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This paper presents the results of a research aimed to investigate the relationship among the quality of information received by business professionals and their level of decision making. The motivation for this study came from discussions about the mass spreading of data and its reflections in the management of organizations. It is a descriptive study, of a quantitative character, and it had a questionnaire as instrument for data collecting whose the final sample consisted of 311 professionals from two cities of the State of Paraná. The validation of the instrument was performed through the Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Cronbach Alpha. The main techniques employed to work with data were: Exploratory Factorial Analysis, Spearman Correlation, Conglomerate Analysis and Variance Analysis. The original dimensions of the model were unified into two factors for the quality of the information, which symbolize the information congruence with organizational tyfications and their usefulness and usability. The results indicated that groups of individuals who make tactical decisions have a disproportionate representation from the other ones about the quality of information; and it is possible to admit that for them the quality of information brings a new connotation, which is leveled in terms of inner information coherence and its proficiency for practice. The results of this study contribute to a better analysis of the literature gap reported by Petter, DeLone and McLean (2013), regarding the lack of representative variables to the construct quality of the information, as well as its relations with the decision process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial challenges of the last two years generated by the pandemic, military conflicts, etc. have determined Romanian companies to evaluate their businesses and choose the best sources in order to continue their economic activity. The companies' short- and medium-term objectives were shaped according to the new economic and social conditions. Access to financing is a key element for development, to build new jobs, to remain competitive. Consequently, the need for short-term financing increased and was honored by accessing factoring products by companies. Through the conducted study, it was highlighted that for small and medium-sized companies, factoring products are of interest and are very useful. The evolution of the products granted by Romanian financial institutions are in correlation with the international market, but the proportions are different. Developed countries promote financing through factoring, the proof is the volumes reported by factoring companies. At the same time, financial institutions maintain their prudential criteria in conditions where the economy is influenced by social and political factors, some unpredictable and with a high degree of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Over the past seven years within a small, liberal arts (LA) Canadian university, significant paradigm shifts in students' programmatic choices have occurred reflecting student preference for business-related programs versus traditional LA offerings. Grounded in strategic foresight (SF) practices, this paper aims to investigate drivers of declining traditional LA enrolment that are currently a boon for management studies, positing implications for long-term futures of the LA Academy. Design/methodology/approach: This paper lays out foundational research exploring phenomena in the academy, including disruptive forces, and explores how SF can clarify and shape long-term choices. Seeking to answer what paradigm-shifting forces really mean for the future of the academy, a case study approach is used to interpret disruptions to a Canadian institution facing present challenges and an uncertain future. Scenarios are developed for the broader academy using an environmental understanding to better inform predictive actions envisioned in academic institutional future planning. Findings: The outcome of this research, including four scenarios, will be used to better understand student and stakeholder motivations informing future academic planning. As institutional paradigms appear resistant to change, these foresight-inspired findings are valuable considerations for institutional administrators, particularly those at stressed organizations facing unsettling realities. Originality/value: The case study identifies that for the LA Academy, myriad future unknowns exist, including its continued existence in today's form. Institutions are generally unresponsive to the precursors of future change and are not systematically exploring future options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The term 'commercial determinants of health' (CDOH) is increasingly focussing attention upon the role of tobacco, alcohol and food and beverage companies and others—as important drivers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, the CDOH do not seem to be clearly represented in the most common social determinants of health (SDOH) frameworks. We review a wide range of existing frameworks of the determinants of health to determine whether and how commercial determinants are incorporated into current SDOH thinking. Methods We searched for papers and non-academic reports published in English since 2000 describing influences on population health outcomes. We included documents with a formal conceptual framework or diagram, showing the integration of the different determinants. Results Forty-eight framework documents were identified. Only one explicitly included the CDOH in a conceptual diagram. Ten papers discussed the commercial determinants in some form in the text only and fourteen described negative impacts of commercial determinants in the text. Twelve discussed positive roles for the private sector in producing harmful commodities. Overall, descriptions of commercial determinants are frequently understated, not made explicit, or simply missing. The role of commercial actors as vectors of NCDs is largely absent or invisible in many of the most influential conceptual diagrams. Conclusions Our current public health models may risk framing public health problems and solutions in ways that obscure the role that the private sector, in particular large transnational companies, play in shaping the broader environment and individual behaviours, and thus population health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the ownership and location strategies as contingency factors, which affect the relationship between SMEs’ open innovation activities and innovation performance in the context of emerging economies. Drawing from the corporate strategy and open innovation literature, we argued that SMEs with state and foreign ownership can more effectively capture economic rents from open innovation in a weak intellectual-property-rights regime. Meanwhile, the subnational environments in which SMEs locate their businesses is also crucial for them to capture value from open innovation. Using the data of 1050 SMEs in China, we found that state ownership positively and significantly moderates the relationship between openness and innovative performance, while foreign ownership partially supports the same effect. By disentangling the pro-business environment and the market development, we found that for SMEs that are located in a region with a stronger pro-business environment and a higher level of market development, open innovation can bring more value than it