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1 – 10 of over 105000Faezeh Hanifzadeh, Kambiz Talebi and Seyed Mojtaba Sajadi
The purpose of this study is to achieve an integrated understanding of the relationship between the desire of business managers for growth and their behavior toward business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to achieve an integrated understanding of the relationship between the desire of business managers for growth and their behavior toward business growth, with regard to variables affecting this relationship, within the framework of the theory of planned behavior. The main motivation for conducting this study was the lack of studies about the effects of cognitive factors on the growth of SMEs in Iran. In addition, behavior, personality, and specific characteristics of entrepreneurs, which have a great impact on the decision-making process and development of growth strategies, have been less taken into account in previous studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The present paper reviews the existing literature on growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), theory of planned behavior as well as previous studies on business growth of SMEs within the framework of planned behavior theory. The conceptual model of the research was compiled from the models of two previous studies. The mixed approach is implemented and the statistical population of the research comprises of the managers of exporting manufacturing SMEs. In the qualitative section, data were analyzed using open codification technique and the partial least squares software package was utilized to conduct the quantitative data analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that the desire of managers for business growth has a direct and positive impact on their behavior toward business growth. This means that the higher the desire of managers for growth, the higher the level of business growth they would achieve because the raising level of desire leads to making a greater effort for achieving the goal. In this study, personality traits of managers, business environment features and business features were analyzed as the factors influencing the desire of managers for business growth.
Practical implications
This paper will be useful for entrepreneurs, policymakers and researchers given its results about the effects of the desire of managers for growth on the measures and outcomes of business growth. This study suggests that the business environment has an important influence on its growth, and that the environmental dynamism paves the way for the growth of SMEs.
Originality/value
Most studies on business growth have focused on economic and political aspects affecting the growth of enterprises, and few studies have dealt with psychological traits of managers. The present study attempted to fill this gap in the literature and add to the very limited number of studies conducted about the effects of psychological factors on business growth. This means that the higher the desire of managers for growth, the higher the level of business growth they would achieve. In other words, higher levels of business growth are indicative of the desire of managers for growth, which itself is influenced by personality traits, business environment features and business features.
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Esme Franken, Geoff Plimmer and Sanna Malinen
Support from managers that enables employee growth promotes adaptation to changing and complex job challenges. Guided by social exchange theory, this study aims to establish…
Abstract
Purpose
Support from managers that enables employee growth promotes adaptation to changing and complex job challenges. Guided by social exchange theory, this study aims to establish growth-oriented management (GOM) as a key management capability to support employee growth. It also identifies employee resilience as a mechanism for growth in employees and examines its role in mediating the relationships between GOM and key employee outcomes: well-being and work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on survey data (n = 751) from white-collar employees in Australia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to estimate the fit of the hypothesized model to the data. Confirmatory factor analysis was also performed to examine convergent and discriminant validity of the study variables.
Findings
Findings show GOM influenced well-being and work engagement, both directly and indirectly through employee resilience. This reveals more broadly that the unique combination of behaviors that comprise GOM plays a pivotal role in supporting growth-oriented outcomes in employees.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study on the impact of GOM on well-being and engagement, as well as on the mediating mechanism of employee resilience in these relationships. GOM is an innovative contribution to scholarship on employee and organizational development, reflecting the changing nature of management, and responding to the increasingly diverse development needs of employees.
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Francis Donbesuur, Magnus Hultman, Nathaniel Boso and Pejvak Oghazi
The aim of the study is to examine the effects of opportunity creation and discovery on the performance of family firms. Specifically, from the tenets of dynamic capabilities and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the study is to examine the effects of opportunity creation and discovery on the performance of family firms. Specifically, from the tenets of dynamic capabilities and organizational contingency perspectives, this study proposes and tests a framework of how family firms' creation and discovery behavior impact venture growth and the conditions under which such impact can vary.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses moderated-hierarchical regression to analyze survey data from 156 family-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating within a sub-Saharan African economy.
Findings
The findings indicate that creation behavior has a curvilinear U-shaped relationship with venture growth, while discovery behavior has a direct positive relationship with venture growth. Further analysis reveals that the curvilinearity of the U-shaped relationship between creation and venture growth will be stronger for older family firms than for younger ones.
Research limitations/implications
The study findings may be limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data and the specific focus on family firms only.
Practical implications
The results highlight the significance of pursuing both opportunities among family firms. In fact, both creation and discovery opportunities are significant drivers of family firm growth, albeit in different capacities. Relatedly, managers of older family firms (compared to younger firms) can invest more in exploiting creative opportunities.
Social implications
From these findings, governments and other stakeholders should create enabling environment and institutional frameworks conducive to exploiting opportunities by entrepreneurial firms.
Originality/value
The study is novel – as it provides unique findings on the performance implications of creation and discovery behavior of entrepreneurial family firms within developing economies.
