Administrative Sciences — Open Access Journal

The European Commission considers the following groups of entrepreneurs: females, family businesses, liberal professions, migrants, and seniors. Disabled people are not included, and this paper could, therefore, open up a new field of research and an important issue to be considered among the European Union’s social objectives. The University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) in Spain provides an entrepreneurship education course, “Entrepreneurship and disability,” for disabled students. It is the first time that a course with these characteristics has been taught at a Spanish University, which signifies that there is no similar research of this nature. Keeping in mind its originality, this study makes an important contribution to the field. The main objective is to analyze whether the motivation to start up a business differs between students with disabilities and those without. We analyzed “before” and “after” data in order to test the potential impact of entrepreneurship education on the students’ entrepreneurial attitude. An analysis of variance with several demographic variables has allowed us to prove that the education that students received, their business experience, and their field of study have significant effects. This statistical test showed no significant differences between disabled and non-disabled students. Full article

The aim of this research is to study the mediating role of the learning process in explaining the relationships between certain psychological and biographical characteristics and entrepreneurial intention. The findings suggest that the effect of psychological and biographical aspects on entrepreneurial intention depend on the extent to which students are able to take advantage of their personal capabilities in order to develop an effective learning process. Learning process factors (information about course guides, student effort and educational processes) mediate the relationships between specific psychological factors (achievement need, internal control and autonomy) and entrepreneurial intention. With regard to biographical factors, we find no mediating effect on entrepreneurial intention through the learning process. The present study provides a better understanding of the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, helping to fill the gap in the literature. Full article

: The aim of this study is to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was developed using 28 factors/indicators identified from the previous researches. From 500 respondents, a total of 347 questionnaires were returned. By conducting exploratory factors analysis, these indicators were categorized into six factors, namely: Individual factors, business characteristics, management factors, business support, capital availability and business environment. Using IBM SPSS and AMOS, the results indicated that business support was the most critical factor that significantly affects the success of SMEs in Saudi Arabia, followed by individual factors, capital availability, and management factors. They also indicated that business characteristics and business environment factors had no significant impacts on the success of these enterprises. Full article

Growing acceptance of passive bond exchange traded funds (ETFs) and actively managed bond mutual funds has exposed the need to find a divide between these two comparatively similar types of instrument. This paper provides a comparative analysis of actively managed bond funds and passive bond ETFs in the context of multiple criteria. The research of risk-adjusted performance of a sampled group of bond funds and ETFs using the TOPSIS multi-criteria decision-making method revealed that actively managed bond funds have a modest advantage over passive bond ETFs. Moreover, the final findings indicate the funds’ performance dependability on portfolio composition by fixed income sector. Full article

This paper explores the decision to become a mother among women in the technology industry, particularly if there is an “optimal context” regarding startup development (business stage and size). Eighteen interviews were conducted with an international sample of women founders and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Findings suggest two sources of “mumpreneurs” in technology ventures: (1) women who created a startup while young and childless, postponing maternity until the business is “stable”; and (2) mothers who created a technology venture as a strategy to gain higher levels of flexibility and autonomy than they experienced in the corporate world. The first group is highly work-role salient, while the second is highly family-role salient. The results of this work contribute to theory development by revealing the “startup-relatedness” of family decisions by women founders in the technology industry. I offer recommendations of how accelerators can improve mentorship for women in high-growth technology ventures and unleash women’s potential. Full article

Crisis management must provide data to allow for real-time decision-making. Accurate data is especially needed to minimize the risk of critical infrastructure failure. Research into the possible impacts of critical infrastructure failure is a part of developing a functional and secure infrastructure for each nation state. Road transport is one such sector that has a significant impact on its functions. When this fails, there may be a cascading spread of impacts on the energy, health, and other sectors. In this regard, this paper focuses on the dynamic modeling of the impacts of critical road infrastructure failures. It proposes a dynamic modeling system based on a stochastic approach. Its essence is the macroscopic model-based comparative analysis of a road with a critical element and detour roads. The outputs of this system are planning documents that determine the impacts of functional parameter degradation on detour roads—not only applicable in decision-making concerning the selection of the optimal detour road, but also as a support mechanism in minimising possible risks. In this article we aim to expand the extent of knowledge in the Crisis management and critical infrastructure protection in the road transport sector fields. Full article

