Female entrepreneur underperformance: A puzzle for the information age

Women entrepreneurs are a significant and fast-growing force in small business, yet many studies have concluded that their businesses underperfomi men\u27s in terms of sales and size. As both women entrepreneurs and e-commerce become increasingly important parts of the Information Age economy, it is essential to determine if there are differences in success between women- and men-owned businesses, and how those differences, if any, relate to e-commerce. This paper examines the apparent underperformance of women-owned businesses and proposes a number of hypotheses for future research

Millennial Workforce: Communicating And Multitasking

The habits and behaviors of the Millennials are of some concern to employers across the Western world (Alsop, Nicholson & Miller, 2009; McGuire, By & Hutchings, 2007; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010; Smola & Sutton, 2002). This group of people born between approximately 1979 and 1994 has grown up with communication technology and has never known a time when these conveniences were not available. People of this generation are generally thought to have different styles of and expectations for communication, both of which could have an influence on teams and organization performance (Gorman, Nelson & Glassman, 2004; Greenbaum & Query, 1999; Howe & Strauss, 2000; Tapscott, 1998; Zemke, Raines & Filipczak, 2000). Organizations may find that they need to adapt their policies and procedures in order to take advantage of the special skills offered by Millennials and minimize problems within the organization (Gursoy, Maier & Chi, 2008). For those Millennials pursuing higher education at the university level, going to school could be considered their primary job, with paid employment on the side. How this generation behaves in classes can be an indication of how they expect to act in their careers. Just as they use computers and smartphones to access the internet and send sms text messages and email throughout the day, (even during their college classes), they also expect to stay connected during the course of their working day, including the time spent in meetings with subordinates, peers, managers and those outside the organization. Indeed, staying connected is a central part of their lives (Frand, 2000) and they expect that others, including managers, will also use these forms of communication to stay in constant contact with them (Hagner, 2001; Robinson & Stubberud, 2012a, 2012b). Business students are among the most eager to use technology in the classroom, and assumedly, at work (Kvavik, 2011). To gain a better understanding of the communication behaviors of the workforce that is joining the working world, this study examines the behaviors reported by both American and Norwegian university students. Comparing the responses of students in two countries allows shows which behaviors are typical in both countries. This is important not only for managers who deal with international employees, but also for those who need to know about employees in their own countries

Social Networks And Entrepreneurial Growth

Social networks are important to new entrepreneurs and small business owners because the ability to access information, advice, and necessary resources is vital to the success of new firms. This study examines the social networks of European business owners according to employment size after approximately three years of survival as a business. The results show that the sources of advice used at start-up varied by the size of business with employers of ten or more people more likely to report having received advice from professional acquaintances, financial institutions and training programs, and less likely to have received advice from family and friends or professional consultants. Although these people were more likely to report that they did not need advice, they were also the least likely to report that they had no access to advice. Those with between one and nine employees were the most likely to report using professional consultants (a formal source), suggesting their informal social networks were not as well­­-developed

Using Games To Increase Active Learning

This paper will identify and describe two learning games that have been effectively used to spark interest and enthusiasm and to increase active learning in undergraduate business courses. Many current undergraduate college students have grown up with TV game shows, interactive video games, and the Internet as forms of entertainment and education. In comparison to these fast-paced, interactive mediums, a traditional lecture class can seem dull. The use of in-class games is one way to increase student engagement with the class and relevant material

Artificial Intelligence in the Service of Entrepreneurial Finance: Knowledge Structure and the Foundational Algorithmic Paradigm

While the application of Artificial Intelligence in Finance has a long tradition, its potential in Entrepreneurship has been intensively explored only recently. In this context, Entrepreneurial Finance is a particularly fertile ground for future Artificial Intelligence proliferation. To support the latter, the study provides a bibliometric review of Artificial Intelligence applications in (1) entrepreneurial finance literature, and (2) corporate finance literature with implications for Entrepreneurship. Rigorous search and screening procedures of the scientific database Web of Science Core Collection resulted in the identification of 1890 relevant journal articles subjected to analysis. The bibliometric analysis gives a rich insight into the knowledge field's conceptual, intellectual, and social structure, indicating nascent and underdeveloped research directions. As far as we were able to identify, this is the first study to map and bibliometrically analyze the academic field concerning the relationship between Artificial Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, and Finance, and the first review that deals with Artificial Intelligence methods in Entrepreneurship. According to the results, Artificial Neural Network, Deep Neural Network and Support Vector Machine are highly represented in almost all identified topic niches. At the same time, applying Topic Modeling, Fuzzy Neural Network and Growing Hierarchical Self-organizing Map is quite rare. As an element of the research, and before final remarks, the article deals as well with a discussion of certain gaps in the relationship between Computer Science and Economics. These gaps do represent problems in the application of Artificial Intelligence in Economic Science. As a way to at least in part remedy this situation, the foundational paradigm and the bespoke demonstration of the Monte Carlo randomized algorithm are presented

Using podcasting for blended learning

Blended learning is a hybrid learning format combining some of the best features of distance learning and traditional face-to-face classes. Through the use of online course management sites and other media, students can access material at their convenience and attend a reduced number of classes that then emphasize interaction. This educational opportunity is especially valuable for working adults who cannot attend traditional classes. However, the lack of lectures can be a challenge for students who learn best by hearing. Podcasting, which involves the creation and distribution of audio and/or video files, is one tool that can help students to learn better and more easily

PDXScholar Annual Report 2019

This report details the ninth year of operation for PDXScholar, Portland State University\u27s institutional repository, as well as the growth of Portland State University Library\u27s publishing services. The report covers the period between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019

Are pre-main-sequence stars older than we thought?

We fit the colour-magnitude diagrams of stars between the zero-age main-sequence and terminal-age main sequence in young clusters and associations. The ages we derive are a factor 1.5 to 2 longer than the commonly used ages for these regions, which are derived from the positions of pre-main-sequence stars in colour-magnitude diagrams. From an examination of the uncertainties in the main-sequence and pre-main-sequence models, we conclude that the longer age scale is probably the correct one, which implies we must revise upwards the commonly used ages for young clusters and associations. Such a revision would explain the discrepancy between the observational lifetimes of proto-planetary discs and theoretical calculations of the time to form planets. It would also explain the absence of clusters with ages between 5 and 30Myr. We use the $\tau^2$ statistic to fit the main-sequence data, but find that we must make significant modifications if we are to fit sequences which have vertical segments in the colour-magnitude diagram. We present this modification along with improvements to methods of calculating the goodness-of-fit statistic and parameter uncertainties. Software implementing the methods described in this paper is available from http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/timn/tau-squared/Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted form MNRA