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The purpose of this paper is to assessthe probable influence of some of the emotional costs and returns expected by owners on their family business sale decision; and examine if the perceived economic environment during the economic and financial crisis of 2008 had an impact on the intention to sell their family business.

The research is based on a sample of 69 family businesses responding to a postal questionnaire survey. The empirical study is made up of a descriptive analysis of the factors influencing the intention of a family business sale and an explanatory analysis of the sale intention.

The desire for family business renewal through family generational succession is the main emotional factor lying behind the decision to continue/sell the business. Furthermore, the financial and economic crisis does not seem to be a factor that accentuates the intention to sell the family business even if firms’ financial performance has declined.

Future research could implement a direct measure of owners’ performance thresholds and explicitly integrate the moderating role of “Perceived economic environment.”

By showing that continuity is a key concern for family business owners, the research invites them to effectively prepare their succession instead of postponing this strategic process given its significance in guaranteeing the survivability of the family business.

Executives who perceived economic conditions as very poor are less likely to consider the sale of the business in the horizon of two years than executives perceiving them as “normal.” The study confirms that in family-owned businesses, for the owner-managers and the active and serene family shareholders, the sale price does not compensate for their emotional regret evaluated through the loss of the family business’ emotional value.

This paper aims to explore dynamics of post termination interaction between international joint venture (IJV) partners and empirically examines IJV level and dyad level factors that influence the choice of post IJV termination interaction as supplier, complement or competitor.

In-depth literature review is undertaken to identify IJV and dyad level that could influence the choice of post termination interaction between terminated IJV partners. Hypotheses are empirically validated using multinomial logistic regression on data collected on terminated IJV headquartered in India.

The results denote that the choice of post-IJV termination interaction between IJV partners as supplier, complement or competitor is influenced by interdependence, bargaining power, foreign partner’s purpose of IJV, complementarity and type of IJV termination.

This paper explores an under researched area in extant IJV literature that could be taken up for study by academicians. The paper upholds and strengthens the dynamic capabilities view of strategic management in IJV context.

This paper examines a practice adopted by businesses in emerging markets and determines important factors that influence the choice of interaction post IJV termination between partners. Practitioners will be encouraged to understand and plan post termination dynamics with their terminated IJV partner.

The paper undertakes examination of a practical business phenomena, i.e. interaction post termination between terminated IJV partners.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of professional preparation support on the transformation of nascent ventures into actual start‐ups.

An intention‐based approach is used. Longitudinal data concerning 228 nascent entrepreneurs are analysed using hierarchical binary logistic regression.

The positive effect of professional preparation support on start‐up outcomes is apparent in the results. However, self‐selection effects are detected concerning the use of individual preparation support. The results hold after controlling for these selection effects, intention and other project‐ and individual‐level influences.

The sample size limited the number of variables that could be analysed and the operationalisation used for support could be refined. In addition, the macro‐economic context in which the study took place influenced the results. The results concur with those which consider pre‐start‐up preparation support as a valuable tool to help individuals carry their projects through. In addition, they illustrate the relevance of intention‐based entrepreneurship research and show how this approach can be used to study various factors influencing entrepreneurial processes.

The results show that support actors can contribute to start‐up projects getting launched. They also highlight the presence of self‐selection issues that may be important for support networks to take into consideration when designing their programmes.

To the author's knowledge, this is the first application of an intention‐based approach to study the effect of professional support on a group of nascent entrepreneurs identified so early in their preparation.

This study aims to establish the dynamic relationship between international crude oil prices and Indian stock prices represented by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) energy index.

Using Johansen’s cointegration test, vector error correction (VEC) model, impulse response function and variance decomposition test the study tries to ascertain the short-term and long-term dynamic association between the oil price shock and the movement of stock price and Granger causality test is applied to find out the nature of causality.

Considering vector autoregression estimation, the present study analyzes the relationship between the variables and tries to make a valid conclusion. The result of the co-integration test exhibits the presence of a long-term association between these two macro-economic variables during the period under study. Also, in the short-run VEC Granger causality result reveals that the movement of international crude oil price significantly influences the Indian stock price.

