De die natali ex recensione et cum adnotationibus d. Joannis Sigismundi Gruber.

"Brevis notitia literaria": p. [vii]-xiii.

Fullback Elton Wieman carrying ball up the middle, UM football

[Typed caption on image; "'Tank' Wieman crossing No Man's land"]

Proposta di traduzione di parti del libro "Prigionieri dell'Islam" di Lilli Gruber

Les progrès réalisés dans les différentes aires culturelles, la globalisation des savoirs, les avancées dans la recherche scientifique et la volonté des chercheurs à partager leurs découvertes ont attribué à la traduction un rôle central dans le processus de la transmission des informations. Cependant, la diversité des domaines de connaissance a contraint les professionnels de la traduction à se spécialiser dans des domaines bien précis: sociologie, sciences, droit, etc. Dans ce mémoire, j'essaie de mettre en évidence les problématiques liées à la traduction de l'essai journalistique. Quels sont les défis que doit relever un traducteur afin de rendre intelligible dans la langue d'arrivée le texte qu'il a préalablement compris dans la langue source? Quels outils doit-il posséder pour contourner les problèmes de traduction qu'il rencontre? Telles sont les questions que je m'efforce de répondre.

Crowded Diphosphinomethane Ligands in Catalysis: [(R2PCH2PR′2-κ2P)-NiR″]+ Cations for Ethylene Polymerization without Activators

The preparation of a series of nickel dichloride complexes with bulky diphosphinomethane chelate ligands R2PCH2PR′2 is reported. Reaction with the appropriate Grignard reagent leads to the corresponding dimethyl and dibenzyl complexes. Cationic monomethyl and mono-η3-benzyl complexes are generated from these dialkyl complexes by protonation with [H(OEt2)2]+[B(3,5-(CF3)2C6H3)4]−, while the complex [(dtbpm κ2P)Ni(η3-CH(CH2Ph)Ph]+[B(3,5-(CF3)2C6H3)4]−is obtained from protonation of the Ni(0) olefin complex (dtbpm-κ2P)N(η2-trans-stilbene). Crystal structures of examples of dichlorides, dimethyl, dibenzyl, cationic methyl, and cationic η3-benzyl complexes are reported. Solutions of the cations polymerize ethylene under mild conditions and without the necessity of an activating agent, to form polyethylene having high molecular weights and low degrees of chain branching. In comparison to the Ni methyl cations, the η3-benzyl cation complexes are more stable and somewhat less active but still very efficient in C2H4 polymerization. The effect on the resulting polyethylene of varying the substituents R, R′ on the phosphine ligand has been examined, and a clear trend for longer chain PE with less branching in the presence of more bulky substituents on the diphosphine has been found. Density functional calculations have been used to examine the rapid suprafacial η3 to η3 haptotropic shift processes of the[(R2PCH2PR′2)Ni] fragment and the η3−η1 change of the coordination mode of the benzyl group required for polymerization in those cations.

Engagement, persistence, progress and success as theoretically distinct aspects of business creation processes

Starting from the vantage point that explaining success at creating a venture should be the unique contribution—or at least one unique contribution—of entrepreneurship research, we argue that this success construct has not yet been adequately defined an operationalized. We thus offer suggestions for more precise conceptualization and measurement of this central construct. Rather than regarding various success proxies used in prior research as poor operationalizations of success we argue that they represent other important aspects of the venture creation process: engagement, persistence and progress. We hold that in order to attain a better understanding of venture creation these constructs also need to be theoretically defined. Further, their respective drivers need to be theorized and tested separately. We suggest theoretical definitions of each. We then develop and test hypotheses concerning how human capital, venture idea novelty and business planning has different impact on the different assessments of the process represented by engagement, persistence, progress and success. The results largely confirm the stated hypotheses, suggesting that the conceptual and empirical approach we are suggesting is a path towards improved understanding of the central entrepreneurship phenomenon of new venture creation.

