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Strategic change, infused with new data, perspectives and concepts may change the inherent meaning of the central tenets in an existing strategy. It taps into the cognitive aspects of a journey where language, in verbal and written form, aids in the process of communicating, understanding and creating new meaning. Hence, it comes as no surprise that communication is argued to be an important means of forming and executing strategy, particularly if that strategy involves change. Thus far corporate communication has been the objective of extensive and predominately qualitative analysis of written content, with a focus on identifying and demonstrating strategic intent or reorientation. The objective here is to take a different route, not yet explored in the field of strategic management and change. Leaning on a previously conducted, longitudinal and qualitative case study of strategic change the aim is twofold: Firstly, to propose a method for quantitative analysis of semantic content of texts and statistically test the semantic development over time in the same case. Secondly, to evaluate and discuss the results of a quantitative semantic analysis in relation to previous and qualitative findings. By applying latent semantic analysis (LSA), we quantified the semantic content of annual reports and press releases between 2001 and 2010, derived from a case study of one company in the paper packaging industry. Using this method, we statistically analysed significant changes in semantic content across the ten-year time period studied. The results indicate interesting avenues for continued and wider use of quantitative semantic analysis in contributing to the understanding of semantic development and strategic change.

Fuzzy rule interpolation (FRI) enables sparse fuzzy rule-based systems to derive an interpolated conclusion using neighboring rules, when presented with an observation that matches none of the given rules. The efficacy of FRI has been further empowered by the recent development of weighted FRI techniques, particularly the one that introduces attribute weights of rule antecedents from the given rule base, removing the conventional assumption of antecedent attributes having equal weighting or significance. However, such work was carried out within the specific transformation-based FRI mechanism. This short paper reports the results of generalizing it through enhancing two alternative representative FRI methods. The resultant weighted FRI algorithms facilitate the individual attribute weights to be integrated throughout the corresponding procedures of the conventional unweighted methods. With systematical comparative evaluations over benchmark classification problems, it is empirically demonstrated that these algorithms work effectively and efficiently using just two nearest neighboring rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Internationally, pharmaceutical policy has heightened expectations for community pharmacies to act as healthcare professionals, increasing the need to understand the health professional–retailer nexus. Literature suggests that pharmacy involves a dichotomy of roles including both retailing and healthcare provision, yet it is unknown whether pharmacists themselves perceive a tension between these roles and how such a tension might be managed. Aim: To explore whether there is tension between being retailers and healthcare providers in community pharmacy and to understand how any such tension is perceived and managed. Methods: Ten in‐depth semi‐structured interviews were conducted with pharmacist owners and managers of community pharmacies in New Zealand. General inductive thematic analysis was undertaken to gain insight from the data. Results: Pharmacists experienced tension between being healthcare providers and being retailers. In total, eight themes were derived from this study. Four themes emerged to describe the tension: (i) balancing roles; (ii) tension – what tension?; (iii) we give a lot for free; and (iv) too much bureaucracy and paperwork. Four themes for managing tension were identified: (i) imparting of owner beliefs; (ii) use of incentives; (iii) effective business management skills; and (iv) being entrepreneurial. Conclusion: This paper is expected to assist in helping policy‐makers and practitioners be aware of the role of tensions when policies are implemented to move pharmacists from a retailer role to healthcare provider. This paper aids in policy development and should inform professional practice and forthcoming business management training programs for community pharmacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an increasing emphasis on the role of senior management cognition in shaping organizational action, there have been few attempts to link top management mental models to strategic choice in the face of discontinuous innovation. This paper uses 23 years of data covering 15 major pharmaceutical firms to explore the degree to which each firm's response to the revolution in biotechnology was shaped by the senior team's recognition of biotechnology's importance. Controlling for a number of important alternative explanations, we show that recognition may be an important predictor of action, suggesting that cognition at the most senior level can play a critical role in shaping established firms' response to discontinuities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The skills that small and medium‐sized enterprises will need in the near future are an essential research topic that has not yet been appropriately addressed. The current paper aims to fill this gap in the literature. Explicitly, the study aimed to identify the critical skills for organizations and the disruptive technological skills. To this end, a literature review was conducted, and an online survey explored the main critical skills for the future and the disruptive technological skills contributing to achieving sustainable employability. The critical skills identified in the study were complex problem‐solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, judgement and decision making, service orientation and negotiating and cognitive flexibility. As for the disruptive technological skills, these were artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, robotization, internet of things, augmented reality and digitalization. Findings may assist companies to develop the skills needed to respond to the challenges of a continuously changing business environment. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a Semantic Web-based context ontological reasoning service for multimedia conferencing process management. When the chairman enters the basic conference information, the process will automatically select the appropriate means of notifications based on the conference time and the participant contact details. In this system, all types of multimedia conferencing processes are encapsulated in Web services and deployed on an enterprise service bus. A large multimedia conference ontology is created that contains business rules. In addition, with the objective of improving and management for data redundancy in ontological reasoning service, we propose an extensible breadth-first-search-based graph search algorithm that can successfully eliminate the redundant portion of the ontology, which can ensure validity of context ontology reasoning. Finally, the proposed multimedia conferencing process management can obtain the desired results, and some corresponding experimental analysis are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enriching business process models with semantic annotations that are taken from an ontology has become a crucial need in service provisioning, integration and composition, and business processes management. We represent semantically annotated business processes as part of an Web ontology lanuage knowledge base that formalizes the business process structure, the business domain, a set of criteria that describe correct semantic annotations, and a set of constraints that describe requirements on the business process itself. In this paper, we show how the Semantic Web representation and reasoning techniques can be 1) exploited by our aspect-oriented approach to modularize exception-handling (as well as other crosscutting) mechanisms and 2) effectively applied to formalize and automatically verify constraints on the management of exceptional flows (as well as other relevant flows) in business processes. The benefits of the Semantic Web and the aspect-oriented technologies are illustrated in a case study, where exceptional flows are modularized separately and managed at the semantic level due to the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on mixed methods research that transcends the division of quantity and quality. It provides an overview of fully integrated research methods and an insight of the potential benefits of mixed methods, that have been successfully applied in the research for business and management. It focuses on how these methods lead to systematic and procedurally replicable qualitative analysis. It mentions the paper's particular relevance to qualitative researchers for innovation.

Abstract Cognition and affect have had stretched history of influencing the buying behaviour of an individual. The change in one of the dimensions leads to some proportionate change in corresponding factor, and a number of research studies have been carried out to ascertain the role of cognition and affect in consumer decision making. But most of the studies lack the evidence of scientific reliability and validity and nature of itemization in previous scales/papers has not been comprehensive as well. In the current endeavour, application of exploratory factor analysis and structure equation modelling has significantly tested the reliability and validity measures needed for impulsive buying scale that would largely facilitate different stake holders. This paper explores the process for how highly reliable and valid indicators of cognition and affect have been developed. The research design employed was a mixture of both exploratory and descriptive approaches that assisted author in classifying factors along with underlying items. Structured questionnaire was employed for the collection of data from the respondents. For validation and development of the modified scale, a set of reliable and scientific tools were employed included. Overall findings revealed that the instrument is vastly consistent and possesses both discriminant and convergent validity. Additionally, other reliability forms are on higher side which sustains the reliability of the scale. The current study will have larger credibility for researchers in the area of organizational behaviour, consumer behaviour and in other interdisciplinary areas.

Neuromarketing, an emerging subject and generating diverse body of knowledge in the extant literature, this study aims to present qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the neuroscientific domain by analysing the application of various neuromarketing tools and techniques in conducting the research studies. This paper comprises a systematic review of 61 journal articles combined with bibliometric analysis of 577 peer-reviewed journal articles following the PRISMA framework, employing content analysis and keyword co-occurrence analysis. The comprehensive analysis presented a research profile illustrating chronological trends in neuromarketing research and discovered potential new domains, demonstrating explored and unexplored practical utility in neuromarketing. The results highlight the application of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), eye-tracking, and neural networks for data analysis as prospective areas in neuroscientific research. An overview of existing neuroscientific tools was presented based on the user context and research outcomes, outlining their benefits and limitations, along with ethical concerns. A theoretical framework was proposed to illustrate the neuromarketing effect on consumer behaviour, suggesting potential areas for future investigation. The findings of the study will be of interest to scholars and marketers in providing the insights on various neuro tools and techniques, and its significant role in decision-making, such comprehension may improve marketing effectiveness.