does for those located in regions with lower levels of those factors. Overall, this paper also contributes to our understanding of the complementary relationships between ownership and location strategies and open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embracing outside-in open innovation (OI) can result in a plethora of organizational advantages, including improved innovation performance. Although some studies have found that outside-in OI improves innovation performance, others have shown that it has no effect or even a negative effect. This mixed empirical evidence leads to a need to unpack the relationship between outside-in OI and innovation performance, and to examine how certain key mediating variables related to the outside-in OI process can ensure that outside-in OI turns into improved innovation performance. Thus, this paper aims to examine the influence of outside-in OI on innovation performance considering the mediating roles of knowledge sharing and innovation strategy. This paper draws on a cross-industrial sample of 112 firms. Data are analyzed using a set of ordinary-least-squares regression models and the bootstrap procedure. Results show that knowledge sharing and innovation strategy fully mediate the relationship between outside-in OI and innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a list of titles of Working Papers on business and economy in the U.S. "Data Revisions and the Identification of Monetary Policy Shocks," by Dean Croushore and Charles L. Evans; "Non-Exclusive Contracts, Collateralized Trade, and a Theory of Exchange," by Yaron Leitner; "The Rise of the Skilled City," by Edward L. Glaeser and Albert Saiz.

Despite numerous promises and pledges at national and international levels to confront what many acknowledge as a crisis, illegal trade in wild plants and animals continues to grow and diversify. Empirical research conducted in Norway and Uganda from 2013 to 2015 indicates that despite the different circumstances in which law enforcement operates in the two countries, policing agents face a number of comparable challenges. Drawing on institutional theory the paper argues that decoupling, that is, gaps between official policies and daily work activities within the policing organizations, compromises enforcement in both countries. Challenges stem from conflicting demands, poor resources and want of guidelines that oblige officers to prioritize the control of illegal wildlife trade in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic situation, changes in the role of women in society and growing demand for long‐term care (LTC) of older people have challenged the ability to meet the growing LTC needs in most developed countries. In countries where responsibility for LTC is still largely laid on families, it is, however, even more critical and calls for improvements in formal LTC systems. More intensive stakeholder collaboration in LTC policy development, organising and delivery are of primary importance in improving LTC systems. Such collaboration, however, is not always successful; thus, it is critical to understand what makes it effective and efficient. In this paper, we specifically look into multistakeholder collaboration in LTC in Lithuania, one of the fastest ageing countries in the EU, with the demand for LTC services growing fast and exceeding the supply despite rising business and NGO engagement. To determine facilitators of such collaboration, we build on the data obtained through eight focus group discussions with all key stakeholder representatives (LTC policymakers, organisers and service providers [public, private and NGOs], 54 participants in total). Our findings indicate that in addition to national and organisational level facilitators studied in prior research, there are important individual level factors, such as meaningfulness at work, concern and care for others, possibility for personal growth and development, satisfaction with supervision, a sense of belonging and role clarity. On the other hand, our results show that collaboration is constrained by a shortage of human resources, increased workload caused by growing LTC demand, bureaucratic requirements, legal restrictions, lack of awareness of LTC service availability among elder persons, and prevailing social norms and attitudes to institutionalised care. Interestingly, a lack of financial resources is not perceived as a major constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the beginning of the xxi century, research on organizational legitimacy has been frequently used to explain the survival of new companies. The need of being considered legitimated for new companies to improve their access to necessary resources to survive has called the researchers attention. This situation has favored the increase in the research about organizational legitimacy in the entrepreneurship field, which has augmented the complexity of obtaining a global understanding of the field´s current context. The aim of this research is to identify and visualize the intellectual structure of the research and the emerging trends regarding organizational legitimacy in the entrepreneurship field. The database is made up of the sources of knowledge and references on which the scientific articles published in the data base of the Web of Science (WOS) were based. Through a bibliometric methodology based on co-citation, we identify the main research areas, the most active ones, the main contributors, dissemination paths and emerging trends in the research field. This research paper contributes to the development of organizational legitimacy in the entrepreneurship field offering a comprehensive view of the situation of this domain, a starting point as well as a theoretical base for the researchers to build new developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social media has become a "thing" not just for its historical purpose of socialisation, but a multi-faceted platform of unpredictable possibilities. With the current high levels of actual usage, business on the platform has assumed different styles and has become one of the competing activities on this platform, creating a dilemma for the future. However, as social beings, we can manage such capricious adventure by means of research, to predict the possible destination before we are taken by surprise. One of such medium of studies is through the philosophies of the continuance intention theories. To this end, the purpose of this paper was to investigated some antecedents of social media that are capable of predicting the direction of this platform to test this theory of continuance intention, and the results from the predictive Smart PLS3 shows that the continuance intention for business on this platform will overtake socialisation to offer the biggest market among the elitist class in the near future, and not China, Nigeria or the NYSE. