Owner CEO narcissism, international entrepreneurial orientation and post-entry speed of internationalization: an empirical study of exporting SMEs from China

PurposeThis study explores the impact of owner chief executive officers' (CEO) narcissism on the exporting small to medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) decision-making on the international market expansion speed after their initial entry. Specifically, the authors use the mechanism of firms' international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) to examine how owner CEO narcissism may influence SMEs' post-entry speed of internationalization (PSI), both directly and indirectly.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, the authors draw on data from a two-wave questionnaire and on archival export data from 291 Chinese exporting SMEs in three municipalities and 17 provinces from 2019 to 2020.FindingsThe results support the theoretical predictions that owner CEO narcissism shapes exporting SMEs' decisions on PSI, both directly and indirectly, through the mediation of firm-level IEO.Originality/valueThe study extends emerging research on the role of CEO narcissism in the upper echelons literature into the international marketing (IM) context. It also offers new insights into what drives exporting SMEs' IM decision-making from a psychological microfoundations perspective. Furthermore, the authors theoretically establish and empirically demonstrate the key role of a firm's IEO as a mediator to complement the existing literature's focus on the direct influence of CEO narcissism on firms' internationalization decisions.

Performance Evaluation of Basic Turbo Roundabouts as an Alternative to Conventional Double-Lane Roundabouts

Since their introduction in the late 1990s, basic turbo roundabouts have made a great success in several European countries. Researchers, however, have been unable to reach a general consensus on the operational performance advantages and benefits derived from such a novel design of multi-lane roundabouts, as compared with conventional double-lane roundabouts. Those contradictory results could be mostly attributed to wide variations in driver behavior among different traffic environments. This study aims to analyze and evaluate the operational performance of an existing, congested double-lane roundabout in the State of Florida and a proposed, simulated basic turbo roundabout. Local field data was used to accurately calibrate and validate the microsimulation models and to precisely capture local driving behavior. Three scenarios were created for evaluation. Results indicated that basic turbo roundabouts with regulatory entry speed as per Dutch standards, that is, 25 mph, were the most suitable alternative to reduce average delay and provide comparable capacity to double-lane conventional roundabouts for traffic flow ranging between 4,350 and 6,050 vehicles per hour. However, double-lane conventional roundabouts, including their major and minor approaches, always managed to process significantly more vehicles.

SARS-CoV-2 entry into human airway organoids is serine protease-mediated and facilitated by the multibasic cleavage site

Coronavirus entry is mediated by the spike protein which binds the receptor and mediates fusion after cleavage by host proteases. The proteases that mediate entry differ between cell lines and it is currently unclear which proteases are relevant in vivo. A remarkable feature of the SARS-CoV-2 spike is the presence of a multibasic cleavage site (MBCS), which is absent in the SARS-CoV spike. Here, we report that the SARS-CoV-2 spike MBCS increases infectivity on human airway organoids (hAOs). Compared with SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 entered faster into Calu-3 cells, and more frequently formed syncytia in hAOs. Moreover, the MBCS increased entry speed and plasma membrane serine protease usage relative to cathepsin-mediated endosomal entry. Blocking serine proteases, but not cathepsins, effectively inhibited SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication in hAOs. Our findings demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 enters relevant airway cells using serine proteases, and suggest that the MBCS is an adaptation to this viral entry strategy.

Three-dimensional discrete element simulation of the runaway vehicle deceleration process on the arrester bed of truck escape ramps

Due to imperfect design norms and guidelines for China’s truck escape ramp, previous studies have not been able to reflect the effect of wheel subsidence process on the deceleration of runaway vehicles. A discrete element method was used to establish an aggregate discrete element and a wheel discrete element. The three-dimensional discrete element model for an aggregate-wheel combination was established based on a particle flow code in three dimensions on a software platform using the “FISH” language. The microscopic parameters of the aggregate discrete element particles and wheel discrete element particles were calibrated using a simulated static triaxial compression test and real vehicle test data, respectively. Four sets of numerical simulation tests were designed for analyzing the influence of the aggregate diameter, grade of the arrester bed, truckload, and entry speed on the wheel subsidence depth and stopping distance of runaway vehicles. The results indicate that the smaller the aggregate diameter and entry speed and the greater the truckload and grade of the arrester bed, the more easily the wheel falls into the gravel aggregate, the better the deceleration effect, and the smaller the stopping distance. As the wheel subsidence depth increases, the speed at the unit stopping distance decreases more quickly. The maximum subsidence depth mainly depends on the truckload. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the design of the arrester bed length and the thickness of the aggregate pavement in a truck escape ramp.

The Paths of Internationalization of Chinese Innovative Firms

Innovative enterprises from emerging markets, such as China, are a group of understudied enterprises, which could generate new and important views on internationalization. Some unique characteristics of Chinese innovative enterprises are creating new ideas that help to a better understanding of entry mode choice, market location choice, and entry speed in the paths of internationalization. Drawing on an unbalanced panel of Chinese innovative enterprises’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) event data, we analyzed the tendency of the paths of internationalization of Chinese innovative enterprises and the determining factors that influence the Chinese innovative enterprises’ choice in entry mode, market location, and entry speed. The results show that: (1) Chinese innovative enterprises are more likely to choose developing countries than developed countries. (2) When these firms conduct investment activities in developed countries, the probability rank (from high to low) of entry mode choice is acquisition, along with the wholly-owned subsidiary, exporting and joint venture. When these firms expand the business in developing countries, the entry mode of export is most likely to be chosen and the acquisition is least likely to be chosen. (3) This tendency and paths choice of internationalization in entry mode, market location and entry speed are influenced by the international experience, the multidimensional proximity, psychic distance, internationalization motivation, ownership structure, and innovation ability. Finally, we discuss these contributions and make some suggestions for future research.