Lender evaluations of start-up business prospects

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Miettinen ◽  
Mervi Niskanen
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Finnish Firms ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate lender evaluations of start-up success in a sample of Finnish firms that are customers of a state-owned financial institution. The database allows the authors to examine how qualitative information, based on the personal history, firm-specific characteristics, subjective credit-analyst evaluations of business prospects, and market position impact firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study was collected in 2003 and 2005 from the database of Finnvera, a state-owned financial institution. The authors employed logistic regression in the analyses, using t-test analyses to describe the sample before developing the different models. Findings – The results suggest that the lenders’ evaluations of the business prospects at the start are suitable predictors of good performance. However, the determinants of the actual firm performance (at t5) and business prospects (at t0) are, to some extent, different. The results confirm previous findings indicating that humans display fallibility because they have a tendency to overestimate less relevant cues and, conversely, underestimate the more relevant ones. Research limitations/implications – The study data includes only the customers of a state-owned financial institution; therefore, the results cannot be generalized across other financiers. Another constraint relates to the pre-selection bias, since this data excludes information on loan applicants who were rejected, which was not recorded in the lender’s files. Practical implications – The findings of this study provide lenders (especially state-owned financiers), policy makers, and entrepreneurs with clearer guidance regarding the important aspects of a firm’s period of establishment. For lenders, this may provide a step toward improving the quality of judgments. Originality/value – This paper is one of the few that sheds light on lender evaluations using non-accounting variables in order to examine their ability to predict firm performance, not failure, and to compare it with lenders’ evaluation. Another original contribution is that the data consists of the customers of a state-owned financial institution.

Unhappy anniversary?

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Hanley ◽  
David Marsland
Keyword(s):  
Residential Care ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Ecological Framework ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
The People ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance and nature of relationships of trust in care settings. The paper addresses the central question of what is it about these kinds of relationships that is associated with harm and abuse? Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a discursive approach, based, implicitly, on an ecological framework of analysis. Findings – The conclusion is that the relationships between staff and service users in residential care settings are characterised by non-mutual dependency, isolation and unequal decision-making powers. Therefore such relationships deserve special focus and attention in order to safeguard and protect the people concerned. Practical implications – The paper implies that practitioners and policy makers should find ways to ensure that they listen more closely to people living in residential settings. Practitioners should ask more about the quality of relationships that people enjoy with the staff that support them. Originality/value – The paper suggests that in order to safeguard people more effectively, practitioners and policy makers should reconsider the central focus of their energies and revisit issues such as isolation, in the lives of disabled and older people living in residential care.

Does location in a science park really matter for firms’ intellectual capital performance?

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Schiavone ◽  
Antonio Meles ◽  
Vincenzo Verdoliva ◽  
Manlio Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Science Park ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Science System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of being located in a science park (SP) on the level of a firm's intellectual capital (IC) performance. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 183 Italian firms (i.e. 61 tenant and 122 non-tenant firms), and through the GLS technique, the authors regress the firms’ IC performance across various explicative variables including a dummy that discriminates tenant and non-tenant firms. Findings – Consistently with expectations, the results show that the location of a firm in a SP leads to improved IC performance. Moreover, the authors find that some other firm characteristics, such as size, age, and leverage, are important predictors of its IC-based performance. Research limitations/implications – The sample is small and the impact on performance might be biased by factors related to the regional context (e.g. level of industrialization, quality of education, and science system). Practical implications – Implications for policy makers: support the growth of firms in SPs especially in those industries full of firms with scarce performance in IC. Implications for SP managers: they could “sell” (in terms of marketing) to both entrepreneurs to attract and policy makers this result. Implications for institutional investors: they should look at SPs with greater interest to find high-quality firms and improve their screening activity. Originality/value – This paper aims to extend literature about factors explaining the level of a firm's IC performance and the current understanding of the impact of SPs at firm level.

