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Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) has long been recognised as a potentially viable means for promoting and sustaining corporate competitiveness (Covin & Miles 1999). Turbulence and rapidly changing knowledge - especially in the Information and Communications Technology sector (ICT) - has forced companies to become more entrepreneurial in order to capitalise on new business opportunities and to create value. The research study was quantitative and data was collected through an online survey, which used closed-ended questionnaires. The questionnaires entail assessing the degree of CE in an organisation in relation to its performance. The analysis had 114 samples of companies in the ICT sector. The study indicated that there is a strong positive association between level of CE and company performance. Companies that sustain their businesses and are able to prosper are likely to have a high level of CE. The most important contribution of this study is the testing of CE theories in the South African context. The ICT managers can contribute to entrenching CE by being the champions in creating the environment that stimulates entrepreneurial behaviour.

Position of small and medium companies in the information technology sector plays important role in the functioning on any state's economy. Focusing on a specific local market and using the Czech Republic as a case study, one has to state that most Czech firms face difficulties when trying to achieve economic success. Based on this fact, small and medium enterprise rating seems to be appropriate approach to determine factors that influence their performance and thus the possibility to help with their situation. Aim of this Master thesis is to determine these factors and construct econometric success rate models. Questionnaire research among ICT enterprises, and further statistical analysis showed that the earnings- employee ratio, average revenues and the R&D importance ratio plays the most important role in their success. Both, financial and non-financial indicators perform significantly in these predictions. Bibliographic record Krejčí, M. (2013): Factors that influence the success of small and medium enterprises. Case study of ICT sector in the Czech Republic. Master thesis (Mgr.), Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies. Supervisor: PhDr. Wadim Strielkowski, Ph.D. JEL Classification C13, C51, C81, D02, L86 Keywords Success rate, ICT sector,...

Ample evidence exists that suggests that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) access and usage is structured along gender lines where social, economic, education barriers as well as attitudes impact negatively on female adoption and usage of ICT’s. Further, the ability to communicate and or own an ICT gadget is heavily reliant on disposable income and affordability (Hafkin, 2002). By investigating gender adoption and usage patterns of ICT’s, South Africa stands an opportunity to gather important data critical to circumvent possible negative aspects of gender difference in adoption and usage. According to Huyer, S., and Hafkin, N., (2007), “gender in relation to ICT use and access remains largely an uncharted domain” (Huyer & Hafkin, 2007, p.36). The report uses available ICT data covering between year 2005 to 2010 and the 2007 ICT access and usage survey data is the primary source for the key findings of the report. Key findings of the report suggest that no gender difference exists in adoption and usage of ICT’s in South Africa. However higher incomes, more advanced education, being young and living in an urban location increases adoption and usage. Thus, given the existing gender disparities in income and education and the location of a large proportion of the female population in rural areas, the analysis found that females are disadvantaged with respect to broad ICT access and usage beyond mobile voice communications. While ICT adoption cannot on its own address the broad challenges of socio-economic development, gender-based policy and regulation is necessary to unlock heightened ICT usage by women as a contributing factor to development.