Australia's informal venture capitalists : an exploratory profile

In Australia, as elsewhere, finding and acquiring equity capital is one of the major problems facing start-up or growing entrepreneurial ventures. The informal venture capital market, comprising high net worth non-institutional private equity investors (or 'business angels') provides risk capital directly to new and growing businesses and has been shown to be considerably more significant than institutional providers as a source of finance for entrepreneurial businesses. Building upon research undertaken internationally, this study generated and evaluated data resulting from an investigation of 36 carefully screened Australian business angels. It focused upon three primary research questions: (i) Who are Australia's informal venture capitalists (business angels)? (ii) How do they behave? (iii) What are their investment criteria? The study initiates Australian angel research into the developing international continuum of informal venture capital research and can serve as the generator of empirically testable hypotheses for future research and theory development.

The seraphim profile of Australia's business angels : a survey of the identifying characteristics, behaviour patterns and investment criteria of informal venture capitalists in Australia

In Australia, as it is all over the world, finding and acquiring equity capital is one of the major problems facing entrepreneurs who are starting or growing entrepreneurial ventures. The informal venture capital market, made up of high net worth non-institutional private equity investors (or 'business Angels') provides risk capital directly to new and growing businesses and has been shown to be considerably more significant than institutional providers as a source of finance for entrepreneurial businesses. Building upon and comporting with Angel research undertaken overseas, this study generated and evaluated data resulting from an investigation of Australian business Angels which focused upon three primary research questions: (i) Who are Australia's Informal Venture Capitalists (Business Angels)? (ii) How do they behave? (iii) What are their investment criteria? Analysis of answers resulting from the in-depth survey of 36 carefully screened respondents produced a detailed portrait, summarised and depicted in twelve key graphs. Together, the graphs form a descriptive construct - the 'Seraphim Profile' - which articulates Australian business Angels' identifying characteristics, patterns of investment behaviour and investment criteria.

An exploratory survey of Australia's informal venture capitalists : a predicate to theory building in the context of international angel research

In Australia, as it is all over the world, finding and acquiring equity capital is one of the major problems facing entrepreneurs who are starting or growing entrepreneurial ventures. The informal venture capital market, made up of high net worth non-institutional private equity investors (or ‘business Angels’) provides risk capital directly to new and growing businesses and has been shown to be considerably more significant than institutional providers as a source of finance for entrepreneurial businesses. Building upon and comporting with Angel research undertaken overseas, this study generated and evaluated data resulting from an investigation of Australian business Angels which focused upon three primary research questions: (i) Who are Australia's Informal Venture Capitalists (Business Angels)? (ii) How do they behave? (iii) What are their investment criteria? Analysis of answers resulting from a survey of 36 carefully screened respondents produced a descriptive profile, depicted in twelve key graphs, of Australian Angels' identifying characteristics, patterns of investment behaviour and investment criteria. The study initiates Australian Angel research into the developing international continuum of formal Angel research and can serve as the generator of empirically sensible hypotheses for future research and theory development.

An exploratory investigation of informal venture capitalists in Singapore

The paper presents a tentative profile of Singapore’s informal venture capitalists (business angels) resulting from case analysis of 29 investee businesses. The inquiry closely referenced the research designs of previous international studies of business angels, but with due regard to the cultural distinctions of Western and Singapore societies, developed its own methodology and survey instrument. While application of inferential statistical techniques is not possible, results of the investigation find their value in their ability to underpin structured hypotheses for future research and the challenge they deliver to traditional ways of thinking about capital provision to new ventures in the Singapore environment.

Fair contest or elite sponsorship? Entry settlements in Australian higher education

Significant change to Australian higher education occurred between March, 1987 and March, 1996, under the direction of a Federal Labor Government. At one level, the period witnessed an increase in the provision of higher education and variation in the criteria used to grant student entry. Such change represented a crisis in higher education's traditional or 'qualified-entry' settlement which led to its resettling around a more 'diversified-entry' arrangement. The organising logic of this diversified-entry was characterised by the discourses of 'contest' (fairness in competition) rather than 'sponsorship' (selection by association), although the latter appears to have been just better 'hidden'.

The role of informal caregivers during cancer patients’ recovery from chemotherapy

Aims:  (i) To investigate the availability, perceived importance and roles of informal caregivers in the recovery of patients treated at day oncology centres and (ii) identify differences between patients with and without informal caregivers in the extent to which they experienced symptoms, and the level of bother symptoms caused.

