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EARLY NOMINEES for BEST PAPER AWARD:

Nominee #1: Assessing the Evolution of Carbon Emissions of Large Companies: New Dynamics or Greenwashing?

The Carbon Disclosure Project reveals that the world's largest 100 companies have contributed to 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988. However, even seven years after the Paris Agreement, these companies' efforts still need to be increased to alter the hazardous course of emissions. Present methodologies for quantifying emissions at the company level offer limited insights, often presenting overall scores or assessing CSR's influence on performance.

To address this gap, we present an enhanced methodology centered on the carbon footprint within the environmental dimension. Our innovative methods employ indices to evaluate firms' performance evolution within sectors. Our approach, extendable to other firms and regions, such as the London Stock Exchange or S&P 500, scrutinizes the carbon footprint evolution of CAC 40 companies relative to their revenues. By evaluating progress against sector peers between 2016 and 2020, we enable performance tracking, industry benchmarking, and the identification of enhancement opportunities.

Actionable recommendations emerge when companies are categorized as leaders, laggards, or non-reporters based on their carbon emissions. Our findings indicate a decline in direct emissions but a concerning upsurge in indirect emissions, suggesting potential outsourced carbon footprints within the value chain. This trend prompts suspicion of greenwashing practices, warranting further scrutiny.

Nominee #2: Is Membership in the OECD Advantageous in Terms of Enterpreneurship for the Developing Countries?

Entrepreneurship serves as the cornerstone of both national and local economic expansion. By fostering innovation and capitalizing on opportunities, entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in driving economic transformation and enhancing competitiveness on a national and regional scale. However, entrepreneurship faces various hurdles that demand policy interventions, including regulatory constraints, limited access to financial resources, underutilization of research knowledge, insufficient entrepreneurial skills, and the imperative to provide equal opportunities to women, youth, and individuals from diverse social backgrounds to establish prosperous businesses. The OECD offers in-depth analysis and guidance concerning entrepreneurship policies, addressing national, regional, and social challenges. The OECD assesses policymakers' primary concerns in entrepreneurship development through comprehensive case studies and reviews. At the regional level, the organization scrutinizes the barriers hindering entrepreneurship and the factors facilitating industrial transition and growth. Notably, the OECD includes member countries that are in the process of development. This study conducts a comparative examination of developing countries within and outside the OECD. It aims to determine if OECD membership influences the entrepreneurial environment in these nations. The literature review reveals a notable gap in research on this topic, which this paper addresses by filling it.

Nominee #3: What Makes Gray Women Entrepreneurs Happier: Education Level, Entrepreneurial Ladder, and Subjective Well-being.

While many factors have been investigated as critical determinants of entrepreneurial behaviors, there needs to be more understanding of the relationship between gray women entrepreneurs' education level, the entrepreneurial ladder, and subjective well-being. This study explores the effects of women's education level on the likelihood of engaging in different entrepreneurial stages, which drives their happiness. Using the survey of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the proposed model was empirically evaluated through the structural equation modeling from 112 samples in Taiwan. Results reveal that the education level of gray women entrepreneurs positively impacts subjective well-being. However, their education level negatively influences the entrepreneurial ladder, positively impacting subjective well-being. These findings suggest policymakers should customize aging females' entrepreneurship policy and enhance subjective well-being.

Nominee #4: Humane Entrepreneurship: Hiring Individuals with Disabilities

Hiring individuals with disabilities can be rewarding for the company, including creating a competitive advantage for the individuals. There are 1.3 billion people worldwide experiencing a disability. This number is staggering. However, this large group represents an extensive group of potential new hires. It is time to think about creating companies with a higher purpose, including ways to incorporate individuals with disabilities into their organizations. This is a challenging task. It will take thought to create a support structure for individuals with disabilities. Entrepreneurs overcome obstacles. They pivot when needed. The call to action is clear. Hiring individuals with disabilities is doing well for the business while doing good for society.

Nominee #5: Daraz Group: Transformation from a small online retailer to South Asia's most prominent digital branded retailer.

With the boom in e-commerce, two young entrepreneurs co-founded a small online fashion retailer in 2012 in Pakistan. By 2018, after the acquisition of China's Alibaba, the business had emerged as the most prominent digital fashion retailer in South Asia. With growing competitiveness in the highly competitive online fashion retailing, this paper examines the importance of supplementary services, which has yet to receive much attention in previous studies. The paper posits that supplementary services play a significant role in determining customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, which are paramount in improving digital retailers' financial performance. Online retailers. The study's originality is in applying the emotional attachment theory. It is the first to investigate the effect of supplementary services on consumer attachment and its consequences in the context of branded online fashion retailers in Pakistan. Based on primary data collected through a survey, the study's empirical findings have several theoretical and practical applications.

Nominee #6: Eclipsing Success: Tall Poppy Syndrome as a dark side of entrepreneurship in New Zealand

New Zealand (NZ) is often described as having a favorable environment for entrepreneurs, with a thriving SME sector, low barriers to entry, and strong institutions (Kahiya, 2020). However, lurking beneath these positive indicators is a dark side of NZ's culture, Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS), the tendency to resent or mock individuals and businesses who achieve notable success or status (Neill et al., 2021). Such negative feedback may dampen the pursuit of entrepreneurial success and affect the well-being of those who experience it (Kirkwood, 2007). This paper reports the results of a convenience sample of NZ entrepreneurs' experience with TPS to illustrate the dark sides of this phenomenon in action. The data provide a snapshot of how individuals believe they experienced TPS, but more significantly, how this experience impacted them. Our presentation focuses on a thematic analysis of the qualitative data we received via open-ended questions in our survey. Entrepreneurs are well placed to change the conversation about TPS, and we offer strategies for them to do so, as well as suggestions for accepting success within the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem in NZ and internationally.

Nominee #7: Unveiling the Entrepreneurial Archetypes: Spirituality as a key to enhancing Entrepreneurial Performance

The study investigates how Spirituality (SP) values, assessed through Spiritual Well-Being (SWB), shape entrepreneurial profiles and impact Entrepreneurial Performance (EP). SWB encompasses relationships with self, others, the world, and a higher power. EP traditionally relies on economic indicators but now includes non-economic factors and stakeholder considerations. Through qualitative analysis of interviews with 25 Mexican entrepreneurs, three archetypes emerge: "task-oriented" entrepreneurs prioritize financial outcomes at the expense of well-being; "solopreneurs" prioritize mission-driven impact over monetary gain; and "holistic" entrepreneurs balance personal well-being, societal impact, and and and and economic success. Understanding these archetypes helps entrepreneurs recognize their current state and develop traits conducive to EP, considering SWB's dynamic nature. These findings offer valuable insights for navigating contemporary entrepreneurial challenges and optimizing performance in a changing global landscape.

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Ayman Tarabishy
George Washington University
Washington DC
(202) 629-7192
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