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore how place marketing manifests within foreign direct investment (FDI) in the new era of information and communications technology. The study reviews the literature on place marketing that emphasises FDI and defines place marketing as a tool to pursue FDI more systematically and efficiently in order to increase the value of a place. The study shows that place marketing can be used in multiple ways to pursue inward FDI activities and that it is multifaceted, not just a service offered by investment promotion agencies. This empirical study of place marketing within FDI follows a multiple case study method. The data are drawn from interviews with nine FDI case companies and their respective investment promotion agency representatives and facilitating research, business and funding actors. The study approaches place marketing within FDI from an explorative perspective, studying how place marketing can improve FDI by interpreting investment decisions through the lenses of place marketing and place branding elements, management and assessment. The analysis identifies the place marketing factors that impact the FDI process from the preparation phase through the post-investment phase. Through the FDI process, a regional image is generated, and the place becomes visible. This study develops a conceptual model that proposes that place marketing manifests within FDI through goals, networks, individuals and regional competences. The goals are set to develop the framework for place marketing within FDI. Stakeholders’ engagement forms a strong ecosystem network that can be a major regional asset to attract and sustain investments. Each FDI case creates, develops and sustains its own network, within which the contributions of individuals with technical and managerial skills are key to successful place promotion. The competence of the regional ecosystem sets the scene for the investment opportunity. Regarding managerial implications, this study proves that strategic, inward FDI activity requires long-term regional commitment from stakeholders and an allocation of resources during not only the pre-investment phase, but also the post-investment phase. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten paikanmarkkinointi edistää suoria ulkomaisia investointeja ICT-teknologian uudella aikakaudella. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan paikanmarkkinointia koskevaa kirjallisuutta, jossa käsitellään ulkomaisia suoria sijoituksia ja määritellään paikanmarkkinointi keinona hankkia sijoituksia järjestelmällisemmin ja tehokkaammin paikan arvon kasvattamiseksi. Tutkimus osoittaa, että paikanmarkkinointia voidaan käyttää monin tavoin ulkomaisten investointien houkuttelussa ja että se on monipuolinen kokonaisuus eikä pelkkä investointien edistämispalvelu. Tässä empiirisessä paikanmarkkinoinnin tutkimuksessa käytetään usean tapaustutkimuksen menetelmää. Tiedot perustuvat yhdeksän ulkomaisen kohdeyrityksen ja heidän edustajiensa sekä alueellisten tutkimus-, yritys- ja rahoitusalan toimijoiden haastatteluun. Tutkimus lähestyy ulkomaisiin sijoituksiin kohdistettua paikanmarkkinointia eksploratiivisesta näkökulmasta selvittämällä, miten paikanmarkkinointi voi edistää investointeja paikanmarkkinoinnin ja brändäyksen elementtien, johtamisen ja arvioinnin kautta. Analyysissä yksilöidään ne paikanmarkkinoinnintekijät, jotka vaikuttavat suorien ulkomaisten investointien prosessiin valmisteluvaiheesta investointivaiheeseen ja sen jälkeen. Investointiprosessin kautta alueellinen kuva vahvistuu ja paikka tulee esille. Tässä tutkimuksessa kehitetään käsitteellinen malli, jonka mukaan suorien ulkomaisten investointien houkutteluun suunnattu paikanmarkkinointi ilmenee toiminnan tavoitteiden, verkostojen, yksilöiden ja alueellisten valmiuksien kautta. Tavoitteet luovat viitekehyksen ulkomaisten suorien sijoitusten paikanmarkkinointiin. Sidosryhmien sitoutuminen muodostaa vahvan ekosysteemiverkoston, joka voi olla merkittävä alueellinen voimavara houkutella ja ylläpitää investointeja. Jokainen investointitapaus luo, kehittää ja ylläpitää omaa verkostoaan, jossa teknisten ja johtamiseen erikoistuneiden yksilöiden osallistuminen prosessiin on keskeistä. Alueen ekosysteemissä osaaminen luo mahdollisuuden investointiin. Johtamisen vaikutusten osalta tämä tutkimus osoittaa sen, että strateginen, suorien ulkomaisten investointien houkuttelu edellyttää sidosryhmien pitkäaikaista sitoutumista ja resurssiallokaatiota paitsi investoinnin esivaiheessa myös niiden myöhemmässä vaiheessa.

The aim of the graduation thesis is to assess possibilities of marketing orientation of concern e-invent. Concern e-invent effects on information and communication technologies sector. Actual situation of ICT sector is analyzed before targeting marketing settings and strategy. Analysis is focused on finding opportunities and threats. The thesis tries to evaluate status of concern and explore pros and cons of concern compared with competitors. PEST analysis and Porter analysis is used for assessing actual situation on the market. VRIO method, financial analysis and value-forming chain help to reveal its strengths and weaknesses. SWOT analysis summarizes and evaluates findings of particular methods. Analysis helps to formulate objectives and strategies.

