Strategic Planning and the Family Firm: An SBI Consulting Perspective

Given the fact that approximately 90 percent of all businesses could be classified as family-owned or closely-held, it is becoming increasingly important that SBI student consulting teams are sensitive to the issues surrounding family and privately y-held firms. Several issues regarding complexities of the family and business systems of family y-owned firms are presented and discussed. It is posited that strategic management plays a role in the balancing and merging of the two sometimes discordant systems and can be used by the SBI teams in the consulting process. Finally, the need for research in the areas of 1) interest in ownership succession by family members; and 2) leadership succession in the family-owned firm is presented and discussed

The Small Business Institute Program" High Impact Entrepreneurship Education

Small, entrepreneurial, and family businesses have long been regarded as important contributors to the growth  of a nation "s business  activity  and  development.  as  well as  a significant  driving force    in  the  nation "s overall  economic  health  and  stability.     As  such.  business  schools   are becoming  increasingly  aware  of  the  need  to develop programs   which  are:   I)   tailored  to  the specific  needs  of students  who represent the  next generation  of small,  entrepreneurial, and family business  owners;  and 2) focused   on the needs  of the firm   owners  themselves.    In  recent years, business   schools   Worldwide   have   begun   to   develop,   refine,    and   implement  faculty-directed, student-based  consulting programs   as a teaching/learning  tool  in their  undergraduate  and  MBA programs   to address  this dual need     This paper   traces the past, present  and future  path  of one such program:   the  highly  successful  faculty-guided,    student-based   Small   Business  Institute™ (SB/) field    case  consultation  program.      The  role  of  the  Small   Business   Institute   Directors' Association  (SB/DA)  is also  discussed  in terms  of  it role  in facilitating    the  ongoing  impact  of entrepreneurship  education  as  we  head  into  the  2 I st  century

Early Influences and Entrepreneurial Intent: Examining the Roles of Education, Experience, and Advice Networks

The independent effects of education, personal experience, and advice networks in the development of new venture creation intent is of considerable interest to educators, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Little research, however, has systematically considered the possibility that the relative importance of these factors varies in the early stages of entrepreneurial intent formation. Using a unique dataset (n=963), this study investigates these key relationships at two different points in time. Our results suggest that personal start-up experience and advice networks are particularly influential on the formation of intent to start a new venture, and that a marked shift in significance occurs from the former to the latter

Financing Complexity and Sophistication in Nascent Ventures

Although scholars have considered the financing challenges facing small businesses for some time, little work has focused on financing issues at the venture's nascent stage. In this study, we investigate the sources of funding sought by nascent entrepreneurs and the relationship between the complexity of these funding sources, business plan formalization, and expectations of future firm growth. Using data from the Entrepreneurship Research Consortium/Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics, we find that nascent entrepreneurs, even those associated with high-growth ventures, favor simple rather than complex sources of funding at the nascent stage. Funding complexity and business plan formalization are also found related to expectation of firm growth. An additional contribution is the development of a funding complexity continuum scale, which should be useful in future studies of nascent as well as later stage entrepreneurial finance and firm growth

Thermal Testing of a Stacked Core Mirror for UV Applications

The ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey stated that an advanced large-aperture ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared (UVOIR) telescope is required to enable the next generation of compelling astrophysics and exoplanet science; and, that present technology is not mature enough to affordably build and launch any potential UVOIR mission concept. Under Science and Technology funding, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and ITT Exelis have developed a more cost effective process to make 4m monolithic spaceflight UV quality, low areal density, thermally and dynamically stable primary mirrors. A proof of concept mirror was built and tested down to 250K which would allow imaging out to 2.5 microns. This mirror was thermally tested at the Marshall Spaceflight Center to understand the thermal changes between the processing temperature of 293K and the potential low end of the operational temperature of 250K. Isothermal testing results and front plate gradient results have been evaluated and compared to analysis predictions. Measurement of gravity effects on surface figure will be compared to analytical predictions. Future testing of a larger Pathfinder mirror will also be discussed

Over the moon or sick as a parrot? The effects of football results on a club's share price

International audienceThis paper considers the impact of match results on the stock returns of English football clubs. We propose that the magnitude of the response to a given result depends on the importance of the game, which is measured in two ways. First, we consider the extent to which the clubs are close rivals vying for similar league positions, as winning such games is particularly significant. Second, we argue that each individual game becomes more important for those clubs likely to be promoted or relegated as the season draws to a close, since a given match will have increasing information content concerning the final league position of the club. Using a fairly large panel comprising data for 19 clubs, we find some support for the notion that stock prices are more affected by the results of important matches than matches of lesser importance. We also observe that the difference between the number of points the club secures from a given match, and the number it was expected to secure, affects its stock price, as does the number of goals that the club under question scores in the match, relative to its competitor

Isolation, characterization and partial sequencing of cystine and thiol peptides of pig heart lipoamide dehydrogenase

Pig heart lipoamide dehydrogenase (EC 1.6.4.3) contains ten half-cystines (as cysteic acid) per mole of enzyme bound FAD. Two of these are linked in an intrachain cystine which acts in concert with the flavin during catalysis. A peptic peptide containing this active center disulfide has been isolated and shown to have the sequence: Glu-Thr-Leu-Gly-Gly-Thr-Cys-Leu-Asn-Val-Gly-Cys-Ile-Pro-Ser (Lys, Ala, Leu). The enzyme also contains seven titratable thiols when either 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) or iodoacetate is used as titrant. Tryptic peptides containing alkylated thiols have been isolated and characterized by amino acid composition and by their positions in two-dimensional chromatography-electrophoresis. On the basis of map position and composition, the peptides containing thiols can be distinguished from one another. The results are compared with recent data of Brown and Perham (Brown, J. P. and Perham, R. N. (1974) Biochem. J. 138, 505-512) on the compositions and partial sequences of tryptic chymotryptic peptides containing half-cystines. The combined data associate nine of the ten half-cystines with unique compositions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22230/1/0000664.pd

Benchmark Framework for Virtual Students’ Behaviours

This paper demonstrates the integration and evaluation of different atmosphere models into Virtual Reality (VR) training for teacher education. We developed three behaviour models to simulate different levels of class discipline. We evaluated their performances using a combination of objective and subjective measurements. Our initial results suggest that the more believable and distinguishable classroom atmospheres are produced by creating more consistent behaviours across virtual students. Our results confirm the importance of similar behaviours to elicit a particular atmosphere

Thermal Testing of a Stacked Core Mirror for UV Applications

The ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey stated that an advanced large-aperture ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared (UVOIR) telescope is required to enable the next generation of compelling astrophysics and exoplanet science; and, that present technology is not mature enough to affordably build and launch any potential UVOIR mission concept. Under Science and Technology funding, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and ITT Exelis have developed a more cost effective process to make 4m monolithic spaceflight UV quality, low areal density, thermally and dynamically stable primary mirrors. A proof of concept mirror was built and tested down to 250K which would allow imaging out to 2.5 microns. This mirror was thermally tested at the Marshall Spaceflight Center to understand the thermal changes between the processing temperature of 293K and the potential low end of the operational temperature of 250K. Isothermal testing results and front plate gradient results have been evaluated and compared to analysis predictions. Measurement of gravity effects on surface figure will be compared to analytical predictions. Future testing of a larger Pathfinder mirror will also be discussed