Sample records for small software firms

  1. Impact of Top Management Team on Firm Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Adopting Commercial Open-Source Enterprise Resource Planning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cereola, Sandra J.; Wier, Benson; Norman, Carolyn Strand

    2012-01-01

    Based on the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United States, their increasing interest in enterprise-wide software systems and their impact on the US economy, it is important to understand the determinants that can facilitate the successful implementation and assimilation of such technology into these firms' daily…

  2. A Bayesian Approach to International Distributor Selection for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Software Industry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lui, Joseph P.

    2013-01-01

    Identifying appropriate international distributors for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the software industry for overseas markets can determine a firm's future endeavors in international expansion. SMEs lack the complex skills in market research and decision analysis to identify suitable partners to engage in global market entry.…

  3. The National Si-Soft Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chang, Chun-Yen; Trappey, Charles V.

    2003-06-01

    Taiwan's electronics industry emerged in the 1960s with the creation of a small but well planned integrated circuit (IC) packaging industry. This industry investment led to bolder investments in research, laboratories, and the island's first semiconductor foundries in the 1980s. Following the success of the emerging IC manufacturers and design houses, hundreds of service firms and related industries (software, legal services, substrate, chemical, and test firms among others) opened for business and completed Taiwan's IC manufacturing supply chain. The challenge for Taiwan's electronics industry is to take the lead in the design, manufacture, and marketing of name brand electronic products. This paper introduces the Si-Soft (silicon software) Project, a national initiative that builds on Taiwan's achievements in manufacturing (referred to as Si-Hard or silicon hardware) to launch a new wave of companies. These firms will contribute to the core underlying technology (intellectual property) used in the creation of electronic products.

  4. Case study of open-source enterprise resource planning implementation in a small business

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olson, David L.; Staley, Jesse

    2012-02-01

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have been recognised as offering great benefit to some organisations, although they are expensive and problematic to implement. The cost and risk make well-developed proprietorial systems unaffordable to small businesses. Open-source software (OSS) has become a viable means of producing ERP system products. The question this paper addresses is the feasibility of OSS ERP systems for small businesses. A case is reported involving two efforts to implement freely distributed ERP software products in a small US make-to-order engineering firm. The case emphasises the potential of freely distributed ERP systems, as well as some of the hurdles involved in their implementation. The paper briefly reviews highlights of OSS ERP systems, with the primary focus on reporting the case experiences for efforts to implement ERPLite software and xTuple software. While both systems worked from a technical perspective, both failed due to economic factors. While these economic conditions led to imperfect results, the case demonstrates the feasibility of OSS ERP for small businesses. Both experiences are evaluated in terms of risk dimension.

  5. Recent work on network application layer: MioNet, the virtual workplace for small businesses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hesselink, Lambertus; Rizal, Dharmarus; Bjornson, Eric; Miller, Brian; Chan, Keith

    2005-11-01

    Small businesses must be extremely efficient and smartly leverage their resources, suppliers, and partners to successfully compete with larger firms. A successful small business requires a set of companies with interlocking business relationships that are dynamic and needs-based. There has been no software solution that creates a secure and flexible way to efficiently connect small business computer-based employees and partners. In this invited paper, we discuss MioNet, a secure and powerful data management platform which may provide millions of small businesses with a virtual workplace and help them to succeed.

  6. Strategic Orientation in the Globalization of Software Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dedrick, Jason; Kraemer, Kenneth L.; Carmel, Erran; Dunkle, Debora

    In the search for profits, software firms are globalizing their development activities. Some firms achieve greater profits by becoming more efficient, whereas others do so by reaching new markets; some do both. This paper creates an a priori typology of strategies based on the extent to which firms are focused on operational improvement or market access, have a dual focus or are unfocused. We find that firms with these strategies differ in degree of internationalization, organization of offshoring and performance outcomes related to offshoring. Market-oriented firms receive a greater proportion of their total revenue from sales outside the U.S., showing a greater international orientation. They keep more of their offshore development in-house via captive operations. They also are most likely to report increased non-U.S. sales as a result of offshoring. On the other hand, operations-oriented firms have lower levels of international sales, are more likely to go offshore via outsourced software development, and achieve greater costs savings and labor force flexibility as a result of offshoring. Operations-oriented firms also face more obstacles in offshoring, perhaps because of their reliance on outsourcing. Dual focus firms generally achieve some of the best of both strategies, whereas unfocused firms achieve lower cost benefits.

  7. How Knowledge Organisations Work: The Case of Software Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gottschalk, Petter

    2007-01-01

    Knowledge workers in software firms solve client problems in sequential and cyclical work processes. Sequential and cyclical work takes place in the value configuration of a value shop. While typical examples of value chains are manufacturing industries such as paper and car production, typical examples of value shops are law firms and medical…

  8. The Effect of Firm Strategy and Corporate Performance on Software Market Growth in Emerging Regions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mertz, Sharon A.

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of firm strategies and corporate performance on enterprise software market growth in emerging regions. The emerging regions of Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America, currently represent smaller overall markets for software vendors, but exhibit high growth…

  9. How small firms contrast with large firms regarding perceptions, practices, and needs in the U.S

    Treesearch

    Urs Buehlmann; Matthew Bumgardner; Michael Sperber

    2013-01-01

    As many larger secondary woodworking firms have moved production offshore and been adversely impacted by the recent housing downturn, smaller firms have become important to driving U.S. hardwood demand. This study compared and contrasted small and large firms on a number of factors to help determine the unique characteristics of small firms and to provide insights into...

  10. Risky business: when mom and pop buy health insurance for their employees.

    PubMed

    Gabel, Jon R; Pickreign, Jeremy D

    2004-04-01

    The economics of small group insurance makes offering health benefits to employees a risky business. Surveys of employers from 1989 to 2003 reveal that more rapid premium increases are forcing small firms to impose higher cost-sharing. In 2003, premiums for small firms (3-199 workers) increased 15.5 percent, outpacing the 13.2 percent increase for large firms (200+ workers). From 2000 to 2003, deductibles among small firms increased 100 percent in PPO plans when employees use in-network providers and 131 percent when they use out-of-network providers; among large firms, deductibles in PPO plans increased 33 percent and 44 percent, respectively. And in 2003, 40.3 percent of employees in the smallest firms contributed 41 percent or more of the total family premium, compared with only 11.2 percent of employees in large firms. Clearly, fundamental change in the small employer market is necessary, including new options for helping small firms gain access to the advantages large firms have in purchasing health benefits.

  11. Small firm subsistence and market dimensionality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bruggeman, Jeroen; Péli, Gábor

    2014-04-01

    In many markets, large and small firms coexist. As large firms can in principle out-compete small ones, the actual presence of the latter asks for an explanation. In ours, we focus on the dimensionality of markets, which can change as a consequence of product innovations, preference elaboration or institutions. We show that increasing market dimensionality substantially enlarges the market periphery relative to the market center, which creates new potential niches for small firms. We thereby provide a parsimonious explanation for small firm subsistence.

  12. Finding the "Right Staff" in Small Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barrett, Rowena; Neeson, Robyn; Billington, Leo

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what owners of small firms are looking for from new employees. The aim is to pursue this in light of the debate around formality and informality of small firm HRM, exploring the extent to which the small firms studied had formalized HRM practices. Design/methodology/approach: The data reported here…

  13. Provider software buyer's guide.

    PubMed

    1994-03-01

    To help long term care providers find new ways to improve quality of care and efficiency, Provider magazine presents the fourth annual listing of software firms marketing computer programs for all areas of nursing facility operations. On the following five pages, more than 80 software firms display their wares, with programs such as minimum data set and care planning, dietary, accounting and financials, case mix, and medication administration records. The guide also charts compatible hardware, integration ability, telephone numbers, company contacts, and easy-to-use reader service numbers.

  14. 5th Annual Provider Software Buyer's Guide.

    PubMed

    1995-03-01

    To help long term care providers find new ways to improve quality of care and efficiency, PROVIDER presents the fifth annual listing of software firms marketing computer programs for all areas of long term care operations. On the following five pages, more than 70 software firms display their wares, with programs such as minimum data set and care planning, dietary, accounting and financials, case mix, and medication administration records. The guide also charts compatible hardware, integration ability, telephone numbers, company contacts, and easy-to-use reader service numbers.

  15. Provider software buyer's guide.

    PubMed

    1993-03-01

    To help long term care providers find new ways to improve quality of care and efficiency. Provider magazine presents the third annual listing of software firms marketing computer programs for all areas of nursing facility operations. On the following five pages, more than 80 software firms display their wares, with programs such as minimum data set and care planning, dietary, accounting and financials, case mix, and medication administration records. The guide also charts compatible hardware, integration ability, telephone numbers, company contacts, and easy-to-use reader service numbers.

  16. Workplace Learning and Its Organizational Benefits for Small Enterprises: Evidence from Greek Industrial Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Panagiotakopoulos, Antonios

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore small firm owners' perceptions of the impact of employee training on small firm competitiveness in the context of Greece. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a qualitative orientation. Empirical data were collected from 43 owners of small and micro-firms operating in various sectors of…

  17. 48 CFR 19.306 - Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Protesting a firm's status... FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Determination of Small Business Status for Small Business Programs 19.306 Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business...

  18. Low Cost Ways to Keep Software Current.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schultheis, Robert A.

    1992-01-01

    Discusses strategies for providing students with current computer software technology including acquiring previous versions of software, obtaining demonstration software, using student versions, getting examination software, buying from mail order firms, buying few copies, exploring site licenses, acquiring shareware or freeware, and applying for…

  19. The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of an SPI Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carlsson, Sven; Schönström, Mikael

    Commentators on contemporary themes of strategic management and firm competitiveness stress that a firm's competitive advantage flows from its unique knowledge and how it manages knowledge, and for many firms their ability to create, share, exchange, and use knowledge have a major impact on their competitiveness (Nonaka & Teece 2001). In software development, knowledge management (KM) plays an increasingly important role. It has been argued that the KM-field is an important source for creating new perspectives on the software development process (Iivari 2000). Several Software Process Improvement (SPI) approaches stress the importance of managing knowledge and experiences as a way for improving software processes (Ahem et al. 2001). Another SPI-trend is the use of ideas from process management like in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Unfortunately, little research on the effects of the use of process management ideas in SPI exists. Given the influx of process management ideas to SPI, the impact of these ideas should be addressed.

  20. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-8 - Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... multiple mentors unless approved, in writing, by the Director, Office of Small Business Development (OSBD... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-8 Protégé firms. (a) For selection as a protégé, a firm must be: (1) A small business, women-owned small business, small disadvantaged business...

  1. Agile Software Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biju, Soly Mathew

    2008-01-01

    Many software development firms are now adopting the agile software development method. This method involves the customer at every level of software development, thus reducing the impact of change in the requirement at a later stage. In this article, the principles of the agile method for software development are explored and there is a focus on…

  2. The Commercial Open Source Business Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riehle, Dirk

    Commercial open source software projects are open source software projects that are owned by a single firm that derives a direct and significant revenue stream from the software. Commercial open source at first glance represents an economic paradox: How can a firm earn money if it is making its product available for free as open source? This paper presents the core properties of com mercial open source business models and discusses how they work. Using a commercial open source approach, firms can get to market faster with a superior product at lower cost than possible for traditional competitors. The paper shows how these benefits accrue from an engaged and self-supporting user community. Lacking any prior comprehensive reference, this paper is based on an analysis of public statements by practitioners of commercial open source. It forges the various anecdotes into a coherent description of revenue generation strategies and relevant business functions.

  3. The impacts of different expansion modes on performance of small solar energy firms: perspectives of absorptive capacity.

    PubMed

    Chen, Hsing Hung; Shen, Tao; Xu, Xin-Long; Ma, Chao

    2013-01-01

    The characteristics of firm's expansion by differentiated products and diversified products are quite different. However, the study employing absorptive capacity to examine the impacts of different modes of expansion on performance of small solar energy firms has never been discussed before. Then, a conceptual model to analyze the tension between strategies and corporate performance is proposed to filling the vacancy. After practical investigation, the results show that stronger organizational institutions help small solar energy firms expanded by differentiated products increase consistency between strategies and corporate performance; oppositely, stronger working attitudes with weak management controls help small solar energy firms expanded by diversified products reduce variance between strategies and corporate performance.

  4. 48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

  5. 48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

  6. 48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

  7. 48 CFR 619.202-70 - The Department of State Mentor-Protégé Program.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... disadvantaged business (SDB), women-owned small business (WOSB), veteran-owned small business (VOSB), and... relationships. (h) Eligibility of protégé firms. (1) A protégé firm must be: (i) A SB, HUBZone, SDB, WOSB, VOSB... contracts. (2) Except for SDB and HUBZone firms, a protégé firm may self-certify to a mentor firm that it...

  8. 48 CFR 519.7006 - Mentor firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 519.7006... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7006 Mentor firms. (a) Mentors must be... plan as required by FAR 19.7 - Small business mentors are exempted; or (2) A small business prime...

  9. Firm Size and Skill Formation Processes: An Emerging Debate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Recent research has established that small firms tend to develop and acquire the skills they need in different ways to those employed by larger organisations. More specifically, due to certain characteristics inherent to their small size, small firms generally display greater informality in their learning processes. As such, it is now broadly…

  10. The Impacts of Different Expansion Modes on Performance of Small Solar Energy Firms: Perspectives of Absorptive Capacity

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Hsing Hung; Shen, Tao; Xu, Xin-long; Ma, Chao

    2013-01-01

    The characteristics of firm's expansion by differentiated products and diversified products are quite different. However, the study employing absorptive capacity to examine the impacts of different modes of expansion on performance of small solar energy firms has never been discussed before. Then, a conceptual model to analyze the tension between strategies and corporate performance is proposed to filling the vacancy. After practical investigation, the results show that stronger organizational institutions help small solar energy firms expanded by differentiated products increase consistency between strategies and corporate performance; oppositely, stronger working attitudes with weak management controls help small solar energy firms expanded by diversified products reduce variance between strategies and corporate performance. PMID:24453837

  11. 14 CFR 1274.915 - Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... that access to technology developments under this Agreement by foreign firms or institutions must be... software or documentation related to sales of products or components, or (3) Transfers to foreign...

  12. The Missing Link: Workplace Education in Small Business.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chisman, Forrest P.

    An 18-month, 3-phase study examined formal employer-sponsored basic skills instruction in small- and medium-sized firms. Data were gathered through the following methods: in-depth case studies of 72 small and medium firms in 5 states, a series of linked national surveys of 11,000 randomly selected firms, follow-up telephone surveys of 4,317 of…

  13. The Importance of Being an Insider: How Networks Influence the Small Firm's Engagement with Formal Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Dan

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which the small firm's external relationships influence its approach to formal training and training providers. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with senior managers, in 25 small firms in South Wales. These interviews…

  14. Workplace Education Programs in Small and Medium-Sized Michigan Firms. Staff Working Paper 92-13.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hollenbeck, Kevin; Anderson, William

    A project collected data from small and medium-sized firms (employing fewer than 500) in Michigan concerning workplace education programs. It addressed why firms were or were not offering programs, program characteristics, and program impacts on firms and employees. Case studies of 28 businesses were undertaken from May 1991-July 1992 and a…

  15. 34 CFR 74.44 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... made by recipients to utilize small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises...: (1) Ensure that small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises are used to... businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises. (3) Consider in the contract process...

  16. 76 FR 61741 - Bmc Software, Inc. Including On-Site Leased Workers From COMSYS ITS Including Remote Workers...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-05

    ... employees provided various activities related to software development services. Based on these findings, the... workers of the subject firm who were adversely affected by a shift in software development services to a... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,540] Bmc Software, Inc...

  17. 48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

  18. 48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

  19. 48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

  20. 48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

  1. 48 CFR 1827.304-1 - General. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., shall apply. (b) Greater rights determinations. In any contract with other than a small business firm or... in the performance of work under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit... inventions made and reported under any contract with other than a small business firm or a nonprofit...

  2. 10 CFR 603.550 - Acceptability of intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... property (e.g., copyrighted material, including software) as cost sharing because: (1) It is difficult to... the contribution. For example, a for-profit firm may offer the use of commercially available software... the software would not be a reasonable basis for valuing its use. ...

  3. 10 CFR 603.550 - Acceptability of intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... property (e.g., copyrighted material, including software) as cost sharing because: (1) It is difficult to... the contribution. For example, a for-profit firm may offer the use of commercially available software... the software would not be a reasonable basis for valuing its use. ...

  4. 48 CFR 19.306 - Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... as a HUBZone small business concern. 19.306 Section 19.306 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Determination of Small Business Status for Small Business Programs 19.306 Protesting a firm's status as a HUBZone small business...

  5. Small business executives and health insurance: findings from a national survey of very small firms.

    PubMed

    Holve, Erin; Brodie, Mollyann; Levitt, Larry

    2003-09-01

    Previous researchers have documented that very small businesses (3-24 workers) are less likely to offer employees health insurance than larger corporations. This study supplements previous findings on the prevalence of health insurance among small firms. The authors also attempt to illuminate reasons behind coverage decisions by interviewing small business owners and executives, who most often make health benefits decisions on behalf of their employees. The study examines attitudes about health insurance, opinions, and practices in these very small firms, and the response of small business owners to policy alternatives designed to expand coverage in small businesses.

  6. Declines in Employer-Sponsored Insurance between 2000 and 2008: Examining the Components of Coverage by Firm Size

    PubMed Central

    Vistnes, Jessica; Zawacki, Alice; Simon, Kosali; Taylor, Amy

    2012-01-01

    Objective To examine trends in employer-sponsored health insurance coverage rates and its associated components between 2000 and 2008, to provide a baseline for later evaluations of the Affordable Care Act, and to provide information to policy makers as they design the implementation details of the law. Data Sources Private sector employer data from the 2000, 2001, and 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Insurance Component (MEPS-IC). Study Design We examine time trends in employer offer, eligibility, and take-up rates. We add a new dimension to the literature by examining dependent coverage and decomposing its trends. We investigate heterogeneity in trends by firm size. Data Collection The MEPS-IC is an annual survey, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The MEPS-IC obtains information on establishment characteristics, whether an establishment offers health insurance, and details on up to four plans. Principal Findings We find that coverage rates for workers declined in both small and large firms. In small firms, coverage declined due to a drop in both offer and take-up rates. In the largest firms, offer rates were stable and the decline was due to falling take-up rates. In addition, enrollment shifted toward single coverage and away from dependent coverage in both small and large firms. For small firms, this shift was due to declining offer and take-up rates for dependent coverage. In large firms, offers of dependent coverage were stable but take-up rates dropped. Within the category of dependent coverage, the availability of employee-plus-one plans increased in all firm size categories, but take-up rates for these plans declined in small firms. PMID:22250730

  7. Stray Light Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1997-01-01

    Based on a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, TracePro is state-of-the-art interactive software created by Lambda Research Corporation to detect stray light in optical systems. An image can be ruined by incidental light in an optical system. To maintain image excellence from an optical system, stray light must be detected and eliminated. TracePro accounts for absorption, specular reflection and refraction, scattering and aperture diffraction of light. Output from the software consists of spatial irradiance plots and angular radiance plots. Results can be viewed as contour maps or as ray histories in tabular form. TracePro is adept at modeling solids such as lenses, baffles, light pipes, integrating spheres, non-imaging concentrators, and complete illumination systems. The firm's customer base includes Lockheed Martin, Samsung Electronics and other manufacturing, optical, aerospace, and educational companies worldwide.

  8. The Strategic Partners Network's Extraction: The XStrat.Net Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taifi, Nouha; Passiante, Giuseppina

    The firms in the business environment have to choose adequate partners in order to sustain their competitive advantage and their economic performance. Plus, the creation of special communities consisting of these partners is essential for the life-long development of these latter and the firms creating them. The research project XStrat.Net aims at the identification of factors and indicators about the organizations for the modelling of intelligent agents -XStrat intelligent agents- and the engineering of a software -XStrat- to process these backbones intelligent agents. Through the use of the software, the firms will be able to select the needed partners for the creation of special communities for the purpose of learning, interest or innovation. The XStrat.Net project also intends to provide guidelines for the creation of the special communities.

  9. Causal Relationships among Technology Acquisition, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Performance: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry.

    PubMed

    Jeon, Jieun; Hong, Suckchul; Ohm, Jay; Yang, Taeyong

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses the importance of absorptive capacity in improving a firm's innovation performance. Specifically, we examine firm interaction with the knowledge and capabilities of outside organizations and the effect on the firm's bottom line. We use the impulse-response function of the vector auto-regressive model to gain insight into this relationship by estimating the time required for the effect of each activity level to reach outputs, the spillover effects. We apply this methodology to pharmaceutical firms, which we classify into two sub-groups--large firms and medium and small firms--based on sales. Our results show that the impact of an activity on any other activity is delayed by three years for large firms and by one to two years for small and medium firms.

  10. Customer Satisfaction Survey of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Technical Assistance Partners -- FY 2011

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Conger, Robin L.; Spanner, Gary E.

    2011-11-02

    The businesses that have utilized PNNL's Technology Assistance Program were sent a survey to solicit feedback about the program and to determine what, if any, outcomes resulted from the assistance provided. As part of its small business outreach, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) offers technology assistance to businesses with fewer than 500 employees throughout the nation and to businesses of any size in the 2 counties that contain the Hanford site. Upon request, up to 40 staff-hours of a researcher's time can be provided to address technology issues at no charge to the requesting firm. During FY 2011, PNNL completedmore » assistance for 54 firms. Topics of the technology assistance covered a broad range, including environment, energy, industrial processes, medical, materials, computers and software, and sensors. In FY 2011, PNNL's Technology Assistance Program (TAP) was funded by PNNL Overheads. Over the past 16 years, the Technology Assistance Program has received total funding of nearly $2.8 million from several federal and private sources.« less

  11. CAD for small hydro projects

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bishop, N.A. Jr.

    1994-04-01

    Over the past decade, computer-aided design (CAD) has become a practical and economical design tool. Today, specifying CAD hardware and software is relatively easy once you know what the design requirements are. But finding experienced CAD professionals is often more difficult. Most CAD users have only two or three years of design experience; more experienced design personnel are frequently not CAD literate. However, effective use of CAD can be the key to lowering design costs and improving design quality--a quest familiar to every manager and designer. By emphasizing computer-aided design literacy at all levels of the firm, a Canadian joint-venturemore » company that specializes in engineering small hydroelectric projects has cut costs, become more productive and improved design quality. This article describes how they did it.« less

  12. 1986 Petroleum Software Directory. [800 mini, micro and mainframe computer software packages

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1985-01-01

    Pennwell's 1986 Petroleum Software Directory is a complete listing of software created specifically for the petroleum industry. Details are provided on over 800 mini, micro and mainframe computer software packages from more than 250 different companies. An accountant can locate programs to automate bookkeeping functions in large oil and gas production firms. A pipeline engineer will find programs designed to calculate line flow and wellbore pressure drop.

  13. Boundary Conditions of the High-Investment Human Resource Systems-Small-Firm Labor Productivity Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chadwick, Clint; Way, Sean A.; Kerr, Gerry; Thacker, James W.

    2013-01-01

    Although a few published, multiindustry, firm-level, empirical studies have linked systems of high-investment or high-performance human resource management practices to enhanced small-firm performance, this stream of strategic human resource management research is underdeveloped and equivocal. Accordingly, in this study, we use a sample of…

  14. Spaces of Innovation: Experiences from Two Small High-Tech Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heiskanen, Tuula; Heiskanen, Hannu

    2011-01-01

    Purpose: By comparing two small high-tech firms specialising in medical technology this article seeks to answer the following questions: What are the key characteristics of innovation processes in the case firms? How do the mutual relationships between mental, social and physical spaces explain the different pathways in the innovation processes in…

  15. Improving Performance in Very Small Firms through Effective Assessment and Feedback

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lorenzet, Steven J.; Cook, Ronald G.; Ozeki, Cynthia

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve assessment and feedback processes in the training practices of very small firms, thereby improving the firms' human capital. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews research and practice on effective assessment and feedback. Findings: Based on this paper, human resources are increasingly seen…

  16. Optimal Software Strategies in the Presence of Network Externalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Yipeng

    2009-01-01

    Network externalities or alternatively termed network effects are pervasive in computer software markets. While software vendors consider pricing strategies, they must also take into account the impact of network externalities on their sales. My main interest in this research is to describe a firm's strategies and behaviors in the presence of…

  17. Timing of Technology Upgrades: A Case of Enterprise Systems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Claybaugh, Craig C.

    2010-01-01

    Technology upgrades are an inevitable part of dealing with any man-made invention utilized for productive gain. One key technology used for productive gain within a firm is enterprise software, specifically a firm's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. After the adoption of an ERP system, an organization is perpetually faced with the…

  18. Organizational Agility and Complex Enterprise System Innovations: A Mixed Methods Study of the Effects of Enterprise Systems on Organizational Agility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kharabe, Amol T.

    2012-01-01

    Over the last two decades, firms have operated in "increasingly" accelerated "high-velocity" dynamic markets, which require them to become "agile." During the same time frame, firms have increasingly deployed complex enterprise systems--large-scale packaged software "innovations" that integrate and automate…

  19. Empirical evidences of owners’ managerial behaviour - the case of small companies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lobontiu, G.; Banica, M.; Ravai-Nagy, S.

    2017-05-01

    In a small firm, the founder or the owner-manager often leaves his or her own personal “stamp” on the way things are done, finding solutions for the multitude of problems the firm faces, and maintaining control over the firm’s operations. The paper aims to investigate the degree to which the owner-managers are controlling the operations of their firm on a day-to-day basis or even getting involved into the management of the functional areas. Our empirical research, conducted on a sample of 200 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) from the North-Western Romania, Maramures (NUTS3 level - RO114), shows that owner-managers tend to be all-powerful, making decisions based on their experience. Furthermore, the survey highlights the focus of owner-managers on two functional areas, namely the production, and sales and marketing. Finally, the correlation analysis states that in the case of small firms, the owner-manager is more involved in managing the functional areas of the firm, as compared to the medium-ones.