To get a more robust result the study can be further extended by taking a longer time period with data of shorter time-frequency such as daily or weekly and further by using more sophisticated econometric and statistical tools. Further, the study can be extended to firm-level investigation considering the forward trading concentration with the Indian oil basket.

In today’s globalized era, forecasting of share price movement helps investors in predicting the market and invest accordingly. Through this liquidity of the markets enhance and markets become more active in the global arena.

This study represents fresh findings in the changing time period the linkage between crude oil prices and stock prices which are of value to the academicians, researchers, policymakers, investors, market regulators, etc.

This paper aims to determine the effect of the period of abandonment on the final cost and duration of resuscitated tertiary educational building projects as a basis for enhancing the performance metrics of the projects and improving the availability of facilities in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

A structured questionnaire was administered on 47 professionals involved in the physical development of construction projects in Osun State public tertiary educational institutions to provide primary data for the study. Secondary data relating to initial and final costs, initial and final completion dates, dates of abandonment, period of abandonment, date of re-award, etc. were obtained from selected resuscitated projects. Data were analyzed using relative significance index and regression analysis.

The most significant effects of project abandonment were found to be disappointment of populace and over-stretching of existing facilities. The study showed a directly proportional and an exponential effect of period of abandonment on percentage cost overrun of resuscitated projects, which were represented by y_c = −329.755 + 19.545x and y_c = 6.1662e_0.0506x, respectively. A linear relationship between period of abandonment and percentage time overrun was represented by y_t = 0.467 + 0.816x.

The fact that the regression equations could not be validated because of paucity of data was identified as a limitation of this study.

This study adds to the body of knowledge on abandonment of building projects from a quantitative perspective. Findings have implications for guiding long-term infrastructure development plans in public tertiary educational institutions.

Maximum threshold at which abandoned projects may be resuscitated at an economic cost was established as 16 months. Findings further suggest that the economy of new construction would outweigh resuscitation of abandoned projects beyond this period.

Business entrepreneurs contribute to socio‐economic development and change through their commercial enterprises. Enterprising individuals seeking to change society or address social issues through an organized initiative have often been referred to as social entrepreneurs. The past decade has witnessed the emergence of a new breed of eco‐conscious change agents who may be called ecological entrepreneurs (ecopreneurs for short). This paper focuses on the strategies developed by six grassroots ecopreneurs drawn from two Indian states, Gujarat and Maharashtra, in the field of alternative agriculture. The cases in this sample consist of individuals who try to diffuse innovations developed by themselves. The paper also explains the conceptual differences between two types of ecopreneurs and provides the theoretical sampling frame; it discusses the research objectives and methodology and presents the ecopreneurs and their efforts at diffusing their eco‐friendly ideas and innovations. Finally, the paper focuses on two important barriers to ecopreneurship, describes the strategies used to overcome these barriers and draws conclusions.

The aim of the study was to examine the use of Porter’s generic strategies and their effect on performance in the context of the Slovak hospital industry. Using mail survey the study first identified the natural taxonomy of four strategic types of Slovak hospitals, based on their use of Porter’s generic strategies in pure form and in combination. Next the study examined whether different strategic types were associated with different levels of organisational performance, while controlling for such variables as size and location, which have been argued to influence the hospital performance. The findings indicate that hospitals which follow a “stuck‐in‐the‐middle” strategy, in general, have superior performance on all used performance measures, while hospitals that place only low emphasis on cost leadership, differentiation and focus, labelled “wait and see” in this study, perform the poorest. The study concludes that the research provided body of knowledge relevant for the Slovak hospital industry, that may be used by hospital managers in the strategy formulation process as well as by the researches in exploring the influence of different contingencies on hospitals’ strategic orientation.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of competitiveness for the bovine livestock industry in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, by considering factors such as innovation, marketing, and finance (Perea and Rivas, 2008).