Case studies of firms attempting to adopt a particular type of technological innovation have demonstrated that the process of technological innovation may be mediated by decision-makers' access to knowledge and by their cognitions - reflected in belief systems. This paper highlights the importance of cognitions in decisions about technological innovation. However, cognitive processes have been under emphasized in empirical work on technological innovation and part of the problem may have been lack of availability of research tools and techniques with which to explore cognitions. Cognitive mapping methodologies are reviewed in terms of their potential to fill this gap in the research into technological innovation. The paper discusses these methodologies, evaluates their limitations and argues that a distinction should be made between cognitive maps and the output of mapping techniques. The paper concludes that cognitive mapping may provide a useful addition to existing management research tools provided researchers are clear about what is revealed by the particular methodology used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classical model of competition becomes irrelevant and unexplainable following the unpredictable changes and the advancements in technology at all levels along with a paradigm shift in the conduct of business across the world. The internal and external environments have undergone much change that makes competition highly volatile and unprecedented. The hyper-competition that is experienced has to be approached not from a reactive and adaptationist mode but from a proactive and anticipative information-based model of cognition. Information as resource provides vital leads and links to the future that enables greater prediction and control over competition. Information collected and processed from internal and external sources forms the base of the model of competitive cognition. Competitive cognition defines the contents and contours of competition based on the cognitive processes of managers. The cognitive model set out in this paper deciphers the cognitive activity and the drawing of the competitive field dynamics and competitive landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how different dimensions of entrepreneurial experience and their combinations affect new ventures' wealth growth. Drawing on entrepreneurial experience research as well as work experience and learning theories, entrepreneurial experience is posited to involve a stream of critical events that occur throughout venture creation and growth, resulting in expert knowledge and cognition and benefiting subsequent venture performance. However, the impact of experience on subsequent venture outcomes can vary due to the diversity of exposure to these critical events, the breadth of events experienced, and the comprehensiveness of qualitative and quantitative factors considered. Findings from a sample of 346 high-growth firms support that entrepreneurs' number of prior ventures has a positive effect on venture wealth growth. Further, this effect is even stronger when (1) the average time period in their prior ventures is longer, (2) they occupied lead founder roles in prior ventures, and (3) they have experienced both prior successes and failures in their ventures. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Experience, Entrepreneurial Learning, Founders, High-Growth Ventures, Entrepreneurial learning theorists suggest the most effective way to become an 'expert' entrepreneur is through learning by doing, or learning from experience (e.g., Cope and Watts, 2000; Krueger, 2007; Minniti [...]