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This study aims to analyze bank lending behavior before and during the most recent financial crisis. Banks are more willing to grant loans during economic expansion. However, this…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze bank lending behavior before and during the most recent financial crisis. Banks are more willing to grant loans during economic expansion. However, this behavior can result in reduced portfolio asset quality. The analysis tries to facilitate understanding of whether this relationship is always true. A second aim of the study is to highlight whether the impact of credit risk on bank lending behavior during a financial crisis is greater for banks that grew faster during the pre-crisis period than for other banks.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a sample of banks in Italy, an example of a country undergoing a credit crunch without a lending bubble burst. The methodology is based on a panel regression and author uses different models to test his hypothesis: an ordinary least squares, a fixed effect, a least absolute regression and a Generalized Method of Momentum (GMM). This allows to mitigate some of the endogeneity problems.
Findings
The essay shows that effectively, most of the banks that grew faster during a pre-crisis period show a higher growth of non-performing loans and a greater reduction in lending activity during a financial crisis. However, 34 per cent of banks that grew faster during a pre-crisis period have a low growth of non-performing loans in the subsequent years. Finally, the results suggest that credit risk negatively affects bank lending behavior, but a higher impact relative to fast banks with respect to other banks cannot be emphasized.
Practical implications
Findings have some policy implications. First, given the adverse effect of the increase of non-performing loans (NPLs) on the bank’s lending activity and on the broad economy in general, there is merit to strengthen supervision to prevent a further increase and accumulation of NPLs in the bank’s credit portfolio. In addition, the supervisors could require that banks take always high credit standard when extend credit, both during positive economic cycle and during period of contraction. The using of higher credit standard could be helpful in the reduction of the pro-cyclicality of bank’s lending behavior and credit risk. Furthermore, the fact that high level of NPLs continues to impact on the bank’s lending activity and that this activity is very important for the economic recovery underlines that banks should clean-up their credit portfolios as soon as possible.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in various ways. The study analyzes the cyclical effect of credit growth, i.e. banks increase their bank lending behavior during good times, which leads to an increase in bad loans and a high credit risk in their portfolio. These cyclical effects are not knowingly studied together, but the literature usually analyzes the single steps of the cycle. Second, studying listed and unlisted banks allows to have a more representative sample and to analyze better the real bank lending activity considering both commercial than cooperative banks.
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The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the nature of integrated models for information behaviour from the perspective of conceptual growth in this field of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the picture of the nature of integrated models for information behaviour from the perspective of conceptual growth in this field of study.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual analysis focusing on the ways in which the researchers have developed integrated models. The study concentrates on seven key models proposed by Bates, Choo and associates, Godbold, Robson and Robinson, and Wilson.
Findings
Researchers have employed four main approaches to develop integrated models. First, such frameworks are based on the juxtaposition of individual models. Second, integrated models are built by cross-tabulating the components of diverse models. Third, such models are constructed by relating similar components of individual models. Finally, integrated models are built by incorporating components taken from diverse frameworks. The integrated models have contributed to conceptual growth in three major ways: first, by integrating formerly separate parts of knowledge; second, by generalizing and explaining lower abstraction-level knowledge through higher level constructs; and third, by expanding knowledge by identifying new characteristics of the object of study.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are based on the comparison of seven models only. The integrated frameworks of information retrieval were excluded from the study.
Originality/value
The study pioneers by providing an in-depth analysis the nature of integrated models for information behaviour. The findings contribute to the identification of the key factors of information behaviour.
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Huan Ye, Songbai Xue, Cheng Chen and Yang Li
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the growth behavior and mechanism of Sn whisker induced by RE addition in Sn‐Zn‐Ga‐Pr solder at ambient condition.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the growth behavior and mechanism of Sn whisker induced by RE addition in Sn‐Zn‐Ga‐Pr solder at ambient condition.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of aging treatment, FIB and SEM microstructure analysis, the whisker growth behavior was investigated.
Findings
It was found that the morphologies of tin whisker are changed during air exposure. After 60 days aging, the average length of the longest whiskers could reach up to 70 μm, some whiskers even can grow to a length of 100 μm. It was discussed that the oxidation of Pr‐Sn intermetallics provides driving force for whisker growth.
Originality/value
Tin whisker growth is a complex reliability issue for lead‐free solder. The current research can be helpful in re‐understanding the issue of tin whisker growth as well as an enriched understanding on the effects of REs on lead‐free solders.
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The Indian technical education has experienced an exponential growth since 1995. However, the technical education system was not able to sustain it and the enrollments…
Abstract
Purpose
The Indian technical education has experienced an exponential growth since 1995. However, the technical education system was not able to sustain it and the enrollments, particularly in engineering, fell down considerably. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the growth of Indian technical education from system dynamics (SD) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Technical education is a complex system in which the outcome of a decision comes with a third order delay. SD is an appropriate tool to analyze the causal structure and behavior of complex systems. This study developed an analogy from the physics of a boomerang to do the comparative assessment of “sudden overshoot and collapse” phase in the growth of Indian technical education. Further, it compared the technical education growth with the Gartner hype cycle. The growth model of Indian technical education was developed using SD software STELLA (version 10.0).