  20. Small employer perspectives on the Affordable Care Act's premiums, SHOP exchanges, and self-insurance.

    PubMed

    Gabel, Jon R; Whitmore, Heidi; Pickreign, Jeremy; Satorius, Jennifer L; Stromberg, Sam

    2013-11-01

    Beginning January 1, 2014, small businesses having no more than fifty full-time-equivalent workers will be able to obtain health insurance for their employees through Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchanges in every state. Although the Affordable Care Act intended the exchanges to make the purchasing of insurance more attractive and affordable to small businesses, it is not yet known how they will respond to the exchanges. Based on a telephone survey of 604 randomly selected private firms having 3-50 employees, we found that both firms that offered health coverage and those that did not rated most features of SHOP exchanges highly but were also very price sensitive. More than 92 percent of nonoffering small firms said that if they were to offer coverage, it would be "very" or "somewhat" important to them that premium costs be less than they are today. Eighty percent of offering firms use brokers who commonly perform functions of benefit managers--functions that the SHOP exchanges may assume. Twenty-six percent of firms using brokers reported discussing self-insuring with their brokers. An increase in the number of self-insured small employers could pose a threat to SHOP exchanges and other small-group insurance reforms.

  1. Training for Creativity and Innovation in Small Enterprises in Ethiopia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mihret Dessie, Wondifraw; Shumetie Ademe, Arega

    2017-01-01

    Policy makers recognize the role of small businesses in bringing about economic growth and reducing or eliminating poverty, and training can contribute significantly to this process. The present study adds to the small firm literature by examining whether training encourages small firms to be more creative and innovative. It does so by…

  2. Collaborative business processes for enhancing partnerships among software services providers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heil Cancian, Maiara; Rabelo, Ricardo; Gresse von Wangenheim, Christiane

    2015-08-01

    Software services have represented a powerful view to support the realisation of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) paradigm. Using open standards and facilitating systems projects, they have increasingly been used as a corporate architectural approach to create interoperable services-based software solutions that can more easily be reused and shared across disparate applications. In the context of software companies, most of them are small firms having enormous difficulties to keep competitive. One strategy to enhance their sustainability is to enlarge partnerships among them at a more valuable level by jointly offering (web) services-based solutions. However, their culture of collaboration is low, and partnerships are usually done with the same companies and sporadically. This article presents an approach to support a more intense collaboration among software companies to attend business opportunities in a more agile way, joining capacities and capabilities which they would not have if they worked alone. This requires, however, some preparedness. From the perspective of business processes, they should understand how to carry out a collaboration more properly. This is essentially what this article is about. It presents a comprehensive list of collaborative business processes and base practices that can also act as a guide for service providers' managers to implement and manage the collaboration along its lifecycle. Processes have been validated and results are discussed.

  3. Does contracting with owner operators lead to worse safety outcomes for US motor carriers? Evidence from the Motor Carrier Management Information System.

    PubMed

    Monaco, Kristen; Redmon, Brydey

    2012-03-01

    Using data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System, we model crashes as a function of firm characteristics, with a focus on the employment relationship. We find that very small firms (one driver, one truck) and firms that contract with owner operators have fewer crashes than employee-only companies, once other firm characteristics and exposure are controlled. Additionally, though very small firms are more likely to have severe crashes, we find no relationship between the share of owner operators and crash severity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Application of Real Options Theory to DoD Software Acquisitions

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-08-01

    words.) The traditional real options valuation methodology, when enhanced and properly formulated around a proposed or existing software investment...Std 239-18 - ii - THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK - iii - Abstract The traditional real options valuation ...founder and CEO of Real Options Valuation , Inc., a consulting, training, and software development firm specializing in strategic real options

  5. Small employers and self-insured health benefits: too small to succeed?

    PubMed

    Yee, Tracy; Christianson, Jon B; Ginsburg, Paul B

    2012-07-01

    Over the past decade, large employers increasingly have bypassed traditional health insurance for their workers, opting instead to assume the financial risk of enrollees' medical care through self-insurance. Because self-insurance arrangements may offer advantages--such as lower costs, exemption from most state insurance regulation and greater flexibility in benefit design--they are especially attractive to large firms with enough employees to spread risk adequately to avoid the financial fallout from potentially catastrophic medical costs of some employees. Recently, with rising health care costs and changing market dynamics, more small firms--100 or fewer workers--are interested in self-insuring health benefits, according to a new qualitative study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). Self-insured firms typically use a third-party administrator (TPA) to process medical claims and provide access to provider networks. Firms also often purchase stop-loss insurance to cover medical costs exceeding a predefined amount. Increasingly competitive markets for TPA services and stop-loss insurance are making self-insurance attractive to more employers. The 2010 national health reform law imposes new requirements and taxes on health insurance that may spur more small firms to consider self-insurance. In turn, if more small firms opt to self-insure, certain health reform goals, such as strengthening consumer protections and making the small-group health insurance market more viable, may be undermined. Specifically, adverse selection--attracting sicker-than-average people--is a potential issue for the insurance exchanges created by reform.

  6. Firm performance model in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) based on learning orientation and innovation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lestari, E. R.; Ardianti, F. L.; Rachmawati, L.

    2018-03-01

    This study investigated the relationship between learning orientation, innovation, and firm performance. A conceptual model and hypothesis were empirically examined using structural equation modelling. The study involved a questionnaire-based survey of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in Batu City, Indonesia. The results showed that both variables of learning orientation and innovation effect positively on firm performance. Additionally, learning orientation has positive effect innovation. This study has implication for SMEs aiming at increasing their firm performance based on learning orientation and innovation capability.

  7. Growth and profitability in small privately held biotech firms: preliminary findings.

    PubMed

    Brännback, Malin; Carsrud, Alan; Renko, Maija; Ostermark, Ralf; Aaltonen, Jaana; Kiviluoto, Niklas

    2009-06-01

    This paper reports on preliminary findings on a study of the relationship of growth and profitability among small privately held Finnish Life Science firms. Previous research results concerning growth and profitability are mixed, ranging from strongly positive to a negative relationship. The conventional wisdom states that growth is a prerequisite for profitability. Our results suggest that the reverse is the case. A high profitability-low growth biotech firm is more probably to make the transition to high profitability-high growth than a firm that starts off with low profitability and high growth.

  8. Clinical use of Skype: a review of the evidence base.

    PubMed

    Armfield, Nigel R; Gray, Leonard C; Smith, Anthony C

    2012-04-01

    Skype is a popular and free software application that allows PCs and mobile devices to be used for video communication over the Internet. We reviewed the literature to determine whether the clinical use of Skype is supported by evidence. One small (n = 7) controlled clinical trial had assessed the effect of nursing communication using Skype on elderly patients with dementia and their carers. However, we were unable to identify any large, well-designed studies which had formally evaluated the safety, clinical effectiveness, security and privacy of Skype for the routine delivery of patient care. While there were many case reports and small studies, no firm evidence either in favour of, or against the use of Skype for clinical telehealth was found. The risks and benefits of using Skype for clinical purposes are not known.

  9. Exploring the Role of Value Networks for Software Innovation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morgan, Lorraine; Conboy, Kieran

    This paper describes a research-in-progress that aims to explore the applicability and implications of open innovation practices in two firms - one that employs agile development methods and another that utilizes open source software. The open innovation paradigm has a lot in common with open source and agile development methodologies. A particular strength of agile approaches is that they move away from 'introverted' development, involving only the development personnel, and intimately involves the customer in all areas of software creation, supposedly leading to the development of a more innovative and hence more valuable information system. Open source software (OSS) development also shares two key elements of the open innovation model, namely the collaborative development of the technology and shared rights to the use of the technology. However, one shortfall with agile development in particular is the narrow focus on a single customer representative. In response to this, we argue that current thinking regarding innovation needs to be extended to include multiple stakeholders both across and outside the organization. Additionally, for firms utilizing open source, it has been found that their position in a network of potential complementors determines the amount of superior value they create for their customers. Thus, this paper aims to get a better understanding of the applicability and implications of open innovation practices in firms that employ open source and agile development methodologies. In particular, a conceptual framework is derived for further testing.

  10. Learning the Hard Way? Issues in the Adoption of New Technology in Small Technology Oriented Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chibelushi, Caroline

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore, through a survey and two short case studies, the issues smaller firms face with the adoption of new technologies. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of the pressures to adopt new technologies and the existence of specialist technology skills was conducted of small ICT oriented firms in the West…

  11. Education, Training and Employment in Small-Scale Enterprises: Three Industries in Sao Paulo, Brazil. IIEP Research Report No. 63.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leite, Elenice M.; Caillods, Francoise

    Despite the prophecies forecasting their probable disappearance or annihilation, small-scale enterprises have persisted in the Brazilian industrial structure since 1950. To account for the survival of small firms in Brazil, specifically in the state of Sao Paulo, a study examined 100 small firms in three industrial sectors: clothing, mechanical…

  12. Ontology-Based Model Of Firm Competitiveness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deliyska, Boryana; Stoenchev, Nikolay

    2010-10-01

    Competitiveness is important characteristics of each business organization (firm, company, corporation etc). It is of great significance for the organization existence and defines evaluation criteria of business success at microeconomical level. Each criterium comprises set of indicators with specific weight coefficients. In the work an ontology-based model of firm competitiveness is presented as a set of several mutually connected ontologies. It would be useful for knowledge structuring, standardization and sharing among experts and software engineers who develop application in the domain. Then the assessment of the competitiveness of various business organizations could be generated more effectively.

  13. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7008 Selection of protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to... subcontractor or a newly selected subcontractor for the prime contractor's GSA contract. (b) Mentor firms may...

  14. Small Firms and the Growth Stage: Can Entrepreneurship Education Programmes Be Supportive?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bureau, S.; Salvador, E.; Fendt, J.

    2012-01-01

    Whilst entrepreneurship education is booming, it focuses largely on nascent entrepreneurs and company creation. In contrast, a major challenge in small business entrepreneurship is growth. The authors first position growth and its barriers in small firms in the context of current theory and practice in entrepreneurship education: from this…

  15. Causal Relationships among Technology Acquisition, Absorptive Capacity, and Innovation Performance: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

    PubMed Central

    Jeon, Jieun; Hong, Suckchul; Ohm, Jay; Yang, Taeyong

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses the importance of absorptive capacity in improving a firm’s innovation performance. Specifically, we examine firm interaction with the knowledge and capabilities of outside organizations and the effect on the firm’s bottom line. We use the impulse-response function of the vector auto-regressive model to gain insight into this relationship by estimating the time required for the effect of each activity level to reach outputs, the spillover effects. We apply this methodology to pharmaceutical firms, which we classify into two sub-groups – large firms and medium and small firms – based on sales. Our results show that the impact of an activity on any other activity is delayed by three years for large firms and by one to two years for small and medium firms. PMID:26181440

  16. Front End Software for Online Database Searching. Part 2: The Marketplace.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Levy, Louise R.; Hawkins, Donald T.

    1986-01-01

    This article analyzes the front end software marketplace and discusses some of the complex forces influencing it. Discussion covers intermediary market; end users (library customers, scientific and technical professionals, corporate business specialists, consumers); marketing strategies; a British front end development firm; competitive pressures;…

  17. Investing to Survive in a Duopoly Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinto, Alberto A.; Oliveira, Bruno M. P. M.; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Ferreira, Miguel

    We present deterministic dynamics on the production costs of Cournot competitions, based on perfect Nash equilibria of nonlinear R&D investment strategies to reduce the production costs of the firms at every period of the game. We analyse the effects that the R&D investment strategies can have in the profits of the firms along the time. We show that small changes in the initial production costs or small changes in the parameters that determine the efficiency of the R&D programs or of the firms can produce strong economic effects in the long run of the profits of the firms.

  18. The Consumer Juggernaut: Web-Based and Mobile Applications as Innovation Pioneer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Messerschmitt, David G.

    As happened previously in electronics, software targeted at consumers is increasingly the focus of investment and innovation. Some of the areas where it is leading is animated interfaces, treating users as a community, audio and video information, software as a service, agile software development, and the integration of business models with software design. As a risk-taking and experimental market, and as a source of ideas, consumer software can benefit other areas of applications software. The influence of consumer software can be magnified by research into the internal organizations and processes of the innovative firms at its foundation.

  19. THE COMPUTER AND SMALL BUSINESS.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    The place of the computer in small business is investigated with respect to what type of problems it can solve for small business and how the small...firm can acquire time on one. The decision-making process and the importance of information is discussed in relation to small business . Several...applications of computers are examined to show how the firm can use the computer in day-to-day business operations. The capabilities of a digital computer

  20. Innovative Software Tools Measure Behavioral Alertness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2014-01-01

    To monitor astronaut behavioral alertness in space, Johnson Space Center awarded Philadelphia-based Pulsar Informatics Inc. SBIR funding to develop software to be used onboard the International Space Station. Now used by the government and private companies, the technology has increased revenues for the firm by an average of 75 percent every year.

  1. Safety activities in small businesses

    PubMed Central

    Sinclair, Raymond C.; Cunningham, Thomas R.

    2015-01-01

    Background Workplace injuries occur at higher rates in smaller firms than in larger firms, and the number of workplace safety activities appear to be inversely associated with those rates. Predictors of safety activities are rarely studied. Methods This study uses data from a national random survey of firms (n = 722) with less than 250 employees conducted in 2002. Results We found that, regardless of firm size or industry, safety activities were more common in 2002 than they were in a similar 1983 study. Having had an OSHA inspection in the last five years and firm size were stronger predictors of safety activities than industry hazardousness and manager’s perceptions of hazardousness. All four variables were significant predictors (β range .19 to .28; R2 = .27). Conclusions Further progress in the prevention of injuries in small firms will require attention to factors likely subsumed within the firm size variable, especially the relative lack of slack resources that might be devoted to safety activities. PMID:26339124

  2. Achieving Business Focus: Promoting the Entrepreneurial Management Capabilities of Owner-Managers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rae, David

    2007-01-01

    The development of entrepreneurial management skills by owner-managers of existing small firms has been neglected in comparison with the attention paid to new venture entrepreneurs. However, the survival and growth of small firms is vital in regional economic development. Many small businesses are vulnerable in the period after start-up, or when…

  3. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-7 - Mentor firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Mentor firms. 1019.202-70... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-7 Mentor firms. A mentor firm may be either... developmental assistance to enhance the capabilities of protégés to perform as subcontractors. Mentors will be...

  4. 49 CFR 19.44 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... specific features of “brand name or equal” descriptions that bidders are required to meet when such items... to utilize small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises, whenever...) Ensure that small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises are used to the...

  5. Disability Management in Small Firms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Drury, David

    1991-01-01

    Notes that American research has paid relatively little attention to prospects for adapting disability management practices to financial and management environment of smaller employers. Compares large and small firms in terms of employer disability practices and characteristics of disabled workers; discusses barriers to rehabilitation and…

  6. Making Sense of Remotely Sensed Ultra-Spectral Infrared Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2001-01-01

    NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, Earth Observing System (EOS) programs, the Deep Space Network (DSN), and various Department of Defense (DOD) technology demonstration programs, combined their technical expertise to develop SEASCRAPE, a software program that obtains data when thermal infrared radiation passes through the Earth's atmosphere and reaches a sensor. Licensed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), SEASCRAPE automatically inverts complex infrared data and makes it possible to obtain estimates of the state of the atmosphere along the ray path. Former JPL staff members created a small entrepreneurial firm, Remote Sensing Analysis Systems, Inc., of Altadena, California, to commercialize the product. The founders believed that a commercial version of the software was needed for future U.S. government missions and the commercial monitoring of pollution. With the inversion capability of this software and remote sensing instrumentation, it is possible to monitor pollution sources from safe and secure distances on a noninterfering, noncooperative basis. The software, now know as SEASCRAPE_Plus, allows the user to determine the presence of pollution products, their location and their abundance along the ray path. The technology has been cleared by the Department of Commerce for export, and is currently used by numerous research and engineering organizations around the world.

  7. Process Based on SysML for New Launchers System and Software Developments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hiron, Emmanuel; Miramont, Philippe

    2010-08-01

    The purpose of this paper is to present the Astrium-ST engineering process based on SysML. This process is currently set-up in the frame of common CNES /Astrium-ST R&T studies related to the Ariane 5 electrical system and flight software modelling. The tool used to set up this process is Rhapsody release 7.3 from IBM-Software firm [1]. This process focuses on the system engineering phase dedicated to Software with the objective to generate both System documents (sequential system design and flight control) and Software specifications.

  8. 10 CFR 600.236 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area firms. (1) The grantee and subgrantee will take all necessary affirmative steps to assure that minority firms, women's business enterprises, and... qualified small and minority businesses and women's business enterprises on solicitation lists; (ii...

  9. 29 CFR 97.36 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... and minority firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area firms. (1) The grantee and subgrantee will take all necessary affirmative steps to assure that minority firms, women's business...) Placing qualified small and minority businesses and women's business enterprises on solicitation lists...

  10. 24 CFR 84.44 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... encourage and facilitate participation by small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business...-owned firms, and women's business enterprises, whenever possible. Recipients of Federal awards shall... firms, and women's business enterprises are used to the fullest extent practicable. (2) Make information...

  11. Managing health care costs: strategies available to small businesses.

    PubMed

    Higgins, C W; Finley, L; Kinard, J

    1990-07-01

    Although health care costs continue to rise at an alarming rate, small businesses can take steps to help moderate these costs. First, business firms must restructure benefits so that needless surgery is eliminated and inpatient hospital care is minimized. Next, small firms should investigate the feasibility of partial self-insurance options such as risk pooling and purchasing preferred premium plans. Finally, small firms should investigate the cost savings that can be realized through the use of alternative health care delivery systems such as HMOs and PPOs. Today, competition is reshaping the health care industry by creating more options and rewarding efficiency. The prospect of steadily rising prices and more choices makes it essential that small employers become prudent purchasers of employee health benefits. For American businesses, the issue is crucial. Unless firms can control health care costs, they will have to keep boosting the prices of their goods and services and thus become less competitive in the global marketplace. In that event, many workers will face a prospect even more grim than rising medical premiums: losing their jobs.

  12. 34 CFR 74.44 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... standards. (iv) The specific features of brand name or equal descriptions that bidders are required to meet... made by recipients to utilize small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises...: (1) Ensure that small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises are used to...

  13. Three Mass. Firms Awarded EPA Research Grants to Develop Environmental Technologies by Small Businesses

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Three small businesses in Massachusetts are among 15 firms nationwide selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to share $1.6 million in funding that is helping to develop technologies that provide sustainable solutions for environmental issues.

  14. 37 CFR 401.13 - Administration of patent rights clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.13 Administration of... small business firms or nonprofit organizations, a reasonable time shall be the time during which an...

  15. 75 FR 15687 - Safety and Security Equipment and Services Trade Mission to Brazil

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-03-30

    ... or medium enterprises (SME \\1\\) and $5,200 per company for large firms. If a company chooses not to... additional firm representative (large firm or SME) is $500 per person. Expenses for lodging, transportation... SME is defined as a firm with 500 or fewer employees or that otherwise qualifies as a small business...

  16. Delivering Integrated Services. Models for Facilitating Change in Small and Mid-Sized Firms. Business Assistance Tools.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitchell, Stephen M.

    This guide draws on case studies to identify lessons for small and midsized firms who wish to improve the quality of their services and facilitate change. Following an introduction, section 2 describes the context in which the research was undertaken after a needs analysis was conducted of small and midsized businesses and service providers, and…

  17. 20 CFR 437.36 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... resources. (9) Grantees and subgrantees must maintain records sufficient to detail the significant history... section. (e) Contracting with small and minority firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area... firms, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used when possible. (2...

  18. 20 CFR 437.36 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... resources. (9) Grantees and subgrantees must maintain records sufficient to detail the significant history... section. (e) Contracting with small and minority firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area... firms, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used when possible. (2...

  19. 20 CFR 437.36 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... resources. (9) Grantees and subgrantees must maintain records sufficient to detail the significant history... section. (e) Contracting with small and minority firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area... firms, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used when possible. (2...

  20. 20 CFR 437.36 - Procurement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... resources. (9) Grantees and subgrantees must maintain records sufficient to detail the significant history... section. (e) Contracting with small and minority firms, women's business enterprise and labor surplus area... firms, women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used when possible. (2...

  1. 41 CFR 105-72.504 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ...-owned firms, and women's business enterprises, whenever possible. Recipients of Federal awards shall... firms, and women's business enterprises are used to the fullest extent practicable. (2) Make information... subcontract with small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises. (4) Encourage...

  2. 37 CFR 401.10 - Government assignment to contractor of rights in invention of government employee.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE... small business firm or nonprofit organization and the Federal agency employing such co-inventor...

  3. Cutting back but not cutting out: small employers respond to premium increases.

    PubMed

    Short, Ashley C; Lesser, Cara S

    2002-10-01

    Rising premiums and a weak economy are generating questions about the potential erosion of health insurance coverage, particularly for the more than 46 million Americans who work for small firms. People working in small firms typically have less access to coverage than those in large firms. In 2000 and early 2001, the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) conducted its third round of site visits to 12 nationally representative metropolitan areas and found that while few small employers actually dropped coverage, many increased the employee share of premiums, raised copayments and deductibles, switched products and carriers and/or reduced benefits. With the U.S. economy now in rougher shape, small employers may pare back coverage even more, putting affordable health care further out of the reach of workers and their families.

  4. 48 CFR 819.7103 - Non-affiliation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7103 Non-affiliation. A Protégé firm will not be considered an affiliate of a mentor firm solely on the basis that the protégé firm is receiving developmental assistance from the mentor firm under VA's Mentor-Protégé Program. The determination of...

  5. Developing Small Firms in Local Communities. Circular CRD-24.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Strawn, Harry B.

    Focusing on small, independent businesses, this primer answers questions relating to starting and operating a new firm and how local development organizations can help in the process. The general pattern of the company forming process (displacement, disposition to act, credibility, and availability of resources) is discussed. Success factors for…

  6. 48 CFR 1552.219-73 - Small Disadvantaged Business Targets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ...) and EPAAR 1552.219-72, the following small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation targets proposed... specifically identified SDB(s) was (were) considered under the Section—SDB participation evaluation factor or... promptly notify the contracting officer of any substitution of firms if the new firms are not SDB concerns...

  7. 48 CFR 1552.219-73 - Small Disadvantaged Business Targets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ...) and EPAAR 1552.219-72, the following small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation targets proposed... specifically identified SDB(s) was (were) considered under the Section—SDB participation evaluation factor or... promptly notify the contracting officer of any substitution of firms if the new firms are not SDB concerns...

  8. 48 CFR 1552.219-73 - Small Disadvantaged Business Targets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ...) and EPAAR 1552.219-72, the following small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation targets proposed... specifically identified SDB(s) was (were) considered under the Section—SDB participation evaluation factor or... promptly notify the contracting officer of any substitution of firms if the new firms are not SDB concerns...

  9. 48 CFR 1552.219-73 - Small Disadvantaged Business Targets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ...) and EPAAR 1552.219-72, the following small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation targets proposed... specifically identified SDB(s) was (were) considered under the Section—SDB participation evaluation factor or... promptly notify the contracting officer of any substitution of firms if the new firms are not SDB concerns...

  10. 48 CFR 1552.219-73 - Small Disadvantaged Business Targets.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ...) and EPAAR 1552.219-72, the following small disadvantaged business (SDB) participation targets proposed... specifically identified SDB(s) was (were) considered under the Section—SDB participation evaluation factor or... promptly notify the contracting officer of any substitution of firms if the new firms are not SDB concerns...

  11. 37 CFR 401.12 - Licensing of background patent rights to third parties.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.12 Licensing of background patent rights to third parties. (a) A funding agreement with a small business firm...

  12. 37 CFR 401.9 - Retention of rights by contractor employee inventor.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.9 Retention of rights... retain rights to a subject invention made under a funding agreement with a small business firm or...

  13. Competitive actions of small firms in a declining market

    Treesearch

    Matthew Bumgardner; Urs Buehlmann; Albert Schuler; Jeff Crissey

    2011-01-01

    Small firms, through their flexibility advantages and closeness to customers, potentially can increase their sales volume in economic downturns. The decline in U.S. housing construction (beginning in 2006) provided an opportunity to develop and test four hypotheses predicting the attributes and marketing actions associated with successful companies supplying housing...

  14. Who gains and who loses with community rating for small business?

    PubMed

    Buchanan, J L; Marquis, M S

    1999-01-01

    This paper compares community rating with experience rating for small businesses using a microsimulation model to determine what firms offer and who within these firms purchases insurance. We generate four years of data and find that our results are remarkably stable through time. Both offer and purchase rates are about five percentage points higher under experience rating, but community rating leads to more stable offerings. Under community rating, high-risk firms and families purchase insurance, whereas under experience rating, it is the low-risk firms and families who are the purchasers. Young families and poor families have the lowest purchase rates, with these rates being disproportionately low under community rating.

  15. 48 CFR 819.7107 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7107 Selection of Protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to.... (b) Mentors may have multiple protégés. However, to preserve the integrity of the Program and assure...

  16. Small businesses and the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

    PubMed

    Collins, Sara R; Davis, Karen; Nicholson, Jennifer L; Stremikis, Kristof

    2010-09-01

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes several short- and long-term provisions designed to help small businesses pay for and maintain health insurance for their workers, and to allow workers without employer coverage to gain access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance. Provisions include a small business tax credit to offset premium costs for firms that offer coverage starting this taxable year, establishment of state-based insurance exchanges that promise to lower administrative costs and pool risk more broadly, and creation of new market rules and an essential benefit standard to protect small firms and their workers. Analysis shows that up to 16.6 million workers are in firms that would be eligible for the tax credit in 2010 to 2013. Over the next 10 years, small businesses and organizations could receive an estimated $40 billion in federal support through the premium credit program.

