Entrepreneurial orientation and the business performance of SMEs: a quantitative study from the Netherlands

Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) is often mentioned as an antecedent of growth, competitive advantage and superior performance, and prior empirical research has often shown a positive relationship between EO and performance appears to exist. However, an important question that remains unanswered is what effect EO might have on firm performance during periods of economic crisis, and the severe environmental turbulence that accompany such crises. This research is a first investigation towards the effects of EO on the performance of small and medium sized firms during the current global economic crisis. In this study we use the multidimensional model of EO and test a series of hypotheses pertaining to its performance effects using survey data gathered from 164 Dutch SMEs. The present research shows that proactive firm behavior positively contributes to SME performance during the economic crisis. We further show that innovative SMEs do perform better in turbulent environments, but those innovative SMEs should minimize the level of risk and should take action to avoid projects that are too risky

Valence and spin states, and the metal-insulator transition in ferromagnetic La2-xSrxMnNiO6 (x=0,0.2)

Electronic structures of a ferromagnetic insulator La2MnNiO6 and Sr-doped La1.8Sr0.2MnNiO6 have been investigated by employing soft x-ray synchrotron-radiation spectroscopies, first-principles band-structure calculations, and ligand-field multiplet calculations. Our study provides evidence that La2MnNiO6 has the [high-spin (HS) Mn4+-(3)A(2) Ni2+] configuration while La1.8Sr0.2MnNiO6 has [HS Mn4+-(3)A(2) Ni2+ low-spin Ni3+]. It is directly observed that the spin moments of Mn and Ni ions are coupled ferromagnetically. The metallic spectral weight is observed for x=0.2 in O 1s x-ray absorption spectroscopy, which is consistent with the half-metallic ground state predicted by band-structure calculations.open111819sciescopu