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The student-managed investment fund (SMIF) program at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), was launched in 1995 with one portfolio worth $50,000. In the two decades since then, the program has grown to include three portfolios with a combined value of more than $700,000, managed on behalf of three different clients. The purpose of this paper is to describe the creation, evolution and growth of the program including the development of the new quantitative approach and its subsequent implementation. The paper also discusses the ongoing organizational, educational and investment-management challenges associated with the program.

The paper includes a description of the development and evolution of the program along with a discussion of the investment results for one of its three portfolios.

The paper finds: the new quantitative approach implemented in the program is effective as insurance against “black swan” events; and SMIF-type programs can provide learning experiences both for students and faculty members.

The paper explains the practical application of the new quantitative approach as well as the educational benefits of a SMIF-type program.

The paper provides insight into the structure of CSULB’s SMIF program and discusses a unique quantitative approach to asset allocation and security selection.

This study aims to investigate limited partners’ (LPs) influence on venture capital (VC) fund returns.

We merge data from Preqin and SDC’s VentureXpert spanning from 1993 to 2014 and conduct multiple regression analysis to examine the influence of LPs on VC fund performance. Additionally, we conduct three distinct robustness tests to verify the credibility of our findings.

Our empirical analysis demonstrates that newbie LPs consistently exert a significant positive influence on VC fund returns.

VC and LP data is self-reported, and there is no comprehensive dataset as some LPs prefer to maintain anonymity.

Extant literature on LPs’ contribution to VC fund performance is limited. The general assumption is that the role of LPs in VC fund performance is confined to funding. We introduce a new variable, LP track record, as a proxy for LP experience to examine if this variable influences VC performance.

This study empirically analyzes the direct impacts of soft quality management practices (SQMP) and market orientation ambidexterity (MOA) on product innovation ambidexterity (PIA). It also examines the mediating role of MOA in the relationship between SQMP and PIA.

Following a quantitative research methodology, a well-structured questionnaire is used to collect data from 130 Moroccan certified ISO 9001 firms. The conceptual framework of the study was tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results show that SQMP have no significant association with PIA while they positively and significantly impact MOA. The study also revealed that MOA has a positive and significant impact on PIA and fully mediates the relationship between SQMP and PIA.

Due to the conceptualization of MOA and PIA as combined ambidexterity, the results of the study might be different in the case of balanced ambidexterity.

To achieve PIA, managers need to be aware that implementing SQMP, while important, is not enough. They must invest sufficient resources to properly implement these practices to support MOA. Consequently, MOA will lead their organization to PIA by establishing the significant impact of SQMP on PIA.

Regardless of the abundant literature on the relationship between quality management (QM) practices and innovation, this study is among the first to examine the impact of SQMP on PIA. Using MOA as a mediator can give a meaningful answer to the indecisive empirical results of the impact of QM on innovation. Furthermore, this research contributes to the scarce literature on relevant studies conducted in developing countries.

Innovation is critical for the firms to gain competitive advantage and improve performance. Such innovation stems from process innovation generation (PIG) and/or process innovation adoption (PIA). PIG vs PIA motivates firms for cutting development cost, reducing development time, improving product quality, saving energy, preventing or mitigating pollution and recycling waste. Various factors have been identified as the determinants of PIG and PIA. One of them is social capital. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze the effects of social capital on PIG and/or PIA, and second, to analyze whether the moderation of human capital strengthens/weakens this relationship.

A sample of 318 Pakistani chemical companies was collected for examining the hypotheses. Using hierarchical multiple regression, it relates to the effects of social capital and PIG and PIA; and moderation of human capital. The paper also discusses the theoretical and managerial implications.

The results confirm the hypotheses. The paper finds that social capital ambidextrously impacts on both PIG and PIA. However, this relationship strengthens when there is an interaction of human capital.

Social capital appears to be a powerful driver for generation and adoption of process innovation. Such innovation is a collaborative effort, with social capital assuming a central role. It follows that management would be well served by encouraging communication, flexible dissemination of information integration and sharing of knowledge.

The main value of this paper is in its analysis and testing of the relation of social capital and PIG and PIA. The majority of the literature underlines the paper’s seeking after social capital for product innovation. However, this topic has not been studied in depth and requires more attention, as processes are different and have different antecedents and outcomes.

