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1 – 10 of 202The purpose of this research is to examine in some depth the relationships between ownership structure, business growth and financial performance amongst small and medium‐sized…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine in some depth the relationships between ownership structure, business growth and financial performance amongst small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) with different degrees of overlap between management and ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs panel data for 1,872 SMEs legally organised as proprietary companies, taken from the Australian federal government's Business Longitudinal Survey for three financial years from 1995‐1996 to 1997‐1998.
Findings
The study finds that there is no statistically significant relationship between the proportion of equity held by SME managers and achieved business growth in the businesses examined. Furthermore, for most financial performance measures examined, it would appear that there is no statistically significant relationship between the proportion of equity held by SME managers and achieved financial performance in the businesses examined.
Originality/value
This is the first such investigation undertaken with SMEs and the findings are consistent with prior research on large business concerns. The findings can be seen as seriously challenging the relevance of agency theory in its application to smaller businesses.
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Pal C. Johnsen and Richard G.P. McMahon
Aims to ascertain the extent to which industry appears to influence the financing behaviour of a sample of Australian small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
Aims to ascertain the extent to which industry appears to influence the financing behaviour of a sample of Australian small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The research employs data for several thousand SMEs taken from the Australian federal government's Business Longitudinal Survey undertaken over four financial years from 1994‐1995 to 1997‐1998. The principal analytical technique employed is logistic regression modelling with various financial structure measures as dependent variables, and with industry as the independent variable of central interest.
Findings
The research findings reported in the paper provide substantial empirical evidence that cross‐industry differences in financing behaviour do exist even after controlling for other relevant influences on SME financing choices such as enterprise size, business age, profitability, growth, asset structure and risk. The key finding is that industry does not simply proxy for one or more of these other factors, but is an important influence in its own right.
Research limitations/implications
There are evidently effects arising from the fundamental nature of industries that require better understanding before a reliable prescriptive position on SME financing can be reached. What these effects are cannot really be ascertained using the research data and methods employed in this study, which give a relatively superficial perspective on the matter. A need for more in‐depth qualitative investigation is indicated.
Originality/value
The main implication of this research for scholars and policy‐makers concerned with SMEs is clearly the need to regard industry as an important independent influence on financing behaviour.
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Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way…
Abstract
Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.
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Thomas M. Keck and Kevin J. McMahon
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the…
Abstract
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the constitutional protection of abortion rights. From another angle, however, it is puzzling that the Reagan/Bush Court repeatedly refused to overturn Roe v. Wade. We argue that time and again electoral considerations led Republican elites to back away from a forceful assertion of their agenda for constitutional change. As a result, the justices generally acted within the range of possibilities acceptable to the governing regime but still typically had multiple doctrinal options from which to choose.
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Ho Kwan Cheung, Eden King, Alex Lindsey, Ashley Membere, Hannah M. Markell and Molly Kilcullen
Even more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination toward a number of groups in employment settings in the United States, workplace…
Abstract
Even more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination toward a number of groups in employment settings in the United States, workplace discrimination remains a persistent problem in organizations. This chapter provides a comprehensive review and analysis of contemporary theory and evidence on the nature, causes, and consequences of discrimination before synthesizing potential methods for its reduction. We note the strengths and weaknesses of this scholarship and highlight meaningful future directions. In so doing, we hope to both inform and inspire organizational and scholarly efforts to understand and eliminate workplace discrimination.
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The purpose of this paper is to outline the historical and political broadcasting conditions that hindered the success of British professional wrestling and allowed the rise to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline the historical and political broadcasting conditions that hindered the success of British professional wrestling and allowed the rise to dominance of the American World Wrestling Federation.
Design/methodology/approach
Because of the nature of professional wrestling, the paper utilises a range of secondary sources (audience research conducted by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, and interviews with retired wrestlers) and primary research (government papers, magazines, newspapers).
Findings
The paper finds that the World Wrestling Federation benefited from neo‐liberal television policies, but also created a product that attracted a new generation of fans.
Originality/value
The paper examines an under‐researched area of study (British professional wrestling) to explore and complicate existing debates about sports marketing and British media institutions in the 1980s and 1990s.
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Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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I present a framework for thinking about personal happiness. Ideas from philosophy are combined with research on happiness from various scientific traditions. But treatments in…
Abstract
I present a framework for thinking about personal happiness. Ideas from philosophy are combined with research on happiness from various scientific traditions. But treatments in philosophy tend to be atomistic, focusing on one narrow approach at the exclusion of others; treatments in psychology tend also to be circumscribed, emphasizing specific hypotheses but at the neglect of overarching theory. My approach posits a far-reaching theoretical model, rooted in goal-directed action, yet mindful of nonpurposive sources of happiness as well. The heart of the theory is self-regulation of desires and decisions, which rests on self-conscious examination and application of self-evaluative standards for leading a moral life in the broadest sense of guiding how we act in relation to others. Seven elements of happiness are then developed and related to the conceptual framework. These encompass love and caring; work as a calling; brain systems underpinning wanting, liking, and pleasure; the need to deal with very bad and very good things happening to us; the role of moral concerns and emotions; the examined life and its distractions; and finally spirituality and transcendental concerns. The final section of the chapter sketches everyday challenges and choices academics face.
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Max Weber called the maxim “Time is Money” the surest, simplest expression of the spirit of capitalism. Coined in 1748 by Benjamin Franklin, this modern proverb now has a life of…
Abstract
Purpose
Max Weber called the maxim “Time is Money” the surest, simplest expression of the spirit of capitalism. Coined in 1748 by Benjamin Franklin, this modern proverb now has a life of its own. In this paper, I examine the worldwide diffusion and sociocultural history of this paradigmatic expression. The intent is to explore the ways in which ideas of time and money appear in sedimented form in popular sayings.
Methodology/approach
My approach is sociological in orientation and multidisciplinary in method. Drawing upon the works of Max Weber, Antonio Gramsci, Wolfgang Mieder, and Dean Wolfe Manders, I explore the global spread of Ben Franklin’s famed adage in three ways: (1) via evidence from the field of “paremiology” – that is, the study of proverbs; (2) via online searches for the phrase “Time is Money” in 30-plus languages; and (3) via evidence from sociological and historical research.
Findings
The conviction that “Time is Money” has won global assent on an ever-expanding basis for more than 250 years now. In recent years, this phrase has reverberated to the far corners of the world in literally dozens of languages – above all, in the languages of Eastern Europe and East Asia.
Originality/value
Methodologically, this study unites several different ways of exploring the globalization of the capitalist spirit. The main substantive implication is that, as capitalism goes global, so too does the capitalist spirit. Evidence from popular sayings gives us a new foothold for insight into questions of this kind.
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