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Senior managers play a fundamental role in organizations. They shape organizational strategy and culture, set the mission, including opportunities for new markets, and construct the business models. Their commitment to the organization is vital to organizational performance, yet research on personality traits of senior managers and their commitment to organizations is limited. Drawing on self-affirmation theory, we investigate the consequences of senior managers’ ‘Dark Triad Traits’ (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) for their organizational commitment. We use the three-component model developed by Allen and Meyer (J Occup Psychol 63:1–18, 1990) to distinguish affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Our findings from a dataset of 394 senior French managers collected between 2017 and 2018 show that narcissism positively affects continuance commitment and normative commitment. This study contributes to a neglected stream of research investigating the relationship between Dark Triad traits and organizational commitment; contributes to ‘destigmatizing’ Dark Triad traits, often considered problematic for individuals; and adds to the minimal research currently on manager personality and organizational commitment.

This article explores religion and religiosity in the field of entrepreneurship. Based on an original, international dataset of 740 students, we examine the impact of individual religious affiliation (Protestant, Catholic or Muslim) or non-affiliation (Agnostic/Atheist) on entrepreneurial intentions. We further examine the influence of individual religiosity (beyond mere religious affiliation) on entrepreneurial intentions, offering new insights as to the role religion and religiosity play in entrepreneurship. Findings support the notion that religion matters when entrepreneurial intentions are concerned. We show that having a religious affiliation – as compared to identifying as an Agnostic/Atheist – has a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions. More importantly, we show that religiosity – not just religious affiliation – affects intentions differently across different religions, thus pointing to the importance of taking religiosity into account, and not only religious affiliation. We also show that followers of a specific religion cannot be regarded as a uniform group when it comes to entrepreneurship and that it is important to differentiate between streams.

Le paradoxe qui unit la cooperation et la competition peut etre a l’origine de plusieurs tensions (Gnyawali et Park, 2009). La multiplication des partenaires accroit a la fois la complexite de la coopetition et les tensions liees a cette multiplication. Par consequent, la gestion des tensions est essentielle pour que la coopetition evolue dans le temps. Notre etude exploratoire examine un cas de coopetition horizontale multi-entreprises pour comprendre l’evolution des tensions et leur gestion. Dans cet article, nous identifions les tensions paradoxales de la coopetition au fil du temps et les risques associes. Les coopetiteurs multiplient leurs strategies de coopetition pour surmonter les tensions. De plus, on note que la gestion des tensions paradoxales contribue a l’evolution des relations coopetitives et permet aux partenaires de beneficier d’opportunites de coopetition. Enfin, le cas revele l’existence d’un portefeuille coopetitif pour les managers en charge de la coopetition.

Zusammenfassung Obwohl die aktuelle Literatur nahelegt, dass sowohl die Wachstumsabsicht als auch innovative Strategien das Wachstum von Unternehmen beeinflussen, bleibt eine wichtige, aber theoretische und empirische Frage unbeantwortet: Ist Innovation der Grund für Wachstum, ist die Absicht zu wachsen der Grund für Wachstum oder ist Wachstum der Grund für Innovation und die Veränderung der Wachstumsabsicht? Um diese Frage über Ursache(n) und Wirkung(en) zu klären, basiert vorliegende Studie auf einer repräsentativen Stichprobe von 20.472 jungen Unternehmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Produktinnovationen und organisatorische Innovationen das Umsatzwachstum beeinflussen, während dies für Prozessinnovationen nicht der Fall ist. Darüber hinaus zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass jede Art von Innovation die Wachstumsabsicht beeinflusst und Mediationseffekte von Innovationen vorliegen. Abstract Although current literature informs that both growth intention and innovative strategies determine venture growth, we remain with an important, yet unresolved theoretical and empirical question: is innovation the reason for growth, is intention the reason for growth or is growth the reason for innovation and changing growth intention? To untangle this question, about the gaps between cause(s) and effect(s) we undertake a data analysis on a final sample size of 20,472 young firms. We tested three types of innovation types: product, process and organizational innovation; and measured growth through sales revenue growth. Our results show that product innovation and organizational innovation affect sales revenues growth, while process innovation does not. Further, our results show that each type of innovation influences growth intention, and mediating effects of innovation occur.

