AN EXPLORATIVE STUDY OF INNOVATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN A HOSPITALITY STARTUP CONTEXT

Jeou-Shyan Horng,Chang-Yen Tsai,Chih-Hsing Liu,Sheng-Fang Chou,Da-Chian Hu,Shang-Yu 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

Introduction Due to fierce competition in the marketplace, globalization and an explosion of technology in recent years, innovation and differentiation are considered as a necessity for every company (Tajeddini & Trueman, 2008a). At the same time, to achieve market success and sustain a competitive advantage, businesses need to exploit new opportunities, develop new products and/or services and markets (Berthon, McHulbert, & Pitt, 2004) as well as place customer orientation at the heart of the firm’s competitiveness (Deshpande, Farley, & Webster, 1993). Hospitality entrepreneurship is a pivotal factor in the development and growth of many national economies (Hospitality Standards Institute, 2012), and in Taiwan, a significant proportion of hospitality businesses are small owner-operated outlets (). Therefore, understanding the nature of, and challenges faced by hospitality entrepreneurs is an important issue for researchers, as well as current and future entrepreneurs, financial institutions, local authorities, and government. This article reports on an exploratory study of qualitative data collected through open-ended questions, understanding of the many factors influencing entrepreneurs to start their businesses. Literature As noted by Middleton (2001), small businesses form a seedbed for the entrepreneurial and enterprise culture on which much of the profit and employment prospects of big businesses ultimately depend. This observation clearly indicates the difference between small business owners and entrepreneurs. But although support for this viewpoint in the literature is universal, some researchers do not draw such a fine line between the two terms when discussing related issues; also, studies of small business firms are usually found in the entrepreneurship literature, where sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably. The existing entrepreneurship literature shows that several critical factors influence the birth and growth of start-up firms. These factors include both macro-level environmental and micro-level, or personal level, forces. Studies focusing on the former often examine the influence of politics, culture, society, economics, competition, and demographics on a person’s decision to start or grow a new business in a specific setting; this in turn can take place at different levels, such as the company, city, region, or nation (Jogartnam, 2002; Ramos-Rodriguez et al., 2012). Studies on the latter investigate the influence of personal characteristics, such as subculture, social factors (e.g., role, status, reference group), personal factors (e.g., age, gender, education, life cycle, personality, self-perception, lifestyles, values), and psychological factors (e.g., motives, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, learning, risk-taking propensity, etc. (Littunen, 2000; Ramos-Rodriguez et al., 2012). This study adopted Chen and Elston’s (2013) entrepreneurial activity model for classifying and modeling these factors affecting firm start-ups and growth. Fig. 1 captures this process and highlights the critical factors influencing the entrepreneurial process and their various relationships. In this model, the macro-environment mix influences not only a person’s personal characteristics but also this person’s entrepreneurial process. These personal characteristics in turn also influence the entrepreneurial process. The research methodology was conducted with qualitative research method. Firstly, we interviewed the experts with regard to this industry, and then used content analysis for the interview records. After the in-depth interviews, a grounded theory was adopted to analyze the interview data with repeated coding and reading, and then innovative entrepreneurship were coded into fundamental categories with diverse descriptions (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). These descriptions represent the idea and meaning squeeze from the transcripts of interview. As for the research reliability, we read the biographies of participants and collect relative information such as their provided books, documents and reports from the news. To guarantee the validity of this study, we also improve the research content with researchers’ interview and reflection notes. Those notes were observation on innovative entrepreneurship process in this study. Therefore, these systematic methods could conclude a theory for a specific phenomenon (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). Results The results of our qualitative analysis demonstrated the opinions of experts with regard to innovative entrepreneurship in hotel industry. Based on Chen and Elston’s (2013) entrepreneurial activity model, the characteristics of each concept were grounded with four dimensions: (1) Macro-environment mix (2) Personal characteristics (3) Entrepreneurial Proces (4) Major entrepreneurial outcome. The experts’ critical viewpoints are also presented by typical quotations. (1) Macro-environment mix ●? Shifting Market “Now the entire consumer market is shifting, everyone booking via the internet.”(sample 1) “When you book a hotel or a flight, people like the price competition. So you may have to spend a lot of time.” (sample 9) ●? The old technology “We are still using the technology more than a decade ago. Taiwan is still running the hotel in a very traditional way. It is when I open a hotel , I am looking for some people, and then ... I think I will make money. In fact, a lot of know how they do not know.”(sample 1) ●? Price competition “We think the outbound market has entered the Red Sea. The inbound market has not been fully developed and has potential for development. Therefore, we would not like to see the inbound market enter the price competition.” (sample 6) ●? Want Taiwan to be seen “Taiwan's B & B are really world-class highlights in tourism industry.”(DEAR BNB) ●? Make up the industrial gap “We think Taiwan needs a brand new high-quality hotel and lodging platform and we did it.” (sample 3) “I think what we do is very traditional! Just fill the gap by using the resources we have integrated with the method we want.” (sample 4) (2) Personal characteristics ●? Personal interest “I like traveling, I like going abroad, I like to fly.”(sample 8) “This is my hobby, I also like to interact with people.” (sample 4) ●? Doing what I want to do “I just want to do what I want to do.”(sample 8) “I like the Internet and marketing but don’t like to do engineer. “(sample 7) ●? Apply own expertise “Using my own technology and see the market demand gap, hoping to help Taiwan's lodging industry can be transformed, technology upgrades, do not have to monopolize by the traditional manufacturers.” (sample 1) “I study hospitality and work for a year in Taipei Evergreen Hotel, and later went to Vancouver to study hotel management. To start a new venture also an ultimate goal of our depasample 6ent, so I think it must be done.” (sample 2) ●? Personal life experience “I think creation needs inspiration, inspiration comes from life experience. Entrepreneurship will not have nothing, what you have to do today, it must have some relationship with your past life experience.” (sample 3) (3) Entrepreneurial Process ●? Self-finaning “I did not find someone or looking for funds.” (sample 4) “I have a deposit of 20 years, our funds are wholly-owned. We do not borrow money from banks nor fundraising or venture capital.” (sample 5) ●? Related connections “Originally, my good friend who knew about the lodging industry. You are ready, and then meet the right people, and then a good time point enter into the right market.” (sample 1) “When talent comes in, they will recommend people who have such abilities and values. Therefore, we have not publicly recruited R & D people.” (sample 4) ●? Try and error “In the beginning, we don’t seriously think about our business model. Through more case, we revise our business model.”(sample 6) “After my trip, I wanted to start a business. At that time, I did not have many ideas, so I did a lot of work to find directions.” (sample 7) ●? Find the right shareholder “Shareholders are important. When finding shareholders, his resources and skills are very important. I want more than his money.” (sample 2) ●? Play a consultant role “We are selling our ideas, as well as selling our resources, experience so a bit like a consultant's role.” (sample 7) (4) Major entrepreneurial outcome ●? Change the industry ecology “We have successfully changed some of the airline's mind, we have changed the hotel's promotional model and have changed an ecological.”(sample 8) ” The core of entrepreneurship is to re-establish an ecosystem.(sample 5) ●? Tourism industry knowledge education and personnel training of think tanks “We want to make domain knowledge, know-how in tourism industry can be extracted, shared, and can be taught textbook.” (smaple 6) ●? Package Form a network and provide a unique package “In addition to the network, we hope to the forming some unique service package.” (sample 5) “Our three companies are different areas and require different skills. In the future, we would integrate them.” (sample 7) Discussion and conclusions This study examined the innovative entrepreneurship with start up in the hotel industry. Using content analysis method to access the research conclusions, the four key components of entrepreneurial activity: Macro-environment mix, personal characteristics, entrepreneurial process and major entrepreneurial outcome (Chen and Elston, 2013) were adopted to set up a theoretical framework. The results of our research were provided through a systematic approach to interpret and summarize experts’ professional opinions. These data were collected by in-depth and semi-structured interviews which give participants opportunities to express their opinions based on their experience in innovative entrepreneurship of hospitality. Meanwhile, the concepts of experts’ comprehensions were written into different characteristics with logical explanations. Most important of all, our research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature. Though some previous studies have discussed Chen and Elston’s (2013) entrepreneurial activity model, none of them tried to integrate this perspective with start up company in hotel industry. Therefore, the results of this study filled the gap between theory and practice, and provide a distinct example for future innovative entrepreneurship research in hospitality. To sum up, as most previous research focus on theoretical or practical perspective to interpret entrepreneurship, the result of this research further contribute the development of innovative entrepreneurship especially in start up. These findings offered essential framework and required knowledge of strategies for current and future trends in this field.

