitalization and business model change (Seetharaman, 2020), provided that they are resilient enough to seize those opportunities and have the self-efficacy needed to cope with the uncertainty (Torkkeli et al., 2021). While internationalization is a risky process, it can also be a risk diversification strategy for small entrepreneurial firms (Saarenketo et al., 2022). Having an international outlook and orientation are crucial for them to develop resilience needed for international growth (Boso et al., 2017). It is with this backdrop that the present special issue in Small Enterprise Research focusing on resilient growth in international entrepreneurship is published. The collection of articles in this special issue shed light on how resilience and growth are manifested and interlinked in international entrepreneurship during times of uncertainty and political turbulence (cf. Zahra, 2020b; Zahra, 2022). The five empirical studies comprising the special issue address the concepts on resilience and growth in international entrepreneurship from several theoretical perspectives, units of analysis and through a diverse set of country contexts.
As part of their growth strategy, many firms choose to expand internationally. Such expansion is ... more As part of their growth strategy, many firms choose to expand internationally. Such expansion is an especially important decision for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs are vital to China's economy and have grown in importance since the reform and opening-up, measured in terms of size, number, financial status, or profitability. In addition, the Chinese electronics sector plays an important role in the economy. This inquiry explores the internationalisation behaviour of 50 Chinese electronics SMEs. The findings are presented and implications drawn for future research, along with those for policy makers and practitioners.
... The main focus of this contribution is to investigate the internationalization strategies of ... more ... The main focus of this contribution is to investigate the internationalization strategies of a cross-national sample of Internet-enabled firms in Europe and North America. ... The latter authors conclude that small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalization is best ...
refers to the use of external vendors to deliver the IT-element of the business process, which in... more refers to the use of external vendors to deliver the IT-element of the business process, which includes programming, application services and infrastructure. It is often referred to as a subset of BPO (Lacity, Solomon, Yan, & Willcocks, 2011).
In this paper we investigate a sample of 162 Italian manufacturing small medium family firms, and... more In this paper we investigate a sample of 162 Italian manufacturing small medium family firms, and analyse the effects of the degree of family involvement on the Foreign Direct Investment decision. ...
Crowdfunding, the practice of funding an idea, project or business venture through appealing for ... more Crowdfunding, the practice of funding an idea, project or business venture through appealing for financial contributions directly from a large pool of individual backers via an online crowdfunding platform, is a growing phenomenon globally. Recent estimates by the European Commission (2016) indicate that over €4.2 billion was raised through online crowdfunding platforms in 2015 in Europe alone, a significant increase from the estimated €1 billion raised during 2014. While the total monetary amount sourced by entrepreneurs through crowdfunding is still relatively small in comparison to that obtained through more traditional funding instruments (e.g. lending, venture capital etc.), its use by entrepreneurs as a means to obtain seed/start-up money is increasing rapidly (European Commission, 2016). In general the potential of crowdfunding as a complementary or alternative funding source for SMEs is attracting much attention from academics, industry and policy makers alike. Indeed, given...
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2011
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of the internet on the i... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of the internet on the internationalisation process and international customer relationship interactions of UK manufacturing small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper is positioned at the interface of the literature on international entrepreneurship and the internet.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the findings from multiple case studies of ten UK manufacturing SMEs from a variety of UK sectors, producing high‐, medium‐ and low‐tech offerings. In‐depth interviews with directors or managers of the SMEs were conducted. Individual and cross‐case analysis was carried out using coding frameworks to reduce and analyse the data and capture patterns in the findings.FindingsThe findings reveal how the influence of the internet in the internationalisation process and international customer relationship interactions differed in the high‐, medium‐or low‐tech SME categories. The influence of the inte...