Research problem: Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is a legal framework established by the South African government to eradicate racial and gender exclusionary elements from the apartheid regime. This refers to the process called economic transformation. The B-BBEE Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Sector Code is the primary regulatory instrument for regulating ICT organisations' economic transformation activities. Organisational minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code is the primary obstacle to including Black people in ICT business. Minimal compliance is a compliance behaviour that looks good on the letter of the law but does not transform the intended systems. While ICT organisations have good B-BBEE certificates, the points earned in the compliance process have not been translating into transformation. In 2020, 17 years after the introduction of the B-BBEE Act, the ICT Sector Council reported that ICT organisations had not made real progress in racial inclusivity in ownership and management structures. Minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code reveals a policy enforcement dilemma where compliance with regulation makes no social change. Purpose of the research: The study interrogated how contextual factors affect minimal compliance with affirmative action regulations such as the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code. The study is a response to the call for Information Systems researchers to investigate the role of ICTs in achieving social justice and the socio-technical aspects that affect ICT enterprises. Investigating these kinds of regulations in Information Systems research also reveals how ICT business interacts with aspects of the socio-political context in post-colonial contexts such as South Africa. Methodology: This is a qualitative inquiry guided by a critical research paradigm. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis in various touchpoints of the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code. We employed thematic analysis and content analysis to analyse the research data. We developed a conceptual framework that suggests that minimal compliance stems from the need to protect the achievement of organisational goals. Key findings: Factors that affect minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code are the organisational perception of the policy implementation context, organisational logic of action, and organisational legitimisation. ICT organisations leverage regulatory loopholes (e.g., pointsystem compliance) in the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code to comply with it in a manner that does not add value for the beneficiaries but allows them to achieve their organisational goals. ICT organisations responded to B-BBEE regulatory requirements through two utilitarian logics (goal prioritisation and maintaining status quo). Businesses are pragmatic institutions! This phrase surfaces every time a question B-BBEE compliance comes up. When they introduced the point-system compliance, B-BBEE policymakers did not consider the granular details concerning the complexity inherent in the South African historical context that would affect Black people's involvement in the digital economy. Quantifying the involvement of Black people in the ICT sector has resulted in the commoditisation of gender and race – making the beneficiaries the means to an end through B-BBEE points. The point-system compliance mechanism is the supreme loophole of the B- BBEE policy implementation context. The point-system enforcement mechanism propels ICT organisations to protect the achievement of their economic goals while neglecting the transformation agenda. Ideological discourses such as “B-BBEE compliance is anti-FDI, BBBEE compliance is costly, and B-BBEE compliance is complex” continue to thrive as legitimisation mechanisms to justify minimal compliance behaviour and its outcome. Research contribution: The study is rich with new knowledge about ICT organisational response to affirmative action policies in post-colonial contexts. The focus on the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code revealed policy discrepancies that future policymakers may consider ensuring that transformation takes place. International actors may benefit from the study's practical contribution to B-BBEE compliance processes, and the stakeholders involved. The study contributes to theory by proposing a conceptual framework for minimal compliance behaviour. The conceptual framework proposes three factors to be considered while analysing compliance behaviour: policy implementation context, organisational logics of action, and organisational legitimisation. Through this conceptual framework, the study shows that minimal compliance behaviour is mostly viewed as a binary behaviour – compliance or noncompliance. The compliance behaviour that looks good in the letter of the law but does not solve the problems that warrant policy introduction is taken for granted. The methodological contribution of the study rests in the use of multiple data sources that provided a heterogeneous perspective on B-BBEE compliance. Moreover, a critical interrogation of compliance behaviour is instrumental in illuminating mechanisms used by dominant powers to maintain hegemony by going around the regulations.