Beyond challenges and monetary compensation: human resource behaviours leading to firm's growth

Network embeddedness, which determines the various resources obtained by the sci-tech enterprise and ultimately affects its growth status, is the stable connection formed in the enterprise due to its previous ties and interactions. This paper introduces organizational legitimacy and business model innovation as causal dual mediating variables, constructs the chain mediating conceptual model of “network embeddedness–organizational legitimacy– business model innovation–enterprise growth”, and presents the research hypothesis accordingly.We conduct the research in the form of questionnaire and select the scale widely used in the Chinese context. In order to ensure the rationality of the questionnaire, we carry out a small sample prediction test for managers of scientific and technological enterprises as well as university experts, in which the questionnaire is modified according to their feedback results. Following this, we commission a professional research company to collect 371 valid questionnaires. The conclusions are carried out through exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis, hierarchy regression analysis and Sobel model.The research shows that: First, both relational embeddedness and structural embeddedness promote the growth of scientific and technological enterprises. Second, organizational legitimacy and business model innovation play a mediating role in the relationship between network embeddedness and the growth of scientific and technological enterprises respectively, in which the mediator effect of organizational legitimacy is more significant. Third, organizational legitimacy and business model innovation play a chain mediating role in the relationship between relational embeddedness and growth of scientific and technological enterprises. Fourth, the improvement of organizational legitimacy promotes the influence of relational embeddedness and business model innovation on the growth of scientific and technological enterprises. Therefore, this paper verifies the chain mediating role of organizational legitimacy and business model innovation, clarifies the influence mechanism of network embeddedness on the growth of scientific and technological enterprises, enriches the research content in the field of network embeddedness and firm growth, and expands the applicable scope of the iceberg theory of business model.The main contributions of this research are as follows: First, it analyzes the influence mechanism of network embeddedness on the growth of scientific and technological enterprises, confirms that network embeddedness, organizational legitimacy and business model innovation are important antecedent variables in the field of enterprise growth, and further enriches the related studies of network embeddedness and enterprise growth theory. Second, it introduces organizational legitimacy and business model innovation as causal dual mediating variables, analyzes the chain mediating role of organizational legitimacy and business model innovation, as well as explores the moderating role of organizational legitimacy. These results expand the research on the influence mechanism of network embeddedness on enterprise growth, and provide a novel perspective to explain the divergence in previous research. Third, it takes Chinese local scientific and technological enterprises as the research samples, and explores the antecedents and after-effects of business model innovation from an empirical perspective, which further develops the research content of the iceberg theory of business model and establishes a foundation for the follow-up research.

Determining employee satisfaction, intrapreneurship and firm growth among managers of Pakistan

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between personal spirituality (PS) and organisational spontaneity (OS), focusing on three important elements: altruism, employee resilience and employee voice. The study investigates how PS in the presence of OS can enhance and foster a supportive and dynamic work environment. Design/methodology/approach A total of 138 survey-based responses were collected. This paper empirically tests the hypothesis using correlation, regression models and ANOVA. Results were analysed using SPSS, which enables the assessment of complex correlations between constructs. Findings The study’s findings show that OS mediates the relationship between PS and prominent workplace behaviours – altruistic actions, employee resilience and employee voice. It indicates that PS positively influences OS, which facilitates certain behaviours and actions within an organisational setting, fostering a supportive and dynamic workplace environment. Practical implications With growing employee desire and managerial appreciation for OS, this research extends its implications to talent management. HR policies can evolve to accommodate diverse spiritual expressions, potentially fostering a more engaged workforce exhibiting desirable employee behaviours. Originality/value This research has offered a detailed understanding of how OS has influenced the relationship between PS and the specific human behaviour elements – altruism, employee resilience and employee voice. This study has highlighted the importance of spirituality in enhancing positive behaviours in the organisation.