We explore the relationship between the characteristics of social capital, the speed of access to medical technologies and the role of gender in a private practice context. Our findings from a sample of 98 German private practitioners show that: (a) being a woman has an overall negative impact on the speed of access to medical technologies; (b) private practitioners with strong social network ties obtain quicker access to medical technologies than do those with weak ties; (c) men relying on their weak ties perform better than women who do so. In contrast, we observe that women relying on strong ties outperform their male counterparts in terms of speed of access to medical technologies., Nous explorons la relation entre les caractéristiques du capital social, la rapidité d’accès aux technologies médicales et le genre dans le contexte de cabinets médicaux privés. Les conclusions tirées à partir d’un échantillon de 98 médecins privés allemands montrent que : a) le fait d’être une femme médecin a un impact négatif global sur la rapidité d’accès aux technologies médicales; (b) les médecins privés ayant des liens sociaux forts obtiennent un accès plus rapide aux technologies médicales que ceux qui ont des liens faibles; c) les hommes qui s’appuient sur leurs liens faibles obtiennent de meilleurs résultats que les femmes. En revanche, nous observons que les femmes qui ont des liens forts ont plus rapidement accès aux technologies médicales que leurs homologues masculins., Exploramos la relación entre las características del capital social, la rapidez del acceso a tecnologías médicas y el papel del género en un contexto de práctica privada. Nuestros hallazgos en una muestra de 98 practicantes privados alemanes muestran que: (a) ser una mujer tiene un impacto negativo en general en relación con la rapidez de acceso a tecnologías médicas; (b) practicantes privados con vínculos fuertes de redes sociales obtienen acceso a tecnologías médicas más rápido que aquellos que tienen vínculos débiles; (c) hombres que dependen en sus vínculos débiles se desempeñan mejor que mujeres que hacen lo mismo. Por lo contrario, observamos que mujeres que dependen en vínculos fuertes superan a sus contrapartes varones en términos de rapidez de acceso a tecnología médica.

Zusammenfassung Da Unternehmertum und Innovationen stark miteinander verknupft sind, wird in dieser Studie der Zusammenhang zwischen ursprunglichen Grundungsmotivationen von Unternehmern und deren tatsachlichen Produktinnovationen innerhalb der ersten Grundungsjahre untersucht. Basierend auf einer Stichprobe der franzosischen SINE Datenbank, die vom franzosischen Nationalen Institut fur Statistik und Wirtschaftsplanung zur Verfugung gestellt wurde, wird gezeigt, dass verschiedene Grundungsmotivationen das Produktinnovationsverhalten von Start-ups positiv beeinflussen und dass Grundungsmotivationen damit auch nach der Grundung noch Folgen haben konnen. So zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Grundungsmotivationen wie unternehmerisches Denken und Handeln, Verbessern der finanziellen Position, Nutzen einer Geschaftschance oder -idee und Arbeitslosigkeit einen signifikant positiven Effekt auf Produktinnovation im neu gegrundeten Unternehmen ausuben.

Objectives: The Dark Triad traits (i.e., narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism) capture individual differences in aversive personality to complement work on other taxonomies, such as the Big Five traits. However, the literature on the Dark Triad traits relies mostly on samples from English-speaking (i.e., Westernized) countries. We broadened the scope of this literature by sampling from a wider array of countries. Method: We drew on data from 49 countries (N = 11,723; 65.8% female; Age Mean = 21.53) to examine how an extensive net of country-level variables in economic status (e.g., Human Development Index), social relations (e.g., gender equality), political orientations (e.g., democracy), and cultural values (e.g., embeddedness) relate to country-level rates of the Dark Triad traits, as well as variance in the magnitude of sex differences in them. Results: Narcissism was especially sensitive to country-level variables. Countries with more embedded and hierarchical cultural systems were more narcissistic. Also, sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed societies: Women were less likely to be narcissistic in developed (vs. less developed) countries. Conclusions: We discuss the results based on evolutionary and social role models of personality and sex differences. That higher country-level narcissism was more common in less developed countries, whereas sex differences in narcissism were larger in more developed countries, is more consistent with evolutionary than social role models.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on how service learning approaches are able to foster social entrepreneurship competences. The aim of the paper is to formulate a framework of key competences for social entrepreneurship and to give first insights in how service learning actually has an impact on change in students’ set of competences. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative data collectionmethods of learning diaries of the students and semi-structured interviews, including 40 master’s students studying at a German university in interdisciplinary learning settings and five instructors from the same universities. Analysis was carried out by means of qualitative content analysis. Findings This paper provides empirical insights about the competences that are being fostered by service learning. From these, a framework for social entrepreneurship competences is being derived. Research limitations/implications The set of competences should be further investigated, as it was derived out of a small data set. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to use the set of competences for social entrepreneurship as a basis for future research and on a longer-term perspective, which lead to substantial implications for educational practice. Practical implications This paper includes implications for new perspectives on service learning in the light of the development of a relevant framework for social entrepreneurship competence, having significant implications for educational practice in social entrepreneurship education. Originality/value With this paper, the authors fulfill the need of a framework of social entrepreneurship competences that serves as a foundation for educational practice and further research in the context of service learning and beyond.

