Small business strategy: German and Anglo-American evidence

This article examines how and to which extent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) apply strategic planning within their business activities. Specifically, the authors address the question of why SMEs seem to plan less than big companies, whether strategic planning and corporate success correlate with each other and whether strategic planning is a function of increasing company size. Along these lines, they conducted an analysis of the relevant literature based on a systematic review of articles on planning and strategy in SMEs over the last twenty years. These have been taken from the leading Entrepreneurship and Strategy journals as well as from other sources in the German as well as the English language science. SMEs seem to plan strategically in a less structured and more informal manner than bigger companies, while they might engage relatively more in (informal) visionary strategic management. The paper structures current research on strategic planning in SMEs and derives an agenda for future research, thereby extending our knowledge on strategic planning in SMEs. The authors close this paper with their own conceptualization of “strategic planning in SMEs”

New approach in numerical simulation of internal ballistics SRM problem

In this article new approach of simulating internal ballistics flows in SRM is considered. Two different phenomena should be taken into account for appropriate numerical simulation of internal ballistics problems: grain propellant regression and flow of combustion gases itself. The simulation is becoming more complicated as these two phenomena depend on each other: grain burning rate depends on flow parameters near the burning surface while flow parameters in SRM depend on current grain propellant position. Previous articles and theses considered complicated geometry of SRM grain but assumed only 1D flows of combustion gases. This assumption can be fulfilled for special types of SRMs but in general it may be far from truth. Thus, numerical schemes capable of simulating 2D and 3D gases flows are needed. This paper focuses on development, description and application of such schemes

L’approche néo-institutionnelle et ses implications pour le management des relations avec les stakeholders en phase start-up

Les approches néo-institutionnelles et surtout la théorie de l’agence et la théorie des coûts de transaction ont fait leurs preuves dans divers domaines (en marketing, en GRH, etc.). Cependant, jusqu’à présent, peu de recherches en création d’entreprise se sont appuyées sur ces approches. Le but de la présente contribution est d’analyser la création d’entreprise sous l’angle de la Nouvelle Économie institutionnelle. Cet angle souligne le rôle crucial de la relation stakeholder-créateur. En effet, le succès d’une jeune entreprise dépend directement de l’acceptation et du soutien des parties prenantes. Les relations dans la phase de création sont caractérisées par des incertitudes particulièrement fortes dues à la nouveauté (liability of newness). Dans le processus d’évaluation et de jugement de la relation d’échange, le stakeholder est confronté à l’incertitude des promesses du créateur d’entreprise ; ces incertitudes influencent la décision du stakeholder d’entrer dans la relation d’échange avec la jeune entreprise. L’aptitude à gérer ces incertitudes augmente la probabilité de succès du projet de création. L’approche MUT (Management of Uncertainties and Trust) que nous présenterons ici est un outil pragmatique et normatif qui a pour but de structurer et de résoudre la problématique d’incertitude. De cette façon, il peut favoriser le succès de nouvelles entreprises en aidant l’entrepreneur à créer des relations stables avec les parties prenantes.Institutional Economics, especially the Principal-Agent Approach and Transaction Cost Economics, has proven of value in various disciplines (e.g. marketing, personnel management). However, so far they have hardly expanded into entrepreneurship research. In this paper, we strive to analyse the establishment of new ventures from the perspective of Institutional Economics. This highlights the decisive role of the relationship between the founder and the stakeholders. The success of a new venture strongly depends on the acceptance and the support of the stakeholders. At the same time, the relationships to the stakeholders are burdened with particularly high uncertainties, because of the “liability of newness.” When evaluating the offered transaction, the stakeholder is confronted by the founder’s insecure promises. These insecurities influence the potential stakeholders’ decision whether or not to establish a transaction relationship with the newly founded company. With the rising capability to handle such insecurities, the success of the new venture becomes more likely. As a pragmatic-normative tool to structure and handle the insecurities identified, the MUT-Approach presented in this paper can foster the success of new ventures by helping the founder to establish stable relationships with stakeholders.Los enfoques de la Economía Institucional, en particular la teoría del Agente-Principal y la de los costos de la transacción, han demostrado ser muy útiles en diversas disciplinas (por ejemplo marketing, gestión de personal). Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se han ampliado tanto en la investigación de la iniciativa empresarial. En este artículo nos esforzamos en analizar la creación de nuevas empresas desde la perspectiva de la Economía Institucional. Esto pone de relieve el papel decisivo de la relación entre el fundador y los interesados. El éxito de una nueva empresa depende en gran medida de la aceptación y el apoyo de las partes interesadas. Al mismo tiempo, estas relaciones son particularmente cargadas de grandes incertidumbres debido a la novedad (liability of newness). Al evaluar la transacción ofrecida, el interesado es confrontado con las promesas inseguras del fundador. Estas inseguridades influyen en la decisión de las potenciales partes interesadas de establecer o no una relación de intercambio con la recién creada empresa. El éxito de la nueva empresa se hace más probable con el aumento de la capacidad de manejar esas inseguridades. El MUT-Enfoque (Management of Uncertainties and Trust) presentado en este documento es un instrumento pragmático y normativo para estructurar y manejar el problema de las inseguridades identificadas. De esta forma puede favorecer el éxito de nuevas empresas, ayudando al fundador a establecer relaciones estables con las partes interesadas.Die Ansätze der Institutional Economics insbesondere Prinzipal-Agent-Theorie und Transaktionskostentheorie haben sich in unterschiedlichsten Fachbereichen (z.B. Marketing, Personalmanagement, etc.) bewährt. Haben. In der Entrepreneurship-Forschung haben diese Ansätze aber bislang wenig Eingang gefunden. Dieser Beitrag setzt sich zum Ziel, die Unternehmensgründung aus der Perspektive der Institutional Economics zu analysieren. Dies eröffnet den Blick auf die erfolgskritische Rolle der Stakeholder-Gründer-Beziehung. Die Beziehungen in der Gründungsphase sind aufgrund der liability of newness mit besonders hohen Unsicherheiten behaftet. Mit der Kompetenz, die Unsicherheiten zu handhaben, steigt die Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeit der Gründung. Der hier präsentierte MUT-Ansatz (Management of Uncertaintites and Trust) ist ein pragmatisch-normativer Ansatz zur Strukturierung und Lösung der Unsicherheitsproblematik

