Carlos Rueda Armengot

Entrepreneurial success and human resources

Purpose - This paper aims to determine factors that have an influence on human resource management and entrepreneurial success in the context of European innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach - A primary test questionnaire was tested with 50 Spanish entrepreneurs. The feedback from this study was used to improve the survey for a final test. Multivariate regression analysis was used to differentiate the factors that allow the explanation of the variables to be studied and factors that, a priori, seem to be the most relevant in explaining entrepreneurial success. Findings - The study allows the determination of what factors make the European entrepreneur successful on his or her business. Research limitations/implications - Limitations are the sample used in the study and the magnitude used to analyse entrepreneurial success. Future research on the topic of the paper can develop and qualify the variables used. Originality/value - European innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are analysed from countries belonging to the European Union to determine the factors that have an influence on human resource management and entrepreneurial success. The results of the paper serve as a tool to develop a model to predict relevant factors of entrepreneurial activity and which have implications for development policy makers and for entrepreneurs.

The immigrant entrepreneur in the international change: a managerial analysis according to demographic profile

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ethnic profile of the entrepreneur in relation to business activity, the reasons for creating the firm and the creation process. The aim is to analyze whether or not belonging to a particular ethnic group has an influence on the said processes, regardless of place of birth or nationality.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 326 questionnaires were analyzed in order to carry out an exploratory study on different ethnic communities in the region of Valencia (Spain) by identifying the most influential factors for each of the dimensions studied.Findings – The empirical results obtained show the relevance of ethnic origin. The variables that correspond to business activity, motives for new firm creation and the process involved undergo extremely significant alterations, depending on the origin of the entrepreneur.Research limitations/implications – The paper focuses on a particular geographical area and thus the limitations of the sample, as well as the...

How much does innovation matter for economic growth

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to gain new insight on the determinants of economic growth. More precisely, it disentangles the contribution of an increase in the stock of ideas that exceeds the rate of growth in the steady state and the growth inherent to the steady state. Design/methodology/approach – Following Romer (1990) and Jones (2000, 2002) this paper uses an aggregate production function. The paper also models the evolution of the stock of ideas following the generalisation of Jones (1995). The analysis decomposes growth utilising the estimated parameters inherent to the ideas function. Findings – This article presents a growth accounting exercise that estimates total factor productivity for three Southern European economies. Systematic comparison of the countries illustrates the importance of innovation for economic growth. This exercise shows the main growth patterns over the last 50 years, and highlights the principal determinants by specifying an ideas function. Originality/value – This st...

Educating for Entrepreneurship: Application to the Business Services Marketing Subject

In the current economy context of Spain, where the crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the Spanish economic and production model (reduced weight of industry, excessive dependence on the construction sector, poorly competitive SMEs, high unemployment rate, and high private debt), a change in the model is becoming increasingly necessary. One possible model is entrepreneurship. A new generation of entrepreneurs is needed who are able to create and develop new businesses to solve all these problems, plus companies with well-trained human capital to operate in sectors with high added value, and to properly use new technologies to innovate and develop sustainable competitive advantages. Spain lacks an entrepreneurial culture, and neither training nor funding helps change this notion. In recent years, the high unemployment rate has served to promote entrepreneurship, especially when businesses do not require major initial investment. Notwithstanding, the fact that an entrepreneurial mindset in Spanish is missing is closely linked to the Spanish society’s negative perception of entrepreneurs. The authors of this paper have attempted to change this behavior in their students by using several tools in the Business Services Marketing subject to encourage entrepreneurship.

Relación entre la transferencia de conocimiento y la innovación: resultados de un estudio empírico en industrias intensivas en conocimiento

El artículo analiza el efecto que tienen diversas variables antecedentes como son la visión holística de la organización, la gestión por competencias, el aprendizaje continuo y la infraestructura técnica de las tecnologías de la información en la transferencia de conocimiento y como ello repercute sobre el desempeño innovador. A través de una encuesta realizada a 222 empresas pertenecientes a las industrias de biotecnología y telecomunicaciones se comprueban todas las hipótesis planteadas, destacando el papel mediador que ejerce la transferencia de conocimiento. La metodología utilizada es la de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales, y los resultados tienen aplicación práctica para los directivos de las empresas analizadas ya que para transferir conocimiento es necesario incidir en la creación de una visión holística en la organización, la gestión por competencias, el fomento del aprendizaje continuo y la mejora de la infraestructura técnica de las tecnologías de la información. Además se ha demostrado que aquellas empresas que diseminan adecuadamente su conocimiento obtienen mejores resultados en innovación.