HARVESTING VALUE FROM ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

This article discusses ways for entrepreneurs to gain liquidity from their businesses, either with or without a sale of the business. In today's financial arena there is a wide variety of methods and financing vehicles that can enable private companies to harvest liquidity to meet their own needs for growth, the consumption requirements of their founders, or the challenges of tax and estate planning. For companies with limited growth opportunities but fairly stable cash flows, the alternatives range from orderly liquidation to highly leveraged transfers of ownership such as those accomplished by leveraged buyouts, ESOPs, and mezzanine finance. For companies with abundant growth opportunities, value is typically maximized through sale to a strategic buyer or an initial public offering of equity (although a new hybrid called the "private IPO" has recently emerged that looks more like an LBO than an IPO).
In order to achieve its full potential, a company should be financed in such a way that enables it to continue through its natural business lifecycle, regardless of whether that matches the human lifecycle of its founder. So long as leadership succession can be arranged, the business lifecycle can determine the course of the company. Indeed, selling the business is the value-maximizing solution only if there is a strategic buyer willing to pay a premium above the business's stand-alone value, or if the founder wants to withdraw from the business and has no preferred successor.
Moreover, for the vast majority of companies, going public is not the recommended means for "cashing out." An IPO is likely to be a value-maximizing (and emotionally satisfying) experience only for (1) companies with valuable growth prospects that require funding for investment and (2) owner-entrepreneurs who are willing to subject themselves to the scrutiny and fluctuations of the market.     

An Evaluation of the Hong Kong Employees Retraining Programme

The Employees Retraining Programme, launched by the Hong Kong government in 1993, was promoted as the solution to structural unemployment resulting fromrapid structural transformation of the economy. However, our study of the labourmarket performance of a group of trainees who received training in 1994/5 showsno evidence of any positive effect on the earnings or employment rate of trainees one year after the completion of training in relation to various comparison groups. The apparent lack of success can be traced to low target efficiency and distorted incentives that result in over-utilization of retraining resources.     

Industrial product innovation: An international comparison

This paper presents and discusses the data obtained from a study of 500 industrial innovations introduced in major industrialized countries from 1953 to 1973. The trends in industrial innovation of both the country of origin and the country of market introduction are examined based on the data presented.     

A formal model of theory choice in science

Summary. Since the work of Thomas Kuhn, the role of social factors in the scientific enterprise has been a major concern in the philosophy and history of science. In particular, conformity effects among scientists have been used to question whether science naturally progresses over time. Using neoclassical economic reasoning, this paper develops a formal model of scientific theory choice which incorporates social factors. Our results demonstrate that the influence of social factors on scientific progress is more complex than previously thought. The patterns of theory choice predicted by the model seem consistent with historical episodes of theory change. Received: April 8, 1997; revised version: April 30, 1998     

Globalization and population drivers of rural-urban land-use change in Chihuahua,Mexico

A thorough examination of the causes of land-use change is necessary to effectively deal with the magnitude of changes across the globe. Chihuahua, Mexico is experiencing rapid land-use changes due to processes of globalization. The emergence of Mexico's maquiladora program is an indicator of economic globalization that has had far-reaching social and environmental consequences. This article examines population and income patterns from 1970 to 2000 as part of a hierarchical system and tests whether or not processes of globalization can be detected in the patterns. Findings indicate that population and income concentrate primarily in Juarez, while simultaneously deconcentrating in most other municipios of the State. Moreover, these patterns correlate with patterns of maquiladora concentration. Additional findings identify proximity to the US and established urban centers as drivers of population concentration. These findings support the notion that patterns and processes of globalization are important drivers of population and income concentration at the local level in Chihuahua, Mexico. Finally, the findings support the conceptualization of population land-use and income concentration as part of a hierarchical system.     

How Small Is Too Small? Firm Size as a Barrier to Exporting from the United States

The purpose of this paper is ask whether there is a minimum size that firms must achieve to take advantage of the benefits of exporting from the United States. An analysis of 2,822 firms in 49 different industries in South Carolina, a rapidly growing export–driven state, was conducted to address this question. This paper builds on the contributions of previous research in the areas of small to medium–sized enterprises (SMEs) and export success and SMEs in the export development process. Analysis of manufacturing exports from South Carolina indicates that firm size serves as a necessary as well as a sufficient condition for export success among small manufacturing firms. Reasons for this are discussed, and implications for managers and policymakers are offered.     

Towards a theoretical model of technology adoption in hospitality organizations

Technology is an important strategic asset for hospitality organizations to improve organizational performance and strategic competitiveness. However, adoption and diffusion of technology are complex processes, which are affected by a number of internal and external factors. As a result, understanding the factors affecting a hospitality organization's technology adoption behavior is of paramount importance to both practitioners and academia. This study proposes a model that describes the process of technology adoption in hospitality organizations. Specifically, two modifications of the existing Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) have been proposed in order to capture the adoption behavior at the organizational level.     

Ecotourism impacts in the Nicoya Peninsula,Costa Rica

Ecotourism promotes responsible travel to natural areas, environmental conservation and the well‐being of local communities. Eco‐lodges are an important component of ecotourism ventures but an infrequently researched component of this field. Considering their influence on the natural environment (design and operation) and local communities (employment practices and purchases), the success of ecotourism depends, in part, on the performance of eco‐lodges. This project studies the effects of the Punta Islita (PI) eco‐lodge on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. An interdisciplinary nested‐scale analysis, combining guest and household interviews with multi‐temporal remote sensing analysis of forest cover change of the lodge and surrounding areas, is used to evaluate the environmental, economic and social impacts of ecotourism in the region. Our results show significant positive contributions of the PI eco‐lodge on forest cover, environmental conservation, and local economic incomes within the surrounding communities. For local livelihoods, the PI eco‐lodge was seen as having positive social, cultural and economic impacts for nearly all societal variables for both employees and their neighbours. The PI eco‐lodge was also perceived as reducing alcoholism, drug addiction and prostitution, where conventional tourism on the Peninsula was shown to increase these ‘societal ills’. Land value and product pricing were the few variables believed to have increased as a result of tourism on the Peninsula. For conservation, the PI eco‐lodge property had the highest rates of reforestation within the Nicoya Peninsula and remains the scale most reforested in both forest cover change and total forest cover. In fact, at the landscape scale, we find that the Pacific coast of the Nicoya, where the bulk of ecotourism occurs, has undergone reforestation, whereas forest interiors have been deforested. Historically, reforestation occurred as cattle ranching credit programs were halted by the government and households in the area left to find better job opportunities. The PI eco‐lodge, as a source of good employment, resulted in worker migration back to the surrounding area, resulting, in some cases, in increased deforestation. Overall, we feel that the PI eco‐lodge serves as an example of successful ecotourism. However, increasing development in the region, in particular by standard hotel operations and large condo developments, seeks to capitalise on the region's natural beauty and may reverse land cover trends if they are not accompanied by adequate forest conservation strategies and stresses the importance of monitoring and assessing the impacts of accommodations tied to nature‐based tourism operations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.