Business planning, idea change, flexibility and performance: the best of both worlds?

The relationships between business planning and performance have divided the entrepreneurship research community for decades (Brinckmann et al, 2010). One side of this debate is the assumption that business plans may lock the firm in a specific direction early on, impede the firm to adapt to the changing market conditions (Dencker et al., 2009) and eventually, cause escalation of commitments by introducing rigidity (Vesper, 1993). Conversely, feedback received from the production and presentation of business plans may also lead the firm to take corrective actions. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationships between changes in business ideas, business plans and the performance of nascent firms are still largely unknown. While too many business idea changes may confuse stakeholders, exhaust the firm’s resources and hinder the undergoing legitimization process, some flexibility during the early stages of the venture may be beneficial to cope with the uncertainties surrounding new venture creation (Knight, 1921; March, 1982; Stinchcombe, 1965; Weick, 1979). Previous research has emphasized adaptability and flexibility as key success factors through effectual logic and interaction with the market (Sarasvathy, 2001; 2007) or improvisation and trial-and-error (Miner et al, 2001). However, those studies did not specifically investigate the role of business planning. Our objective is to reconcile those seemingly opposing views (flexibility versus rigidity) by undertaking a more fine-grained analysis at the relationships between business planning and changes in business ideas on a large longitudinal sample of nascent firms.

The underlying rationale for planning: do nascent and young firms do what they say they do?

Previous studies investigating the relationships between business planning and performance have led to inconclusive results (Brinckmann et al., 2010; Delmar & Shane, 2003; Frese, 2009; Gruber, 2007; Honig & Karlsson, 2004). Institutional theory argues that firms develop business plans as an answer to external and internal pressures to gain legitimization (Delmar & Shane, 2004) and funding from different stakeholders (Karlsson & Honig, 2009). Action theory suggests that planning will pave the new venture creation journey by providing milestones and a program to implement (Frese, 2009). However, studies with an institutional perspective imply that nascent firms are either conforming to or looking for the benefits of these external or internal pressures (Karlsson & Honig, 2009) while action theory assumes that the plans will be implemented (Frese, 2009). This paper attempts to (i) investigate if the intended uses of the business plans provided by nascent and young firms match their actual uses during their venture creation process and (ii) to examine how the types of uses of business plans impact the firms’ outcomes over three years.

The moderating role of learning on competitive advantage : longitudinal evidence from young firms

The question of how young firms reconcile the absence of well-established learning routines arising from the “liabilities of newness” with the “learning advantages of newness” has received scant attention in entrepreneurship. While older firms follow established learning routines and sometimes face problems in overcoming inertia, young firms with lower levels of inertia are better poised to explore, search and test unique avenues for their products and services. The process of learning and capability development as well as establishing uniqueness in their product offerings is an important part not only in the early stages of firm growth, but also in firm survival. Given their inexperience, for young firms, these learning processes are iterative and include contrasting learning loops that sometimes progress and at other times digress from initially perceived unique ideas. Such processes are embedded within capabilities that the firm develops and nurtures. Based on this premise and adopting a capabilities-based view, we examine how strategic networks and environmental knowledge affects uniqueness- mediated performance in young firms. We identify firms with digressive learning strategies based on their self-assessment of learning and compare them with other firms to demonstrate a differential effect on performance.

Client adaptiveness in entrepreneurship and its effect on sustained competitive advantage in project-orientated service firms

Important differences exist in how service firms operate in comparison with manufacturing firms (c.f. Johne & Storey, 1998; Tether, 2002). Despite these significant differences, not much is known whether these differences extrapolate to entrepreneurship in the services industry. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating how value creation occurs when project-oriented firms1 adopt client adaptiveness as part of their entrepreneurial posture. Specifically, we examine the effect of client adaptiveness on sustained competitive advantage. Client adaptiveness is conceptualized as the extent to which an organization engages in identifying and responding to perceived client needs and wants which reflects the service firm’s propensity to dynamically synchronize with the project/client requirements.