Coopetition drives prosperity and economic development. Surprisingly, despite its relevance and the presence of family dynamics which affect business behaviour, researchers have not yet explored coopetition in small- and medium-sized family enterprises. This study seeks to advance coopetition research by analysing its application by family SMEs coopeting in a German business network in the information technology sector. We explore the nature of coopetition among family SMEs, and focus on motivational drivers to coopete and the implications of coopetition. Based on the present qualitative case study on 11 coopeting family SMEs, we discovered that coopetition among family SMEs tends to be cooperation-dominated. Moreover, the decision for and implications of coopetition seem to facilitate the family SMEs' non-economic goal to safeguard their socio-emotional wealth. The creation of binding social ties and the fortification of the firm's long-term orientation in the form of family bonds renewal are important consequences of coopetition.

Zusammenfassung Wie schnell niedergelassene Ärzte Zugang zu medizinischen Technologien, die sie nicht vor Ort haben, haben, variiert stark. Offen dabei ist allerdings, welche Faktoren den Zugang und dessen Geschwindigkeit beinflussen. Basierend auf einer Stichprobe von 98 privat praktizierenden Ärzten, zeigt die vorliegende Untersuchung, dass es zwei Persönlichkeitsmerkmale gibt, die den Zugang beschleunigen: Gewissenhaftigkeit und Offenheit. Abstract The speed of access to external medical technologies vary considerably between private practitioners. This difference motivates this study predicting the speed of access to these technologies. Based on a sample of 98 private medical practitioners, we note that the company’s size and two personality traits allow faster access to medical technologies. To get faster access to medical technologies, two personality traits, conscientiousness and openness to experience, are essential.

Coopetitors need to manage interorganizational knowledge flows to balance cooperative knowledge sharing and competitive knowledge protection. The question of how to balance these has received little research attention, with most studies analyzing knowledge sharing or protection separately. To address this gap, we develop a theoretical framework on coopetitive knowledge sharing and knowledge protection practices. This framework is based on a literature review of coopetitive interorganizational knowledge management. To complement and refine this initial framework, we build on insights from a qualitative study that gathered data from 11 semistructured interviews with key informants of Latin American firms. We show that a balance between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection in coopetition is facilitated when coopetitive interorganizational knowledge management helps coopetitors share general and project-specific knowledge while they withhold core knowledge about their firms and clients. To achieve this balance, firms combine formal and informal knowledge protection practices. As theoretical implications, we provide a fine-grained and synoptic understanding of the characteristics of knowledge management among coopetitors. As managerial implications, we call managers' attention to the need to find a balance between knowledge sharing and protection that will help clearly define what kind of knowledge is shared or protected when firms cooperate with rivals.

Cultural and creative industries are gaining importance in Western economies. In these industries, as in several other business sectors, micro‐firms, i.e., firms that employ fewer than ten employees, are the predominant firm type. As these industries have become an integral part of most economies, the literature has started to explore the strategic behavior of cultural and creative micro‐firms. Although micro‐firms are characterized by certain specificities that can affect how likely they are to engage in external relationships, there is a dearth of knowledge concerning collaboration through strategic alliances in this specific context. Seeking to advance the understanding of partnerships between micro‐firms in cultural and creative industries, the purpose of this article is to reveal the specific motives for engaging in strategic alliances in this context. In doing so, we focus on six case studies of strategic alliances between micro‐firms in cultural and creative industries in France. Our results show that strategic alliances involving creative micro‐firms seek the reduction of overspecialization, target a high degree of quality of life and pleasure at work, and are envisaged only if there is trust and mutual support among the partners. Moreover, opportunism and necessity motivations guide the creative micro‐firms' decision to enter strategic alliances.