Abstract Engagement with social networking sites is influenced by the cognitive and learning processes which in turn is influenced by culture. This paper aims at unbundling the effect of culture on the use of social network sites and thus contributes to our understanding on the way cognitive and learning processes influence the engagement with social networks. The study of over 600 social networking users addresses how professional and leisure use of social networks differs across cultures, gender and other demographics. Firstly, by utilising ANOVA techniques we associate users' behaviour with nationality and furthermore through the use of an ordered logistics regression we delineate clusters of users by the purpose of social networking adoption and their cultural characteristics. Our study helps bridge the gap in literature on identifying how cultural traits, nationality and gender affect both business and leisure use of social networking. The implications of differences in user behaviour driven by nationality and gender warrant further need for applying learning analytics in social platforms to enhance user experience. Future directions of research on social networking in relation to cognition and culture are offered for discussion. Highlights • We unbundle the cognitive and learning processes that influence engagement with SNS. • We investigate how cultural traits, nationality and gender affect the use of SNS. • Utilising ANOVA techniques we associate individual behaviour based on a study of over 600 users. • Application of learning analytics in social platforms is needed to enhance experience. • Future directions of research in relation to cognition and culture are offered for discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium sized enterprises (SME5) dominate the tourism industry in Europe. in the European Union, 94.4% of the accommodation and food sector has been classified as small businesses employing nine or less employees, in central and southern Europe the example, the average establishment size of hotels is 37 beds in 1998 (Hubertus. 2000, Weiermair and Peters, 2002). Due to the fact that small businesses are characterized by a preponderance of owner manager influence (Gagnon et al., 2000), entrepreneurial processes in tourism should be considered as one of the major fields of tourism research. The behaviour of the owner manager moulds all factors that are relevant for the service delivery process (service quality, processes, structure, corporate culture, innovation management, etc.). The entrepreneur converts detected opportunities into marketable improvements and innovations and his perception and information processing mechanisms influence his actions. Given the scant literature on entrepreneurial processes and decision making in tourism (but see Leghorél et al., 2000), the authors have developed an experimental design to form the conceptual foundation of enquiry into entrepreneurial processes. In particular. we postulate entrepreneurial quality to be measured not only by output, but by taking into account the structure, availability and use of information in the respective economic environment (Cooper et al.. 1995, Magee, 1998). While social sciences substantially contribute to entrepreneurial studies, their theoretical constructs are rather conceptional and sometimes difficult to link with economic reality (Swedberg, 2000). In some areas however these studies show considerable deficits. Economic theory for example neglects the psychological aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour. The psychology of entrepreneurs thus requires closer attention. The entrepreneur's cognitive procedures have an influence on the design of the service delivery process. Psychological aspects of the entrepreneur particularly have an impact on information search and the detection of new opportunities as well as the realization of information and ideas. This paper thus investigates the market-related behaviour of entrepreneurs and the implementation of their ideas. The process of in- formation acquisition is in the middle of attention. The paper starts with a short overview on the role of cognition and affection in service processes. It is argued that tourism research should not be limited to analyzing entrepreneurs' personality structures but has to focus on the information handling and decision making behaviour of entrepreneurs. The second part hence provides a literature review of entrepreneurial processes, in general, and entrepreneurial behaviour, in particular, with the aim to construct a model of the entrepreneurial process (Koh, 1996, Wall, 2001). Our specific research agenda includes, as a special feature, information search and information usage behaviour of entrepreneurs in tourism as well as perception of and reaction to changes in the respective economic environment. Open research questions can be derived and will be the starting point for the main part of the paper, namely the experimental design. The aim of experimental methods is to exclude as many external variables as possible and thus to gather valid data on entrepreneurial processes and the respective independent variables which influence entrepreneurs' activities and decisions. The authors conclude with recommendations for future tourism research agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizations are increasingly flooded with large amounts of data on which they base their business decisions. It is thus crucial to visualize relevant data efficiently so that employees are able to extract relevant information most accurately and quickly. However, at present, information visualization research lacks a coherent and evidence based theoretical framework providing clear guidelines on how to design efficient visualizations. When it comes to the use of redundant elements in charts like commonly used data labels, cognitive fit theory and cognitive load theory make different predictions. Whereas the latter assumes that redundant labels generally reduce visualizations’ efficiency due to increased cognitive load, cognitive fit theory predicts increased efficiency for some task types that shall be solved by means of the visualization. In the online experiment presented in this paper, we investigated the effect of data labels in line and bar charts on users’ accuracy and speed in solving chart-related business tasks dependent on different task types. Our results reveal that users perceive charts with redundant labels as significantly more efficient and answer related questions significantly more accurate and faster, which we explain by the help of cognitive fit theory. We provide valuable insights into cognitive processing of charts and encourage graph designers to consider redundant elements as a possible means to increase efficiency under particular circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new contingency view of the organization and it contributes to the theme through two complementary perspectives. First, it proposes cognition as a function which acts as the main mediator between the organization and the environment. Second, it introduces cognition as the core organizational ability which supports individuals, groups and organizations with intelligence, autonomy, learning and knowledge management, whereas, in such a perspective, cognition is viewed as the core resource in the service of the organization. Both perspectives, the mediation and the core organizational resource views, imply that cognition contributes toward managing environmental complexity and uncertainty. From this picture, this work analyzes the organization in the pursuit of high degrees of organizational cognition in order to manage high levels of environmental complexity and uncertainty. Grounded in these views, this paper presents a model of the organization as a set of fuzzy abilities. From all these backgrounds, this research opens new directions for future research on organizational abilities which subsume cognition, intelligence, autonomy, learning and knowledge management as important elements of organizational analysis.

