Strategic and Business Planning Practices of Fast Growth Family Firms

Fast-growth family firms were surveyed about their business and strategic planning practices. Of the 65 fast-growth family firms surveyed, the majority prepare written formal plans. The business plans are in sufficient detail to enable the business to tie planning to actual performance and to adjust management compensation accordingly. The majority of the firms regularly share information with employees regarding comparisons between actual company performance results and goals or planned performance. Further, the majority of the firms describe their business strategy as a high quality producer strategy rather than as a low-cost or time-based strategy. Further, when bringing new products to market, these fast-growth family firms adopt a first mover or early follower strategy. Implications of these findings for growth-oriented family firms are presented.     

Discussion of “biases in multi-year management financial forecasts: Evidence from private venture-backed U.S. companies”

Armstrong, Dávila, Foster, and Hand (“ADFH”) use a proprietary venture capital database of revenue and profit projections submitted by young firms seeking financing to attempt to address a number of questions related to forecasts by managers of early stage, venture-backed, private entrepreneurial firms. The proprietary dataset together with the creative use of a “historically-grounded conditional projections” methodology are the most interesting features of ADFH’s study. However, these same aspects give rise to empirical design constraints that the study does not fully overcome. In addition, there are numerous leaps of logic required to arrive at some of ADFH’s conclusions and there are alternative explanations for ADFH’s findings that have not been entirely refuted. This leaves the reader with some doubt as to whether all of ADFH’s conclusions are fully substantiated. Nevertheless, the evidence presented makes an interesting contribution to our understanding of the forecasting behavior of young, private, rapidly growing, VCbacked firms, and provides some natural economic and methodological leads into further studies of these issues.     

Maternity rights and mothers' return to work

This paper uses a cohort of 12,000 births to examine the effect of maternity rights on mothers' post-birth return to employment decisions. It uses a discrete hazard model to disentangle the effects of the terms of maternity rights entitlements from other factors that influence the timing of a mother's return to work. Mothers with rights have an underlying (but unobserved) stronger attachment to the labour market that prompts earlier return than on average. We take this into account by estimating a counterfactual distribution of return times using a sample of women who failed to qualify for maternity rights but who have similar levels of labour market attachment. Even when differential attachment is taken into account there remains a substantial impact of maternity rights on behaviour.     

A Meta-Analytic Examination of Realistic Job Preview Effectiveness: A Test of Three Counterintuitive Propositions

We present a model of realistic job previews (RJPs) and, using separate meta-analyses, examine three counterintuitive hypotheses about their operation. We found modest support for two of the three hypotheses. Findings indicate that RJPs reduce the rate of job acceptance among persons with prior exposure to the job and increase the rate of job acceptance among persons with no prior exposure to the job. Results also indicate that RJPs can be more effective in reducing turnover if the organization is able to restrict the exit of new employees for a period of time after the RJP. Finally, RJPs show a pattern of being more effective in reducing turnover after longer periods of time following administration of the RJP; however, this pattern failed to reach conventional significance levels.     

The Algerian Retrenchment System: A Financial and Economic Evaluation

The government of Algeria has adopted a new retrenchment systemto facilitate labor shedding in a public sector characterizedby redundant workers and in an environment of already high unemployment.This article assesses the financial viability of the retrenchmentsystem and the inherent welfare costs and benefits associatedwith layoffs. A Financial flows model tracks the UnemploymentInsurance Fund's revenue and expenditure flows during the projectedfive-year adjustment period. It finds that even in the presenceof massive retrenchment (21 percent of formal sector employment),the fund accumulates reserves equivalent to nearly 2 percentof gross domestic product. Because many displaced workers willend up in the informal sector, the resulting productivity gainsor losses depend crucially on the initial level of productivityin the public sector. At the same time, retrenchment entailsunambiguous benefits by reducing subsidies to state-owned enterprises,thereby generating efficiency gains. Considering these two effectstogether, the welfare model estimates that retrenching 13 percentof the formal sector will generate annual net welfare gainsranging from costs of $358 million to gains of $774 million.     

Using current consumer issues to involve students in research

The value of involving students in research has been well documented. By including students in research, active and independent learning opportunities are provided, the importance of inquiry and investigation is emphasized, and connections between course material and the discipline become evident. Relevant opportunities for involving students in research projects can sometimes be elusive. Faculty time constraints limit the number of projects that can be undertaken and the number of students involved. Furthermore, many students become intimidated when told that they are required to carry out a research project. The purpose of this study was to use current consumer issues to involve undergraduate students in a relevant research project. The research project was implemented in class settings with teams of students. Faculty selected contemporary consumer issues based upon perceived student interest and experiences as consumers. By using issues of high relevance and familiarity to students and using the team approach within a course that faculty members were already assigned to teach, the issues of time constraint for the faculty members and increased levels of comfort for students were addressed. Prior to undertaking the project, students were instructed in appropriate research methods. Research methods utilized included student development of survey instruments, collection and recording of data, interpretation of data and presentation of results. Students became familiar with various research practices. By working as team members, the students’ comfort level for being involved in research increased; however, other common group challenges arose. Relevant, contemporary consumer issues carry high relevance and interest for student groups, helping generate enthusiasm for the research process. The focus on involving students in research continues to be emphasized. By using research topics related to student's experiences as consumers, students are more readily engaged in undertaking research projects. Through these relevant research projects, students’ consumer decision making is positively impacted.     

A profit-maximizing model of Federal Home Loan Bank behavior

In this article the price-setting behavior of the district Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) is investigated. Previous studies have viewed the FHLB system as a policy authority that sets the interest rate on FHLB advances in an attempt to stabilize mortgage and housing markets. In this study a profit-maximizing model of FHLB behavior is developed and empirically tested, and the results compared to a model of the FHLB system as a policy authority. The empirical results offer support for the hypothesis of profit-maximizing behavior and indicate that, in addition to the FHLB's cost of funds, factors that influence thrift demand for FHLB advances, deposits, and capital stock are important in explaining FHLB choice variables.