  17. CPAs in Mississippi: Communication Skills and Software Needed by Entry-Level Accountants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bunn, Phyllis C.; Barfit, Laurie A.; Cooper, Jan

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this paper was to determine what communication skills are considered most important by employers in the accounting profession as well as to determine the general office, income tax, and bookkeeping software packages used by CPA firms in Mississippi. The data was collected by means of an electronic five-point Likert-type survey…

  18. Software Simplifies the Sharing of Numerical Models

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2014-01-01

    To ease the sharing of climate models with university students, Goddard Space Flight Center awarded SBIR funding to Reston, Virginia-based Parabon Computation Inc., a company that specializes in cloud computing. The firm developed a software program capable of running climate models over the Internet, and also created an online environment for people to collaborate on developing such models.

  19. Why Do Small Enterprises Participate in a Programme for Competence Development?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kock, Henrik; Gill, Andreas; Ellstrom, Per Erik

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of why firms, specifically small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), participate in a programme for competence development and why firms use different strategies for competence development. Design/methodology/approach: A study of 17 SMEs that all received support from the European…

  20. 37 CFR 401.3 - Use of the standard clauses at § 401.14.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.3 Use of the standard clauses at § 401.14. (a) Each funding agreement awarded to a small business firm or nonprofit organization...

  1. Strategic HRM for SMEs: Implications for Firms and Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brand, Maryse J.; Bax, Erik H.

    2002-01-01

    This paper is on the growing importance of strategic human resource management (SHRM) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Many small firms encounter serious human resource problems, while at the same time these human resources play a vital role in developing and sustaining their competitive advantages. In (S)HRM literature specific…

  2. 48 CFR 1827.303 - Contract clauses. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., a prospective contractor may be required to represent itself as either a small business firm or a... contracting officer may file a protest in accordance with FAR 19.302 if small business firm status is... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND...

  3. 48 CFR 1827.303 - Contract clauses. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d))

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ..., a prospective contractor may be required to represent itself as either a small business firm or a... contracting officer may file a protest in accordance with FAR 19.302 if small business firm status is... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION GENERAL CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS PATENTS, DATA, AND...

  4. Beware the next big thing.

    PubMed

    Birkinshaw, Julian

    2014-05-01

    Innovative management ideas that bubble up in other companies pose a perennial quandary for leaders: Should you attempt to borrow new ideas, and if so, which ones and how? Even the most promising practices can be disastrous if they're transplanted into the wrong company, writes Julian Birkinshaw of London Business School. Broadly speaking, there are two ways to borrow from innovative companies, he argues. The first, observe and apply, is the most commonly used approach for adopting new management ideas. It can and does work well, but only under Limited sets of circumstances: when the observed practice easily stands alone or involves just a small constellation of supporting behaviors (think of GE's well-regarded succession-planning process) and when a company's management model or way of thinking is very similar to the originator's (think of two software firms that both use the Agile development approach). The second method is to extract a management practice's essential principle-its underlying logic-and ask a series of questions to determine if it is right for your firm, including: How is your company different from the originating firm? Are the goals of the practice important to your organization? Many management innovations are launched with great fanfare, only to fade in popularity. With careful analysis, you can avoid falling prey to this hype cycle. And even if it turns out that a borrowed idea isn't right for you, the analysis will help you better understand your own management models and sharpen your practices.

  5. 48 CFR 719.273-5 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... (USAID) Mentor-Protégé Program 719.273-5 Selection of Protégé firms. (a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting Protégé firms. Mentors are encouraged to select from a broad base of small business.... (b) Mentors may have multiple Protégés. However, to preserve the integrity of the Program and assure...

  6. Enhancing technological innovation in small firms: Role of collaboration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, D.; Khamba, J. S.; Nanda, T.

    2014-07-01

    Contribution of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is highly remarkable in the overall industrial economy of the country. In recent years, the MSME sector has consistently registered higher growth rate compared to the overall industrial sector. With its agility and dynamism, the sector has shown admirable innovativeness and adaptability to survive the recent economic downturn and recession. However, MSMEs growth rate is still at low level. Therefore, it becomes essential for organizations to adopt new technologies or upgrade existing setup to meet continuously changing global market and fulfill customer needs. This paper explores the relationships between different collaboration networks and technological innovation of small firms through an extensive review of literature. The study finds that collaboration with larger enterprises, R&D institutions, universities and government agencies play a significant role in enhancing technological innovation in small firms.

  7. Social capital in Asia: Investigating returns to brokerage in collectivistic national cultures.

    PubMed

    Merluzzi, Jennifer

    2013-05-01

    Evidence on the returns to brokerage networks predominately comes from studies of firms located in the United States. Analyses conducted in other countries have noted differences in how social capital may be valued questioning whether brokerage networks yield economic advantage in less individualistic contexts such as Asia. Using network data on employees involved in a product launch in the Asian region of a large American software firm, evidence of returns to brokerage is found among the top executives located and working in the collectivistic national country offices. This finding provides new insights on how returns to brokerage in a non-US culture may arise by considering the differing influences of firm and national culture as well as an employee's formal position at a firm. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Small and Medium-Sized Information Technology Firms: Assessment of Non-Local Partnership Facilitators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Findikoglu, Melike Nur

    2012-01-01

    A two-phased qualitative study was conducted to explore the facilitators of non-local (i.e. domestic or international) partnerships formed by small- and medium-sized firms (SME). Rooted in trust, proximity and dynamic capabilities lenses, the study focused on behaviors of SMEs performing in dynamic, competitive and highly interlinked industry, the…

  9. Internationalisation and Changing Skill Needs in European Small Firms: The Services Sector. CEDEFOP Reference Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hassid, Joseph

    A study explored questions on changing skill requirements of small firms in the services sector that are internationalizing their activities. These seven European Union (EU) member states were involved: Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The services sector accounted for a significant part of the EU…

  10. Rural Small Firms' Use of the Internet: From Global to Local

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galloway, Laura; Sanders, John; Deakins, David

    2011-01-01

    Reporting on a study of internet portals in rural Scotland, the paper examines the discrepancy between the much theorised use of the internet to afford external market reach to small rural firms, and the consistent and prevailing evidence that the rural economy is sustained by locally-oriented trade. The study combines data from portal operators…

  11. Double Stimulation in Strategic Concept Formation: An Activity-Theoretical Analysis of Business Planning in a Small Technology Firm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Virkkunen, Jaakko; Ristimaki, Paivi

    2012-01-01

    In this article, we study the relationships between culturally existing general strategy concepts and a small information and communication technology firm's specific strategic challenge in its management team's search for a new strategy concept. We apply three theoretical ideas of cultural historical activity theory: (a) the idea of double…

  12. Simulating the impact of medical savings accounts on small business.

    PubMed Central

    Goldman, D P; Buchanan, J L; Keeler, E B

    2000-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To simulate whether allowing small businesses to offer employer-funded medical savings accounts (MSAs) would change the amount or type of insurance coverage. STUDY SETTING: Economic policy evaluation using a national probability sample of nonelderly non-institutionalized Americans from the 1993 Current Population Survey (CPS). STUDY DESIGN: We used a behavioral simulation model to predict the effect of MSAs on the insurance choices of employees of small businesses (and their families). The model predicts spending by each family in a FFS plan, an HMO plan, an MSA, and no insurance. These predictions allow us to compute community-rated premiums for each plan, but with firm-specific load fees. Within each firm, employees then evaluate each option, and the firm decides whether to offer insurance-and what type-based on these evaluations. If firms offer insurance, we consider two scenarios: (1) all workers elect coverage; and (2) workers can decline the coverage in return for a wage increase. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the long run, under simulated conditions, tax-advantaged MSAs could attract 56 percent of all employees offered a plan by small businesses. However, the fraction of small-business employees offered insurance increases only from 41 percent to 43 percent when MSAs become an option. Many employees now signing up for a FFS plan would switch to MSAs if they were universally available. CONCLUSIONS: Our simulations suggest that MSAs will provide a limited impetus to businesses that do not currently cover insurance. However, MSAs could be desirable to workers in firms that already offer HMOs or standard FFS plans. As a result, expanding MSA availability could make it a major form of insurance for covered workers in small businesses. Overall welfare would increase slightly. PMID:10778824

  13. Simulating the impact of medical savings accounts on small business.

    PubMed

    Goldman, D P; Buchanan, J L; Keeler, E B

    2000-04-01

    To simulate whether allowing small businesses to offer employer-funded medical savings accounts (MSAs) would change the amount or type of insurance coverage. Economic policy evaluation using a national probability sample of nonelderly non-institutionalized Americans from the 1993 Current Population Survey (CPS). We used a behavioral simulation model to predict the effect of MSAs on the insurance choices of employees of small businesses (and their families). The model predicts spending by each family in a FFS plan, an HMO plan, an MSA, and no insurance. These predictions allow us to compute community-rated premiums for each plan, but with firm-specific load fees. Within each firm, employees then evaluate each option, and the firm decides whether to offer insurance-and what type-based on these evaluations. If firms offer insurance, we consider two scenarios: (1) all workers elect coverage; and (2) workers can decline the coverage in return for a wage increase. In the long run, under simulated conditions, tax-advantaged MSAs could attract 56 percent of all employees offered a plan by small businesses. However, the fraction of small-business employees offered insurance increases only from 41 percent to 43 percent when MSAs become an option. Many employees now signing up for a FFS plan would switch to MSAs if they were universally available. Our simulations suggest that MSAs will provide a limited impetus to businesses that do not currently cover insurance. However, MSAs could be desirable to workers in firms that already offer HMOs or standard FFS plans. As a result, expanding MSA availability could make it a major form of insurance for covered workers in small businesses. Overall welfare would increase slightly.

  14. SPS market analysis. [small solar thermal power systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goff, H. C.

    1980-01-01

    A market analysis task included personal interviews by GE personnel and supplemental mail surveys to acquire statistical data and to identify and measure attitudes, reactions and intentions of prospective small solar thermal power systems (SPS) users. Over 500 firms were contacted, including three ownership classes of electric utilities, industrial firms in the top SIC codes for energy consumption, and design engineering firms. A market demand model was developed which utilizes the data base developed by personal interviews and surveys, and projected energy price and consumption data to perform sensitivity analyses and estimate potential markets for SPS.

  15. Collective firm bankruptcies and phase transition in rating dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sieczka, P.; Hołyst, J. A.

    2009-10-01

    We present a simple model of firm rating evolution. We consider two sources of defaults: individual dynamics of economic development and Potts-like interactions between firms. We show that such a defined model leads to phase transition, which results in collective defaults. The existence of the collective phase depends on the mean interaction strength. For small interaction strength parameters, there are many independent bankruptcies of individual companies. For large parameters, there are giant collective defaults of firm clusters. In the case when the individual firm dynamics favors dumping of rating changes, there is an optimal strength of the firm's interactions from the systemic risk point of view. in here

  16. Military Business Success

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-06-01

    17 2. What is Entrepreneurship ...17 3. Common Characteristics of Entrepreneurship ...............................18 a. Innovativeness...Administration [SBA], 1995) Therefore the SBIR program provides opportunities for entrepreneurship to small business firms. But each firm takes

  17. 77 FR 28237 - Small Business Size Regulations; 8(a) Business Development/Small Disadvantaged Business Status...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-05-14

    ...[eacute] firm to have more than one mentor. List of Subjects in 13 CFR Part 124 Administrative practice... read as follows: Sec. 124.520 What are the rules governing SBA's Mentor/ Prot[eacute]g[eacute] program? * * * * * (c) * * * (3) A prot[eacute]g[eacute] firm may generally have only one mentor at a time. The AA/BD...

  18. Learning Styles Inequity for Small to Micro Firms (SMFs): Social Exclusion through Work-Based E-Learning Practice in Europe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hardaker, Glenn; Dockery, Richard; Sabki, Aishah

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The elearn2work study of learning styles in the context of small to micro firms' (SMFs) and their perceived satisfaction has identified some important finding specific to e-learning content design, delivery and international standards development. Design/methodology/approach: The method of research adopts a deductive rather than an…

  19. 78 FR 69047 - Travel and Tourism Trade Mission to Taiwan, Japan and Korea

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-18

    ... notify applicants that the fee for each additional participant (SME or larger) is $700 per participant... fee will be $1,400 for a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) and $1,625 for large firms. For... participation fee will be $1,725 for a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) and $1,925 for large firms. For...

  20. An Advanced Programming Technique for a Cost-Effective Hardware-Independent Realization of Naval Software Systems. Final Technical Report, Part II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Computer Symbolic, Inc., Washington, DC.

    A pseudo assembly language, PAL, was developed and specified for use as the lowest level in a general, multilevel programing system for the realization of cost-effective, hardware-independent Naval software. The language was developed as part of the system called FIRMS (Fast Iterative Recursive Macro System) and is sufficiently general to allow…

  1. A Correlational Study between IT Governance and the Effect on Strategic Management Functioning among Senior & Middle Management in Medium Scale Software Organizations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kurien, Sam

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to explore whether there are relationships between elements of information technology (IT) governance, strategic planning, and strategic functions among senior and mid-level management at medium-scaled software development firms. Several topics and models of IT governance literature were discussed and the gap in…

  2. Determinants of corporate dividend policy in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lestari, H. S.

    2018-01-01

    This study aims to investigate the determinants factors that effect the dividend policy. The sample used in this research is manufacture companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and the period 2011 - 2015. There are independent variables such as earning, cash flow, free cash flow, debt, growth opportunities, investment opportunities, firm size, largest shareholder, firm risk, lagged dividend and dividend policy used as dependent variable. The study examines a total of 32 manufacture companies. After analyzing the data using the program software Eviews 9.0 by multiples regression analysis reveal that earning, cash flow, free cash flow, firm size, and lagged dividend have significant effect on dividend policy, whereas debt, growth opportunities, investment opportunities, largest shareholder, and firm risk have no significant effect on dividend policy. The results of this study are expected to be implemented by the financial managers in improving corporate profits and basic information as return on investment decisions.

  3. Where Gibrat meets Zipf: Scale and scope of French firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bee, Marco; Riccaboni, Massimo; Schiavo, Stefano

    2017-09-01

    The proper characterization of the size distribution and growth of firms represents an important issue in economics and business. We use the Maximum Entropy approach to assess the plausibility of the assumption that firm size follows Lognormal or Pareto distributions, which underlies most recent works on the subject. A comprehensive dataset covering the universe of French firms allows us to draw two major conclusions. First, the Pareto hypothesis for the whole distribution should be rejected. Second, by discriminating across firms based on the number of products sold and markets served, we find that, within the class of multi-product companies active in multiple markets, the distribution converges to a Zipf's law. Conversely, Lognormal distribution is a good benchmark for small single-product firms. The size distribution of firms largely depends on firms' diversification patterns.

  4. The effect of gender and age differences on media selection in small and medium tourism enterprises.

    PubMed

    Dehkordi, Majid A; Zarei, Behrouz; Dehkordi, Shabnam A

    2008-12-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that gender and age differences have on the communication media selection within the context of small and medium tourism enterprises (SMEs). Media Richness Theory (MRT) was used to assess media preferences in the firms. Using a mail questionnaire, data from 78 firms were collected on seven popular media in use. Historical data of the firms, media characteristics, and other firm-specific factors were included in the analysis. The results indicated that there are substantial gender and age differences in term of communication media selection. This is consistent with MRT and highlights the importance of choosing the appropriate media in SMEs, according with the employee's behaviors, in order to achieve better outcomes and to smooth the path towards good performance in the future.

  5. Performance of the internal audit department under ERP systems: empirical evidence from Taiwanese firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsai, Wen-Hsien; Chen, Hui-Chiao; Chang, Jui-Chu; Leu, Jun-Der; Chao Chen, Der; Purbokusumo, Yuyun

    2015-10-01

    In this study, the performance of the internal audit department (IAD) and its contribution to a company under enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems was examined. It is anticipated that this will provide insight into the factors perceived to be crucial to a company's effectiveness. A theoretical framework was developed and tested using the sample of Taiwanese companies. Using mail survey procedures, we elicited perceptions from key internal auditors about the ERP system and auditing software, as well as their opinions concerning the IAD's effectiveness and its contribution within a company. Data were analysed using the partial least square (PLS) regression to test the hypotheses. Drawing upon a sample of Taiwanese firms, the study suggests that a firm can improve the performance of the IAD through an enterprise-wide integrated, effective ERP system and appropriate auditing software. At the same time, the performance of the IAD can also contribute significantly to the company. The results also show that investments in computer-assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) are crucial due to their tremendous effectiveness in regard to the performance of the IAD and for the contributions CAATs can make to a company.

  6. Competitiveness in the Services Sector: Understanding the Contracting Data

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-09-01

    Retrieved from http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/sbir/sb/eligibility.shtml Denes, T. A. (1997). Do small business set - asides increase the cost of...comprises small businesses , while TechAmerica and the Coalition for Government Procurement primarily comprise large firms. Our discussions with... procurement auctions . Lamm, D. V. (1987). Why firms refuse DOD business : an analysis of rationale. National Contract Management Journal , 21 (Winter

  7. To what do firms attribute success? An application of attribution theory to the secondary woodworking industry

    Treesearch

    Matthew Bumgardner; Urs Buehlmann

    2015-01-01

    Small firms are a critical component of the secondary woodworking industry and are important to hardwood lumber demand in the US. Understanding managers' perceptions of competitiveness in these firms is important to those working with the industry to help maintain a viable wood manufacturing base. One area of interest relative to the overall business environment...

  8. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  9. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  10. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  11. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  12. 13 CFR 124.1003 - How does a firm become certified as an SDB?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... as an SDB? 124.1003 Section 124.1003 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... certified as an SDB? (a) All firms that are current Participants in SBA's 8(a) BD program are automatically deemed to be certified SDBs. (b) Any firm seeking to be certified as an SDB in order to represent that it...

  13. Modeling employer self-insurance decisions after the Affordable Care Act.

    PubMed

    Cordova, Amado; Eibner, Christine; Vardavas, Raffaele; Broyles, James; Girosi, Federico

    2013-04-01

    To present a microsimulation model that addresses the methodological challenge of estimating the firm decision to self-insure. The model considers the risk that the firm bears when self-insuring and the opportunity to mitigate that risk by purchasing stop-loss insurance. The model makes use of a structural, utility maximization framework to account for numerous aspects of the firm decision, and a multinomial probit to reproduce the elasticity of the firm's demand for health insurance. Our simulations provide three important conclusions. First, they project significant increases in self-insurance rates among small firms--presumably induced by the desire to avoid ACA's rate-banding and risk adjustment regulations-only if generous stop-loss policies become widely available. Second, they show that this increase would be due to this hypothetical adoption of widespread, generous reinsurance by the market and not by passage of the ACA. Third, even with a substantial increase of self-insurance rates among small firms, they project negligible adverse selection in the exchanges, as indicated by our finding that the increase in exchange premium is less than 0.5% when assuming very generous stop-loss policies after implementation of the ACA. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

  14. Modeling Employer Self-Insurance Decisions after the Affordable Care Act

    PubMed Central

    Cordova, Amado; Eibner, Christine; Vardavas, Raffaele; Broyles, James; Girosi, Federico

    2013-01-01

    Objective To present a microsimulation model that addresses the methodological challenge of estimating the firm decision to self-insure. Methodology The model considers the risk that the firm bears when self-insuring and the opportunity to mitigate that risk by purchasing stop-loss insurance. The model makes use of a structural, utility maximization framework to account for numerous aspects of the firm decision, and a multinomial probit to reproduce the elasticity of the firm's demand for health insurance. Findings and Conclusions Our simulations provide three important conclusions. First, they project significant increases in self-insurance rates among small firms--presumably induced by the desire to avoid ACA's rate-banding and risk adjustment regulations—only if generous stop-loss policies become widely available. Second, they show that this increase would be due to this hypothetical adoption of widespread, generous reinsurance by the market and not by passage of the ACA. Third, even with a substantial increase of self-insurance rates among small firms, they project negligible adverse selection in the exchanges, as indicated by our finding that the increase in exchange premium is less than 0.5% when assuming very generous stop-loss policies after implementation of the ACA. PMID:23346976

  15. Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US

    PubMed Central

    Cunningham, Thomas R.; Sinclair, Raymond

    2015-01-01

    Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries’ planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator–intermediary–small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system. PMID:26300585

  16. Application of a model for delivering occupational safety and health to smaller businesses: Case studies from the US.

    PubMed

    Cunningham, Thomas R; Sinclair, Raymond

    2015-01-01

    Smaller firms are the majority in every industry in the US, and they endure a greater burden of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities than larger firms. Smaller firms often lack the necessary resources for effective occupational safety and health activities, and many require external assistance with safety and health programming. Based on previous work by researchers in Europe and New Zealand, NIOSH researchers developed for occupational safety and health intervention in small businesses. This model was evaluated with several intermediary organizations. Four case studies which describe efforts to reach small businesses with occupational safety and health assistance include the following: trenching safety training for construction, basic compliance and hazard recognition for general industry, expanded safety and health training for restaurants, and fall prevention and respirator training for boat repair contractors. Successful efforts included participation by the initiator among the intermediaries' planning activities, alignment of small business needs with intermediary offerings, continued monitoring of intermediary activities by the initiator, and strong leadership for occupational safety and health among intermediaries. Common challenges were a lack of resources among intermediaries, lack of opportunities for in-person meetings between intermediaries and the initiator, and balancing the exchanges in the initiator-intermediary-small business relationships. The model offers some encouragement that initiator organizations can contribute to sustainable OSH assistance for small firms, but they must depend on intermediaries who have compatible interests in smaller businesses and they must work to understand the small business social system.

  17. Civil Charges in Corporate Scandals. CRS Report for Congress

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-04-08

    advisors (or Wall Street firms and their customers), and manipulation or ausive trading in energy markets . Small "garden variety" examples of...y federal regulatory agencies - principally the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ut also a few actions y the Commodity Futures Trading ...financial advisors (or Wall Street firms and their customers), and manipulation or ausive trading in energy markets . Small "garden variety" examples

  18. 75 FR 47548 - President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration; Notice of Recruitment of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-06

    ... selected from firms producing a broad range of goods, software, and technologies presently controlled for... their services. The PECSEA is seeking private-sector members with senior export control expertise and...

  19. 75 FR 54857 - President's Export Council, Subcommittee on Export Administration; Notice of Recruitment of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-09

    ... industry representatives are selected from firms producing a broad range of goods, software, and... Subcommittee will not be compensated for their services. The PECSEA is seeking private-sector members with...

  20. PLANNING FOR CONTINUITY OF SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS IN ALABAMA.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    Contents: Planning the formation of a small business Forms of business organization Capital structure for the small business Control and management of a small business Transfer of a substantial interest in a small business .

  1. 48 CFR 252.219-7004 - Small business subcontracting plan (test program).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... small business concerns, HUBZone small business concerns, small disadvantaged business concerns, women... member firm of the Alaska Native Corporations or an Indian tribe. Only subcontracts involving performance...

  2. 48 CFR 252.219-7004 - Small business subcontracting plan (test program).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... small business concerns, HUBZone small business concerns, small disadvantaged business concerns, women... member firm of the Alaska Native Corporations or an Indian tribe. Only subcontracts involving performance...

  3. 76 FR 81912 - Notice of Petitions by Firms for Determination of Eligibility To Apply for Trade Adjustment...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-29

    ... parts and components such as plugs, clips, rings, handles and small doors. Applied Engineering, Inc... Dyess Ave. Rapid 12/1/2011 The firm manufactures City, SD 57701. semiconductor devices, nanotechnology...

  4. 14 CFR 1274.208 - Intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... business organization for experimental, developmental, research, design or engineering work in support of... WITH COMMERCIAL FIRMS Pre-Award Requirements § 1274.208 Intellectual property. (a) Intellectual... similar arrangement) with a domestic nonprofit organization or a small business firm for experimental...

  5. 14 CFR 1274.208 - Intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... business organization for experimental, developmental, research, design or engineering work in support of... WITH COMMERCIAL FIRMS Pre-Award Requirements § 1274.208 Intellectual property. (a) Intellectual... similar arrangement) with a domestic nonprofit organization or a small business firm for experimental...

  6. 14 CFR 1274.208 - Intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... business organization for experimental, developmental, research, design or engineering work in support of... WITH COMMERCIAL FIRMS Pre-Award Requirements § 1274.208 Intellectual property. (a) Intellectual... similar arrangement) with a domestic nonprofit organization or a small business firm for experimental...

  7. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-4 - General policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-4 General policy. (a) Eligible prime... subcontractors. (b) A firm's status as a protégé under a Treasury contract must not have an effect on the firm's...

  8. Selection of infectious medical waste disposal firms by using the analytic hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis.

    PubMed

    Hsu, Pi-Fang; Wu, Cheng-Ru; Li, Ya-Ting

    2008-01-01

    While Taiwanese hospitals dispose of large amounts of medical waste to ensure sanitation and personal hygiene, doing so inefficiently creates potential environmental hazards and increases operational expenses. However, hospitals lack objective criteria to select the most appropriate waste disposal firm and evaluate its performance, instead relying on their own subjective judgment and previous experiences. Therefore, this work presents an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to objectively select medical waste disposal firms based on the results of interviews with experts in the field, thus reducing overhead costs and enhancing medical waste management. An appropriate weight criterion based on AHP is derived to assess the effectiveness of medical waste disposal firms. The proposed AHP-based method offers a more efficient and precise means of selecting medical waste firms than subjective assessment methods do, thus reducing the potential risks for hospitals. Analysis results indicate that the medical sector selects the most appropriate infectious medical waste disposal firm based on the following rank: matching degree, contractor's qualifications, contractor's service capability, contractor's equipment and economic factors. By providing hospitals with an effective means of evaluating medical waste disposal firms, the proposed AHP method can reduce overhead costs and enable medical waste management to understand the market demand in the health sector. Moreover, performed through use of Expert Choice software, sensitivity analysis can survey the criterion weight of the degree of influence with an alternative hierarchy.