Cette recherche entend poursuivre les travaux d’Allouche et Amann (2000) puis de Arrègle et Mari (2010) proposant un état des recherches dans le champ de l’entreprise familiale. Nous opérons une analyse des articles exclusivement francophones publiés depuis 2000 à 2015 (79 articles) et proposons un panorama des thèmes de recherche et des perspectives futures. Cette démarche nous permet de mettre en évidence cinq avancées : des avancées théoriques même si les fondements demeurent peu diversifiés (1), un déplacement progressif du niveau d’analyse (2), un timide décloisonnement (3), des avancées méthodologiques (4), managériales (5). This research intends to continue the work undertaken by Allouche and Amann (2000) and then Arrègle and Mari (2010) proposing a state of research in the field of family business. We operate an analysis of articles published exclusively in French from 2000 to 2015 (79 articles) and provide an overview of research topics and future prospects. This approach allows us to highlight five advances: theoretical advances even though the fundamentals remain undiversified (1), a gradual shift of the level of analysis (2), a light decompartmentalization (3), methodological (4), and managerial advances (5).

International audience; In line with an intensified call for conducting business in a greener and more sustainable way, sustainability-related entrepreneurship has become an important subfield of entrepreneurship research. The variety of terms, such as “sustainable entrepreneurship”, “ecopreneurship”, “environmental entrepreneurship/enviropreneurship”, and “green entrepreneurship”, reflects the fragmented and inconsistent findings of this research field. Based on the one-pillar model of sustainable development, i.e., ecological sustainability, we present the first systematic review of the literature on ecological sustainable entrepreneurship. This analysis of 114 scientific articles reveals a strong focus on the drivers of engagement in ecological sustainable entrepreneurship, the drivers of conducting business in an ecological sustainable way, the strategic actions taken by ecological sustainable enterprises, and the outcomes, enabling factors and challenges of ecological sustainable entrepreneurship. Based on this thematic clustering, we develop an integrative framework for ecological sustainable entrepreneurship and a coherent agenda for future research. This work may help researchers to take stock of the existing literature and advance this research field.

International audience; Macro-economic policies such as public financing seek to push the development and introduction of innovations; however, entrepreneurs also need support in their ‘day-to-day’ activities to improve their capability to launch innovations. As this micro-level perspective is rarely studied, we analyze both the micro and macro levels by examining the effects of the entrepreneurs’ individual intention to innovate and public financing. Additionally, we include the meso level, representing entrepreneurs’ network. Entrepreneurs are embedded in social spheres in which they capture resources and identify opportunities. But not all entrepreneurs are equally well supported, and some tend to be completely isolated. We thus focus on multilevel factors explaining new product or service launching in new ventures. Drawing on data of 48,251 French new ventures, we reveal that innovation intention and public financing positively impact new ventures’ product and service innovation launching, while entrepreneurs’ isolation has a negative effect. We also highlight two interaction effects that enhance the multilevel effects of innovation antecedents.

Jusqu’a present, la recherche dans le domaine des comportements en securite de l’information a ete majoritairement centree sur les employes de grandes entreprises. Cependant, les PME constituent un champ d’etudes pertinent car elles representent plus de 99% des entreprises en Europe et font face a des menaces en forte croissance touchant a leur securite. De plus, les dirigeants de PME jouent un role vital dans la protection des informations, au travers des actions qu’ils peuvent mettre en œuvre ou l’influence qu’ils ont sur leurs employes. Nous visons a contribuer a la recherche en securite de l’information, car peu d’etudes se sont interessees aux comportements des dirigeants, relatifs a la mise en place de mesures de protection de l’information. De plus, la litterature academique a montre que, particulierement dans un contexte de PME, le fait que le dirigeant soit proprietaire a une influence sur ses comportements. Les etudes portant sur les PME sont encore plus rares, d’autant plus si l’on s’interesse a l’influence de la propriete sur les comportements des dirigeants en matiere de securite de l’information. Ce papier presente une recherche empirique basee sur la theorie de la motivation a la protection (PMT) qui traite de la question de recherche suivante : « Quels facteurs peuvent expliquer les comportements relatifs a la protection des informations des dirigeants de PME ? » Nous avons mene une etude aupres de 292 dirigeants de PME, les donnees collectees ont ete analysees par la methode des moindres carres partiels (PLS). La litterature academique ayant montre que le comportement des dirigeants de PME est specifique, nous avons teste l’influence de la PMT sur deux sous-populations : les dirigeants proprietaires (n=183) et non-proprietaires (n=109). Nos resultats mettent en evidence des differences tres importantes et significatives entre ces deux sous-groupes. L’originalite de notre travail tient au fait qu’il constitue la premiere etude dediee aux comportements des dirigeants de PME en matiere de protection des informations, distinguant de plus les proprietaires des non-proprietaires. Notre principale contribution theorique correspond a la mise en evidence et a l’etude de cette population differenciee, a approfondir dans de futures recherches. L’implication manageriale majeure de notre travail est que, comme les facteurs qui sont a la base des comportements de protection des dirigeants-proprietaires sont presque en contraste total compares a ceux des dirigeants non-proprietaires, toute communication ou action devrait etre specifiquement adaptee a chacune de ces deux populations.

