Gianluca Zanella

Online self-disclosure

Technological innovations are increasingly helping people expand their social capital through online networks by offering new opportunities for sharing personal information. Online social networks are perceived to provide individuals new benefits and have led to a surge of personal data uploaded, stored, and shared. While privacy concerns are a major issue for many users of social networking sites, studies have shown that their information disclosing behavior does not align with their concerns. This gap between behavior and concern is called the privacy paradox. Several theories have been explored to explain this, but with inconsistent and incomplete results. This study investigates the paradox using a construal level theory lens. We show how a privacy breach, not yet experienced and psychologically distant, has less weight in everyday choices than more concrete and psychologically-near social networking activities and discuss the implications for research and practice. An explanation of the information privacy paradox using Construal Level Theory.Intentions mediate the relationship between privacy concerns and self-disclosure behavior.Social Rewards predict online behavior through near-future intentions.Privacy Concerns relate to distant-future intentions, but do not directly affect the online behavior.Privacy concerns indirectly affect online behavior through near-future intentions.

Measuring entrepreneurial intent? Temporal construal theory shows it depends on your timing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of temporal construal theory on entrepreneurial intention models using a three-country study. Inclusion of temporal construal theory in intent models would suggest path dependent influence on intent, and more specifically, that intent may be subdivided into temporally based categories, broadly codified as short-term and long-term intent. Design/methodology/approach – A quasi-experimental study of 1,046 university students in business and engineering from the USA, Mexico, and Spain was conducted. A temporal construal model of intent is proposed, including measures of short-term and long-term intent. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), part of the perceived behavioral control in the theory of planned behavior, is utilized to structure the model antecedents. Findings – The results suggest the existence of differences in individual entrepreneurial intent measures depending on the individual’s perception of when the entrepreneurial event is a...

Informal Entrepreneurship and Past Experience in an Emerging Economy

Informal economies account for up to 70 per cent of GDP in developing countries, but few studies have explored informal entrepreneurship. To fill this gap, an exploratory study involving 855 university students in an emerging economy applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to study the cognitive process of informal entrepreneurship. The effect of past experience (PE) and necessity entrepreneurship on the intention to start a business is also explored. Our findings provide evidence that the decision to start a business in the informal economy reinforces the effect of subjective norms on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). Implications for education programmes and for theory are discussed.

Technological Opportunity Detection and SMEs: A Mix of Individual and Organizational Factors

Technological entrepreneurship is associated with innovation, economic development, and great return on investments for stakeholders. However, creation and development of new patents and technologies do not automatically ensure value creation. The key challenge is to discover and exploit the opportunity of new products or services through the entrepreneurial process. The focus of this research is to explore the effect of entrepreneurial alertness on the corporate environment to provide knowledge about the mechanism of opportunity detection. A mix of individual traits and organizational factors is explored surveying CEOs and Executive Managers of 276 SMEs. The findings provide evidence of a two-level process through the corporate environment.

Culture and social capital network effects on the survival and performance of high-tech micro and small firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated theory to explain the effect of regional culture on high-technology micro and small (HTMS) firm outcomes. The integrated culture-social capital outcomes (CSCO) model examines the impact of culture on performance and evolution of HTMS firms through the mediating effect of intra-firm and inter-firm social capital. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical insights from social capital and culture are combined with the results of previous empirical observations to explain cross-cultural differences in the performance of HTMS firms. The authors then propose the CSCO model as a means to integrate and advance theory building. Findings The CSCO model explains the impact of culture on performance and evolution of HTMS firms through intra-firm and inter-firm social capital networks. Cultural context affects the performance of high-tech micro and small firms through the nature and structure of the networks involved in building and exploiting inter-firm and intra-firm social capital. Moreover, regional culture indirectly influences the balance between positive and negative effects of social capital on firm performance. These observations explain inconsistent findings from past empirical research and contribute to understanding the “embeddedness paradox” of social capital. Research limitations/implications The present model is not comprehensive. It does not account for many contextual factors identified in organizational network and cluster literature that contribute to the development of HTMS firms. Future research should consider the relationships between the three dimensions of social capital and seek to test the model with rigorous data collection and analysis. Originality/value While past studies focus on the direct relationship between regional culture and firm performance, this paper proposes the mediating effect of internal and external social capital between cultural context and firm performance. This proposal contributes to social capital and entrepreneurship literature and provides a potential explanation for inconsistent findings in past empirical research.