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In recent years, there has been a growth of interest in the study of business competition from a cognitive perspective. This paper reviews this rapidly expanding literature in order to synthesize key empirical finding and identity significant theoretical and methodological issues which warrant further investigation. It is argued that the notion of "competitive enactment" and the associated "cognitive life cycle" approach recently advanced by Porac and his associates (Porac, Thomas, & Baden-Fuller, 1989; Porac & Thomas, 1990; Levenhagen, Porac, & Thomas, 1993) represent a potentially major breakthrough in our understanding of the dynamics of competition in industries and markets. However, several important propositions are derived for which the currently available empirical evidence is found wanting. Furthermore, a number of methodological hurdles are identified which have yet to be overcome if the validity of these propositions is to be investigated with an acceptable degree of rigor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As coaching becomes an established learning and development tool, it expands to new work contexts and relevant populations. Exploring coaching outcomes in insolvent entrepreneurs is a new and promising field. Business failure is a devastating experience for entrepreneurs, associated with negative emotions and adverse psychological and physiological reactions. Our study is the first to examine if coaching can help improve the coping resources, health, and cognitive performance of insolvent entrepreneurs. The results of our pre‐post‐test‐within‐subject analyses based on 19 participants show a positive improvement in psychological well‐being, vital exhaustion, and vigilance. By contrast, no improvements were found with regard to coping resources and biomarkers such as stress hormones concentrations in hair. Unexpectedly, the working alliance between client and coach did not increase the improvements following coaching. Our findings contribute to the growing literature on the effects of coaching; however, our results should be interpreted cautiously as unfortunately we had no opportunity to include a control group in our research design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in psychology has shown that even routinely experienced everyday objects such as brands can trigger cognitively engaging, emotional, and socially meaningful experiences. In this article, we review three key areas where current advances reside: brands as passive objects with utilitarian and symbolic meanings, brands as relationship partners and regulators of personal relationships, and brands as creators of social identity with social group linking value. Research in these areas is grounded in a number of fundamental perspectives within cognitive, emotional, motivational, personality, interpersonal, and group psychology. We conclude by addressing emerging areas for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy PointsNudges steer people toward certain options but also allow them to go their own way. "Dark nudges" aim to change consumer behavior against their best interests. "Sludge" uses cognitive biases to make behavior change more difficult.We have identified dark nudges and sludge in alcohol industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) materials. These undermine the information on alcohol harms that they disseminate, and may normalize or encourage alcohol consumption.Policymakers and practitioners should be aware of how dark nudges and sludge are used by the alcohol industry to promote misinformation about alcohol harms to the public. Context: "Nudges" and other behavioral economic approaches exploit common cognitive biases (systematic errors in thought processes) in order to influence behavior and decision‐making. Nudges that encourage the consumption of harmful products (for example, by exploiting gamblers' cognitive biases) have been termed "dark nudges." The term "sludge" has also been used to describe strategies that utilize cognitive biases to make behavior change harder. This study aimed to identify whether dark nudges and sludge are used by alcohol industry (AI)–funded corporate social responsibility (CSR) organizations, and, if so, to determine how they align with existing nudge conceptual frameworks. This information would aid their identification and mitigation by policymakers, researchers, and civil society. Methods: We systematically searched websites and materials of AI CSR organizations (e.g., IARD, Drinkaware, Drinkwise, Éduc'alcool); examples were coded by independent raters and categorized for further analysis. Findings: Dark nudges appear to be used in AI communications about "responsible drinking." The approaches include social norming (telling consumers that "most people" are drinking) and priming drinkers by offering verbal and pictorial cues to drink, while simultaneously appearing to warn about alcohol harms. Sludge, such as the use of particular fonts, colors, and design layouts, appears to use cognitive biases to make health‐related information about the harms of alcohol difficult to access, and enhances