While the direct influence of innovation on growth has been examined in the entrepreneurship literature, the underlying channels of influence have remained largely unexplored. This article draws upon behavioral reasoning theory to examine whether growth intention is the pathway through which product, process and organizational innovations influence venture growth. Results from the analysis of a dataset of 20,472 French new ventures reveal that: (1) product, process and organizational innovations have a positive impact on sales revenues growth; (2) growth intention has a positive impact on sales revenues growth; and (3) growth intention mediates the effects of innovations on sales revenues growth. These findings have implications for a more balanced and nuanced view on how innovations impact new venture growth.

International audience; Being vulnerable to environmental forces, small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seek to supplement their insufficient resources by adopting coopetition strategies in order to reduce uncertainty. This longitudinal study of the union of wine producers in Pic Saint-Loup relies on 45 interviews conducted during multiple data collection moments and provides an understanding of how competing SMEs can develop cooperative strategies. In doing so, we present the development stages of coopetition strategies as well as the role of stakeholders in this development. Next, we accentuate the tertius strategies SME managers prefer to implement.

PurposeThis article aims to explore how and why the creation of technological innovation during a merger can end in failure. The objective is to propose new analytical elements to improve the formulation and execution of the integration process between an SME (small and medium enterprise) and a large enterprise.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a theoretical framework based on the main research results from several fields, including technology transfer, innovation dissemination, and management. This case study then focuses on a merger in the IT sector in real time.FindingsThis study allowed the authors to test theoretical elements, especially the choice of the integration method, which may favour the creation of technological innovation during the integration period. The authors present new reasons for the failure of co‐created innovation between an SME and a large enterprise in the IT sector. This case study allowed them to test theoretical elements such as the choice of an integration method which could favour the creation of technological innovation during the integration period while enriching scientific knowledge by proposing a dynamic approach to the integration process.Originality/valueBefore managers can envisage symbiosis between two merging firms, they first need to go through a period of exploration, which may entail costly mistakes. Yet this exploration period may be necessary to enable them to discover the limitations of a strictly rational approach to the integration process and to broaden their normal frame of reference. For this in‐depth study, the authors benefited from free access to a substantial amount of information that is generally unavailable for scientific research, which greatly contributed to their work. The authors' theoretical framework is not exhaustive, but they tried to incorporate the most significant research results.

Research on management with regard to religion became a growing field of interest in the last decades. Nevertheless, the impact of religion on actor’s economic behavior is also an old research topic, as the writings of Max Weber (The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Allen and Unwin, London, 1930) underline. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight the developments of this topic and to guide scholars to identify possible gaps. The structuring and investigation on this topic will help us to advance and better understand past research, while leading to some further reflections. We conduct a citation analysis of 215 articles and 7,968 cited references to examine the citation structure and make out the most-influential publications that have shaped research most so far. On the basis of the analysis it is to be assumed that three research streams affect progress: Best practices regarding performance issues, religion at work as well as religion, and personal ethics. Finally, the publications that each topic-clusters contains are reflected and discussed to achieve a structural overview of the state of the art of research.

Resume Les mecanismes traditionnels de coordination (marche/hierarchie) peuvent s’averer insuffisants pour expliquer certains phenomenes. Surtout dans les transactions incertaines et complexes qui visent des benefices a long terme (les cooperations « heterarchiques »), la durabilite de la cooperation s’oppose a l’idee d’une coordination par le marche, tandis que la coordination par hierarchie semble impensable a cause du manque de previsibilite lie a l’incertitude de la transaction. Ce type de cooperation semble donc reposer sur un paradoxe. Afin de resoudre l’interrogation sur l’existence de ce type de transaction, la notion de confiance pourrait etre introduite. Dans cette perspective, nous chercherons dans une premiere partie de cette contribution a modeler le fonctionnement et la reussite de la confiance comme mode de coordination dans des transactions heterarchiques. Puis, nous confronterons notre modele a des donnees empiriques. Les resultats ainsi degages soulignent le role de « l’auto-engagement »...