Influences of university-industry alliance portfolio depth and breadth on growth of new technology-based firms: Evidence from China

This study analyses the effect of the financial ecosystem on the growth of young firms at the regional level. This subject is relatively new in entrepreneurial finance research since most of the previous studies have failed to consider all the alternative sources of external financing to which young firms have access. This study highlights the relevance of alternative resources and actors in the financial environment beyond traditional banks, such as crowdfunding, business angels, peer-to-peer lending, accelerators, incubators and venture capital. Specifically, our research incorporates a proxy of the development of the financial ecosystem based on survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). Moreover, our investigation uses a sample of young small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) representing every Spanish region between 2008 and 2015. The empirical analysis applies panel data methodology. The results show that the growth of young enterprises depends on developing a regional financial ecosystem, evidencing that better access to external finance favours the growth of young firms. This relationship is even more relevant among early-stage firms, which suggests that firm age moderates the relationship between the regional financial ecosystem and the growth of young SMEs.

Improving the energy performance of existing building refurbishment has been identified as one of the key measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and combat climate change. According to Environmental Protection Department, buildings in Hong Kong take up almost 90% of urban electricity consumption. Sustainable building refurbishment not only can help decrease energy consumption but may also improve building’s overall condition, and thus prolong its life, uplift the living conditions, ensure better health and safety as well as minimize the negative effects to environment.
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\nTo respond to the energy emission reduction, many researchers focus on technical improvements through various refurbishment methods. However, there is a research gap in determining the appropriate refurbishment solutions for high-rise residential buildings in developed cities like Hong Kong. The challenge is aggravated as there are a number of owners and occupants in multi-storey residential buildings and their behaviour can be very different. Albeit more and more attentions have been attributed to human behaviours and occupant satisfaction, little has been done to examine their effects to the choices and success of sustainable refurbishment solutions. This study aims to systematically analyse the effect of human behaviour to the satisfaction of sustainable refurbishment by setting up a unified model so as to maximize the opportunity for emission reduction without sacrificing the satisfaction of owners and occupants.
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\nLiterature review was first conducted to attain the knowledge of sustainable refurbishment and human behaviour. Then, a list of potential sustainable building refurbishment method items was compiled under five criteria through literature review. In order to further examine the suitability of sustainable building refurbishment methods in Hong Kong scenario from the perspective of owners and occupants, a questionnaire survey was administered. Following that, literature review and interviews were carried out to identify a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of electing sustainable refurbishment strategies as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) of a sustainable building refurbishment scheme. Based on that, another questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the occupants’ perception to the relative importance of the identified CSFs and KPIs. Finally, a structural equation model was set up to unveil the relationships between occupants’ satisfaction and project success, and the findings were validated through expert interviews. The results shows that disruption is the most important factors affecting occupants’ decisions, followed by Management and Organization; Comfort; Cost; and Health and Safety. The technological and environmental accomplishments are proven to be the most important KPIs to the success of a sustainable building refurbishment project. The model developed can help decision-makers select on suitable sustainable building refurbishment methods to meet the social expectations of occupants while achieving the carbon emission target.

PurposeThe purpose of the research is to identify the major constraints to the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a less-developed region of an emerging economy and how these constraints are affected by owner/manager's attributes and firm-specific characteristics.Design/methodology/approachTo fulfill the objectives, a structured questionnaire is used to gather data from 200 randomly selected MSMEs located in Cachar district of Assam, India. The study applies factor analysis to categorize various perceived constraints into resolute sets of problem variables or factors. Then, the summated scales are regressed on the predictors related to owner-manager's attributes and firm characteristics to validate the hypotheses.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the broad factors constraining the development of MSMEs in Cachar district are as follows: (1) financial issues, (2) infrastructure problems, (3) labor and management issues, (4) market problems and (5) input problems. Furthermore, the findings confirm that firm growth, size, age, sector, location, innovation activity, owner-manager's gender, age and level of education significantly affect the identified constraints.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the research is limited to the Cachar district of India, the findings are relevant for other similar districts of India and less-developed regions of emerging economies. However, the study needs to be replicated in other regions of India as well as in other emerging economies for cross-validation and to determine the generalizability of the results.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, no studies linking the constraints faced by MSMEs to owner/manager's attributes and firm-specific characteristics are carried out in the north-eastern region of India. The study also extends the limited researches on the influence of owner-manager's attributes and firm characteristics on the constraints to the growth of MSMEs by incorporating additional predictors.

