This research examines the rationale of geographic co-location of entrepreneurs who do business on internet platforms. Prior research has shown that entrepreneurs gain valuable synergy benefits from being embedded in industrial networks. Nevertheless, the advantages of geographic clustering when business is conducted via the internet are still to be understood. This research aims to understand how internet-based economic activity interacts with local social relations and structures, thus seeking to explain the phenomenon of industrial clustering of internet-enabled entrepreneurial activity. Guided by theories of relational and institutional embeddedness, we examine the way social relations are formed online, trace the rationale of local social relations while business is conducted online, and study the role of major institutional actors that support the economic activities of the entrepreneurs. Empirically, this thesis examines two regional clusters of Chinese microentrepreneurs who conduct their business on an e-commerce platform and form dynamic interpersonal ties with business partners and customers both online and offline. The method of ethnographic case study is adopted to gain in depth understanding of the ways various internet networking tools have been appropriated in business practice in these two cases and the ways local microentrepreneurs build up collaborative networks in geographic place as well as cyberspace. The study of Chinese micro-entrepreneurs reveals and substantiates the formation of a hybrid sociality, whereby economic exchange via the internet and business conducted by electronic tools are complemented by local social relations and actively supported by local government and the IT service corporation. This research also contributes to development policy considerations; it shows that regions that are usually unattractive to capital and knowledge/talent flows can gain economic development momentum by entangling the conduct of business on web platforms with local social institutions.

This thesis provides an overview of the social and entrepreneurial careers and strategies of merchants during the first modern “commercial” era, 1830-75. It examines merchants as migratory entrepreneurs during the integration of peripheral regions into the transatlantic economy via commerce, technology transfer, and ideology. Merchants organized, operated and expanded overseas commerce, importing textiles and exporting pastoral products. They used a variety of strategies and firm structures to discover and exploit niches in a competitive, developing market. They also influenced the process of economic development and state building as capitalists and risk-bearers, financing both production and politics. Based on archival material from diverse collections in both the United Kingdom and South America, the research offers a qualitative account of the entrepreneurial activities of the British merchant elite in Uruguay. It uses case studies of British immigrant entrepreneurs, whose privileged access to capital and technology allowed them to expand the market for imported products and to exploit upstream opportunities in modernizing export production. Uruguay’s distinctive institutional and geographical characteristics allowed merchants to access markets, maximize their social and political connections, and to hedge political and market risks. British merchants used Montevideo as an alternative regional port to Buenos Aires, and the implications of this opportunity have been underexplored in the literature. In establishing and expanding their operations in Uruguay, merchants gained region-specific capital in the form of geographically fixed upstream investments, market knowledge, and positions in elite networks. The social connections of Anglo-Uruguayan merchants were essential in providing resources and influence for their entrepreneurial activities, but were also their point of entry into the contest over the economy and polity of the River Plate region. British merchants’ incentives changed towards engagement in the political and ideological struggles of the Uruguayan civil war, the guerra grande of 1839-51, as they contested political outcomes by acting as suppliers, financiers, and lobbyists. This involvement created an AngloUruguayan subset of River Plate merchants, who went on in subsequent decades to reshape the economy through investment and entrepreneurship.

No description available.

The aim of this research is to investigate the key market growth factors for golf development in China as a recreation and luxury product. After nearly 30 years of development, China now has the largest golf complex in the world and the golf market in China is growing at its fastest pace for recent years (Verot, 2013). Due to rapid economic growth and the emergence of a large number of wealthy people, it has been argued that the consumption of luxury and recreational products will increase. Practically, there is evidence to suggest that golfing in China is being developed as both recreational product and luxury product. However, little research has been carried out to answer the question why a foreign game could develop so robustly, and the key factors that have contributed to its growth in relation to its unique features. Moreover, golf development in China is taking place within an increasingly complicated environment, which necessitates strategic adjustments in golf and related businesses for sustained growth. After examining existing literature, this research proposed the theoretical framework, which identifies the relationship among golf industry, features and potential factors. To test the hypotheses generated from the theoretical framework and to enrich the argument a pragmatic methodology is adopted, which involve both positivist and interpretivist approaches. Therefore, both questionnaire and in-depth interview methods are applied in this research to reach the requirement of both broadness and depth. The questionnaire was distributed to 230 golf course managers in China, and 213 valid responses were collected. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were carried out and the quantitative findings were complemented by evidence from interviews with 5 experienced golf course managers who have worked in several golf courses around China. The theoretical framework is tested through designed research and suggests that when considering golf as a recreation and luxury product, the economic factor is the key market growth factor in China. The in-depth interviews supported this finding and further suggested that the cultural factor is also significant for golf development. Moreover, the interviews also provided comprehensive information about how political, economic, cultural, technological, geographic and environmental factor are influencing current and future golf development. Accordingly, golf business should adjust their practices to their external environment. Using the political factor as an example, golf industry has the capacity to influence the factor to their advantage. The golf industry could project a positive image that golf development will not harm the natural environment if the maintenance procedures are appropriated. Furthermore, the golf industry should launch information campaigns and lobby the government to demonstrate that the concern from public is unnecessary. The findings of this study presented implications for academic literature and the golf industry. From the academic perspective, this research tested theories from existing literature in the field of golf development in China. Meanwhile, this research provides the framework for research in a related area in the future. Furthermore, this study highlighted a new niche subject of academic study, the luxury recreational sector that encompasses luxury experiences and recreation specialisation. For the golf industry in China, the framework provided by this research will help practitioners to understand their external business environment and implement innovative strategies. The information revealed by the framework will also help potential international investors to develop better strategies to gain access to the Chinese market.

