The recognition of business opportunities is the first stage in the entrepreneurial process. This article analyses the effects of individuals’ possession of and access to knowledge on the probability of recognizing good business opportunities in their area of residence. The authors use an eclectic theoretical framework, consisting of intellectual and social capital concepts. In particular, they analyse the role of individuals’ educational level, their perception that they have the right knowledge and skills to start a business, whether they own and manage a firm, their contacts with other entrepreneurs, and whether they have been business angels. The hypotheses proposed here are tested using data collected for the GEM project in Spain in 2007. The results show that individuals’ access to external knowledge through the social networks in which they participate, is fundamental for developing the capacity to recognize new business opportunities.

Purpose: Grounded in stewardship theory, this study explores the motives, actions and meanings of multiple stakeholders involved in an inter-family hospitality family firm succession.Design/methodology/approach: A longitudinal, ethnographic case study approach collects data from 15 in-depth interviews, one year of observation and a one-month on-site internship.Findings: Results show that a well-defined succession plan and the active involvement of the successor/s in the succession process would foster a strong stewardship commitment to the family business. Moreover, a clear and open communication strategy is required to strategically manage rivalry and competition among potential successors during an inter-family succession.Originality/value: The succession process of family firms remains an intensely discussed phenomenon, and despite its importance to the tourism and hospitality industry, the intersection between tourism and hospitality and family business literature is sparse. Notably, the tourism and hospitality literature lacks a multiple stakeholder perspective to holistically capture the motives, actions and meanings of numerous stakeholders involved in an inter-family succession.

The effects of coaching in employees and organizational performance: The Spanish Case

A pesar de que las empresas familiares representan un gran porcentaje del conjunto de empresas a nivel mundial, las aportaciones metodológicas acerca de su estimación son muy escasas. El presente trabajo ofrece una metodología de identificación de empresas familiares versus no familiares utilizando como fuente de información la base de datos SABI Informa (versión española de Orbis), considerando fundamentalmente variables de propiedad y de gobierno corporativo para su clasificación. El diseño de la metodología SAFER permite su aplicación sin necesidad de realizar una extracción masiva de datos, lo que contribuye a su accesibilidad y facilidad de uso por parte de los investigadores. Asimismo, la metodología propuesta ha sido testada utilizando una muestra de 500 empresas, encontrando un error de clasificación inferior al cinco por ciento. Este trabajo aporta a los investigadores una metodología consensuada para la selección de muestras de empresas familiares, pudiendo ser trasladada a bases de datos equivalentes en otros países (e.g., AIDA, Italian company data o Markus en Alemania), o escaladas a la base de datos Orbis de ámbito global. Finalmente, nuestros resultados también representan un avance al facilitar la labor de los profesionales y responsables políticos en el desarrollo de informes sobre empresas familiares a través de un proceso riguroso de identificación y clasificación.

A series of characteristics affects the willingness of a family business to change and renew. Both change and renewal are necessary to maintain the continuity of the company in the long term in order for it to be handed down to the following generation. Approaches to the identification of barriers to change that are specific to the characteristics of family businesses are analyzed with the aim of identifying factors that potentially have the greatest impact on the decision-making and implementation of change processes. These factors include the generation at the head of the family business; the influence of interest groups, particularly the duality between the company and the family; and the greater or lesser participation of professionals from outside the family.

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes original research papers and case studies