This paper examines the growth determinants of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in transition and emerging economies, with a specific focus on the growth effects of political openness. Our findings indicate that product and process innovation, foreign market exposure through exports, providing training programs for employees, and the education level of employees are important growth factors for SMEs in transition economies. We also find that democracy and political openness have an adverse impact on the growth prospect of SMEs in transition economies. On the other hand, the negative effect of political openness on firm growth is decreasing as the proportion of the firm’s labor force with a university degree increases—a finding suggesting that the collective bargaining of low-skilled workers may hinder the growth of small firms in transition economies.

This paper draws on data from Uganda’s 2013 World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), which comprises data on 762 firms across Uganda to assess the effects of the business environment, with particular interest on the impact of finance on firm growth by focusing on differences across firm size. Unlike past studies, we use firm level data that allows us to interrogate whether the impact of the business environment is unbiased across firm size. Most importantly, this paper mitigates the risk of the potential measurement error, omitted variable bias, and endogeneity. The results suggest that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda benefit more from financial access than large firms. These effects are stronger and more sustained among medium firms. The paper interprets these results as evidence that MSMEs are more credit constrained relative to large firms. The paper also discerns that while informality and poor regulatory environment may help divert economic activity from large firms to MSMEs, informality increases the vulnerability of MSMEs to corruption to sustain their informal and invisible status. The policy implication on size, efficiency, and dynamism of the business sector in Uganda is that there is a need to increase not only financial inclusion of MSMEs but also improve the general business environment, particularly the formalization of micro firms.

Greater attention was paid to the increasing need of organizations for alternate process solutions to integrate the efficiency of product flow layouts with the flexibility of functional layouts. The solution, at least for some organizations, is group technology (GT). Much GT studies focused on the technical concerns involved in transforming functionally segregated operations into integrated multifunctional cells. However, it is proposed that a complementary connection between technical and human behaviour is required to ensure the optimization of GT implementations. In that regard, the present research was primarily conducted to study the effect of human behaviour on the implementation of the GT, especially referring to the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, where the GT was introduced as a key strategy for process improvement initiatives to reduce the burning issue of longer lead time. In addition, the study aims to explore the key factors for implementing the GT and the perceived benefits that can be obtained from the implementation of GT. A selection of 70 executives from the sewing departments of garment manufacturing organizations where the GT concept was applied, was chosen on the basis of a judgmental sampling technique. The questionnaire was the primary research instrument. Findings have shown that high inventory storage, high lead time, quality problems and, as well as dissatisfaction among staff, are the serious manufacturing issues that contributed to the implementation of GT. Furthermore, the potential advantages of using GT include improved productivity of employees, skills of workers, flexibility, on time delivery, and product quality, while decreasing lead time, inventory level, set up time, throughput time, and production and quality control cost. Employee resistance to change has been shown to have the greatest detrimental effect on the implementation of the GT.

Behavioural Operations Management is a multi-disciplinary branch of OM that explicitly considers the effects of human behaviour on process and system dynamics, influenced by cognitive biases and limitations, social preferences and perceptions of cultural norms. Conversely this domain also concerns itself with the effect of process and system dynamics on human behaviour, hence viewing human behaviour as critical in not only its direct and moderating effects but also in its mediating role between operating policy change and connected outcomes. In this chapter we discuss insights from the various contributing research literatures, as well as an overview of theory and methods applied. We cite the most influential papers in the Behavioural Operations Management literature in our discourse.

New technology-based firms (NTBFs) invent, develop, and commercialize original technologies whose research, development, and commercial success is highly uncertain and risky. Their growth is lengthy and often insufficient, but investors’ growth expectations are high. The study aims to determine factors and circumstances that affect the growth of new technology-based firms. The source of knowledge is a personal experience from a guided interview with the founder, which is recorded in the questionnaire. The research sample includes 67 NTBFs doing business in Slovakia. The respondents’ statements were analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA) with the support of artificial intelligence. The results are the factors that influence the business performance of the investigated companies. The performance of companies that show a long-term loss is affected by very limited access to financial resources, restrictive regulations, and a lack of qualified employees. The performance of companies that show a long-term profit is influenced by favorable access to external capital, effective management of human resources, optimization of internal processes, and improvement of marketing. The order of the identified factors expresses their importance in the thematic group. The secondary results are the accompanying circumstances of the growth of the investigated companies, namely the reasons for the establishment of NTBF and entry into business, commercialization of new technology, and cooperation with investors and banks. The combination of limited access to finance and a lack of qualified human resources creates a complex set of obstacles to the business performance of NTBFs. AcknowledgmentThis work was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic and Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA) under the grant “Accelerating the growth of innovative enterprises - scaling up scale-ups and new technology-based firms (NTBFs)”, number 1/0006/22.

