IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v15y2024i1d10.1007_s13132-023-01234-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human Capital, Social Capital and Business Model Design: Empirical Evidence of Tunisian Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Wissal Affes

    (University of Sfax)

  • Habib Affes

    (University of Sfax)

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of human capital and social capital on business model design through the study of the main factors related to the entrepreneur’s profile, his network, and the possibility to have access to external resources. The dataset consists of 107 Tunisian companies for the period from December 2014 to March 2016. We use a quantitative survey conducted from a questionnaire. Our results reveal that (i) the experience, the entrepreneur’s skills, and entrepreneurship education have a positive and significant impact on business model design; (ii) the family support, support structure, customer, and stakeholder’s orientation have a positive and significant impact; and (iii) the effect of the access to external resources, and particularly informational ones, is ostensibly significant on business model design. The access to financial resources, however, has no effect. Overall, this research suggests that the nascent entrepreneur must be aware of his networks (customer, other stakeholders, family support and support structure) and external resources, namely, information resources, and finally he must also have the skills, experience, and level of entrepreneurship education in designing a BM. Thus, the nascent entrepreneur can have an idea about these phenomena through the results found in our research which are also a relevant guide for new Tunisian entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Wissal Affes & Habib Affes, 2024. "Human Capital, Social Capital and Business Model Design: Empirical Evidence of Tunisian Firms," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4829-4857, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-023-01234-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-023-01234-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-023-01234-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-023-01234-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hock-Doepgen, Marianne & Clauss, Thomas & Kraus, Sascha & Cheng, Cheng-Feng, 2021. "Knowledge management capabilities and organizational risk-taking for business model innovation in SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 683-697.
    2. Nair, Sujith & Blomquist, Tomas, 2021. "Exploring docility: A behavioral approach to interventions in business incubation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    3. Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 1998. "Power in a Theory of the Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 387-432.
    4. Yi, Yaqun & Chen, Yu & Li, Dan, 2022. "Stakeholder ties, organizational learning, and business model innovation: A business ecosystem perspective," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Estèle Jouison & Thierry Verstraete, 2008. "Business Model et création d'entreprise," Post-Print hal-03215575, HAL.
    6. Muhammad Anwar, 2018. "BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION AND SMEs PERFORMANCE — DOES COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE MEDIATE?," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(07), pages 1-31, October.
    7. Bouwman, Harry & Nikou, Shahrokh & de Reuver, Mark, 2019. "Digitalization, business models, and SMEs: How do business model innovation practices improve performance of digitalizing SMEs?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9).
    8. Kourilsky, Marilyn L. & Walstad, William B., 1998. "Entrepreneurship and female youth: knowledge, attitudes, gender differences, and educational practices," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 77-88, January.
    9. Stam, Wouter & Arzlanian, Souren & Elfring, Tom, 2014. "Social capital of entrepreneurs and small firm performance: A meta-analysis of contextual and methodological moderators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 152-173.
    10. Edelman, Linda F. & Manolova, Tatiana & Shirokova, Galina & Tsukanova, Tatyana, 2016. "The impact of family support on young entrepreneurs' start-up activities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 428-448.
    11. Ben Spigel, 2017. "The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 49-72, January.
    12. Didier Chabaud & Joseph Ngijol, 2010. "Quels réseaux sociaux dans la formation de l'opportunité d'affaires ?," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(7), pages 129-147.
    13. Duchesneau, Donald A. & Gartner, William B., 1990. "A profile of new venture success and failure in an emerging industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(5), pages 297-312, September.
    14. Teemu Kautonen & Roxanne Zolin & Andreas Kuckertz & Anmari Viljamaa, 2010. "Ties that blind? How strong ties affect small business owner-managers’ perceived trustworthiness of their advisors," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 189-209, March.
    15. Cope, Jason, 2011. "Entrepreneurial learning from failure: An interpretative phenomenological analysis," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 604-623.
    16. Helen Toxopeus & Elisa Achterberg & Friedemann Polzin, 2021. "How can firms access bank finance for circular business model innovation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 2773-2795, September.
    17. Souitaris, Vangelis & Zerbinati, Stefania & Al-Laham, Andreas, 2007. "Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 566-591, July.
    18. Voelpel, Sven & Leibold, Marius & Tekie, Eden & von Krogh, Georg, 2005. "Escaping the Red Queen Effect in Competitive Strategy:: Sense-testing Business Models," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 37-49, February.
    19. Teemu Kautonen & Marco van Gelderen & Matthias Fink, 2015. "Robustness of the Theory of Planned Behavior in Predicting Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 655-674, May.
    20. Agustín Álvarez-Herranz & Pilar Valencia-De-Lara & María Pilar Martínez-Ruiz, 2011. "How entrepreneurial characteristics influence company creation: a cross-national study of 22 countriestested with panel data methodology," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 529-545, April.
    21. Benoît Demil & Xavier Lecocq & Joan E. Ricart & Christoph Zott, 2015. "Introduction to theSEJSpecial Issue on Business Models: Business Models within the Domain of Strategic Entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-01563054, HAL.
