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This research assesses the implications of integrating standardization activities into European research projects to foster the engagement of project internal and external stakeholders and into different project stakeholder management theories.

This paper analyzes the integration of standardization and the engagement of project internal and external stakeholders in standardization activities in a multi-case study of four European Framework Program projects and with the projects Advancing Resilience of Historic Areas Against Climate-Related and Other Hazards (ARCH) and Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) in two separate case studies more deeply. The multi-case study mainly evaluates the stakeholder participation in 10 CEN Workshop Agreements. While in the two case studies, among other things, two project surveys are used to investigate how stakeholder engagement was supported by standardization activities.

The results show that standardization significantly supports stakeholder engagement and lead to a proposal on how standardization can support achieving stakeholder engagement goals in the different research project phases.

This research provides practical information for policy-makers who support standardization as a tool for research, as well as for researchers and project managers who want to use standardization activities efficiently in research projects.

Despite agreement on the importance of adopting governance structures for developing competitive advantage, we still know little about why or how governance mechanisms are adopted in the first place. We also acknowledge that family businesses with formal governance mechanisms in place still resort to informal means to make decisions, and we lack knowledge about why certain governance mechanisms are sometimes, but not always, effective and functional. Given these research gaps, and drawing on institutional theory, we aim to explore: How are governance structures adopted and developed in family firms? Once adopted, how do family businesses perceive these governance structures?

Using Mokken Scale Analysis, a method suitable to uncover patterns/sequences of adoption/acquisition over time, we analyze a dataset of 1,488 Spanish family firms to explore if there is a specific pattern in the implementation of governance structures. We complement the analysis with descriptive data about perceived usefulness of such structures.

Our findings highlight two important issues. Family businesses follow a specific process implementing first business governance (board of directors, then executive committee), followed by family governance (family council then family constitution). We suggest they do so in response to institutional pressures, given the exposure they have to business practices, and their need to appear legitimate. Despite formal adoption of governance structures, family businesses do not necessarily consider them useful. We suggest that their perception about the usefulness of the implemented governance structures may lead to their ceremonial adoption, resulting in a gap between the implementation and functionality of such structures.

Our article contributes to the family business literature by bringing novel insights about implementation of governance structures. We take a step back to explain why these governance mechanisms were adopted in the first place. Using institutional theory we enrich governance and family business literatures, by offering a lens that explains why family businesses follow a specific process in adopting governance structures. We also offer a plausible explanation as to why governance structures are ineffective in achieving their theorized role in the context of family businesses, based on the family's perception of the unusefulness of such structures, and the concept of ceremonial adoption.

There is no single recipe that can serve the multiple needs of different family businesses. This indicates that family businesses may need diverse levels of development and order when setting up their governance structures. Accordingly, this study constitutes an important point of demarcation for practitioners interested in examining the effectiveness of governance structures in family firms. We show that an important pre-requisite for examining the effectiveness of governance structures is to start by investigating whether these structures are actually being used or are only adopted ceremonially.

Our paper expands current knowledge on governance in family firms by taking a step back hinting at why are governance structures adopted in the first place. Focusing on how governance is implemented in terms of sequence is novel and relevant for researcher and practitioners to understand how this process unfolds. Our study uses institutional theory, which is a strong theory to support the results. Our paper also uses a novel method to study governance structures in family firms.

This article starts with a brief overview of the history of housing for people with intellectual disability in Austria. The system of care and Austrian disability policy are also examined, focusing on implementation of deinstitutionalisation and community living. The following analysis of services provided in the field of housing for people with intellectual disabilities shows that support is provided in undistinguished, generalised service packages based on a competency model. Academic research on community living is quite rare in Austria, and fails to take into account the subjective perspective of people with intellectual disabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a behavioral theory of organizational vision.

Based on existing theoretical concepts and empirical evidence, this new theory development compares a diverse set of plausible logical, empirical, and/or epistemological conjectures so that highlighting occurs to form the substance of the new vision theory.

The approach takes the form of an emerging vision theory, which explains how vision attributes create an impact on organizational performance.

While vision is core to the prevailing vision‐based leadership theories, little is theoretically and empirically known about attributes for effective vision. Moreover, there is no existing leadership theory, which explains the process by which vision attributes create positive effects on organizational performance. The paper proposes a vision theory to fill this gap.

The efficient and economical use of natural resources is a big issue. Machine elements with a rolling contact are highly relevant because of their wide application in technical systems and a large production quantity. Innovative hard machining can reduce the friction and increase the fatigue strength of rolling element bearings. The purpose of this study is to focus on the surface properties of such parts.

A new model to predict bearing fatigue life is presented which takes compressive residual stresses in the bearing subsurface area into consideration. The investigated bearings were machined by the processes of hard turning, hard turning with subsequent deep rolling and a combination of hard turning and deep rolling (turn-rolling) in one process step. Changes in the residual stress state during bearing fatigue tests were investigated and the influence of residual stresses on the bearings fatigue life was researched.

Both combinations including the deep rolling process decrease the surface roughness and induce compressive residual stresses. As a result, the L₁₀ fatigue life of roller bearings was increased by the factor of 2.5. Owing to the developed models, this effect can be considered within the design process.

In the context of the research program “Resource efficient Machine Elements (SPP1551),” machining processes of bearings were investigated regarding the bearing fatigue life. By inducing beneficial residual stresses on the bearings’ subsurface area, the fatigue life could be increased. Thus higher resource efficiency was achieved. To increase the productivity, a combination of hard turning and deep rolling was evaluated.