ArticleTaste theories and the chemical stimulation of single papillae.G Von BékésyG Von BékésyPublished Online:01 Jan 1966https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1966.21.1.1MoreSectionsPDF (3 MB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat Back to Top Next Download PDF FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation Cited ByEncoding Taste: From Receptors to Perception19 November 2021Electric Taste30 June 2018Problems of Taste Specificity27 May 2008Gustatory neuron types in the peripheryPhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 69, No. 1-2Dysarthria and lacunar stroke1 November 1996 | Neurology, Vol. 47, No. 5The role of the human senses in food acceptanceElectrophysiology of taste and smell22 January 2001 | Clinical Physics and Physiological Measurement, Vol. 10, No. 2Binding proteins for sweet compounds from gustatory papillae of the cow, pig and ratBiochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, Vol. 967, No. 1Physiology of the Sweet TasteSalt-acid confusion on the single fungiform papilla: Effect of changing acid sensitivityPhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 36, No. 6Taste and Olfaction: Sensory Discrimination1 January 2011Fine structure of taste buds in te human fungiform papillaEuropean Journal of Oral Sciences, Vol. 89, No. 4Gustatory reaction time in human adultsPhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 26, No. 4An Examination of Intertrial Interval and Gender Influences on Sucrose Detection Thresholds Established by a Modified Staircase Procedure25 June 2016 | Perception, Vol. 10, No. 1Human Taste: Response and Taste Bud Number in Fungiform PapillaeScience, Vol. 209, No. 4458Location and variation in number of taste buds in human fungiform papillaeEuropean Journal of Oral Sciences, Vol. 87, No. 6Psychophysical exponents for single papillae: A comparison with whole-mouth exponentsPerception & Psychophysics, Vol. 25, No. 6Taste acuity of the human palate: III. Studies with taste solutions on subjects in different age groups2 July 2009 | Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, Vol. 37, No. 4Physiologie Générale Du Goût8 July 2009 | Acta Oto-Laryngologica, Vol. 87, No. 3-6Taste Profiles from Single Human Taste Papillae6 October 2016 | Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 47, No. 1Gustatory SystemHISTORY OF TASTE RESEARCHBIOPHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF TASTETHE VERTEBRATE PHYLOGENY, NEURAL CODE, AND INTEGRATIVE PROCESSES OF TASTEPSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS AND PERCEPTUAL ANALYSES OF TASTEMultiple sensitivity to chemical stimuli in single human taste papillaePhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 14, No. 6Taste ReceptorsZur Morphologie der Papilla fungiformis einiger NagetiereZur Physiologie des Geruchs- und GeschmackssinnesArchives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Vol. 210, No. 1Can Taste Neuron Specificity Coexist with Multiple Sensitivity?Taste adaptation: the case of the wandering zero28 June 2007 | International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Vol. 9, No. 1Human taste response as a function of locus of stimulation on the tongue and soft palatePerception & Psychophysics, Vol. 16, No. 1Taste Specificity for Chemical Stimulation of Single Papillae, toward an Explanation of Disparate Results6 October 2016 | Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 37, No. 2The Use of Vertebrate Laboratory Animals in Research on TasteA model of neural code for taste qualityPhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 9, No. 4The Interstimulus Interval for Taste: 1. The Efficiency of Expectoration and Mouthrinsing in Clearing the Mouth of Salt Residuals25 June 2016 | Perception, Vol. 1, No. 2Human taste perceptionC R C Critical Reviews in Food Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1A Fifth Modality of TasteActa Physiologica Scandinavica, Vol. 82, No. 4Chemosensory StimulationUltrastructure of Taste ReceptorsTaste PsychophysicsCharacterization and interaction of taste responses in chorda tympani fibers of the catBrain Research, Vol. 15, No. 2Central Issues Concerning the Nervous PeripheryMacromolecules and Brain Function — A 1969 BaedekerVenentonus, Haut- und Muskeldurchblutung an Unterarm und Hand bei BeinarbeitPfl�gers Archiv European Journal of Physiology, Vol. 309, No. 2Adaptation and cross-adaptation of the four gustatory qualitiesPerception & Psychophysics, Vol. 4, No. 6Psychophysik des elektrischen geschmacks: Qualit�ts- und intensit�tsbeziehungenArchiv f�r Klinische und Experimentelle Ohren- Nasen- und Kehlkopfheilkunde, Vol. 192, No. 3Variability in gustatory quality identificationPerception & Psychophysics, Vol. 2, No. 11Gustatory quality changes as a function of solution concentrationPerception & Psychophysics, Vol. 2, No. 1Chemically evoked sensations from single human taste papillaePhysiology & Behavior, Vol. 1, No. 3-4 More from this issue > Volume 21Issue 1January 1966Pages 1-9 https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1966.21.1.1PubMed5903911History Published online 1 January 1966 Published in print 1 January 1966 Metrics

