Kostas Galanakis

Statistics show that more than 60% of chronically hungry and deprived people are women, and Africa contributes the highest percentage. Entrepreneurship has been theorised a fundamental means for alleviating hunger, poverty and unemployment level prominent among women. However, global women entrepreneurship monitoring institutions have revealed that business closure among women entrepreneurs has been on a consistent rise from 2012 to date. Thus, the debate about factors influencing the business growth of women-owned businesses has been a topical issue in business management. Recently, scholars have advocated for a focus on women-specific constructs: motherhood, meso-and the macro-environment to advance women’s entrepreneurship study. However, existing studies have focused mainly on the negative influence of these women-specific constructs. Therefore, this article investigated how motherhood factor (household/family context), and meso-/macro-environment context positively and negative...

Planning the required energy infrastructure for the energy transition is a crucial task for various neighbourhood concepts, such as positive energy districts. However, energy planning often comes with the challenges of data shortages and a lack of comparability among solutions for different districts. This work aims to enable this comparability by introducing an approach for categorising districts according to parameters that are relevant for the planning of neighbourhood energy infrastructures. Four parameters (climate, floor space index, heating demand and share of residential buildings) and their respective ranges (bands) were derived from the literature. Additionally, this work visualised the combination of all parameter bands across Europe to conveniently showcase districts that are comparable according to the selected parameters. This approach and its visualisation could be used in urban planning to share knowledge from existing energy district projects with those planned in c...

This research explores energy communities (EC) and their business models' attributes. We develop a conceptual framework, which combines and extends the social, economic, environmental, and technological dimensions of value generation to include the legal dimension. The latter has been considered only implicitly in previous studies on this sector. Applying this framework to forty business cases of energy communities allows to identify six business model (BM) archetypes representative of ECs. This study can encourage and support new ventures in this sector to model their strategy and comply with the requirements.

Innovation systems are considered a key factor to enterprises’ long-term success as well as an element that can improve national economic and socio-economic problems such as, unemployment and productivity growth. Considering the important role of innovation to the firm and to the country, an innovation systems model has been designed using a systems thinking approach. The aim of the model is to enhance innovation activity in the firms of manufacturing industrial sectors. This model reveals the implications of the firm’s strategic decisions and associates the national policy strategies and institutional support to the enterprises innovation activity. The simulation of the designed model can illustrate these implications. This paper’s objective however, is to present the part of the model that refers to firm’s organisation and strategy which influences innovation activity. Systems thinking methodology has been used to uncover the complexity of the innovation systems framework and reve...

The author has designed, developed and applied, employing a system dynamics approach, a new innovation system concept - the Creative Factory - in order to communicate innovation theory to the different actors in the system using a common perspective and to reveal the complexity of innovation systems. Furthermore, the model aims to create a dynamic framework that can be used to analyse and assess the innovation activity of a firm against best practice and to illustrate, through simulation, the short and long-term influences of managers' decisions or external factors on innovation outcomes and between the different factors in the system. The concept has at its centre the firm's knowledge creation, the new product design and development process and the competencies that separate successes from failures. These core elements are affected by other business activities of the firm such as the corporate strategy, the risk taking policy and the organisational structure. Additionally, ...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to synthesise the socioeconomic context, personality, knowledge and social capital into a systemic framework, named the “entrepreneurial path” that demonstrates the process of transforming initial entrepreneurial intentions to a growing venture. This systemic framework decouples the overall complexity of the entrepreneurial realisation to three main subsystems: entrepreneurial intentions and venture idea formation; barriers of transition from nascent to active entrepreneur; and active and growing ventures. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs a systemic thinking approach to decouple the complexity of the subject. Survey techniques and digital social network discussion forums were used for the collection of primary qualitative data from multiple stakeholders. Findings The conceptual framework, named the entrepreneurial path, highlights the importance of different factors at each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation. Especially the imp...