Business planning, innovation and performance in nascent firms

Debate about the relationships between business planning and performance has been active for decades (Bhidé, 2000; Mintzberg, 1994). While results have been inconclusive, this topic still strongly divides the research community (Brinckmann et al., 2010; Chwolka & Raith, 2011; Delmar & Shane, 2004; Frese, 2009; Gruber, 2007; Honig & Karlsson, 2004). Previous research explored the relationships between innovation and the venture creation process (Amason et al., 2006, Dewar & Dutton, 1986; Jennings et al., 2009). However, the relationships between business planning and innovation have mostly been invoked indirectly in the strategy and entrepreneurship literatures through the notion of uncertainty surrounding the development of innovation. Some posited that planning may be irrelevant due to the iterative process, the numerous changes innovation development entails and the need to be flexible (Brews & Hunt, 1999). Others suggested that planning may facilitate the achievement of goals and overcoming of obstacles (Locke and Latham, 2000), guide the venture in its allocation of resources (Delmar and Shane, 2003) and help to foster the communication about the innovation being developed (Liao & Welsh, 2008). However, the nature and extents of the relationships between business planning, innovation and performance are still largely unknown. Moreover, if the reasons why ventures should engage (Frese, 2009) –or not- (Honig, 2004) in business planning have been investigated quite extensively (Brinckmann et al., 2010), the specific value of business planning for nascent firms developing innovation is still unclear. The objective of this paper is to shed some light on these important aspects by investigating the two following questions on a large sample of random nascent firms: 1) how is business planning use over time by new ventures developing different types and degrees of innovation? 2) how do business planning and innovation impact the performance of the nascent firms? Methods & Key propositions This PSED-type study draws its data from the first three waves of the CAUSEE project where 30,105 Australian households were randomly contacted by phone using a methodology to capture emerging firms (Davidsson, Steffens, Gordon, Reynolds, 2008). This screening led to the identification of 594 nascent ventures (i.e., firms that were not operating yet at the time of the identification) that were willing to participate in the study. Comprehensive phone interviews were conducted with these 594 ventures. Likewise, two comprehensive follow-ups were organised 12 months and 24 months later where 80% of the eligible cases of the previous wave completed the interview. The questionnaire contains specific sections investigating business plans such as: presence or absence, degree of formality and updates of the plan. Four types of innovation are measured along three degrees of intensity to produce a comprehensive continuous measure ranging from 0 to 12 (Dahlqvist & Wiklund, 2011). Other sections informing on the gestation activities, industry and different types of experiences will be used as controls to measure the relationships and the impacts of business planning and innovation on the performance of nascent firms overtime. Results from two rounds of pre-testing informed the design of the instrument included in the main survey. The three waves of data are used to first test and compare the use of planning amongst nascent firms by their degrees of innovation and then to examine their impact on performance overtime through regression analyses. Results and Implications Three waves of data collection have been completed. Preliminary results show that on average, innovative firms are more likely to have a business plans than their low innovative counterpart. They are also most likely to update their plan suggesting a more continuous use of the plan over time than previously thought. Further analyses regarding the relationships between business planning, innovation and performance are undergoing. This paper is expected to contribute to the literature on business planning and innovation by measuring quantitatively their impact on nascent firms activities and performance at different stages of their development. In addition, this study will shed a new light on the business planning-performance relationship by disentangling plans, types of nascent firms regarding their innovation degres and their performance over time. Finally, we expect to increase the understanding of the venture creation process by analysing those questions on nascent firms from a large longitudinal sample of randomly selected ventures. We acknowledge the results from this study will be preliminary and will have to be interpreted with caution as the business planning-performance is not a straightforward relationship (Brinckmann et al., 2010). Meanwhile, we believe that this study is important to the field of entrepreneurship as it provides some much needed insights on the processes used by nascent firms during their creation and early operating stages.