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We assess the impact of NZ IAS 32 on the financial reporting of convertible financial instruments by retrospective application of the standard to a sample of New Zealand companies over the period 1988 ‐ 2003. NZ IAS 32 has a broader definition of liabilities than does the corresponding current standard (FRS‐31) and it does not permit convertibles to be reported under headings that are intermediate to debt and equity. The results of the study indicate that in comparison with the reported financial position and performance, the reporting of convertibles in accordance with NZ IAS 32 would result in higher amounts for liabilities and higher interest. Thus, analysts using financial statement information to assess risk of financial distress will need to revise the critical values of commonly used measures of risk and performance when companies report under NZ IAS

Draws on two surveys of New Zealand general managers – the first conducted in early 1984, the second at the end of 1991 – to assess the impact on managers of the substantial deregulation of the domestic economy. Average age, work hours, educational level and career path changed little over the period. However, the expectation that external pressures would lead to the adoption of more directive management styles is not borne out. Perceived future challenges accord with those revealed in a recent study of European managers, suggesting that the internalization of the New Zealand economy has led to the “internationalization” of managers.

Construction cash flow models developed in previous researches demonstrated that cash flow profiles vary for differing procurement methods. However, the issue of whether contractors are satisfied or dissatisfied with payment terms impacting cash flows in differing procurement methods is yet to be investigated. This is the concern of this study. The study identified from literature, payment terms potentially thought to impact construction cash flow. Using a 6‐point Likert‐type scale, a questionnaire survey was administered to UK construction contractors in order to assess their level of satisfaction with identified payment terms influencing construction cash flow. Responses from the survey, which focused on traditional and design and build procurement methods were analysed using mean response analysis and one‐way analysis of variance. Results showed that while contractors were satisfied with most of the contractual factors investigated under both procurement systems, they were dissatisfied with two of the factors, namely, time lag between entitlement to receive and actually receiving cash payment and percentage of contract sum retained. This dissatisfaction calls for action to consider devising alternative means of dealing with retention and delay payments.

The purpose of this study was to extend the understanding of restaurant firms’ overall debt and equity financing practices by considering what drives equity financing. More importantly, this study attempted to identify whether an optimal financial leverage point exists in the relationship between debt financing and equity financing for restaurant firms.

This study used fixed-effects regression models with a sample of 1,549 unbalanced firm-year panel data to identify restaurant firms’ financial practices and the impacts of financial constraints.

First, restaurant firms tend to issue long-term debt to pay back existing debt. However, the amount of debt does not exactly match the debt’s maturity. Second, small restaurant firms’ net debt financing, as well as net equity financing, has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with financial leverage. Finally, the effect of financial leverage on external financing significantly differs between small and large restaurant firms.

Restaurant firms routinely use both debt and equity financing interchangeably to manage their financial constraints and target debt ratio. Further, firm size is an important indicator of financial constraints, while equity financing plays an important role in managing an optimal target debt ratio.

This study is unique in that it considers determinants of restaurant firms’ long-term debt financing as well as equity financing. This study also examines differences in long-term debt and equity financing practices between financially constrained and unconstrained firms.

The purpose of this paper is to present recent empirical results concerning offshoring and backshoring of manufacturing from and to Sweden, to increase the understanding of manufacturing relocation in an international context. In particular, extent, geographies, type of production, drivers, and benefits of moving manufacturing in both directions are investigated.

The study is based on survey data from 373 manufacturing plants. The same set of questions is used for both offshoring and backshoring between 2010 and 2015, which allows similarities and differences in decision-making and results between the two relocation directions to be identified.

There are many significant differences between offshoring and backshoring projects. Labour cost is the dominating factor in offshoring, as driver and benefit, while backshoring is related to many drivers and benefits, such as quality, lead-time, flexibility, access to skills and knowledge, access to technology, and proximity to R&D. This is also reflected in the type of production that is relocated; labour-intensive production is offshored and complex production is backshored.