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses Predictive Smart PLS3 to analyse the continuance intention of social media platforms. Findings: Predictive Smart PLS3 shows that the continuance intention for business on social media platform will overtake socialisation to offer the biggest market. Research limitations/implications: The questions asked in this study focussed on buyers and not platform managers. As the continuance intention depends on the latter as well, it would have been better if their opinions were also sought to determine what will make them continue to provide social media. Originality/value: This paper is among the first to do such a study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers detailed reflections of two lecturers on the teaching of Social Sciences Education Honours modules in a multidisciplinary context at one university in South Africa. The reflections portray that, while in Social Sciences Education students from diverse specialisations are enrolled in courses that are multidisciplinary in nature, the teaching pedagogy used continues to be disciplinary-based. Through the qualitative self-reflective narrative study of two lecturers teaching Commerce Education and History Education in the Honours programme in this university, the paper explores how these lecturers teach these Honours modules in a multidisciplinary context. Drawing on the reflections of the two lecturers, the conclusions of the study were that, the Honours programme in Social Sciences Education needs to be an integrated and multidisciplinary study, given the pedagogical weaknesses, and the resultant compromising of the quality of the teaching of the disciplines within this programme. The paper proposes 'border crossing pedagogy' as a solution that can be used in a multidisciplinary classroom because it allows for integration of disciplines in terms of content and teaching approach. This calls for revisiting how the modules within Social Sciences Honours programme are taught in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technologies introduce fundamental changes in the mechanisms for verifying identity, transferring wealth, securing records, and tracing the movement of assets. The technology is poised to profoundly affect business processes and models in industry, government, and the social sector. Because graduating business students are likely to work in businesses that deploy or interact with blockchain and blockchain-related technologies, business programs must prepare them by introducing the intellectual foundations of this emerging technology and the operating practices it enables. This paper introduces a paper-based assignment designed to provide students this valuable opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to headlines about the oral health of persons experiencing social exclusion resonating in high‐income countries, and research demonstrating the need for urgent action, a symposium entitled 'International Perspectives on Socially Inclusive Dentistry: A Call to Action' was organized for the IADR International Meeting of 2018. The aim of the symposium was to initiate an international dialogue on barriers to care, multidisciplinary action and examples of best practice for service delivery for people experiencing social exclusion; in other words, to develop the idea of inclusion oral health. Through our international exchange, what emerged was an awareness of a lack of professional consensus: What exactly is inclusion oral health? A theoretical framework to push forward the policy, research and practice agenda was clearly needed. This paper advances such a framework. Over the decades, dentistry has forged an approach to service delivery mainly through a business, demand‐led model. While oral health continues to improve globally, an important consequence of this approach is that it compounds the social exclusion that many people are already experiencing because of a constellation of economic, political, cultural and individual factors. Thus, many people are simply not getting the dental care they need. In contrast, drawing on the theoretical literature on social exclusion, intersectionality and othering, we suggest that dentistry could act as an agent for social inclusion as a more responsive, all‐encompassing form of oral health care and delivery. This paper advances a theoretical framework for inclusion oral health, and an action plan to show how inclusion oral health may become one solution in an armamentarium to tackle the global phenomena of oral health inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the role of the application of reengineering and TQM to improve the efficiency of the company's business. In a situation when we have more competition, where there are many organizations today it is needed request for constant development and innovation. One of the possibilities presented in the paper is used. Reengineering represents a complex operation in which everything, except the final objective, is changing. Total Quality Management (TQm) is presented as the continuous satisfaction of customer needs, wants and requirements. Quality was and still is the key aspect in the process of increasing value for the final user. It is believed that reengineering and TQM represent excellent operational and functional brilliance for companies. But with these two concepts there are certain differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many know or have used the term Managerialism, the development of a theory about Managerialism remains largely non‐existent. When management becomes an ideology we speak of Managerialism reaching beyond the simple administration of a business organisation. Like many "‐isms", Managerialism carries connotations to ideology, thereby leading to the question: what would the development of a theory of Managerialism's ideology look like? Since Managerialism has been largely been clarified (Klikauer, 2013 & 2015), this paper builds on these ideas to examine the question of a theory of Managerialism ideology. This is tackled in three steps: the paper discusses what an ideology is; this is followed by a brief outline of twelve characteristics of ideology delivering a threefold definition of ideology and leading to two schools of thoughts; finally, the paper shows how ideology and Managerialism are linked. The paper's key argument is that any theory development on Managerialism cannot avoid the issue of ideology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Because of the increasing use of business analytics to improve business processes, it is not difficult to argue the importance that undergraduate business students gain the ability to understand, interpret, and communicate statistics. However, a task that may be difficult for statistics instructors is to quickly demonstrate and convince business students the importance of statistics. This paper presents an assignment that utilizes the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to demonstrate the importance of understanding basic statistical concepts such as population parameters, sampling methods, descriptive measures, and displaying data. This can be administered to an introductory business statistics course in order to drum up students' initial interest and views of applicability of statistics. Because of the increasing use of business analytics to improve business processes, it is not difficult to argue the importance that undergraduate business students gain the ability to understand, interpret, and communicate statistics. This paper presents an assignment that utilizes the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to demonstrate the importance of understanding basic statistical concepts. This can be administered to an introductory business statistics course in order to drum up students' initial interest and views of applicability of statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how in the past quackery was seen as a problem of remoteness and isolation while today it is global connects which provide the nourishing grounds for it. It looks at 'Dr Elsie' from rural Bushbuckridge, South Africa who uses a Quantum Resonance Magnetic Analysis Machine as a diagnostic tool