scholarly journals Measuring financial well-being in Europe using a fuzzy set approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella D'Agostino ◽  
Monica Rosciano ◽  
Maria Grazia Starita
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Tailored Approach ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper aims to apply a multidimensional approach to assessing the financial well-being of European countries.Design/methodology/approachFinancial well-being is a very complex phenomenon to measure because it is composed of different dimensions. Therefore, this paper uses a multidimensional and fuzzy methodology to assess financial well-being in Europe. The financial well-being fuzzy indicator was calculated using European Quality of Life Survey data.FindingsFinancial well-being is heterogeneous across European countries. This evidence is confirmed both at the level of overall financial well-being and at the level of sub-indices. The degree of financial well-being is not directly related to wealth as traditionally measured (i.e. GDP), but shows some correspondence with socio-economic characteristics of the population and with governance and cultural elements of a country.Practical implicationsUnderstanding financial well-being could help financial institutions to transition from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more tailored approach when they provide financial services and could help policy makers to consider financial well-being when they decide how and where to allocate public spending.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to employ a fuzzy methodology for the analysis of financial well-being in Europe.

scholarly journals Top management team demography and firm operating performance: a path analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tapio Jukka
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Age Diversity ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Asset Turnover ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Finnish Firms ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper examined the relationship between TMT demographic properties and firm performance using diversity and level variables and measuring differing constructs of firm performance representing divergent strategies.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modelling was used to test the relationships between TMT demographic properties and firm performance measured as return on net operating assets (RNOA), and its disaggregates profit margin (PM) and asset turnover (ATO). Data were from 89 Finnish firms during the years 2008–2011, resulting in 320 observations.FindingsTMT team tenure had associations with RNOA through both PM and ATO while TMT age, age diversity, firm tenure, firm tenure diversity and team tenure diversity showed paths through ATO. TMT firm tenure diversity showed effects in opposing directions through PM and ATO.Practical implicationsThe results help to understand and apply the separate effects of age, firm tenure and team tenure on TMT and firm performance. These results also provide explanations on how these TMT properties affect firm performance in diverse types of firms pursuing different strategies.Originality/valueThe results suggest that both diversity and level in a measured TMT demographic property are linked with firm performance, and the effect can be in differing directions. These links go through differing paths when using disaggregated operational firm performance measures. Also, diversity in top management is not always beneficial since it can cause separation or conflict impairing performance.

Internationalisation patterns of border firms: speed and embeddedness perspectives

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva J.B. Jørgensen
Keyword(s):  
International Entrepreneurship ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Start Up ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Born Again ◽  
International Venture ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide new insight concerning a relatively understudied phenomenon in the medium sized enterprise (SME) internationalisation and international entrepreneurship literature; the internationalisation of firms crossing the border to only one adjacent foreign country. These firms are called border firms. This study explores the variety of internationalisation patterns of border firms. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on theoretical perspectives related to speed of internationalisation and country embeddedness, and uses empirical data from seven Norwegian case companies operating across the border between Norway and Russia. Findings – Three different internationalisation patterns of border firms are empirically identified and described; an early single-country path, a born-again border path and a born border path. Then, a model of the distinctive cross-border pathway is developed. Research limitations/implications – Several limitations of this study have implications for further research, such as sample size and setting, the new perspective on country embeddedness and questions related to generalisation of the findings. Practical implications – The study has implications for both entrepreneurs and policy-makers. It demonstrates that internationalisation is not always about “going global” and is sometimes simply a matter of “hopping” across the nearest border. The model demonstrates different possible patterns for how to achieve or support this in practice. Originality/value – This study contributes to theory-building in the field of SME internationalisation and international entrepreneurship in three ways. First, it identifies and defines an interesting but neglected type of international venture; border firms. Second, it explores the different start-up patterns of these firms, their speed and embeddedness. Third, it offers a theoretical framework of the distinct cross-border pathway of internationalisation.