Entrepreneurship education can increase student’s entrepreneurial skills and intention; and entrepreneurship activities stimulate economic growth. Therefore, the number of entrepreneurship courses is increasing, but they are often offered to students from a specific field of study and/or to only one educational level, even though multidisciplinarity is important for entrepreneurship. This study has carried out an exploratory single case study on an entrepreneurial programme in a multidisciplinary environment, that is, the Contamination Lab of Turin (CLabTo). Moreover, pre- and post-surveys have also been conducted in order to perform some qualitative analyses. The results show the importance of creating teams with different competencies, cognitive and decision-making skills. Moreover, we explain how design-thinking is useful in entrepreneurship education and that a challenge-based entrepreneurship course leads to cooperation with external actors in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is also explained what the obstacles and opportunities of these programmes are and how to improve them. Moreover, on the basis of pre- and post-surveys, our qualitative analyses show that the students’ overall perception of their abilities to work in a multidisciplinary team, their entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial intentions increased slightly. In short, this work is aimed at increasing the importance of entrepreneurship education in a multidisciplinary environment and the use of practical-oriented teaching models. Full article

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used for the improvement of the environmental performance of products and services, including food systems. Amongst them, however, honey appears to have been rarely analysed. Furthermore, the pollination by honeybees can be regarded as one of the functions of an apiculture system and is of utmost importance both for natural ecosystems and agriculture. When implementing an LCA of an apiculture system, the pollination service can and should be considered as one of the functions of a multifunctional system and the issue of how to deal with this multifunctionality in the modelling of that system should be considered carefully. The aim of this paper is to explore the economic value of pollination as a potential basis for managing multifunctionality in LCA modelling as well as its implementation in a case study. Economic allocation was performed between the pollination service and honey production. The results demonstrated that the production phase is the most impactful one for most of the environmental categories (due to the use of glass for the honey jars and electricity consumption during the storage of supers in refrigerator rooms), followed by the distribution phase. Finally, the most affected environmental impact category appeared to be natural land transformation, followed by marine ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication and human toxicity. Full article

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of in-flight service quality on value for money for business passengers in airlines. In this study, in-flight service quality included four dimensions—seat comfort, staff service, food and beverages, and in-flight entertainment—while value for money was used as a dichotomous variable. In the study, 1096 business passenger reviews were employed through secondary data. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationships between the variables and finally the success of classification was tested by the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curve. As a result, the findings indicate that the proposed logit model sufficiently explains the relationship between in-flight service quality and value for money in business passengers. Moreover, the study provides a deep understanding of how passengers perceive in-flight service quality in business class. The study also reveals that seat comfort has the highest impact on value for money. Full article

There is a need to evaluate entrepreneurial education programs (EEPs) to see the impact they have on a country’s development. Previous work has focused mostly on entrepreneurial intentions, mainly in a university context. Additionally, literature reviews on the impact of entrepreneurial education have not yet been conclusive, mainly due to the use of subjective indicators and a low consideration of objective indicators. The purpose of this article is to respond to some of these challenges. Specifically, this study used an objective indicator, Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA), in a non-university context. A database was created that included programs categorized by autonomous communities. The analysis showed that EEPs significantly influenced the entrepreneurial activity of autonomous communities. This implies that entrepreneurial education should be a prioritized objective in the educational policy of these communities. The recommendations derived from these results are, among others, to promote role models, continue supporting the financing of entrepreneurial initiatives through education and training, continue implementing government policies to support entrepreneurship, and carry out evaluations on the impact that these programs have on skills acquired in the short and medium terms, as well as their maintenance over time. Full article

