1,720,990 research outputs found
Business incubators vs start-ups: a sustainable way of sharing knowledge
No full textPurpose
In recent years the role of business incubators (BIs) within the small-medium enterprise (SME) dimension has grown fast, supporting SMEs, especially during the early stage. For these reasons, this paper aims to investigate how BI supports entrepreneurs in the early stage and what specific instruments are used? What kinds of relations do start-ups use (RQ2)? Finally, the authors intend to explore the long-term influence of these relationships on the economic value of the start-ups (RQ3)?
Design/methodology/approach
The present paper is supported by a qualitative methodology of a single case study. To reach the declared goal in terms of relationship observation, the paper applies the CAOS model (Paoloni, 2021), an interpretative model useful for analysing the relational capital within the SME dimension.
Findings
This first explanatory research confirms the crucial role of the BI in the firm’s development process. Especially in the early stage, the knowledge transfer from the BI allows the start-up to overcome its main difficulties: the organizational aspect and finance capacity.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation concerns the number of start-ups observed. Future lines of research will be focused on the study of other firms to acquire more data on the topic of BI programmes and start-ups.
Practical implications
The managerial implication refers to advancing knowledge and practice in the area of knowledge sharing actuated by BIs. The present work underlines the importance of relational capital as an intangible asset in the development of the younger company.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to two different fields: knowledge sharing by relational capital and gender studies
Equity crowdfunding platforms to support innovative small business: the Italian scenario
No full textThe study aims on the effective role of equity crowdfunding platforms in supports Italian SMEs.
In recent time the world economies have been subjected to a process of transformation oriented to innovation. Particularly, the area in which this process is being applied is entrepreneurial innovation observed from the perspective of financial innovation. To reach the declared goal, Exploratory Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) research (Carvalho et al., 2005; Cleff, 2014; Modaffari and della Corte, 2022) supports the paper. EDQ is a qualitative methodology suitable for addressing research objectives that aim to provide a direct description of phenomena (Sandelowski, 2004).
The EDQ was applied to understand the phenomenon of equity crowdfunding platforms in Italy, through the analysis of 51 active portals that are authorized by CONSOB (Italian acronym for " Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa ").
Equity crowdfunding represents one of the main innovative equity-side financing instruments that support innovative SMEs (Modaffari et al., 2020). Using this tool, companies obtain financial resources as risk capital to financing their business idea.
the Italian equity-crowdfunding platforms have an irregular distribution. The data reveals a lack of homogeneity in the territorial distribution of the platforms. Focusing on platforms’ performance, the aggregated data do not show positive results in terms of performance for the 51 active Italian equity crowdfunding platforms.
The present study has several theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical perspective, it enriches the literature on innovative small-medium enterprises and innovative financial tools.
From a practical perspective, the present research can be useful twofold. On one hand, it can support public authorities, such as CONSOB. in monitoring the equity crowdfunding phenomenon. On the other hand, it can navigate practitioners in supporting innovative small businesses toward platforms that perform better and therefore stand a greater likelihood of success in raising capital, supporting the growth of start-ups, which represent a rapidly growing entrepreneurial phenomenon in Italy
Female agri-food start-ups: mapping the Italian context during the Coronavirus era
No full textThe present contribution aims to map the innovative female start-ups in the Italian agri-food sector during the Coronavirus era.
To reach the declared goal a qualitative explorative research was conducted (Glaser, 1978; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Stebbins, 2001). The survey was conducted on 12,068 innovative start-ups registered in the special section of the business register of the Italian chambers of commerce. The results show that from the point of view of innovation and technology, the agri-food sector is still very poor and only 0.7% of Italian start-ups operate in this sector (91 companies out of 12,068). Regarding gender issues, the situation gets worse with only 10 innovative farms being led by women (11% of the sector; 0.08% of Italian start-ups).
The present chapter has several implications. From a theoretical perspective, it contributes to gender studies and to the business innovation field, especially during periods of crisis. From the managerial perspective, the work provides a first picture of the state of the art of Italian innovative agri-food start-ups, highlighting the current gap between the number of female and male companies
Non-fungible token valuation: state of the art and future insight
No full textPurpose: The paper aims to provide an original exploratory analysis of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) valuation. NFTs are a new kind of digital asset born out of the disruptive technologies’ introduction (i.e., blockchain). A lot of small-medium enterprises (SMEs), as innovative start-ups, are involved in this domain. Nowadays, several issues in the evaluation field remain unclear. For this reason, a holistic approach is crucial to draw a clear picture of the first-time accounting treatment of these new digital assets.
Study design/methodology/approach: Using a structured approach, this research considers some of the state-of-the-art international practices and also reviews some major scholars’ opinions on the matter. Particularly, the study analyses the main contributions provided by international entities (such as European Financial Reporting Advisory Group - EFRAG, Chartered Business Valuators institute- CBV, PriceWaterhouseCoopers - PWC), digital operators, and academia.
Findings: Based on the two main strands defined for the NFT's nature, NFTs valuation issues can be resumed in twofold. The first one that considers NFTs as intangible assets suggests following the traditional valuation approaches (cost, income, or market) that is already a part of international accounting standards. The second strand that considers NFTs as financial assets proposes a different valuation approach based on quantitative methods coming mainly from finance fundamentals.
Originality/value: The originality of this paper includes the different NFT valuation approaches, which enrich the literature and can help SMEs in managing and accounting with regard to this new kind of digital asset
Growth strategies for female startups: a review of the literature
No full textDespite the increasing significance of women-led startups, there is a noticeable gap in academic literature focusing on how these startups address their growth strategies. The growth and maturation phases are pivotal stages in the lifecycle of start-ups, and gaining insights into how female entrepreneurs tackle these challenges can provide valuable information for policy development, ecosystem support, access to funding, the promotion of gender equality, and the enhancement of entrepreneurial prospects. In this way, the paper aims to answer the following research questions:
RQ1. How is research in the literature developing the topic of growth strategies
within the female start-up dimension?