La recherche germanophone (en entrepreneuriat et PME) est pratiquement inconnue des chercheurs francophones. Cela est en partie dû au fait que la langue anglaise s’est imposée dans les milieux scientifiques et des affaires. Cette ignorance de la recherche germanophone est regrettable pour au moins deux raisons : 1) les chercheurs germanophones ont souvent été des pionniers dans le domaine des PME et de l’entrepreneuriat et 2) les PME occupent une place prépondérante dans l’économie et la politique économique des trois pays germanophones (Autriche, Allemagne et Suisse).L’objectif de cet article est de combler ce manque de connaissance en proposant de faire un état de lieux sur la recherche germanophone en entrepreneuriat et PME au cours des dix dernières années, soit de 1997 à 2006. Pour cela, les auteurs, au travers d’une étude descriptive, s’intéressent aux articles parus dans les trois revues scientifiques germanophones principales en entrepreneuriat et PME : Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung – ZfbF ; Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft – ZfB ; et Zeitschrift für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen – ZfKE.L’article, composé de trois parties, donne un aperçu des origines de la recherche en entrepreneuriat et PME, définit la méthode utilisée pour cette étude et détaille les résultats selon les auteurs, les types de publications et les disciplines abordées., The German-speaking research in entrepreneurship and small business is unknown in France. This is due to the fact that English has become the most used language for scientific works and in the international economic context. The ignorance of the German speaking research is at last regrettable for two reasons : 1) German-speaking researchers have been pioneers in the fields of entrepreneuship and SMEs ; 2) SMEs represent a large part of the economy in the three biggest German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany and Switzerland).The purpose of this, mainly descriptive, contribution is to make an inventory of research on SMEs and entrepreneurship in the last ten years (1997-2006). We will present a record of the main German-speaking journals in the fields of SMEs and entrepreneurship : Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung – ZfbF ; Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft – ZfB ; and Zeitschrift für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen – ZfKE. We will try to present the origins of these fields, the used methodologies, the types of publications and the topics., La investigación de habla alemana sobre la pequeña y mediana empresa, así como sobre el empresariado es prácticamente desconocida en el medio de habla francesa. La barrera lingüistica, el reconocimiento del inglés como lingua franca en la investigación y en la economía internacional parecen ser la causa de esta falta de visibilidad. Esta ignorancia de la investigación de habla alemana es lamentable por al menos por dos razones : primero, porque investigadores de habla alemana han sido pioneros en los campos de pequeña y mediana empresa así como en el empresariado y secundo, porque la pequeña y mediana empresa ejerce un papel principal en los países de lengua alemana tales como Austria, Alemania y Suiza.La meta de este trabajo, mayoriatariamente descriptivo, es presentar la investigación de habla alemana de los últimos 10 años (1996-2006) sobre la pequeña y mediana empresa así como sobre el empresariado. Presentaremos un inventario de publicaciones específicas de habla alemana (Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung – ZfbF, Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft – ZfB y Zeitschrift für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen – ZfKE), e intentaremos ilustrar así los orígenes de la investigación sobre la pequeña y mediana empresa así como sobre el empresariado, los métodos de investigación, los tipos de publicaciones y las especializaciones., Die deutschsprachige Entrepreneurship- und KMU-Forschung ist fast völlig unbekannt im französischen Sprachraum. Die sprachliche Hürde, die Annerkennung der englischen Sprache als lingua franca für wissenschaftliche Arbeiten und im internationalen Wirtschaftstreiben scheinen die Hauptgründe dieser fehlenden Visibilität zu sein. Diese Ignoranz an deutschsprachiger Forschung ist einerseits deshalb schon bedauerlich, da die deutschsprachigen Wissenschafter oft Pioniere in der Entrepreneurship- und KMU-Forschung waren. Andererseits, nehmen die Klein- und Mittelunternehmen in den drei größten deutschsprachigen Ländern (Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz) den Grossteil des Wirtschaftslebens ein und stehen deshalb auch im Mittelpunkt der Wirtschaftspolitik.Dieser Beitrag legt eine Bestandsaufnahme der deutschsprachigen Entrepreneurship- und KMU-Forschung der letzten zehn Jahre (1997-2006) vor. Dieser Beitrag ist daher hauptsächlich deskriptiv angelegt, und basiert auf einer Analyse von Beiträgen aus drei deutschsprachigen Fachzeitschriften (Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung – ZfbF ; Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft – ZfB ; und Zeitschrift für Klein- und Mittelunternehmen – ZfKE). Dieser Beitrag ist dreiteilig aufgebaut : in einem ersten Teil geben wir einen Überblick über den Ursprung der Entrepreneurship- und KMU-Forschung im deutschsprachigem Raum. Anschließend präsentieren wir die verwendete Methode, mit welcher wir die Beiträge analysiert haben. Im dritten Teil zeigen wir die Resultate unserer Analyse auf.

