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Entrepreneurship requires continued investment of time to build a successful venture. But how might we predict the amount of time an entrepreneur will invest in their venture? This research proposes that prior time invested, in conjunction with business plan usage and opportunity confidence, helps answer this question. Using data from a panel study of entrepreneurs in Australia, results show that most nascent entrepreneurs, on average, increased the time they invested in their ventures over the course of the study. However, the combination of actively using a business plan with high and moderate levels of venture confidence resulted in a decrease of time investment, as opposed to an increase when venture confidence was low. This may suggest that when supplemented by a business plan, the fear of failure motivates entrepreneurs to work harder towards achieving a goal, even when the perceived possibility of success is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigated the feasibility of starting a new sports business in the Iranian shoe industry. Methodology: The research method was qualitative, utilizing library sources and interviews with 15 participants, including sports start-up owners and professionals from Science and Technology Park. The thematic analysis method was employed, and the sampling strategy was purposive. In addition, a questionnaire based on the AHP method was distributed among 10 participants to prioritize the key elements. In this regard, Expert Choice software was used. Findings: The study identified economic, financial, environmental, technological, team, and market feasibility essential for launching a sports startup in the shoe industry. Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process approach, the prioritization of these elements was determined as economic, human resource, financial, market, technological, and environmental. In addition, the prioritization of the sub-elements of each of the feasibility studies was also presented. Sports business owners must conduct proper planning and feasibility assessments when launching sports start-ups, considering the current market conditions. The key elements identified in this study can be used for sports business projects in Iran's economy. Originality: The research has a strategic perspective in examining the probability of successful sports startups, which has received little attention. This study also opens up a new approach to forecasting in the sports shoe industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Oeconomicus is the property of Znanstvena Rijec d.o. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In today‟s fierce competitive world, entrepreneurship has taken an upswing because business owners are facing a technological challenge in which uniqueness and particularity are key elements to detour rivals. In this essence, entrepreneurs have to go by not only developing business plans but also a deep analysis of their environment. Business plans for entrepreneurs can take different models depending on the party that will evaluate its elements based on its requirements. However, there exists a basic format that most entrepreneurs follow. Because of time constraints, business owners are urging its usefulness and so are the investors. Business plans are all about nailing down the business idea into writing and analysis, while this seems a feasible task; there are plenty of external and internal research to be set set in order to accomplish it. Within these measures in place, there exists a quick yet effective model that could carry on the thought and set the startup business into action. The model is called business plan canvas; it is based on the CUSB model that serve both the business owner and or the investor to better catch on the business idea and understand its objectives and requirements starting by the customer, the non satisfied need, the solution, and the benefits to be offered. It is also a model that helps the potential entrepreneur to sell his thoughts in order to get some funds, counseling, and a road map to follow for his future business endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore a well-known instance of fast decision making under high uncertainty, venture capital (VC) opportunity screening. We analyze a sample of 722 funding requests submitted to an American VC firm and evaluate the influence of the form of the submission and content of business planning documents on VC funding decisions. We improve on prior literature by a) using a large sample of known representativeness, b) relating request characteristics to actual VC decisions, and c) developing an inferential logic that takes account of the multiple sources of information to which VCs have access. We find that the presence of planning documents and some information contained therein are weakly associated with VC funding decisions. Based on our inferential strategy, we find that this information is learned independently of its inclusion in the business planning documents. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue viability services have been reconfigured and developed as a result of increased pressure on the NHS to deliver more efficient services that maintain quality of care. There is a need for tissue viability clinicians to develop the skills to outline and effect positive changes in practice. For this, they need business development skills, one of the most important of which is presentation skills. This article describes how to put together a presentation that will successfully promote a business case for change in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary This study develops and tests a counterfactual model of the relationship between formal written business plans and the achievement of new venture viability. This is important because extant theory remains oppositional, and there is a practical need to provide guidance to founders on the utility of formal plans. To test our model, we use propensity score matching to identify the impact that founder, venture, and environmental factors have on the decision to write a formal plan (selection effects). Having isolated these selection effects, we test whether or not these plans help founders achieve venture viability (performance effects). Our results, using data on 1,088 founders, identify two key results: (1) selection effects matter in the decision to plan; and (2) it pays to plan. Managerial Summary This study assesses whether founders who write formal plans are more likely to achieve new venture viability. This is important because, despite its popularity, there is considerable debate about the value of plans. One root reason for this is that what prompts a founder to plan also impacts his/her chances of creating a viable new venture. The study's novelty is to separate out influences on the decision to plan from the plan-venture viability relationship. Our results show that better-educated founders, those wanting to grow and innovate, and those needing external finance are more likely to plan. Subsequently, having isolated what prompts planning, we assess if writing a plan actually promotes venture viability. We find that it pays to plan. Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fields of travel and international medicine are rapidly changing and growing. The role of occupational and travel health nurses is expanding and should be a focus for the future. At the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Annual meeting on March 24, 2015, in Boston, five presentations were included in the session, An Update on Travel Vaccines and Issues in Travel and International Medicine. This article summarizes three of the presentations and includes a portion of the information generated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) included in the fourth presentation. The first section focuses on the Essential Elements of Travel Medicine Programs including the pre-travel care assessment, trip research and risk identification, medication intervention review, non-pharmaceutical and prevention strategies, and post-travel care. The next section is an overview of key issues for business travelers. The growth in the number of international business travelers and unique aspects of business travel are emphasized in a comprehensive travel health program. This section also includes a discussion of expatriates and their special risks identified in recent literature (e.g., an assessment of the significant costs of health events and productivity losses by both business travelers and expatriates). The final section offers a specific example of a vaccine-preventable disease, namely, Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus, and needed changes in JE vaccine recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economy & Market Communication Review / Casopis za Ekonomiju i Trzisne Komunikacije is the property of Pan-European University Apeiron and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agro Productividad is the property of Colegio de Postgraduados and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Scientific Bulletin of Polissia is the property of Chernihiv State Institute of Economics & Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to approach the debate surrounding the role of business plans in enterprise/entrepreneurship education from a different perspective; that of the student. The paper argues that much of the consternation within this stubborn debate derives from a lack of appreciation of the context actually occurring in the lives of our students. The paper aims to explore several arguments directly related to these contexts. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is to build around a combining of cycles of reflective practice via the authors' iterative consultation with each other. The paper seeks to explore the world of the student via an enfolding of the literature, but ultimately we do not claim to have hidden our personal biases. Findings – It is important to separate enterprise education (EE) from entrepreneurship education when discussing the role of the business plan. While the business plan has a place in the latter, it makes little sense for it to be a focal learning activity in the former. In addition, we see this outcome as a positive outcome for our field with little point in continuing on with what has become a fairly pointless debate. Practical implications – The paper concludes that once EE is viewed as being distinctly different from entrepreneurship education it is free to be considered with more precision what learning needs exist. Focusing on learning needs changes the direction of the discussion, with the business plan only up for discussion if it contributes a learning activity related to pre-determined learning outcomes. Originality/value – The paper offers a constructive way forward from a debate that has been beset with extreme vested interests for too long. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study advances research on business planning by integrating and reconciling the institutional and strategic planning perspectives to explore the performance implications of both formal and informal business planning. We also examine how an entrepreneur's prior experience and social class shape the planning-performance relationship. Using a dataset of two waves of interviews with 313 founders in China, we found that both formal and informal business planning can benefit new ventures. Interestingly, as a unique contingency factor in the Chinese context, social class moderates only the link between formal planning and performance, whereas prior work experience moderates the effects of both formal and informal planning on performance. Copyright © 2013 Strategic Management Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to identify the importance of analyzing intangible assets as a success factor in creating business, from the business plan. The method used in the paper is structured in three parts: Query Literature, Research Development and Empirical Evidence. Through the questionnaire administered to 21 professionals (managers, consultants and teachers) were identified as a result there is a broad agreement on the importance of intangible assets, intellectual capital, mainly in Human Capital element. Thus, we can conclude that when analyzing the chances of success of the business, it must also be considered intangible assets, seen as intellectual capital. From the questionnaire, showed the importance of assessing the intangible aspects in preparing the business plan. Cases in which there was 100 por cento agreement, the business plan should be seen valuing of people, it is they who have the knowledge as a factor of production and generating wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the planning and implementation of patient flows as a key driver of university hospital modernisation in four large tertiary-care institutions in the Republic of Serbia. The project, supported by EU funding, aims to support the interrelated processes of health service delivery changes and major infrastructure investment. Together, the four clinical centres host over 2 million outpatients, 220,000 inpatients and 120,000 operations each year. All four have complete or partial pavilion (standalone) structure (from ten to more than 30 buildings) and fragmented patient flows (eg interrupted patient flow due to limitations of infrastructure and poor service organisation). A main project goal is to centralise facilities and to