more specific topics are covered such as competition among firms, the particular characteristics ... more more specific topics are covered such as competition among firms, the particular characteristics of IS in knowledge-based SMEs and business process reengineering. A larger part is devoted to the role of electronic business (e-business). The authors seem to be both sceptical and at the same time optimistic about ebusiness in SMEs. On the one hand, they find the e-business adoption rate among SMEs to be still quite low. Moreover, if SMEs engage in e-business, they do so primarily by putting static, brochure-like websites into practice and abstain from implementing transaction-oriented or business-transforming e-business concepts. Therefore, governmental initiatives fostering e-business adoption in SMEs in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy do not seem to take effect. On the other hand, the reason for this result, which is only at first sight devastating, is quite simple: decision makers in SMEs do only invest in e-business if customers force them to and when a clear path to profitability can be envisioned. Naturally, if those conditions are met, investments in e-business are made. Consequently, against this background an enormous task for academia and government initiatives alike arises: not only do we need valid e-business concepts and business models; equally, there is the necessity to develop and communicate such concepts, which are appropriate not only for large corporations but for SMEs as well. All in all, the book constitutes an impressive starting point of Elsevier’s relaunched ‘Information Systems Series’. While the preceding series placed emphasis on technological aspects, Strategies for Growth in SMEs and future publications do and will focus on social and organizational aspects of IS. Hence, this well-written and interesting book which focuses on SMEs is a most suitable starting point for this shift in perspective as we can safely assume that most owners and managers in SMEs have their area of expertise rather in their specific industry than in IT.
Globally crowdfunding is experiencing rapid growth, expanding by 167% in 2014 to reach$16.2 billi... more Globally crowdfunding is experiencing rapid growth, expanding by 167% in 2014 to reach$16.2 billion raised, up from $6.1 billion in 2013 (Massolution, 2015). Unsurprisingly, therehas been much media and practitioner attention devoted to rewards based crowdfunding. Yetthe emergent research suffers from selection bias, insofar as the focus has been mainly onfirms that have succeeded in raising the target finance. Consequently, the generalunderstanding of how firms undertaking rewards based crowdfunding fail remains deficient.This gap in our understanding is addressed in the context of a potential International NewVenture (INV). We seek to understand the antecedents to failure, and the subsequentconsequences and cognitive impacts on the entrepreneurs utilising a single in depth casestudy built from both primary and secondary sources. This case focus on one firm (Alpha)who had internationalisation intentions for their educational game offering, and who failed toclose the Kickstarter project.Key issues were identified with respect to rewards based crowdfunding failure. Alpha soughtcrowdfunding to overcome an impending funding scarcity and bring their educational game tothe market. Arguably, the entrepreneurs did not fully evaluate the pros and cons ofcrowdfunding as a financing option and under estimated the risk resulting in an overlyoptimistic crowdfunding attempt. The offline rules with regard to understanding the marketdynamics for products/ services should still apply to companies contemplating rewards basedcrowdfunding. Alpha clearly had several key resources/knowledge absent (key productionskills, key marketing resources, the right team in place) and ultimately low exposure failed tobuild the right crowd.We suggest that rewards based crowdfunding is a high risk strategy with an extremely highchance of failing, and that increased understanding of failure in this context is urgent, as untilthis is the case, many more small firms may jump on the crowdfunding bandwagon, to theirdetriment. It was evident that failure held severe consequences for the firm. Undoubtedlyrewards based crowdfunding brings many non-fiduciary benefits, however these also havethe potential to cause operational and reputational damage to the firm when projects fail. Theinformation was freely available to potential funders, clients, partners and the wider industry,allowing the wide dissemination of the failure and the attendant reputational damage. Theoutworking was that this firm did not attract any further funding and almost failed entirely,eventually changing its business model to survive.The cognitive processes at work after rewards based crowdfunding failure were similar tothose experienced after a venture failure. The entrepreneur’s attribution processes sought torecognise if the causes were beyond their control or due to some internal reason. The internalattribution of blame was associated with effective post-failure learning as the actions taken bythe entrepreneurs were identified as possible causes of the failure. Finally a set of questionsare posed for those contemplating rewards based crowdfunding are posed:1. Are you willing to gamble your reputation?2. Is it the Funding or Crowdfunding3. How much do you really need?4. Have you researched other projects in your industry,5. Have you enough experience?6. Do you assume the crowd will come?