  9. Jobs without benefits: the health insurance crisis faced by small businesses and their workers.

    PubMed

    Robertson, Ruth; Stremikis, Kristof; Collins, Sara R; Doty, Michelle M; Davis, Karen

    2012-11-01

    The share of U.S. workers in small firms who were offered, eligible for, and covered by health insurance through their jobs has declined over the past decade. Less than half of workers in companies with fewer than 50 employees were both offered and eligible for health insurance through their jobs in 2010, down from 58 percent in 2003. In contrast, about 90 percent of workers in companies with 100 or more employees were offered and eligible for their employer's health plans in both 2003 and 2010. Workers in the smallest firms--and those with the lowest wages--continue to be less likely to get coverage from their employers and more likely to be uninsured than workers in larger firms or with higher wages. The Affordable Care Act includes new subsidies that will lower the cost of health insurance for small businesses and workers who must purchase coverage on their own.

  10. Health benefits offer rates: is there a nonresponse bias?

    PubMed

    Pickreign, Jeremy D; Gabel, Jon R

    2005-04-01

    To determine whether a nonresponse bias exists in the offer rate for health benefits in firms with fewer than 50 workers and to present a simple adjustment to correct for observed bias. The 2003 Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust, and a follow-up survey of nonrespondents to the 2003 EHBS. We conducted a follow-up survey to the 2003 EHBS to collect health benefits offering data from firms with fewer than 50 workers. We used McNemar's test to verify that the follow-up survey provided results comparable to the EHBS, and t-tests were used to determine nonresponse bias. We applied a simple weighting adjustment to the EHBS. The data for both the EHBS and the follow-up survey were collected by the same survey research firm. The EHBS interviews the person most knowledgeable about the firm's health benefits, while the follow-up survey interviews the first person who answers the telephone whether they are the most knowledgeable or not. Principal Findings. Firms with 3-9 workers were more likely to exhibit a bias than were firms with 10-24 workers and 25-49 workers. Although the calculated bias for each size category was not significant, there is sufficient evidence to warrant caution when reporting offer rates. Survey nonresponse in the EHBS produces an upward bias on estimates for the offer rates of small firms. Although not significant, this upward bias is because of nonresponse by small firms that do not offer health benefits. Our research is limited in that we only control for differences in the size of the firm.

  11. 14 CFR 1274.915 - Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... licensing of the technology. Transfers include: (1) Sales of products or components, (2) Licenses of software or documentation related to sales of products or components, or (3) Transfers to foreign...

  12. 14 CFR § 1274.915 - Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... licensing of the technology. Transfers include: (1) Sales of products or components, (2) Licenses of software or documentation related to sales of products or components, or (3) Transfers to foreign...

  13. 14 CFR 1274.915 - Restrictions on sale or transfer of technology to foreign firms or institutions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... licensing of the technology. Transfers include: (1) Sales of products or components, (2) Licenses of software or documentation related to sales of products or components, or (3) Transfers to foreign...

  14. Making Market Decisions in the Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rose, Stephen A.

    1986-01-01

    Computer software that will help intermediate and secondary social studies students learn to make rational decisions about personal and societal concerns are described. The courseware places students in the roles of business managers who make decisions about operating their firms. (RM)

  15. 12 CFR 517.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ..., expert witnesses, customized training, relocation services, information systems technology (computer systems, database management, software and office automation), or micrographic services; or in support of...-Owned Businesses Outreach Program (Outreach Program) is to ensure that firms owned and operated by...

  16. 12 CFR 517.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ..., expert witnesses, customized training, relocation services, information systems technology (computer systems, database management, software and office automation), or micrographic services; or in support of...-Owned Businesses Outreach Program (Outreach Program) is to ensure that firms owned and operated by...

  17. 12 CFR 517.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ..., expert witnesses, customized training, relocation services, information systems technology (computer systems, database management, software and office automation), or micrographic services; or in support of...-Owned Businesses Outreach Program (Outreach Program) is to ensure that firms owned and operated by...

  18. Spatial firm competition in two dimensions with linear transportation costs: simulations and analytical results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roncoroni, Alan; Medo, Matus

    2016-12-01

    Models of spatial firm competition assume that customers are distributed in space and transportation costs are associated with their purchases of products from a small number of firms that are also placed at definite locations. It has been long known that the competition equilibrium is not guaranteed to exist if the most straightforward linear transportation costs are assumed. We show by simulations and also analytically that if periodic boundary conditions in a plane are assumed, the equilibrium exists for a pair of firms at any distance. When a larger number of firms is considered, we find that their total equilibrium profit is inversely proportional to the square root of the number of firms. We end with a numerical investigation of the system's behavior for a general transportation cost exponent.

  19. 42 CFR 495.348 - Procurement standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... specifications, requirements, statements of work, invitations for bids and requests for proposals must be... small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises, whenever possible. Grantees of..., minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises are used to the fullest extent practicable. (ii...

  20. 14 CFR § 1274.208 - Intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... business organization for experimental, developmental, research, design or engineering work in support of... AGREEMENTS WITH COMMERCIAL FIRMS Pre-Award Requirements § 1274.208 Intellectual property. (a) Intellectual... similar arrangement) with a domestic nonprofit organization or a small business firm for experimental...

  1. 14 CFR 1274.208 - Intellectual property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... organization for experimental, developmental, research, design or engineering work in support of the agreement... COMMERCIAL FIRMS Pre-Award Requirements § 1274.208 Intellectual property. (a) Intellectual property rights. A...) with a domestic nonprofit organization or a small business firm for experimental, developmental, or...

  2. Technological and organizational diversity and technical advance in the early history of the American semiconductor industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cohen, W.; Holbrook, D.; Klepper, S.

    1994-06-01

    This study examines the early years of the semiconductor industry and focuses on the roles played by different size firms in technologically innovative processes. A large and diverse pool of firms participated in the growth of the industry. Three related technological areas were chosen for in-depth analysis: integrated circuits, materials technology, and device packaging. Large business producing vacuum tubes dominated the early production of semiconductor devices. As the market for new devices grew during the 1950's, new firms were founded and existing firms from other industries, e.g. aircraft builders and instrument makers, began to pursue semiconductor electronics. Small firms began to cater to the emerging industry by supplying materials and equipment. These firms contributed to the development of certain aspects of one thousand firms that were playing some part in the semiconductor industry.

  3. Data survey on the effect of product features on competitive advantage of selected firms in Nigeria.

    PubMed

    Olokundun, Maxwell; Iyiola, Oladele; Ibidunni, Stephen; Falola, Hezekiah; Salau, Odunayo; Amaihian, Augusta; Peter, Fred; Borishade, Taiye

    2018-06-01

    The main objective of this study was to present a data article that investigates the effect product features on firm's competitive advantage. Few studies have examined how the features of a product could help in driving the competitive advantage of a firm. Descriptive research method was used. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22) was engaged for analysis of one hundred and fifty (150) valid questionnaire which were completed by small business owners registered under small and medium scale enterprises development of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed; reliability and validity procedures were also confirmed. The field data set is made publicly available to enable critical or extended analysis.

  4. A Study of Comparative Management Styles in Japan and Korea.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-06-01

    of temporary employees. These temporary workers are mostly women . Even today, it is not common that a major Japanese firm will hire women into...professional jobs except a few labor-intensive industries. Women workers are gener- ally considered temporary employees and are the first to be laid off in...primarily as suppliers to the major firms. The combination of bonus payments, temporary employ- ment of women workers, and existence of small firms

  5. 7 CFR 277.14 - Procurement standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... with small and minority firms, women's business enterprises and labor surplus area firms. (1) It is FNS... section. (2) State agencies shall take similar appropriate affirmative action in support of women's... the significant history of a procurement. These records shall include, but are not necessarily limited...

  6. 7 CFR 277.14 - Procurement standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... with small and minority firms, women's business enterprises and labor surplus area firms. (1) It is FNS... section. (2) State agencies shall take similar appropriate affirmative action in support of women's... the significant history of a procurement. These records shall include, but are not necessarily limited...

  7. 7 CFR 277.14 - Procurement standards.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... with small and minority firms, women's business enterprises and labor surplus area firms. (1) It is FNS... section. (2) State agencies shall take similar appropriate affirmative action in support of women's... the significant history of a procurement. These records shall include, but are not necessarily limited...

  8. 48 CFR 1019.202-70-9 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... TREASURY SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Policies 1019.202-70-9 Selection of protégé firms... the size or eligibility status of an entity selected by a mentor to be a protégé must be referred...

  9. Health insurance, cost expectations, and adverse job turnover.

    PubMed

    Ellis, Randall P; Albert Ma, Ching-To

    2011-01-01

    Because less healthy employees value health insurance more than the healthy ones, when health insurance is newly offered job turnover rates for healthier employees decline less than turnover rates for the less healthy. We call this adverse job turnover, and it implies that a firm's expected health costs will increase when health insurance is first offered. Health insurance premiums may fail to adjust sufficiently fast because state regulations restrict annual premium changes, or insurers are reluctant to change premiums rapidly. Even with premiums set at the long run expected costs, some firms may be charged premiums higher than their current expected costs and choose not to offer insurance. High administrative costs at small firms exacerbate this dynamic selection problem. Using 1998-1999 MEDSTAT MarketScan and 1997 Employer Health Insurance Survey data, we find that expected employee health expenditures at firms that offer insurance have lower within-firm and higher between-firm variance than at firms that do not. Turnover rates are systematically higher in industries in which firms are less likely to offer insurance. Simulations of the offer decision capturing between-firm health-cost heterogeneity and expected turnover rates match the observed pattern across firm sizes well. 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Department of Defense Companies Participating in the Department of Defense Subcontracting Program. First Three Quarters Fiscal Year 1990

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-01-01

    This report presents a variety of subcontract data collected from Department of Defense (DOD) large business firms that have received at least one...award in excess of $500,000 ($1,000,000 for construction). Public Law 95-507 requires that these contractors establish a small business and small...disadvantaged business subcontracting program and report to DOD quarterly, using Standard Form 295, on subcontract awards made to these types of firms

  11. Selection of infectious medical waste disposal firms by using the analytic hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hsu, P.-F.; Wu, C.-R.; Li, Y.-T.

    2008-07-01

    While Taiwanese hospitals dispose of large amounts of medical waste to ensure sanitation and personal hygiene, doing so inefficiently creates potential environmental hazards and increases operational expenses. However, hospitals lack objective criteria to select the most appropriate waste disposal firm and evaluate its performance, instead relying on their own subjective judgment and previous experiences. Therefore, this work presents an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to objectively select medical waste disposal firms based on the results of interviews with experts in the field, thus reducing overhead costs and enhancing medical waste management. An appropriate weight criterion based on AHP is derivedmore » to assess the effectiveness of medical waste disposal firms. The proposed AHP-based method offers a more efficient and precise means of selecting medical waste firms than subjective assessment methods do, thus reducing the potential risks for hospitals. Analysis results indicate that the medical sector selects the most appropriate infectious medical waste disposal firm based on the following rank: matching degree, contractor's qualifications, contractor's service capability, contractor's equipment and economic factors. By providing hospitals with an effective means of evaluating medical waste disposal firms, the proposed AHP method can reduce overhead costs and enable medical waste management to understand the market demand in the health sector. Moreover, performed through use of Expert Choice software, sensitivity analysis can survey the criterion weight of the degree of influence with an alternative hierarchy.« less

  12. A survey of manufacturers of solar thermal energy systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Levine, N.; Slonski, M. L.

    1982-01-01

    Sixty-seven firms that had received funding for development of solar thermal energy systems (STES) were surveyed. The effect of the solar thermal technology systems program in accelerating (STES) were assessed. The 54 firms still developing STES were grouped into a production typology comparing the three major technologies with three basic functions. It was discovered that large and small firms were developing primarily central receiver systems, but also typically worked on more than one technology. Most medium-sized firms worked only on distributed systems. Federal support of STES was perceived as necessary to allow producers to take otherwise unacceptable risks. Approximately half of the respondents would drop out of STES if support were terminated, including a disproportionate number of medium-sized firms. A differentiated view of the technology, taking into account differing firm sizes and the various stages of technology development, was suggested for policy and planning purposes.

  13. A survey of manufacturers of solar thermal energy systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Levine, N.; Slonski, M. L.

    1982-08-01

    Sixty-seven firms that had received funding for development of solar thermal energy systems (STES) were surveyed. The effect of the solar thermal technology systems program in accelerating (STES) were assessed. The 54 firms still developing STES were grouped into a production typology comparing the three major technologies with three basic functions. It was discovered that large and small firms were developing primarily central receiver systems, but also typically worked on more than one technology. Most medium-sized firms worked only on distributed systems. Federal support of STES was perceived as necessary to allow producers to take otherwise unacceptable risks. Approximately half of the respondents would drop out of STES if support were terminated, including a disproportionate number of medium-sized firms. A differentiated view of the technology, taking into account differing firm sizes and the various stages of technology development, was suggested for policy and planning purposes.

  14. 76 FR 63216 - Small Business Size Standards: Information

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-12

    ... all firms within an industry equally, regardless of their size. The weighted average overcomes that... companies, all else being equal, SBA will establish a size standard higher than the anchor size standard.... Concentration among firms is a measure of inequality of distribution. To evaluate the degree of inequality of...

  15. 48 CFR 919.7008 - Selection of Proteges.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS The Department of Energy Mentor-Protege Program 919.7008 Selection of Proteges. (a) A Mentor firm is solely responsible for selecting one or more Protege entities from firms eligible under 48 CFR 919.7007. (b) A Mentor may have more than one Protege; however, a Protege may have...

  16. 14 CFR 1274.912 - Patent rights-retention by the recipient (large business).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Patent rights-retention by the recipient... than a small business firm or nonprofit organization for the performance of experimental, developmental... business firm or nonprofit organization for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research...

  17. The R&D Boundaries of the Firm: An Empirical Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pisano, Gary P.

    1990-01-01

    Examines how two sources of transaction costs, small-numbers bargaining hazards and appropriability concerns, may affect established firms' choices between inhouse and external sources of research and development when technological change shifts the locus of R & D expertise from established enterprises to new entrants, and established…

  18. 77 FR 72766 - Small Business Size Standards: Support Activities for Mining

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-06

    ... its entirety for parties who have an interest in SBA's overall approach to establishing, evaluating....gov , Docket ID: SBA-2009- 0008. SBA continues to welcome comments on its methodology from interested.... Average firm size. SBA computes two measures of average firm size: simple average and weighted average...

  19. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  20. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  1. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  2. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  3. 48 CFR 736.603 - Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Collecting data on and... Architect-Engineer Services 736.603 Collecting data on and appraising firms' qualifications. An USAID Consultant Registry Information System (ACRIS) is maintained in Washington by the USAID Office of Small and...

  4. Implicit solvation model for density-functional study of nanocrystal surfaces and reaction pathways

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mathew, Kiran; Sundararaman, Ravishankar; Letchworth-Weaver, Kendra; Arias, T. A.; Hennig, Richard G.

    2014-02-01

    Solid-liquid interfaces are at the heart of many modern-day technologies and provide a challenge to many materials simulation methods. A realistic first-principles computational study of such systems entails the inclusion of solvent effects. In this work, we implement an implicit solvation model that has a firm theoretical foundation into the widely used density-functional code Vienna ab initio Software Package. The implicit solvation model follows the framework of joint density functional theory. We describe the framework, our algorithm and implementation, and benchmarks for small molecular systems. We apply the solvation model to study the surface energies of different facets of semiconducting and metallic nanocrystals and the SN2 reaction pathway. We find that solvation reduces the surface energies of the nanocrystals, especially for the semiconducting ones and increases the energy barrier of the SN2 reaction.

  5. 48 CFR 219.001 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS 219.001 Definitions. Small disadvantaged business concern is defined: (1) At FAR 52.219-23(a) (i.e., a firm is considered a small disadvantaged business (SDB) concern by receiving certification by the Small Business Administration and meeting the...

  6. EVALUATION OF GDOT'S SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2015-09-01

    Federal Regulation 49 CFR Part 26 requires the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to implement a Small Business Program. The Program must be available to all firms that meet the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) size standard, which...

  7. 48 CFR 719.273-5 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... including small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service... the quality of developmental assistance provided to Protégés, USAID reserves the right to limit the...

  8. 48 CFR 719.273-5 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... including small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service... the quality of developmental assistance provided to Protégés, USAID reserves the right to limit the...

  9. 48 CFR 719.273-5 - Selection of Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... including small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, service... the quality of developmental assistance provided to Protégés, USAID reserves the right to limit the...

  10. Scale-free models for the structure of business firm networks.

    PubMed

    Kitsak, Maksim; Riccaboni, Massimo; Havlin, Shlomo; Pammolli, Fabio; Stanley, H Eugene

    2010-03-01

    We study firm collaborations in the life sciences and the information and communication technology sectors. We propose an approach to characterize industrial leadership using k -shell decomposition, with top-ranking firms in terms of market value in higher k -shell layers. We find that the life sciences industry network consists of three distinct components: a "nucleus," which is a small well-connected subgraph, "tendrils," which are small subgraphs consisting of small degree nodes connected exclusively to the nucleus, and a "bulk body," which consists of the majority of nodes. Industrial leaders, i.e., the largest companies in terms of market value, are in the highest k -shells of both networks. The nucleus of the life sciences sector is very stable: once a firm enters the nucleus, it is likely to stay there for a long time. At the same time we do not observe the above three components in the information and communication technology sector. We also conduct a systematic study of these three components in random scale-free networks. Our results suggest that the sizes of the nucleus and the tendrils in scale-free networks decrease as the exponent of the power-law degree distribution lambda increases, and disappear for lambda>or=3 . We compare the k -shell structure of random scale-free model networks with two real-world business firm networks in the life sciences and in the information and communication technology sectors. We argue that the observed behavior of the k -shell structure in the two industries is consistent with the coexistence of both preferential and random agreements in the evolution of industrial networks.

  11. SAFARI: An Environment for Creating Tutoring Systems in Industrial Training.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gecsei, J.; Frasson, C.

    Safari is a cooperative project involving four Quebec universities, two industrial partners (Virtual Prototypes, Inc., providing the VAPS software package, and Novasys, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in artificial intelligence and training), and government. VAPS (Virtual Applications Prototyping System) is a commercial interface-building and…

  12. Intellectual Capital in Egyptian Software Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seleim, Ahmed; Ashour, Ahmed; Bontis, Nick

    2004-01-01

    The distribution of knowledge around the world varies significantly with developed countries possessing most of the world's current intellectual capital (IC) compared to developing countries. Most IC research has been conducted in a variety of international settings such as the UK, Scandinavia, Australia, Canada, Austria, Malaysia, the USA, and…

  13. 37 CFR 401.7 - Small business preference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Small business preference..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.7 Small business preference. (a) Paragraph (k...

  14. 37 CFR 401.7 - Small business preference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Small business preference..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.7 Small business preference. (a) Paragraph (k...

  15. 37 CFR 401.7 - Small business preference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Small business preference..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.7 Small business preference. (a) Paragraph (k...

  16. 37 CFR 401.7 - Small business preference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Small business preference..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.7 Small business preference. (a) Paragraph (k...

  17. 37 CFR 401.7 - Small business preference.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Small business preference..., DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.7 Small business preference. (a) Paragraph (k...

  18. Exploring SME Market Orientation: An Organisational Learning Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bradshaw, Robert; Maycock, Carina; Oztel, Hulya

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and enhance organisational capability through learning within a small firm context. This paper forms part of a KTP project. The paper considers here traditional quantitative approaches where data was gathered largely through questionnaires received from a single source within the firm approaches for…

  19. Customer social network affects marketing strategy: A simulation analysis based on competitive diffusion model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hou, Rui; Wu, Jiawen; Du, Helen S.

    2017-03-01

    To explain the competition phenomenon and results between QQ and MSN (China) in the Chinese instant messaging software market, this paper developed a new population competition model based on customer social network. The simulation results show that the firm whose product with greater network externality effect will gain more market share than its rival when the same marketing strategy is used. The firm with the advantage of time, derived from the initial scale effect will become more competitive than its rival when facing a group of common penguin customers within a social network, verifying the winner-take-all phenomenon in this case.

  20. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kirby, M.J.; Kramer, S.R.; Pittard, G.T.

    Jason Consultants International, Inc., under the sponsorship of the Gas Research Institute (GRI), has developed guidelines, procedures and software, which are described in this paper, for the installation of polyethylene gas pipe using guided horizontal drilling. Jason was aided in this development by two key subcontractors; Maurer Engineering who wrote the software and NICOR Technologies who reviewed the software and guidelines from a utility perspective. This program resulted in the development of commerically viable software for utilities, contractors, engineering firms, and others involved with the installation of pipes using guided horizontal drilling. The software is an interactive design tool thatmore » allows the user to enter ground elevation data, alignment information and pipe data. The software aides the engineer in designing a drill path and provides plan and profile views along with tabular data for pipe depth and surface profile. Finally, the software calculates installation loads and pipe stresses, compares these values against pipe manufacturer`s recommendations, and provides this information graphically and in tabular form. 5 refs., 18 figs., 2 tabs.« less

  1. Open Source 2010: Reflections on 2007

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wheeler, Brad

    2007-01-01

    Colleges and universities and commercial firms have demonstrated great progress in realizing the vision proffered for "Open Source 2007," and 2010 will mark even greater progress. Although much work remains in refining open source for higher education applications, the signals are now clear: the collaborative development of software can provide…

  2. 75 FR 51846 - Notice of Determinations Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-23

    ... Morrisville, NC........ July 12, 2009. Headquarters. 74,407 Progress Software Austin, TX July 12, 2009.... Subject firm Location Impact date 74,153 Freescale Semiconductor, Austin, TX Inc., Quality Division..., Inc., Red Bank, NJ March 16, 2009. Research & Development, and General & Administrative, ESW, etc. 73...

  3. 48 CFR 246.710 - Contract clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... contracts that include the clause at 252.227-7013, Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software, when... Alternate I when extended liability is desired and a fixed price incentive contract is contemplated. (3) Use... and a firm fixed price contract is contemplated. (4) Use the clause at 252.246-7002, Warranty of...

  4. Retrospective Catalog Conversion in Mid-Sized Law Libraries: Some Practical Guidelines for Automation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riger, Robert E.

    1992-01-01

    Discusses retrospective catalog conversion from the viewpoint of a law firm library. Topics discussed include reasons for retrospective conversion; preplanning; suggestions for the selection of software; conducting an inventory of the collection; sources of MARC bibliographic records; setting up an online public access catalog; and marketing…

  5. Electronic Business Transaction Infrastructure Analysis Using Petri Nets and Simulation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feller, Andrew Lee

    2010-01-01

    Rapid growth in eBusiness has made industry and commerce increasingly dependent on the hardware and software infrastructure that enables high-volume transaction processing across the Internet. Large transaction volumes at major industrial-firm data centers rely on robust transaction protocols and adequately provisioned hardware capacity to ensure…

  6. Factors to Consider When Implementing Automated Software Testing

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-11-10

    programming, e.g., Java or Visual Basic.  Subject Matter Experts (SME) with firm grasp of application being automated. 2. Additional costs for setup (e.g...Abilities (KSA) required (e.g., Test and Evaluation). 2. Analyze programming skills needed (e.g., Java , C, C++, Visual Basic). 3. Compose team – testers

  7. The NASA SBIR product catalog

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gilman, J. A.; Paige, J. B.; Schwenk, F. Carl

    1992-01-01

    The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected.

  8. Virtual firm as a role-playing tool for biomedical education.

    PubMed

    Blagosklonov, Oleg; Soto-Romero, Georges; Guyon, Florent; Courjal, Nadège; Euphrasie, Sebatien; Yahiaoui, Reda; Butterlin, Nadia

    2006-01-01

    The paper describes design of a role-playing tool based on the experience of the practice firm which allows participants to obtain relevant and practical on-the-job experience. The students played the roles of the employees and the applicants for vacant positions at the virtual firm - a small business specialized in biomedical sector - founded to design the demonstration vehicle for a biomedical device. We found that this innovative concept may be used to improve the young engineers performance and to facilitate their post-graduate integration.

  9. SPS market analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goff, H. C.

    1980-05-01

    A market analysis task included personal interviews by GE personnel and supplemental mail surveys to acquire statistical data and to identify and measure attitudes, reactions and intentions of prospective small solar thermal power systems (SPS) users. Over 500 firms were contacted, including three ownership classes of electric utilities, industrial firms in the top SIC codes for energy consumption, and design engineering firms. A market demand model was developed which utilizes the data base developed by personal interviews and surveys, and projected energy price and consumption data to perform sensitivity analyses and estimate potential markets for SPS.

  10. Pile Driving

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1987-01-01

    Machine-oriented structural engineering firm TERA, Inc. is engaged in a project to evaluate the reliability of offshore pile driving prediction methods to eventually predict the best pile driving technique for each new offshore oil platform. Phase I Pile driving records of 48 offshore platforms including such information as blow counts, soil composition and pertinent construction details were digitized. In Phase II, pile driving records were statistically compared with current methods of prediction. Result was development of modular software, the CRIPS80 Software Design Analyzer System, that companies can use to evaluate other prediction procedures or other data bases.

  11. Intelligent supercomputers: the Japanese computer sputnik

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Walter, G.

