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Fellnhofer, Katharina

Relying on Bandura's (1986) social learning theory, Ajzen's (1988) theory of planned behaviour (TPB), and Dyer's (1994) model of entrepreneurial careers, this study aims to highlight the potential of entrepreneurial role models to entrepreneurship education. The results suggest that entrepreneurial courses would greatly benefit from real-life experiences, either positive or negative. The results of regression analysis based on 426 individuals, primarily from Austria, Finland, and Greece, show that role models increase learners' entrepreneurial perceived behaviour control (PBC) by increasing their self-efficacy. This study can inform the research and business communities and governments about the importance of integrating entrepreneurs into education to stimulate entrepreneurial PBC. This study is the first of its kind using its approach, and its results warrant more in-depth studies of storytelling by entrepreneurial role models in the context of multimedia entrepreneurship education.

The engagement of a wide range of stakeholders has become a key element in regional planning, particularly in the development of regional research and innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3) in Europe. The quadruple helix model from the literature on regional innovation systems has been raised on the forefront of RIS3. This comes in spite of the fact that the literature surrounding the quadruple helix model (i.e., the collaboration among the university, industry, government, and civil society) is still in its infancy compared to the well-established triple helix model. Our paper addresses this gap and explores how regional authorities can facilitate the participation of the fourth helix (civil society) and ensure democracy of the participatory policy process. We adopted a grounded theory approach and collected primary data through interviews with regional authorities in Finland. Based on 28 interviews from all 18 Finnish mainland regions, we identified three mechanisms for facilitating the participation of civil society: information exchange, feedback, and co-creation. For policy-makers, our paper provides recommendations on how to overcome impediments in the engagement of civil society in regional planning.

This multi-country study used role models to boost perceptions of entrepreneurial feasibility and desirability. The results of a structural equation model based on a sample comprising 426 individuals who were primarily from Austria, Finland and Greece revealed a significant positive influence on perceived entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility. These findings support the argument for embedding entrepreneurial role models in entrepreneurship education courses to promote entrepreneurial activities. This direction is not only relevant for the academic community but also essential for nascent entrepreneurs, policymakers and society at large.

This study of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) centers on the impact of entrepreneurial role models on entrepreneurial passion, which also is expected to influence entrepreneurial intention. Based on 426 individuals recruited primarily from Austria, Finland, and Greece, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) reveals the significant direct and indirect effects of entrepreneurial role models on entrepreneurial intention, mediated by entrepreneurial passion. These effects were found to be stronger following multimedia presentation of entrepreneurial stories, confirming the fruitful spillover effects of the innovative educational use of computers on entrepreneurial intentions among nascent entrepreneurs. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social learning theory, this study confirms both the positive impact of entrepreneurial role models and significant short-term effects of web-based multimedia in the context of EE. This narrative approach is shown to be an effective pedagogical instrument in enhancing individual orientation toward entrepreneurship to facilitate entrepreneurial intention. This study identifies the great potential of these pioneering methods and tools, both for further research in the academic community and for entrepreneurship educators who hope to promote entrepreneurial intention in aspiring entrepreneurs. The findings are also relevant for policy makers designing effective instruments to achieve long-term goals.

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the applied research methods that have been used to examine smart specialisation. For this review, papers from various sources were collected and reviewed multiple times. The findings show that only a few papers applied mixed research methods. Primarily, there are more qualitative than quantitative methods used among papers concerning smart specialisation. More efforts to use mixed methods in smart specialisation could yield findings that are applicable to knowledge-based policymaking. To further illuminate the research discipline of smart specialisation, applying advanced, quantitative research techniques would enrich future efforts of all quadruple helix stakeholders engaged in smart specialisation.

The level of uncertainty and pace of change in business environments is posing challenges for firms. The developed economies have transformed from the industrial era to the knowledge and service era, while emerging economies thrive with industrial growth. This poses the question of what the key drivers of corporate success are and how far they are different from the old earnings logic. We will focus on one special value-creating resource or capability, namely strategic planning. We empirically examine the performance consequences of strategic planning to determine in what contexts it pays off particularly well. We use data from a large-scale survey of about 2,500 organisations from developed and emerging countries. The survey responses represent a variety of industries from manufacturing to services. The analysis is based on general linear models, and the findings show significant performance differences across countries, industries, and firm size - with strategic planning explaining performance much better than any contextual characteristics.

This paper aims to examine the attitudes towards entrepreneurship education (EE) of entrepreneurs, investors, policy-makers, service providers and educators within Europe. This research builds on secondary data of the global entrepreneurship monitor. In particular, the study compares how individuals with different entrepreneurial expertise are aware of entrepreneurial education influences learners' perceptions of, entrepreneurship as an attractive career option. A Kruskal-Wallis test and independent t-tests were conducted to evaluate differences among the attitudes of experts. The study suggests that EE can be influenced by moderators' background and profile as well as gender. Different experts show equal perceptions in most cases. However, more attention must be drawn to EE at the basic level of schooling. In addition, our findings call for more research to be done on teaching methods by different moderators to increase skills to react appropriately to entrepreneurial opportunities. In future research, significant differences between genders need to be considered.

Using entrepreneurial discovery theory, this study explains how digital applications can drive entrepreneurial alertness across heterogenous innovation ecosystems. A diverse set of stakeholders have been analyzed when performing entrepreneurial discovery tasks on a digital platform ecosystem. A quantitative survey-based experimentation phase with 686 individuals was conducted in two moderate-innovation ecosystems—Greece and Spain—and two defined as innovation leaders—Scotland and the Netherlands—on the European Innovation Scoreboard. Based on structural equation models, the findings show that digital applications, including discovery tasks, facilitate entrepreneurial alertness regardless of the innovation ecosystem in which the user operates. Additionally, Kruskal-Wallis tests reinforce that the relationship between perceived quality of digital applications for discovery tasks and perceived entrepreneurial alertness remains significantly positive despite heterogeneity across stakeholders and innovation ecosystem. Through its psychological foundations, this work reveals how digital technologies alert any kind of individual to potential entrepreneurial opportunities. It thus contributes to research on digital economies by evaluating digital technologies’ potential to boost psychological starting drivers of any entrepreneurial endeavor across innovation ecosystem. Although this study is of interest to a wide range of stakeholders, it is particularly relevant for potential entrepreneurs and policymakers as an inspiration for new ideas to strengthen sustainable innovation ecosystems.

This article analyses the impact of narratives on entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. To this end, a quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate web-based entrepreneurial narratives. The paired-sample tests and regression analysis use a sample of 466 people from Austria, Finland, and Greece and indicate that individuals’ perceptions of the desirability of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention are significantly different before and after exposure to entrepreneurial narratives. Furthermore, the findings indicate that perceptions of the feasibility of entrepreneurship are more strongly affected by videos than by cases. From a policy perspective, this study raises awareness that entrepreneurship is an attractive career path.