Levent Altinay

Determinants of ethnic minority entrepreneurial growth in the catering sector

This paper seeks to evaluate the variables which influence the growth of the Turkish-speaking ethnic minority businesses in the catering sector, in London, UK. The paper reports and analyses the findings of 111 face-to-face structured interviews with Turkish Cypriot, Kurdish and Turkish restaurant business owners. Findings suggest that fluency in English, recruitment through formal recruitment channels, and the high proportion of co-ethnic labour force makes a positive impact on business growth. The paper concludes that these determinants of growth are crucial for the ethnic minority catering entrepreneurs to gain a competitive edge in this customer focused, labour intensive sector.

Social embeddedness, entrepreneurial orientation and firm growth in ethnic minority small businesses in the UK

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) of ethnic minority small businesses (EMSBs) and its antecedents and consequences are under-researched. Grounded in ethnic entrepreneurship theory and the social embeddedness approach, this article examines the relationships of EMSBs’ access to various networks, their EO and firm growth. Drawing on quantitative data collected through 258 face-to-face structured interviews with Chinese- and Turkish-owned EMSBs in London, UK our findings reveal that family and co-ethnic advice and labour do not have a significant impact on firms’ EO. Instead, both access to co-ethnic products and access to co-ethnic suppliers of utilities and facilities have a significant impact on firms’ EO, which in turn has a significant positive effect on employment growth. Moreover, Chinese-owned EMSBs demonstrate a higher level of EO and pursue different paths to growth (that is, they are more likely to grow through acquiring more business premises) compared with Turkish-owned EMSBs. The findings have important implications for the understanding of growth patterns of EMSBs, particularly the role of EO in the EMSBs’ break-out strategies and growth.

Political scenarios: the future of the North Cyprus tourism industry

The North Cyprus tourism industry has been sensitive to the political instability on the island, which has arisen from the political problems between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Economic integration with Turkey and federation with the Greek Cypriots are considered to be two alternative political solutions. This paper evaluates the possible impacts of these two political scenarios on the tourism industry of North Cyprus by using semi‐structured interviews with experts and senior managers. Findings suggest that although economic integration has already been implemented to an extent, it has not contributed to the development of the tourism industry of North Cyprus as hoped. A federal solution to the Cyprus problem is expected to have a more favourable impact on the tourism industry of North Cyprus. Thus, long‐term benefits of the North Cyprus tourism industry lie with a federal solution to the Cyprus problem.

Factors influencing business growth: the rise of Turkish entrepreneurship in the UK

Purpose – This paper seeks to evaluate the cultural variables which influence the growth of Turkish speaking ethnic minority businesses in London, UK.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports and analyses the findings of 227 face‐to‐face structured interviews with Turkish small business owners.Findings – This study illustrates that there is a relationship between fluency in English and business growth in all sectors. Education appears to be an important variable for the business growth of the firms in the catering and service sectors. Reliance on co‐ethnic market is a key contributor to growth of firms in the retailing sector.Research limitations/implications – Data collection was limited to London; and non‐Turkish small business owners were excluded. Therefore, care should be taken in making generalisations from the sample.Practical implications – This paper illuminates challenges ethnic minority small business owners may face in their determination to grow and highlights the options that they may ...

Exploring the relationship between the human resource management practices and growth in small service firms

This paper seeks to evaluate the relationship between the growth and the human resource management (HRM) practices of small service firms in catering to professional services and the retailing sectors in the UK. The paper reports and analyses the findings of 196 face-to-face structured interviews with small service business owners. Findings suggest that employee empowerment contributes to the sales growth of small firms in the different sectors of the service industry. The study also shows that employee training and recruitment through formal channels contribute to the sales growth of firms operating in the catering sector. This paper argues that contextual variables – the extent of the competition and the availability of the workforce – have a bearing on the HRM practices employed by small service businesses.

Implementing international franchising: the role of intrapreneurship

This paper fills a gap in the research undertaken into the role of intrapreneurs in the international franchise process of an organisation. The intrapreneurial role of organisational members in implementing franchising decisions in an international hotel group was investigated. Semi‐structured interviews, observations and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques. Findings suggest that human factors play an important role in the expansion process and, in a culturally diverse context, franchising is very much the concern of the development directors who provide the attributes of intrapreneurs externally in the market.

Franchise partner selection: perspectives of franchisors and franchisees

Purpose – This paper aims to identify the partner selection criteria employed both by franchisors and franchisees in master franchise agreements and evaluate how different selection criteria interact within the selection process and influence the decisions taken.Design/methodology/approach – A single embedded case study of an international hotel firm was the focus of the enquiry. Interviews and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques.Findings – The findings reveal that the establishment of franchise partnership involves a mutual and careful evaluation between franchisors and franchisees to assess whether their partnership criteria are compatible. The partner selection approach determines the extent of importance attached to different task‐ and partner‐related selection criteria. In addition, the study identifies the role that different selection criteria play at different stages of the process.Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on a single case study in the in...

The role of prior knowledge in international franchise partner recruitment

Purpose – To investigate the role of prior knowledge in the international franchise partner recruitment process and to evaluate how cultural distance influences the role of prior knowledge in this process.Design/methodology/approach – A single embedded case study of an international hotel firm was the focus of the enquiry. Interviews, observations and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques.Findings – Findings reveal that prior knowledge of the franchisor enables the franchisor to coordinate more efficiently with prospective partners. However, the case study firm experienced a great deal of cultural distance in different country markets. The greater the cultural distance, the more challenges the firm has to face in terms of upgrading and adapting its prior knowledge to local needs.Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on a hotel franchise chain, and may not be generalisable to other firms or industry sectors, although the literature on international management do...

Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in a tourism development context

This study investigates empirically an extended version of the Environmental Kuznets Curve model that controls for tourism development. We find that international tourist arrivals into Turkey alongside income, squared income and energy consumption, cointegrate with CO2 emissions. Tourist arrivals, growth, and energy consumption exert a positive and significant impact on CO2 emissions in the long-run. Our results provide empirical support to EKC hypothesis showing that at exponential levels of growth, CO2 emissions decline. The findings suggest that despite the environmental degradation stemming from tourism development, policies aimed at environmental protection should not be pursued at the expense of tourism-led growth.

The influence of organisational structure on entrepreneurial orientation and expansion performance

This paper fills a gap in the research undertaken into the influence of organisational structure on entrepreneurial orientation and expansion performance. The expansion decision‐making process of an international hotel group was investigated. In‐depth interviews, observations and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques. Findings suggest that the concern about protecting and developing internationally recognised brands profitably caused the organisation to be remarkably centralised. A centralised decision‐making structure, however, not only slowed down the decision‐making process and limited international expansion, but also resulted in frustration and de‐motivation among the market‐based organisational members who were responsible for international expansion. The paper therefore concludes that organisations whose growth performance is highly dependent on having market‐based organisational members in diverse host country environments need to structure differently and bring about a new way of thinking to the management.