Method:  Patients from three Australian hospitals (n = 122) were recruited during cycles 1 or 2 of adjuvant chemotherapy. Participants completed a modified version of the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) each day for 5 days after chemotherapy. A telephone interview conducted 10 days post-treatment explored the availability, importance and roles of caregivers. During the interview, participants also completed the modified RSCL in which they were asked about the extent to which they experienced, and were bothered by, each symptom over the prior 5 days combined.

Results:  Overall, 71% of participants had an informal caregiver in the 5 days postchemotherapy, commonly a partner. More women (71%) than men (48%) had a caregiver (p < 0.05). Caregivers were perceived to be highly important; they were more important for women than men (U = 213.50, p < 0.01). The most common assistance caregivers provided was meal preparation and emotional support and companionship. On days 6–10 postchemotherapy, the extent to which overall physical symptoms were experienced was higher for patients with a caregiver than without (U = 987.50, p < 0.05); similarly their symptoms caused more bother (U = 966.00, p < 0.01).

Conclusions:  These findings highlighted the importance of informal caregivers to patients postchemotherapy. It is imperative that patients are informed of the importance of this support so a caregiver can be arranged, if possible. Understanding the needs of patients following chemotherapy would enable health professionals to advise patients, with or without caregivers, how to best prepare for and manage their recovery at home.

Effects of informal institutions on the performance of microenterprises in the Phillipines : the mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation

The study investigates the effects of informal institutions and entrepreneurial orientation on the performance of microenterprises at the subnational level within a developing country context. Using structural equation modeling based on a large-scale survey of 735 microenterprises in the Philippines, it is found that informal institutional factors and entrepreneurial orientation are associated with firm performance. However, further analysis reveals a strong mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation on the informal institutions-firm performance relationships. This finding is novel and adds to our understanding of the mechanism through which informal institutions affect firm performance, particularly for microenterprises in developing countries.

Learning in social action : the informal and social learning dimensions of circumstantial and lifelong activists

This paper explores the informal and social learning dimensions of activists as they learn skills and knowledge through participating in social action. In doing this I draw on Lave and Wenger's epistemology of situated learning and Bourdieu's theory of "habitus". I argue activists learn an array of community development skills in the social environment of activism. I claim activists' learning is cognitive, embodied and situated in practice. This paper is based on empirical research in Australia, where in-depth interviews were conducted with activists to uncover their important pedagogy. It explores the learning dimensions of two groups of activists. "Lifelong activists" who have generally been involved in student politics and have participated in activism over many years, and "circumstantial activists" who become involved in protest due to a series of life circumstances. This paper claims that while both groups' learning is social and informal, lifelong activists tend to develop their skills incrementally by being involved in the fertile site of student politics. On the other hand, circumstantial activists, not having had the benefit of early immersion in a community of practice, are rapid learners. They are frequently taken out of their comfort zone as activists and need to acquire new knowledge and skills urgently in order to practise effectively. Some circumstantial activists remain on the periphery of activism and never fully immerse themselves in the practices of activism. I argue there is much to be gained from understanding learning in social action, an epistemology of adult learning which deserves greater prominence in current adult education discourse.

Bridging formal and informal learning : a mobile learning attitude scale for higher education

Problem Statement: Over the past decade there has been an increasing global demand towards the integration of mobile technologies for teaching and learning. There has emerged a need for a survey instrument that can form a solid foundation for objective judgment of leaner perspectives as they begin using mobile applications for learning. The Mobile Learning Scale, a seven-item, Likert-type survey instrument, was developed by the authors in response to this need. Items were drawn from the key points developed for a 2011 paper by the authors on mobile learning prospects for informal learning in higher education [13], with many of these points initially developed during group discussions at the 2011 International Summit on ICT in Education hosted at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France. Approach: In order to access the performance of the instrument, data were gathered from 81 undergraduate and graduate university students during August and September of 2011. Follow-up data were also gathered from 19 undergraduates in February, 2012. Results: Initial indications are the instrument has good reliability (Alpha = .80 - .85) as well as acceptable content, construct, and criterion-related validity when used with its intended audience. Conclusions/Recommendations: The authors conclude that the Mobile Learning Scale v1.0 performs well as a unidimensional scale that is capable of assessing pre-post gains resulting from a mobile learning intervention within a university course. The authors propose that this new instrument should be useful for helping guide educators in the process of meaningful integration of Mobile Applications (Apps) into teaching and learning, inside and outside the classroom.