Flow is an important yet under-utilized concept to examine extraordinary experiences in service encounters. An extensive review of extant literature revealed several conceptual concerns that have contributed to a blurred understanding of flow. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptualization of flow that is complete yet parsimonious.

The paper includes a survey (Study 1, N=202) that covers gaming and online services and a field study (Study 2, N=448) covering a festival context. Structural equation modeling and regression-based mediation analysis are used to analyze the data.

Flow can meaningfully be conceptualized as the process from engrossment to enjoyment. Engrossment comprises loss of self-consciousness, transformation of time, concentration on the task at hand, and action-awareness merging. In service encounters with high achievement content (e.g. gaming or sports), challenge-skill balance, clear goals, unambiguous and immediate feedback, and sense of control serve as antecedents of engrossment. Yet flow also appears in service contexts without achievement content (i.e. where consumers have less control over the outcomes of their performance, such as when listening to music). Across service contexts, the enjoyment and engrossment (directly or indirectly) impact service loyalty.

In terms of improving loyalty or training outcomes service providers should have a clear interest in providing the utmost potential for creating flow experiences during the service encounter. Hedonic offers that allow engrossing in the activity seem particularly effective in this regard.

This paper offers a clear theoretical and empirical distinction of formerly treated facets of flow. It further contributes to extant literature by providing a revised conceptualization that regards flow as the process from engrossment to enjoyment. The revised conceptualization is void of unnecessary dimensions and can be applied and compared across various research contexts, including hedonic, nonachievement services. Moreover, the paper indicates that research streams on flow and immersion might be linked more closely.

– While researchers have discussed the association between career change to self-employment and job satisfaction, few have considered how the association is achieved. Therefore, in this study, the authors aim to explain this relationship from the perspective of job quality. The authors build on job design theory to propose and empirically test how fluctuations in job satisfaction as associated with the transition to self-employment can be explained by changes in job quality.

– The authors tested their propositions using a longitudinal, nationally representative database from Australia for the 2005–2019 period. The final sample included 108,384 observations from 18,755 employees.

– In line with the literature, the authors found that job incumbents experienced low job satisfaction in the years prior to their career change to self-employment and that their job satisfaction improved after the transition. More importantly, the authors found the same change pattern for job quality – measured as job autonomy and skill variety – and the statistical results demonstrated that job quality was the key determinant of job satisfaction during the process.

– This study advocates the importance of job quality in managing employee wellbeing and facilitating retention.

– The authors contribute to the literature by uncovering how job quality, represented by skill variety and job autonomy, can explain fluctuations in job satisfaction during individuals’ career change from paid employment to self-employment.

With the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, competitive data science platforms like Kaggle are gaining momentum. From a host's perspective, the platforms offer access to a large crowd of data scientists who can solve their data science problems efficiently and cost-effectively. From the participant's perspective, the platforms provide the opportunity to apply their skills to real-world problems, interact with other data scientists, and win prizes. The chapter provides an overview of competitive data science platforms and assesses their potential for business and academia. A series of opportunities and challenges of data competitions are outlined, and a concrete case is illustrated. The chapter also demonstrates common pitfalls that hosts of data competitions need to be aware of by discussing the relevance of problem definition, data leakage, and metrics to evaluate different solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to present alternative management practice methods for the cultural heritage sector apart from the traditional public support model. These alternatives rely on sponsorship and patronage as well as the newer and more innovative public-private partnership (PPP).

The paper is organized in two conceptual sections based on a literature review. The first section presents and compares two closely associated business strategy forms that are increasingly becoming popular within companies: sponsorship and patronage. These strategies are analyzed to show their advantages and disadvantages and are assessed based on their best uses in terms of the benefits from their implementation to all stakeholders involved (benefactors, recipients and the public) and, more particularly, to the benefactor’s company communication policy. The second section analyzes the PPP as a newer innovative practice in the cultural heritage sector, a recent development that has great potential, especially during an economic crisis where public funds are reduced, which risks the future recovery and proper maintenance of sites.

In the paper, the authors stressed that sponsorship, patronage and PPP are not merely alternative ways of primarily obtaining government funding for the cultural heritage sector but are also new strategic management practices that, when properly performed, will not only preserve and improve the sector but also allow more value to be distributed among all stakeholders.

Although the topic of PPP is treated fairly in the scientific literature, especially with regard to infrastructure, there are few cases of the application of this model to cultural heritage management.