to prescribe Chinese supplements. The paper describes how the practicing 'doctor' draws approval and a sense of legitimate professionalism from the economic success of her newly established business. Here, pseudo medical business becomes a conduit for social aspirations while she places the 'burden of proof' about the legitimacy of what she does with the very same people who the technology she uses deceives. The paper is framed by how the author's own sense of faithfulness as researcher is challenged by the difficulty to draw a clear line between authentic and pseudo health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper incorporates the results of research on the applications of the individualisation principle in human resources management. The main task of human resources management is to utilise such tools that reflect the interaction between the employee lifecycle and career stages. This paper attempts to find out whether businesses considering human resources as crucial to their management act in compliance with the trends of individualisation. Simultaneously, it aims to focus on the impact of individualisation on the rate of turnover, employee satisfaction and incapacity for work, i.e., the selected quality indicators of human resources management in business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide an alternative perspective on the constructs of family enterprise model. The conceptual model shows the nexus of family and enterprises in four quadrants: Kin, Business; Kin, Not-business; Not-kin, Business; and, Not-kin, Not-business. This construct synthesis aims to cover family enterprises from ancient to contemporary times to contribute to a theoretically founded conceptual framework. The two constructs to form a definition of family enterprise are enterprise, and attachment. The enterprise construct consists of two dimensions, Business and Not-Business. The attachment construct comprises two dimensions, Kin and Not-Kin, which are then offered with conceptual definitions. The paper proposes several ways to appropriately measure the constructs to address research questions. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first academic paper that includes not businesses such as not-for-profit as part of family enterprise business model. It examines the concept of family as member attachment to the enterprise rather than member ancestry. Practitioners and policymakers seeking solutions to family enterprises can use the four quadrants to investigate the issues, as each quadrant contains unique characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better perception of the need for cooperation of the Business community with the academy, i.e. Higher education. Considering the results of this type of cooperation at European level, compared to the situation in Macedonia, we can see a significantly lower fluctuation of activities in relation to this type of cooperation which is realized compared to EU countries. However, despite this situation, the Macedonian academic community still shows a very strong interest in the cooperation that should be achieved between Higher education and the Business community, which is reflected in the growing interest of companies to be part of this process. Thus, the positive attitude towards the cooperation of Higher education with the Business community, as well as the intention that exists to increase and improve this type of cooperation, can be strengthened by introducing tools and mechanisms supported by local and central government for greater involvement of Academia in Business community. The vision of the University "St. Kliment Ohridski"- Bitola, is to be exactly such a university, which with its work confirms the same. University St. Kliment Ohridski"- Bitola, has already imposed itself as a serious partner, offering cooperation with the Business community, which enables acceleration of development processes in both the University and Society. In that sense, the cooperation with the business community has wider dimensions and goals, due to which it will incorporate a range of issues that mean a more comprehensive approach to this issue, i.e. its connection with complementary and interdependent issues and problems related to it and synergistic effects from its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes a comparative analysis of the normative regulation of the Limited Liability Companies (LLC) in North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo as the most popular form of business organization in continental Europe and beyond. According to the doctrinal analysis, the spread of this type of companies is due to its hybrid nature, i.e. the presence of the positive elements of personal and capital features. Namely, the idea behind is determined by the need to create a kind of "more flexible" space for individuals in a Joint Stock Company (JSC), but also to have more formal and less personal risk than in a public company. In the comparative law of companies, there are significant differences in terms of regulating the position of LLCs, so that in some countries the features typical of personal companies are more evident, while in other countries, the Joint Stock Companies as a personification of capital companies. Unlike a Joint Stock Company that engages large amount of capital, a LLC is featured by a smaller concentration of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on three ethnographic studies of surrogacy we carried out separately in different contexts: the western US state of California, the south Indian state of Karnataka, and the western Russian metropolis of St Petersburg. In our interviews with surrogate mothers, intended parents, and surrogacy professionals, we traced the meanings and ideologies through which they understood the clinical labour of surrogacy. We found that in the US, interviewed surrogates, intended parents and professionals understood surrogacy as an exchange of both gifts and commodities, where gift-giving, reciprocity, and relatedness between surrogates and intended parents were the major tropes. In India, differing narratives of surrogacy were offered by its different parties: whilst professionals and intended parents framed it as a win-win exchange with an emphasis on the economic side, the interviewed surrogate mothers talked about surrogacy as creative labour of giving life. In Russia, approaches to surrogacy among the interviewed surrogate mothers, professionals and intended parents overlapped in framing it as work and a businesslike commodity exchange. We suggest these three different ways of ethical reasoning about the clinical labour of surrogacy, including justifications of women's incorporation into this labour, were situated in local moral frameworks. We name them "repro-regional moral frameworks", inspired by earlier work on moral frameworks as well as on reproductive nationalisms and transnational reproduction. Building on these findings, we argue that any international or global regulation of surrogacy, or indeed any moral stance on it, needs to take these local differences into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of COVID-19 impacts on tourism and hospitality businesses in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The study used quantitative methodology. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire utilizing SurveyMonkey, which is a web-based survey tool. The study found that a majority of the businesses experienced an unprecedented cancellation of bookings and lack of customers. This was caused by travel restrictions imposed globally including PNG that has severely affected tourism and hospitality businesses as their main customers are international tourists. In some parts of the world such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States, they offer relief packages to the affected businesses but in PNG there was little or no support from PNG National Government. Based on the study, 73% of the participants indicated that they didn't get any support from the PNG National Government as a relief package. Consequently, businesses were unable to pay their creditors, rentals, wages for their staff and other costs. In order for the businesses to remain in operation, they cut down on expenses and one major strategy was laying off staff. In the study it was found that majority (88%) of the staff were laid off which might cause more social problems for PNG. There is still uncertainty when COVID-19 will be completely eradicated and businesses could return to normal and staff might return to work. One strategy to revive tourism is to promote and market 'staycation' tourism which is a domestic tourism concept to rejuvenate and revive tourism and travel businesses. The study provides a better understanding of COVID-19's impacts on tourism and hospitality businesses in PNG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of climate change's impact on small businesses in the Madang Lagoon area. The study used quantitative methodology. The quantitative data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The study used non-probability sampling which combined convenience and snowball sampling that are popular sampling techniques. The completed questionnaires were retrieved and coded on an ordinal scale of 1 to 5 manually on the questionnaire and entered the codes into a specially designed excel spreadsheet and raw data were transferred to the Scientific Package for Social Science (SPSS) software and generated the reports. The study found that majority of the small businesses were affected by climate change and some businesses have had to close operations and others diversify into other small businesses. About 78% of businesses were owned and operated by women who support their family to meet the daily needs. All the small businesses were classified as being in the informal sector. The study also found that the environmental impact of climate change is evident in the study areas but little or nothing is done to prevent further damage caused by coastal erosion. As per responses from respondents, there is a plan, but nothing has been done so far to mitigate and adapt to climate change challenges. The study provides a better understanding of climate change impacts on the natural environment and small businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I propose an approach for enhancing the consistency of the decisions made by business executives, which is achieved through the development of their capacity for decision-making. I explain why this is a relevant contribution both for individual executives and for society, and why Philosophical Practice is well positioned to offer a substantial contribution in the direction of addressing the issue. I also offer a description of key inconsistencies in the decision-making process of executives, propose a solution in terms of specific ways in which those inconsistencies need to be improved, and offer the basis for a Philosophical Practice approach to promoting the development of the executive's capacity for decision-making in such a way as to solve those inconsistencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates all available literature related to critical thinking in business education in a survey of publications in the field produced from 1990–2019. It conducts a thematic analysis of 787 articles found in Web of Science and Google Scholar, including a specific focus on 55 highly-cited articles. The aim is to investigate the importance of critical thinking in business education, how it is conceptualised in business education research, the business contexts in which critical thinking is situated, and the key and more marginal themes related to critical thinking outlined in the business and business education literature. The paper outlines six key areas and topics associated with those areas. It suggests future directions for further scholarly work in the area of critical thinking in business education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we determine the risk mitigation process inherent in managing a portfolio of technologies diverse in both their readiness for infusion and the nature of the performing organization, focusing on the so-called “valley of death” in which the technology's principles have been proven but prototypes have yet to be developed. Using the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) of projects funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Small Business Innovation Research program, a two-stage competitive process, we find that the result of selection of the first round is a tendency toward larger companies. In the second round of funding, technology maturity is a stronger determinant of selection and company headcount is no longer a statistically significant driver. This combination allows the program to manage risk and deliver real technical advancement from even the smallest companies. We find that technologies typically advance from TRL 2, concept formulation, at the program's outset to roughly TRL 5, component validation, at the program's conclusion; these outcomes precede economic benefits from the subsidy. These findings illuminate a mechanism to address risk as well as demonstrating the technical outcomes of a managed early-stage technology program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of this article lies in the fact that, today, investments are necessary for a timely response to market changes. The purpose of this paper is to study the experience of the public-private partnership and its impact on the regional economy in Kazakhstan and Turkey. Within the framework of this study, a scientific approach was used with general as well as special scientific methods – in particular, systematization, theoretical generalization, and a comparative method. An analysis of the impact of publicprivate partnership on the economy of the region and the experiences of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Turkey was carried out, which allowed for the identification of further directions for the development of the use of this tool to attract private investments for regional development. The impact of the development of public-private partnerships on the economies of these territories was determined, and the main directions for improving the development of this instrument in relation to these territories were identified. The authors found that different methods of public-private partnership are used within different regions, and regulation of these areas is also carried out in different ways. The applied value of this research lies in the possibility for more effective use of this instrument of interaction between public bodies and business entities for the development of individual territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it was developed a comparative approach of the two concepts that refer to the management sphere: management and leadership, trying to emphasize the similarities and differences that exist between them. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the management style applied in a business consultancy company as well as the solutions that can be adopted to improve it. Based on the data from the organization that is the case study, we identified the leadership styles practiced within the company from both a leader and employee perspective. We also conducted a SWOT analysis on leadership identified within the organization to see what strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are on it. Taking into account the results of this analysis, we designed the main solutions that can be applied to develop leadership skills to improve the company's overall performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinicians are facing questions from some patients about speculative cell banking. Researchers recently published a paper intended to be a resource to prepare clinicians in all fields to discuss the limitations of gene cell therapy with their patients. They also hope they have created a resource for the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is tailored towards investigating the teaching and learning of Entrepreneurship as a compulsory course of study as a means of combating the high rate of unemployment among Nigerian undergraduates. It focused on assessment of entrepreneurship education undertaken by Library and Information Science students in Imo State University, Owerri. It was guided by five (5) research questions. Survey research design was adopted for the study while the 87 final students of Library and Information Science in the 2019/20 academic session was the population of the study. Rating scale was used as instrument for data collection and frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data collected. Findings of the study showed that: the major contents of Entrepreneurship Education in Imo State University are business skills, preservation techniques, electronic resource management, strategic planning and developing business plan; the methods adopted in Entrepreneurship Education are experimental/practical learning, practical projects/presentations and interactive learning; resources available for Entrepreneurship Education are; qualified lecturers, textbooks and raw materials. It was further discovered that Inculcating the spirit of self-reliance, helping to fight unemployment, helping individuals to explore their strengths and encouraging small/medium scale enterprises are the perceived benefits of entrepreneurship Education by the students. The factors militating against effective Entrepreneurship Education are no equipped laboratories and inadequate lecture halls. It was recommended that: the course content should be tailored towards library related areas, visiting entrepreneurship centres should be adopted which will help to widen the knowledge of the students and school management should provide equipped laboratories for Entrepreneurship Education and enough lecture halls among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food sector is increasingly turning toward sustainability issues. A sustainable food system should provide sufficient, nutritious food for all within limited natural resources. Plant-based food and proteins are a recent, growing trend setting out to contribute to this challenge. However, food industry stakeholders need to be aware of the challenges and opportunities. This paper reviews the trend from a business perspective. It outlines the global drivers, market trends, market data observations, and consumer behavior factors of relevance, and pinpoints the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) for food sector companies. Findings suggest that the policy and market context is favorable in the near future, but that consumer beliefs, perception and understanding has to change further for the business opportunity to grow on a larger scale. More innovations are needed, in particular in the direction of meat-replacements that are healthy as well as clean label. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce consists of the purchase, sale, distribution, marketing, and supply of information about products or services through the internet so that any client can access the products or services from anywhere and at any time. It constitutes a negotiation model that acquires more and more followers, generating great economic benefits for those who use it. To make ecommerce successful, it is necessary to be present in large marketplaces, by increasing visibility. A marketplace has a very large flow of users who already trust the brand. Therefore every detail of the consumer's shopping experience must be taken care of, the customer service system perfected, and business promoted with the practice of marketing. In this paper, the main effects that influence the pillars and the success of e-commerce were determined and it is identified that customer service constitutes the factor with the greatest incidence in the growth of e-commerce, based on the analysis of the neutrosophic statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: To review the geographic exposure measures used to characterize the tobacco environment in terms of density of tobacco outlets and proximity to tobacco outlets, and its association with smoking-related outcomes.Methods: We used PubMed and Google Scholar to find articles published until December 2019. The search was restricted to studies that (1) measured the density of and/or proximity to tobacco outlets and (2) included associations with smoking outcomes. The extraction was coordinated by several observers. We gathered data on the place of exposure, methodological approaches, and smoking outcomes.Results: Forty articles were eligible out of 3002 screened papers. Different density and proximity measures were described. 47.4% density calculations were based on simple counts (number of outlets within an area). Kernel density estimations and other measures weighted by the size of the area (outlets per square kilometer), population, and road length were identified. 81.3% of the articles which assessed proximity to tobacco outlets used length distances estimated through the street network. Higher density values were mostly associated with higher smoking prevalence (76.2%), greater tobacco use and smoking initiation (64.3%), and lower cessation outcomes (84.6%). Proximity measures were not associated with any smoking outcome except with cessation (62.5%).Conclusion: Associations between the density of tobacco outlets and smoking outcomes were found regardless of the exposure measure applied. Further research is warranted to better understand how proximity to tobacco outlets may influence the smoking outcomes. This systematic review discusses methodological gaps in the literature and provides insights for future studies exploring the tobacco environment.Implications: Our findings pose some methodological lessons to improve the exposure measures on the tobacco outlet environment. Solving these methodological gaps is crucial to understand the influence of the tobacco environment on the smoking outcomes. Activity spaces should be considered in further analyses because individuals are exposed to tobacco beyond their residence or school neighborhood. Further studies in this research area demand density estimations weighted by the size of the area, population, or road length, or measured using Kernel density estimations. Proximity calculations should be measured through the street network and should consider travel times apart from the length distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim is to analyze the publications about Internet of