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The article focuses on the closing of the International Paper (IP) Co.'s mill in Mobile, Alabama in December 2000. IP officials had decided to close the plant in order to reduce production in a saturated market. IP manufacturing director Bob Taylor explains that the company has more capacity than it has markets for. The plant closure has affected 800 workers of the company.

The subject of entrepreneurship has generated swathes of interest from a variety of stakeholders seeking to address economic challenges in Africa. At the heart of this interest is the fact that the businesses created by entrepreneurs create employment opportunities which, in turn, have the potential to reduce poverty at all levels of African society. Yet, while research into entrepreneurial activity is well established in the developed countries of the western world, there remain large gaps in knowledge about key issues such as why entrepreneurs in Africa start businesses, how these businesses are sustained, and the specific contextual influences and challenges which affect African entrepreneurs' decision-making and behavior. In this introductory paper, we highlight the importance of attempting to understand how African entrepreneurs, working outside the strictures of strong formal institutions, navigate difficult challenges and make decisions using fragments of informal traditions originating from prevalent African philosophies such as Ubuntu. We also draw attention to the need to assess the notion of entrepreneurial business success or failure in Africa from a cultural context perspective which takes into account considerations aside from the solely rational-economic. We conclude with a series of questions which remain largely unanswered but will, we trust, be addressed in future research on entrepreneurship and Africa's cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increased digitalisation and dematerialisation, the traditional value chain concept appears to be outdated. Instead, the term value network has emerged to describe how organisations co-create value in today's economy. However, it remains unclear what contributes to success or failure of collaborative business models in value networks. The article closes this research gap. The authors identify relevant papers through a systematic literature review process and review them using qualitative content analysis. From the 45 papers analysed, 21 critical factors contributing to success or failure of business models in value networks were extracted. They can be structured along 6 dimensions. From a theoretical perspective, the article deepens the understanding of business models in value networks and provides clear perspectives for future research. From a practical perspective, managers can use the results as target variables for strategic management to ensure success of their value network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only recently have scholars begun to explore the cross-section connection of entrepreneurship and personal selling and introduced the notion of entrepreneurial selling. This study contributes to the emerging debate by addressing the personal selling role of business owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the business-to-business (B-to-B) market in the context of failure. It examines how business owners make sense of their entrepreneurial selling activities and how underperformance in this role contributes to failure. Based on a literature review and interviews, the paper concludes that entrepreneurial selling is a crucial activity for preventing business failure and one that business owners recognize. Reasons for underperformance include business owners spending too little time on selling, their lack of personal selling skills, and procrastinating their selling activities. Answering the "bird-in-the-hand sales means" questions can produce either success or failure. Future research avenues are then suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores predicting early signals of business failure using modern models for bankruptcy prediction. It reviews how continuous operations enhance market value, strengthening competitiveness and reputation among stakeholders. The study involves medium and large companies in the Montenegrin market from 2015 to 2020, comprising 30 bankrupt and 70 financially stable firms. Logistic regression is also employed to create a logit model for early detection of bankruptcy signals in companies. This research establishes the empirical validity of modern models in predicting business failure in the Montenegrin market, particularly through logistic regression. Significant indicators, such as the Degree of Indebtedness (DI) and turnover ratio of business assets (TR), exhibit strong predictive power with a p-value less than 0.001 according to Likelihood ratio tests. The paper underscores the potential benefits of bankruptcy prediction for both internal and external stakeholders, especially investors, in enhancing the competitiveness of Montenegro's large and medium-sized companies. Notably, the research contributes by bridging the gap between theory and practice in Montenegro, as bankruptcy prediction models have not been extensively applied in the market. The authors suggest the possible applicability of the created logit model to neighboring countries with similar economic development levels. In that sense, the concept of predicting bankruptcy is positioned as integral to corporate strategy, impacting the overall reduction of bankruptcies. The paper concludes by highlighting its role as a foundation for future research, addressing the literature gap in the application of bankruptcy prediction models in Montenegro. The created logit model, tailored to the specific needs of Montenegrin companies, is presented as an original contribution, emphasizing its potential to strengthen the competitiveness of companies in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against a background of rising debt levels, this article examines the range of solutions available to a debtor in financial difficulty in Scots law and the recent proposals for reform of bankruptcy law in Scotland brought forward by the Scottish Executive as part of its new approach to debt management and enforcement in Scotland and considers the extent to which they may accord an over-burdened debtor the opportunity for a fresh start. It concludes that while the emphasis on providing appropriate solutions for over-burdened debtors with a view to enabling them to make a fresh start evidenced by these proposals is to be welcomed, they may not yet have struck quite the right balance in this respect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociology & Technoscience / Sociología y Tecnociencia is the property of Universidad de Valladolid, Escuela Universitaria de Educacion 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.)

This article presents several research papers related to banks and asset markets during war and depression. "The Great Banks' Depression: Deposit Withdrawals in the German Crisis of 1931," uses monthly balance-sheet data of all major German credit banks, and further analyze deposit withdrawals and bank failures in the German banking and currency crisis of 1931. "International Financial Crisis Contagion in the Interwar Period," examines international financial markets and the links between them using a newly hand-collected data set for more than 300 company stocks, encompassing weekly equity-market observations for 13 countries.