Consistent with studies that focus on business growth amongst female and male entrepreneurs, this study examines the way women entrepreneurs in Lagos-State, Nigeria, perceive business growth. It utilises Nvivo for coding transcribed data obtained through face-to-face interviews that involved 35 women entrepreneurs in Lagos-State. From an in-depth analysis of their conceptualisation of business growth, the study develops comprehensive insights into the way growth is perceived in women-owned enterprises in Lagos-State. It reveals that women entrepreneurs involved in the day-to-day operations of small garment-producing enterprises associate growth with a percentage change in their clientele however small. More importantly, they accept that their descriptors of growth derive from the interrelation between their social environment, individual thought and behaviour. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship by illustrating context-specific parameters that shape the way women entrepreneurs in a developing country conceptualise business growth.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to synthesise the socioeconomic context, personality, knowledge and social capital into a systemic framework, named the “entrepreneurial path” that demonstrates the process of transforming initial entrepreneurial intentions to a growing venture. This systemic framework decouples the overall complexity of the entrepreneurial realisation to three mainsubsystems: entrepreneurial intentions and venture idea formation; barriers of transition from nascent to active entrepreneur; and active and growing ventures. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a systemic thinking approach to decouple the complexity of the subject. Survey techniques and digital social network discussion forums were used for the collection of primary qualitative data from multiple stakeholders. Findings – The conceptual framework, named the entrepreneurial path, highlights the importance of different factors at each stage of the entrepreneurial realisation. Especially the importance of factors such as perceived desirability, feasibility, self-efficacy, network ties and social capital has been identified as central. Needs for managerial skills and resources for the new venture come to play only on the later stage. Each of thosefactorsthough,playsadistinctiveroleinthedifferentstagesoftherealisationandindependencetothe maturity of the entrepreneurial context. Researchlimitations/implications – Furtherresearchmayexaminewhetherthesefactorsthathavebeen identified by successful entrepreneurs and stakeholders are reflecting the experience for those who have not been successful in their effort to create their venture. Practical implications – The entrepreneurial path provides a supportive tool for: academics designing focussed entrepreneurship education programmes and research; managers in intermediate structures to identify the specific needs of nascent and early-stage entrepreneurs in comparison to the needs of entrepreneurs in the growth stage; and for policy makers prioritising on supportive structures and institutionsdirectingtheiractionstospecificstagesorbarriersoftheprocessorcreatingholisticandevolving structures based on the maturity of the entrepreneurial context. Originality/value – The decoupling of the process of transforming initial entrepreneurial intentions to a growingventuredemonstratesthatdifferentapproachesarerequiredinordertofostereachoneofthefactors identified.Focussingonactivitiesandresourcesononestageatthetime,orpresentingparallelactivitiesthat reflectthedifferentlevelofmaturityofregions,institutions,individualsandsocietalperceptionsmayprovide better service to nascent and active entrepreneurs, than considering treating entrepreneurial intentions as a unified process.

Consultancy projects as an action learning method have become an integral part of management education at many business schools and universities. As an opportunity to apply management knowledge in practice, they have been proven to be a valuable experience when designed and executed adeptly by academics. Based on our activities and reflection as academics, and interviews with students and companies participating in five consultancy projects, this paper proposes a framework to execute student consultancy projects in the context of international en-trepreneurship. Working with small, new, and innovative companies at a foreign location seeking to internationalise, the framework highlights the learning outcomes to be achieved by students along the consultancy process. Such outcomes may be cognitive including the integration of previous knowledge with practical insights, affective such as an appreciation of others' views, and behavioural including the development of transferable communication and management skills. Additionally, the framework provides a guideline for the necessary teaching practice for managerial learning to take place. While the project's team and client problem are critical, knowledgeable supervisors are needed especially at the beginning, while the level of intervention needs to be adjusted throughout the process.

Large-scale multinational manufacturing firms often require a significant investment in production capacity and extensive management effort s in strategic planning in an uncertain business environment. In this research we first discuss what decision terms and boundary conditions a holistic capacity management model for the manufacturing industry must contain. To better understand how these decision terms and constraints have been employed by the recent model developers in the area of capacity and resource management modelling for manufacturing, 69 optimisation-based (deterministic and stochastic) models have been carefully selected from 20 0 0 to 2018 for a brief comparative analysis. The results of this comparison shows although applying uncertainty into capacity modelling (in stochastic form) has received a greater deal of attention most recently (since 2010), the existing stochastic models are yet very simplis-tic, and not all the strategic terms have been employed in the current model developments in the field. This lack of a holistic approach although is evident in deterministic models too, the existing stochastic counterparts proved to include much less decision terms and inclusive constraints, which limits them to a limited applications and may cause sub-optimal solutions. Employing this set of holistic decision terms and boundary conditions, this work develops a scenario-based multi-stage stochastic capacity management model, which is capable of modelling different strategic terms such as capacity level management (slight, medium and large capacity volume adjustment to increase/decrease capacity), location/relocation decisions, merge/decomposition options, and product management (R&D, new product launch, product-to-plant and product-to-market allocation, and product phase-out management). Possibility matrix, production rates, different financial terms and international taxes, inflation rates, machinery depreciation, investment lead-time and product cycle-time are also embedded in the model in order to make it more practical, realistic and sensitive to strategic decisions and scenarios. A step-by-step open-box validation has been followed while designing the model and a holistic black-box validation plan has been designed and employed to widely validate the model. The model then has been verified by deploying a real-scaled case of Toyota Motors UK (TMUK) decision of mothballing one of their production lines in the UK after the global recession in 2010.