separate patient flows into four major patient groups (outpatients, day-patients, emergency patients and inpatients) and patients for surgery/intensive care. This paper will provide insights into the challenges and successes of a major hospital infrastructure investment project that combines organisational changes to meet healthcare reform targets for improved health service delivery to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is concerned with an ontology-based knowledge network developed for the semantic representation of the feasibility studies preparation procedure. Specifically, a training scenario in feasibility studies and business plan preparing was built, using the CULTOS tools that are based on a self-contained reusable knowledge repository, which combines the ontology constructs with supportive multimedia objects. The proposed approach may have significant impact to enabling users participate actively in the feasibility studies preparing process since they are equipped with an appropriate tool for acquiring a clear and an in depth understanding of this process. Through the present application, it seems that the model could combine any existing multimedia material with ontology constructs, using knowledge-based multimedia authoring tools, in order to build user-training scenarios and satisfy specific training needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business angel networks act as a financial intermediary between investors and start-ups and are a means of overcoming the problem of matching entrepreneurs and business angels. In reality, most business angel networks do not accomplish this goal. Using the results of an empirical survey and five exploratory case studies, we develop three propositions concerning the business model of angel networks. We find theoretical and empirical evidence that angel networks actually foster adverse selection during the investment process. Consequently, angels, especially serial business angels, do not receive sustainable benefits from network services and actually face new risks during the investment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether writing a business plan before launching a new venture affects the subsequent performance of the venture. The dataset comprised new ventures started by Babson College alums who graduated between 1985 and 2003. The analysis revealed that there was no difference between the performance of new businesses launched with or without written business plans. The findings suggest that unless a would-be entrepreneur needs to raise substantial start-up capital from institutional investors or business angels, there is no compelling reason to write a detailed business plan before opening a new business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the exploration of the ways British owner-managers of small firms influence if those firms have a business plan. It focuses on antecedent influences on owner-managers such as education and prior experience. Antecedent influences on owner-managers showing a significant association with the possession of a business plan include a high level of education.

This article studies investors perception in a Business Plan. Although a business plan has several purposes and target audiences, most are produced in order to raise finance. The business plan is the ticket of admission giving the entrepreneur his first and often only chance to impress prospective sources of finance with the quality of the proposal. The decision by the prospective funder whether to proceed beyond the initial reading of the business plan to consider the proposal in more detail will therefore depend on the quality of the business plan used to support the funding proposal.

The contraction in venture capital has created new opportunities for angel investors in traditional venture capital markets where, previously, angels have struggled to get a foothold. Angels and the growing number of angel networks are increasingly filling the $US500 000 to $US2 million funding gap left by venture capitalists who have fled the early stage space for more secure later stage investments. Angels' increasing visibility in venture capital markets creates additional opportunity for angels to become co-investors in venture capital-led deals. However, the emerging partnership between angels and venture capitalists does not take place easily in spite of the market forces driving the two together. There are gaps in information that create inefficiencies in the angel-VC market. A critical need has arisen for intermediaries to facilitate interaction between angels and venture capitalists, particularly in under-served markets. Without these intermediaries, the role angel investors have to play in rejuvenating venture fund markets will go largely unfulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs often submit crude business plans to potential investors and are frequently disappointed when the investor decides that the new venture is not yet 'investment ready'. This paper examines the nature of investor readiness and the differing perceptions of investor readiness by entrepreneurs relative to venture capitalists in Australia. It is found that when the assessments of each investor readiness dimension are combined they are related to the venture capitalists' intuitive (gut) assessments; that new ventures are perceived to be more marketing and management ready than technology ready; and investors and entrepreneurs differ in their perception of readiness (technology, market, management and overall). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two-person games involving optimal stopping. As far as we are aware, the type of problems we study are new. We confine our interest to such games in discrete time. Two players are to chose, with randomised choice-priority, between two games G 1 and G 2 . Each game consists of two parts with well-defined targets. Each part consists of a sequence of random variables which determines when the decisive part of the game will begin. In each game, the horizon is bounded, and if the two parts are not finished within the horizon, the game is lost by definition. Otherwise the decisive part begins, on which each player is entitled to apply their or her strategy to reach the second target. If only one player achieves the two targets, this player is the winner. If both win or both lose, the outcome is seen as "deuce". We motivate the interest of such problems in the context of real-world problems. A few representative problems are solved in detail. The main objective of this article is to serve as a preliminary manual to guide through possible approaches and to discuss under which circumstances we can obtain solutions, or approximate solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]