    22. John C. Dencker & Marc Gruber & Sonali K. Shah, 2009. "Pre-Entry Knowledge, Learning, and the Survival of New Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 516-537, June.
    23. Cooper, Arnold C. & Folta, Timothy B. & Woo, Carolyn, 1995. "Entrepreneurial information search," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 107-120, March.
    24. Christoph Zott & Raphael Amit, 2007. "Business Model Design and the Performance of Entrepreneurial Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 181-199, April.
    25. Saras Sarasvathy & Nicholas Dew, 2005. "New market creation through transformation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 533-565, November.
    26. Estèle Jouison-Laffitte & Thierry Verstraete, 2008. "Business model et création d'entreprise," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(1), pages 175-197.
    27. Bechard, Jean-Pierre & Toulouse, Jean-Marie, 1998. "Validation of a didactic model for the analysis of training objectives in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 317-332, July.
    28. Herbes, Carsten & Rilling, Benedikt & Holstenkamp, Lars, 2021. "Ready for new business models? Human and social capital in the management of renewable energy cooperatives in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    29. Steffen Mengel & Marc Wouters, 2015. "Financial planning and control in very small start-up companies: antecedents and effects on company performance," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 26(2), pages 191-216.
    30. Brettel, Malte & Strese, Steffen & Flatten, Tessa C., 2012. "Improving the performance of business models with relationship marketing efforts – An entrepreneurial perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 85-98.
    31. Henry Chesbrough & Richard S. Rosenbloom, 2002. "The role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation's technology spin-off companies," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(3), pages 529-555, June.
    32. Shaw, Kathryn & Sørensen, Anders, 2022. "Coming of age: Watching young entrepreneurs become successful," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Latifi, Mohammad-Ali & Nikou, Shahrokh & Bouwman, Harry, 2021. "Business model innovation and firm performance: Exploring causal mechanisms in SMEs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    2. Belussi, Fiorenza & Orsi, Luigi & Savarese, Maria, 2019. "Mapping Business Model Research: A Document Bibliometric Analysis," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    3. Yuan Jing, 2022. "The Relationship Between Business Model Innovation and Operational Performance of Incubator Enterprise," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 16(1), pages 153-191.
    4. Elena Freisinger & Sven Heidenreich & Christian Landau & Patrick Spieth, 2021. "Business Model Innovation Through the Lens of Time: An Empirical Study of Performance Implications Across Venture Life Cycles," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 339-380, December.
    5. Giuliano Sansone & Elisa Ughetto & Paolo Landoni, 2021. "Entrepreneurial intention: An analysis of the role of Student-Led Entrepreneurial Organizations," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 399-433, September.
    6. Giuseppe Criaco & Philipp Sieger & Karl Wennberg & Francesco Chirico & Tommaso Minola, 2017. "Parents’ performance in entrepreneurship as a “double-edged sword” for the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 841-864, December.
    7. Wissal Affes & Habib Affes, 2022. "Business Model and Firm Performance in Tunisian Firms: a Mediated Moderation Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2822-2839, December.
    8. Shepherd, Dean A. & Sattari, Rose & Patzelt, Holger, 2022. "A social model of opportunity development: Building and engaging communities of inquiry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    9. Meoli, Azzurra & Fini, Riccardo & Sobrero, Maurizio & Wiklund, Johan, 2020. "How entrepreneurial intentions influence entrepreneurial career choices: The moderating influence of social context," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    10. Iheanachor, Nkemdilim & David-West, Yinka & Umukoro, Immanuel Ovemeso, 2021. "Business model innovation at the bottom of the pyramid – A case of mobile money agents," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 96-107.
    11. Antonio Rafael Ramos-Rodríguez & José Aurelio Medina-Garrido & José Ruiz-Navarro, 2019. "Why not now? Intended timing in entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1221-1246, December.
    12. Marlena Ciechan-Kujawa & Michal Buszko, 2020. "The Susceptibility of the Business Model to Changes - Empirical Analysis of Internal Determinants of Variability," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 739-757.
    13. Jan Abrahamsson & Håkan Boter & Vladimir Vanyushyn, 2019. "Business model innovation of international new ventures: An empirical study in a Swedish context," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 75-102, March.
    14. Symeonidou, Noni & Leiponen, Aija & Autio, Erkko & Bruneel, Johan, 2022. "The origins of capabilities: Resource allocation strategies, capability development, and the performance of new firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(4).
    15. Zhang, Hongfang & Xiao, Huilin & Wang, Yanling & Shareef, Mahmud A. & Akram, Muhammad Shakaib & Goraya, M. Awais Shakir, 2021. "An integration of antecedents and outcomes of business model innovation: A meta-analytic review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 803-814.
    16. Arash Rezazadeh & Ana Carvalho, 2018. "A value-based approach to business model innovation: Defining the elements of the concept," NIPE Working Papers 12/2018, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    17. Wassim J. Aloulou, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Intention among Freshmen Students — Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in Saudi Context," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 473-500, December.
    18. Matthias Filser & Sascha Kraus & Matthias Breier & Ioanna Nenova & Kaisu Puumalainen, 2021. "Business model innovation: Identifying foundations and trajectories," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 891-907, February.
    19. Katrin M. Smolka & Ingrid Verheul & Katrin Burmeister–Lamp & Pursey P.M.A.R. Heugens, 2018. "Get it Together! Synergistic Effects of Causal and Effectual Decision–Making Logics on Venture Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(4), pages 571-604, July.
    20. Ghezzi, Antonio, 2020. "How Entrepreneurs make sense of Lean Startup Approaches: Business Models as cognitive lenses to generate fast and frugal Heuristics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-023-01234-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.