A science-based sector in the making: the formation of the biotechnology sector in two regions. Regional Studies. This paper analyses two case studies, Skåne-Blekinge in Sweden and the Southern–Eastern region in Ireland, to examine different current development paths for the biotechnology sector. The aim is to codify the process, identifying actions and priorities towards these paths. National innovation systems theory provides the theoretical framework that guided a series of interviews in the two regions. The findings demonstrate that the sustainable development of a science-based sector does not depend on the original priorities or directions, but rather on the level of consistency of those policies and their continuous evolution towards a complete systemic value generation system.

The author has designed, developed and applied, employing a system dynamics approach, a new innovation system concept - the Creative Factory - in order to communicate innovation theory to the different actors in the system using a common perspective and to reveal the complexity of innovation systems. Furthermore, the model aims to create a dynamic framework that can be used to analyse and assess the innovation activity of a firm against best practice and to illustrate, through simulation, the short and long-term influences of managers' decisions or external factors on innovation outcomes and between the different factors in the system. The concept has at its centre the firm's knowledge creation, the new product design and development process and the competencies that separate successes from failures. These core elements are affected by other business activities of the firm such as the corporate strategy, the risk taking policy and the organisational structure. Additionally, ...

This paper presents a model, which allows managers to identify the influence of their decisions to the potential innovation activity of the firm by simulation. Systems thinking methodology has been used to understand the framework of innovation systems and to design and run the simulation model. The model is based on two separate subsystems the `creative factory' and the `supply availability' that illustrate the internal and external framework of a firm. This paper however presents the sub-model that refers to the `creative factory' and the managers' decisions that affect the new product design and development process. Using this model a company can evaluate its ability to create new products and processes. The managers can test their decisions against the implications for the innovation activity of the firm and they can design scenarios that can sustain or enhance the production of new products and processes

... Technologies, Institutions and Organisation, Pinter, London, 1997. Frambach, Ruud T.: Diffusion of innovations in Business-to-Business Markets. ... Research Policy 31, 2002, pp: 947–967. Tidd, Joe; Bessant, John; Pavitt, Keith: Managing Innovation. ...

This report presents propositions for the elaboration of a standardised method of impact evaluation for Positive Energy Districts(PEDs). Based on previous experiences seeking to capture, through a series of KPIs, the impact of different smart and sustainable city concepts, we propose an indicator-centric approach to evaluate measures against specific PED objectives.
This approach is intended to be used by interested entities (primarily local policy-makers, as well as researchers or practitioners) to evaluate how specific PED experiences perform relative to benchmarks and other experiences, and to identify the most successful set of solutions for the development of a PED. Another aim of this approach is to allow for the assessment of the distribution of PED benefits across environmental, economic and social dimensions. In this way, policymakers can be aware of how their PED responds to different needs, and adapt their policies accordingly.
We start by presenting a number of important KPIs within each dimension, which are important to assess in the context of PED evaluation. We continue by offering a target-based framework to turn unprocessed data on KPIs into qualitative information describing how specific PED developments perform relative to identified targets. We provide standardised bandwidths for the scoring of indicators, and further elaborate the approach by providing weights to aggregate each indicator score within dimensions. We then show how these dimensions can be aggregated to generate overall scores for PEDs or PED interventions.
The complementary Excel-based tool (Standardised method of impact evaluation tool, SMIE tool) can be used by evaluators to assess dimension-level scores and/or overall PED scores following this approach, and get rapid graphical representations of the results in the form of radar graphs. Furthermore, the attached playbook included in Annex II can be used to communicate the approach to different evaluators and interested parties in an engaging manner.
In using this approach, a number of stakeholders must be involved to ensure access to the necessary information, including citizens, vulnerable energy consumers, energy utilities, and municipal authorities. This inclusive approach promotes cooperation between different entities at the evaluative stage of a PED intervention. It is our hope that this standardised method of evaluation can be used by policymakers with the intent of evaluating PEDs and PED interventions not only to assess their local measures, but also communicate with and include different stakeholders at this stage of the energy transition.