    1983-11-01

    Japan's government-supported fifth-generation computer project has had a pronounced effect on the American computer and information systems industry. The US firms are intensifying their research on and production of intelligent supercomputers, a combination of computer architecture and artificial intelligence software programs. While the present generation of computers is built for the processing of numbers, the new supercomputers will be designed specifically for the solution of symbolic problems and the use of artificial intelligence software. This article discusses new and exciting developments that will increase computer capabilities in the 1990s. 4 references.

  12. 48 CFR 819.7106 - Eligibility of Mentor and Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Eligibility of Mentor and... VETERANS AFFAIRS SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS VA Mentor-Protégé Program 819.7106 Eligibility of Mentor and Protégé firms. Eligible business entities approved as mentors may enter into...

  13. 43 CFR 34.8 - Affirmative action plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... project can be reasonably expected to draw labor only from a small area. If such a showing is made then statistics from such smaller area shall be employed in setting goals for that part of the project. (2) Goals... and FBE's; (D) The extent to which new firms can be organized and the capability of existing firms...

  14. 43 CFR 34.8 - Affirmative action plans.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... project can be reasonably expected to draw labor only from a small area. If such a showing is made then statistics from such smaller area shall be employed in setting goals for that part of the project. (2) Goals... and FBE's; (D) The extent to which new firms can be organized and the capability of existing firms...

  15. Smartphone Apps on the Mobile Web: An Exploratory Case Study of Business Models

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ford, Caroline Morgan

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to explore the business strategies of a firm seeking to develop and profitably market a mobile smartphone application to understand how small, digital entrepreneurships may build sustainable business models given substantial market barriers. Through a detailed examination of one firm's process to try to…

  16. Qualities of an Effective Successor: the Role of Education and Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ibrahim, A.B.; Soufani, K.; Poutziouris, P.; Lam, J.

    2004-01-01

    Small family firms represent the predominant organizational form in Canada. They are perceived to be crucial to the development and growth of the Canadian economy. Despite this, scant attention is given to the study of human resource management practices in the specialist family business literature. A key human resource issue in family firms,…

  17. The Impact of Globalisation on SME-Subcontractors' Supply Chain Strategies: A Danish Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gammelgaard, Britta; Mathiasen, John Bang

    2007-01-01

    Globalisation and competition have impacted on not only large firms but also Small and Medium sizes Enterprises (SME) and these enterprises often act as subcontractors to larger firms operating in international markets. The impact of globalisation is severe on the SME-subcontractors due to supply chain linkages between large and SMEs through…

  18. Scale-free models for the structure of business firm networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kitsak, Maksim; Riccaboni, Massimo; Havlin, Shlomo; Pammolli, Fabio; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2010-03-01

    We study firm collaborations in the life sciences and the information and communication technology sectors. We propose an approach to characterize industrial leadership using k -shell decomposition, with top-ranking firms in terms of market value in higher k -shell layers. We find that the life sciences industry network consists of three distinct components: a “nucleus,” which is a small well-connected subgraph, “tendrils,” which are small subgraphs consisting of small degree nodes connected exclusively to the nucleus, and a “bulk body,” which consists of the majority of nodes. Industrial leaders, i.e., the largest companies in terms of market value, are in the highest k -shells of both networks. The nucleus of the life sciences sector is very stable: once a firm enters the nucleus, it is likely to stay there for a long time. At the same time we do not observe the above three components in the information and communication technology sector. We also conduct a systematic study of these three components in random scale-free networks. Our results suggest that the sizes of the nucleus and the tendrils in scale-free networks decrease as the exponent of the power-law degree distribution λ increases, and disappear for λ≥3 . We compare the k -shell structure of random scale-free model networks with two real-world business firm networks in the life sciences and in the information and communication technology sectors. We argue that the observed behavior of the k -shell structure in the two industries is consistent with the coexistence of both preferential and random agreements in the evolution of industrial networks.

  19. What Small Firms Look for in New-Graduate Candidates.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pritchard, Constance J.; Fidler, Paul P.

    1993-01-01

    Surveyed 171 small organizations that employed professional-level staff to examine what managers of small organizations value in professional-level employees and how they recruit potential employees. Most frequent recruitment methods included personal referrals, classified ads, and referrals from current employees. (NB)

  20. Business cycles' correlation and systemic risk of the Japanese supplier-customer network.

    PubMed

    Krichene, Hazem; Chakraborty, Abhijit; Inoue, Hiroyasu; Fujiwara, Yoshi

    2017-01-01

    This work aims to study and explain the business cycle correlations of the Japanese production network. We consider the supplier-customer network, which is a directed network representing the trading links between Japanese firms (links from suppliers to customers). The community structure of this network is determined by applying the Infomap algorithm. Each community is defined by its GDP and its associated business cycle. Business cycle correlations between communities are estimated based on copula theory. Then, based on firms' attributes and network topology, these correlations are explained through linear econometric models. The results show strong evidence of business cycle correlations in the Japanese production network. A significant systemic risk is found for high negative or positive shocks. These correlations are explained mainly by the sector and by geographic similarities. Moreover, our results highlight the higher vulnerability of small communities and small firms, which is explained by the disassortative mixing of the production network.

  1. Enterprise policy evaluation: is there a 'new' way of doing it?

    PubMed

    Lenihan, Helena

    2011-11-01

    Given that most economies are now in recession, policymakers are looking to small firms to act as engines of economic growth; this has led to a revived interest in the role of enterprise policy. The 'new' enterprise policy is systemic, promoting and shaping externalities and capabilities. At its core are R&D, innovation and education. It encapsulates a shift from direct intervention towards creating an enabling environment for small firms and entrepreneurship. At present there is a research lacuna regarding the evaluation of such policies. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by making two key contributions. First, I demonstrate that traditional enterprise evaluation metrics are too narrow: they focus almost exclusively on private firm impacts, rather than broader societal impacts caused by the pervasive nature of 'new' enterprise policies. Second, I illustrate how logic models could be expanded to account for these broader impacts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. The origin of asymmetric behavior of money flow in the business firm network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miura, W.; Takayasu, H.; Takayasu, M.

    2012-09-01

    In the business firm network, the number of in-degrees and out-degrees show the same scale-free property, however, the distribution of authorities and hubs show asymmetric behavior. Here we show the result of an analysis of the two-link structure of the network to find the origin of this asymmetric behavior. We find the tendency for big construction firms intermediating small subcontracting firms to have higher hub degrees. By measuring the strength of preferential attachment rate of new companies, we also find a abnormally strong preferential attachment for which the exponent is 1.4 with respect to out-degree when a new company forms a business partnership with a construction company. We propose a new model that reproduces the asymmetric behavior of the degrees of authorities and hubs by changing the preferential attachment rate between the in-degree and the out-degree in the business firm network.

  3. Health benefits in 2013: moderate premium increases in employer-sponsored plans.

    PubMed

    Claxton, Gary; Rae, Matthew; Panchal, Nirmita; Damico, Anthony; Whitmore, Heidi; Bostick, Nathan; Kenward, Kevin

    2013-09-01

    Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums rose moderately in 2013, the annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) Employer Health Benefits Survey found. In 2013 single coverage premiums rose 5 percent to $5,884, and family coverage premiums rose 4 percent to $16,351. The percentage of firms offering health benefits (57 percent) was similar to that in 2012, as was the percentage of workers at offering firms who were covered by their firm's health benefits (62 percent). The share of workers with a deductible for single coverage increased significantly from 2012, as did the share of workers in small firms with annual deductibles of $1,000 or more. Most firms (77 percent), including nearly all large employers, continued to offer wellness programs, but relatively few used incentives to encourage employees to participate. More than half of large employers offering health risk appraisals to workers offered financial incentives for completing the appraisal.

  4. A collaborative computer auditing system under SOA-based conceptual model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cong, Qiushi; Huang, Zuoming; Hu, Jibing

    2013-03-01

    Some of the current challenges of computer auditing are the obstacles to retrieving, converting and translating data from different database schema. During the last few years, there are many data exchange standards under continuous development such as Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). These XML document standards can be used for data exchange among companies, financial institutions, and audit firms. However, for many companies, it is still expensive and time-consuming to translate and provide XML messages with commercial application packages, because it is complicated and laborious to search and transform data from thousands of tables in the ERP databases. How to transfer transaction documents for supporting continuous auditing or real time auditing between audit firms and their client companies is a important topic. In this paper, a collaborative computer auditing system under SOA-based conceptual model is proposed. By utilizing the widely used XML document standards and existing data transformation applications developed by different companies and software venders, we can wrap these application as commercial web services that will be easy implemented under the forthcoming application environments: service-oriented architecture (SOA). Under the SOA environments, the multiagency mechanism will help the maturity and popularity of data assurance service over the Internet. By the wrapping of data transformation components with heterogeneous databases or platforms, it will create new component markets composed by many software vendors and assurance service companies to provide data assurance services for audit firms, regulators or third parties.

  5. Small Business Specialists.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1997-12-01

    located throughout the United States. Each service and agency has an Office of the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. They also...have small business specialists at each of their procurement and contract management offices to assist small businesses , small disadvantaged businesses ...and women-owned small businesses firms in marketing their products and services with the DoD. These specialists provide information and guidance on (1

  6. The Strategic Academic Enterprise: Why ERPs Will No Longer Be Adequate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Mary

    2009-01-01

    In the 1970s and '80s, manufacturing firms began purchasing centralized administrative software--"Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems"--to support their infrastructure needs. In the 1990s, higher education adopted the term ERP to define the back-office systems used by institutions to meet their most pressing business needs--typically those…

  7. Technology, Gender Attitude, and Software, among Middle School Math Instructors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Okeke, Godwin N.

    2014-01-01

    Technology has gained a firm stronghold in society as well as modern classroom. Students are assumed to have a natural aptitude for computers. Over the past decades, educational websites have appeared to be "interactive" and "to make learning fun". This study employed quantitative method of research using 8th grade instructors…

  8. Health Information System Simulation. Curriculum Improvement Project. Region II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Beth H.; Lacobie, Kevin

    This volume is one of three in a self-paced computer literacy course that gives allied health students a firm base of knowledge concerning computer usage in the hospital environment. It also develops skill in several applications software packages. This volume contains five self-paced modules that allow students to interact with a health…

  9. Essays on Innovation Ecosystems in the Enterprise Software Industry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Huang, Peng

    2010-01-01

    Innovation ecosystem strategy is often adopted by platform technology owners to seek complementary innovation from resources located outside the firm to exploit indirect network effect. In this dissertation I aim to address the issues that are related to the formation and business value of platform innovation ecosystems in the enterprise software…

  10. Essays on Information Technology and Value Creation: Corporate Governance, Software Firm Acquisitions, and Entrepreneurial Signaling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandodkar, Nikhil Ramkrishna

    2017-01-01

    Value creation is often at the core of many organizational activities and is often reflected in the exploration and exploitation of opportunities to foster organizational growth. In modern organizations, information technology (IT) plays a significant role in creating business value and building substantial competitive advantage. While in the…

  11. Software Innovations: The Influence of Quality, Diversity and Structure of Network Ties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Singh, Harpeet

    2010-01-01

    There is high uncertainty associated with the outcomes of Information Technology (IT) investments and innovations. In such environments, IT actors (firm and individuals) are also unsure about their actions and preferences. The social relationships of these actors create substantial value for these actors in multiple ways (e.g. providing social…

  12. ABEL model: Evaluates corporations` claims of inability to afford penalties and compliance costs (version 3.0.16). Model-simulation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    NONE

    1998-11-01

    The easy-to-use ABEL software evaluates for-profit company claims of inability to afford penalties, clean-up costs, or compliance costs. Violators raise the issue of inability to pay in most of EPA`s enforcement actions regardless of whether there is any hard evidence supporting those claims. The program enables Federal, State and local enforcement professionals to quickly determine if there was any validity to those claims. ABEL is a tool that promotes quick settlements by performing screening analyses of defendants and potentially responsible parties (PRP`s) to determine their financial capacity. After analyzing some basic financial ratios that reflect a company`s solvency, ABEL assessesmore » the firm`s ability to pay by focusing on projected cash flows. The model explicitly calculates the value of projected, internally generated cash flows from historical tax information, and compares these cash flows to the proposed environmental expenditure(s). The software is extremely easy to use. Version 3.0.16 updates the standard values for inflation and discount rate.« less

  13. Correspondence Analysis-Theory and Application in Management Accounting Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duller, Christine

    2010-09-01

    Correspondence analysis is an explanatory data analytic technique and is used to identify systematic relations between categorical variables. It is related to principal component analysis and the results provide information on the structure of categorical variables similar to the results given by a principal component analysis in case of metric variables. Classical correspondence analysis is designed two-dimensional, whereas multiple correspondence analysis is an extension to more than two variables. After an introductory overview of the idea and the implementation in standard software packages (PASW, SAS, R) an example in recent research is presented, which deals with strategic management accounting in family and non-family enterprises in Austria, where 70% to 80% of all enterprises can be classified as family firms. Although there is a growing body of literature focusing on various management issues in family firms, so far the state of the art of strategic management accounting in family firms is an empirically under-researched subject. In relevant literature only the (empirically untested) hypothesis can be found, that family firms tend to have less formalized management accounting systems than non-family enterprises. Creating a correspondence analysis will help to identify the underlying structure, which is responsible for differences in strategic management accounting.

  14. The Barriers and Causes of Building Information Modelling Usage for Interior Design Industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamid, A. B. Abd; Taib, M. Z. Mohd; Razak, A. H. N. Abdul; Embi, M. R.

    2017-12-01

    Building Information Modeling (BIM) has since developed alongside the improvement in the construction industry, purposely to simulate the design, management, construction and documentation. It facilitates and monitors the construction through visualization and emphasizes on various inputs to virtually design and construct a building using specific software. This study aims to identify and elaborate barriers of BIM usage in interior design industry in Malaysia. This study is initiated with a pilot survey utilising sixteen respondents that has been randomly chosen. Respondents are attached with interior design firms that are registered by Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM). The research findings are expected to provide significant information to encourage BIM adoption among interior design firms.

  15. 48 CFR 19.307 - Protesting a firm's status as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. 19.307 Section 19.307 Federal Acquisition...-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (a) For sole source acquisitions, the SBA or the contracting officer may protest the apparently successful offeror's service-disabled veteran-owned small business...

  16. 48 CFR 19.307 - Protesting a firm's status as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. 19.307 Section 19.307 Federal Acquisition...-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (a) For sole source acquisitions, the SBA or the contracting officer may protest the apparently successful offeror's service-disabled veteran-owned small business...

  17. 48 CFR 19.307 - Protesting a firm's status as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. 19.307 Section 19.307 Federal Acquisition...-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (a) For sole source acquisitions, the SBA or the contracting officer may protest the apparently successful offeror's service-disabled veteran-owned small business...

  18. Leading with Relationships: A Small Firm Example

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marcketti, Sara B.; Kozar, Joy M.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: For the continued vitality and success of small businesses, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the effective behaviors of small business owners. The main purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of the relational leadership framework as used by a successful small business owner. Design/methodology/approach:…

  19. The Department of Defense Program Solicitation 96.1. FY 1996 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1996-01-05

    hereafter referred to as DoD Components, invite small business firms to submit proposals under this program solicitation entitled Small Business Innovation...role of small business in meeting DoD research and development needs, fostering and encouraging participation by minority and disadvantaged persons in

  20. How small business health exchanges can offer value to their future customers--and why they must.

    PubMed

    Kingsdale, Jon

    2012-02-01

    The success of the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP)-health insurance exchanges targeted at the small-group market and opening for business in January 2014-will depend in large part on persuading small employers and qualified health plans to participate. The most important objective will be offering employers lower-cost health plans than they have now. Other critical objectives will be offering small firms administrative efficiencies and access to choices among high-value plans that are not offered elsewhere. This article frames the challenges that exchanges will encounter in meeting these objectives. In particular, it discusses the advisability of small-business exchanges' offering an "employee choice" model (which the article describes in detail); of combining the small-business and individual exchanges to broaden product offerings and gain operational efficiencies; and of encouraging low-cost plans to enter the exchange market, perhaps by enabling Medicaid managed care plans to offer comparable commercial products, and in turn affording health plans access to a uniquely motivated market of small firms and their workers who want affordable coverage.

  1. 48 CFR 519.7007 - Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7007 Protégé firms. (a) For selection as.../mentor assigns to the subcontract; and (3) Eligible (not listed in the “Excluded Parties List System”) for U.S. Government contracts and not excluded from the Mentor-Protégé Program under section 519.7014...

  2. Family Business/Entrepreneurial Studies: A Small Private Liberal Arts College Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bledsoe, M. Tony

    2004-01-01

    The Center for Women's Business Research reports that, "As of 2002, there are an estimated 10.1 million privately-held majority or 50% women-owned businesses in the U.S., accounting for 46% of all privately-held firms. These firms generate $2.3 trillion in sales and employ 18.2 million workers." Further it states, "In North…

  3. The emergence of commercial genomics: analysis of the rise of a biotechnology subsector during the Human Genome Project, 1990 to 2004.

    PubMed

    Wiechers, Ilse R; Perin, Noah C; Cook-Deegan, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Development of the commercial genomics sector within the biotechnology industry relied heavily on the scientific commons, public funding, and technology transfer between academic and industrial research. This study tracks financial and intellectual property data on genomics firms from 1990 through 2004, thus following these firms as they emerged in the era of the Human Genome Project and through the 2000 to 2001 market bubble. A database was created based on an early survey of genomics firms, which was expanded using three web-based biotechnology services, scientific journals, and biotechnology trade and technical publications. Financial data for publicly traded firms was collected through the use of four databases specializing in firm financials. Patent searches were conducted using firm names in the US Patent and Trademark Office website search engine and the DNA Patent Database. A biotechnology subsector of genomics firms emerged in parallel to the publicly funded Human Genome Project. Trends among top firms show that hiring, capital improvement, and research and development expenditures continued to grow after a 2000 to 2001 bubble. The majority of firms are small businesses with great diversity in type of research and development, products, and services provided. Over half the public firms holding patents have the majority of their intellectual property portfolio in DNA-based patents. These data allow estimates of investment, research and development expenditures, and jobs that paralleled the rise of genomics as a sector within biotechnology between 1990 and 2004.

  4. Development of a CFC Critical Area Response (CAR) package

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mccain, J. Wayne

    1995-01-01

    During the past two years, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has studied means to improve the transfer of technology from a major federal lab to a significant portion of an industrial segment. In the past, technology transfers had taken place with individual firms, or small groups of firms. This method of 'customized' transfer is often time consuming and can reduce the effectiveness of a response. Thus, a method was achieved to develop a standardized package on replacement of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) that could be sent out to a large number of firms with minimum follow-up.

  5. Early Effects of the San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Policy

    PubMed Central

    Colla, Carrie H.; Dow, William H.; Dube, Arindrajit; Lovell, Vicky

    2014-01-01

    Objectives. We examined employers’ responses to San Francisco, California’s 2007 Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. Methods. We used the 2009 Bay Area Employer Health Benefits Survey to describe sick leave policy changes and the policy’s effects on firm (n = 699) operations. Results. The proportion of firms offering paid sick leave in San Francisco grew from 73% in 2006 to 91% in 2009, with large firms (99%) more likely to offer sick leave than are small firms (86%) in 2009. Most firms (57%) did not make any changes to their sick leave policy, although 17% made a major change to sick leave policy to comply with the law. Firms beginning to offer sick leave reported reductions in other benefits (39%), worse profitability (32%), and increases in prices (18%) but better employee morale (17%) and high support for the policy (71%). Many employers (58%) reported some difficulty understanding legal requirements, complying administratively, or reassigning work responsibilities. Conclusions. There was a substantial increase in paid sick leave coverage after the mandate. Employers reported some difficulties in complying with the law but supported the policy overall. PMID:24432927

  6. Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning

    PubMed Central

    García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure. PMID:26656107

  7. Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning.

    PubMed

    García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure.

  8. Re-conceptualsing Learning Spaces: Developing Capabilities in a High-Tech Small Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macpherson, Allan; Jones, Ossie; Zhang, Michael; Wilson, Alison

    2003-01-01

    A case study of a small high-tech business explains how they created a virtual cluster of innovation through supply networks, enhancing their own learning and facilitating integration of knowledge. This process overcomes limitations to management learning for small companies in isolated regions. (Contains 66 references.) (SK)

  9. 48 CFR 719.270 - Small business policies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SDB) except those exempted by 719.271-6(a). (e... personnel to increase awards to small firms. The goals will be set by SDB after consultation with the... between SDB and the contracting officer concerning: (1) A recommended set-aside, or (2) a request for...

  10. 48 CFR 719.270 - Small business policies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SDB) except those exempted by 719.271-6(a). (e... personnel to increase awards to small firms. The goals will be set by SDB after consultation with the... between SDB and the contracting officer concerning: (1) A recommended set-aside, or (2) a request for...

  11. 48 CFR 719.270 - Small business policies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SDB) except those exempted by 719.271-6(a). (e... personnel to increase awards to small firms. The goals will be set by SDB after consultation with the... between SDB and the contracting officer concerning: (1) A recommended set-aside, or (2) a request for...

  12. 48 CFR 719.270 - Small business policies.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SDB) except those exempted by 719.271-6(a). (e... personnel to increase awards to small firms. The goals will be set by SDB after consultation with the... between SDB and the contracting officer concerning: (1) A recommended set-aside, or (2) a request for...

  13. 13 CFR 124.1002 - What is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Business (SDB)? 124.1002 Section 124.1002 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... Business (SDB)? (a) Reliance on 8(a) criteria. In determining whether a firm qualifies as an SDB, the... more individuals claiming disadvantaged status. (b) SDB eligibility criteria. A small disadvantaged...

  14. 13 CFR 124.1002 - What is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Business (SDB)? 124.1002 Section 124.1002 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... Business (SDB)? (a) Reliance on 8(a) criteria. In determining whether a firm qualifies as an SDB, the... more individuals claiming disadvantaged status. (b) SDB eligibility criteria. A small disadvantaged...

  15. 13 CFR 124.1002 - What is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Business (SDB)? 124.1002 Section 124.1002 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... Business (SDB)? (a) Reliance on 8(a) criteria. In determining whether a firm qualifies as an SDB, the... more individuals claiming disadvantaged status. (b) SDB eligibility criteria. A small disadvantaged...

  16. 13 CFR 124.1002 - What is a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Business (SDB)? 124.1002 Section 124.1002 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 8(a... Business (SDB)? (a) Reliance on 8(a) criteria. In determining whether a firm qualifies as an SDB, the... more individuals claiming disadvantaged status. (b) SDB eligibility criteria. A small disadvantaged...

  17. Defense Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). Abstracts of Phase 2 Awards, 1984.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    165 proposals for funding in Phase II of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. These proposals were selected from those submitted by... small research and development firms awarded Phase I contracts from the FY 1984 solicitation. In order to make information available on the technical

  18. Management Education for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the European Communities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holzer, Rainer

    This report summarizes the activities of various bodies providing training impetus for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe on the three levels of (1) basic management education for potential small and medium-sized business owners and/or managers; (2) programs for small firm start-ups; and (3) activities to improve the management of…

  19. 10 CFR 1.37 - Office of Small Business and Civil Rights.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... consideration is given to Labor Surplus Area firms and Women Business Enterprises, and conducts an outreach... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. 1.37 Section 1... Headquarters Staff Offices § 1.37 Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. The Office of Small Business and...

  20. How to Perform a Literature Review with Free and Open Source Software

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pearce, Joshua M.

    2018-01-01

    As it provides a firm foundation for advancing knowledge, a solid literature review is a critical feature of any academic investigation. Yet, there are several challenges in performing literature reviews including: (1) lack of access to the literature because of costs, (2) fracturing of the literature into many sources, lack of access and…

  1. Microcomputer Applications for Health Care Professionals. Volume I. Curriculum Improvement Project. Region II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bruce, Lucy

    This volume is one of three in a self-paced computer literacy course that gives allied health students a firm base of knowledge concerning computer usage in the hospital environment. It also develops skill in several applications software packages. Volume I contains materials for a three-hour course. A student course syllabus provides this…

  2. Microcomputer Applications for Health Care Professionals. Volume II. Curriculum Improvement Project. Region II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bruce, Lucy

    This volume is one of three in a self-paced computer literacy course that gives allied health students a firm base of knowledge concerning computer usage in the hospital environment. It also develops skill in several applications software packages. Volume II contains materials for three one-hour courses on word processing applications, spreadsheet…

  3. Using Free Online Survey Software in Your Teaching

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chippindall, Jon

    2012-01-01

    "SurveyMonkey" allows its users to create free online surveys. Its simple, intuitive interface has helped it to grow rapidly in popularity and it is used by a variety of organisations across the globe, from marketing firms to government offices. But teachers can use it successfully within the classroom as a multi-response tool for gathering…

  4. 48 CFR 219.704 - Subcontracting plan requirements.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... business firms specifically identified in the subcontracting plan. Notifications shall be in writing and... SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS The Small Business... business concerns shall include subcontracts with historically black colleges and universities and minority...

  5. Ranger's Legacy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1987-01-01

    With its Landsat satellites, development of sensors, and advancement of processing techniques, NASA provided the initial technology base for another Earth-benefit application of image processing, Earth resources survey by means of remote sensing. Since each object has its own unique "signature," it is possible to distinguish among surface features and to generate computer-processed imagery identifying specific features of importance to resource managers. This capability, commercialized by Perceptive Scientific Instruments, Inc., offers practical application in such areas as agricultural crop forecasting, rangeland and forest management, land use planning, mineral and petroleum exploration, map making, water quality evaluation and disaster assessment. Major users of the technology have been federal, state, and local governments, but it is making its way into commercial operations, for example, resource exploration companies looking for oil, gas and mineral sources, and timber production firms seeking more efficient treeland management. Supporting both government and private users is a small industry composed of companies producing the processing hardware software. As is the case in the medical application, many of these companies are direct offspring of NASA's work.