The new possibilities offered by information & communication technologies (ICTs) within the work-place and elsewhere have attracted wide attention by economic and social actors. One outcome is the institutional ‘push’ for all businesses to embrace these technologies and ‘get online’. However, it is evident that take-up amongst businesses has been highly uneven with some cautious in their adoption and, thus, many have not fully exploited the possibilities offered. To understand this variety in the adoption and use of online technologies (which in some cases includes their nonadoption and non-use) it is necessary to examine practices and establish underlying dynamics surrounding new forms of ICTs. This thesis will investigate the practices associated with the adoption and use of ICTs in the hotel industry. Three basic questions are addressed. The first relates the online practices of hoteliers, including the use of online intermediary services, the nature of uptake and the implications for both practices and relations with customers. The second relates to any externalities which condition a hotelier’s practices. The third is concerned with how to conceptual explain observations – findings. Investigation of these questions has resulted in an empirically rich study. This has involved a multi-method approach that allows online practices to be viewed through different lenses and from an adapted Social Shaping of Technology perspective. The population of Scottish serviced accommodation providers was compiled and used to determine the uptake of online practice. Interviews revealed specific practices. Published material provided insight into contextual issues, particularly those relating to institutional developments. The research shows that there were three principle strategies for the adoption of the new technologies. First, they were embedded by the users themselves (‘internalisation’) – often through much effort and processes of configuration – into their ‘busy day’. The process of ‘learning’ (or learning by trying) was found to be an integral feature of uptake. Secondly, some users opted for an alternative solution where, rather than design their own website, they adopted the offerings of online intermediaries (such as online booking facilities) (‘intermediation’). However, the appropriation of online intermediation was found to be both costly and fraught with new kinds of risks (e.g. double bookings) and uncertainty (e.g. no guarantees of bookings). Thirdly, a further option (‘localisation’) was for local groups of hoteliers to collectively produce an online presence that promotes the locality and thereby indirectly provides benefits to their businesses. The analysis was performed using a modified version of Silverstone’s (1992) ‘domestication’ framework. However, ‘localisation’ questioned the assumptions underpinning ‘domestication’, suggesting the need for a more sophisticated analytical device, such as offered by the metaphor of ‘tailoring’. It is concluded that the apparently deterministic institutional view of the benefit of online technologies and the imperative that they are fully exploited to give competitive advantage, can be at odds with the locally contingent and diverse nature of online practices. The research found that the new online practices did not entirely replace traditional ones, but emerged as complementary to them.

Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η ανάλυση του δείγματος των ερωτηματολογίων ως εργαλείο μελέτης των παραγόντων που σχετίζονται μεταξύ τους και επηρεάζουν σημαντικά στην ίδρυση μιας μικρομεσαίας επιχείρησης. Το είδος και η μορφή των ερωτήσεων, μας οδηγούν αρχικά να διερευνήσουμε τις μεταβλητές μας μέσω πινάκων συνάφειας, καθώς οι εμπλεκόμενες μεταβλητές είναι κυρίως κατηγορικές. / The topic of the present thesis is, at a first stage, the evaluation of those questionnaires on the whole, as a tool of the study of the factors that may affect the establishment of a small and medium-sized enterprise. The type and the form of the questions initially lead us to introduce mainly categorical variables (nominal or ordinal) and to cross-classify them, forming thus contingency tables.