International entrepreneurship is the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities across national bo... more International entrepreneurship is the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities across national borders (Reuber et al., 2018), behaviourally a combination of innovative, proactive and risk-seeking behaviours that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations (McDougall & Oviatt, 2000). Agile and resilient entrepreneurial firms and individuals are able to take advantage of their international entrepreneurial orientation and find international opportunities even in times of global uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic conditions (Torkkeli, 2021a; Torkkeli, 2021b ; Zahra, 2020a). In such environments characterized by high volatility and uncertainty, the role of entrepreneurial resilience (Bullough et al., 2014; Bullough & Renko, 2013) can differentiate between survival and failure of enterprises, and the speed with which international new ventures can learn can determine their growth and survival in the long term (Zahra, 2020a). The uncertainty brought on by crises and external shocks also presents opportunities to firms for digitalization and business model change (Seetharaman, 2020), provided that they are resilient enough to seize those opportunities and have the self-efficacy needed to cope with the uncertainty (Torkkeli et al., 2021). While internationalization is a risky process, it can also be a risk diversification strategy for small entrepreneurial firms (Saarenketo et al., 2022). Having an international outlook and orientation are crucial for them to develop resilience needed for international growth (Boso et al., 2017). It is with this backdrop that the present special issue in Small Enterprise Research focusing on resilient growth in international entrepreneurship is published. The collection of articles in this special issue shed light on how resilience and growth are manifested and interlinked in international entrepreneurship during times of uncertainty and political turbulence (cf. Zahra, 2020b; Zahra, 2022). The five empirical studies comprising the special issue address the concepts on resilience and growth in international entrepreneurship from several theoretical perspectives, units of analysis and through a diverse set of country contexts.
As part of their growth strategy, many firms choose to expand internationally. Such expansion is ... more As part of their growth strategy, many firms choose to expand internationally. Such expansion is an especially important decision for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs are vital to China's economy and have grown in importance since the reform and opening-up, measured in terms of size, number, financial status, or profitability. In addition, the Chinese electronics sector plays an important role in the economy. This inquiry explores the internationalisation behaviour of 50 Chinese electronics SMEs. The findings are presented and implications drawn for future research, along with those for policy makers and practitioners.
... The main focus of this contribution is to investigate the internationalization strategies of ... more ... The main focus of this contribution is to investigate the internationalization strategies of a cross-national sample of Internet-enabled firms in Europe and North America. ... The latter authors conclude that small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) internationalization is best ...
refers to the use of external vendors to deliver the IT-element of the business process, which in... more refers to the use of external vendors to deliver the IT-element of the business process, which includes programming, application services and infrastructure. It is often referred to as a subset of BPO (Lacity, Solomon, Yan, & Willcocks, 2011).
In this paper we investigate a sample of 162 Italian manufacturing small medium family firms, and... more In this paper we investigate a sample of 162 Italian manufacturing small medium family firms, and analyse the effects of the degree of family involvement on the Foreign Direct Investment decision. ...
Crowdfunding, the practice of funding an idea, project or business venture through appealing for ... more Crowdfunding, the practice of funding an idea, project or business venture through appealing for financial contributions directly from a large pool of individual backers via an online crowdfunding platform, is a growing phenomenon globally. Recent estimates by the European Commission (2016) indicate that over €4.2 billion was raised through online crowdfunding platforms in 2015 in Europe alone, a significant increase from the estimated €1 billion raised during 2014. While the total monetary amount sourced by entrepreneurs through crowdfunding is still relatively small in comparison to that obtained through more traditional funding instruments (e.g. lending, venture capital etc.), its use by entrepreneurs as a means to obtain seed/start-up money is increasing rapidly (European Commission, 2016). In general the potential of crowdfunding as a complementary or alternative funding source for SMEs is attracting much attention from academics, industry and policy makers alike. Indeed, given...
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2011
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of the internet on the i... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of the internet on the internationalisation process and international customer relationship interactions of UK manufacturing small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The paper is positioned at the interface of the literature on international entrepreneurship and the internet.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the findings from multiple case studies of ten UK manufacturing SMEs from a variety of UK sectors, producing high‐, medium‐ and low‐tech offerings. In‐depth interviews with directors or managers of the SMEs were conducted. Individual and cross‐case analysis was carried out using coding frameworks to reduce and analyse the data and capture patterns in the findings.FindingsThe findings reveal how the influence of the internet in the internationalisation process and international customer relationship interactions differed in the high‐, medium‐or low‐tech SME categories. The influence of the inte...
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Papers by Sharon Loane