Citizens’ assessment of the information quality of e-government websites in Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-204
Author(s):  
Tayyba Rasool ◽  
Nosheen Fatima Warraich ◽  
Abebe Rorissa
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Information Quality ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Government Websites ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose E-government websites/portals are effective modes of communication between governments and citizens. The information quality (IQ) of these websites/portals is of vital importance and, hence, is worth assessing, to ensure their effectiveness. This study aims to assess the IQ dimensions of e-government websites/portals in Pakistan and also evaluate the most significant IQ indicators. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative research method based on a survey. The data were collected from a sample of young citizens, and a questionnaire was adopted from a previous study by Kandari, et al. (2011) with minor changes to reflect the local context. Findings The findings revealed that out of 20 IQ indicators, 14 were rated 4 or 5 on a five-point Likert scale, indicating a reasonably high IQ for Pakistani e-government websites/portals. Value-added, “accessibility” and “objectivity” were the top three indicators, while timeliness, ease of operation and advertisement were the least rated indicators, suggesting that these need to be addressed. The findings of the study also revealed that IQ indicators are not affected by the different age groups of citizens. Research limitations/implications The focus of this study was limited to university students to understand their perceptions about IQ indicators of e-government websites in Pakistan, and the results can only be generalized to young Pakistani citizens and the developing countries with a similar context. Practical implications This study could provide some guidance to policy makers and websites designers in the development of e-government websites according to users’ needs and identifying the ways to regularly maintain and update these websites. Originality/value This study provides an understanding of the IQ of Pakistani e-government websites from the citizens’ perspective. It attempts to fill that gap and produce findings that could assist in making informed policy decisions.

Is exercise helpful for women aged 50 and over with mental health problems and what are the barriers to exercise?

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Anthea Tinker ◽  
Elodie Haines ◽  
Laura Molloy ◽  
Imogen Monks ◽  
Evelina Russell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Barriers To Exercise ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of exercise on the mental health problems of older women. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on information from academic literature, government publications and publications from other relevant bodies. It is a scoping study and is not a systematic review because of the constraints of the resources. Findings There is growing evidence about the value of exercise for the mental health of older women but few evaluated examples of how this can be achieved. Research limitations/implications There is a gap in the literature about this topic with few evaluated examples of how more older women can be encouraged to take more exercise. Practical implications Policy makers, practitioners and older people themselves would gain from a greater emphasis on exercise as a means of improving quality of life and for reducing healthcare budgets through fewer referrals to services. Social implications Greater emphasis on exercise for older women would increase their quality of life through a reduction in mental health problems. Originality/value There is limited research which links mental health, exercise and older women, especially regarding the barriers to exercise that older women with diagnosed mental health problems may face.

The role of Islamic governance in the reinforcement waqf reporting: SIRC Malaysia case

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-406
Author(s):  
Dalila Daud
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Waqf has the quality of perpetuity so waqf properties cannot be sold, bought or given as a gift to others. Therefore, it is necessary to make sure that the property is fully used and properly managed by the Malaysian Islamic councils. To properly manage these properties, it is essential for the councils to have a proper reporting. Unfortunatley, this is not the case in the present situation for waqf. It was found that there is a lack of reporting on waqf matters. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Islamic governance can contribute to the sufficient and adequate of waqf reporting. Design/methodology/approach This paper described what is being practised at present for waqf reporting. A series of Islamic governance literature was proposed in reinforcing waqf reporting. Findings This paper fulfils a gap in prior research by discussing several systems in Islamic governance to achieve transparency in waqf reporting. The findings of this paper may provide a significant contribution to any organisation that act as a trustee for waqf. Practical implications This paper provides an opportunity for further theoretical approach in defining and describing the role of governance in the reinforcement of waqf reporting. The paper has recommended several strategies towards better governance in Islamic council, and these suggestions can be offered to the councils for improvement. Social implications This research will be of interest to policy makers, especially Government and State Government. Given the current debate in Malaysia on the most appropriate forms of regulation for the Islamic sector, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the role of Islamic governance in the system of regulation. Originality/value This paper examined several governance system in Islamic governance to be applied in any Islamic organisation. This paper specifically deals governance issue that should be practised by present councils to prevent lack in waqf reporting. This system discusses the ways Islamic councils should perform since the system was originally implemented by a previous, distinguished caliph, Umar Al-Khattab.