Governments across the world spend vast resources on implementing digital technology. Electronic, or digital, government is the use and study of Internet-based information and communication technology in the public sector. A point of departure in this study is that investments in technology are not value-free; they require allocation of limited resources and trade-offs between values. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how values are prioritized in the Swedish digital government. This research was conducted by using quantitative data from a survey administered to Swedish municipalities and national agencies. In addition, qualitative data from a database was used to exemplify value operationalization. The research utilized a theoretical framework based on four value positions: professionalism, efficiency, service, and engagement. The findings reveal that service and quality, and productivity and legality have a high priority, while engagement values are less prioritized. Differences based on organization type and size are also discussed. Moreover, the study suggests that professionalism and efficiency are distinct value positions, while service and engagement are closely related through citizen centricity. The qualitative material suggests that citizen centricity can manifest itself as a form of service logic, but also in the form of educational digital inclusion activities for vulnerable groups. The paper concludes by suggesting that future research should further refine the concept of citizen centricity in relation to digital government values, since its current meaning is ambiguous. Full article

A growing public management literature has debated whether strategic management models originally developed for private firms are also relevant to contemporary public agencies. Thus far, it has been easier to apply strategic management models centred on competitive advantage in jurisdictions in which new public management (NPM) reforms have left an enduring inheritance, with the emphasis in these settings on the autonomization of public agencies and a prominent concern with ‘performance’. Based on the case study of public agencies in the European Union, we argue there is potential to apply strategic management models in other jurisdictions where the penetration of NPM has been much lower, provided certain conditions of agency autonomy are met and factors—such as stakeholders’ expectations stimulating the adoption of strategic management models—perform as the functional equivalent of the pressures provided by NPM incentivization systems. The paper contributes to the literature aimed at employing the discipline of strategic management—a thriving field of inquiry business administration and management—as a valuable source of knowledge for the advancement of public management. Full article

The biggest key aspect to the success of a business is a satisfied customer. For this reason, it is possible to state that the growing trend of focusing on the customer and his/her needs has prevailed in recent years. The aim of this article is to analyze the use of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic and to find the determinants for CRM system implementation. The best practice for CRM implementation suitable for SMEs is clarified using a specific case of a global enterprise. A fully functional CRM system can be considered a competitive advantage, and this is not only the case for global companies, but also for small and medium enterprises. Using a functional CRM interconnected with an ERP system, enterprises are able to manage business and direct marketing activities, as well as the company’s overall profits. These functional systems lead to an integrated system called funnel management, which improves customer relationship management and leads to a sustainable business. Full article

This paper evaluates how land governance is re-arranged in a state re-structuring process. We compare the cases of the (re-)unification of China with Hong Kong with that of West and East Germany. The division and (re-)unification of these states mark different land governance re-arrangements. The China-Hong Kong (re-)unification relied on a one-country two-system (OCTS) approach, while in West and East Germany, (re-)unification resulted in the creation of a one-country one-system (OCOS). Our key interest is to identify similarities and differences in both cases and the implications of the differences. To support the analysis, we view land governance and (re-)unification from theoretical to practical lenses—structuration theory and the government tools-based approach. This supports the construction of a conceptual and analytical framework, with which we conduct an in-depth exploration to evaluate land governance re-arrangements. We find that the conceptual and analytical framework proves effective for countries, with entirely different land governance regimes, to decide whether to merge or adapt. We do not conclude which approaches for (re-)unification are appropriate to land governance re-arrangements since all countries have different historical contexts and institutional arrangements. Instead, we recommend that governments consider adaptive land governance in signification structures and focus on hierarchical enforcement in legitimation structures. While multi-level land governance in the domination structure phase is strongly required, issue-and-project-based land governance has a pivotal role in providing cross-boundary infrastructures. Nevertheless, further empirical analysis is recommended to verify how and where the re-arrangement processes are initiated and structured. Full article