RQ2. What are the primary foci of the existing literature?
RQ3. What are possible future research areas?
Therefore, to address these research questions and achieve the goals of this study, we used the Structured Literature Review (SLR) methodology. This work fills the gap in the debate on growth strategies for female-led companies by examining 161 articles published between 2012 and the first months of 2023. The main findings of this study reveal the existence of a large body of literature on entrepreneurship, female leadership, and case studies reflecting stories of women entrepreneurs. However, there is a gap in the research on the growth strategies of female-led startups
The traditional Italian Universities' reaction to the pandemic emergency. The role of the intellectual capital
No full textPurpose – The lockdown imposed to avoid the increase in the number of infections caused by the pandemic
emergency declared in January 2020 has unavoidably compromised the normal functioning of the Universities.They
havebeenforcedtostoptheoperationof their traditionalstudent-orientedactivities.Inthislight,thepresentworkaims
to analyse how traditional Italian Universities continue to deliver services to their students during the emergency.
Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative explorative research was done. The paper used a multiple
case study focused on two main public universities located in Rome (Italy). The data was collected using action
research with participant observation. The activities observed before and during the health emergency are
those related to the second mission and their services.
Findings – Until the pandemic emergency arose, in the organizations analysed, the work was done
traditionally. When the lockdown started the main instruments adopted to teach and provide the related
services to students were the digital tools. Therefore, these devices represent how these organizations could
immediately react to face the challenge arising from the impossibility to physically meet the students while
continuing to support them in their educational path. Based on the findings obtained these universities fall into
the “corporate entrepreneurship” definition.
Research limitations/implications – The present work has managerial and academic implications. The
academic implications can be summarized in two main points: the work (1) promptly analysed the changes
necessary to overcome the problematics caused by the pandemic emergency; (2) contributes to the debate
concerning the transfer of knowledge using digital tools and their relevance on the intellectual capital. One of
the limits of the work is that only two Italian traditional universities are analysed and that the study focuses on
universities located in a same city.
Practical implications – On the other hand, in referent to managerial implications, this paper highlights how
the corporate entrepreneurial view could be useful to support an inspected challenge that could happened in a
certain historical period. Therefore, a real implementation of the entrepreneurial concepts is preferred.
Originality/value – The paper discussed an original and contemporary topic not yet investigated since it
refers to the Universities’ reaction to the pandemic emergency in 2020, with the focus on their ability to maintain
the intellectual capital value and give more points that could be investigate in the future, as, e.g. a selection of
more than three traditional universities or with a comparative case study, useful in highlighting the strengths
and weaknesses of the decisions taken in different contexts, considering: (1) telematic universities and
traditional universities; or (2) universities located in other countries. Another future line of enquiry could be to
focus the analysis on the effective quality of the MOOCs applied at the universities’ activities, using the
students’ opinions obtainable through OPIS (Rilevazione Opinione degli Studenti) or through direct interviews
Equity crowdfunding platforms: a demographic and operational performance analysis of the Italian scenario
Full text linkPurpose. The paper aims to investigate Italian equity crowdfunding platforms and their role in supporting innovative SMEs. Nowadays, platforms represent one of the many facets of innovative and digital entrepreneurial phenomena that support the development of SMEs through innovative financial tools.
Design/methodology/approach. The exploratory descriptive qualitative (EDQ) research method supports the paper, analysing the 51 Italian equity crowdfunding platforms authorized by CONSOB (Italian acronym of “Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa”). Dataset analysis has been built through ordinary records contained within CONSOB register and with financial and non-financial data from AIDA database.
Findings. The research highlights an irregular platforms’ distribution with a concentration in northern Italy (RQ1). Focusing on performance (RQ2), only a residual part of the platforms show positive results (35% of the sample).Only a few players run the equity crowdfunding market and SMEs seem to prefer only certain platforms for promoting their campaigns.
Practical and Social implications. The present research can be useful in twofold. On one hand, it can help public authorities, such as CONSOB. with monitoring the equity crowdfunding phenomenon. On the other hand, it can guide practitioners in supporting innovative small businesses toward platforms that perform better and therefore, help them to stand a better chance of success in raising capital.
Originality of the study. The present paper enriches the literature on innovative small-medium enterprises and innovative financial tools. Several aspects of the workings of the innovative equity financial market for SMEs have been treated, and several topics theorized by scholars on equity crowdfunding platforms have been checked within this empirical study
Female-owned innovative startups in Italy: status quo and implications
Full text linkThe aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the current literature of this business phenomenon with regard to gender studies and to point out what is substantially happening and what has happened in the Italian economic context. The main research questions were RQ1: How is the phenomenon of female Startups treated from a scientific point of view? RQ2: Which is the Italian situation of this phenomenon? The methodology used is both qualitative and explorative. A bidirectional analysis has been carried out for this purpose. In order to expand the first research question (RQ1), an analysis was carried out of the articles in the EBSCO database on the topic of female startups. In order to expand the second question (RQ2), an analysis was carried out on the data concerning the phenomenon of female startups, using the register of companies held at the Chambers of Commerce which were territorially competent. Our research, carried out within the Italian economic context, demonstrates how the phenomenon of Woman Startups (WSU), even if it is widely expanding, is inherent in all the typical elements of female entrepreneurship, as reported in the literature by gender scholars. The main factors that emerge for the WSU are the small size and the undercapitalization in the startup phase. This work contributes to the expansion of studies on the topic of startups in the context of gender and can be useful to the social context, new entrepreneurs, and practitioners of the sector
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