scholarly journals Accountability in Islamic financial institution

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-114
Author(s):  
Zakaria Ali Aribi ◽  
Thankom Arun ◽  
Simon Gao
Keyword(s):  
Important Implication ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Supervisory Board ◽  
Islamic Banks ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore whether any discrepancy exists between the disclosed in SSB reports of Islamic banks and the disclosure index which was based on stakeholders’ expectation.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses contents analysis as the research method to explore Shariâ’ah audit reporting practices of Islamic Banks.FindingsThe study finds that the level of disclosures overall by IFIs in the sample is rather low compared to the stakeholder expectations.Practical implicationsThis paper has important implication for policy makers as it contribute to the debate on that uniform disclosure standards across the globe need to be implemented to ensure a uniform level of disclosure by Islamic banks.Originality/valueThis study is amongst the few studies that examine and explore the nature and extent ofShari’ahSupervisory Board in Islamic banks.

Would integrating women's professional care of pelvic organ prolapse improve the symptoms and quality of life: an integrative literature review

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-133
Author(s):  
Nicola Davies ◽  
Teresa Burdett
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Pelvic Organ Prolapse ◽  
Conservative Treatment ◽  
Conservative Management ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Pelvic Organ ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeIntegrated healthcare is a central tenant of the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS, 2019). NICE in 2019 published guidelines; advising the integration of multidisciplinary professionals which may lead to an improvement in conservative treatment methods of pelvic organ prolapse. Therefore, current literature on the conservative treatments for pelvic organ prolapse needs to be reviewed to ascertain if an integrated approach would improve the symptoms and quality of life for women.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of the literature between 2013 and 2018 was implemented. Papers included were written in English, peer-reviewed and consisted of treatments of pelvic organ prolapse in women. Papers containing surgical interventions, postpartum participants, reviews, evaluations, guidelines, follow-up studies, focusing on cost effectiveness, sexual function were excluded.FindingsSeven studies in total were included, and two overarching themes were identified: quality of life after treatment and the effect of conservative treatment on pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. The literature suggested that integrating care had a more positive outcome on pelvic organ symptoms and quality of life.Research limitations/implicationsTo develop a robust enhanced model of care for conservative treatment of pelvic organ prolapse through more mixed method or qualitative research, that incorporates integrative treatment methods with collaboration from multidisciplinary professionals.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of integrating the conservative management of pelvic organ prolapse is the communication between the multidisciplinary team must be exceptional to ensure everyone understands and agrees the treatment that is being provided to patient. Also, effective teamwork is important to ensure the patient receives the best care with input from the correct disciplines. The multi-professional team will need to have regular meetings to discuss and implement care plans for patients that might prove difficult to schedule due to differing commitments and priorities. This must be overcome to insure a successful and effective integrated approach to pelvic organ prolapse is delivered.Social implicationsThe social implications of integrating the professional approach to women's care of pelvic organ prolapse involves reducing the severity of the symptoms therefore, increasing the quality of life. This may result in the reduction of surgical intervention due to the patient being satisfied with the conservative management. Through integrating the management of the prolapse the patient will receive an accessible individualised care plan pathway that focuses on treating or reducing the impact of the symptoms that are bothersome to the patient whilst managing patient expectations. Patients will also, be reassured by the number of multi-disciplinary professionals involved in their care.Originality/valueGlobal integration of conservative treatments and multidisciplinary-professionals specialising in pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor dysfunction is needed.

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