In the early stage of business, which is where most new ventures fail, many entrepreneurs experience discrepancies between their entrepreneurial expectations and business realities. These discrepancies referred to by this paper as an entrepreneurial gap (EG) are, therefore, among other factors, professed to be responsible for the high attrition rate of emerging ventures in South Africa. An oversight in this area of EG, despite the provision of most required resources, may still lead to business failure. This paper argues that there is more yet to be comprehended regarding early-stage business success, concerning the entrepreneur component. The purpose of this paper was to recognize and classify factors responsible for establishing entrepreneurial gaps with the intent to improve the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs. A qualitative approach with in-depth interviews was employed in the data collection. ATLAS ti 8 was used to unpack factors that instigate entrepreneurial gaps while posing challenges to emerging entrepreneurs in the early stage of business. The groups identified were: entrepreneur management, familism and personal management. The findings provide information that is credible to improving the level of preparedness among emerging entrepreneurs, and could be used by mentors, coaches and relevant support structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. 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 primary purpose of this paper is to identify the so-called core authors and their publications according to pre-defined criteria and thereby direct the users to the fastest and easiest way to get a picture of the otherwise pervasive field of bankruptcy prediction models. The authors aim to present state-of-the-art bankruptcy prediction models assembled by the field's core authors and critically examine the approaches and methods adopted. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted a literature search in November 2022 through scientific databases Scopus, ScienceDirect and the Web of Science, focussing on a publication period from 2010 to 2022. The database search query was formulated as "Bankruptcy Prediction" and "Model or Tool". However, the authors intentionally did not specify any model or tool to make the search non-discriminatory. The authors reviewed over 7,300 articles. Findings: This paper has addressed the research questions: (1) What are the most important publications of the core authors in terms of the target country, size of the sample, sector of the economy and specialization in SME? (2) What are the most used methods for deriving or adjusting models appearing in the articles of the core authors? (3) To what extent do the core authors include accounting-based variables, non-financial or macroeconomic indicators, in their prediction models? Despite the advantages of new-age methods, based on the information in the articles analyzed, it can be deduced that conventional methods will continue to be beneficial, mainly due to the higher degree of ease of use and the transferability of the derived model. Research limitations/implications: The authors identify several gaps in the literature which this research does not address but could be the focus of future research. Practical implications: The authors provide practitioners and academics with an extract from a wide range of studies, available in scientific databases, on bankruptcy prediction models or tools, resulting in a large number of records being reviewed. This research will interest shareholders, corporations, and financial institutions interested in models of financial distress prediction or bankruptcy prediction to help identify troubled firms in the early stages of distress. Social implications: Bankruptcy is a major concern for society in general, especially in today's economic environment. Therefore, being able to predict possible business failure at an early stage will give an organization time to address the issue and maybe avoid bankruptcy. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to identify the core authors in the bankruptcy prediction model and methods field. The primary value of the study is the current overview and analysis of the theoretical and practical development of knowledge in this field in the form of the construction of new models using classical or new-age methods. Also, the paper adds value by critically examining existing models and their modifications, including a discussion of the benefits of non-accounting variables usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to analyse a current theme of international interest regarding the increasing role of institutional investors in corporate governance. The role of institutional investors is getting elevated in world’s corporate market day by day due to their large shareholdings and having expertise in investment matters. However, their role and importance has not yet been accepted and explored in Pakistan. Therefore, this paper fills this gap and explores their role in Pakistan’s corporate governance by using a comparative study as to the role of institutional investors in the UK’s corporate governance. This paper identifies the failures of corporate governance in Pakistan and explores how institutional investors can help to overcome these issues.Design/methodology/approach This research paper uses a comparative approach based on documentary analysis. It conducts a comparative study of the role of institutional investors and the related code of corporate governance in Pakistan with that of the UK. It analyses the existing studies and the data relating to the role of institutional investors in Pakistan’s corporate governance and formulate recommendations to enhance the role of institutional investors for the betterment of corporate governance practices in Pakistan.Findings This paper finds that the role of institutional investors in Pakistan’s corporate governance is under-developed and the fund industry is immature. Though there is a considerable scope for them to work in Pakistan’s business market and play their role in the development of corporate governance in the listed companies of Pakistan. For this purpose, the guidance can be taken form the “Combined Code of the UK”. A number of recommendations have been formulated through which the role of institutional investors can be enhanced for the development of corporate governance practices in the business market of Pakistan.Originality/value This paper analyses the role of institutional investors in Pakistan to formulate recommendations through which this role may be enhanced for the development of corporate governance principles and practices in Pakistan. This paper fills a gap in the existing literature relating to the role of institutional investors in Pakistan, as there is a dearth of research in Pakistan concerning this issue. Further, it contributes to the on-going debate on the increasing role of institutional investors in corporate governance more widely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]