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PurposeThis research note discusses three essential and practical questions related to social entrepreneurship and social activities in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): What motivates SMEs to undertake social activities? What are the obstacles faced by SMEs when undertaking social activities? What are the types of social activities that SMEs undertake? The article presents preliminary answers and provides research suggestions related to these questions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors search and review articles that study social entrepreneurship and social activities of SMEs and synthesize their findings based on the three main topics of interest.FindingsThe authors synthesized findings based on their three motivating topics: motivation, obstacles and types. They extracted three primary motivations of SMEs for social activities: (1) demands and expectations from external stakeholders, (2) nonpecuniary incentives that stem from organizational values and culture and (3) anticipation of improving relevant organizational outcomes. The authors extracted two obstacles for social initiatives: (1) limited resources and knowledge and (2) lack of perceived benefits or incentives. Finally, the authors extracted two types of social activities: (1) activities that address social and ethical issues and (2) activities that address environmental concerns.Originality/valuePressing concerns in society have pushed numerous entrepreneurs and small business managers to create and manage businesses that aim to alleviate social and environmental problems. Accordingly, researchers have devoted some attention to how SMEs get increasingly involved with social activities and initiatives (i.e. addressing social and environmental challenges through their firms). The authors highlight existing findings and propose future research opportunities based on our three essential and motivating questions.

The objective of the paper is to address the congestion problem in a specific distribution line by means of sensitivity coefficients seeking an intelligent a ctivation of t he available flexibility, based not only on economic a spects but also on the efficient use of flexibility. This paper proposes a straightforward methodology to obtain the sensitivity coefficient matrices for the unbalanced distribution networks, employing the perturb-and-observe (P & O) approach to assure an efficient usage of flexible resources. This means that a small change in the active power value of a particular flexibility provider, either load or generator, is applied to evaluate the power variation, therefore the loading variation, in every line of the system. The paper shows how these coefficients can be implemented in at heoretical energy market by the market operators by validating its application in an unbalanced network case and then compared with a real balanced distribution network. The simulations have been carried out in DIgSILENT PowerFactory through its API in Python. H2020, 824414, CoordiNet

Companies around the world need to reconcile the need to differentiate their offerings and remain entrepreneurial in a competitive environment while also running extremely efficient and effective operations. Surprisingly, however, limited studies have provided a synthesis and overview of existing research exploring important links between the entrepreneurship and supply chain management (SCM) fields. In this paper, we aim to address this issue by developing a systematic review of research exploring the link between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and SCM, while synthesizing the most relevant findings in this intersection. We also aim to promote the development of this topic by providing relevant future research directions. To do so, we conducted a systematic review on the topic of EO published in SCM journals from 1989 to April 2020. We summarize 14 relevant articles on EO in SCM and conclude that research joining these fields is surprisingly scant despite the development of both EO and SCM literature over extended periods of time. We find that although existing research recognizes that entrepreneurial behavior is key for a successful supply chain orientation and to develop more efficient and value-creating supply chains, theoretical development and empirical examination in specific supply chains and multiple industries is required. We uncover and propose specific opportunities to advance this research effort.

Humility is increasingly recognized as an essential attribute for individuals at top management levels to build successful organizations. However, research on CEO humility has focused on how humble chief executive officers (CEOs) shape collective perceptions through their interactions and behaviors with other organizational members while overlooking CEOs’ critical role in making strategic decisions. We address this unexplored aspect of CEO humility by proposing that humble CEOs influence decision-making decentralization at the top management team (TMT) and subsequently promote an organizational ethical culture. Using a sample of CEOs and TMT members from 120 small- and medium-sized enterprises, we find strong support for our hypotheses. We discuss important implications for research on CEO humility and strategic leadership.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of social capital on organizational ambidexterity in the context of emerging economies. Moreover, this paper aims to study the moderating influence of absorptive capacity on the relationship between social capital and organizational ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies using survey data collected from 97 Ecuadorian and 100 Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).FindingsThe authors found that social capital, the extent to which organizational members interact, collaborate and share knowledge with one another and with external actors, has a positive effect on the simultaneous implementation of exploratory and exploitative innovations (i.e. organizational ambidexterity). Moreover, the authors found that absorptive capacity positively strengthens the impact of social capital on organizational ambidexterity.Originality/valueDrawing on the knowledge-based view and the innovation literature, the authors theoretically argue the importance of social capital and absorptive capacity for SMEs to develop and manage exploratory and exploitative innovations simultaneously in emerging economies of different cultures. The authors empirically test proposed hypotheses in Ecuador and China, two emerging markets with important cultural differences, and show the relevance of social capital in multiple settings.

In this paper, we examine the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial passion. Despite the advancement of entrepreneurship education literature and the increasing focus on entrepreneurship education in business schools, we lack empirical exploration on how entrepreneurship education can impact students’ passion for founding new organizations. We hypothesize that students who take entrepreneurship classes would develop high levels of founding passion due to a great perception of skills and abilities that increase positive emotions and decrease negative emotions about the entrepreneurship process. Moreover, we draw on the literature on role models to suggest that students’ entrepreneurial family background (students whose immediate family members are entrepreneurs) strengthens the influence of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial passion. Utilizing survey data collected from 160 university students, we found that entrepreneurship education positively influences students’ founding passion and that this relationship is strengthened when students have entrepreneurs in their immediate family.

