M13 - New Firms; StartupsReturn

The focus of the paper and the main objective of the research is to scrutinize the adaptability of an inclusion model tailored for conventional workspaces to the context of startups employing remote freelance teams across different locations, probing whether this model holds relevance in more flexible work arrangements. The paper is based on a qualitative analysis of empirical material collected in a case study. The case study was conducted in a virtual marketing startup registered in Ireland composed of 14 employees, including 12 freelancers and 2 full-time employees working remotely from the UK, Ireland, France, Croatia, Romania, Belgium and Ukraine. We found that the degree of organizational inclusion is determined by employee empowerment orientation. The study shows the positive effect of inclusion practices and processes on perceived inclusion, talent retention and inclusive climate as well as organizational and individual performance. The paper contributes to the ongoing scientific debate by presenting how an inclusive workplace might be achieved in a geographically distributed, virtual startup organization. Furthermore, as Central European startups aim to expand globally, our insights into inclusion in geographically dispersed teams can be especially relevant. It provides guidance on how to maintain an inclusive culture when working with remote teams across different countries.
Implications for Central European audience: In the Central European business landscape, especially in geographically dispersed startups, adapting inclusion models to virtual settings is essential. Given the region's diverse cultures and historical contexts, understanding communication dynamics and fostering authenticity and psychological safety are crucial. Prioritizing these aspects aligns with Central European values of collaboration and innovation, enhancing employee well-being and positioning businesses for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.

Socio-economic transition in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region in recent decades forms the operating context for young entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study has the aim of analysing institutional and cognitive features of CEE ecosystem development by considering Budapest as a prime example of an urban entrepreneurial ecosystem. Alongside the analysis of event registration data, a qualitative research approach is deployed featuring semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs and other institutional actors attending a networking event in Budapest. The methodological foundation for this approach is adapted from Triple Helix ecosystem theory. A conceptual model is produced from the research process, and ecosystem theory is developed by accounting for dynamic human capital flows and social capital ties do not present in the original Triple Helix theory. Results primarily indicate moderate levels of asset values and that attendance by entrepreneurs is largely motivated by locating start-up funding. Prime outcomes of interviews are a lack of innovation-focused specific human capital and increasingly market-based means of social capital development. Furthermore, the findings presented as propositions assume a partial virtual nature for human capital flows and social capital ties between ecosystem actors. On this basis, the resulting conceptual model accounts for the presence of digitalisation. Thus, ongoing entrepreneurial ecosystem development entails continual institutional adaption to information technology-driven socio-economic conditions. The Budapest ecosystem would, however, need to acquire a stronger virtual aspect in order to realise greater growth potential.
Implications for Central European audience: While research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has gained strength, it has barely been applied to the CEE region. This study represents a formative attempt in this regard whereby the resulting conceptual model may be used to empirically evaluate entrepreneurial ecosystems within the region by comparing specific internal and external human and social capital movements. The model primarily implies that digitally derived human and social capital would require deeper integration between start-up firms and institutional actors. Crucially, there is also an implicit need for institutions to develop digitalised infrastructure more intensively in order to nurture innovative start-up activity in the CEE region.

Empirical studies exploring particular mechanisms that the country’s institutional profile, such as regulatory and normative dimensions are internalised into scientists’ cognitive process of commercialising their research results, are rather sparse. This study aims to develop a conceptual framework in which integrated the lens of institutional theory and theory of planned behaviour to empirically test and discover the effects of regulatory and normative supports on scientists’ intention to commercialise an invention. A survey was conducted at institutions and universities using stratified random sampling from 255 scientists during the period of 2 months from May to July 2020. Structural equation modelling was employed to estimate the paths and correlations. Results revealed that although regulatory support was not found to have a direct role in shaping intention to commercialise the invention, it had more influences and significances in the increase of attitude towards entrepreneurship, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control. Also, attitude towards entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural control were found to be full mediators in the linkage between regulatory support and intention to commercialise the invention, but subjective norms were not. Besides, normative support, although it was not related to subjective norms, it had direct influences on attitude toward invention commercialisation, perceived behaviour control, and intention to commercialise the invention. Thus, attitude toward invention commercialisation, perceived behaviour control was figured out to play a partially mediating role in the relationship between normative support and intention to commercialise invention among scientists. This research shows that new institutions that address younger generations and concentrate on enhancing entrepreneurial qualities are crucial to foster commercialisation in emerging economies. Also, by representing outstanding issues, our research encourages further debate and research activities.
Implications for Central European audience: Even though the research results are related to academic entrepreneurship in Vietnam, the findings of this study can advocate that to promote academic entrepreneurship in emerging economies, enhancing both regulatory and normative supports are really necessary. In addition to theoretical contributions, this study also has several practical implications for researchers and policymakers in Central Europe.