Owners of 30 cattle ranches were included in the state surveys, with each ranch having at least 1,000 head of cattle. The study was quantitative, and used the method of thresholds (Pengfei, 2006), stratification of Dalenius and Hodges (1959), Pearson’s correlation, and multivariate regression analysis.

The level of competitiveness in the livestock industry in Yucatan, and a model for its determination obtained as results reflect a similar importance for the three factors, with marketing and innovation being considered relatively more important.

It is worth nothing the context in which this information can be applies.

This study is unique because the results obtained have important practical implications for the sector. The livestock industry in Yucatan represents one of the main strategic activities of the state, and now faces serious problems of competitiveness.

This paper aims to offer real and explicit reasons for viewing the futures of humanity and Earth as positive, fulfilling and meaningful, if humans view it as such and act to make it so. The paper incorporates the results of several recent research projects and activities that were based on the assumptions of an earlier paper titled, “The Unholy Trinity, Plus One.” It argues that the conclusions of the original paper are even more obvious and urgent than they were originally, and that while an “alternative futures” perspective must always be the basis of any statements about or actions toward the futures, the concerns of The Unholy Trinity, Plus One, are now part of a “new normal” that must be incorporated in each of the alternatives. This paper emphasizes that this “new normal” is, and must be prepared for as, a splendid opportunity for humans to start on new adventures; that one episode of human history (based on cheap and abundant energy, a benign environment, effective government and continued economic growth) is over, and a world with different challenges and opportunities for New Beginnings has already opened up. It concludes by offering an example of how the transition might be approached and managed positively and effectively.

Both papers relied heavily on a combination of trend analysis and emerging issues analysis viewed through the lens of four generic alternative futures for understanding continuing trends and anticipating new, emerging issues, and for then formulating appropriate anticipatory responses to them.

The fundamental findings reconfirm and deepen the original findings – that it is far too late to prevent or postpone the transformative effects of The Unholy Trinity, Plus One; that one must and can prepare for and welcome them as providing humans now and in the immediate futures with an opportunity for innovation, identity, meaning and vibrant lives. The research and practical experiences and simulations illuminated ways in which these positive futures might be achieved.

It is urgent that humans now turn their attention from either denying the fact of overwhelming change or trying to prop up old economic, governmental and educational systems, and begin to invent new systems that are appropriate for making the transition from the old environment to new ones.

At the end of the paper, the authors offer one example of a successful transition, based on the research. It is presented as though humans are in Hawaii in the future, after oil has stopped flowing, along with the imported food, products and tourists upon which humans are now entirely dependent, and Hawaii has once again become entirely self-sufficient and prosperous.

The main focus of the paper, in contrast to most that deal with this issue, is to encourage readers not only to consider the inevitability of rapid and extensive social, environmental, resource and institutional change, but also, by viewing the situation as a positive, welcomed opportunity for innovation and improvement, actually to make it so.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of internal audit function (IAF) use on earnings quality and external audit fees using empirical data collected from the New Zealand (NZ) setting.

Applying institutional theory as the underlying framework, this study examines an IAF’s ability to demonstrate legitimacy, which will shed light to the functions long-term survival. Using a unique data set from the NZ setting, which combines information obtained from “The Institute of Internal Auditors of New Zealand” with empirical firm data collected from publicly available sources, multivariate analysis is performed to test the prediction that IAF use is associated with earnings quality, measured using discretionary accruals, and external audit fees.

There is strong positive association between IAF use and external audit fees, which supports the complementary controls view, where better internal controls increase audit fees by increasing the demand for scope of external audit work. The authors find no significant relationship between IAF use and earnings quality, which is not entirely surprising.

The aim is to empirically test the IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. Given the size of the NZ economy and limitations of data availability, total sample size used in this study is relatively modest. However, the analysis does yield significant results. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. Senior management (SM) will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.

The aim is to empirically test IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first NZ-based academic investigation which examines the relationship between IAF use and earnings quality. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. SM will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.