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The attraction of public private partnerships (PPPs) for governments is that the on-ground fructification of infrastructure projects is far higher than the traditional implementation route through public sector or departmental undertakings. Besides, time overruns are also considerably reduced. However, empirical evidence does not clearly establish that PPPs are cost efficient. This coupled with the risk intensity has impacted the long run flow of private capital to infrastructure PPPs and it therefore calls for a more scientific approach to management of profitability related risks. Appropriate management control systems (MCS) could be the answer, provided they can favorably impact profitability. Aggregating data from road, ports, airports, urban infrastructure, railways and power PPP ventures implemented in India, this chapter attempts to study the relationship between MCS and returns to sponsors through regression analysis. The study concludes that multiple MCS have a significant relationship with sponsors’ profitability.

In this chapter, we apply diffusion of innovation theory and the theory of management fashion to examine the diffusion trajectory of human resource (HR) analytics in a U.S. context. We focus on the role mass media plays in influencing the diffusion process and address two research questions. First, does the mass media on HR analytics make observable the positive outcomes of HR analytics and is this related to increasing HR analytics adoption over time? Second, does the mass media on HR analytics show evidence of management trendsetting rhetoric?

We analyze published popular trade, business press, and peer-reviewed academic articles over a decade using a big data discourse analytical technique, natural language processing.

We find preliminary evidence that suggests that although the media has broadcasted positive outcomes of HR analytics, adoption has tailed off. In concert with the tailing off of HR analytic adoptions, the media appears to be recasting HR analytics as solving newer problems such as managing talent. Whether this shift makes a difference has yet to be determined.

Business press appears to influence the adoption process, both by broadcasting positive outcomes and through creating management fashion trendsetting rhetoric.

To promote the use of HR analytics, academic institutions and the HR profession need to train HR professionals in the use and benefits of HR analytics.

We lay the groundwork to improve our understanding of the role media plays in influencing how new HRM practices spread across organizations. We introduce the application of an emerging big data analytic technique, natural language processing, to analyze published media on HR analytics.

Notwithstanding the relevance of managerial control systems (MCS) in any organization, as well the distinctive role they can play in family business, due to its specific features, the literature rarely dealt with the role and characteristics of MCS in family business. Taking into account previous contributions from different disciplines (organization, management accounting, and family business), the current work aims to better understand the state of the art about research in the field of MCS in family business in order to identify main research gaps and propose future research directions.

Forty-five articles have been analyzed, which were issued in 29 sources. Research findings show that the literature on MCS in family business is limited and not very conclusive. Some authors focused on the type of controls, other authors outlined the role of MCS in managerialization and the relation with professionalization. A few studies focused on some specific mechanisms, especially strategic planning and compensation. Some contributes dealt with MCS’ determinants and impacts. Differences between family and non-family firms were proposed. However, a clear and organized picture of the features of MCS in family firms, their determinants, and impacts has not yet been developed. Particularly, the impact of the distinctive features of family business on MCS represents an underdeveloped research field along with how MCS can be differently developed and used in different kinds of family firms. In the light of findings of the literature review, we propose a reference research framework on MCS in family business.

Our meta-analysis of 92 international samples, with a total sample size of 8,491, demonstrates that firms following internationalization strategies by means of external growth modes can realize a significant positive performance impact on firm performance (r=0.156). This performance effect is significantly stronger than for firms using external growth strategies in their home country (117 samples, with a total sample size of 29,998, r=0.077). Moderating effects are found for the type of international business combination (mergers and acquisitions versus alliance) and the internationalizing firm's region of origin, whereas the relatedness of the firms and the region entered show no moderating impact.

Institutional support at local, state, and national levels, including the services offered by business incubators, impacts women entrepreneurs’ venture creation and success. Yet, our understanding about the influence of an incubator’s attributes on women entrepreneurship remains limited. In this chapter, we develop a framework to analyze how incubator attributes encourage women’s entrepreneurship in the USA. We begin by discussing how homophily and signaling theories can help us understand whether incubators are using inclusive practices. Then, we draw a sample of 30 Impact Award winners from the International Business Incubation Association (InBIA), a global association of incubators, and we use three sources of data for our analysis and conclusions: incubator features and demographics, mission statements, and media coverage from Nexis Uni. Based on our findings, we find low levels of gender inclusive practices among the most impactful business incubators. We conclude by offering suggested practices to make business incubators more inclusive of women entrepreneurs.

Research on high-growth firms (HGFs) or gazelles is expanding due to their significant contribution to job growth and economic development. However, the knowledge about the conditions and factors that set these firms on their rapid growth trajectory remains fragmented. Therefore, this chapter provides an abreast inventory of the surging gazelle studies by systematically reviewing the international gazelle growth literature and consolidating firm-level, industry-level, and macroeconomic-level growth factors and their interactions as elaborated in the studies. Based on the review of 62 international empirical studies, this chapter finds that the gazelle growth is complex and multidimensional in its scope and nature. The firm’s growth intention and entrepreneurial nature emerge as necessary but not sufficient conditions to guarantee rapid growth as it results from the impact of and interaction between various firm-level and external factors. The different growth-influencing factors are summarized using a theoretical gazelle growth model, which supports the rare and temporal nature of the gazelle growth.

This contribution focuses on analyzing the challenges of diversity in Africa, with a focus on the case of Cameroon. This country, generally presented as “Africa in miniature,” reflects Africa's diversity in different fields: economic, ethnic, religious, linguistic, climatic, ecological. The introductory chapter is the analysis of the diversity in the context of economic growth in Africa. It takes an illustrative testimony of a Cameroonian company executive on its vision and diversity management practices. Thereafter, the chapter highlights the different challenges of diversity management in Cameroon in connection with different analysis settings. The international and African context of diversity is presented to better identify the specifics of Cameroon in the management of diversity. The historical context helps to better understand the challenge of legitimizing heuristic research on diversity. The legal context sheds light on the challenges of institutional regulation of diversity. The cultural context highlights the centrality of the issue of ethnicity. The conclusion explores new fields of research on diversity management and identifies some emerging dimensions of Cameroon's diversity.

The concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) attracts considerable attention in the organizational literature. Focusing on issues related to measurement of EO and using a three-pronged framework to organize the growing diversity of EO measures, the authors conduct a systematic literature review on how EO is captured and assessed in the empirical literature. Specifically, the authors classify 551 empirical works according to the approach to measurement (i.e., managerial perceptions, content analysis, and resource allocations) which allows the authors to document and critically analyze prevalent measurement practices within the literature. Based on the synthesis, the authors identify key measurement-related tensions that may inhibit cumulative knowledge development in the area of EO, such as ad hoc modification of seminal scales and lack of theoretical clarity with respect to measurement. Additionally, the authors find that research into the antecedents of EO as well as causality and temporality of the phenomenon is underdeveloped, which the authors attribute to scarce use of mixed methods. The authors conclude chapter by discussing the challenges involved in measuring EO and offering possible recommendations for future inquiry.

The AICPA strongly suggests that accounting educators constantly monitor existing course offerings for content and relevance. To assist in this goal, the AICPA provides a list of various “core competency” skills that are recommended for future accountants (AICPA, 2013a). We review some of these skills and discuss how we incorporate them into an accounting elective course at a private liberal arts institution. Using a series of modules specifically designed to address various core competencies, students are able to obtain both knowledge and skills that will be useful in their future accounting careers. Based on student perceptions collected at the beginning and end of the semester, the class was successful in augmenting competencies relating to aspects of research and communication.