Things (IoT) in the business universe, present at the base of the Web of Science. The portfolio of 2,632 documents was analyzed in the Bibliometrix package in the R software. The largest number of papers is focused on the IEEE ACCESS The Multidisciplinary Open Access Journal. Among the most prolific authors and universities, there is a predominance in Asia. In relation to the most cited articles and the keywords, the connection between the technological themes (automation, systems and control) and the facilitation in the management of the respective operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research paper is devoted to investigation of actual and practical problems of entrepreneurship motivation. These sense of entrepreneurship is decided; entrepreneurship features and motivation factors that influence its development are defined; analyze is of the business activities main reasons are presented; the entrepreneur ship motivation structure is shown; basic types of entrepreneurship motivation and dynamics of motivation in the development of business activity are analyzed; relationship between business and personal successes presented. The authors note that when studying the motivation of entrepreneurial activity, it is important to apply a content-hierarchical approach, which allowed to explore the hierarchy of motives and, revealing the structural links between motives, to identify the structure of motivation. It is substantiated that the direct motives of entrepreneurial activity include: motives of commercial success; motives of freedom and independence; motives of initiative and activity; motives for innovation and risk. In particular, the indirect motives of entrepreneurial activity include: motives of self-realization; motives of respect and self-esteem; motives of social contacts and group affiliation; motives of compulsion. At the meso level of the analysis the organizational factors of motivation of business activity are allocated: sphere of business activity; experience of the entrepreneur; number of employees of a private enterprise; organization structure; organizational culture; labor and social relations, etc. Socio-demographic and personal factors of motivation of entrepreneurial activity are determined at the micro level. Socio-demographic factors include: age of the entrepreneur, gender of the entrepreneur, marital status, education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate about academic activism in organization studies through an exploration of my engagement with recent international policy‐making relating to gender, business, and human rights. It brings social movement theory to the debate to elucidate how our work as academic activists can be conceived of in terms of social movement strategies with respect to political opportunities, mobilizing structures, and strategic framing processes. The aim is to further elucidate what we do as academic activists, and how such actions might advance feminist social movement agendas through a process that is both critical AND engaged in neoliberal contexts. I conclude with a discussion of the implications for Gender, Work & Organization (GWO) scholars and the GWO journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: the purpose of this research is to analyze the relationships and growth trends of Industry 4.0 within the global universe of current literature on innovation, limited to the subject area of business, administration, and accounting by means of a bibliometric analysis. Method: Scopus is used as a database for the analysis of 513 documents for the period from 1998 to 2021. VOS viewer was used for processing Scopus database and elaboration of figures representing the relationships between samples. Results: the number of documents is exponentially growing, starting with a trend in 2017 and increasing ever since. The most dynamic source is Technological Forecasting And Social Change. The author with most documents is Voight, K. L. with 10, and the most distinguished institution is the University of Johannesburg with 14 documents. The country with more documents is Italy, with 69. According to the database 69 % of the total documents are articles and 23,4 % are conference papers. The number of documents in the area of Business, Management and Accounting, with 513 documents, exceeds by far any other area, representing 42 % of all documents. The funding sponsor with more documents is the National Natural Science Foundations of China with 13 documents. Some of the most updated organizations are Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, The center for digital labor markets. The country with more documents is United Kingdom with 50 documents and 584 citations, followed by United States with 1110 citations. United States has mainly bonds with China, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. United Kingdom has mainly bonds with France, Italy, Germany and United States. China's main relations are Australia, United States, Pakistan, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil and South Korea. Italy's main bonds are France, Spain, Brazil, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, Austria and Portugal. It could be determined that countries are mostly grouped in 6 clusters. Conclusion: Although there are not many publications yet, it can be inferred that the term industry 4.0 within the available literature of innovation will keep increasing exponentially over time reinforcing relations between authors, institutions and countries. Based on the current state of literature, the subject area of business, management, and accounting will keep on being the one that encompasses most of the available documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often maintained that, since the buying and selling of organs—particularly the kidneys—of living people supposedly constitutes exploitation of the living vendors while the so-called "altruistic" donation of them does not, the former, unlike the latter, should be a crime. This paper challenges and rejects this view. A novel account of exploitation, influenced by but different from those of Zwolinski and Wertheimer and of Wilkinson, is developed. Exploitation is seen as a sort of injustice. A distinction is made between justice and fairness. To exploit someone is to take advantage of him or her unjustly. Exploitation pertains to the nature of actions, interactions, and transaction rather than to their outcomes or to how they are perceived by exploitees. Desperation on the part of one or other of the parties to a transaction does not preclude the giving of valid consent to the transaction. Disparities of power or wealth between the parties to a transaction do not indicate or entail that the transaction will be exploitative. A disparity in the benefits that arise from a transaction between the parties does not indicate or entail that exploitation has taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Richer forms of online reviews such as videos or follow‐on reviews convey 'additional information and can attract consumers' attention. However, prior studies focused mostly on the relationship between aggregated online reviews and sales. This paper investigates the impact of online review richness (i.e., reviews containing videos or follow‐on reviews) on sales. Leveraging attribute substitution theory, we conjecture that online review richness can provide heuristic cues in the online shopping environment to help consumers make better purchase decisions. Using data from JD.com, we found that reviews