A growing number of studies on entrepreneurial motivation, intentions, and behavior include entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) as an explanatory variable. While there is broad consensus among researchers on the importance of including ESE in an intentionality model, there remain inconsistencies in the definition, dimensionality, and measurement of ESE. This study takes an important step toward refinement and standardization of ESE measurement. Within a new venture creation process framework, a multi-dimensional ESE instrument is developed and tested on a diverse sample that includes nascent entrepreneurs. Implications for entrepreneurship theory and entrepreneurship education are discussed.

Data are presented showing how middle managers in 47 countries report handling eight specific work events. The data are used to test the ability of cultural value dimensions derived from the work of Hofstede, Trompenaars, and Schwartz to predict the specific sources of guidance on which managers rely. Focusing on sources of guidance is expected to provide a more precise basis than do generalized measures of values for understanding the behaviors that prevail within different cultures. Values are strongly predictive of reliance on those sources of guidance that are relevant to vertical relationships within organizations. However, values are less successful in predicting reliance on peers and on more tacit sources of guidance. Explaining national differences in these neglected aspects of organizational processes will require greater sensitivity to the culture-specific contexts within which they occur.

Notes that methodological problems are hampering the growth of cross‐cultural marketing research and presents a review of methodological issues to address these problems. Organizes these issues around a six‐step framework which includes elements such as problem definition, the development of an approach and research design formulation. Notes that the marketing research problem can be defined by comparing the phenomenon or behaviour in separate cultural contexts and eliminating the influence of the self‐reference criterion. Discusses issues in data analysis such as treatment of outliers and standardization of data. Concludes with an interpretation of results and report presentation.

Les indices de qualité de vie et les politiques publiques: Revue de la littérature et perspectives de recherche. Plusieurs gouvernements et institutions publiques ont développé des indices de qualité de vie, indices statistiques destinés à établir une mesure de la qualité de vie à l'échelon national ou régional. Nous utilisons 14 critères afin de déterminer la validité et l'utilité de tels indices à des fins de politiques publiques. Nous passons en revue 22 des indices les plus utilisés dans les pays les plus divers. Notre conclusion est que beaucoup de ces indices sont efficaces; s'ils sont réalisés avec sérieux, s'ils sont basés sur des séries temporelles et s'ils peuvent être désagrégés au niveau des sous-populations. Cependant beaucoup sont limités selon quatre points de vue: (1) ils varient énormément en ce qui concerne l'amplitude des domaines pris en compte et des définitions données de la qualité de vie; (2) aucun ne distingue les entrées, les flux et les sorties, concepts utilisés en général par les analystes de politiques publiques; (3) on ne voit pas de lien entre les politiques publiques mises en oeuvre et les résultats en termes de qualité de vie; (4) il n'y a pas eu d'études de comparaison d'indices. Nous concluons que ce n'est que potentiellement que ces indices peuvent être utiles pour la détermination des politiques publiques et nous recommandons des recherches afin de les améliorer.

Consumer adoption of renewable energies is an important step towards less carbon-intensive and more sustainable energy systems. But despite growing ecological awareness and articulated preferences for green products, renewable energies face slow rates of diffusion in consumer markets. This has been hard to explain given consumers’ favorability to the concept of products that lower one’s impact on the natural environment. This study uses data from 254 homeowners in Ireland to investigate the psychological process of adopting a renewable energy system – solar energy panels. Applying Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT), this research examines a proposed model in which reasons both for and against adopting solar panels mediate the relationship between consumers’ attitudes, values and adoption intentions. Results suggest the model is generally supported with both reasons for adoption and reasons against adoption having countervailing influences in the psychological processing of adoption intentions. These findings suggest that researchers and marketers should include mediating constructs, such as (i) reasons for adoption, (ii) reasons against adoption, and (iii) attitudes toward a technology when attempting to explain how consumers think about the adoption of renewable energy systems.