Haute cuisine three-star restaurants' representation on websites and dining guides: a lexicometric analysis

Purpose This study aims to explore how haute cuisine excellence is and can be self-represented on the websites of three-star restaurants and juxtaposed onto the websites of external authoritative food guides. Design/methodology/approach In total, 26 French Michelin three-star restaurant websites and their reviews in the prominent Michelin and Gault and Millau dining guides were examined. This data was then processed using lexicometric software. Findings Five semantic universes emerged, showing that restaurants and dining guides do not emphasize the same elements of culinary excellence. While restaurant websites emphasize the charismatic leadership role of the chef through family history, professional recognition and vicarious learning, the two iconic guides are far from rating the criteria they claim to: For the Michelin Guide, criteria other than cuisine appear central. Conversely, Gault and Millau, far from its nouvelle cuisine principles advocating democratization at lower cost, insists on fine products. Practical implications It remains essential for restaurants to use a repertoire of cultural components and symbols, capitalize on the charismatic and architectural roles of their chef and showcase fine products that are representative of classical cuisine. Storytelling and dynamic narrative add-ons, regularly updated on large-audience social media, appear central to increasing restaurants' perceived value, communicating innovation and attesting to their singularity and uniqueness. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study to overlap the lexical perspectives of three-star restaurants and iconic guides' websites

A tailored-fit model evaluation strategy for better decisions about structural equation models

Abstract Proper measurement of technology knowledge and social change enables managers to advance strategies in technology management. Structural equation modeling is the ideal method in Technological Forecasting and Social Change (TFSC) and other leading journals to assess the measurement quality of the relevant decision variables and understand how they are related. However, a myriad of indicators are now available to judge how suitable these measurements are (i.e., how well they fit). Despite a consensus that fit indicators are highly context-dependent and no "one-fits-all approach" emerges, a more contingent perspective is surprisingly missing. To fill this gap, we advocate for a "tailored-fit model evaluation strategy" that is specific to the situation at hand to exploit the particular strengths of fit indicators. Motivated by a synthesis of structural equation modeling in TFSC, our simulation study finds that three critical distinctions regarding (a) model novelty, (b) focus on measurement or structural models, and (c) sample size are vital. The proposed strategy demonstrates that, in many contexts, only a few indicators are recommended to avoid artificially inflated Type I/II errors. We provide a decision tree to reach more accurate decisions in model evaluation in order to better theorize and forecast technological and social challenges

Does doing good do well? An investigation into the relationship between consumer buying behavior and CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged globally as an important field of study as corporations increasingly recognize the positive consequences of ethical behavior in their business operations. However, despite a growing body of literature, results and definitions remain somewhat contradictory and fractured. Taking a marketing business ethics perspective, this article examines the influence of CSR in firms and its impact on consumer buying behavior through a systematic examination of state of the art literature over the past two decades (2000–2020). Our review identifies a theoretical connection between CSR initiatives and positive consumer reaction yet a lack of material relevance. Most publications have assumed linear and rational decision-making, and comparative studies addressing contextual factors e.g. culture are lacking. Following from this, our paper addresses the results and implications of CSR activities concerning these elements and creates a new framework through which consumer behavior can be analyzed