I investigate why Taiwanese entrepreneurs who have invested in China exit. Viewed from the non-economic perspective, there are three main themes in this thesis. Theme A focuses on the non-economic variables in international exit. Theme B examines how incident-generated emotions shape entrepreneur’s actions in internationalization. Theme C presents an overview of the decision-making of international exit, summarizing the finding in Theme A and Theme B and revisiting the theoretical framework developed in literature chapter. Driven by the nature of the research questions, a multiple-case study methodology was adopted for the purpose of theory building. I employ the method of critical incident technique to explore firm’s critical events in internationalization and how entrepreneurs feel and respond to. In total, I identify five exit cases and two stay cases. 34 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with entrepreneurs and their stakeholders. Data was coded in an interactive manner, working back and forth between theory, emerging patterns and data. Other sources including annual reports, press release, webpage, meeting minutes and archives are used for data triangulation. Being positioned at the intersection of entrepreneurship and international business research paths, this research firstly examines international business literature and use theories in entrepreneurship field to explain my data. Following Gimeno et al.’s (1997) threshold of performance theory, entrepreneurs can terminate an economically profitable business since it no longer meets entrepreneur’s expectation. My finding shows in addition to organizational performance, entrepreneur’s personal goal, predisposition of China and family socio-emotional wealth can influence the international exit decision by changing entrepreneur’s threshold of performance and the non-economic value of the firm. This explains why some entrepreneurs shut down a profitable firm. Following entrepreneurial emotions literature (e.g. Baron, 2008; Foo et al., 2009), I examine how entrepreneur’s incident-generated emotions shape their behaviour in internationalization. Passion and confidence are positive for organizational growth while fear and disgust are negative for entrepreneur’s efforts in internationalization. Empathy is positive for learning and adaption and anger encourages risky actions with optimistic prediction. This section provides empirical evidence to entrepreneurial emotion studies and connects empathy with entrepreneur’s learning and development of institution-specific capability. Finally, I revisit the international exit decision-making framework and redefine international exit. My finding shows entrepreneurs who have positive emotional memory and predisposition of China are easier to recover and learn from their international exit experience and use it to renter into China in the future. Taken together, this thesis provides fresh insights into an emerging debate relating to international exit, particularly on emerging market studies. It contributes to the international business literature by viewing from non-economic perspective, indicating why some entrepreneurs persist in a failing venture while others shut down a profitable venture. This research also adds to entrepreneurial emotion literature by providing an insight to positive and negative emotions and focusing on specific emotions rather than a broad category, describing six emotions and their effects on entrepreneur’s decision in internationalization. Implications for practitioners and policy makers are also discussed.

The concept of ‘brand experience’ has evolved as an essential area of study within the brand management and marketing discipline. Despite the importance of (and the attention paid to) this concept in recent years, the theory of brand experience has remained unclear and there is a less of theoretical support. In addition to this, several scholars content that there is a connection between brand experience and loyalty. This study aims to address the gap in the literature and provide a better understanding of the concept of ‘brand experience’ together with its consequences, with particular regard to consumer loyalty. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between brand experience and consumer loyalty in the luxury cosmetic brand industry (Thailand). This empirical study proceeds with a systematic review of the existing literature, leading to the development of a theoretical framework. The research adopts a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach, use of a quantitative survey to collect data, validated and enhanced qualitatively by personal interviews. The questionnaires were completed by Thai customers who frequent the luxury cosmetic brand counters in three particular stores in Bangkok. The data analysis uses descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and linear/multiple regression analysis for hypotheses testing. The personal interviews use a purposive sampling technique. The results of this study demonstrate that sensory experience, affective experience, behavioural experience, intellectual experience and social experience form the dimensions of luxury cosmetic brand experience. In addition to this, there is a positive direct relationship between luxury cosmetic brand experience and consumer loyalty. In addition, luxury cosmetic brand experience has a positive indirect relationship with consumer loyalty through brand personality, brand trust and consumer satisfaction; albeit, brand trust is the most significant of these. A key contribution of the present study is the conceptual model the study offers that explains the phenomenon of luxury cosmetic brand experience and its consequences. This study contributes further knowledge to the marketing literature, brand management literature and, also, consumer behaviour literature (particularly in the luxury cosmetic brand sectors in Thailand and other Asian countries) and suggests directions for future research. Finally, the present study will facilitate luxury cosmetic brand managers’ endeavours to identify both the experiential needs of their customers and the marketing strategy necessary to achieve consumer loyalty.

No description available.

Edited by Eli Goldston, Herbert C. Morton, and G. Neal Ryland. / Part 1 was originally published as the winter 1969 issue of Daedalus; part 2 contains 8 new articles and a new preface.