  6. Defence electronics industry profile, 1990-1991

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    The defense electronics industry profiled in this review comprises an estimated 150 Canadian companies that develop, manufacture, and repair radio and communications equipment, radars for surveillance and navigation, air traffic control systems, acoustic and infrared sensors, computers for navigation and fire control, signal processors and display units, special-purpose electronic components, and systems engineering and associated software. Canadian defense electronics companies generally serve market niches and end users of their products are limited to the military, government agencies, or commercial airlines. Geographically, the industry is concentrated in Ontario and Quebec, where about 91 percent of the industry's production and employment is found. In 1989, the estimated revenue of the industry was $2.36 billion, and exports totalled an estimated $1.4 billion. Strengths and weaknesses of the industry are discussed in terms of such factors as the relatively small size of Canadian companies, the ability of Canadian firms to access research and development opportunities and export markets in the United States, the dependence on foreign-made components, and international competition.

  7. The emergence of commercial genomics: analysis of the rise of a biotechnology subsector during the Human Genome Project, 1990 to 2004

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Development of the commercial genomics sector within the biotechnology industry relied heavily on the scientific commons, public funding, and technology transfer between academic and industrial research. This study tracks financial and intellectual property data on genomics firms from 1990 through 2004, thus following these firms as they emerged in the era of the Human Genome Project and through the 2000 to 2001 market bubble. Methods A database was created based on an early survey of genomics firms, which was expanded using three web-based biotechnology services, scientific journals, and biotechnology trade and technical publications. Financial data for publicly traded firms was collected through the use of four databases specializing in firm financials. Patent searches were conducted using firm names in the US Patent and Trademark Office website search engine and the DNA Patent Database. Results A biotechnology subsector of genomics firms emerged in parallel to the publicly funded Human Genome Project. Trends among top firms show that hiring, capital improvement, and research and development expenditures continued to grow after a 2000 to 2001 bubble. The majority of firms are small businesses with great diversity in type of research and development, products, and services provided. Over half the public firms holding patents have the majority of their intellectual property portfolio in DNA-based patents. Conclusions These data allow estimates of investment, research and development expenditures, and jobs that paralleled the rise of genomics as a sector within biotechnology between 1990 and 2004. PMID:24050173

  8. Contract Financing for Small Business

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1981-11-01

    problem. Small business contractors devote considerable management attention to operating capital and cash flow. Small business contractors are keenly...CONTRACT FINANCING 0FOR SMALL BUSINESS November 1981 -s Paul R. McClenon Prepared pursuant to Department of Defense Contract No. MDA903-81-C-0166...34 i 12 17046 DistIbufios Unlimted !I CONTRACT FINANCING FOR SMALL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE SUMMHARY To perform effectively on a contract, a firm needs

  9. Pathways to lean software development: An analysis of effective methods of change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanson, Richard D.

    This qualitative Delphi study explored the challenges that exist in delivering software on time, within budget, and with the original scope identified. The literature review identified many attempts over the past several decades to reform the methods used to develop software. These attempts found that the classical waterfall method, which is firmly entrenched in American business today was to blame for this difficulty (Chatterjee, 2010). Each of these proponents of new methods sought to remove waste, lighten out the process, and implement lean principles in software development. Through this study, the experts evaluated the barriers to effective development principles and defined leadership qualities necessary to overcome these barriers. The barriers identified were issues of resistance to change, risk and reward issues, and management buy-in. Thirty experts in software development from several Fortune 500 companies across the United States explored each of these issues in detail. The conclusion reached by these experts was that visionary leadership is necessary to overcome these challenges.

  10. Coping with seismic vulnerability: small manufacturing firms in western Athens.

    PubMed

    Sapountzaki, Kalliopi

    2005-06-01

    This paper attempts to contribute to international discourse on the responsibility of macro structures (economic and political) and private agencies for the production and distribution of vulnerability. It does so by focusing on an individual economic entity, small manufacturing firms (SMFs), in a specific location, western Athens, Greece. By evaluating the losses that SMFs sustained in the earthquake of 7 September 1999, the paper points to variations in vulnerability levels among such firms and highlights the 'sources' of vulnerability they confront. Furthermore, the SMF recovery cycle is systematically monitored in parallel with relevant public policies and state reactions to private recovery methods. The analysis illustrates processes that externalise recovery costs, alter the relationship between physical and socio-economic vulnerability and shift the vulnerability load from macro structures to individual agencies or vice versa. It is based on two methodological approaches: the division of vulnerability into three constituent components (exposure, resistance and resilience); and the conceptual split between producers and carriers of vulnerability.

  11. The economic viability of smallholder timber production under expanding açaí palm production in the Amazon Estuary

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fortini, Lucas B.; Douglas R. Carter,

    2015-01-01

    Relatively little attention has been paid to the economic potentials and limitations of tropical timber production and management at smallholder scales, with the most relevant research focusing on community forestry efforts. As a rare tropical example of long-lasting small-scale timber production, in this study we explore the economics of smallholder vertically integrated timber use to better understand the activity in the context of its primary land use alternative in the Amazon Estuary, açaí palm fruit production. We use data from landowner and firm surveys, participatory monitoring of firms, and detailed forest and sawmill operation monitoring to devise financial returns models of smallholder timber micro firms and açaí palm fruit production. We then compare the economics of the two activities to better understand how differences may shape decisions at the small holder scale that impact current land use shifts in the region.

  12. Human Resource Development in Small Business: An Application of Brethower's Performance Principles to on the Job Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Twyford, Devon; Alagaraja, Meera; Shuck, Brad

    2016-01-01

    Small businesses provide economic infrastructure in which communities develop and thrive and, in the United States alone, currently represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms. However, many small businesses fail to thrive past the first two years of establishment. Of the reasons small businesses fail, limited or non-existent employee training…

  13. 48 CFR 18.114 - Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Business Administration (The 8(a) Program). 18.114 Section 18.114 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... Acquisition Flexibilities 18.114 Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program). Contracts may be awarded to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for performance by eligible 8(a) firms...

  14. 48 CFR 18.114 - Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Business Administration (The 8(a) Program). 18.114 Section 18.114 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... Acquisition Flexibilities 18.114 Contracting with the Small Business Administration (The 8(a) Program). Contracts may be awarded to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for performance by eligible 8(a) firms...

  15. Human Resource Development in the Irish Hotel Industry: The Case of the Small Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nolan, Clara

    2002-01-01

    A profile of small businesses in the Irish hotel industry shows that all claim to believe in human resource development but few practice it. Small hotels favor informal, specific job training focused on solution of immediate problems rather than long-term development. (Contains 119 references.) (SK)

  16. 48 CFR 19.307 - Protesting a firm's status as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... business status requirements will be processed concurrently by SBA. (c) All protests must be in writing and... as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. 19.307 Section 19.307 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Determination...

  17. 48 CFR 519.7009 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7009 Application process. (a... 3695 to the GSA Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, at GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (E... active approved subcontracting plan (small business exempted) and the firm is eligible, as of the date of...

  18. 48 CFR 519.7009 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7009 Application process. (a... 3695 to the GSA Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, at GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (E... active approved subcontracting plan (small business exempted) and the firm is eligible, as of the date of...

  19. 48 CFR 519.7009 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7009 Application process. (a... 3695 to the GSA Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, at GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (E... active approved subcontracting plan (small business exempted) and the firm is eligible, as of the date of...

  20. 48 CFR 519.7009 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7009 Application process. (a... 3695 to the GSA Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, at GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (E... active approved subcontracting plan (small business exempted) and the firm is eligible, as of the date of...

  1. Antecedents of Corporate Environmental Commitments: The Role of Customers.

    PubMed

    Afshar Jahanshahi, Asghar; Brem, Alexander

    2018-06-06

    The management of natural environments has become a fundamental issue for companies in recent years. A firm’s environmental commitment affects all levels of its operation. In this study, we investigated whether having an effective and constant relationship with customers over time (customer capital) makes a difference to firms with a high environmental commitment compared with less environmentally committed firms. We found support for our idea by using original survey data from 149 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran (2016⁻2017). Furthermore, we found that customer capital enhances environmental collaboration with customers which, in turn, has a positive impact on the firm’s environmental commitments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the important role of “getting closer to customers” as a way of enhancing corporate environmental responsibility in developing countries with weak institutional environments.

  2. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ..., women-owned small business concerns, veteran-owned small business concerns, service-disabled veteran... have more than one protégé. GSA reserves the right to limit the number of protégés participating under...

  3. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ..., women-owned small business concerns, veteran-owned small business concerns, service-disabled veteran... have more than one protégé. GSA reserves the right to limit the number of protégés participating under...

  4. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ..., women-owned small business concerns, veteran-owned small business concerns, service-disabled veteran... have more than one protégé. GSA reserves the right to limit the number of protégés participating under...

  5. 48 CFR 519.7008 - Selection of protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., women-owned small business concerns, veteran-owned small business concerns, service-disabled veteran... have more than one protégé. GSA reserves the right to limit the number of protégés participating under...

  6. Army Investment Casting Industry Report

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-04-01

    Page 9 #5 Capacity Utilization Rates Page 10 #6 Labor Intensity Indicator Page 11 #7 Market Share By Firm Size Page 12 #8 Market Share By Type of Firm...information gathered from the U.S. casters. These similarities coupled with the relatively small Canadian market share resulted in similar conclusions...investment castings further expanding into the Defense market some foreseeable difficulties that could arise would be: a. Lack of adequate tooling. b

  7. Does Gender Matter? Female Representation on Corporate Boards and Firm Financial Performance--A Meta-Analysis.

    PubMed

    Pletzer, Jan Luca; Nikolova, Romina; Kedzior, Karina Karolina; Voelpel, Sven Constantin

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, there has been an ongoing, worldwide debate about the representation of females in companies. Our study aimed to meta-analytically investigate the controversial relationship between female representation on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Following a systematic literature search, data from 20 studies on 3097 companies published in peer-reviewed academic journals were included in the meta-analysis. On average, the boards consisted of eight members and female participation was low (mean 14%) in all studies. Half of the 20 studies were based on data from developing countries and 62% from higher income countries. According to the random-effects model, the overall mean weighted correlation between percentage of females on corporate boards and firm performance was small and non-significant (r = .01, 95% confidence interval: -.04, .07). Similar small effect sizes were observed when comparing studies based on developing vs. developed countries and higher vs. lower income countries. The mean board size was not related to the effect sizes in studies. These results indicate that the mere representation of females on corporate boards is not related to firm financial performance if other factors are not considered. We conclude our study with a discussion of its implications and limitations.

  8. Does Gender Matter? Female Representation on Corporate Boards and Firm Financial Performance - A Meta-Analysis

    PubMed Central

    Pletzer, Jan Luca; Nikolova, Romina; Kedzior, Karina Karolina; Voelpel, Sven Constantin

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, there has been an ongoing, worldwide debate about the representation of females in companies. Our study aimed to meta-analytically investigate the controversial relationship between female representation on corporate boards and firm financial performance. Following a systematic literature search, data from 20 studies on 3097 companies published in peer-reviewed academic journals were included in the meta-analysis. On average, the boards consisted of eight members and female participation was low (mean 14%) in all studies. Half of the 20 studies were based on data from developing countries and 62% from higher income countries. According to the random-effects model, the overall mean weighted correlation between percentage of females on corporate boards and firm performance was small and non-significant (r = .01, 95% confidence interval: -.04, .07). Similar small effect sizes were observed when comparing studies based on developing vs. developed countries and higher vs. lower income countries. The mean board size was not related to the effect sizes in studies. These results indicate that the mere representation of females on corporate boards is not related to firm financial performance if other factors are not considered. We conclude our study with a discussion of its implications and limitations. PMID:26086454

  9. Computer modeling in the practice of acoustical consulting: An evolving variety of uses from marketing and diagnosis through design to eventually research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Madaras, Gary S.

    2002-05-01

    The use of computer modeling as a marketing, diagnosis, design, and research tool in the practice of acoustical consulting is discussed. From the time it is obtained, the software can be used as an effective marketing tool. It is not until the software basics are learned and some amount of testing and verification occurs that the software can be used as a tool for diagnosing the acoustics of existing rooms. A greater understanding of the output types and formats as well as experience in interpreting the results is required before the software can be used as an efficient design tool. Lastly, it is only after repetitive use as a design tool that the software can be used as a cost-effective means of conducting research in practice. The discussion is supplemented with specific examples of actual projects provided by various consultants within multiple firms. Focus is placed on the use of CATT-Acoustic software and predicting the room acoustics of large performing arts halls as well as other public assembly spaces.

  10. 20 CFR 655.739 - What is the “recruitment of U.S. workers” obligation that applies to H-1B-dependent employers and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... (e.g., employer may not use age, sex, race or national origin as selection criteria);. (2) Relevant... technology industries, respectively, in hiring workers in the occupations in question. Similarly, a staffing... information technology industry, if the staffing firm is placing computer programmers, software engineers, or...

  11. 20 CFR 655.739 - What is the “recruitment of U.S. workers” obligation that applies to H-1B-dependent employers and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... (e.g., employer may not use age, sex, race or national origin as selection criteria);. (2) Relevant... technology industries, respectively, in hiring workers in the occupations in question. Similarly, a staffing... information technology industry, if the staffing firm is placing computer programmers, software engineers, or...

  12. 20 CFR 655.739 - What is the “recruitment of U.S. workers” obligation that applies to H-1B-dependent employers and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... (e.g., employer may not use age, sex, race or national origin as selection criteria);. (2) Relevant... technology industries, respectively, in hiring workers in the occupations in question. Similarly, a staffing... information technology industry, if the staffing firm is placing computer programmers, software engineers, or...

  13. 20 CFR 655.739 - What is the “recruitment of U.S. workers” obligation that applies to H-1B-dependent employers and...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... (e.g., employer may not use age, sex, race or national origin as selection criteria);. (2) Relevant... technology industries, respectively, in hiring workers in the occupations in question. Similarly, a staffing... information technology industry, if the staffing firm is placing computer programmers, software engineers, or...

  14. Obstacles to the Use of ICTs in Training and Consequences for the Development of "E"-Learning and "M"-Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marquet, Pascal

    2011-01-01

    Being able to access educational or training resources or programmes anytime and anywhere is one of the challenges that "e"-learning and now "m"-learning seek to address, with the aim of maintaining the highest possible level of professional skills. Although hardware and software solutions are now firmly established, instructional design issues…

  15. Spring 2006. Industry Study. Information Technology Industry

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-01-01

    unclassified c . THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 i Information Technology 2006 ABSTRACT...integration of processors, coprocessors, memory, storage, etc. into a user-programmable final product. C . Software (Apple, Oracle): These firms...able to support the U.S. national security interests. C . Manufacturing: The personal computer manufacturing industry has also changed considerably

  16. Water Mapping Technology Rebuilds Lives in Arid Regions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2015-01-01

    Using NASA Landsat satellite and other remote sensing topographical data, Radar Technologies International developed an algorithm-based software program that can locate underground water sources. Working with international organizations and governments, the firm, which maintains an office in New Braunfels, Texas, is helping to provide water for refugees and other people in drought-stricken regions such as Kenya, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

  17. Geothermal Financing Workbook

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Battocletti, E.C.

    1998-02-01

    This report was prepared to help small firm search for financing for geothermal energy projects. There are various financial and economics formulas. Costs of some small overseas geothermal power projects are shown. There is much discussion of possible sources of financing, especially for overseas projects. (DJE-2005)

  18. To Invest or Not to Invest, That Is the Question: Analysis of Firm Behavior under Anticipated Shocks

    PubMed Central

    Kovac, Dejan; Vukovic, Vuk; Kleut, Nikola; Podobnik, Boris

    2016-01-01

    When companies are faced with an upcoming and expected economic shock some of them tend to react better than others. They adapt by initiating investments thus successfully weathering the storm, while others, even though they possess the same information set, fail to adopt the same business strategy and eventually succumb to the crisis. We use a unique setting of the recent financial crisis in Croatia as an exogenous shock that hit the country with a time lag, allowing the domestic firms to adapt. We perform a survival analysis on the entire population of 144,000 firms in Croatia during the period from 2003 to 2015, and test whether investment prior to the anticipated shock makes firms more likely to survive the recession. We find that small and micro firms, which decided to invest, had between 60 and 70% higher survival rates than similar firms that chose not to invest. This claim is supported by both non-parametric and parametric tests in the survival analysis. From a normative perspective this finding could be important in mitigating the negative effects on aggregate demand during strong recessionary periods. PMID:27508896

  19. To Invest or Not to Invest, That Is the Question: Analysis of Firm Behavior under Anticipated Shocks.

    PubMed

    Kovac, Dejan; Vukovic, Vuk; Kleut, Nikola; Podobnik, Boris

    2016-01-01

    When companies are faced with an upcoming and expected economic shock some of them tend to react better than others. They adapt by initiating investments thus successfully weathering the storm, while others, even though they possess the same information set, fail to adopt the same business strategy and eventually succumb to the crisis. We use a unique setting of the recent financial crisis in Croatia as an exogenous shock that hit the country with a time lag, allowing the domestic firms to adapt. We perform a survival analysis on the entire population of 144,000 firms in Croatia during the period from 2003 to 2015, and test whether investment prior to the anticipated shock makes firms more likely to survive the recession. We find that small and micro firms, which decided to invest, had between 60 and 70% higher survival rates than similar firms that chose not to invest. This claim is supported by both non-parametric and parametric tests in the survival analysis. From a normative perspective this finding could be important in mitigating the negative effects on aggregate demand during strong recessionary periods.

  20. Survey of Verification and Validation Techniques for Small Satellite Software Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jacklin, Stephen A.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current trends and practices in small-satellite software verification and validation. This document is not intended to promote a specific software assurance method. Rather, it seeks to present an unbiased survey of software assurance methods used to verify and validate small satellite software and to make mention of the benefits and value of each approach. These methods include simulation and testing, verification and validation with model-based design, formal methods, and fault-tolerant software design with run-time monitoring. Although the literature reveals that simulation and testing has by far the longest legacy, model-based design methods are proving to be useful for software verification and validation. Some work in formal methods, though not widely used for any satellites, may offer new ways to improve small satellite software verification and validation. These methods need to be further advanced to deal with the state explosion problem and to make them more usable by small-satellite software engineers to be regularly applied to software verification. Last, it is explained how run-time monitoring, combined with fault-tolerant software design methods, provides an important means to detect and correct software errors that escape the verification process or those errors that are produced after launch through the effects of ionizing radiation.

  1. Error Prevention Aid

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1987-01-01

    In a complex computer environment there is ample opportunity for error, a mistake by a programmer, or a software-induced undesirable side effect. In insurance, errors can cost a company heavily, so protection against inadvertent change is a must for the efficient firm. The data processing center at Transport Life Insurance Company has taken a step to guard against accidental changes by adopting a software package called EQNINT (Equations Interpreter Program). EQNINT cross checks the basic formulas in a program against the formulas that make up the major production system. EQNINT assures that formulas are coded correctly and helps catch errors before they affect the customer service or its profitability.

  2. Research Highlights. Extending Health Care Insurance to Specific Populations: Profile of RAND Work

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2000-01-01

    Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, 1985), insured workers in firms with 20 or more employees can continue their health benefits at 102...approaches to providing coverage for these groups. to employees . Indeed, 60 percent of uninsured non-elderly workers are employed in small firms... workers . Employers would make regular, tax-deductible contributions to the MSA; an em- ployee could draw on the MSA to cover health care expenses

  3. 48 CFR 519.7003 - General policy.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7003 General policy. (a) A large business prime contractor that meets the requirements at section 519.7006, and is approved as a mentor firm by the Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, may enter into an Agreement with a small business concern, small...

  4. Utilization of Small Businesses in Navy Subcontracting

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    10 2.   DOD Procurement Scorecard ...........................................................11 3. D.  GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE...Firms conducting business with the federal government are required to take into account small-business concerns in the acquisition process. Subpart 19.7...including increased loan provisions, higher lending limits, tax cuts for small businesses, and implements several of the Task Forces’ recommendations

  5. 48 CFR 19.307 - Protesting a firm's status as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. 19.307 Section 19.307 Federal Acquisition...-disabled veteran-owned small business concern. (a) Definition. Interested party, as used in this section... contracting officer, or the SBA may protest the apparently successful offeror's status as a service-disabled...

  6. Massachusetts health reform: employers, lower-wage workers and universal coverage.

    PubMed

    Felland, Laurie; Draper, Debra; Liebhaber, Allison

    2007-07-01

    As Massachusetts' landmark effort to reach nearly universal health coverage unfolds, the state is now focusing on employers to take steps to increase coverage. All employers--except firms with fewer than 11 workers--face new requirements under the 2006 law, including establishing Section 125, or cafeteria, plans to allow workers to purchase insurance with pre-tax dollars and paying a $295 annual fee if they do not make a "fair and reasonable" contribution to the cost of workers' coverage. Through interviews with Massachusetts health care leaders (see Data Source), the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) examined how the law is likely to affect employer decisions to offer health insurance to workers and employee decisions to purchase coverage. Market observers believe many small firms may be unaware of specific requirements and that some could prove onerous. Moreover, the largest impact on small employers may come from the individual mandate for all residents to have a minimum level of health insurance. This mandate may add costs for firms if more workers take up coverage offers, seek more generous coverage or pressure employers to offer coverage. Despite reform of the individual and small group markets, including development of new insurance products, concerns remain about the affordability of coverage and the ability to stem rising health care costs.

  7. Small-College Software Survey.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birch, Anthony D.

    1986-01-01

    Computers have a great number of potential uses at the small college. A survey of the role of software in the effective use of computers is described. Hardware characteristics, spreadsheets, purchasing or developing software, and software information are discussed. (Author/MLW)

  8. Understanding the City Size Wage Gap*

    PubMed Central

    Baum-Snow, Nathaniel; Pavan, Ronni

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we decompose city size wage premia into various components. We base these decompositions on an estimated on-the-job search model that incorporates latent ability, search frictions, firm-worker match quality, human capital accumulation and endogenous migration between large, medium and small cities. Counterfactual simulations of the model indicate that variation in returns to experience and differences in wage intercepts across location type are the most important mechanisms contributing to observed city size wage premia. Variation in returns to experience is more important for generating wage premia between large and small locations while differences in wage intercepts are more important for generating wage premia betwen medium and small locations. Sorting on unobserved ability within education group and differences in labor market search frictions and distributions of firm-worker match quality contribute little to observed city size wage premia. These conclusions hold for separate samples of high school and college graduates. PMID:24273347

  9. Small business activity does not measure entrepreneurship.

    PubMed

    Henrekson, Magnus; Sanandaji, Tino

    2014-02-04

    Entrepreneurship policy mainly aims to promote innovative Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. However, the rate of entrepreneurship is commonly proxied using quantity-based metrics, such as small business activity, the self-employment rate, or the number of startups. We argue that those metrics give rise to misleading inferences regarding high-impact Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. To unambiguously identify high-impact entrepreneurs we focus on self-made billionaires (in US dollars) who appear on Forbes Magazine's list and who became wealthy by founding new firms. We identify 996 such billionaire entrepreneurs in 50 countries in 1996-2010, a systematic cross-country study of billionaire entrepreneurs. The rate of billionaire entrepreneurs correlates negatively with self-employment, small business ownership, and firm startup rates. Countries with higher income, higher trust, lower taxes, more venture capital investment, and lower regulatory burdens have higher billionaire entrepreneurship rates but less self-employment. Despite its limitations, the number of billionaire entrepreneurs appears to be a plausible cross-country measure of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship.

  10. Understanding the City Size Wage Gap.

    PubMed

    Baum-Snow, Nathaniel; Pavan, Ronni

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we decompose city size wage premia into various components. We base these decompositions on an estimated on-the-job search model that incorporates latent ability, search frictions, firm-worker match quality, human capital accumulation and endogenous migration between large, medium and small cities. Counterfactual simulations of the model indicate that variation in returns to experience and differences in wage intercepts across location type are the most important mechanisms contributing to observed city size wage premia. Variation in returns to experience is more important for generating wage premia between large and small locations while differences in wage intercepts are more important for generating wage premia betwen medium and small locations. Sorting on unobserved ability within education group and differences in labor market search frictions and distributions of firm-worker match quality contribute little to observed city size wage premia. These conclusions hold for separate samples of high school and college graduates.

  11. Fatal injuries to teenage construction workers in the US.

    PubMed

    Suruda, Anthony; Philips, Peter; Lillquist, Dean; Sesek, Richard

    2003-11-01

    The construction industry is second only to agriculture in the annual number of fatal injuries in workers less than 18 years of age. We examined fatal injury reports for youth and adult workers to determine risk factors for injury and applicability of existing child labor regulations. The US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) investigation data for fatal work injuries from 1984 through 1998 were reviewed with respect to type of event, employer characteristics, and apparent violations of existing child labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). We also examined whether the employer met exemption criteria for federal enforcement of child labor or OSHA regulations. The fatality rate for teenage construction workers age 19 and younger was 12.1 per 100,000 per year, slightly less than for adult workers. Teenage workers who were fatally injured were more likely than adults to have been employed at non-union construction firms (odds ratio (OR) = 4.96, P < 0.05), firms with fewer than 11 employees (OR = 1.72, P < 0.05), and their employers were more likely to have been cited by OSHA for safety violations (OR = 1.66, P < 0.05) than for firms which were investigated because of a fatality in an adult worker. Fatalities in teenagers were more likely to occur in special construction trades such as roofing. Among fatalities in workers less than 18 years of age, approximately one-half (49%) of the 76 fatal injuries were in apparent violation of existing child labor regulations. We estimated that in 41 of the 76 cases (54%) the employer's gross annual income exceeded the $500,000 threshold for federal enforcement of child labor laws. Only 28 of 76 cases (37%) were at construction firms with 11 or more employees, which are subject to routine OSHA inspections. Fatal injuries in teenage construction workers differed from those in adults in that they were more likely to be at small, non-union firms of which a substantial proportion were exempt from federal enforcement of child labor laws and from routine OSHA inspections. Safety programs for young construction workers should include small, non-union construction firms and those in special construction trades such as roofing. We did not identify specific areas for new regulation but the number of fatalities reviewed was small. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  12. Integrating ICT Skills and Tax Software in Tax Education: A Survey of Malaysian Tax Practitioners' Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ling, Lai Ming; Nawawi, Nurul Hidayah Ahamad

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to examine the ICT skills needed by a fresh accounting graduate when first joining a tax firm; to find out usage of electronic tax (e-tax) applications in tax practice; to assess the rating of senior tax practitioners on fresh graduates' ICT and e-tax applications skills; and to solicit tax practitioners' opinion regarding…

  13. 77 FR 74908 - Small Business Investment Companies-Early Stage SBICs

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-18

    ... President Obama's ``Start-Up America Initiative'' to promote American innovation and job creation by encouraging private sector investment in job-creating startups and small firms, accelerating research, and...). Applicants that do not address, to SBA's satisfaction, all of the comments contained in SBA's comment letter...