PurposeThis paper aims first to identify the patterns and governance modes of strategic alliances between microfirms and second, to show that alliances between microfirms have specific characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopts a qualitative approach, based on a survey of 20 alliances. It uses semi‐directive interviews with entrepreneurs of multi‐activity sector firms and discourse analysis.FindingsThe paper proposes a typology of microfirm alliances, and highlights the importance of a coherent vision on the part of the partners: egocentered or co‐development logic. First, it explains alliance motivations, and presents the different alliance configurations: patterns, purposes, and entrepreneurs' relationships. Then, it analyses these configurations and governance modes, and shows several specificities: lack of formalisation, absence of contractual relationships, trust, and constrained trust. Finally, the paper questions the impact of strategic alliances on the development of microfirms.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the knowledge of microfirms' strategic behaviours by showing new results about the functioning of strategic alliances. It shows that informal relationships predominate, and it confirms the research into the role of trust for construction and success of interorganisational collaboration.

This research article analyses the influence of micro-enterprise (ME) managers’ perception of their relationship to their environment on the nature of their ethics. We carried out a survey with the head managers of 125 French MEs, providing a large set of primary data. Two types of variables were defined: (1) variables related to the nature and intensity of the relationships between ME managers and their social environment, and (2) variables related to the ethical framework that the managers used. The results of univariate and bivariate analyses show significant statistical relationships between the variables that indicated perceived embeddedness in the community and ethical variables. This result underlines the idea that “communities of ethics” may have an important influence in MEs.

International audience; L’objectif de cet article est d’étudier le rôle de la centralité dans la reconfiguration de l’équipe entrepreneuriale en termes de leadership. Utilisant la théorie des réseaux sociaux, nous soulignons l’importance des relations interpersonnelles dans la TPE d’une part, et le rôle de la centralité des acteurs dans le choix du leader de l’organisation, d’autre part. Prenant le cas d’une structure en participation (SEP) en croissance et composée de 11 médecins français, nous explorons, à partir d’entretiens semi-directifs et d’analyse de la centralité réalisée sous UCINET, les enjeux du changement de management et l’importance de la centralité dans le choix du directeur. Cette centralité de degré est multidimensionnelle. En effet, elle prend en compte l’influence de l’acteur auprès des autres, sa capacité à donner des conseils et sa proximité émotionnelle avec ses collaborateurs. Deux des trois dimensions corroborent notre proposition sous-jacente selon laquelle l’acteur le plus central devient le directeur naturel de la TPE.

International audience; (Full paper, but we work on enriched versions for journals) This study presents an empirical investigation of factors affecting SMB CEOs decision to improve or not their company's information security (ISS). We developed a research model by adopting the protection motivation theory (PMT) to investigate the effect of threat and coping appraisal on protective actions. We conducted a questionnaire-based survey with SMB CEOs. Prior studies using PMT have never been focused on SMB CEOs behavior, and we postulate that in SMBs where there is no CIO or even IT people, CEOs actions are of utmost importance for achieving a satisfying ISS.

International audience; Change has always fascinated scholars across disciplines and numerous theories and models of organizational change and development have been published (Weick 1979; Van de Ven and Poole 1995). In management science, change has long been conceptualized as the opposite of stability (Adler et al. 2009; March 1991; Nelson and Winter 1982; March and Simon 1958). Only recently management theory conceptually overcame this dualism and established an understanding of duality of change and stability. In this thinking it is the interplay of change and stability that fosters critical developments in firms such as innovation, internationalization and strategic renewal (Moshe 2010).Understanding stability and change as the two sides of the same coin opens the door for a more contextualized investigation of change in firms (Cohen 2007). This allows for research into the complex and sometimes paradoxical relation between stability and change (Sutherland and Smith 2011; Van Gestel and Hillebrand 2011). ...

Cette recherche vise a etudier le role des institutions locales dans les strategies collectives de tres petites entreprises (TPE). Fondee sur quatre etudes de cas ayant pour objet le developpement de l’activite touristique locale, cette etude se focalise sur la relation entre les acteurs du collectif, entreprises et institutions. Les resultats soulignent le role de l’encastrement institutionnel comme facteur explicatif de la perennite (ou non) de ces strategies, et proposent certains facteurs de succes.