Findings
The model was simulated for five different policy scenarios. The outcome of the SD analysis shows that the “goal-seeking behaviour,” which produces stable growth without hampering quality, is the best proposition amongst all scenarios considered in the study. It identifies policies which will enable long-term stability in the Indian technical education system as well as policies which will lead to perpetual instability in the system.
Research limitations/implications
The study conducted will encourage researchers to use SD in analyzing complex systems for sustainability and in the selection of appropriate policies.
Originality/value
The paper uses boomerang analogy for analyzing the growth in engineering enrollments and highlights the presence of “the boomerang effect,” a term coined by the authors for sudden overshoot and collapse behavior, in the causal structure which is injurious to the education system.
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Shuji Tomaru and Akiyuki Takahashi
Since the most of structures and structural components suffers from cyclic loadings, the study on the fatigue failure due to the crack growth has a great importance. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Since the most of structures and structural components suffers from cyclic loadings, the study on the fatigue failure due to the crack growth has a great importance. The purpose of this paper is to present a three-dimensional fatigue crack growth simulation of embedded cracks using s-version finite element method (SFEM). Using the numerical results, the validity of the fitness-for-service (FFS) code evaluation method is verified.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, three-dimensional fatigue crack propagation analysis of embedded cracks is performed using the SFEM. SFEM is a numerical analysis method in which the shape of the structure is represented by a global mesh, and cracks are modeled by local meshes independently. The independent global and local meshes are superimposed to obtain the displacement solution of the problem simultaneously.
Findings
The fatigue crack growth of arbitrary shape of cracks is slow compared to that of the simplified circular crack and the crack approximated based on the FFS code of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME). The results tell us that the FFS code of JSME can provide a conservative evaluation of the fatigue crack growth and the residual life time.
Originality/value
This paper presents a three-dimensional fatigue crack growth simulation of embedded cracks using SFEM. Using this method, it is possible to apply mixed mode loads to complex shaped cracks that are closer to realistic conditions.
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Roopa Modem, Sethumadhavan Lakshminarayanan, Rajasekharan Pillai and Nandan Prabhu
The dynamic career scenario and the significant change from traditionally placing careers in employers’ hands to self-managing one’s careers have sparked profound scholarly…
Abstract
Purpose
The dynamic career scenario and the significant change from traditionally placing careers in employers’ hands to self-managing one’s careers have sparked profound scholarly interest in career growth. This paper aims to analyze quadricentennial literature on career growth published during the years 1995 through 2020. In this paper, through bibliometric and integrative reviews, the authors address the two critical questions, “what do we know?” and “where should we go?” While the bibliometric review examines the evolution and trends, the integrative review examines the dynamics of conceptual frameworks, primary research foci, research context and quality in research designs and methods.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines to identify the papers for this review. The data set comprised 102 papers and 60 papers for bibliometric and integrative review, respectively. “CiteSpace” is used for the bibliometric analysis and the template designed by the authors is used for the integrative review.
Findings
The results present conceptual clarification for career growth and its related constructs. The bibliometric analysis findings highlight the extensive research on career growth followed by organizational career growth and career growth opportunities. The findings also show that seven of the top 10 productive authors are from China. This study also identifies theoretical, conceptual and methodological opportunities and provides recommendations intended to further research engagements across the different aspects of career growth.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to introduce bibliometric analysis into career growth literature. This research adopts an integrative review approach and offers insights into career growth literature.
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Esteban Lafuente, Yancy Vaillant and Jorge Moreno-Gómez
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how different strategic choices related to the transitions in-and-out of exporting (export entry, export persistence, export exit) impact…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how different strategic choices related to the transitions in-and-out of exporting (export entry, export persistence, export exit) impact employment growth in Romanian small- and medium-sized businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Using linear regression models on a sample of 566 Romanian SMEs, The authors model employment growth as a function of three different dimensions of foreign market participation: export entry, persistence and exit.
Findings
Results indicate that exporting is positively associated with employment growth. The findings reveal that the different strategic choices linked to exporting have a differentiating impact on employment growth: while employment growth is more pronounced among new exporters which points to the presence of an impulse effect of exporting, businesses that interrupt their exporting activities report employment losses.
Research limitations/implications
This study underlines the relevance of distinguishing the specific impact of the different export behaviours related to the transitions in-and-out of exporting.
Practical implications
The results of the study fuel the debate on the relevance of promoting policies that encourage exporting among small businesses operating in emerging economies.
Originality/value
This study presents an original analysis of the distinctive effect that different forms of export behaviour related to the transitions in-and-out of exporting have on employment growth. The relevance of this study not only flows from the particular empirical design that simultaneously evaluates different export choices and their specific impact on employment growth.
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