Journal of Enterprising Culture

Culture offers an important setting for entrepreneurship to grow, and trust is critical for entrepreneurship to thrive. In recent years, there has been debate whether Chinese culture facilitates or hinders entrepreneurship; there has also been a call for empirical investigation of trust in entrepreneurship research. Our paper investigates the relationship between Chinese cultural values and two kinds of trust, in two different enterprises as two subcultures in China. The two kinds of trust are dispositional trust and interpersonal trust; and the two enterprises are a joint venture and a state-owned enterprise. We composed questionnaire from established work about trust and cultural values, ran survey research on 226 employees in the two organizations in China, and analyzed the survey data by descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlations, and MANOVA. We found that dispositional trust and interpersonal trust are different at individual level; Chinese cultural values correlate significantly with both dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and positively correlate to both kinds of trust. Employees in the state-owned enterprise held higher level of Chinese cultural values but had lower level of interpersonal trust, which suggests potential problems in its management. Our study is one of the recent studies that separately measure dispositional trust and interpersonal trust, and our findings across two different types of organizations have practical implications for entrepreneurship research in China. Our study is also one of the recent studies that find Chinese cultural values may benefit trust in enterprises, although some earlier studies suggested the opposite.

This study yielded insights based on eight China-based service enterprises that entered the overseas Chinese market through greenfield investment. We found that some of the China-based service enterprises explore the internationalization information from Taiwan-based enterprises in China, which operated through trade, outsourcing and joint ventures. Most cases of SOEs, including airlines, wholesale & retail, restaurant and banking, the investment decision was made in full awareness of the institutional driving factor of ECFA. China-based service enterprises owned by local government and venturing in Taiwan are more likely to depend on personal or partner networks of Taiwan-based enterprises in China, than on due diligence process. They intend to venture into the overseas Chinese market for their outward FDI. Our findings and propositions are important for China-based service enterprises’ outward FDI. Asian host countries can improve their understanding of how to influence the FDI of China-based service enterprises through their home-country-based enterprises in China, helping to mitigate their liability of foreignness by means of personal or partner networks.

Substantial research exists on quality management practices in context to large organisations with plethora of studies in manufacturing organisations while exiguously aiming service sector SMEs. As more and more organisations strive to remain competitive, the concepts and practices of quality management have received increased attention by Indian industry. The contribution of service sector in Indian economy has increased at a faster rate in comparison with other sectors. Considering the pressing need this research explores the literature for a near exhaustive list of practices in quality management by deploying qualitative and descriptive approach. Thereafter, twenty service organizations were surveyed for comprehending their adoption of the type of quality management practices. On the basis of their prioritization or apportioning weight to those practices, a descriptive pattern analysis has been deployed to detect perceived level of adoption/implementation of quality management practices. The findings represent that out of twenty one quality management practices; thirteen practices substantially have been ranked on priority while others require phenomenal acclimatization towards implementation in the Indian scenario. Analysis also reflects that the strength of service SMEs lies with customer focus, management leadership and customer feedback. Further with the integration of contextual factors, as supported by theory, a conceptual framework has been proposed exhibiting relationship between quality management practices with performance and growth. The methodological approach led to the emergence of unique dimensions culminating into new findings with both managerial and entrepreneurial implications. Directions for future scope of research and suggestions for improvement have also been recommended.

This paper is concerned with entrepreneurship and its development in Poland - one of the fastest growing EU economies and the key market player in Central and Eastern Europe. The issues of growth and development perspectives of enterprises as well as their role in growth creation are investigated. Special emphasis is put on measures of entrepreneurship, determinants of its development, the country’s competitive position and the conditions for the development of entrepreneurship. Moreover, the perception of business by society is discussed. The support of the Special Economic Zones, the cluster initiatives and the state policy are important for entrepreneurs and they contribute to further business development.

Poland is seeing positive rates of development despite the recent economic downturn. Its high level of competitiveness, strong economic fundamentals and high flexibility will allow to benefit from the global recovery over the next few years. In order to evaluate the development potential of enterprises and the business environment, a SWOT analysis of the Polish SMEs was conducted.

This article investigates social enterprises in terms of their outcomes. Few studies focus on social entrepreneurs that incorporate an impact assessment of their social enterprises. The article responds to calls where it has been noted that the rapidly expanding social enterprise sector of the economy is evolving without effective evaluation tools that can provide reliable measurement and impact assessment.

The study is conducted in two major cities in South Africa, where social entrepreneurship has unequivocal application, considering that traditional government initiatives are unable to satisfy the entire social deficit, and where challenges to non-profit accountability are acute. Social outcomes are measured in terms of the following dimensions: impact/reach, innovativeness of solution, replicability/expandability and sustainability. A survey is used to collect data from 165 social enterprises and is interpreted using descriptive statistics.

Results on sample characteristics indicate that a diverse group of individuals are involved in a wide range of social enterprise activities. Descriptive statistics across the dimensions reflect above-average mean scores suggesting favourable perceptions of social outcomes.

By providing an elementary measuring tool for social outcomes, researchers can test its validity across different contexts. Social enterprises need to demonstrate solid impact and reach of their outcomes, so they can replicate interventions, build partnerships, and remain sustainable by meeting the needs of groups who have been failed by previous government attempts in social redress.

The article provides a much needed account of the evaluation of social enterprise outcomes in an emerging market context.