While there is established research that explores individual innovations across countries or developments in a specific health area, there is less work that attempts to match national innovations to specific systems of health governance to uncover themes across nations.

We used a cross-comparison design that employed content analysis of health governance models and innovation patterns in eight OECD nations (Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States).

Country-level model of health governance may impact the focus of health innovation within the eight jurisdictions studied. Innovation across all governance models has targeted consumer engagement in health systems, the integration of health services across the continuum of care, access to care in the community, and financial models that drive competition.

Improving our understanding of the linkage between health governance and innovation in health systems may heighten awareness of potential enablers and barriers to innovation success.

The purpose of this paper is to numerically determine the distribution of electric fields registered by a personal exposimeter (PEM) used for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) around 900 MHz (GSM900) downlink (DL) band and compare these with calibration measurements of PEMs worn by real human subjects.

Numerical simulations using the Virtual Family Male (VFM) are carried out at 950 MHz in order to determine the electric fields surrounding the phantom in realistic, far-field environments. These electric fields can be used to determine the distribution of a PEM’s response when worn by the VFM. Simultaneously, calibration measurements in an anechoic chamber are carried out using a real PEM worn by two different subjects, in order to determine the PEM’s response experimentally.

Both the numerical simulations and the measurements show that a PEM will on average underestimate the incident electric fields in the GSM900 DL band and that the variation (expressed in terms of the 95 percent confidence interval and the interquartile distance) on its response is relatively large: a 95 percent confidence interval of 22 dB and an interquartile distance of 7.3 dB are found in a realistic environment using numerical simulations, while the calibration measurements show interquartile distances up to 12 dB. In terms of variation there is an excellent agreement between simulations and measurements.

This paper proves that numerical simulations may be used as a replacement for the more time- and work-consuming calibration measurements if the variation of a PEM’s response is studied.

Dynamic predictions of financial distress of the firms have received less attention in finance literature rather than static prediction, specifically in Malaysia. This study, therefore, investigates dynamic symptoms of the financial distress event a few years before it happened to the firms by using neural network method. Cox Proportional Hazard regression models are used to estimate the survival probabilities of Malaysian PN17 and GN3 listed firms. Forecast accuracy is evaluated using receiver operating characteristics curve. From the findings, it shown that the independent directors’ ownership has negative association with the financial distress likelihood. In addition, this study modeled a mix of corporate financial distress predictors for Malaysian firms. The combination of financial and non-financial ratios which pressure-sensitive institutional ownership, independent director ownership, and Earnings Before Interest and Taxes to Total Asset shown a negative relationship with financial distress likelihood specifically one year before the firms being listed in PN 17 and GN 3 status. However, Retained Earnings to Total Asset, Interest Coverage, and Market Value of Debt have positive relationship with firm financial distress likelihood. These research findings also contribute to the policy implications to the Securities Commission and specifically to Bursa Malaysia. Furthermore, one of the initial goals in introducing the PN17 and GN3 status is to alleviate the information asymmetry between distressed firms, the regulators, and investors. Therefore, the regulator would be able to monitor effectively distressed firms, and investors can protect from imprudent investment.

German unification led to a total change in the environment of East German factories. Describes a manufacturing company where these changes led to a massive, multi‐step reduction in size and a change from mass production to one‐off production. Traditional analysis methods did not give results adequate to inform strategy making. Size reduction without appropriate strategic orientation led not only to heavy financial loss, but also caused a “brain drain” effect, and initiated a vicious spiral of downsizing. The identification of employees’ skills and experience provided information about what the company was actually good at doing. Direct costs and sales were then analysed to determine how best the factory might be structured in order to support the core process. A cost accounting system was established and a system for controlling the engineering process was implemented. Order processing was simplified and supported by the tailoring of the production planning and control computer system.

The aim of this paper is to empirically investigate how the business orientations of customer orientation (CO) (represented by responsiveness to customers) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) (represented by proactiveness, innovativeness and risk‐taking) impact the growth of SMEs.

This study uses a quantitative empirical approach, using structural equation modeling with the software package AMOS to analyze the results of 660 surveyed SMEs from Austria.

This analysis reveals that EO is positively related to SME growth but CO shows a negative association with growth. Moreover, this analysis suggests that SMEs grow the most if they exhibit high EO and low CO.

This analysis shows that CO, interpreted as a purely responsive and reactive construct, cannot be considered a strategy that leads to sustainable SME growth. If an SME desires growth, EO is needed to fuel these growth aspirations. In spite of these findings however, this study shows that SMEs tend to respond to a scarcity of financial resources with more CO and less EO, which then leads to less or even negative growth.

Sustainable firm growth seems impossible without an EO. However, this does not mean that CO is not of any value for SMEs. Being non‐entrepreneurially oriented does not mean that a firm is automatically customer oriented. So, it is not only about implementing CO or EO since there is still the third option: implementing neither.

This paper contributes to the ongoing scholarly conversation on the value of different orientations to firms and takes the view that the conversation on CO and EO has mis‐specified business performance in seeking to understand their performance consequences. By looking at firm growth, relevant to the longer‐term performance of a firm, EO might drive growth because of its emphasis on innovation to renew the firm's growth trajectory whereas CO might stifle growth owing to its myopic focus. Thus, this study addresses calls in the business and entrepreneurship literatures to more fully understand how SMEs can capture value from their customer and entrepreneurial orientations.