The government of Kenya established Women Enterprise Fund to enhance the growth of Small and Micro Enterprises in the country through its training strategy. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of training strategy on growth of SMEs in Kenya. This research used a descriptive survey based design. The study’s target population was composed of group leaders’ beneficiaries of Constituency Women Enterprise Scheme. Both cluster sampling and simple random sampling were used to select a sample size of 335 respondents. Quantitative primary data was collected by use of structured questionnaires. The data collected was analyzed according to research objectives. The study utilized both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics to analyze data. Both ANONA and Regression Analysis were computed to assess the correlation between the variables. The findings of the study established that majority of clients had acquired relevant business skills. The training was given to most clients on a regular basis and enabled them to operate their SMEs more effectively. ANOVA results showed a correlation between training strategy and growth of SMEs since the calculated P value 0.001 was less than the critical value 0.005. The study therefore established a positive relationship between training strategy and growth of SMEs. The findings of this study will help the government of Kenya to formulate training strategies that would boost the growth of SMEs in the whole country. The study recommends the government to provide frequent training to all SMEs in the country to make them more efficient and effective.

The cognitive capacities of humans are highly developed. Consequently, the complex patterns of social interactions observed among humans are usually attributed to their sophisticated abilities, such as planning, intention, and universal knowledge. The study of human behavior, therefore, rarely uses the approach developed in artificial life: that interactions among simple units may unexpectedly result in complex structures by selforganization. This differs from studies of social organisms of lower cognition, such as social insects, to which this approach has been applied often [2]. However, also in humans complex patterns of interaction may emerge through self-organization. This has been demonstrated, for instance, in one of the earliest works in this field by the Harvard economist Thomas Schelling [7]. He was interested in ghetto formation in large cities. In a model, Schelling shows that, even if the desire to be close to individuals of one’s own type is slight, its behavioral consequences may increase at a group level, leading to unexpected “macropatterns.” Schelling’s example has been followed by a number of studies along these lines, in economics [3], in politics [1], in anthropology [5], and in linguistics [4]. Therefore, this approach appears to be useful for the study of collective behavior in humans. This kind of modeling is called synthetic. It integrates rules at the level of individuals with behavior at a group level, which is typical of studies in artificial life [6]. In this issue of Artificial Life, it is applied to a broad range of aspects of collective behavior of humans. In the first article, Janssen and Jager define artificial consumers who use different decision processes depending on their degree of uncertainty and satisfaction with products. They may, for instance, repeat their previous decision, imitate the choice of others, or decide themselves. The authors show that, apart from the process of decision, the social network of the agents also influences product diversity and market stability. In the second article, market stability is studied if firms communicate over different distances. Distance of communication has recently been getting larger, which is partly due to our improved transportation systems and communicatory tools (telephone, fax, e-mail, e-business). Louzoun et al. model this by using an extension of the LotkaVolterra model of predator-prey systems in which firms operate over different distances. In this model, exchange at a global level leads to the emergence of a single dominant market system. This system is prone to collapse, because it is not buffered by other market systems. It appears that communication between firms over a medium distance (smaller than global) maximizes both wealth and stability. Most of our communication is expressed via language. A frequently posed question is