Asset specificity and behavioral uncertainty as moderators of the sales growth-employment growth relationship in emerging ventures

New venture growth is a central topic in entrepreneurship research. Although sales growth is emerging as the most commonly used measure of growth for emerging ventures, employment growth has also been used frequently. However, empirical research demonstrates that there are only very low to moderately sized correlations between the two (Delmar et aL, 2003; Weinzimmer, et al., 1998). In addition) sales growth and employment growth respond differently to a wide variety of criteria (Baum et al., 2001; Delmar et al., 2003). In this study we use transaction cost economics (Williamson, 1996) as a theoretical base to examine transaction cost influences on the addition of new employees as emerging ventures experience sales growth. \\le theorize that transaction cost economics variables will moderate the relationship between sales growth and employment growth. W'e develop and test hypotheses related to asset specificity, behavioral uncertainty, and the influence of resource munificence on the strength of the sales growth/ employment growth relationship. Asset specificity is theorized to be a positive moderator of the relationship between sales growth and employment growth. When the behavioral uncertainty associated with adding new employees is greater than that of outsourcing or subcontracting, it is hypothesized to be a negative moderator of the sales growth/employment growth relationship. We also hypothesize that resource scarcity will strengthen those relationships.

Do we need to use an accountant? The sales growth and survival benefits to family SMEs

This article explores the relationship between the usage of an external accountant and family firm sales growth and survival. Using a longitudinal panel of Australian small and medium sized family enterprises, we find that external accountants have a positive impact on sales growth and survival. We also find that the degree to which the accountant is acquainted with the family and the firm’s needs, which we term as embeddedness, moderates these positive outcomes. Furthermore, we find that appropriate strategic planning processes are necessary to maximize the sales growth benefit; however, these processes are not necessary to gain the survival benefit.

Leader-follower interactions : relations with OCB and sales productivity

Purpose Based on substitutes for leadership theory, the aim of this study is to examine followers' learning goal orientation as a moderator of relationships among transformational leadership, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and sales productivity. Design/methodology/approach Data came from 61 food and beverage attendants of a casino, and were analyzed using regression analyses. Findings Transformational leadership was positively related to both OCB and sales productivity. Learning goal orientation moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB, such that transformational leadership was more strongly related to OCB among followers with a low learning goal orientation than among followers with a high learning goal orientation. Research limitations/implications Limitations of the study include the small sample size and cross-sectional research design. Practical implications Organizations could train supervisors to practice a transformational leadership style and to take followers' learning goal orientation into account. Originality/value The findings of this study suggest that, with regard to OCB, a high learning goal orientation of followers may act as a “substitute” for low levels of leaders' transformational leadership.

New regime for property agents and residential property sales in Queensland : Property Occupations Act 2014

This article examines the new Property Occupations Act 2014 (POA) and relevant provisions of the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (AFAA) and the impacts for property practitioners. The Acts are due to commence later in 2014 once regulations and relevant forms are drafted. Coinciding with the commencement of the Acts further versions of the REIQ Houses and Land Contract and REIQ Community Title Contract will also be released. The POA introduces changes for licencing of real estate agents, property developers and resident letting agents as well as significant changes for the contract formation process. The AFAA includes the trust account and claim fund provisions of PAMDA, which avoids duplication of these provisions across each of the industry-specific Bills. The most significant change is to the process for making a claim against the fund for the conduct of property agents.

Commercial friendships between gay sales associates and straight female customers in luxury settings: A proposed theoretical framework

This study investigates friendships between gay sales associates and heterosexual female customers in luxury retail settings. By employing grounded theory methodology, the study integrates theories and findings from diverse literature streams into an original conceptual framework to illustrate the resources gay sales associates and straight female customers receive from and provide to each other during retail exchanges. The study explains why gay male–straight female friendships are uniquely suited for luxury consumption settings. Female customers characterize their friendships with gay sales associates as providing honesty, security, trust, and comfort, which stems from the absence of sexual interest and a lack of inter-female competition. Gay sales associates receive acceptance for who they are and for their displays of unconventional masculinity in retail settings. They also obtain a temporary rite from their female customers, a so-called mandate of privacy, which permits both parties to ignore the bounds of modesty and accept a degree of intimacy. Such intimacy facilitates transactions that require both personalization and customer–employee closeness, such as the selling of high-end apparel, accessories, and jewelry.

