Corporate Social Responsibility: Small Businesses and Small Towns

This paper is a review of previous scholarship on the social responsibility of small businesses in small towns with the addition of findings from recent research on the subject conducted by the authors. We focused on the responsibility of businesses to work for community betterment which includes a wide variety of charitable and social causes. The extant literature and new research lead to several general conclusions. First most small business owners believe they have an obligation to work for community and societal betterment, but it is proportional to their size compared to other businesses in the same location. While the values of top management have a significant impact on the social performance of businesses of all sizes, in small businesses, social performance is more directly and personally shaped by the owners than is the case in large businesses. Small business owners are more socially and economically embedded within the community in which they operate than are managers of big businesses. Moreover, in small towns, they are more visible than similarly sized businesses in metropolitan locations. For this reason, size of town is a key intermediary variable between size of business and level of social performance. Partially as a result of their greater embeddedness and visibility, small business owners in small towns are likely to conform to the local patterns of civic engagement. For many of the same reasons, small business owners’ social performance is affected by the expectations and prevailing patterns of social performance displayed by members of the business networks to which they belong. Past research supports the argument that doing good is good for business in large and small firms alike although the relationship is less well documented for small businesses. We expand the research to consider the rewards and penalties of business social responsibility for the business owner personally. This is an important outcome of business social performance for all sizes of business, but for small businesses where owner discretion may be the only factor determining the community involvement of the business, it is critical. We end by advocating for more research attention directed toward small business social performance, the impact of town size on business social performance, and the personal costs and benefits of business social performance for the owners themselves

Computational analysis of expression of human embryonic stem cell-associated signatures in tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The cancer stem cell model has been proposed based on the linkage between human embryonic stem cells and human cancer cells. However, the evidences supporting the cancer stem cell model remain to be collected. In this study, we extensively examined the expression of human embryonic stem cell-associated signatures including core genes, transcription factors, pathways and microRNAs in various cancers using the computational biology approach.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used the class comparison analysis and survival analysis algorithms to identify differentially expressed genes and their associated transcription factors, pathways and microRNAs among normal vs. tumor or good prognosis vs. poor prognosis phenotypes classes based on numerous human cancer gene expression data. We found that most of the human embryonic stem cell- associated signatures were frequently identified in the analysis, suggesting a strong linkage between human embryonic stem cells and cancer cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study revealed the close linkage between the human embryonic stem cell associated gene expression profiles and cancer-associated gene expression profiles, and therefore offered an indirect support for the cancer stem cell theory. However, many interest issues remain to be addressed further.</p

Employment in Small Towns Microbusinesses, Part-Time Work, and Lack of Benefits Characterize Iowa Firms

As a whole, smalltown Iowa businesses employ more part-time than full-time employees and are less likely to provide benefits than are small businesses in general. Benefits are significantly lower for part-time employees. However, type and size of business vary greatly. Roughly half of the employment opportunities represented by smalltown Iowa businesses are in firms with fewer than 20 employees

Do Strategic Business Networks Benefit Male-and-Female-Owned Small-Community Businesses?

This research, based on social capital and strategic networking theory, explored small business owners' use of formal networking as a strategy for conducting business in competitive markets. Data were collected from 285 men and 111 women, who operated small businesses in small communities and were members of one of 29 business networks. Findings, based on hierarchical regression, suggest there are descriptive differences among male and female small business owners such as the business size and years of ownership that should be further explored. However, no differences were found for perceived network benefits based on gender, size of business, or years of ownership. Variables central to social capital and strategic network theory held a positive effect on network benefits (R^sup 2^ = .580), suggesting strategic business networks do benefit both male- and female-owned small community businesses. Understanding how small community businesses operate and interact in network organizations has implications for business improvement and, ultimately, small community development