Is More Always Better? Risk Trade-offs among Internationalizing New Ventures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how ventures manage the negative returns associated with higher levels of internationalization. Many new ventures are internationalizing to fully exploit new innovations and/or gain access to larger markets. Yet at some point the rising costs associated with internationalization outweigh any benefits, resulting in an inverted U-shaped relationship between internationalization and performance. Design/methodology/approach – New ventures are theorized to better manage high levels of internationalization by limiting exposure to other sources of risk. This can be achieved by leveraging greater size and/or limiting simultaneous diversification efforts on product innovation. To test the hypotheses, a regression using Heckman selection was run using a sample of 210 US-based, publicly held ventures in high-technology industries. Findings – The results confirm that when higher levels of internationalization are coupled with either a low emphasis on product innovation or larger size, the negative returns are mitigated and actually become positive. Research limitations/implications – A key implication lies in recognizing the role of risk management for internationalizing ventures. Future research could benefit by testing for generalizability in other countries as well as among privately held ventures. Practical implications – To manage the trade-offs associated at higher levels of internationalization, ventures need to maintain a low emphasis on product innovation or meet a threshold in terms of size. Originality/value – The value of this research lies in better understanding how ventures are able to overcome rising costs at higher levels of internationalization

Venture Capitalists as Catalysts to New Venture Internationalization: The Impact of Their Knowledge and Reputation Resources

Venture Capitalists (VC) play an important role in influencing the strategic direction of the firms in which they invest. The findings of this study reveal that VCs can serve as a catalyst to new venture internationalization through the provision of knowledge and reputation resources. Furthermore, the international knowledge of a VC is more positively related to new venture internationalization when the VC is also reputable

Cultural Resources Survey for the Proposed Dam No. 101 Project within the Upper Brushy Creek WCID, Williamson County, Texas

AECOM was contracted by the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District (UBCWCID) to conduct a cultural resources survey for the proposed Dam No. 101 project, located in Williamson County, Texas. AECOM evaluated a 189-acre area of potential effects (APE), which includes the conceptual dam footprint plus a 150-foot (ft) buffer, the inundation area, and any additional areas that could be potentially affected by key construction activities. The project is bisected by O’Conner Drive on the north side of State Highway 45 and partially overlaps the existing Dam No. 9. AECOM conducted an intensive cultural resources survey within the APE from September 16 – 20, 2019. The objectives of the survey were to inventory any archaeological and historic resources within the APE and to evaluate their eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and for designation as State Antiquities Landmarks (SALs). All work was performed in accordance with Texas Historical Commission (THC) Archeological Survey Standards for Texas. The survey was completed under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 8855 and utilized a combination of pedestrian survey methods and the systematic excavation of 78 shovel tests. No new archaeological sites were identified during the survey. However, the survey revisited four previously recorded archaeological sites, including 41WM748, 41WM750, 41WM1058, and 41WM1248. These sites are within, or are partially within, the portion of the APE located east of O’Connor Drive. Each of these sites has been impacted by erosion and natural weathering, and all the site components were found to be resting on either limestone and eroded soils surfaces, or within shallow (\u3c30 cm) soils. Due to these factors, the sites do not exhibit integrity. Due to the absence of temporally diagnostic artifacts and features, these sites are not likely to yield information important to prehistory. Based on the current investigations, we recommend that sites 41WM748, 41WM750, 41WM1058, and 41WM1248 are ineligible for listing in the NRHP and do not merit designation as SALs. In addition, the two prehistoric isolated finds (IF-1 and IF-2) identified during the survey are recommended as ineligible for NRHP listing and SAL designation. Finally, two historic-age resources, including Dam No. 9 (Resource 001) and a corral (Resource 002), were recorded during the survey and evaluated by an architectural historian. Both resources are assessed as failing to meet NRHP criteria of eligibility and are recommended as ineligible for listing in the NRHP. Right-of-entry could not be obtained for the portion of the APE on the west side of O’Connor Drive, which contains one previously recorded archaeological site (41WM1057), and one NRHP-eligible structure (ca. 1950 Agricultural Building). In 2004, the THC determined site 41WM1057 to be ineligible. Based on the current plans, no construction will take place in the APE west of O’Connor Drive. Since no significant hydrological changes would occur in this area as a result of Dam 101 construction, no impacts to these sites are anticipated and no archaeological survey is currently warranted. A field geomorphic assessment was conducted and revealed that the APE contains thin and eroded soils that formed in residuum weathered from Cretaceous limestone. Along Lake Creek, the soils consist of shallow, gravelly deposits confined to a relatively narrow flood surface. Given the residual nature and ancient age of the APE soils, the absence of deep alluvial deposits, and the high-energy flood discharge regime evidenced in creek bank profiles, the APE does not exhibit the pedologic and geomorphic conditions necessary for the deep burial and preservation of cultural deposits. It is therefore unlikely that any archaeological sites in these areas would exhibit the integrity necessary to be considered eligible for the NRHP or to merit SAL designation. No backhoe trenching is recommended for this project. Based on the results of the survey, the proposed project should have No Effect on historic properties or SALs. AECOM recommends that construction can proceed without further cultural resources investigations. However, should the dimensions of the project area change, additional archaeological and historical investigations may be warranted. If any unmarked prehistoric or historic human remains or burials are encountered at any point during the project, the area of the remains is considered a cemetery under current Texas law and all construction activities must cease immediately to avoid impacting the remains. The THC must be notified immediately by contacting the Archeology Division at (512) 463-6096. All cemeteries are protected under State law and cannot be disturbed. Further protection is provided in Section 28.03(f) of the Texas Penal Code, which provides that intentional damage or destruction inflicted on a human burial site is a state jail felony. No artifacts were collected during the survey. All correspondence, field records, and photographs generated during field investigations were prepared for permanent curation at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory

Exploring the Role of Industry Structure in New Venture Internationalization

While we have gained considerable knowledge since the late 1980s regarding the phenomena of international new ventures, less is known about the influence of industry structure on these ventures. In the present paper, we draw on literature from industrial economics, international business and entrepreneurship to identify industry structure variables that fit within the theoretical framework of international new ventures. We then offer propositions as to how the identified industry structure variables individually and jointly influence the likelihood of new venture internationalization

Quality of Life and Self-Determination: Youth with Chronic Health Conditions Make the Connection

While optimizing quality of life(QOL) is a key goal of rehabilitation care,no previous study has reported on what ‘QOL’ means to youth with chronic health conditions. In addition, no qualitative studies have explored the relationship between QOL and self-determination(SD). Objectives of this qualitative study were to examine: what the terms ‘quality of life’ and ‘self-determination’ mean to youth with chronic conditions; the factors these youth think are linked with these concepts; the relationship they see between concepts, the types of future goals youth have and how they view the connection between their SD and these goals. A descriptive methodology was used. A purposive sample of 15 youth aged 15 to 20 years was obtained. Youth had cerebral palsy, a central nervous system disorder, or autism spectrum disorder. Semi-structured interviews were conducted first, followed by a focus group. Line-by-line coding of transcripts was completed, codes were collapsed into categories, and themes identified. Participants viewed QOL as an overarching personal evaluation of their life, and use

Youth with Disabilities Talk About Spirituality:A Qualitative Descriptive Study

There is little known about what spirituality means for youth with disability or about the potential relevance of youths’ spirituality in pediatric rehabilitation. This study explored perceptions of spirituality for youth with disabilities. Using a qualitative descriptive methodology, we examined the lived experiences of eighteen youth ages 11-20 years with disabilities including cerebral palsy, central nervous system disorder or autism spectrum disorder. In individual interviews, followed by a focus group, youth identified key spiritual themes – the importance of their beliefs, personal sources of comfort and strength, finding purpose in helping others, significance of personal connections, and strengths-based perspectives on disability. This study makes a unique contribution by informing health care professionals about the relevance of youths’ spirituality in service delivery

Sedimentary architecture of a Middle Ordovician embayment in the Murzuq Basin (Libya)

The Hawaz Formation comprises a siliciclastic, shallow to transitional marginal marine succession, deposited on the north-western cratonic margin of Gondwana during the Middle Ordovician. This unit is well documented in the north central part of the Murzuq Basin, where it is often dramatically truncated by Late Ordovician glaciation unconformities, generating a major discontinuity, not only in the studied area but also across the whole Saharan Platform of North Africa. The Hawaz Formation is particularly relevant as one of the two major oil-bearing reservoirs in the Murzuq Basin. However, Late Ordovician erosion ensures that its present configuration bears very little relation to the original sedimentary architecture and, consequently, there is a need for a detailed largescale correlation and sedimentary reconstruction of the Hawaz in order to improve subsurface management of this reservoir unit. The present study was developed from a previous sedimentological characterization of the Hawaz Formation, based on subsurface data provided by 35 wells. This sedimentological background provided the basis for the reconstruction of the sedimentary architecture of this unit by means of eight correlation panels oriented along both sedimentological dip (NNW-SSE) and strike (WSW to ENE). In addition, a series of Gross Depositional Environment (GDE) maps were also generated with the aim of providing insight into the lateral distribution of facies belts within the framework of a sequence stratigraphic-based reservoir zonation. The results of this study suggest that the Hawaz Formation was deposited in a relatively protected or embayed shoreline with multiple bays/estuaries as the main entry points for sediment into the basin, most likely influenced by the effects of pre-existing north-northwest to south-southeast Pan-African structures controlling local accommodation space and reactivated during Ordovician times. Correlation panels and GDE maps also show the Hawaz Formation to be an extensive and continuous reservoir across the studied area, deposited in a broadly extensive subtidal to intertidal paralic environment, with very few or possibly no modern sedimentary analogues

Sedimentology of a 'non-actualistic' Middle Ordovician tidal-influenced reservoir in the Murzuq basin (Libya)

The subsurface of the highly productive Murzuq Basin in southwest Libya remains poorly understood. As a consequence, a need exists for detailed sedimentological studies of both the oil-prone Mamuniyat Formation and Hawaz Formation reservoirs in this area. Of particular interest in this case is the Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation, interpreted as an excellent example of a 'nonactualistic,' tidally influenced clastic reservoir that appears to extend hundreds of kilometers across much of the North African or Saharan craton. The Hawaz Formation comprises 15 characteristic lithofacies grouped into 7 correlatable facies associations distributed in broad and laterally extensive facies belts deposited in a shallow marine, intertidal to subtidal environment. Three main depositional sequences and their respective systems tracts have also been identified. On this basis, a genetic-based stratigraphic zonation scheme has been proposed as a tool to improve subsurface management of this reservoir unit. A nonactualistic sedimentary model is proposed in this work with new ideas presented for marginal to shallow marine depositional environments during the Middle Ordovician in the northern margin of Gondwana

Beating Competitors to International Markets: The Value of Geographically Balanced Networks for Innovation

Being able to launch new products internationally is critical for technology-based ventures to recoup the high costs of R&D and to exploit their innovations fully. Despite the widely recognized importance of networks within the innovation development process, there appear to be contrasting viewpoints as to whether local or foreign network partners contribute more in the race to internationalize. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of comparative advantage, we propose and empirically confirm that ventures pursuing a balance of local and foreign network connections for the development of an innovation are able to bring the product more rapidly into the international marketplace. Furthermore, both innovation complexity and industry clockspeed heighten the importance of geographic network balance to the speed of product internationalization