Purpose The modern university is increasingly mandated to move beyond its traditional missions and act as a core engine for regional development. This has given rise to the concepts of the “entrepreneurial” and “socially engaged” university. However, existing metrics often focus narrowly on quantitative outputs, failing to capture the underlying institutional culture. This paper addresses this gap by developing and validating a novel instrument to measure the entrepreneurial and engaged university through faculty perceptions. Design/methodology/approach Based on a review of the literature, a perception-based scale was developed. The instrument was then validated using a sample of 186 university professors from various Brazilian higher education institutions. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Findings The analysis validates a seven-dimension model for assessing the entrepreneurial-engaged university. The results indicate that faculty members perceive the entrepreneurial and engagement dimensions of the third mission as a unified construct. Notably, the outreach dimension was consolidated: three constructs initially hypothesized as distinct could not be maintained as separate dimensions because inter-construct correlations of 0.887 and 0.900 exceeded the square roots of their respective average variances extracted. This finding suggests that faculty members do not cognitively distinguish among these aspects of the university's societal engagement. A second-order construct analysis further demonstrates that the seven validated dimensions are viewed by faculty as manifestations of a single, integrated higher-order construct, with all path coefficients positive and statistically significant. This perceptual integration aligns with theoretical arguments regarding the convergence of entrepreneurial and engaged university models and this study contributes a faculty-level analytical perspective to this discourse. Practical implications The validated scale provides university administrators with a diagnostic tool to assess their institution's internal capabilities, identify cultural and procedural bottlenecks and strategically guide investments to foster a more productive entrepreneurial environment. The second-order composite score additionally allows a single summary indicator of the institution's overall entrepreneurial-engaged orientation, complementing the seven-dimension profile. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence that faculty perceive entrepreneurial and engaged orientations as a single integrated profile, and it delivers the first validated, perception-based scale designed to measure that profile.
Purpose Preservation of family business traditions has emerged as an important research trend over the past 2 decades. Balancing business interests and traditions or disproportionately choosing either of them is not always easy for family business leaders. The purpose of this study is to explore how artisan business leaders, as extreme cases, navigating rising competition while preserving artisan traditions. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a qualitative approach to explore a social phenomenon of preserving artisan traditions in family business. Specifically, it conducted a qualitative analysis of cases from a traditional artisan pottery community in Northern Vietnam. Findings The findings revealed that (1) a conservative view is necessary for the preservation of traditional craftsmanship. However, this approach still allows for incremental additions that complement rather than replace existing artisanal traditions; (2) a low-growth equilibrium business model becomes an unavoidable outcome; (3) an emerging network of multiple stakeholders associated with the personal brand has been nurtured. The proposed framework provides a holistic approach to better understand the preservation of artisan legacies in family business as a process. Originality/value On the one hand, this study finds that traditional artisanship perpetuators in family business are not passively conservative. In contrast, they are highly aware of their mission to preserve artisan legacies. On the other hand, the proposed framework presents a process-based approach to understanding how artisan legacies are maintained in family businesses in the artisanship industry.