exposure to misinformation. Nudge‐type mechanisms also underlie AI mixed messages, in particular alternative causation arguments, which propose nonalcohol causes of alcohol harms. Conclusions: Alcohol industry CSR bodies use dark nudges and sludge, which utilize consumers' cognitive biases to promote mixed messages about alcohol harms and to undermine scientific evidence. Policymakers, practitioners, and the public need to be aware of how such techniques are used to nudge consumers toward industry misinformation. The revised typology presented in this article may help with the identification and further analysis of dark nudges and sludge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live chat, which is embedded in some shopping websites, allows a retailer to communicate with its shoppers directly and respond to their inquiries promptly. We extended the Speech Act Theory (SAT) to this context by developing the Dialog Conversion Model (DCM) that elucidates the characteristics of online dialog between shoppers and retailers. We validated the DCM using quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative analyses of 1,185 communication sessions and related purchase records reflect that shoppers' cognitive, rather than affective, expressions tend to indicate their purchase intentions, and retailers should emphasize cognitive expressions to the extent possible while being strategic in their choice of expressions. Furthermore, the affective expressions (in positive and negative forms) articulated by retailers have a considerable influence on purchase conversion. However, the same is not true for shoppers. Post‐hoc interviews were conducted with shoppers to gain additional insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that disputants differ substantially in how they experience, or cognitively "frame," conflict--even the same conflict. We explored the influence of cognitive frames on negotiation processes and outcomes. Results suggest that such frames significantly influence the processes and outcomes of conflict along three specific dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loyal buyer-seller relationships can arise by design, e.g. when a seller tailors a product to a specific market niche to accomplish the best possible returns, and buyers respond to the dedicated efforts the seller makes to meet their needs. We ask whether it is possible, instead, for loyalty to arise spontaneously, and in particular as a consequence of repeated interaction and co-adaptation among the agents in a market. We devise a stylized model of double auction markets and adaptive traders that incorporates these features. Traders choose where to trade (which market) and how to trade (to buy or to sell) based on their previous experience. We find that when the typical scale of market returns (or, at fixed scale of returns, the intensity of choice) become higher than some threshold, the preferred state of the system is segregated: both buyers and sellers are segmented into subgroups that are persistently loyal to one market over another. We characterize the segregated state analytically in the limit of large markets: it is stabilized by some agents acting cooperatively to enable trade, and provides higher rewards than its unsegregated counterpart both for individual traders and the population as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine the effect of increasing fruit visibility, adding information and lowering price on fruit purchasing at a university cafeteria in Lima, Peru.Design: Quasi-experimental pilot study of a three-phase stepped intervention. In Phase 1, fruit was displayed >3 m from the point of purchase with no additional information. Phase 2 consisted in displaying the fruit near the point of purchase with added health and price information. Phase 3 added a 33% price reduction. The duration of each phase was 3 weeks and phases were separated by 2-week breaks. Primary outcomes were total pieces of fruit and number of meals sold daily.Setting: A university cafeteria in Lima, Peru.Subjects: Approximately 150 people, students and non-student adults, who purchased food daily. Twelve students participated in post-intervention interviews.Results: Fruit purchasing doubled from Phase 1 to Phase 3 (P<0·01) and remained significant after adjusting for the number of meals sold daily (P<0·05). There was no evidence of a difference in fruit sold between the other phases. Females purchased 100% of the fruit in Phase 1, 82% in Phase 2 and 67% in Phase 3 (P<0·01). Males increased their purchasing significantly between Phase 1 and 3 (P<0·01). Non-student adults purchased more fruit with each phase (P<0·05) whereas students did not. Qualitatively, the most common reason for not purchasing fruit was a marked preference to buy unhealthy snack foods.Conclusions: Promoting fruit consumption by product placement close to the point of purchase, adding health information and price reduction had a positive effect on fruit purchasing in a university cafeteria, especially in males and non-student adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurial growth literature is extensive, but research focusing on