Over the past years the percentage of female entrepreneurs has increased, yet it is still far below of that for males. Although various attempts have been made to explain differences in mens’ and women’s entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, the extent to which those differences are due to self-report biases has not been yet considered. The present study utilized Differential Item Functioning (DIF) to compare men and women’s reporting on entrepreneurial intentions. DIF occurs in situations where members of different groups show differing probabilities of endorsing an item despite possessing the same level of the ability that the item is intended to measure. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the present study investigated whether constructs such as entrepreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms and intention would show gender differences and whether these gender differences could be explained by DIF. Using DIF methods on a dataset of 1800 Greek participants (50.4% female) indicated that differences at the item-level are almost non-existent. Moreover, the differential test functioning (DTF) analysis, which allows assessing the overall impact of DIF effects with all items being taken into account simultaneously, suggested that the effect of DIF across all the items for each scale was negligible. Future research should consider that measurement invariance can be assumed when using TPB constructs for the study of entrepreneurial motivation independent of gender.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to present the development of a business excellence model applicable in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach -Two surveys using questionnaires were conducted: the first one for the development of the model's criteria and sub-criteria and the second one for the assessment of the criteria and sub-criteria weights. The model was tested on a number of Greek high-class hotels. Findings -Compared with other business excellence models the proposed model includes criteria and sub-criteria that are more applicable to hotels. The model studies the factors that drive excellence in the hotel sector as well as the importance of these factors as they have been defined by the managers of the hotels. The implementation of the model in a number of high-class Greek hotels shows its applicability and suitability to be used as a benchmarking system. Research limitations/implications -Time limitations, as the project was co-funded by the European Union, have limited the implementation of the proposed business excellence model to a small number of Greek hotels in the area of Crete. Originality/value -The critical success factors for high-class hotels have been identified and a business excellence model applicable in the hospitality sector has been developed.
Corporate executives constitute the highest echelon of the managerial hierarchy, responsible for implementing the strategic plans and policies established by the board of directors on an operational basis. Often the inquiry about executive skills evolves around the search for managerial skills. Executive skills form a distinct category of skills; however, they are often conceived as a set of managerial skills. This article presents the results of an extended survey concerning executive skills based in empirical measurements among executives in Greece. International literature suggests a wide range of executive skills. Based on this, a list of 42 skills, divided into six categories, was created. This list was evaluated by 110 executives of the larger corporations in Greece. Using a structured assessment methodology, skills and categories were assessed and validated. Then, factor analysis was applied to these results and a set of 11 executive skills synthesized from this work. Findings are discussed and compared with those of other surveys, and topics for further research are set out.
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