Purpose Drawing on configuration theory, this study examines how different combinations of business model (BM) design themes shape the financial performance of entrepreneurial firms that simultaneously adopt multiple business models. We thus depart from typical BM research that investigates design themes in isolation to focus on how configurations of design themes differentially influence the performance of firms that operate BM portfolios. Design/methodology/approach We employ fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to test whether specific configurations of BM design themes relate to high financial performance. fsQCA aligns well with the main objectives of this study because it captures equifinality and causal complexity, allowing for the empirical examination of multiple configurations that can lead to high performance. The final sample consists of 107 UK software firms characterized by rapid innovation adoption and frequent use of BM portfolios. Findings The results indicate three distinct configurations that relate to high financial performance: (1) novelty combined with the absence of customer lock-in and product/service complementarities; (2) novelty combined with efficiency and the absence of product/service complementarities; and (3) novelty combined with customer lock-in and product/service complementarities in the absence of efficiency. Across all these configurations, novelty clearly emerges as a core BM theme. Notably, we do not find a configuration in which all four BM design themes are present, suggesting that high performance relates with specific combinations rather than the cumulative presence of all themes. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to BM literature by providing new theoretical arguments and evidence on how firms with BM portfolios can realize performance benefits. We therefore extend pertinent BM theory to the portfolio level and shift scholarly attention from optimizing individual BMs to understanding how design themes are configured across multiple BMs within the same firm. Practical implications Our findings show how software firms can combine different design themes in their BM portfolio to achieve high performance. The results suggest that performance benefits relate to specific combinations of novelty, efficiency, customer lock-in, and product/service complementarities. Although our findings are specific to the context of UK software companies, they provide managers with a practical guide on how to design their BM portfolios when pursuing high financial performance. Originality/value Despite the growing attention to the design of business models, our understanding of BM portfolios in entrepreneurial firms remains limited. This study advances this stream of literature by theorizing and empirically examining configurations of BM design themes (novelty, efficiency, customer lock-in and product/service complementarities) at the portfolio level. Based on configuration theory, it moves beyond analyzing individual design themes in isolation and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how combinations of BM design themes are associated with high performance.
Purpose This study examines the patterns of scholarly communication on social media, specifically Twitter (now “X”), among researchers in innovation management and entrepreneurship. The research aims to identify how these communities interact and share knowledge, revealing their similarities and distinctions. It employs social network analysis to uncover novel communication trends within these scholarly fields beyond previous bibliometric evidence. Design/methodology/approach Social network analysis is employed using Twitter data from 2007 to 2023 for 519 highly-cited innovation and entrepreneurship scholars. Louvain and Infomap clustering algorithms are applied to create communication graphs, which are then analyzed to reveal scholars’ interaction patterns. This research takes a comprehensive approach by considering multiple types of interactions (follows, retweets, mentions) to provide a thorough view of the social network. Findings Clustering uncovers six communities of scholars, revealing a well-defined structure in scholarly communications. Although interconnected, a clear distinction can be shown between the communities of innovation management and entrepreneurship on Twitter. Furthermore, 8% of scholars act as bridges between innovation and entrepreneurship, indicating significant interdisciplinary interaction. Originality/value This study contributes to the understanding of how scholars in the fields of innovation management and entrepreneurship communicate and collaborate via social media. By utilizing Twitter-based social network analysis, the research provides a novel perspective on the dynamics of scholarly communication beyond traditional publishing channels. These insights offer practical implications for academic collaboration by identifying bridging scholars and for field development monitoring by revealing how innovation management and entrepreneurship consolidate, fragment and evolve.
Purpose The underlying mechanisms through which entrepreneurial intention is actualized remain inconclusive. This study examines the effects of grit and perceived opportunity recognition in the relationship between self-realization, the fear of failure and entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach A survey research approach was adopted, and data were collected using an online Google Form questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to the students' school emails, and 288 responses were valid for the study. SmartPLS and STATA statistical software were applied in the analysis. Findings The findings from the study indicate that self-realization directly and indirectly affects entrepreneurial intention through grit and perceived opportunity recognition. While the fear of failure shows a direct negative effect on entrepreneurial intention, a positive and significant relationship exists between the fear of failure and perceived opportunity recognition, advancing the debate on the dual nature of the fear of failure. Additionally, the relationship between fear of failure and entrepreneurial intention was mediated by perceived opportunity recognition. Research limitations/implications One of the limitations in this study is the treatment of grit as a stable or unchanging construct. Research has shown that grit could be developed over time with knowledge and experience. Future research can consider the effects of grit at different stages of development to advance the debate on the stability of grit. Originality/value This study extends the knowledge on cognitive and non-cognitive traits in entrepreneurship by examining the mediating role of grit and perceived opportunity recognition in the relationship between self-realization, the fear of failure and entrepreneurial intention. A model that is underexplored in academic literature.