International audience; Over the past two decades, coopetition received growing attention by practitioners and scholars worldwide with a wide range of subjects explored within the current body of literature. Despite the constantly growing number of scientific publications, the current literature lacks a comprehensive and critical overview of past and present research accomplishments. Based on the first citation analysis in this field, we present three topical clusters which help us to indicate the evolution path of coopetition research. Additionally, the current literature state is studied by means of a systematic literature review reflecting the major research avenues. By combining and comparing the results of these two analyses, the paper concludes by proposing possible future research directions. To advance our current understanding of coopetition, we suggest that forthcoming research explores coopetition in the contexts of startups and family firms and extends our knowledge on the protection mechanisms which are necessary for coopeting successfully.

International audience; Although it is argued that competitiveness and successful performance in the long term is facilitated if ventures engage in innovations in diverse domains (e.g., product, process, production, administration, etc.), the development of diversified innovation has been rarely analysed. As the entrepreneurs’ initial motivations to startup are likely to influence their subsequent entrepreneurial behaviour, this study aims to explore whether and how entrepreneurial motivations affect diversified innovation behaviour in startups. Using data on over 48,000 French startups, we present novel insights into the consequences of entrepreneurial motivation for innovation behaviour. In fact, we find that distinct startup motivations can have different effects on the development of diverse innovations. As such, our findings contribute to extant research on innovation development of startups and advance the present understanding of the determinants of startups’ innovative behaviour.

Legitimacy is crucial for entrepreneurs. It is the cornerstone for creating relationships with stakeholders and mitigating resource constraints. But, other-referent legitimacy is also related to the cognitive image of individual legitimacy. Drawing on the identity-based model of legitimacy, we argue that personality traits (big five) and social capital (strong ties) of entrepreneurs impact self-perceived legitimacy of entrepreneurs. Based on survey data of 98 German private physicians, this paper examines antecedents of self-perceived legitimacy towards two main stakeholders: patients and peers. We find that high levels of agreeableness stimulate self-perceived legitimacy towards patients and peers, whereas openness to experience solely influences physicians' self-perceived legitimacy towards patients. In addition, our results highlight the contingent effect of personality traits by underlining the role of strong ties as a moderator of the relationship between personality traits and self-perceived legitimacy. By identifying these configurations we contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship with a refined perspective of antecedents of self-perceived legitimacy. Moreover, we give recommendations on how private physicians can benefit from two personality traits - agreeableness and openness to experience - and how they can manage weak and strong ties in order to diffuse their reputation.

PurposeThe purpose of this research paper is to show to what extent psychological, cultural and behavioural factors can influence on the succession process in the particular case of family‐run businesses?Design/methodology/approachData on 12 directors of family‐run SME were grouped together on the basis of questions derived from the research question. To do this, the authors operated using a principle guided by cross referencing responses, that is, finding the incidence of elements that make it possible to justify substantively the existence of the category and the common existence of these elements within the cases studied.FindingsThe thematic analysis performed made it possible to highlight five main motives for cultural and psychological resistance in former directors: the loss of power and influence, the risk of deconstruction, the loss of professional and social legitimacy, the loss of references and meaning, and the refusal of old age and death.Originality/valueThe results show that transferors search for connections in the aim of identifying common points of anchor, affinities on to which they can project themselves as an element of continuity or an extension of their personality. The paper can in particular note the importance given to cultural proximity and to previous professional relations with the transferor. These criteria, unlike personal factors, are of the interpersonal type and thus deeply imprinted on the transferor's most intimate desires and motivations, including the main desire, which is to search for all that can make possible an extension of himself within his company and thus ensure the permanence of his values and his time at the organisation.

Organisational democracy resembles around structural and procedural aspects regarding decision-making, leadership, organisational structure and communication. Primarily, it is thought as an approach in which individual and organisational goals are balanced. Individuals primarily engage in entrepreneurial activity because of autonomy and flexibility; i.e., working in less mechanistic structures. Founders thereafter can create their organisational structure according to their individual values, goals and personality. Particularly in dynamic and more instable business environments organisational democracy appears to be a source of competitive advantage and positive performance. Our research question therefore asks: do entrepreneurs of new ventures follow principles of organisational democracy? Results from a comparative case-study among seven German high-tech start-ups reveal three distinct forms of ventures on the mechanistic-democratic continuum regarding leadership, decision-making, organisational structure and communication. This means that entrepreneurs do not necessarily impede democratic principles in their ventures but rather chose their strategic route in accordance with their self-perception as an entrepreneur, their growth aspirations and product/service offered.