Innovation, Risk, and Uncertainty: A Study of Tourism Entrepreneurs

Abstract

ENTREPRENEURSInnovation is inherently associated with risk and uncertainty, and the engagement of entrepreneurs with these is central to the innovation process. Entrepreneurs are not passive actors but, through learning, they contribute to the dynamic capabilities of the firm across the innovation process. Drawing on 57 interviews with entrepreneurs in tourism SMEs in Spain and the UK, the paper identifies how risk and uncertainty are understood to change throughout the innovation process in the key areas of technology, finance, markets and organizations. It also examines how tourism entrepreneurs respond to risk and uncertainty through a range of strategies, especially the harvesting of knowledge and networking.However, engaging with uncertainty remains elusive and relies as much on intuition as on reasoning.

Public strategies to rescue the hospitality industry following the impact of COVID-19: A case study of the European Union

“…In the tourism sector, there is a specific need for planning measures to build confidence in order to enable the hospitality industry to recover ( Rivera, 2020 ). Therefore, we have identified the needs of different stakeholders (enterprises, customers and tourist destinations) in order to find innovative solutions for the current situation caused by the pandemic ( Williams et al, 2021 ). The European Commission has recommended that all relevant stakeholders be taken into account when designing actions to help the tourism industry recover over the next few years.…”

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Organisational Performance of SMEs in Kuwait: The Intermediate Mechanisms of Innovation Management and Learning Orientation

“…Besides, it also ensures the spread of knowledge would help individuals understand the implemented entrepreneurial initiatives seeking to enhance performance. Entrepreneurial leaders delegate responsibilities and use their experiences and in-depth knowledge to develop their followers (Bagheri & Harrison, 2020;Mehmood et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2020). Leaders can help their followers enhance their innovativeness by regulating the organisational learning culture (Tong, 2020).…”

“…Entrepreneurial leadership is an effective leadership style based on exceptional abilities linked with learning orientation (Bagheri & Harrison, 2020;Mehmood et al, 2021;Williams et al, 2020). Learning orientation helps organisational leaders establish an environment for continuous learning, provide the best solution to the challenges organisations face, and be innovative in translating ideas and challenges into opportunities (Wahab & Tyasari, 2019).…”

New technology and tourism industry innovation: evidence from audio-visual patented technologies

“…To this end, many recent studies have investigated the best business strategies to enable firms to overcome market turbulence and cope with the environmental challenges (Senbeto and Hon, 2020). Indeed, market forces and technological advances are making the management of and strategies for innovation more prominent and essential in all functions of modern business across various sectors (including tourism), attracting the attention of academics and practitioners in the field (Nieves and Quintana, 2016;Pantano et al, 2018;Pizam, 2017;Williams et al, 2021). For Hjalager (2010) innovation in tourism can take many forms and shapes due to the sector's inherited characteristics including intangibility, inseparability and perishability.…”

“…Such studies called for further investigations in understanding how tourism might benefit from innovation (Romao and Nijkamp, 2019), via longitudinal research aiming to better capture the dynamic and complex nature of the innovation process specifically in the tourism industry (Rodriguez-Sanchez et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2021;Singh et al, 2020). Similarly, Succurro and Boffa (2018) have argued that the patenting behaviour in tourism has received little academic attention and attributed this lack of research to a wider belief that innovation in tourism commonly involves improving the services (Truong et al, 2020) in ways that are hardly patentable (Hall and Williams, 2008), leading scholars to assume that patenting is scarcely relevant in the tourism industry.…”