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The goal of this study was to examine cultural differences in the value of family involvement in German and Chinese small businesses due to their differences in collectivism/individualism. Our analyses, based on a sample of 562 Chinese and German owners, showed that family involvement — measured as the number of family members that work in the business — is higher in China than in Germany. Compared to German business owners, Chinese owners received most of their start-up capital from family members. Moreover, we were interested in whether family involvement is related to the business owner's ability to make use of start-up capital to turn it into business outcomes. Building on existing literature and based on the match hypothesis we hypothesized that the effects of family involvement on business outcomes depend on the cultural values underlying a business. Our analyses revealed that family involvement negatively affected relationships of start-up capital with business outcomes both in China and in Germany. Our study contributes by showing that a negative effect of family involvement on the ability to make use of start-up capital is not only evident in individualistic cultures such as Germany but does also apply to collectivistic Chinese businesses. Practically, owners in both cultures are suggested to develop strategies in order to prevent and overcome negative effects of family involvement on business outcomes. Our results suggest fruitful avenues for future research.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the gender variations in informal sector entrepreneurship. Until now, a widely-held belief has been that entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector in developing nations are lowly paid, poorly educated, marginalized populations doing so out of necessity as a survival strategy in the absence of alternatives. Reporting an extensive 2003 survey conducted in urban Brazil of informal sector entrepreneurs operating micro-enterprises with five or less employees, the finding is that although less than half of these entrepreneurs are driven out of necessity into entrepreneurial endeavor in the informal economy, women are more commonly necessity-driven entrepreneurs and receive lower incomes from their entrepreneurial endeavor than men despite being better educated. The outcome is a call to recognize how the gender disparities in the wider labor market are mirrored and reinforced by the participation of men and women in the realm of informal sector entrepreneurship.

The purpose of this study is to assess the three-factor production functions describing the dependence of the small enterprises (SEs) and microenterprises, which include turnover on the wages of their employees, investments in fixed capital and the entrepreneurial capital of a particular region. The authors propose the indicator that characterizes the level of entrepreneurial capital — the number of employees of large enterprises located in the respective regions. This study is based on the empirical spatial data specifying the activities of employees in all SEs and microenterprises, as well as a number of large enterprises. The official statistical information includes observations on business activity of 1,449 SEs and microenterprises in 80 Russian regions in 2015. The research determines the factors influencing the turnover of enterprises, proves the high quality of the source data approximation using the three-factor production functions and confirms the need for an increased number of small and microenterprises for the Russian regions’ economy. The authors discover tools for the evaluation of production functions, which are of academic and practical importance. They can be used in studies of the regions’ entrepreneurial sectors, for monitoring the efficiency of resource use, and the rationale for the entrepreneurship development programs.

This research tests the postulates of the theory of guided preparation in a sample of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises operating in a business development center in Linares, Chile. These centers are non-profit organizations administered by the Chilean Ministry of Economy’s technical cooperation service (SERCOTEC). This study explores the relationship between the services provided by business development centers and the effect perceived by entrepreneurs on the overall development of their businesses. It uses a sample of 343 companies registered in the Neoserra software database between 2018 and 2021. Using structural equation modeling, the data show how these companies are affected by the provided services. Implications are drawn for theory, policy and practice.

This article describes the results of our long-term study into the innovative behavior of fifteen Dutch small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) that were considered promising in 1985. We asked ourselves the following two questions: (i) How did these companies develop while aiming for their innovation domain? (ii) What do the entrepreneurs perceive as the defining moments in this development?

As a general answer to the first question, we concluded that the innovative behavior of the companies essentially consisted of: technical and business process optimization, new types of collaboration, and renewing competencies and developing a fitting strategy. In short, we found that the non-technical innovation domains had greatly gained in importance. The answers to the second question showed us that corporate development was strongly affected by tensions related to growth, shifts in control over the company, and management. In most cases, such tensions negatively affected innovation.

The study of modes of open innovation in smaller companies is still in the development phase. This study responds to this situation and, drawing upon a data set from 4,679 Turkish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), explores the influence of inbound open innovation and coupled open innovation on marketing innovation as well as process and organisational innovation in SMEs. Results reveal major differences between small and medium-sized Turkish enterprises with regard to both marketing innovation as well as process and organisational innovation. While inbound open innovation positively influences both, marketing as well as process and organisational innovation, the effects for small-sized enterprises are even higher than for medium-sized ones. Coupled open innovation positively influences both innovation outcomes as well, although the effects for medium-sized enterprises are significantly higher than for smaller ones.

