Clarifying Resource Dependence: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Dependence and Autonomy in Entrepreneurial Firms

Entrepreneurial firms face dependence on other firms in the external environment to access resources critical for the development and survival of the firm. While substantial research has examined resource dependence and how firms may remedy such dependencies, the literature often fails to acknowledge key factors that can predict and explain firm behavior and outcomes in such situations. Firms are shown to enter into inter-organizational relationships in order to remedy resource dependencies, but studies typically evaluate such relationships according to their structure, rather than the resource being sought. Research also frequently ignores the role of autonomy in resource dependence. As gaining autonomy is the primary goal of resource dependence remedies, studies thus often assume autonomy is gained or may fail to consider the social complexity of the environment. Resource dependence remedies are also shown to vary in terms of their relationship to performance, creating additional questions within the literature. This dissertation seeks to shed light on these issues by considering the type of resource sought during a dependence remedy, the role of autonomy in dependence remedies, and how remedies relate to firm performance

Academic Collective Bargaining: Patterns and Trends

Educational services, particularly higher education, has slowly and methodically become one of the most heavily unionized segments, with much greater representation than traditional labor segments. Despite these changes, the increase in academic collective bargaining has not been well documented. Consequently, the purpose of the current paper is to examine recent trends in academic collective bargaining and to compare these trends with the current unionization and collective bargaining situation in other major industries in the United States. We begin with a comparative analysis of unionization in the United States by industry. The summary data we present indicate that the educational services industry is the third largest industry category in the United States and is the most highly unionized industry in the nation. Next, we tighten our focus to examine recent patterns and trends in academic collective bargaining. The data suggest that colleges and universities are a major sector in the overall employment landscape of the United States with academic collective bargaining representing one of the most important growth segments within the U.S. labor movement. In short, higher education unionization is expanding at a faster rate than overall union growth with the expansion of graduate student employee unionization as an area of special interest

Academic Collective Bargaining: Patterns and Trends

Educational services, particularly higher education, has slowly and methodically become one of the most heavily unionized segments, with much greater representation than traditional labor segments. Despite these changes, the increase in academic collective bargaining has not been well documented. Consequently, the purpose of the current paper is to examine recent trends in academic collective bargaining and to compare these trends with the current unionization and collective bargaining situation in other major industries in the United States. We begin with a comparative analysis of unionization in the United States by industry. The summary data we present indicate that the educational services industry is the third largest industry category in the United States and is the most highly unionized industry in the nation. Next, we tighten our focus to examine recent patterns and trends in academic collective bargaining. The data suggest that colleges and universities are a major sector in the overall employment landscape of the United States with academic collective bargaining representing one of the most important growth segments within the U.S. labor movement. In short, higher education unionization is expanding at a faster rate than overall union growth with the expansion of graduate student employee unionization as an area of special interest

Survival in a New Industry: Marijuana, Venture Structure and Outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore how new firms enter a new industry and which structure will support survival. Essentially, the study examines the extent to which new firms choose to be broad with regard to the industry supply chain and deep with regard to their market presence. Based on these two structural decisions, each one is examined independently and in conjunction to discover which aspects support survival. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach was adopted, consisting of using data supplied by the state of Colorado. More specifically, the study draws on empirical data that identifies which license type (grower, manufacturer and retailer) each firm chose to get and how many retail outlets the firm chose to operate. Findings – The findings reveal that firms that cover the breadth of the supply chain are twice as likely to survive, while a broad market presence increases the risk of exit by 2.5 times. When the two factors were combined, it was firms with broad integration and deep market presence that had the highest chance of survival, as opposed to firms with intuition. A deep market presence seemed to accentuate the effect of integration, increasing the risk when the firm was not integrated, while increasing the survival rate when the firm was integrated. Research limitations/implications – This industry is quite new and afforded a unique opportunity to examine the impact of firm structure on survival. However, it may not be generalizable to other industries. Practical implications – The present analysis argues that firms must adopt a holistic approach to their firm structure, because there are combinatorial effects at play. That is, while one specific strategy may increase survival, other strategies may impact firm survival. Examining and understanding the interplay of firm decisions are critical for firm survival. Originality/value – Because of the lack of the formation of new industries, the authors’ understanding of the impact of firm structure on survival is limited. This unique context afforded the opportunity to empirically examine how firms can increase their chance of survival based on two aspects of firm structure: the breadth of the supply chain and the depth of the firm’s market presence

A mixed mode low profile solar tunnel dryer for canarium indicum nuts

Canarium indicum nuts are dried and consumed widely across the Pacific Region. Traditional methods of drying offer little process control resulting in highly variable product quality and loss. A more reliable and effective drying technology is required but the technology must suit local conditions. This paper describes a low profile solar tunnel dryer designed for batch drying of small quantities of the nuts. Prototypes have been tested. Experimental results indicate that drying temperatures are within the range to achieve good kernel quality and that the desired final moisture content for safe storage could be achieved after 30 hours of exposure

Proceedings of the 2015 Asia Pacific Solar Research Conference

Canarium indicum nuts are dried and consumed widely across the Pacific Region. Traditional methods of drying offer little process control resulting in highly variable product quality and loss. A more reliable and effective drying technology is required but the technology must suit local conditions. This paper describes a low profile solar tunnel dryer designed for batch drying of small quantities of the nuts. Prototypes have been tested. Experimental results indicate that drying temperatures are within the range to achieve good kernel quality and that the desired final moisture content for safe storage could be achieved after 30 hours of exposure

Evidence, Please? Rejoinder to “The Menace of Misinformation: Faculty Misstatements in Management Education and Their Consequences”

In this rejoinder, we provide a different perspective on the positions put forth by Giacalone and Promislo as they relate to (1) the claims of the pervasiveness of “misinformation” that is communicated by management faculty and (2) the proposition that management educators should teach in a nonideological fashion. Our position on these topics is that the pervasiveness of the misinformation problem in the focal article is unsubstantiated and not supported by data, and that it is impossible to effectively teach social science without at least acknowledging the impact of individual bias or ideology on all parties involved, including faculty. We present our rationale along with data gathered from a variety of current management textbooks to support our assertions