  14. Guidelines for Management Consulting Programs for Small-Scale Enterprise. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Manual M-14.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaughan, Gary L.

    This manual is designed to assist management consultants in working with small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries. Addressed in an overview of the small-scale enterprise (SSE) are: the role of the SSE in third world development, problems of SSEs, and target firms. The second chapter deals with various forms of management assistance to…

  15. Sourcebook for Sex Equality: Small Presses. An Annotated Listing of Small Presses and Alternative Sources for Books and Media. Bibliographic Series, 1.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hulme, Marylin A., Comp.

    This briefly annotated guide to non-sexist and non-racist educational materials suppliers includes small presses, non-profit educational firms, women's sections of professional and trade organizations, task forces in State educational departments, and feminist publishers, bookstores and distributors. Aimed at assisting librarians and teachers in…

  16. Community Capacity Building in Regional VET: Small Business and Developing an Integrated Lifelong Learning Community.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Plane, Karen

    In a competitive market training economy, vocational education and training (VET) and small business in Australia face a number of challenges. They need to qualify the extent of lifelong learning skills being used in the small firm workplace, define the range of learning partnerships both within VET and the wider informal learning community in…

  17. The Missing Link: Workplace Education in Small Business.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    BCEL Newsletter for the Business & Literacy Communities, 1992

    1992-01-01

    A study sought to determine how and why small businesses invest or do not invest in basic skills instruction for their workers. Data were gathered through a national mail and telephone survey of a random sampling of 11,000 small (50 or fewer employees) and medium-sized (51-400 employees) firms, a targeted mail survey of 4,317 manufacturers, a…

  18. Corporate social responsibility in global health: an exploratory study of multinational pharmaceutical firms.

    PubMed

    Droppert, Hayley; Bennett, Sara

    2015-04-09

    As pharmaceutical firms experience increasing civil society pressure to act responsibly in a changing globalized world, many are expanding and/or reforming their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. We sought to understand how multinational pharmaceutical companies currently engage in CSR activities in the developing world aimed at global health impact, their motivations for doing so and how their CSR strategies are evolving. We conducted a small-scale, exploratory study combining (i) an in-depth review of publicly available data on pharmaceutical firms' CSR with (ii) interviews of representatives from 6 firms, purposively selected, from the highest earning pharmaceutical firms worldwide. Corporate social responsibility differed for each firm particularly with respect to how CSR is defined, organizational structures for managing CSR, current CSR activities, and motivations for CSR. Across the firms studied, the common CSR activities were: differential pharmaceutical pricing, strengthening developing country drug distribution infrastructure, mHealth initiatives, and targeted research and development. Primary factors that motivated CSR engagement were: reputational benefits, recruitment and employee satisfaction, better rankings in sustainability indices, entrance into new markets, long-term economic returns, and improved population health. In terms of CSR strategy, firms were at different points on a spectrum ranging from philanthropic donations to integrated systemic shared value business models. CSR is of increasing importance for multinational pharmaceutical firms yet understanding of the array of CSR strategies employed and their effects is nascent. Our study points to the need to (i) develop clearer and more standardized definitions of CSR in global health (2) strengthen indices to track CSR strategies and their public health effects in developing countries and (iii) undertake more country level studies that investigate how CSR engages with national health systems.

  19. Use of New and Minority-Owned Architectural and Engineering Firms by Selected Army and Navy Activities.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1981-10-30

    we directed our review to the preselection and selection processes for direct A/E awards,.not awards made under the Small Business Administration’s 8...policy of the United States that small busi - ness concerns and small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged...contracts exceeding $10,000 must contain the above state- ment. The Small Business Administration has defined small business concerns for A/E services

  20. Dust control technology usage patterns in the drywall finishing industry.

    PubMed

    Young-Corbett, Deborah E; Nussbaum, Maury A

    2009-06-01

    A telephone survey was conducted to quantify drywall finishing industry usage rates of dust control technology, identify barriers to technology adoption, and explore firm owner perception of risk. Industry use of the following technologies was described: wet methods, respiratory protection, pole sanders, ventilated sanders, and low-dust joint compound. A survey instrument composed of both Likert-type scaled items and open-ended items was developed and administered by telephone to the census population of the owners of member firms of trade associations: Finishing Contractors Association and Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industries. Of 857 firms, 264 interviews were completed. Along with descriptive statistics, results were analyzed to examine effects of firm size and union affiliation on responses. Responses to open-ended items were analyzed using content analysis procedures. Firm owners rated the risk of dust to productivity and customer satisfaction as low-moderate. Half rated the dust as having some impact on worker health, with higher impacts indicated by owners of small firms. Among the available control technologies, respiratory protection was used most frequently. Several barriers to implementation of the more effective control technologies were identified. Barriers associated with technology usability, productivity, and cost, as well as misperceptions of risk, should be addressed to improve dust control in the drywall finishing industry.

  1. 14 CFR 1260.4 - Applicability.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... to large businesses, special conditions at § 1260.57, New Technology, and § 1260.58, Designation of... commercial firms other than those with small businesses, in place of the provision at § 1260.28, Patent Rights. Grants with small businesses should retain the § 1260.28 provision. (5) Payments under grants...

  2. 37 CFR 401.5 - Modification and tailoring of clauses.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... clauses. 401.5 Section 401.5 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER... may delete paragraph (g)(2) of the clause and delete the words “to be performed by a small business...

  3. Factors Influencing Employee Learning in Small Businesses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coetzer, Alan; Perry, Martin

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify key factors influencing employee learning from the perspective of owners/managers. Design/methodology/research: Data were gathered from owners/managers in a total of 27 small manufacturing and services firms through interviews and analysed using content analytic procedures. Findings: The…

  4. 37 CFR 404.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... be patentable or otherwise protectable under Title 35, the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C...) Federal agency means an executive department, military department, Government corporation, or independent...) Small business firm means a small business concern as defined in section 2 of Pub. L. 85-536 (15 U.S.C...

  5. 37 CFR 404.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... be patentable or otherwise protectable under Title 35, the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C...) Federal agency means an executive department, military department, Government corporation, or independent...) Small business firm means a small business concern as defined in section 2 of Pub. L. 85-536 (15 U.S.C...

  6. 37 CFR 404.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... be patentable or otherwise protectable under Title 35, the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U.S.C...) Federal agency means an executive department, military department, Government corporation, or independent...) Small business firm means a small business concern as defined in section 2 of Pub. L. 85-536 (15 U.S.C...

  7. 48 CFR 719.271-3 - USAID contracting officers.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... components of end items or services be purchased separately so small firms may compete; (f) Making a... final decision on a proposed non-competitive procurement action, and as part of his/her findings and... awareness by the technical staff of the availability of small business concerns; (l) Making available to SDB...

  8. Training of Existing Workers: Issues, Incentives and Models

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mawer, Giselle; Jackson, Elaine

    2005-01-01

    This report presents issues associated with incentives for training existing workers in small to medium-sized firms, identified through a small sample of case studies from the retail, manufacturing, and building and construction industries. While the majority of employers recognise workforce skill levels are fundamental to the success of the…

  9. An empirical analysis of ERP adoption by oil and gas firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Romero, Jorge

    2005-07-01

    Despite the growing popularity of enterprise-resource-planning (ERP) systems for the information technology infrastructure of large and medium-sized businesses, there is limited empirical evidence on the competitive benefits of ERP implementations. Case studies of individual firms provide insights but do not provide sufficient evidence to draw reliable inferences and cross-sectional studies of firms in multiple industries provide a broad-brush perspective of the performance effects associated with ERP installations. To narrow the focus to a specific competitive arena, I analyze the impact of ERP adoption on various dimensions of performance for firms in the Oil and Gas Industry. I selected the Oil and Gas Industry because several companies installed a specific type of ERP system, SAP R/3, during the period from 1990 to 2002. In fact, SAP was the dominant provider of enterprise software to oil and gas companies during this period. I evaluate performance of firms that implemented SAP R/3 relative to firms that did not adopt ERP systems in the pre-implementation, implementation and post-implementation periods. My analysis takes two different approaches, the first from a financial perspective and the second from a strategic perspective. Using the Sloan (General Motors) model commonly applied in financial statement analysis, I examine changes in performance for ERP-adopting firms versus non-adopting firms along the dimensions of asset utilization and return on sales. Asset utilization is more closely aligned with changes in leanness of operations, and return on sales is more closely aligned with customer-value-added. I test hypotheses related to the timing and magnitude of the impact of ERP implementation with respect to leanness of operations and customer value added. I find that SAP-adopting companies performed relatively better in terms of asset turnover than non-SAP-adopting companies during both the implementation and post-implementation periods and that SAP-adopting firms outperformed non-SAP-adopting firms in terms of return on sales during the post-implementation period. These findings indicate that the impact of ERP implementation on return on sales occurred after an assimilation period. I perform an analysis of the impact of ERP in the Oil and Gas Industry using strategic performance metrics described in Banker et al. (1996) including profitability, productivity, price recovery, product mix, and capacity utilization. My results show that the benefits obtained from ERP implementation in terms of productivity and capacity utilization are persistently positive during and after the installation.

  10. Social Firms as a means of vocational recovery for people with mental illness: a UK survey.

    PubMed

    Gilbert, Eleanor; Marwaha, Steven; Milton, Alyssa; Johnson, Sonia; Morant, Nicola; Parsons, Nicholas; Fisher, Adrian; Singh, Swaran; Cunliffe, Di

    2013-07-11

    Employment is associated with better quality of life and wellbeing in people with mental illness. Unemployment is associated with greater levels of psychological illness and is viewed as a core part of the social exclusion faced by people with mental illness. Social Firms offer paid employment to people with mental illness but are under-investigated in the UK. The aims of this phase of the Social Firms A Route to Recovery (SoFARR) project were to describe the availability and spread of Social Firms across the UK, to outline the range of opportunities Social Firms offer people with severe mental illness and to understand the extent to which they are employed within these firms. A UK national survey of Social Firms, other social enterprises and supported businesses was completed to understand the extent to which they provide paid employment for the mentally ill. A study-specific questionnaire was developed. It covered two broad areas asking employers about the nature of the Social Firm itself and about the employees with mental illness working there. We obtained returns from 76 Social Firms and social enterprises / supported businesses employing 692 people with mental illness. Forty per cent of Social Firms were in the south of England, 24% in the North and the Midlands, 18% in Scotland and 18% in Wales. Other social enterprises/supported businesses were similarly distributed. Trading activities were confined mainly to manufacturing, service industry, recycling, horticulture and catering. The number of employees with mental illness working in Social Firms and other social enterprises/supported businesses was small (median of 3 and 6.5 respectively). Over 50% employed people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, though the greatest proportion of employees with mental illness had depression or anxiety. Over two thirds of Social Firms liaised with mental health services and over a quarter received funding from the NHS or a mental health charity. Most workers with mental illness in Social Firms had been employed for over 2 years. Social Firms have significant potential to be a viable addition to Individual Placement and Support (IPS), supporting recovery orientated services for people with the full range of mental disorders. They are currently an underdeveloped sector in the UK.

  11. Social firms as a means of vocational recovery for people with mental illness: a UK survey

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Employment is associated with better quality of life and wellbeing in people with mental illness. Unemployment is associated with greater levels of psychological illness and is viewed as a core part of the social exclusion faced by people with mental illness. Social Firms offer paid employment to people with mental illness but are under-investigated in the UK. The aims of this phase of the Social Firms A Route to Recovery (SoFARR) project were to describe the availability and spread of Social Firms across the UK, to outline the range of opportunities Social Firms offer people with severe mental illness and to understand the extent to which they are employed within these firms. Method A UK national survey of Social Firms, other social enterprises and supported businesses was completed to understand the extent to which they provide paid employment for the mentally ill. A study-specific questionnaire was developed. It covered two broad areas asking employers about the nature of the Social Firm itself and about the employees with mental illness working there. Results We obtained returns from 76 Social Firms and social enterprises / supported businesses employing 692 people with mental illness. Forty per cent of Social Firms were in the south of England, 24% in the North and the Midlands, 18% in Scotland and 18% in Wales. Other social enterprises/supported businesses were similarly distributed. Trading activities were confined mainly to manufacturing, service industry, recycling, horticulture and catering. The number of employees with mental illness working in Social Firms and other social enterprises/supported businesses was small (median of 3 and 6.5 respectively). Over 50% employed people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, though the greatest proportion of employees with mental illness had depression or anxiety. Over two thirds of Social Firms liaised with mental health services and over a quarter received funding from the NHS or a mental health charity. Most workers with mental illness in Social Firms had been employed for over 2 years. Conclusions Social Firms have significant potential to be a viable addition to Individual Placement and Support (IPS), supporting recovery orientated services for people with the full range of mental disorders. They are currently an underdeveloped sector in the UK. PMID:23844779

  12. California’s Shrinking Defense Contractors: Effects on Small Suppliers,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1996-01-01

    They did not physically segregate any parts of their operations or set up a separate data management system to do business with prime contractors...of them out of business . * Small defense aerospace suppliers are not making cutting-edge products for commercial customers. Small defense aerospace...are considered critical to their primes’ supplier base are concerned. Most Firms Are Still in Business When we checked with a random sample of small

  13. 500 Contractors Receiving the Largest Dollar Volume of Prime Contract Awards for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-10-01

    development (exploratory, advanced, engineering, operational systems, or management and support services). Full definitions for each of these categories are ...displays the order of ranking for each, and shows how each has been categorized for reporting purposes. The categories are business firm (B...small businesses are further identified by an "S." The net value of awards to each of the firm’s reported locations is also provided. Tables 3, 4, and

  14. Modeling of Relation between Transaction Network and Production Activity for Firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iino, T.; Iyetomi, H.

    Bak et al. [Ricerche Economiche 47 (1993), 3] proposed a self-organizing model for production activity of interacting firms to illustrate how large fluctuations can be triggered by small independent shocks in aggregate economy. This paper develops the original transaction model based on a regular network with layered order flow to accommodate more realistic networks. Simulations in the generalized model so obtained are then carried out for various networks to examine the influence caused by change of the network structure.

  15. Expert System Software

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1989-01-01

    C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) is a software shell for developing expert systems is designed to allow research and development of artificial intelligence on conventional computers. Originally developed by Johnson Space Center, it enables highly efficient pattern matching. A collection of conditions and actions to be taken if the conditions are met is built into a rule network. Additional pertinent facts are matched to the rule network. Using the program, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. is monitoring chemical production machines; California Polytechnic State University is investigating artificial intelligence in computer aided design; Mentor Graphics has built a new Circuit Synthesis system, and Brooke and Brooke, a law firm, can determine which facts from a file are most important.

  16. Evaluation of Shipbuilding CAD/CAM/CIM Systems - Phase II (Requirements for Future Systems)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1997-02-01

    INNOVATION MARINE INDUSTRY STANDARDS WELDING INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE NATIONAL SHIPBUILDING RESEARCH PROGRAM February 1997 NSRP 0479...an analysis of CAD/CAM/CIM in shipyards, ship-design software firms, and alIied industries in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The purpose of the analysis...possible: Black and Veatch Hitachi Ariake Works Industrial Technology Institute Intergraph Corporation Kockums Computer Systems Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

  17. Parents' Non-Standard Work Schedules Make Adequate Childrearing Difficult: Reforming Labor Market Practices Can Improve Children's Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes. Issue Brief #400

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morsy, Leila; Rothstein, Richard

    2015-01-01

    Recent developments in employment practices have increased the prevalence of non-standard work schedules--non-daytime shifts in which most hours do not fall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., when shifts rotate, or when schedules vary weekly or otherwise. For example, computer software now enables retail, restaurant, service, and other firms to predict…

  18. A Classification and Analysis of National Contract Management Journal Articles from 1990 to 1999 and Journal of Supply Chain Management Articles from 1987 to 2000

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2001-12-01

    defense profits become excessive. Sorenson uses the Capital Asset Pricing Model ( CAPM ) to compare the risk-reward relationship for defense...firms. THEORETICAL, NORMATIVE, EMPIRICAL, INDUCTIVE [58] “A Comment on Using the Capital Asset Pricing ...combination asset revaluation, pensions, post-retirement health benefits, software capitalization , Material Management and Accounting System (MMAS), cost

  19. Examining Operational Software Influence on User Satisfaction within Small Manufacturing Businesses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frey, W. Bruce

    2010-01-01

    Managing a business requires vigilance and diligence. Small business owners are often ignored by IT vendors and inundated by the choices of software applications and therefore, need help finding a viable operating software solution for small business decisions and development. The extent, if any, of a significant influence of operational software…

  20. Real-Time Simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1997-01-01

    Coryphaeus Software, founded in 1989 by former NASA electronic engineer Steve Lakowske, creates real-time 3D software. Designer's Workbench, the company flagship product, is a modeling and simulation tool for the development of both static and dynamic 3D databases. Other products soon followed. Activation, specifically designed for game developers, allows developers to play and test the 3D games before they commit to a target platform. Game publishers can shorten development time and prove the "playability" of the title, maximizing their chances of introducing a smash hit. Another product, EasyT, lets users create massive, realistic representation of Earth terrains that can be viewed and traversed in real time. Finally, EasyScene software control the actions among interactive objects within a virtual world. Coryphaeus products are used on Silican Graphics workstation and supercomputers to simulate real-world performance in synthetic environments. Customers include aerospace, aviation, architectural and engineering firms, game developers, and the entertainment industry.

  1. 48 CFR 519.7009 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS GSA Mentor-Protégé Program 519.7009 Application process. (a) Prime contractors interested in becoming a mentor firm must apply in writing by submitting the GSA Form 3695 to the GSA Mentor-Protégé Program Manager, at GSA Office of Small Business Utilization (E...

  2. Workplace ESL Literacy in Diverse Small Business Contexts: Final Evaluation Report on Project EXCEL.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hemphill, David F.

    Project EXCEL, a workplace literacy project involving four small business enterprises in San Francisco, is evaluated. The project focused on literacy and basic skills training for limited-English-proficient (LEP) workers. The businesses included the following: a communications and mass mailing firm; a dessert wholesale company; a Mexican…

  3. Leadership and Small Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of Demographic Characteristics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flanigan, Rod L.; Bishop, Jacob L.; Brachle, Ben J.; Winn, Bradley A.

    2017-01-01

    The present study builds on extant leadership literature by examining the role demographic variables (including age, tenure as a leader at the current company, experience in the industry, and level of education) play as moderating effects on the relationship between leadership style and small business financial performance in the national…

  4. 77 FR 2697 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Annual Services Report

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-01-19

    ... and from a sample of small- and medium-sized businesses selected using a stratified sampling procedure... be canvassed when the sample is re-drawn, while nearly all of the small- and medium-sized firms from...); Educational Services (NAICS 61); Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62); Arts, Entertainment, and...

  5. 76 FR 68026 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Small Disadvantaged Business Self-Certification

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-02

    ... Business Administration (SBA) to its small disadvantaged business (SDB) program. DATES: Effective Date... disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) to self-represent their SDB status to prime contractors in good faith when... certified by the SBA as SDB firms. DoD, GSA, and NASA received no comments in response to the interim rule...

  6. Managing a Small Business Incubator.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirchner, Charles, Ed.

    An increasingly popular economic development tool to improve the success rate of new firms is the small business incubator. These are buildings in which a number of new or growing businesses can locate and operate at a much lower overhead cost than in conventional space where market rates prevail. Incubator facilities are characterized by access…

  7. 14 CFR 1274.913 - Patent rights-retention by the recipient (small business).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2011-01-01 2010-01-01 true Patent rights-retention by the recipient... experimental, developmental, or research work to be performed by a small business firm or domestic nonprofit organization; and (ii) Include in all other subcontracts, regardless of tier, for experimental, developmental...

  8. 48 CFR 719.273-4 - Eligibility of Mentor and Protégé firms.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS The U.S. Agency for International... business entities approved as Mentors may enter into agreements (hereafter referred to as “Mentor-Protégé... subcontractors. Eligible small business entities capable of providing developmental assistance may be approved as...

  9. Action Learning: How Learning Transfers from Entrepreneurs to Small Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Karen; Sambrook, Sally A.; Pittaway, Luke; Henley, Andrew; Norbury, Heather

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents research with small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who have participated in a leadership development programme. The primary focus of this paper is on learning transfer and factors affecting it, arguing that entrepreneurs must engage in "action" in order to "learn" and that under certain conditions…

  10. Executive Searches and the Use of Consultants

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Atwell, Robert H.

    2009-01-01

    Formerly, search consultants were used in higher education at only a small number of institutions--and even there, only when recruiting presidents. But over the years, the industry has grown to the point that many large and small firms now compete for higher education searches, including ones for administrators and even some for endowed faculty,…

  11. Affordance, Agency and Apprenticeship Learning: A Comparative Study of Small and Large Engineering Firms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bishop, Dan

    2017-01-01

    Amidst concerns over skills shortages, both the current British government and its coalition predecessors have, against the grain of wider austerity measures, invested heavily in the apprenticeship system. The majority of apprentices are, and have historically been, employed within small businesses. However, research suggests that, in the main,…

  12. Distance Education and Training for Small Firms--United Kingdom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dey, Ian; Harrison, Jean

    This document on the United Kingdom (UK) is one of a series of five monographs published by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). The document includes seven chapters, three appendices, and a section of case studies. The first chapter describes small and medium-sized business enterprises in the UK. Vocational…

  13. Self-insurance and the potential effects of health reform on the small-group market.

    PubMed

    Linehan, Kathryn

    2010-12-21

    The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as amended by the Health Care Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 makes landmark changes to health insurance markets. Individual and small-group insurance plans and markets will see the biggest changes, but PPACA also affects large employer and self-insured plans by imposing rules for benefit design and health plan practices. Over half of workers--most often those in very large firms--are covered by self-insured health plans in which employers (or employee groups) bear all or some of the risk of providing insurance coverage to a defined population of workers and their dependents. As PPACA provisions become effective, some have argued that smaller firms that offer insurance may opt to self-insure their health benefits because of new small-group market rules. Such a shift could affect risk pooling in the small-group market. This paper examines the definition and prevalence of self-insured health plans, the application of PPACA provisions to these plans, and the possible effects on the broader health insurance market, should many more employers decide to self-insure.

  14. Time-varying causal network of the Korean financial system based on firm-specific risk premiums

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Jae Wook; Ko, Bonggyun; Cho, Poongjin; Chang, Woojin

    2016-09-01

    The aim of this paper is to investigate the Korean financial system based on time-varying causal network. We discover many stylized facts by utilizing the firm-specific risk premiums for measuring the causality direction from a firm to firm. At first, we discover that the interconnectedness of causal network is affected by the outbreak of financial events; the co-movement of firm-specific risk premium is strengthened after each positive event, and vice versa. Secondly, we find that the major sector of the Korean financial system is the Depositories, and the financial reform in June-2011 achieves its purpose by weakening the power of risk-spillovers of Broker-Dealers. Thirdly, we identify that the causal network is a small-world network with scale-free topology where the power-law exponents of out-Degree and negative event are more significant than those of in-Degree and positive event. Lastly, we discuss that the current aspects of causal network are closely related to the long-term future scenario of the KOSPI Composite index where the direction and stability are significantly affected by the power of risk-spillovers and the power-law exponents of degree distributions, respectively.

