Satisfaction of entrepreneurs: a comparison between founders and family business successors

Although a substantial body of literature compares the job satisfaction of employees to that of the self-employed, scholars rarely take into account the heterogeneity of the latter population. We compare the level and the drivers of job satisfaction of founders and successors in family businesses. Building on the notion of procedural utility, which entails the gratification that individuals experience in the process of performing a task, we find that job satisfaction and perceived discretion in decision making is lower for successors. We also find that perceived discretion fully mediates the relationship between mode of entry into entrepreneurship and job satisfaction

A configurational analysis of the antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation

Entrepreneurial orientation is widely acknowledged as a strong predictor of firm performance. It is therefore critical to understand the factors and conditions that nurture it. In this paper, we investigate what configurations of motivations and personality traits trigger entrepreneurial orientation in three strategic leadership situations: successor of a family business, family-oriented founder, non-family founder. Strategic leaders in these situations are differently exposed to the opportunities and constraints to pursue entrepreneurial posture, because of the influence of family embeddedness and organizational resistance. We apply Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to a sample of 257 Italian SME owner/managers. We identify 12 coherent configurations of internal and external motivations, and personality traits that are all conducive to entrepreneurial orientation. These configurations are consistent with features of the family and organization environments in which the entrepreneurial action takes place; furthermore, in each strategic leadership situation, different configurations of attributes lead to entrepreneurial orientation

Ecological interactions in glacier environments: a review of studies on a model Alpine glacier

Glaciers host a variety of cold-adapted taxa, many of which have not yet been described. Interactions among glacier organisms are even less clear. Understanding ecological interactions is crucial to unravelling the functioning of glacier ecosystems, particularly in light of current glacier retreat. Through a review of the existing literature, we aim to provide a first overview of the biodiversity, primary production, trophic networks, and matter flow of a glacier ecosystem. We use the Forni Glacier (Central Italian Alps) – one of the best studied alpine glaciers in the world – as a model system for our literature review and integrate additional original data. We reveal the importance of allochthonous organic matter inputs, of Cyanobacteria and eukaryotic green algae in primary production, and the key role of springtails (Vertagopus glacialis) on the glacier surface in sustaining populations of two apex terrestrial predators: Nebria castanea (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and Pardosa saturatior (Araneae: Lycosidae). The cryophilic tardigrade Cryobiotus klebelsbergi is the apex consumer in cryoconite holes. This short food web highlights the fragility of nodes represented by invertebrates, contrasting with structured microbial communities in all glacier habitats. Although further research is necessary to quantify the ecological interactions of glacier organisms, this review summarises and integrates existing knowledge about the ecological processes on alpine glaciers and supports the importance of glacier-adapted organisms in providing ecosystem services

Isotopic signature of plutonium accumulated in cryoconite on glaciers worldwide

Glaciers are recognized as repositories for atmospheric pollutants, however, due to climate change and enhanced melting rates, they are rapidly transitioning from being repositories to secondary sources of such apollutants. Artificial radionuclides are one of the pollutants found on glaciers that efficiently accumulate onto glacier surfaces within cryoconite deposits; a dark, often biogenic sediment. This work provides information about the accumulation, distribution and sources of plutonium (Pu) isotopes in cryoconite samples from glaciers worldwide. Plutonium is an artificial radionuclide spread into the environment in the last decades as a consequence of nuclear test explosions, accidents and nuclear fuel re-processing. Samples collected from 49 glaciers across nine regions of Earth are considered. Activity concentrations of plutonium in cryoconite are orders of magnitude higher than in other environmental matrices typically used for environmental monitoring (e.g. lichens, mosses, soils and sediments), particularly in the Northern Hemisphere. Isotopic ratios indicate that plutonium contamination of cryoconite is dominated by the global signal of stratospheric fallout related to atmospheric nuclear tests. However, specific glaciers in Svalbard reveal a signature compatible with a contribution from the re-entry of the SNAP-9A satellite in 1964, which was equipped with a Pu radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Similarly, an excess of Pu is observed in cryoconite from the Exploradores Glacier (Chile). This could be associated with the November 1996 crash of the automatic Interplanetary Station "Mars '96" which was carrying a Pu thermoelectric generator. This is the first time ever that an isotopic evidence for this event is reported. These findings highlight the role that cryoconite can play in reconstructing the radioactive contamination history of different glaciated regions of the Earth. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cryoconite – from minerals and organic matter to bioengineeredsediments on glacier's surfaces