This paper addresses the issue of financial communication quality by studying the determinants of earnings management practices in family and non-family businesses. Previous literature has highlighted the effect of a company’s size, as a form of visibility, on earnings management practices. This study focuses on the analysis of the relationship between different forms of visibility—exposure to financial press, proximity to the consumer, size of assets, sales and firm age—and earnings quality. The results show that the forms of visibility taken into consideration have a different effect on earnings management practices. Furthermore, they show that family businesses are less likely to resort to these unethical practices, especially in the presence of financial press exposure and proximity of the business to the consumer. Full article

Local cuisine has increasingly become one of the crucial factors contributing to how tourists experience a destination. As such, understanding which attributes affect travelers’ experience of the local food is especially important to enhance tourist satisfaction. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of different local cuisine experience attributes, as well as the perception of their performances. In doing so, Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) was conducted to assess tourists’ perception. Data were collected from foreign travelers visiting Istanbul, Turkey, which is famous and well-known for its local cuisine. Furthermore, how different attributes affect destination satisfaction was analyzed via regression models. Interestingly, food-related cultural aspects and social aspects outweigh the food quality for their relative importance to travelers. Additionally, other than the physical environment, all attributes were found to contribute to tourists’ satisfaction of the destination. Practical implications are provided in terms of how to promote and develop a competitive advantage by using local cuisine attributes for destination marketing. Full article

European Commission is strongly committed into issues related to plastic materials production and plastic waste management. While the Circular Economy Package has set targets generally referred to recycling rates, the European Strategy for plastics in a circular economy (and related action plan), fosters sustainability along the entire plastic value chain: from primary producers to converters, brand owners and retailers to waste collectors and recyclers. The Directive on the reduction of the impact ofcertain plastic products on the environment (more commonly known as Directive on Single-Use-Plastics, waiting for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union) rules targets on ten plastic products most often found as littering on global beaches, directly affecting plastic industry and, consequently, market. Policy makers and industrial stakeholders are called upon to collaborate. The article aims to illustrate interactions between European Commission and all plastic value chain stakeholders on implementing measures to reach ambitious targets pursued by the recent European policy. The study shows how European Commission has robustly worked to regulate production and consumption patterns on plastic carrier bags and packaging (including food packaging) thus facilitating the achievement of specific targets provided by the recent Directive. However, additional provisions concerning market restriction have been introduced; industrial stakeholders carried on a prompt response by promoting the creation of alliances, join venture and association, as well as a more integrated plastic value chain. On the base of this purpose, a virtuous example of a closed supply chain is presented. Full article

The complexity of public–private partnership (PPP) projects ensures that risks could emerge and spread in unpredictable ways if they are not well identified and managed. The emergence of PPP projects has brought major changes in the construction industry, the most notable being in procurement methods influencing risk allocation to private parties. Thus, it is crucial to have an effective risk management for public and private partners to eliminate or minimise risks. Formulating an effective risk management system is a crucial challenge faced by both of parties in order to minimise or optimise risks. The aim of this study was to investigate the process of risk identification of private partners in Malaysian PPP projects. Data were collected throughout a 2-month period using a survey with a sample of nine Malaysian companies engaged in PPP projects, and the survey results were analysed using mean scores. The findings indicate that due to a lack of knowledge and experience of Malaysian private partners in the risk identification process, a comprehensive database for risk identification is highly necessary for the private sector. Another issue emerging from the findings is that it may be reasonable to use a combination of risk identification tools for PPP projects with a high level of complexity. The findings of the present study can greatly assist public and private partners to select the most appropriate tools for risk identification at the early stages of PPP projects. Full article

This study presents an analysis of the entrepreneurial competences of second- and fourth-year undergraduate students at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), under the framework of the Entrepreneurial Teachers Network, an ongoing project at this institution. The analysis of a sample of 1874 students identified three profiles of competences of students at the UCLM. The first profile is related to competences in performing and resolving activities, the second is related to risk aversion and uncertainty management and the third is associated with the capacity for teamwork. Furthermore, it was found that the competences related to implementing and performing activities significantly influence job creation as they exhibit a positive relationship with the intention of creating a company in the first three years after graduation. Emotion-related competences also exhibit a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention, although this association is negative. Finally, relation-based competences were found to have no impact on entrepreneurial intention. Full article