VALUATION OF A SaaS COMPANY: A CASE STUDY OF SALESFORCE.COM

Purpose: In striving to achieve business excellence, hotel companies recognise the importance of new solutions that affect hotel attractiveness and boost demand. In order to implement adequate and optimised innovative concept they need to choose suitable innovations and to test their attractiveness. The aim and purpose of this paper is to explore tourist demand focused on youth tourism within the framework of experimental hospitality innovations. Why experimental hospitality innovations and how can they be organised and valorised within the tourism system? The possible answers emerge in attractiveness exploration and understanding the Millenials as new consumers segment that seeks new excitement, exploration and solutions. Design/methodology/approach: The research includes quantitative as well as qualitative methods which explore the attitudes of tourist demand through 88 questionnaires conducted in January 2017 processed by statistical methodology including chi-squared test (February to May 2017). Methods of best practice research (February, March 2017) that are presented in framework of experimental technologies and creative thinking techniques are implemented and oriented towards creation of a new model that could impact demand of a specific market segment – youth tourists. The presented model of innovative solutions, created in March 2017) recognises categories of innovations that could impact perception of potential consumers about hospitality attractiveness. Findings: Presented research suggests conclusions that would influence new knowledge and present the platform for innovative connections of industry stakeholders including hotel companies and technological innovations companies which could implement and test their innovative product and valuate it by actual consumers, hotel guests. Findings point to conclusions which confirm willingness of youngsters to stay in innovation test hotel, to evaluate and rank selected groups of innovations and to pay the market price for this special experience of being the part of product or service innovation process. Research/practical implications: Paper proposes a new concept of development of hospitality structures that both innovatively organise hotel product and place it on tourism market, and support development and implementation of technological and organisational innovations as a new service that enriches hotel product. The concept provides the responses of tourist demand on sight in real time and that research results present indicative guidelines for further investments. Originality/value: The contribution of this paper is reflected in a both a proposal of new approach and suggestion of innovations as marketing value for hotel companies when considering orientation towards demand as a selective market segment and as a mix of various innovative aspects that form hotel service: technology, organisation, service, experience, architecture and design.

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to provide an overview of the situation of access to finance of SMEs in Europe and explore the regulatory and financial background of microfinance opportunities. Besides this general approach, the paper also aims to investigate the practical approach of EU Member States to the issue of microfinance. As a result, it is expected that overall the efficiency of programmes financed from public funds will be increased through the adoption of best practices in European countries. Design/methodology/approach: Research is being carried out using information provided by ten INTERREG project partners from seven different EU Member States and Norway, including managing authorities, microfinance institutions and enterprise development organisations. Stakeholders were interviewed through surveys and stakeholder group meetings (twelve meetings per partner), while their experiences are shared in study trips (up to six per partner) and local workshops (up to five per partner). Publicly relevant data and the academic literature related to microfinance has been also reviewed. In-depth analysis in six EU Member States (Hungary, Italy, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Poland), representing regions at various levels of development, has also been carried out. Findings: It has been found that the lack of commercial sources of finance is still a problem for a number of European SMEs. The main problem is that many firms are deemed non-bankable by commercial banks. Nevertheless, governments have intervened to support these firms and promote microfinance initiatives. These are provided typically from national or EU sources, such as ESIF Funds, while various regional initiatives also exist in the countries investigated. Research/practical implications: The research addresses some important regulatory and practical issues with microfinance that can prove invaluable for researchers, policy-makers or even financial institutions. The comparative analysis of Member State solutions can also provide an inspiration for other countries considering the introduction of microfinance initiatives. It is expected that following the publication of the results of the research,

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 2018

Sweden's agriculture industry has faced many challenges in recent years. Among the most severe challenges are the decrease in the number of small and medium-sized farms, the decrease in the number of people employed in agricultural activities, and the increase in governmental regulations and legislation governing such activities. At the same time, the demand that agriculture contributes to sustainable social and ecological development has increased. Although research shows that sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) contributes to the creation of sustainable businesses and to the development of a sustainable society, Swedish agriculture has not been at the forefront in the use of SBMI. The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers to SBMI in Swedish agriculture in order to understand why farmers seldom engage in SBMI. This qualitative study follows the Gioia methodology and data for the analysis were acquired in semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs at six family farms in Sweden. The paper makes a theoretical contribution to the research on SBMI with its focus on sustainable entrepreneurship in the Swedish agricultural industry. The paper concludes that the barriers to SBMI are external, internal, and contextual.