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are essential in driving firm innovation. However, despite existing research on CEO personality characteristics and firm innovation and performance, we know relatively little about how personality characteristics reflecting anticipatory action and strong outcome-oriented components, such as proactiveness, shape firm innovation and performance. We explore the relationship between CEO proactiveness and three facets of organizational innovation, as well as its impact on firm performance. We suggest that CEO proactiveness is manifested in different network-building, problem-solving, and feedback-seeking behaviors with different implications for exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, and organizational ambidexterity, and that its effect on firm performance is partially mediated by organizational ambidexterity. By examining the influence of this important CEO personality characteristic on key firm strategic choices and performance, we extend research on strategic leadership and firm innovation and performance.

We attempt to bring clarity to the concept of strategic leadership and guide its development by reviewing and synthesizing the existing management literature on how top managers and board directors influence organizations. We propose a new definition of strategic leadership and offer a framework organized around the essential questions of what strategic leadership is, what strategic leaders do, why they do it, and how they do it. To answer these questions, we organize our review around the eight functions strategic leaders serve, the key attributes of strategic leaders, the theories scholars have used to relate these functions and attributes to outcomes, contextual factors, and the organizational outcomes that strategic leaders affect. We identify how strategic leadership research is concentrated in five streams that rarely interact with each other, and offer suggestions for connecting these streams. Our review provides a big picture of what is known about individuals at the top levels of organizations and highlights the key areas where future investigation is essential.

El presente trabajo evidencia las características de operación en las micro, pequeñas y medianas organizaciones del sector metalmecánico de Soacha, Cundinamarca, en términos de las condiciones de seguridad e higiene en el trabajo. Logrado a partir de la síntesis de información secundaria (Código Sanitario Nacional, Ley 9 de 1979, Decreto 1072 de 2015, entre otros), que permitió la construcción y validación de los instrumentos para la posterior recolección de información en campo, tomando como muestra un total de 52 empresas ubicadas en las distintas comunas del municipio, realizando observación directa con registro audiovisual, fotográfico y en listas de verificación para el posterior estudio, el cual incluyó el análisis descriptivo de la información. Como resultados importantes se destaca que: El 72,5 % de las entidades no cuenta con demarcación dentro de las vías de circulación; los pisos de un 51,9 % de las empresas representan una condición insegura para el trabajo, ya que tienen imperfecciones como grietas, fisuras o huecos; el 69,2 % de las empresas evaluadas afirma que se utilizan elementos de protección personal, sin embargo, al momento de la entrevista no se estaba utilizando; asimismo, el personal de un 69,2 % de las organizaciones ve afectada su productividad debido a actividades distractoras; el 56 % de los trabajadores de las empresas valoradas no aporta en algún fondo de pensiones; el 47 % de los trabajadores no está afiliado a alguna aseguradora de riesgos laborales (ARL) y el 22,1 % de los trabajadores no cuenta con afiliación al sistema de seguridad social.

We develop a contextualized theory that explains how CEOs’ relative compensation perceptions shape how small- to medium-sized firms (SMEs) engage in exploratory innovation efforts. While both under...

A Computer Software application has been developed to simulate the behavior of a photovoltaic generator connected to the low voltage network. Although this software was devised to be used mainly in in-household installations, it could also be implemented in commercial and industrial installations. By using distributed generation concepts, the behavior of the photovoltaic generator is described through three different cases: the first case is only based on the power consumption from the distribution network. The second one is based on the energy generated by the photovoltaic system. The last one is based on the consumption along with the power generation. Furthermore, this software can determine the behavior of the photovoltaic generator by using demand curves and historical power curves. Three different options can be used to model the demand curves: data insertion from the user, choice of a default curve (given by some network operators), and generation of the curve using Artificial Neuronal Networks (ANN). ANN are also used to simulate the power generation from measurements of solar radiation provided by the Linea de Investigacion en Fuentes Alterntativas de Energia LIFAE (Searching Lab on Alternative Energy Sources) from Universidad Distrital. Finally, to generate the total curve, which represents the photovoltaic user behavior, the previous curves are added (demand curve and power curve). The final curve shows sundry values per hour, according to how the initial curves have been modeled.

It is widely accepted that CEOs with a transformational leadership style can promote innovation in the organisations they lead, but the specific ways in which they influence followers and shape the organisational context to increase innovation remain largely unexplored. Improvement of our understanding of this relationship requires identifying and explaining the mechanisms that allow transformational CEOs to mobilise employees towards an active support of innovation. We argue that top managers who portray a transformational leadership style have a positive effect on organisational innovation by improving how the firm exchanges and communicates information and knowledge, that is, by increasing employees’ participation and social capital. Data from a sample of 194 executives from 97 Ecuadorian small- and medium-sized firms provide support for our hypotheses.

We review the existing literature on top management teams and board directors and propose a framework of strategic leadership to guide future research. We argue that the concept of strategic leader...

Research drawing on upper echelons theory has supported the important role of top managers in encouraging organizational innovation. However, no research to date has studied the top-down mechanisms...

This paper outlines the analysis of the concept in the implementation of distributed generation systems focused on the city of Bogota. Different experiences of adoption of this type of generation, that could be located in various parts of the city, with special emphasis on the economic, environmental, and improved reliability of electricity supply, reported by different authors. Similarly, it also presents a characterization of Colombian electricity sector, through a historical overview of its evolution to its current state, applying the concept of distributed generation. Finally, define benefits and disadvantages of the implementation of distributed generation in Bogota, to be applied to obtain an effective and permanent positioning of these technologies in power schemes in other regions of the country. The conclusion, about the possibility of implementing distributed generation systems under conditions of government stimulus for the development of technologies based on renewable energy generation and cogeneration.