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Research background:Immigrant entrepreneurship remains a key issue for researchers, politicians, and policymakers. It has been widely discussed from different angles among various researchers in recent studies — particularly in Europe. However, there is a lack of studies to present the motivation of the causal relationship between immigrant entrepreneurs. Purpose of the article: This study aims to fill the gap and analyze the causal relationship between the motivations of Asian immigrant entrepreneurs in Germany. Methods: The study was conducted through a face-to-face interview using a predesigned questionnaire from Asian business owners in Germany and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach was applied to analyze the data. Findings & value added: The results show that capital acquisition, employment, financial problems in the family, and existence opportunities in the market are the factors that have higher priority, and may highly impact the Asian immigrant entrepreneurial decision. On the other hand, relatives or social networks remain the lowest priority factor that encourages Asian immigrants towards self-employment. The study has also found that entrepreneurship in the family, the state support policy for immigrants, low level of education, unfamiliarity with the local language, and dissatisfaction with the previous job belong to the cause group. However, some of the motivating factors relate to the effect group, such as capital acquisition, opportunity in the market, immigrant community ties or social networks, unemployment, and financial problems in the family. The most affected factor among the effect group is unem-ployment, while immigrant community ties or social network is the least affected factor. This study includes a novel interpretation of the DEMATEL approach that researchers have not yet addressed; therefore, it is highly relevant for policymakers, especially those interested in migration studies. Finding out the main driving forces behind Asian immigrant entrepreneurs in a developed European nation like Germany and how these drivers affect cause-and-effect interactions between them are the contributions that add value to the field. © Instytut Badań Gospodarczych / Institute of Economic Research (Poland).

Research background: Export activities are crucial for SMEs' growth and income since they enable businesses to expand abroad. However, SMEs encounter some export impediments, including legislative, tax-related, and cultural-linguistic differences, which increase their export risk. Moreover, since different legislative, tax-related, and cultural conditions affect SMEs' export activities, SMEs' perceptions regarding export obstacles might also differ. Purpose of the article: This paper aims to determine whether the SMEs' perceptions of export barriers in selected Visegrad countries differ. Methods: The researchers employ a random sampling method to create the research sample and create an Internet-mediated questionnaire to collect the re-search data, including 408 SMEs from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. The researchers ran ANOVA analyses with the Gabriel Post Hoc test to find differences between those SMEs. Findings & value added: The results reveal that the perceptions of Czech and Slovak SMEs differ regarding legislative and tax-related export barriers. On the other hand, the perceptions of SMEs from various countries do not differ concerning cultural-linguistic export barriers. Unfortunately, there is a lack of studies comparing the perceptions of SMEs from Visegrad countries regarding legislative, tax-related, and cultural barriers. Thus, evaluating this topic from an international perspective brings novel findings and fills this research gap. Therefore, policymakers, SMEs, governments, public institutions, and academicians might gain benefits from the results of this unique research.

Purpose Retaining critical knowledge is relevant for all organizations, knowledge-intensive ones in particular. Failure to do so can, in the worst case, lead to an organization being unable to act. Acknowledging the role of context in this regard, the purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge retention (KR) in the banking sector of a developing country. A particular focus is placed on exploring various contextual factors that influence the retention of critical knowledge taking into consideration the setting. Design/methodology/approach Following a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers from private and public banks in Pakistan. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings The findings suggest that the existence of a collectivist society, gender differences, few job opportunities, power distance and the late IT Boom are vital factors to be considered regarding KR in the setting studied. The findings are summarized in a conceptual framework that highlights critical factors of KR to be studied in a broader context and which are viewed as relevant for informing future research in this underdeveloped area of knowledge management (KM). Research limitations/implications The data were collected from a small number of individuals working in different banks in only one country. Future studies should consider research designs across multiple organizations involving more people representing different roles, functions and age groups. Originality/value Existing KM research has emphasized the role of context while research on KR is underdeveloped in this regard. By exploring different contextual factors this study advances current understanding in the KM domain.