Antonia Mercedes García-Cabrera

Entrepreneurs’ Resources, Technology Strategy, and New Technology-Based Firms’ Performance

This study is based on the configuration approach and argues that the new technology‐based ventures performance depends on how well the entrepreneurs resources allow the chosen technology strategy to be executed, in other words, the fit between the resources and the strategy. The authors study this idea by using a sample of 175 Spanish new technology‐based ventures. The results indicate that the fit between the chosen technology strategy and the entrepreneurs resources explain the firms performance, when this is measured through foreign market performance. That fit is also related to the technology‐based firms financial results and generic and domestic performance.

Is the Institutional Environment a Challenge for the Well-Being of Female Managers in Europe? The Mediating Effect of Work–Life Balance and Role Clarity Practices in the Workplace

The advancement of women to top management positions positively affects firm competitiveness. However, this advancement may also negatively affect individuals as women find themselves forced to overwork to match their male counterparts in organisations, which can cause a decrease in their professional well-being. Although the literature highlights that human resource practices (HRPs) have a positive impact on well-being, it also warns that national institutions may condition the adoption of HRPs by organisations. If that is true, institutions may become either a challenge to—or trigger for—female managers’ well-being. Accordingly, this study analyses the effects of institutions and the mediating effects of HRPs on the influence that is exerted by institutions on well-being. The empirical analysis, which was carried out on a sample of 575 female managers located in 27 European countries, confirms the direct and indirect effects (through HRPs for work–life balance and role clarity) of institutions on female managers’ well-being at work.

Returning to Work after Childbirth in Europe: Well-Being, Work-Life Balance, and the Interplay of Supervisor Support

Parents returning to work after the arrival of a new son or daughter is an important question for understanding the trajectory of peoples lives and professional careers amid current debates about gender equality and work-life balance (WLB). Interestingly, current research concludes that general WLB practices at the workplace may be necessary in the specific case of women returning to work after childbirth because of the particular maternal and infant factors involved. However, WLB practices as a flexible arrangement may work against women because they may be viewed as a lack of organizational commitment. Therefore, research on this topic could benefit from considering supervisor support as a complement of such practices, but previous research has analyzed WLB and supervisor support separately and scarcely. To fill this gap in the literature, we use two sub-samples of 664 female employees and 749 male employees with children under the age of one from 27 European countries participating in the 6th European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS-2015) to study the impact of perceived WLB on European womens perceived well-being after childbirth, in contrast with previous literature. We also analyze the impact of perceived supervisor support (SS) and its interaction with perceived WLB on womens well-being after childbirth, and explore differences with men after childbirth, a collective underexplored by the literature. We find significant gender differences on the relative impact of WLB, SS, and their interaction on perceived job well-being. Our results have important implications for human resource practices in organizations. In particular, they suggest that gendered WLB practices should be encouraged, and stress the relevance of the human factor over human resource practices in addressing the difficulties that women returning to work face after childbirth.

loe Vera Fuerteventura: la expansión internacional como modelo de negocio / Aloe Vera Fuerteventura: international expansion as a business model

espanolLa empresa Aloe Vera Fuerteventura dedicada a la fabricacion de cosmeticos basados en el aloe, ofrece un ejemplo de interes para empresarios y potenciales emprendedores. En concreto, la gestion innovadora que el emprendedor realiza de los obstaculos que dificultan la explotacion de una idea de negocio internacional desde su origen (ej. falta de contactos con redes sociales y empresariales, escasez de recursos financieros para llevar a cabo la inversion, estar radicado en un territorio con escasa tradicion en internacionalizacion empresarial), ofrece un modelo de exito al que los emprendedores pueden recurrir en su busqueda de respuestas a sus propios retos.The venture “Aloe Vera Fuerteventura”, which manufactures cosmetics based on aloe, offers an example of interest for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. In particular, this venture’s founder managed the obstacles that hinder the exploitation of an international business idea from the starting up in an innovative way (e.g., lack of contacts with social and business networks, lack of financial resources, be located in a territory with little tradition in firms’ internationalization). So, this case offers a model that entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs can turn to in their quest for solutions to their own challenges when managing a new venture. EnglishThe venture “Aloe Vera Fuerteventura”, which manufactures cosmetics based on aloe, offers an example of interest for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. In particular, this venture’s founder managed the obstacles that hinder the exploitation of an international business idea from the starting up in an innovative way (e.g., lack of contacts with social and business networks, lack of financial resources to carry out the investment, be located in a territory with little tradition in firms’ internationalization). So, this case offers a model that entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs can turn to in their quest for solutions to their own challenges when managing a new venture.

Calidad del entorno e internacionalización de la PYME: un análisis regional en España / Quality of the environment and SME’s internationalisation: a regional analysis in Spain

espanol?Esta su empresa localizada en una region espanola con elevados niveles de comercio internacional? ?Que ventajas puede aportar a su empresa la comunidad autonoma escogida para operar en Espana? ?Es su entorno cualitativamente valioso para apoyarse en el mismo y afrontar la expansion internacional? Para responder a estos interrogantes en este trabajo se estudia la calidad del entorno en cada region espanola a traves de elementos que pueden condicionar la internacionalizacion de las empresas. En concreto, se estudian las leyes vigentes, los valores culturales de la poblacion y el conocimiento disponible en ambitos de relevancia para la internacionalizacion empresarial.Is your company located in a Spanish region with high levels of international trade? What advantages do the autonomous community chosen to operate in Spain offer to your company? Is your environment qualitatively valuable to support your firm in the face of the international expansion? To answer these questions this work studies the quality of the environment in each Spanish region through elements that can condition the firms’ internationalization. Specifically, the laws, the cultural values and the knowledge available in areas of relevance for business internationalization are studied. EnglishIs your company located in a Spanish region with high levels of international trade? What advantages do the autonomous community chosen to operate in Spain offer to your company? Is your environment qualitatively valuable to support your firm in the face of the international expansion? To answer these questions this work studies the quality of the environment in each Spanish region through elements that can condition the firms’ internationalization. Specifically, the laws, the cultural values and the knowledge available in areas of relevance for business internationalization are studied.

En la internacionalización hacia países en desarrollo: ¿qué cuestiones básicas han de tener presentes las empresas españolas? / In the internationalization towards developing countries: what basic issues must Spanish companies have in mind

This article answers the following question: what basic issues must Spanish companies have in mind when they internationalise towards developing economies? With that aim, the authors conducted a case study and interviewed consultants from Spain and Senegal with offices in one or both countries and with an extensive experience on facilitating SMEs’ internationalization to Africa and Senegal in particular. As a result, gaps and blind spots of the Spanish SMEs in the process of internationalisation toward developing countries are identified, as well as the main barriers that obstacle a successful internationalisation.

Institutions and human resource practices in European countries

Abstract Stemming from differences between approaches to new institutionalism, this paper analyses the impact of institutions on the adoption of human resource practices (HRP) in organizations. With this aim in mind, two opposing hypotheses are presented: should configurations of national institutions be related to the actual implementation of HRP by organizations or not? This empirical analysis uses a sample of 29,959 employees who work in organizations established in 27 European countries and takes into account the employees’ perception about the HRP used in their organizations and which affect them. The results support the approach to new institutionalism that emphasizes legitimacy and isomorphism, since these results show empirical regularities when countries are compared. Specifically, a country’s configurations of regulative, normative and cognitive institutions are related to the actual implementation of HRP, such as internal promotion, job participation, job design, work-life balance, job training, assessment and teamwork. These results suggest relevant practical implications for human resource managers and policy-makers.