containing either videos or follow‐on reviews positively affect sales. In addition, different product types can also serve as heuristic cues to replace target cues, which can further affect how different forms of online review richness affect sales. We found that the impact of online review richness on sales is stronger for utilitarian products than for hedonic products, and stronger for negatively commented products than for positively commented products. Moreover, we conducted two online experiments and confirmed that the causal relationship is from online review richness to sales. The research findings offer practical implications for online retailers and constitute one of the first steps toward a better understanding of the relationship between online review richness and sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, an emerging stream of research suggests that firms should use technological innovation and business model innovation harmoniously to maximize firm performance. In order to enrich the scholarly conversation on the fit between technological innovation and business model innovation, drawing insights from the dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper examines the fit between value proposition innovation and technological innovation (exploitative versus explorative) for the performance of startups in the digital environment. Based on on-site survey data of 285 digital startups in one of the world's largest digital economies, we find that explorative innovation strengthens the positive impact of value proposition innovation on the performance of startups, whereas exploitative innovation weakens this positive effect. Furthermore, these moderating effects are magnified in a highly uncertain demand environment. These findings inject fresh insights into existing scholarly conversation on the fit between technological innovation and business model innovation by offering a dynamic capabilities perspective and by extending it to an increasingly digital business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Those underage should not use tobacco products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems. A technologically-based solution developed by Juul Labs Inc to restrict underage access seeks to automate transactions, structurally mandate age-verification, and limit the quantity of JUUL products purchased per transaction. A pilot of this standards-based approach, referred to as RACS™ (Retail Access Control Standards), was conducted to assess efficacy. Methods: RACS was implemented at 171 stores within 3 retail chains selling tobacco products in 3 states. "Secret shopper" compliance audits, in which a mystery shopper attempted to purchase JUUL products, were conducted at participating stores before and after implementation of RACS, to test compliance with age-verification and product-quantity limits. Audit failure rates were compared pre- and post-RACS implementation to assess effectiveness. Comparisons were made overall, by chain, state, and failure type. Results: A total of 3990 audits were conducted. We found large, statistically significant reductions (p < .001) in failure rates for age-verification and compliance with product-quantity limits after implementing RACS, as compared to pre- RACS rates, declining to near zero. Conclusions: Utilizing enhanced access controls can be part of a comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco-control strategy to address underage use of all tobacco products, including JUUL. ACKNOWLEDGMENT & CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: Funding for this study was provided by Juul Labs Inc. Through Pinney Associates, Saul Shiffman provides consulting services on tobacco harm reduction on an exclusive basis to Juul Labs Inc. In that role, he acted as internal editor and coordinator for the papers in this special issue. Erik Augustson is a full-time employee of Juul Labs Inc. As Senior Director of Behavioral Affairs at JLI, he oversaw the conduct of the behavioral research reported in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the situation and transformations of business owners in the deep south of Thailand, including data collected through online questionnaires and phone interviews, and it analyzes the data using descriptive and content analysis. The study found that more than 15 years of violence have caused difficult living situations among people and negatively affected economic activities. In addition, pluralistic societies have diminished, and many Chinese and Buddhist business owners have gone out of business or relocated from the deep south; however, many Chinese and Buddhist business owners still remain in the deep south and have adapted for survival. In addition, the study found that the number of Muslim business owners has increased and that they have more opportunities for economic activities compared to those years before 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) consists of multiple stakeholders including raw material suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, regulatory authorities, pharmacies, hospitals, and patients. The complexity of product and transaction flows in PSC requires an effective traceability system to determine the current and all previous product ownerships. In addition, digitizing track and trace process provides significant benefit for regulatory oversight and ensures product safety. Blockchain-based drug traceability offers a potential solution to create a distributed shared data platform for an immutable, trustworthy, accountable and transparent system in the PSC. In this paper, we present an overview of product traceability issues in the PSC and envisage how blockchain technology can provide effective provenance, track and trace solution to mitigate counterfeit medications. We propose two potential blockchain based decentralized architectures, Hyperledger Fabric and Besu to meet critical requirements for drug traceability such as privacy, trust, transparency, security, authorization and authentication, and scalability. We propose, discuss, and compare two potential blockchain architectures for drug traceability. We identify and discuss several open research challenges related to the application of blockchain technology for drug traceability. The proposed blockchain architectures provide a valuable roadmap for Health Informatics researchers to build and deploy an end-to-end solution for the pharmaceutical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to survey 2018-2019 Year III students at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in order explore their perceptions of the components of the revised Jurisprudence, Ethics and Business Management course. Methods: This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board. A paper survey was distributed to all enrolled students. Using a five-point Likert scale, students were asked if they perceived the course material was (i) well-presented and (ii) important for them to know as future chiropractors. Students were required to sign a consent form to participate. Results: Survey response rate was 94%. Over 90% of respondents 'strongly agreed/'agreed' lectures, small group session and course assignments were well presented and important for them to know as future chiropractors. Respondents were more critical of the online business modules (on average, 50% 'strongly agreed/agreed'). Conclusions: The information from this survey will enable refinement of future versions of this course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]