The factors determining the success of crowdfunding projects is one of the central issues for crowdfunding researchers. Quantitative approaches recognise the number of funds targeted as an important control variable. However, little is known about the impact of the funding goal on other factors that impact crowdfunding success. We hypothesise that the effect of crowdfunding success factors varies contingent on the funding goal level. A dataset of 338 crowdfunding projects from the largest German crowdfunding platform StartNext in the years 2015 to 2016 is analysed by conducting regression analyses controlling for varying funding goal sizes. We use the dependent variables success, the degree of success and the number of project supporters and control whether the effect of independent variables such as comments, updates and social media depend on different funding goals. Our study indicates that the impact of the investigated success factors, in fact, strongly depends on the funding goal levels of crowdfunding projects. By grouping projects into clusters of varying funding goals, we find that the impact of individual success factors changes and that the funding goal plays a moderating role for factors impacting project success.
Implications for Central European audience: Many crowdfunding studies focus on the most popular US-based platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. We examined projects on the largest German reward-based crowdfunding platform StartNext. These results help both researchers and future entrepreneurs in Europe to better understand supporter behaviour. We suggest that future entrepreneurs should be aware that factors influencing the success of a crowdfunding project strongly depend on the set funding goal, which should be adequately considered in future crowdfunding research.

This paper investigates whether the activities of start-ups specialising in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions could contribute to upgrading in dependent market economies. Mapping the ecosystem of Hungarian AI-solution providers, collecting, and analysing data of their solutions, activities, and performance, we identify the main mechanisms of AI-driven upgrading. We argue that AI-solution providers induce productivity and resource efficiency improvement at technology adopters by enabling process upgrading. By selling their services to the local subsidiaries of global companies, they intensify the local backward linkages of these companies. Increased local embeddedness of subsidiaries is an important manifestation of economic upgrading. Additionally, AI-solution providers diversify the drivers of growth. In dependent market economies, where export-oriented manufacturing activities controlled by efficiency-seeking foreign investors used to be the main (unique) growth engine, the activities of domestic-owned AI solution providers represent a new driver of growth: technology-oriented entrepreneurship. We found, however, that the economic impact of Hungarian AI-oriented ventures is limited, no matter how innovative their solutions are. Managerial implications include the indispensability of devising an adequate business development strategy and a value capture strategy. Without adequate entrepreneurial skills, and without being visible on the global stage of ‘AI-start-ups to watch’, the development prospects of even the most innovative ventures are limited. A key policy implication for supporting the scaling up of AI start-ups by promoting the adoption of AI-powered solutions and stimulating venture capital financing promises good return on public investments.

Regional authorities implement national priorities in business policy according to the current local requirements in their regional development strategy. Unfortunately, their effort to support entrepreneurial spirit and innovations is not as effective as it could be; its tools and institutions are not as well used as they intended. The question arises: where does the problem lie, is it in the means of communication or in the entrepreneurial requirements at the regional level? The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate some of the missing points or the weaknesses of institutional communication. These conclusions are based on a regional study in the Moravian-Silesian Region, Czechia. The paper is based on a quantitative study using a questionnaire-based survey, including 164 respondents – owners of small and medium-sized companies in the Moravian-Silesian Region. It was found that the most important tools for local entrepreneurs were subsidies for job creation and consultancy. A matrix of problems to be solved on the regional level was presented to open wider discussion.

The goal of this paper is to compare the characteristics of Polish and Czech companies which follow the Born Global internationalization model. More concretely, the analysis aims to discover the differences or similarities in terms of the internationalization paths of Polish and Czech SMEs in the characteristics of their managers in terms of the so-called "international vision" and in their innovativeness level. The introductory part of article provides a description of this internationalization model and the International New Ventures traits (INV) and summarizes the recent studies on this topic conducted in Poland and Czech Republic. In the empirical part, the International New Ventures from the two countries are compared. The Polish sample includes 105 companies which were surveyed with use of computer assisted telephone interviews in autumn 2014. For the Czech Republic, the sample consists of 54 small and medium-sized companies, which were surveyed using the computer assisted web interviews from November 2013 till January 2014. The surveyed companies in both countries fulfilled the definition of Born Globals. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation analysis and non-parametric tests are applied to accomplish the goals of the paper.