Safety and Efficacy of Adalimumab for Patients With Moderate to Severe Crohn`s Disease: The Taiwan Society of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TSIBD) Study

( Chen Wang Chang ),( Shu Chen Wei ),( Jen Wei Chou ),( Tzu Chi Hsu ),( Chiao Hsiung Chuang ),( Ching Pin Lin ),( Wen Hung Hsu ),( Hsu Heng Yen ),( Jen Kou Lin ),( Yi Jen Fang ),( Horng Yuan Wang ),( 대한장연구학회 2014 Intestinal Research Vol.12 No.4

Background/Aims: Only moderate to severe Crohn`s Disease (CD) patients without a satisfactory conventional therapy effect are eligible to get reimbursement from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan for using adalimumab. These are more stringent criteria than in many Western countries and Japan and Korea. We aim to explore the efficacy of using adalimumab in CD patients under such stringent criteria. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted in nine medical centers in Taiwan and we collected the results of CD patients receiving adalimumab from Sep 2009 to Mar 2014. The clinical characteristics, response measured by CDAI (Crohn`s Disease Activity Index), adverse events and survival status were recorded and analyzed. CR-70, CR-100, and CR-150 were defined as attaining a CDAI decrease of 70, 100 or 150 points compared with baseline. Results: A total of 103 CD patient records were used in this study. Sixty percent of these patients received combination therapy of adalimumab together with immunomodulators. CR-70 was 68.7%, 74.5% and 88.4% after week 4, 8 and 12 of treatment, respectively. The steroid-free rate, complications and survival were 47.6%, 9.7% and 99% of patients, respectively. In considering the mucosal healing, only 25% patients achieve mucosal healing after treatment for 6 to12 months. Surgery was still needed in 16.5% of patients. Combination treatment of adalimumab with immunomodulators further decreased the level of CDAI at week 8 when compared with the monotherapy. Conclusions: Even under the stringent criteria for using adalimumab, the response rate was comparable to those without stringent criteria. (Intest Res 2014;12:287-292)

The Effect of a Scenario-Based Spiritual Care Course on Spiritual Care Competence among Clinical Nurses

Suh-Ing Hsieh,Li-Ling Hsu,Hui-Ling Lin,Chen-Yi Kao,Yi-Ping Tseng,Li-Yun Szu,Ching-Yun Lee,Lun-Hui Ho,Shu-Ling Yeh,Shu-Hua Kao,Yen-Fang Chou,Tzu-Hsin Huang 한국성인간호학회 2021 성인간호학회 학술대회 Vol.2021 No.8