Strategic Sales Process Adaptation: Relationship Orientation of the Sales Process in a Business-to-Business Context

Although previous research has recognised adaptation as a central aspect in relationships, the adaptation of the sales process to the buying process has not been studied. Furthermore, the linking of relationship orientation as mindset with adaptation as a strategy and forming the means has not been elaborated upon in previous research. Adaptation in the context of relationships has mostly been studied in relationship marketing. In sales and sales management research, adaptation has been studied with reference to personal selling. This study focuses on adaptation of the sales process to strategically match it to the buyer’s mindset and buying process. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for strategic adaptation of the seller’s sales process to match the buyer’s buying process in a business-to-business context to make sales processes more relationship oriented. In order to arrive at a holistic view of adaptation of the sales process during relationship initiation, both the seller and buyer are included in an extensive case analysed in the study. However, the selected perspective is primarily that of the seller, and the level focused on is that of the sales process. The epistemological perspective adopted is constructivism. The study is a qualitative one applying a retrospective case study, where the main sources of information are in-depth semi-structured interviews with key informants representing the counterparts at the seller and the buyer in the software development and telecommunications industries. The main theoretical contributions of this research involve targeting a new area in the crossroads of relationship marketing, sales and sales management, and buying and purchasing by studying adaptation in a business-to-business context from a new perspective. Primarily, this study contributes to research in sales and sales management with reference to relationship orientation and strategic sales process adaptation. This research fills three research gaps. Firstly, linking the relationship orientation mindset with adaptation as strategy. Secondly, extending adaptation in sales from adaptation in selling to strategic adaptation of the sales process. Thirdly, extending adaptation to include facilitation of adaptation. The approach applied in the study, systematic combining, is characterised by continuously moving back and forth between theory and empirical data. The framework that emerges, in which linking mindset with strategy with mindset and means forms a central aspect, includes three layers: purchasing portfolio, seller-buyer relationship orientation, and strategic sales process adaptation. Linking the three layers enables an analysis of where sales process adaptation can make a contribution. Furthermore, implications for managerial use are demonstrated, for example how sellers can avoid the ‘trap’ of ad-hoc adaptation. This includes involving the company, embracing the buyer’s purchasing portfolio, understanding the current position that the seller has in this portfolio, and possibly educating the buyer about advantages of adopting a relationship-oriented approach.

Induccion del celo en vacas en anestro post parto mediante la administracion de sales minerales, vitaminas y masajes ovaricos. Realizada en el municipio de Rio Blanco, departamento de Matagalpa

El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de establecer la efectividad del tratamiento de Inducción al celo de vacas en anestro post parto por medio de la administración de sales minerales, vitaminas y masajes ovarios; dicho tratamiento fue llevado a cabo en el municipio de Río Blanco departamento de Matagalpa. Caracterizándose por una buena distribución de las lluvias la mayor parte del año. El dicho municipio se da una predominancia de una cultura de gran alta productividad ganadera, el tamaño requerido de la muestra de este trabajo de 20 hembras en periodo de anestro post parto mayor de 50 días, las cuales fueron seleccionadas al azar y evalua das clínicamente por palpación rectal por un profesional de la medicina veterinaria. Los datos fueron analizados mediante la prueba de chi –cuadrado habiendo obtenido un resultado significativo a un nivel de confianza del 95% entre los tratamientos. Con base en los resultados obtenidos posterior al tratamiento de la administración de sales minerales, vitamina y masaje ovárico se alcan zó una respuesta positiva del 80 % al celo, el 80% en tasa de preñez y en relación a la aparición del celo posteri or al tratamiento se alcanzo una media de 6.13 días que al comparar la efectividad del tratamiento de solo la aplicación de masaje ovárico se observo un buen resultado positivo, superando las expectativas. En comparación con las hembras tratadas con solo masaje ovárico se obtuvo una respuesta positiva al celo de un 60%, con un 30% de tasa de preñez y 7.33 días promedio en anestro posterior al tratamiento, por lo tanto elaboramos la hipótesis basándonos en el estadígrafo de Chi-cuadrado obteniendo un resultado significativo empleando un nivel de significancia del 0.05% por lo que atribuimos las diferencias de ambos tratamientos.

