Self-Determination Theory as a Framework for Understanding Women's Psychological Well-Being Outcomes from Leisure-Time Physical Activity

Self-determination theory (SDT) is used as a framework to understand how women's psychological well-being is influenced by participation in leisure-time physical activity and the social context in which activity occurs. Data were collected during in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 participants and analyzed using constant comparison. Findings indicate women's well-being can be enhanced through casual participation in leisure-time physical activity if activity contexts support interaction between the elements of self-determination: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Participant interactions during activities also play an important role in facilitating well-being outcomes. The findings qualitatively add to understanding and development of SDT as a legitimate psychological construct by explaining the key components of the theory through the participants own words and reflections.     

Market Orientation and Performance: Objective and Subjective Empirical Evidence from UK Companies

The link between market orientation and performance has been claimed largely on the basis of the analysis of subjective measures of performance. Consequently, the aim of this study is to examine the links between market orientation and objectively measured financial performance. The paper begins with a brief examination of the definition and components of market orientation. Thereafter, extant research into the consequences of developing market orientation is reviewed critically, leading to the development of a number of research hypotheses. After detailing the research design and methodology adopted in this study, the findings of a survey of UK industry are presented. Briefly, the results indicate that when subjective measures of performance are adopted, market orientation is associated with company performance in certain environmental conditions. However, when objective measures of performance are adopted, we see a narrower range of environmental conditions where market orientation is positively associated with performance. The paper concludes with a series of implications for both theorists and practitioners.     

Fraudulent Return Proclivity: An Empirical Analysis

While many frameworks of service dynamics assume that consumers will not intentionally disrupt service encounters, a growing body of studies argues that dysfunctional customer behaviors are far from rare. Although a number of studies have explored such behaviors, deliberate fraudulent returning by consumers is relatively under-researched. Fraudulent returning refers to consumers taking back goods to a retailer knowing that such a return is contrary to the firm or legal rules and regulations governing such returns (including returning functional but used or consumer-damaged goods). This article is structured in the following way. First, in order to clarify the nature of demographic control factors, we briefly outline existing research into the demographic characteristics of complainers and fraudulent returners. Thereafter, we present the findings of a study designed to identify which demographic factors are linked to fraudulent returning. Second, we present a conceptual model of the psychographic antecedents of fraudulent returning proclivity. After describing the research design, methodology, and the approach adopted to test this model, we present the results of a second study developed to model the predictors of fraudulent proclivity that also controls for the demographic factors identified in Study 1. We conclude with a discussion of the contributions and limitations of these studies.     

企业家不是天生的(七)——诱人轨道中的陷阱

有的人从来没有用行动构建过他们的梦想，因为现状是这么美好、这么舒适，以至于他们不敢拿已拥有的来冒险。每一个满足于现状，或是害怕失去现状的雇员可能都属于这种类别。但最好的例子可能是那些总是被提拔到更高的位置，享有更大的权力和责任，并得到更多收入的主管级雇员。所有这些人都陷入了一个很有诱惑力的轨道，以至于他们看不到改变的机会。只有现状动摇了，     

VENTURE CAPITALIST RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DEAL STRUCTURING AND POST-INVESTMENT STAGES OF NEW FIRM CREATION

Entrepreneurs often turn to outsiders for financial assistance. Venture capitalists represent an outside source of finance that generally takes an active interest in managing the firm. Two common practices within the venture capital industry are co-investing and staged financing. Responding to the call for more process research which examines the deal structuring and post-investment stages of venture capital involvement, this research utilized a case study approach to explore salient features and themes that emerged in a relationship involving entrepreneurs and multiple co-investors in a new firm start-up. Central findings of the study included: penetrating the venture capital network is a significant first step in securing financial resources and, intriguingly, relationships supersede business plans in securing these resources; paradoxically, venture capitalists establish milestones and tight time-lines yet inadvertently contribute to many of the delays experienced by a start-up firm; the operating logic of venture capital networks, constrained by the hierarchical structures of their constituents, may be incompatible with the needs of a start-up firm; activities within the deal structuring and post-investment stages are more dynamic and iterative than current models suggest; and, staged financing, when combined with multiple venture partners, requires a clear understanding of each party's collaborative role in the enterprise.     

Regime change in Australian capitalism: towards an historical political economy of regulation

Regulatory regimes of political economy have a high degree of stability. The old Australian regime of labourist–protectionism survived more or less unchanged since before the Great War. The key feature was the historic compromise between the classes and leaders of capital and labour, mediated via the state and the institutions created to implement it. In the 1980s the regime was radically and rapidly transformed into the neoliberal globalizing regime. Explaining such large–scale shifts in systems of political economy, the history of which follows a pattern of punctuated equilibrium, is a difficult task for historical enquiry. This paper seeks to articulate an appropriate theoretical framework, derived from the structurist (that is, historical and realist) tradition that emphasizes historicity, multidimensionality, a form of institutionalism, human agency, and neo–Darwinian evolutionary theory.