Cryoconite is a mixture of mineral and organic material covering glacial ice, playing important roles in biogeochemical cycles and lowering the albedo of a glacier surface. Understanding the differences in structure of cryoconite across the globe can be important in recognizing past and future changes in supraglacial environments and ice-organisms-minerals interactions. Despite the worldwide distribution and over a century of studies, the basic characteristics of cryoconite, including its forms and geochemistry, remain poorly studied. The major purpose of our study is the presentation and description of morphological diversity, chemical and photoautotrophs composition, and organic matter content of cryoconite sampled from 33 polar and mountain glaciers around the globe. Observations revealed that cryoconite is represented by various morphologies including loose and granular forms. Granular cryoconite includes smooth, rounded, or irregularly shaped forms; with some having their surfaces covered by cyanobacteria filaments. The occurrence of granules increased with the organic matter content in cryoconite.Moreover, amajor driver of cryoconite colouringwas the concentration of organicmatter and its interplay with minerals. The structure of cyanobacteria and algae communities in cryoconite differs between glaciers, but representatives of cyanobacteria families Pseudanabaenaceae and Phormidiaceae, and algae families Mesotaeniaceae and Ulotrichaceaewere themost common. Themost of detected cyanobacterial taxa are known to produce polymeric substances (EPS) that may cement granules. Organic matter content in cryoconite varied between glaciers, ranging from 1% to 38%. The geochemistry of all the investigated samples reflected local sediment sources, except of highly concentrated Pb andHg in cryoconite collected fromEuropean glaciers near industrialized regions, corroborating cryoconite as element-specific collector and potential environmental indicator of anthropogenic activity. Our work supports a notion that cryoconite may bemore than just simple sediment and instead exhibits complex structure with relevance for biodiversity and the functioning of glacial ecosystem

Founding team composition and early performance of university\u2014Based spin-off companies

The start-up of business ventures (university spin-offs\u2014USOs) is an important channel that universities can use to transfer the results of public research to the economic system. Several empirical investigations however show that the majority of public-research spin-offs perform rather poorly (see for example Mustar et al., 2008. Science and Public Policy 35(2), 67\u201380). Therefore, identifying and analysing the obstacles that limit the success of this type of high-tech start-ups appears extremely important to better understand and, where possible, leverage their potential contributions in terms of innovation and growth. The existing literature on the performance of USOs studies these companies as any other high-tech start up, overlooking the peculiarities related to the presence of academic personnel in the entrepreneurial/management team. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by analysing the relationship between founding teams and USO performance through a multi-level approach to the team demography. In particular, we try to account for some of the peculiar features which may shape the functioning of USO founding teams and arise mostly from the need to properly balance the scientific and commercial orientation with one another. The empirical analysis, carried out on a sample of 103 Italian USOs, shows that founding teams with a composition that promotes simultaneously differentiation and integration of academic and non-academic profiles, exhibit superior levels of performance in terms of growth

The propensity toward inter-organizational cooperation in small-and medium-sized family businesses

The goal of this paper is to explore the propensity toward inter-organizational cooperation in small-and medium-sized family businesses as compared to non-family businesses, and to assess the factors that could influence the establishment of collaborative agreements at the family-business level. We apply transaction governance theories and resource-based views as theoretical perspectives to analyze a sample of 272 Italian family and non-family small-to medium-sized enterprise