Estudio preliminar de la utilizacion del agua de mar como suplemento nutritivo de sales minerales, como alternativa para la ganancia de peso en terneros al destete en la Finca "Santa Rita", comarca El Castillo, del municipio de Mulukuku, RAAN

El presente trabajo se realizó con el objetivo de evaluar la utilización del Agua de Mar como suplemento nutritivo de sales minerales, como alternativa en la ganancia de peso en terneros al destete en la Finca Sta. Rita, comarca el Castillo, municipio de Mulukukú, Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN), ubicada en las coordenadas: 13° 10 ́08 ́ ́ N y 085° 05 ́ 18 ́ ́ W, elevación sobre el nivel del mar de 137m. Se empleó un diseño completamente al azar (D.C.A), donde fueron utilizados 30 animales distribuidos aleatoriamente en tres grupos de 10 animales. Tratamiento I: 1 000 ml de agua de mar 1 vez al día por 30 días ; Tratamiento II 1 000 ml de agua de mar 2 veces al día por 30 días; Tratamiento III: Tratamiento testigo (no se aplicó ningún suplemento mineral). Los resultados obtenidos en ganancia de peso vivo, demostraron que no hubo diferencia significativa entre tratamientos, a pesar de esto se observó una pequeña diferencia teniendo los mejores resultados el Tratamiento I seguido del Tratamiento II y por último el Tratamiento III. De igual forma no se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en la ganancia media diaria entre tratamientos, obteniendo el Tratamiento I 0.4089 kg/Animal/dia, para el Tratamiento II fue de 0.3717 kg y para el Tratamiento III fue de 0.3585. Al realizar el análisis financiero observamos que el tratamiento que mayor rentabilidad nos proporcionaría es el Tratamiento I, obteniendo una utilidad neta de $894.96 dólares, el que se emplea en la finca es el Tratamiento III y este nos deja una utilidad neta de $751.02 dólares, al comparar estas utilidades encontramos una diferencia de $143.94 dólares.

Estudio de la conservación in vitro a tasas minimas de crecimiento en piña (Ananas comosus L.) mediante el efecto de osmoreguladores y la dilucion de las sales Murashige y Skoog (1962) a temperaturas de 24ºC y 16 ºC

En el presente estudio se necesitó establecer explantes de piña (Ananas comosus L.) del cultivar Cayena lisa, de los cuales se utilizaron yemas apicales y axilares seleccionadas por su buen estado fisiológico y morfológico. Estas se establecieron en condiciones in vitro utilizando el medio de cultivo básico Murashige & Skoog MS (1962), suplementado con 2 mg/1 de 6-Bencil aminopurina (6-BAP) y 0.02 mg/1 de ácido naftalen acético (ANA) en condiciones controladas de temperatura, humedad relativa e intensidad lumínica. Una vez que se logró micropropagar la cantidad de explantes necesarios para la conservación, se procedió a la aplicación de los inhibidores del crecimiento (manito!y sorbitol) en concentraciones de 10, 20 y 30 g/1 y de la dilución de las sales MS al 25, 50 y 75%, interactuando con temperaturas de 24 oc y 16 oc. A los 120 días de haber permanecido las yemas axilares en las diferentes variantes de medios de cultivo sujetas a estudio, se observó mayor deterioro fisiológico y morfológico de las plántulas en los tratamientos con 1O, 20 y 30 g/1 demanitol y sorbitol. En las variables altura, número de hojas y color de las hojas se experimentaron menores incrementos mensuales, sin embargo se registraron mayores daños, especialmente en las hojas, las cuales presentaron un mayor porcentaje con color verde clorótico a temperaturas de 24ºc de 16 °C. La sobrevivencia fue mayor a temperatura de 16ºc, por el contrario en las diluciones de las sales MS el deterioro fisiológico y morfológico de lasplántulas fue menor, observándose mayor sobrevivencia, presentando mayores porcentajes de coloración verde oscuro y un pequeño porcentaje de plántulas atípicas a temperaturas de 24 °C y 16 °C. También fue notoria la presencia deplántulas atípicas en el manito! y sorbitol a temperatura de 24 °C. Únicamente en el tratamiento a 30 g/1 de sorbitol se observó el fenómeno de vitrificación a temperatura de 24ºc en un 15%. Las diluciones de las sales indujeron mejores resultados en altura, número de hojas y color de las hojas en ambas temperaturas, sus características fenotípicas y genotípicas se mantuvieron iguales a pesar de la reducción del crecimiento