The study findings show that the utilization of open innovation (OI) tools is effective in promoting innovation in small businesses. The study differentiated between OI tools aimed at acquiring knowledge in a unidirectional manner from external open sources of information such as Internet searches for professional information or attending professional conferences, and OI tools aimed at obtaining knowledge by interacting with other factors in the business ecosystem. Interestingly, it was found that utilization of unidirectional OI tools contributes more to the level of product innovation, while utilization of networking and external collaboration contributes more to levels of process and marketing innovation, respectively. In addition, the study clarified that these businesses maintain connections to promote innovation mainly with entities in their closest business environment, based on commercial relationships with their suppliers and customers. The empirical study was conducted through face-to-face interviews on a sample of 202 small businesses in the industry and craft sectors. The theoretical contribution of the research stems from its focus on a group of businesses that has rarely been the focus of studies on innovation. The use of face-to-face interviews as a research tool facilitated the attainment of knowledge that is generally not readily accessible. The study may contribute in a practical manner to assisting small businesses in the development and implementation of appropriate OI tools for promoting innovation and enable them to reach beyond their closest business environment.

Innovation represents the search for the new that allows organisations to increase their competitiveness and face market competition. Although they have fewer resources and smaller capacities, small businesses have a number of advantages that enable the innovation process. Therefore, it is necessary to gain a greater understanding on the stage of innovation in small firms and on how the aspects of management influence their development and are useful for such organisations. In this sense, the present paper analyses the determinants of organisational management that influence the degree of innovation of small firms in the gastronomic segment. The sample of the study counted on data compilation of 67 small gastronomic firms of a northeastern state capital in Brazil collected during almost two years. The determinants of innovation were identified through the theoretical framework composed of leadership; strategies; customers; society; information and knowledge; people; processes and results. The degree of innovation was measured from the degree of sectorial innovation achieved by the innovation radar. The proposed relationships were analysed by means of multiple regression with panel data, in which the degree of innovation was the dependent variable of the model and the determinants of innovation were the independent variables. The results demonstrate that the degree of innovation is influenced mainly by the internal processes that the company develops and by the results that it achieves. On the contrary, it was verified that the regulatory aspects that the firms attend can inhibit the development of innovation. The results reinforce the importance of organisational management for the development of innovation in small business, presenting the facilities and the obstacles.

Despite the extant literature studies on business model innovation in response to a single (rather than multiple) strategic goal, entrepreneurs mostly approach the business model innovation process as a portfolio of parallel initiatives and solutions to the problems that are to be implemented. In the VUCA (i.e., volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) context, a problem-solving roadmap for business model innovation is particularly relevant. However, the process is far from being easy, and most research focusses on the organisational level of analysis. By building on the cognitive perspective of business model innovation, this study implements an action research methodology to develop a framework that aims to help entrepreneurs structure a business model innovation roadmap that entails the exploitation and exploration activities. The framework has three steps. The first step attempts to build consistency in the problems, strategic goals, and initiatives. The second clusters the initiatives around “Lighthouse Projects”. The last step establishes a timeline and an action plan.

Small businesses are considered one of the sources of innovation, productivity, and dynamism in many countries. Thus, to translate innovative ideas into sustainable businesses, access to capital becomes a part and parcel of the business lifecycle of small businesses. Despite their potential importance for economic development, small businesses are facing difficulties in attracting external finance at the early and middle stages of the entrepreneurial lifecycle in many countries, including developed and developing countries. Islamic banking and finance is a broad framework that has great potential for supporting development finance particularly related to small business, given their fundamental criteria emphasizing generating positive societal impact. The main objectives covered by this chapter are: (i) to identify and unpack innovative financing opportunities within Islamic banking and finance instruments such as Mudharabah (profit-sharing), Musharakah (profit–loss sharing), Murabahah (sale with cost plus profit margin, Ijarah [Islamic leasing]), and Salam (forward sale) as potential solutions for addressing small businesses’ funding gaps; and (ii) to initiate the development of systematic principles for the utilization of Islamic banking and finance instruments in financing small businesses.

The study identifies key variables that can affect team dynamics in small organisations and start-ups. The top management of the organisation has to keep these variables in mind so as to manage the teams and its dynamics successfully. The management of team dynamics is also prominent because the net output and performance of a team is heavily dependent on its dynamics. In addition to identifying key variables, the research also recommends measures that can prove effective in taking all team members along. Effective team management can prove extremely helpful in addressing a changing business environment by equipping it with ability to constantly respond/adjust to both external and internal pressures. This flexibility, in turn, makes sure that businesses continue to remain agile and meet the demands of all stakeholders in a desirable manner.

This chapter aims to explore the factors that motivate or demotivate women entrepreneurs to continue their businesses amid COVID-19 in the context of the Indian environment and the leadership style approached by women entrepreneurs amid COVID-19. The study has employed qualitative research methods (thematic analysis) for the data collection and data analysis. The authors conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with the participants to collect the required data for the study. The study highlighted various motivating and demotivating factors for women entrepreneurs in small businesses to continue their business in India during the pandemic period. The factors that motivated women entrepreneurs amid COVID-19 to continue their business are support from family and society for enhanced homely responsibilities, favourable nature of business in which women are operating, considering adversity as an opportunity and self-assessment of their skills because of the unprecedented situation of COVID-19. But the lack of family support, the unfavourable nature of business and having a high risk of infection from COVID-19 demotivated them from continuing their business. The study will help the government and other policy-makers devise strategies and policy frameworks to enhance the motivation level of women entrepreneurs to continue their business. The study will also help gain deeper insights into the problems associated with women’s entrepreneurship.