Entrepreneurial orientation and performance of microenterprises in an emerging economy

Guided by the literature on institutional theory and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), this study examines the impact of the institutional environment on EO and performance of microenterprises at the subnational, city level in an emerging economy in contrast to most studies conducted at the national level in developed markets. The results of the study show that four types of formal institutions and two types of informal institutions are significantly associated with EO and that the latter is positively associated with higher levels of microenterprise performance. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed.

Market environment, assortment policy, and performance of small retailers

This study surveys small retail pharmacies to examine the relationship between managers’ perceptions oflocal market environments, their stated assortment policies, and their reported performance levels for alarge product category. Managers report wider assortments when market diversity and market munificenceare high. In turn, wider assortments have a positive effect on reported relative category salesand stock. In addition, market uncertainty has a direct negative effect on reported margins. This studycontrols for both store space as well as the potential direct performance effects of the local market environmentfaced by small retailers.

Uses of management control and performance measurement systems by Deans and Heads in Australian universities: their effects on research, teaching and networking capabilities

Invoking a resource-based view (RBV), this study investigates relationships between management control systems (MCSs) use, including information use from performance measurement systems (PMSs), and organisational capabilities in the context of academic units of Australian universities. Increased competition and attention to distinctive capabilities amongst universities, particularly at their strategic operating unit level of a Faculty1 or School2, provides the setting for application of this theoretic perspective. Based on a questionnaire survey of all Faculty Deans and Heads of Schools in all 39 universities in Australia, evidence is provided on relationships between diagnostic and interactive use of MCSs, attention given to imposed and discretionary types of PMS information, the strength of capabilities of the academic unit and, in turn, overall performance of the academic unit. Highlights of findings are that Heads/Deans conceived capabilities of their unit in functional dimensions, not in generic dimensions as found in prior literature; interactive MCS use and imposed performance measures, respectively, direct relate to several types of capabilities and indirectly to performance of the academic unit, but diagnostic MCS use does not. The findings have practical implications for styles of control systems use and performance information use by management in universities.

Profiling the training practices and performance of elite rowers

To investigate changes in physiology, performance, and training practices of elite Australian rowers over 6 months.

Synthesis and performance of itaconic acid/acrylamide/sodium styrene sulfonate as a self-adapting retarder for oil well cement

This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry. A novel self-adapting retarder itaconic acid/acrylamide/sodium styrene sulfonate (IA/AM/SSS, hereinafter referred to as PIAS) was synthesized by free-radical, aqueous-solution polymerization and characterized by FTIR and TG. The optimum reaction conditions of polymerization were obtained from orthogonal experiments (L3³) and subsequent data analysis. According to the evaluation as a retarder, the PIAS made it possible to obtain both a long thickening time and a swift compressive strength development for cement slurry, and therefore the applicable range of bottom hole circulation temperatures to the cement slurry has been widened to 60-180°C. Moreover, the working mechanism of the self-adapting retarder PIAS was found to rely on the change of spatial structure of the molecules to retard the hydration of the cement. This paper also expounds that the delayed coagulation of the cement slurry is attributed to adsorption, chelation and "poisoning" effects of the PIAS molecules on the surface of hydrated particles or ions through XRD and SEM analyses.

Interplay among nocturnal activity, melatonin, corticosterone and performance in the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marinus)

Most animals conduct daily activities exclusively either during the day or at night. Here, hormones such as melatonin and corticosterone, greatly influence the synchronization or regulation of physiological and behavioral cycles needed for daily activity. How then do species that exhibit more flexible daily activity patterns, responses to ecological, environmental or life-history processes, regulate daily hormone profiles important to daily performance? This study examined the consequences of (1) nocturnal activity on diel profiles of melatonin and corticosterone and (2) the effects of experimentally increased acute melatonin levels on physiological and metabolic performance in the cane toad (Rhinella marinus). Unlike inactive captive toads that had a distinct nocturnal melatonin profile, nocturnally active toads sampled under field and captive conditions, exhibited decreased nocturnal melatonin profiles with no evidence for any phase shift. Nocturnal corticosterone levels were significantly higher in field active toads than captive toads. In toads with experimentally increased melatonin levels, plasma lactate and glucose responses following recovery post exercise were significantly different from control toads. However, exogenously increased melatonin did not affect resting metabolism in toads. These results suggest that toads could adjust daily hormone profiles to match nocturnal activity requirements, thereby avoiding performance costs induced by high nocturnal melatonin levels. The ability of toads to exhibit plasticity in daily hormone cycles, could have broad implications for how they and other animals utilize behavioral flexibility to optimize daily activities in response to natural and increasingly human mediated environmental variation.