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The relationship between empowerment and entrepreneurship in collective societies is, in our view, insufficiently examined. Accepted definitions of empowerment and the assumptions underlying programs and research designs based on them result in outcomes that self-fulfil and, as a result, disappoint. Several issues are prevalent: the empowerment potential of programs is overestimated and the dominant view of what constitutes an ‘empowered self’ does not go deep enough to explore, and reframe, the self and its relationship to agency—two issues at the core of empowerment definitions and formulations. In this conceptual article, we examine the entrepreneurship and empowerment literature to suggest ways forward for the future health and relevance of the subject area. We highlight a serious methodological and perceptual issue within the literature, which offers many opportunities for theory development in the field.

The study advances knowledge in the field of business strategy and the environment by incorporating mindfulness theory into the research on socioemotional wealth (SEW) and its environmental consequences in family businesses. Using an integrative model, the paper investigates the relationship between mindfulness SEW dimensions and family firms' environmental strategies, specifically in developing sustainable products and processes. This study also proposes the firm's capabilities as a mediator in this relationship, while market turbulence is a moderator in the relationship between the firm's capabilities and sustainable products and processes. The empirical results show that in protecting SEW, specifically in the identification of family members with the firm and binding social ties, mindfulness provides a rich endowment that develops appropriate capabilities to produce sustainable products and processes. While the moderating role of market turbulence is insignificant, we can infer that irrespective of how turbulent (or not) the market is, the firm's capabilities are a key determinant of sustainable products and processes. Our findings offer theoretical and managerial implications for sustainable practices in the family business context.

PurposeThis paper positions environmental concern as the antecedent of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. It also sets to expand the theory of planned behaviour by including two condition factors: favourable situation and facility availability on the intention to separate food waste at source.Design/methodology/approachThe study collects data by using self-administered questionnaires on 682 respondents in Malaysia. Structural equation modelling is employed to test the conceptual model and the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that environmental concern positively influences attitude and subjective norms, which, in turn, influences food waste separation intention. Favourable situation and facility availability are found to influence the separation intention.Originality/valueThis study is one of the earliest studies to investigate residents’ intention to participate in food waste separation at a source that employs the expanded theory of planned behaviour with environmental concern and condition factors.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop an empirically informed framework to analyze women empowerment and entrepreneurship, contextualized within a collective society.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with women entrepreneurs located in the United Arab Emirates to understand their entrepreneurial experiences and how they were empowered.FindingsFindings suggest that the three aspects of power characterized as “positive” from within Rowlands’ distinctions (“power to”, “power with” and “power within”) dominate, as opposed to those emphasized in the literature (“power to” and “power over”). Findings include empowerment of the “me” (individual) also synergistically contributes to empowerment of the “we” (society), when considering empowerment within a collective society.Originality/valueA psychology model was used as a basis to develop a Collective Empowerment Process Framework. This framework provides a fresh look at empowerment, allowing for explanations of how women in specific contexts experience empowerment and social change.