Plants that have both offshored and backshored think and act differently than plants that have only offshored or backshored, which is why it is important to distinguish between these plant types in the context of manufacturing relocations.

The experience of Swedish manufacturing plants reported here can be used as a point of reference for internal manufacturing operations.

The survey design allows a unique comparison between offshoring and backshoring activity. Since Swedish firms in general have been quite active in rearranging their manufacturing footprint and have experience from movements in both directions, it is an appropriate geographical area to study in this context.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between gender, innovation and growth in Italian innovative start-ups.

This is a quantitative study based on a sample of more than 4,600 Italian innovative start-ups. In order to ascertain whether female-led firms that invest more in innovation grow more than their male-led counterparts, sales growth is analysed through a fixed-effects regression over the period 2015–2019. Propensity score matching is also used to check for potential selection bias.

Results reveal that innovation is crucial for start-up growth and, most importantly, that female entrepreneurs exploit the potential of innovative activities for their firm’s growth better than their male peers.

The results provide important evidence on the link between gender and innovation and how these two elements interact for the growth of firms in their early life. Results also provide insights for policymakers to use in designing programs for promoting female entrepreneurship and participation in science.

In 1984 the authors conducted a survey of general managers in Christchurch, New Zealand, to learn how they approached their work. The managers were asked to respond to a questionnaire listing ten different facets of managerial work. The methodology and findings are presented in this article in the hope that they may be useful to other groups of general managers. The questionnaire will enable managers to identify areas of their work which they may under‐or over‐emphasise. This in turn may reflect potential development needs, or suggest different ways in which the work can be handled.

This study aims to determine the moderating role of trust on the influence of export incentives over importer role performance. The mediating role of importer role performance and the impact of export incentives on exporter performance have also been investigated.

This study used survey as the main data collection method to obtain data from 105 executives of exporting firms. An official database of export firms was provided to this study by the Department of Export Promotion, Ministry of Commerce of Thailand.

Significant partial moderation effect of trust on the impact of export incentives over importer role performance has been seen. Also, this study found a partial mediating role of the importer role performance in mediating the association of export incentives and exporter performance. In addition, export incentives in the form of credible channel policies and price and financial incentives have been found to have a significant positive effect on importer role performance.

This study will be of practical value for practitioners or managers of export firms because it is essential to enhance trust with importers and select the appropriate export incentives for importers. This could enhance competitiveness of the export firms.

This is an original attempt to investigate the role of trust as moderator in influencing the impact of export incentives on importer role performance. Also, this study initially ascertains the mediating effect of importer role performance in mediating the effectiveness of both monetary and non-monetary incentives on exporter performance.

Brings together the different strands of the divestment literature – industrial organization, finance, and corporate strategy – which have been developing over the last 20 years. Points to be increased resort to divestment by corporate managers and suggests that this adaptive activity should now be accepted as a normal phase of company development. However, such acceptance is made difficult by factors which fall within the domain of managerial psychology. Provides an overview which should be useful to practitioners confronting divestment decisions and to academics embarking on new research in the area.

To review empirical contributions to the small business growth literature since the mid‐1990s.

Narrative review of the literature using the framework adopted in previous reviews: management strategies; characteristics of the entrepreneur; environment/industry factors; and firm characteristics.

The absence of any unifying theory means that the literature continues to feature a wide range of growth measures and model specifications. As a result of this, knowledge development appears fragmented rather than cumulative. New theoretical perspectives are needed if we are to develop our understanding of the growth process in small businesses.

Alternative types of research are suggested that focus on small business growth as a process rather than an episode. Future research needs to adopt multiple measures of growth and, more importantly, be based on theory longitudinal in scope but idiosyncratic in its focus. Empirical work should seek to explain the periodicity of growth and the role that learning plays in the idiosyncratic development of small businesses.

The paper synthesizes the literature in an area that is critical in terms of the advice given to policy makers and business owners. It does so while building on the frameworks used in previous reviews and then identifying new research approaches that are needed to advance understanding of the small business growth process.