Report on "must-read" factors in policy design to tackle energy poverty through PED creation With acknowledgement: Luigi Bottecchia, EURAC and Nicolas Caballero, EURAC for the useful discussion regarding the conceptualisation of the must-read factors. Maria Lujan, Nottingham Trent University, for information regarding the section on energy advice, suggestions of case studies and reviewing the relevant sections of the document. Pietro Zambelli, EURAC for supporting the organisation of the work. Annika Sohre, University of Basel, for final review of the draft.

The EU’s SET Plan has proposed the development of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) to achieve the transition towards a more sustainable energy system through the adoption of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures. PEDs are envisioned to be neighbourhoods that utilise such technologies and create an environment that enables citizens to lead environmentally-friendly lifestyles. At their core, PEDs create value across three sustainability dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.
PEDs and PED-like projects can be developed in a variety of ways and are a product of the physical, social, and economic characteristics of the environment. Innovative business models – the configurations in which value is created, delivered, and captured – are integral to leveraging these contextual characteristics in order to achieve the goals of PEDs. This study aims to identify best practice cases and categorise them into archetypes of business models operating in PEDs in order to summarise the opportunities available in PED creation.
The authors synthesise existing literature in the area of sustainable business models to develop a conceptual framework that analyses the extent to which the value dimensions of business models address the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability, with a focus on PEDs. This allows the building blocks of the original business model canvas to be modified and extended. The authors use a qualitative analytical approach, to a set of selected European cases, through the lens of the conceptual framework to identify business model archetypes of PEDs and PED-like projects.
The authors find that the aims of the business models under the archetypes and sub-archetypes vary in priorities. For example, while the People-oriented renewable energy communities that encourage self-sufficiency archetype is heavily focused on creating value for the community, the other two archetypes are more centred on creating environmental and economic value. Nevertheless, the resulting outcomes are multi-dimensional in their value creation.
The identified archetypes and their sub-archetypes showcase the diversity of opportunities that are available in designing a business model that creates social, environmental, and economic value in PEDs or PED-like projects. Further, the key features of the sub-archetypes demonstrate which business model elements are critical in achieving their aims, whether it is stakeholder partnerships or technological innovation. This understanding is important as it can determine the source and magnitude of investment dedicated to the development of the PED.
The contribution of this study lies in the creation of a common understanding of the possibilities present in PED development through the identification of the relevant business model archetypes. The future deliverable of this work package will use these business model archetypes to build an open source web-based tool that can serve as a starting point for PED development discussions among citizens, municipalities, investors, and other stakeholders.

Collaboration between disciplines, sectors, institutions, and communities is essential for the successful planning and implementation of Positive energy districts (PEDs). However, silo thinking, defined in this document as the disregard of other groups’ viewpoints or interests, poses a barrier to effective collaboration. Based on a review of existing literature, multiple factors were identified that could potentially cause silo thinking in the context of PEDs. First, differences in beliefs and ideologies create silos across disciplines, stakeholders, and communities. Divergent goals across sectors hinder collaboration between departments of the government. Misconceptions and prejudice present barriers in communication between citizens and the government. Furthermore, a lack of consideration for local culture and history may prevent collaboration between different cities and obstruct governments from engaging local innovations. Silos between disciplines and sectors are difficult to overcome because the long tradition of these silos means people are inexperienced in coordination across the boundaries of their own discipline or sector, making coordination more costly.
In the planning and implementation of PEDs, systems thinking is a key change in mindset that allows problem solving in the presence of interdependencies between different groups. Systems thinking can be incorporated in education, mid-management training, and work culture. Experts, researchers, and higher-level governance institutions can incorporate this type of holistic thinking to take a nexus approach or multidisciplinary approach in policy framing. As useful as it may be, in practical application, the systems approach can be obstructed by existing boundaries of organisations. Thus, the government also takes a primary role in facilitating coordination of different entities, by devising coordination bodies within the government and channels of communication with the public, as well as encouraging networks among businesses. Finally, citizens and grassroot organisations can be empowered by these government efforts and more actively engage in actions for PEDs.