questions such as how firms grow, why they grow according to different patterns, how the decisions about growing or not growing are made, and the contextual dimensions within which growth takes place, has been neglected. This annual review article explores such issues: it suggests that there is a greater need to understand the processes that underlie entrepreneurial growth. In particular, we need to know more about how the entrepreneur’s cognitive processes shape growth (i.e. microfoundations of growth), how they access and configure resources to achieve growth (i.e. the resource orchestration underpinning growth), whether these are influenced by a wider variety of contextual dimensions than previously recognised, and how these influence different patterns and types of growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study extends previous work by combining the effect of cognitive style and the use or non-use of two versions of a hypertext learning aid and their interaction on student performance in advanced financial accounting. One-third of the students did not use a learning aid at all, one-third used a basic version of the learning aid (where only the solution was provided), and one-third used an extended version of the learning aid (where both the solution and derivation of the solution is provided). An additional extension of the prior literature is that these effects were investigated on two different kinds of examination questions. The results demonstrate that for a familiar exam question, only the learning aid was significant, and for an unfamiliar exam question, the learning aid, cognitive style, and the interaction between learning aid and cognitive style were significant. For both types of questions, performance differed based upon cognitive style. These results suggest that educators should be careful when designing and using learning aids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the difficulties to be faced in future time. It informs that the future is undervalued in the business community. It informs that managers are predominantly held accountable for the short term and shareholders are more interested in short term profits. It reflects that the difficulties which future might deal include cognitive, social, cognitive, and business problems. It explains that cognitive perspective reflects that future has a love-hate relationship without knowing its principal. It informs that in social perspective the history is given more importance than future.

It is suggested that the recognition of new business opportunities often involves pattern recognition--the cognitive process through which individuals identify meaningful patterns in complex arrays of events or trends. Basic research on pattern recognition indicates that cognitive frameworks acquired through experience (e.g., prototypes) play a central role in this process. Such frameworks provide individuals with a basis for noticing connections between seemingly independent events or trends (e.g., advances in technology, shifts in markets, changes in government policies, etc.), and for detecting meaningful patterns in these connections. We propose that ideas for new products or services often emerge from the perception of such patterns. New business opportunities are identified when entrepreneurs, using relevant cognitive frameworks, "connect the dots" between seemingly unrelated events or trends and then detect patterns in these connections suggestive of new products or services. To obtain evidence on these proposals, we compared the "business opportunity" prototypes of novice (first-time) and repeat (experienced) entrepreneurs their cognitive representations of the essential nature of opportunities. As predicted, the prototypes of experienced entrepreneurs were more clearly defined, richer in content, and more concerned with factors and conditions related to actually starting and running a new venture (e.g., generation of positive cash flow) than the prototypes of novice entrepreneurs. These findings offer support for the view that pattern recognition is a key component of opportunity recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the expected utilitarian values of education is the development of competencies for effective business practice after school. This article presents findings of a study on the effect of education on Business Skills Cognition among indigenous microscale business owners in Kenya. Data were collected from 208 respondents using an interview schedule, observation schedule and checklist. Business Skills Cognition as the dependent quantitative variable was measured using five broad dimensions of business practice to yield a continuum of scores ranging from a minimum of 45 to a maximum of 265 points. Results from chi-square, and One Way Analysis of Variance showed that the association between education levels, and Business Skills Cognition was positive and significant. The article discusses the implication of these findings for education delivery and training for enterprise development in Kenya and any other society that is keen on the utilitarian values of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]