Going global: The influence of transformative experience on social entrepreneurial decisions to internationalize

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ahead of Print.
Despite increased importance of SEs in the global marketplace, limited research in social entrepreneurship addresses internationalization, and fewer from a behavioural perspective. We fill this gap by investigating the SE manager’s behavioural attributes and their influence on the decision of social entrepreneurs to become international social entrepreneurs (ISEs) through an exploratory design using content analysis and interviews. All social entrepreneurs were driven to address social change by a strong social conscience; however, this research finds that ISEs shared an urgent and personal call to action. This sense of urgency developed from transformative experiences that altered their views of the world and their place within it. Domestic social entrepreneurs were motivated primarily by their social conscience, shared background, and the timing of the social enterprise opportunity, factors previously identified in research.

Innovation in the legal service industry: Examining the roles of human and social capital, and knowledge and technology transfer

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ahead of Print.
Business research has rarely explored service innovation for the traditionally conservative legal industry. Using a resource-based and practice-based view blend as its theoretical backbone we develop an understanding of the parameters underpinning law firm innovation as a facilitator of operations management enhancement and possible source of entrepreneurship. The paper presents a survey answered by 106 legal professionals from 19 countries exploring four thematic areas referring to human capital, social capital, knowledge and technology transfer that were hypothesised to define innovation. Ordered probit regression modelling was used. Evidence is presented that cybersecurity threats, inadequate and limited training on IT, excessive paperwork and lack of efficient teamwork, collaboration and communication are key challenges to innovation adoption, which is a pathway to sustainable, inclusive and resilient firm growth. Firm size and internationalisation are innovation-altering factors; SMEs differ from large global firms in their ability to operate ‘outside-the-box’. Our results recommend that legal enterprises need to adopt innovation as a robust transformation-enabling toolkit that could facilitate a performance-enhancing business ethos.

Building a Conscientious Personality is Not Sufficient to Manage Behavioral Biases: An Effective Intervention for Financial Literacy in Women Entrepreneurs

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Consciousness personality on women entrepreneurs’ behavioral biases by focusing on financial literacy which is taken as a mediator while the mindfulness as a potential moderator. A random sample of 210 female entrepreneurs working in Pakistan was collected through stratified sampling technique and data are analyzed by using Structural Equation Modeling through SMART-PLS. The results divulged a significant mediating impact of financial literacy in reducing mental accounting bias among consciousness personality possessing women entrepreneurs; however, financial literacy was found related to the risk aversion bias through mindfulness. The moderation analysis further revealed interesting indirect impacts, such that financial literacy strongly reduced mental accounting and risk aversion bias for women who were more conscious of proper financial mindfulness. Nonetheless, financial mindfulness did not catalyze financial literacy and herding bias relationship. By encompassing the concepts of financial literacy, mindfulness, and behavioral biases in consciousness personality’s women entrepreneurs, we offered a comprehensive theoretical framework with practical implications for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan. Thus, we suggest new avenues for the longstanding dilemma related to the factors instigating suboptimal financial decision-making in women entrepreneurs in developing markets.