Current corporations are subject to stringent requirements in terms of sustainable development; however, a relevant problem is highlighted on the basis of the studies conducted. On the one hand, corporations experience greater or lesser pressure, while on the other hand, it must be admitted that the problem of demand for professionals, which is presupposed by the insufficient quality of training in higher education institutions, is important. This is somewhat strange given that the issues of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability have attracted increased attention in management education in recent years, and a five-fold increase in the number of stand-alone ethics courses has been noted since 1988. This interaction could contribute to the development of CSR, however a certain dissonance of cooperation between higher education and business exists, as there is a lack of leadership in this area in the study programs of business administration approved by the states, as well as in higher education institutions. Given these facts, the goal of the paper is to analyze the Master of Business Administration programs in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia to offer direction to the challenge of integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) into management and training. The method of analysis of professional business and administration training program content in terms of the integration of CSR was used during the survey. Using panel data of 28 full-time MBA programs, our findings show that that the core parts of MBAs under analysis merely—and mostly indirectly—cover CSR issues through one core course on business ethics. However, the leading MBA programs are currently missing an opportunity by ignoring their responsibility to support the training of CSR-minded future business administration professionals. The results of our research may act as a guide to which areas should be modified and/or changed.

INTERNATIONAL PRICING STRATEGIES OF HIGH-TECH START-UP FIRMS, 2017

Purpose: This paper aims to understand how high-tech start-up firms from small and open economies develop and optimise their international pricing strategies and models. The paper proposes modelling a pricing strategy process and outlining why and how leadership is important throughout the pricing process. The study aims to expand the study of international entrepreneurship and global firms by including a broader and deeper range of pricing aspects than is normally found in the international entrepreneurship and pricing literature. Design/methodology/approach: The paper opted for a multiple case-study research design using different sources of evidence, including four in-depth interviews with CEOs of high-tech start-up firms. The case-study firms were selected using a purposive selection method. The interviews were conducted in December 2016 at the corporate headquarters of companies. The data was analysed using grounded theory to develop categories and to understand consistencies and differences. The theoretical framework of Ingenbleek, Frambach & Verhallen (2013) is used to analyse the pricing strategies of the case study firms. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights about how high-tech start-up firms from small and open economies develop and optimise their international price-setting strategies and models. It suggests that successful leaders act as 'integrating forces' on two levels: by applying a structured and disciplined price-setting process with regular reviews and by mediating between corporate financial goals and the local market reality. Research/practical implications: The results are relevant for researchers and policy makers who support activities that promote engagement into entrepreneurial activity. The results support that claim that policy makers should offer insights, training and financial support to give promising high-tech start-up firms the possibility to select the most efficient international pricing models and strategies. The results are relevant for entrepreneurs to understand the importance of efficient price-modelling processes, including regular price reviews, and the influence of the different price strategies and price models on financial results and sales revenues. Originality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need to study how high-tech start-up firms from small and open economies develop and optimise their international pricing strategies and models.