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyse how highly educated people with physical and/or sensor disabilities (PwD) integrate in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The approach was the experience of PwD. In stead of earlier single approach studies, the aim of the study was to identify factors, which are influencing on ICT field study place selection, and which are improving their employment and which factors push ahead them to carry on in the ICT field. One of the interviewees summarized: Don’t give the lead to others! In general, ICT-sector work has been seen as work that does not require physical capability from an employee, and usually the work is not physically demanding. Therefore, ICT sector work can be consireded to be suitable for PWD employees. This study was carried out by using a qualitative research method. It was an empirical study that took into account elements of social research. The empirical material was based on 21 semi-structured interviews involving eight women and thirteen men, and all of them had physical and/or sensor disability. The interviewees were offered the opportunity to share their experiences as freely as possible. The severity, age and work experience of the persons involved in the study varied widely. All of the interviewees were Finnish citizens and at the time of the study they lived in Finland, and all of the interviewees had been in ICT field or suited studies in tertiary level. They had also been working or they were working in the ICT sector during the interviews. The study showed that disability has a major impact on the choice of the place where ICT is studied. The interviewees were well aware of the constraints caused by their injuries. The interviewed persons had found workplaces easily in the ICT sector. However, a few interviewees mentioned that disability had had a negative impact on individual job search processes. The study also showed that people with disabilities are able to work independently in the ICT field and integrate into the work community. Nearly all of the interviewees had a long career in the work of their first employer and they had progressed well in the career. The results of the dissertation are to encourage young people with disabilities to acquire higher education and work life more actively than before, as well as their teachers and employers to pay more attention to competence and eligibility than to disability. The encouragement of family and individual teachers was also seen as a major factor in starting the university studies. During the research, it was also found that factors relevant to employment include the networks and know-how created during the studies. This study also challenges people responsible for recruiting in companies to evaluate their own values and attitudes towards different people. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli analysoida, kuinka korkeasti koulutetut fyysisesti vammaiset tai aistivammaiset henkilöt integroituvat tieto- ja viestintäteknologia-alalle (ICT). Näkökulmana oli vammaisten oma kokemus. Aikaisempien yhden näkökulman tutkimusten sijaan tämä tutkimus etsi tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat ICT-alan opiskelupaikan valintaan, edistävät vammaisten henkilöiden työllistymistä ja kannustavat heitä jatkamaan ICT-alalla. Yksi haastateltu tiivistikin asian osuvasti seuraavasti: Älä anna muille etumatkaa! Yleisesti ICT-alan työn ei nähdä vaativan fyysisiä ominaisuuksia, eikä työ ole yleensä ruumiillisesti raskasta. ICT-alan työn voidaan katsoa soveltuvan hyvin henkilöille, joilla on rajoitteita vammoistaan johtuen. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisella tutkimusmenetelmällä. Kyseessä oli empiirinen tutkimus, jossa otettiin huomioon sosiaalitutkimuksen elementtejä. Tutkimusaineisto perustui 21 semi-strukturoituun haastatteluun, joihon osallistui kahdeksan naista ja 13 miestä. Haastateltaville tarjottiin mahdollisuus kertoa kokemuksistaan mahdollisimman vapaasti. Tutkimukseen osallistuneiden henkilöiden vammojen vaikeusaste, ikä ja työkokemus vaihtelivat laajasti. Kaikki haastatellut olivat suomalaisia, ja he olivat opiskelleet ICT-alaa korkeakouluissa sekä työskennelleet tai työskentelivät tutkimuksen aikana ICT-alalla. Tutkimus osoitti, että vammaisuus vaikuttaa merkittävästi ICT-alan opiskelupaikan valintaan. Haastateltavat tunnistivat hyvin vammoistaan johtuvat rajoitteet. Haastatellut työllistyivät tutkimuksen perusteella hyvin ICT-alan työtehtäviin. Muutama haastateltava tosin mainitsi, että vammaisuus oli vaikuttanut negatiivisesti yksittäisissä työpaikkahakuprosesseissa. Tutkimus osoitti myös, että vammaiset henkilöt pystyvät työskentelemään ICT-alan työtehtävissä itsenäisesti, ja että he integroituvat työyhteisöön. Lähes kaikilla tutkimukseen osallistuneilla oli pitkä työura ensimmäisen työnantajansa palveluksessa, ja he olivat edenneet työuralla hyvin. Väitöskirjan tulosten toivotaan rohkaisevan vammaisia nuoria hakeutumaan korkeakouluopintoihin ja työelämään aikaisempaa aktiivisemmin sekä heidän opettajiaan ja työnantajiaan kiinnittämään enemmän huomiota osaamiseen ja kelpoisuuteen kuin vammaisuuteen. Perheen ja yksittäisten opettajien kannustus nähtiin tutkimuksessa myös korkeakouluopintojen aloittamisen kannalta merkittäväksi tekijäksi. Tutkimuksen yhteydessä havaittiin myös, että työllistymisen kannalta tärkeitä tekijöitä ovat opiskelujen aikana luodut verkostot ja osaaminen. Tämä tutkimus haastaa myös yrityksissä rekrytoinneista vastaavia henkilöitä arvioimaan omia arvojaan ja asenteitaan erilaisia ihmisiä kohtaan.