EARLY AND FAST INTERNATIONALISATION OF HIGH-TECH START-UP FIRMS, 2017

Purpose: This paper analyses the research problem of the significance of early and fast internationalisation and how and why high-tech start-up firms (HSFs) from small and open economies (SMOPECs) differ in their internationalisation speed. For this purpose, the paper samples Switzerland as a developed economy and Paraguay as an emerging economy. This paper is based on the conceptual framework of the 'born global firm' (BGF) theory and the reviewed and updated Uppsala internationalisation process model. Design/methodology/approach: The research questions will be answered using a comparative multiple case study research design. Data will be collected through multiple sources of evidence, including semi-structured, in-depth, individual face-to-face interviews with subject-matter experts (SMEs), field notes, corporate brochures, business plans and reviews, culminating in a reflection of the data collected. After drawing a random sample from a database of Swiss and Paraguayan HSFs, some typical cases are selected. The Swiss (Paraguayan) sub-sample comprises 20 (12) SMEs who are CxOs, owners and founders. These people have expertise and knowledge as entrepreneurs and managers in technology management as well as fundraising. Findings: The results of the research reveal that the speed of internalisation is influenced by factors such as the skills of an entrepreneur and the management team, their international networking and learning skills, the business model and the pricing strategies of the HSF, market selection, the market entry mode, the successful implementation of a structured market-development process, uniqueness of the technology and the product portfolio, availability of market opportunities and the size of the home market. Furthermore, the results show significant differences between HSFs from developed and emerging SMOPECs concerning the importance of these factors for early and fast internationalisation. Research/practical implications: The implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified. The outcomes will support policy makers, educators, investors as well as founders and managers to identify the respective key success factors for successful internationalisation and provide the required resources, including capital, processes and know-how. Future research can analyse the effect of location in cross-national studies with additional emerging and developed SMOPECs. Originality/value: The findings of this qualitative multiple case study research project contribute to the field of research on international entrepreneurship because they will help researchers to better understand the significance of early and fast internationalisation and how and why HSFs from emerging and developed SMOPECs differ in their speed of internationalisation. In addition, the findings contribute to managerial practice because they will help managers and founders of HSFs from emerging and developed SMOPECs to develop new foreign markets earlier and faster.

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, 2016

The paper attempts to fulfil the research gap concerning the mutual relation between company innovation and its corporate social responsibility practices, by determining the conditions in which the innovation/CSR relation appears and develops. The research was based on systematic literature studies performed using SALSA and backwards-snowballing methods. The data was examined with the use of the meta-synthesis approach. The authors' model explaining the studied relation was proposed. The research suggested that the impact of innovation on the CSR practices depended on the type of innovation and degree of novelty involved; while the way CSR affected innovation depended on such CSR features as: type of reaction, degree of development, and field of activity. The relation was also moderated by a series of six exogenous factors: external factors, industry, company characteristics, attitude, performance, and R&D.

Understanding social innovation in the lens of profit enterprise tends to raise scholar attention to delve active collaborative relationship solving social problem. This study chooses start-up hand-made product enterprise which builds a long-term partnership with disabilities school. This business considerably offers the new solution to enhance the workability of disabilities student entering labor market. The result of this collaborative partnership has created innovative solution both in the area of business strategy and of disabilities empowerment. This paper aims to provide exploratory evidence of two aspects. First, entrepreneurial competencies which strengthening collaborative relationship. Second, business performance implication from social innovation business model that purposively design for social-profit motives. This study contributes to extent perspective of social business both in theoretical and managerial point of view.

Today the economical terms of establishment and setting up small and medium businesses are considered as a strategic approach in many countries especially in developing ones and the necessity to change the government role, empowerment of the private sector, economics competitiveness and interactions with globalization rules and etc necessitate the privacies based on economics release and private sector reinforcement to develop the economical activities. Therefore, this study is done with the aim of explaining and identifying the government indicators supporting entrepreneurs in small and medium businesses. The statistical society of this study includes all the managers, experts in relation with entrepreneurship area in the organization of Industry, Mine and Trade and entrepreneurs of small and medium economical firms in Gorgan. In order to investigate the effect of government supporting dimensions on the entrepreneurial activities in small and medium economical firms we used the method of path analysis and the Lisrel software. The results gained from path analysis suggest that Five Supporting Dimensions of government (institutional, socio-cultural, political, economical and educational factors) have a meaningful effect on entrepreneurial activities in small and medium economical firm sectors.

Creativity and innovation are important variables in improving business performance. This study was aimed to analyze the effect of creativity on innovation, and creativity on business performance. Then, to analyze the effect innovation on business performance. In addition, to investigate the indirect effect of creativity on business performance through innovation. This study was conducted on 168 business owners of furniture companies in Indonesia. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and SEM-Partial Least Square. The results of the study show that creativity has a direct effect on innovation. Creativity also has a direct effect on business performance. Innovation has a direct effect on business performance. Then, creativity can improve business performance through innovation indirectly. Business performance more influenced by innovation than creativity within an organization.