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'analyser pourquoi et comment les institutions qui composent le secteur de l'industrie électronique ont structurellement intégré une politique de responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE). Ensuite, d'examiner le rôle et les effets de cette évolution sur la mondialisation par le biais des chaînes d'approvisionnement internationales du secteur. Dans une première étape, via la théorie culturelle, et dans le contexte de la société du risque et de la modernité récente, la RSE se révèle une réponse institutionnelle défensive face aux risques de réputation et aux atteintes probables à la légitimité. Ensuite, la théorie culturelle nous permet d'analyser la RSE dans le secteur choisi en tant que processus socio-dynamique exerçant une pression sur les entreprises pour élargir leur culture organisationnelle tout en les orientant plus vers des valeurs égalitaires. Plusieurs effets sectoriels de ce processus sont analysés : le rôle de l'activité RSE dans les pratiques concurrentielles à travers l'isomorphisme, la façon dont les systèmes de classement éthique améliorent l'homogénéité de l'activité RSE, et l'impact de la réactivité des consommateurs en matière de RSE. Après avoir exploré l'intégration de la RSE dans une organisation, puis ses effets sur l'environnement sectoriel, on se focalise sur l'impact que la RSE peut avoir sur la mondialisation et le développement. Ainsi, le troisième volet de cette étude s’intéresse à l'impact que la RSE peut avoir en pénétrant les chaînes d'approvisionnement les plus intensément liées aux abus éthiques. Cela invite à réévaluer les processus de mondialisation, et leurs effets sur le développement. Grâce aux travaux d'Amartya Sen, Jean Tirole et d'autres, l'impact de la RSE sur les chaînes d'approvisionnement en électronique est évalué de manière critique en montrant comment une intervention structurelle dans les sociétés en développement pourrait être envisagée. Le travail de terrain pour cette enquête empirique a consisté en des visites d'usines en Chine et des entretiens avec la direction et les employés ; aussi, en des entretiens avec des cadres de multinationales, des contrôleurs et consultants en RSE et des militants d'associations syndicales internationales. Ce travail est complété par la participation à plusieurs réunions des parties prenantes du secteur et par l'analyse de documents produits par ces parties ; aussi, par de rapports, et des diverses formes de couverture médiatique, y compris de documentaires. / The aim of this research is to analyze how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy has become structurally integrated in the institutions which comprise the electronics manufacturing sector, and to examine its role and effects upon globalization through its international supply chains. Firstly, through the analytical tools of cultural theory and against the background of risk society in late modernity, CSR is investigated and revealed as a defensive institutional response to reputational risk and legitimacy. Secondly, cultural theory allows us to analyze CSR in the sector as a socio-dynamic process resulting in the pressure on companies to broaden their organizational culture by increasing their affinity for egalitarian values. Several sectorial effects of this are analyzed: the role that CSR activity has in competitive practices through isomorphism, how ethical ranking systems enhance the homogeneity of CSR activity, and the impact of consumers’ CSR responsiveness. After considering the integration of CSR in a corporate institution, then its effects upon the sectorial environment, I consider the impact that CSR can have on globalization and development. Thus, the third dimension of this work is CSR’s initiation of impact along supply chains where most unethical abuses occur. This invites a re-evaluation of the processes of globalization and their effects upon development. Through the work of Amartya Sen, Jean Tirole and others, the impact of CSR in electronics supply chains is critically evaluated indicating how structural intervention in developing societies could be envisaged. The fieldwork for this empirical investigation consisted of visits to industrial plants in China and interviews with management and workers; interviews with executives of multinational corporations, CSR auditors and consultants, and activists of international trade union associations; participation in several sector-wide stakeholder meetings; and the analyses of industry documents, reports, diverse forms of media coverage, and documentaries.

Building a thriving information economy is a goal for many developing countries. This research helps identify the factors (inhibitors and motivators) that can be used to leverage the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in a developing country to build a sustainable information economy that benefits other sectors of the economy. This is done by studying the current literature on this topic and then synthesizing the theoretical models to create a unified decision framework to help developing countries set their path to building a sustainable information economy. Drawing on past literature and extant theory, a novel ICT4D decision framework is built that provides a three-dimensional view based on 1) the ICT value chain, 2) key factors (e.g. infrastructure, policies, markets), and 3) stakeholders (e.g. industry, government, academia). This decision framework is then used to study the case of Palestine, where secondary and primary data are used to compare the critical success factors for Palestine with the general framework. This synthesized framework and critical success factors superset is expected to advance the field’s understanding of how both controllable and non-controllable country characteristics contribute to or inhibit the growth and development of an ICT sector in developing countries. In addition, the framework and identified success factors help in setting a future path for development. Results from both secondary data sources demonstrate the usability of the framework to analyze the current setting of the ICT sector, in addition, to help investigate a range of possible opportunities for action to reach a higher level of ICT success. Then, via a targeted set of interviews with academic, industrial, and governmental sources who are experts in the Palestinian ICT arena, an exploratory study was performed that focused on key critical success factors for future development of the ICT economy. Controllable factors that have the potential for sustainable action were identified. In the case of Palestine, it appears that despite having many challenges that are out of control, there seem to be many opportunities for change specifically in government and educational policies that can help the ICT sector in specific, and the Palestinian economy in general reach its real potential. Given the current political situation in Palestine, it was found that there is a great potential in creating new software products for export. The challenges in this particular area in the case of Palestine lies in the lack of adequate business skills to research the global market and to market products and services that can be offered by the Palestinian ICT sector. The findings should also help stakeholders see if the challenges to developing an ICT sector in Palestine are the same as those for any developing country, and where they are truly unique. The outcomes of this research have the potential to frame and inform economic development decisions that could define the future of the Palestinian state.