  15. Defense Contracting. Interim Report on Mentor-Protege Program for Small Disadvantaged Firms

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-03-01

    concern about the low participation of small disadvantaged businesses1 (SDBS) within DOD’s procurement system Accesion For resulted in section 1207 of...public ieloase and sale: its distribution is unlimited. A-1 ’To qualify as a small disadvantaged business, a company must not exceed the Small Business...economically disadvantaged individuals. S Page 1 GAOINSIAD-92-135 DOD’s Mentor-Protege Pilot Program B-247530 assist SDBs (proteges) in enhancing their

  16. Illness related wage and productivity losses: Valuing 'presenteeism'.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Wei; Sun, Huiying; Woodcock, Simon; Anis, Aslam

    2015-12-01

    One source of productivity loss due to illness is the reduced "quantity" or "quality" of labor input while working, often referred to as presenteeism. Illness-related presenteeism has been found to be potentially more costly than absenteeism. To value presenteeism, existing methods use wages as a proxy for marginal productivity at the firm level. However, wage may not equal marginal productivity in some scenarios. One instance is when a job involves team production and perfect substitutes for workers are not readily available. Using a Canadian linked employer-employee survey (2001-2005), we test whether relative wage equals relative marginal productivity among team workers and non-team workers with different frequencies of presenteeism (reduction at work due to illness). For the pooled cross-sectional estimates (2001, 2003, 2005) we obtain 13,755 observations with 6842 unique workplaces. There are 6490 observations for the first differences estimates from the odd years and 5263 observations for the first differences estimates from 2001 to 2002 and 2003 to 2004. We find that in both small and large firms, team workers with frequent reductions at work are less productive but earn similarly compared with non-team workers without reductions. We also find that in small firms, workers with occasional work reductions are more productive than workers without reductions, but the reverse is true in large firms. The study findings partially support the literature stating that productivity loss resulting from employee presenteeism could exceed wages if team work is involved. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Treatment of Recurrent Nonparoxysmal Atrial Fibrillation Using Focal Impulse and Rotor Mapping (FIRM)-Guided Rotor Ablation: Early Recurrence and Long-Term Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Spitzer, Stefan Georg; Károlyi, László; Rämmler, Carola; Scharfe, Frank; Weinmann, Thomas; Zieschank, Mirko; Langbein, Anke

    2017-01-01

    A patient-tailored ablation approach focused on the elimination of both pulmonary vein triggers as well as substrate drivers may result in favorable outcomes in recurrent persistent AF patients. We evaluated the long-term outcomes of rotor ablation combined with conventional pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with recurrent nonparoxysmal AF. Fifty-eight consecutive patients underwent FIRM-guided rotor ablation followed by conventional PVI for the treatment of recurrent nonparoxysmal AF. A software algorithm was used to display rotational activity at rotor sites by creating propagation maps from unipolar electrograms recorded using a 64-electrode basket catheter. These rotor sites were targeted for ablation, followed by conventional PVI. All patients had nonparoxysmal AF (83% longstanding persistent) and a previously failed conventional ablation procedure. Stable rotors were identified in all patients (mean of 3.0 ± 1.6 per patient), with 55.2% having right atrial rotors and 96.6% left atrial rotors, respectively. Complications occurred in 5.2% of patients, none related to the FIRM procedure. The median follow-up was 12 months. At 6 and 12 months of follow-up, 73.2% and 76.9% of patients remained free from AF/AT, respectively. Excluding 2 patients who underwent a successful redo ablation procedure/electrical cardioversion, at 12 months of follow-up, 69.2% were free from any AF/AT and 73.1% were free from AF after a single FIRM-guided ablation procedure. A high degree of success was observed in this cohort of primarily longstanding persistent AF patients treated for recurrent AF with FIRM-guided rotor ablation. Prospective randomized controlled trials are needed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Early warning of active fire hotspots through NASA FIRMS fire information system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ilavajhala, S.; Davies, D.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Murphy, K. J.

    2014-12-01

    Forest fires and wildfires can threaten ecosystems, wildlife, property, and often, large swaths of populations. Early warning of active fire hotspots plays a crucial role in planning, managing, and mitigating the damaging effects of wildfires. The NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) has been providing active fire location information to users in easy-to-use formats for the better part of last decade, with a view to improving the alerting mechanisms and response times to fight forest and wildfires. FIRMS utilizes fires flagged as hotspots by the MODIS instrument flying aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites and sends early warning of detected hotspots via email in near real-time or as daily and weekly summaries. The email alerts can also be customized to send alerts for a particular region of interest, a country, or a specific protected area or park. In addition, a web mapping component, named "Web Fire Mapper" helps query and visualize hotspots. A newer version of Web Fire Mapper is being developed to enhance the existing visualization and alerting capabilities. Plans include supporting near real-time imagery from Aqua and Terra satellites to provide a more helpful context while viewing fires. Plans are also underway to upgrade the email alerts system to provide mobile-formatted messages and short text messages (SMS). The newer version of FIRMS will also allow users to obtain geo-located image snapshots, which can be imported into local GIS software by stakeholders to help further analyses. This talk will discuss the FIRMS system, its enhancements and its role in helping map, alert, and monitor fire hotspots by providing quick data visualization, querying, and download capabilities.

  19. How the Process of the CSR Activities Works on Private Hospitals and Pharmaceutical Firms: Multiple Case Study from Strategic Perspective.

    PubMed

    Yıldırım, Mustafa; Dinçer, Mustafa Abdül Metin

    2018-06-23

    The phenomenon of corporate social responsibility "CSR" has stimulated lots of debates and disagreement among the business scholars. One of the most howling sounds comes from strategy and CSR thinkers. Strategic thinkers of this debate believe that CSR is not only an accountability action but also it is countability action. Due to this countability action heavily based on profit, the scholar of strategy field stated that strategic thinking lens should revise the phenomenon of CSR and the result of its activities. To this end in this study, we examine the CSR activities, especially philanthropy activities (sports, art sponsorships, etc.) from strategy perspectives. And the question of this study is "How the process of the CSR activities work on private hospitals and pharmaceutical firms?" In this framework, private hospitals, pharmaceutical firms in Turkey, and their CSR activity and global compact reports are used as the cases of the study. We make qualitative content analysis, and the documents in this study are analyzed with qualitative analysis software (MAXQDA). The results which were obtained from the analysis are considered important by the researchers since it is shown in this multiple case study that private hospitals and pharmaceutical firms have to focus on some specific points in their social responsibility activities to get competitive superiority for themselves and gain profit in the long term. While the CSR orientation of the private hospitals concentrates on sports dimension, the direction of pharmaceutical firms is on education dimension. In both fields, the cases construct their CSR activities on these two dimensions or relate their other CSR activities with these dimensions.

  20. Empirical Analysis of Retirement Pension and IFRS Adoption Effects on Accounting Information: Glance at IT Industry

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    This study reviews new pension accounting with K-IFRS and provides empirical changes in liability for retirement allowances with adoption of K-IFRS. It will help to understand the effect of pension accounting on individual firm's financial report and the importance of public announcement of actuarial assumptions. Firms that adopted K-IFRS had various changes in retirement liability compared to the previous financial report not based on K-IFRS. Their actuarial assumptions for pension accounting should be announced, but only few of them were published. Data analysis shows that the small differences of the actuarial assumption may result in a big change of retirement related liability. Firms within IT industry also have similar behaviors, which means that additional financial regulations for pension accounting are recommended. PMID:25013868

  1. Integrated delivery systems. Evolving oligopolies.

    PubMed

    Malone, T A

    1998-01-01

    The proliferation of Integrated Delivery Systems (IDSs) in regional health care markets has resulted in the movement of these markets from a monopolistic competitive model of behavior to an oligopoly. An oligopoly is synonymous with competition among the few, as a small number of firms supply a dominant share of an industry's total output. The basic characteristics of a market with competition among the few are: (1) A mutual interdependence among the actions and behaviors of competing firms; (2) competition tends to rely on the differentiation of products; (3) significant barriers to entering the market exist; (4) the demand curve for services may be kinked; and (5) firms can benefit from economies of scale. An understanding of these characteristics is essential to the survival of IDSs as regional managed care markets mature.

  2. Empirical analysis of retirement pension and IFRS adoption effects on accounting information: glance at IT industry.

    PubMed

    Kim, JeongYeon

    2014-01-01

    This study reviews new pension accounting with K-IFRS and provides empirical changes in liability for retirement allowances with adoption of K-IFRS. It will help to understand the effect of pension accounting on individual firm's financial report and the importance of public announcement of actuarial assumptions. Firms that adopted K-IFRS had various changes in retirement liability compared to the previous financial report not based on K-IFRS. Their actuarial assumptions for pension accounting should be announced, but only few of them were published. Data analysis shows that the small differences of the actuarial assumption may result in a big change of retirement related liability. Firms within IT industry also have similar behaviors, which means that additional financial regulations for pension accounting are recommended.

  3. A Description and Analysis of Evolving Data Resources on Small Business

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-09-01

    and entrepreneurship in a wide range of settings, including corporate governance, employment law, consumer law, securities regulation and business...research on small businesses and entrepreneurship in the U.S. While business data has traditionally focused on large firms, an increasing number of... entrepreneurship . A secondary aim is to highlight gaps in available small and new business data to inform new or expanded data-gathering efforts and

  4. Small business activity does not measure entrepreneurship

    PubMed Central

    Henrekson, Magnus; Sanandaji, Tino

    2014-01-01

    Entrepreneurship policy mainly aims to promote innovative Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. However, the rate of entrepreneurship is commonly proxied using quantity-based metrics, such as small business activity, the self-employment rate, or the number of startups. We argue that those metrics give rise to misleading inferences regarding high-impact Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. To unambiguously identify high-impact entrepreneurs we focus on self-made billionaires (in US dollars) who appear on Forbes Magazine’s list and who became wealthy by founding new firms. We identify 996 such billionaire entrepreneurs in 50 countries in 1996–2010, a systematic cross-country study of billionaire entrepreneurs. The rate of billionaire entrepreneurs correlates negatively with self-employment, small business ownership, and firm startup rates. Countries with higher income, higher trust, lower taxes, more venture capital investment, and lower regulatory burdens have higher billionaire entrepreneurship rates but less self-employment. Despite its limitations, the number of billionaire entrepreneurs appears to be a plausible cross-country measure of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. PMID:24449873

  5. 49 CFR Appendix A to Part 19 - Contract Provisions

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... market, or contracts for transportation or transmission of intelligence. 5. Rights to Inventions Made... Organizations and Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts and Cooperative Agreements,” and any...

  6. 37 CFR 401.8 - Reporting on utilization of subject inventions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS § 401.8 Reporting on...

  7. 29 CFR 99.305 - Auditor selection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... positive efforts to utilize small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises, in... of Federal auditors. Federal auditors may perform all or part of the work required under this part if...

  8. 7 CFR 3052.305 - Auditor selection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ..., auditees shall make positive efforts to utilize small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's... of Federal auditors. Federal auditors may perform all or part of the work required under this part if...

  9. A Review of the Suitability of Available Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Tools for the Small Software Development Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-07-11

    LITERATURE CITED [Boeh73] Boehm, Barry W., "Software and its Impact: A Quantitative Assessment," Datamation, 19, 5, (May 1973), pp 48-59. [Boeh76...Boehm, Barry W., "Software Engineering," IEEE Transactions on Computers, C-25, 12, (December 1976), pp 1226-1241. [Boeh81a] Boehm, Barry W., Software...Engineering Economics, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, (1981). [Boeh8lb] Boehm, Barry W., "An Experiment in Small Scale Application Software

  10. NASA technology utilization program: The small business market

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vannoy, J. K.; Garcia-Otero, F.; Johnson, F. D.; Staskin, E.

    1980-01-01

    Technology transfer programs were studied to determine how they might be more useful to the small business community. The status, needs, and technology use patterns of small firms are reported. Small business problems and failures are considered. Innovation, capitalization, R and D, and market share problems are discussed. Pocket, captive, and new markets are summarized. Small manufacturers and technology acquisition are discussed, covering external and internal sources, and NASA technology. Small business and the technology utilization program are discussed, covering publications and industrial applications centers. Observations and recommendations include small business market development and contracting, and NASA management technology.

  11. X-ray micro-computer tomographic method to visualize the microstructure of different apple cultivars.

    PubMed

    Ting, Valentina J L; Silcock, Patrick; Bremer, Phil J; Biasioli, Franco

    2013-11-01

    Apples are appreciated for their texture with firmness acting as an indicator of quality. During prolonged storage, apples can soften and their texture can become undesirably mealy. Using an X-ray microcomputer tomography (μ-CT) scanner, the porosity (ratio of intercellular space [IS] to total volume) and the structural arrangement of the parenchyma tissue of 4 apple cultivars (Braeburn, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Jazz) stored under similar conditions for 100 d were visualized via the development of 2D and 3D images. The texture of the apples was also measured using a puncture test. The morphometric and textural measurements revealed that firm Jazz apples (flesh firmness: 29.84N) had a lower porosity (17%) compared to soft Golden Delicious apples (flesh firmness: 14.16N; porosity: 29.8%). In general, firm apples had a higher dry matter (%) and a lower porosity (%), while the reverse was true for softer apples. However, this was not an absolute trend as cultivar specific differences in the microstructural organization and consequent mechanical strength of the parenchyma tissue also influenced firmness. For example, although Fuji apples were firm (28.42N), they had a high porosity (29.3%) due to the presence of numerous small and compact IS. In comparison, soft Golden Delicious apples had a high porosity (29.8%) due to the presence of large, interconnected IS. Imaging technologies have the potential to provide a pictorial or graphical database showing the size range distribution of IS corresponding to different parenchyma tissue types and how they relate to apple texture and eating quality. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

  12. 41 CFR Appendix A to Part 105 - 72-Contract Provisions

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... market, or contracts for transportation or transmission of intelligence. 5. Rights to Inventions Made... Organizations and Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts and Cooperative Agreements,” and any...

  13. Testimony Before the Subcommittee on General Oversight and Minority Enterprise, Committee on Small Business,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-03-01

    Subcommittee on General Oversight and Minority Enterprise, Committee on Small Business March 3, 1980 -- I ’zm golng:to providesa structural overview of the key...Industry Newspaper firms are small businesses . To illustrate, the median circulation for the 1580 daily newspapers publishing in 1977 was 12,000. During...UNCLASSIFIEO RAN/P-6502 NL " ’~~~- Iililii111118 iTESTIMONY BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL.OVERSIGHT AND MINORITY ENTERPRISE, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BWTSINESS

  14. Lifestyle Entrepreneurs: Insights into Blackpool's Small Hotel Sector

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowson, William; Lashley, Conrad

    2012-01-01

    Branded chains dominate sections of commercial hospitality provision; however, the vast majority of firms in the sector are micro businesses employing 10 or fewer staff. In fact, most are so small as to employ no permanent staff. In many cases, those running these businesses are not classic entrepreneurs driven by a need to maximise profits and…

  15. Guidelines for Determining the Feasibility of a Small Business Incubator.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rinehart, Eric L., Ed.

    An increasingly popular economic development tool to improve the success rate of new firms is the small business incubator. These are buildings in which a number of new or growing businesses can locate and operate at a much lower overhead cost than in conventional space where market rates prevail. Incubator facilities are characterized by access…

  16. Starting a Small Business Incubator. A Handbook for Sponsors and Developers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirchner, Charles, Ed.

    An increasingly popular economic development tool to improve the success rate of new firms is the small business incubator. These are buildings in which a number of new or growing businesses can locate and operate at a much lower overhead cost than in conventional space where market rates prevail. Incubator facilities are characterized by access…

  17. Export Now: A Practical Guide for U.S. Minority and Small Business Exporters.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, Washington, DC.

    This guidebook was designed to orient minority entrepreneurs to the basics of international trade. Market research and strategy are examined, as well as finance, contract negotiations, trade logistics, and business communications. Part I acknowledges that small firms often lack the resources to take even the first step in developing the knowledge,…

  18. 26 CFR 1.1244(a)-1 - Loss on small business stock treated as ordinary loss.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... transaction treated as a sale or exchange, such as worthlessness) of section 1244 stock which would otherwise... other hand, stock purchased by an investment firm and subsequently resold does not qualify as section... 26 Internal Revenue 11 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Loss on small business stock treated as ordinary...

  19. Collection Development "Green Business": The Green Capitalist

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eagan, Robert

    2009-01-01

    The "greening" of corporate behemoths like Wal-Mart, DuPont, and Toyota has received much media attention in recent years. But consider small businesses: according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, of the estimated 27 million firms in the United States, 99.7 percent have fewer than 500 employees, 97.5 percent have fewer than 20, and more…

  20. How To Organize and Operate a Small Library. A Comprehensive Guide to the Organization and Operation of a Small Library for Your School, Church, Law Firm, Business, Hospital, Community, Court, Historical Museum or Association.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernhard, Genore H.

    A guide is presented for those unfamiliar with library procedures who wish to organize and operate a small library. Following a discussion of the modern library's role, there is detailed information about library boards, librarians, finance, legal problems, policies, equipment, supplies, and book acquisition and processing. Shelving, filing, book…

  1. Realizing software longevity over a system's lifetime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lanclos, Kyle; Deich, William T. S.; Kibrick, Robert I.; Allen, Steven L.; Gates, John

    2010-07-01

    A successful instrument or telescope will measure its productive lifetime in decades; over that period, the technology behind the control hardware and software will evolve, and be replaced on a per-component basis. These new components must successfully integrate with the old, and the difficulty of that integration depends strongly on the design decisions made over the course of the facility's history. The same decisions impact the ultimate success of each upgrade, as measured in terms of observing efficiency and maintenance cost. We offer a case study of these critical design decisions, analyzing the layers of software deployed for instruments under the care of UCO/Lick Observatory, including recent upgrades to the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) at Keck Observatory in Hawaii, as well as the Kast spectrograph, Lick Adaptive Optics system, and Hamilton spectrograph, all at Lick Observatory's Shane 3-meter Telescope at Mt. Hamilton. These issues play directly into design considerations for the software intended for use at the next generation of telescopes, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope. We conduct our analysis with the future of observational astronomy infrastructure firmly in mind.

  2. Young worker safety in construction: do family ties and workgroup size affect hazard exposures and safety practices?

    PubMed

    Rauscher, Kimberly J; Myers, Douglas J; Runyan, Carol W; Schulman, Michael

    2012-01-01

    Little is known about how social aspects of the work environment influence exposures or safety practices affecting young construction workers. Our objective was to investigate whether working on a construction site with a small number of workers (≤10 vs. 11-50) or having a family-firm connection (working in a family-owned firm or one in which a family member also works) impacts hazard exposures and safety practices. Participants included 187 North Carolina construction workers 14 to 17 years old who were surveyed about their jobs. We conducted stratified analyses using cross-tabulations and chi-square statistics to measure associations between workgroup size (i.e., the total number of workers on a jobsite) and family-firm connections (yes/no) and hazard exposures (e.g., saws) and safety practices (e.g., supervision). Having a family-firm connection was associated with fewer hazard exposures and greater safety practices. Youth who worked on jobsites with a larger workgroup (11-50 workers) reported more hazards but also more safety practices. Family-firm connections, in particular, may have a protective effect for youth in construction. Even though the statistical significance of our findings on workgroup size was limited in places, the pattern of differences found suggest that further research in this area is warranted.

  3. Rates of profit as correlated sums of random variables

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greenblatt, R. E.

    2013-10-01

    Profit realization is the dominant feature of market-based economic systems, determining their dynamics to a large extent. Rather than attaining an equilibrium, profit rates vary widely across firms, and the variation persists over time. Differing definitions of profit result in differing empirical distributions. To study the statistical properties of profit rates, I used data from a publicly available database for the US Economy for 2009-2010 (Risk Management Association). For each of three profit rate measures, the sample space consists of 771 points. Each point represents aggregate data from a small number of US manufacturing firms of similar size and type (NAICS code of principal product). When comparing the empirical distributions of profit rates, significant ‘heavy tails’ were observed, corresponding principally to a number of firms with larger profit rates than would be expected from simple models. An apparently novel correlated sum of random variables statistical model was used to model the data. In the case of operating and net profit rates, a number of firms show negative profits (losses), ruling out simple gamma or lognormal distributions as complete models for these data.

  4. The true cost of greenhouse gas emissions: analysis of 1,000 global companies.

    PubMed

    Ishinabe, Nagisa; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke

    2013-01-01

    This study elucidated the shadow price of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1,024 international companies worldwide that were surveyed from 15 industries in 37 major countries. Our results indicate that the shadow price of GHG at the firm level is much higher than indicated in previous studies. The higher shadow price was found in this study as a result of the use of Scope 3 GHG emissions data. The results of this research indicate that a firm would carry a high cost of GHG emissions if Scope 3 GHG emissions were the focus of the discussion of corporate social responsibility. In addition, such shadow prices were determined to differ substantially among countries, among sectors, and within sectors. Although a number of studies have calculated the shadow price of GHG emissions, these studies have employed country-level or industry-level data or a small sample of firm-level data in one country. This new data from a worldwide firm analysis of the shadow price of GHG emissions can play an important role in developing climate policy and promoting sustainable development.

  5. The True Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Analysis of 1,000 Global Companies

    PubMed Central

    Ishinabe, Nagisa; Fujii, Hidemichi; Managi, Shunsuke

    2013-01-01

    This study elucidated the shadow price of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 1,024 international companies worldwide that were surveyed from 15 industries in 37 major countries. Our results indicate that the shadow price of GHG at the firm level is much higher than indicated in previous studies. The higher shadow price was found in this study as a result of the use of Scope 3 GHG emissions data. The results of this research indicate that a firm would carry a high cost of GHG emissions if Scope 3 GHG emissions were the focus of the discussion of corporate social responsibility. In addition, such shadow prices were determined to differ substantially among countries, among sectors, and within sectors. Although a number of studies have calculated the shadow price of GHG emissions, these studies have employed country-level or industry-level data or a small sample of firm-level data in one country. This new data from a worldwide firm analysis of the shadow price of GHG emissions can play an important role in developing climate policy and promoting sustainable development. PMID:24265710

  6. Advanced Math? Write!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brandenburg, Sister M. Luka

    2002-01-01

    High-school mathematics teacher in Rock Island, Illinois, describes plan for using writing assignment to improve student understanding of advanced mathematics. Plan includes the following elements: Start small, be firm with students, make writing assignments count, and inform colleagues. (PKP)

  7. Organisational Learning and HRD: How Appropriate Are They for Small Firms?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saru, Essi

    2007-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study human resource development (HRD) and organisational learning issues in a small expert organisation. Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative single case study conducted in one Finnish SME. It is part of an ongoing study. It is descriptive in nature and the aim is to find out whether the…

  8. Developing the Appropriate Employee Skill Set and Degree for Small International Businesses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vibhakar, Ashvin P.; Smith, Rachel K.

    2004-01-01

    Small businesses are a formidable economic force in the U.S., representing the majority of firms, employing more than half the work force, creating two-thirds of new jobs, and accounting for just over half of the private sector output. Recently they have become an important factor in U.S. international business growth. The opportunity for small…

  9. 13 CFR 121.408 - What are the size procedures for SBA's Certificate of Competency Program?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What are the size procedures for SBA's Certificate of Competency Program? 121.408 Section 121.408 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL... Certificate of Competency Program? (a) A firm which applies for a COC must file an “Application for Small...

  10. The Management of Managers: Challenges in a Small Economy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilbert, John; Boxall, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss the findings of a study of the management of senior managers. The aim is to describe the ways in which firms in a small economy, such as New Zealand, manage their managers and analyse how they deal with the strategic challenges that are involved. Design/methodology/approach: The study applies the…

  11. Examining the scope of multibusiness health care firms: implications for strategy and financial performance.

    PubMed

    Noorein Inamdar, S

    2007-08-01

    Use theory and data to examine the scope of corporate strategies for multibusiness health care firms, also known as organized or integrated health care delivery systems. Data are from the 2000 HIMSS Analytics Annual Survey of integrated health care delivery systems (IHDS), which provides complete information on businesses owned by IHDS. Scope defined as the breadth and type of businesses in which a firm chooses to compete is measured across seven separate business areas: (1) health plans, (2) ambulatory, (3) acute, (4) subacute, (5) home health, (6) other related nonpatient care businesses, and (7) external collaborations. Theories on strategy and organizational configurations along with measures of scope and a novel dataset were used to classify 796 firms into five mutually exclusive groups. The bases for classification were two competitive dimensions of scope: (1) breadth of businesses and (2) mix of existing core businesses versus new noncore businesses. Unit of analysis is the multibusiness health care firm. Sample consists of 796 firms, defined as nonprofit organizations that own two or more direct patient care businesses in two or more separate areas across the health care value chain. Firms were clustered into five mutually exclusive organizational configurations with unique scope characteristics revealing a new taxonomy of corporate strategies. Analysis of the scope variables revealed five strategic types (along with the number of firms and distinguishing features of each strategy) defined as follows: (1) Core Service Provider (340 firms with the smallest scope providing core set of patient care services), (2) Mission Based (52 firms with the next smallest scope offering core set of services to underserved populations), (3) Contractor (266 firms with medium scope and contracting with physician groups), (4) Health Plan Focus (83 firms with large scope and providing health plans), and (5) Entrepreneur (55 firms with the largest scope offering both a core set of services and investing in a variety of new noncore business opportunities including many for-profit ventures). Significant differences in financial performance among the strategies were found when controlling for payer reimbursement conditions. Specifically, in an unfavorable condition with high Medicaid and low commercial insurance, the Mission Based strategy performs significantly worse while the Entrepreneur strategy performs surprisingly well, in comparison with the other strategies. Findings suggest: (a) scope can be used to classify a large number of multibusiness health care firms into a taxonomy representing a small group of distinct corporate strategies, which are recognizable by senior management in the health care industry, (b) no single strategy dominates in performance across different payer profiles, instead there appears to be complementarities or fit between strategy and payer profiles that determines which firms perform well and which do not under different conditions, and (c) senior management of nonprofit health care firms are cross-subsidizing unprofitable patient care through ownership of nonpatient care businesses including for-profit ventures.

  12. Examining the Scope of Multibusiness Health Care Firms: Implications for Strategy and Financial Performance

    PubMed Central

    Noorein Inamdar, S

    2007-01-01

    Objective Use theory and data to examine the scope of corporate strategies for multibusiness health care firms, also known as organized or integrated health care delivery systems. Data Sources Data are from the 2000 HIMSS Analytics Annual Survey of integrated health care delivery systems (IHDS), which provides complete information on businesses owned by IHDS. Study Design Scope defined as the breadth and type of businesses in which a firm chooses to compete is measured across seven separate business areas: (1) health plans, (2) ambulatory, (3) acute, (4) subacute, (5) home health, (6) other related nonpatient care businesses, and (7) external collaborations. Theories on strategy and organizational configurations along with measures of scope and a novel dataset were used to classify 796 firms into five mutually exclusive groups. The bases for classification were two competitive dimensions of scope: (1) breadth of businesses and (2) mix of existing core businesses versus new noncore businesses. Data Extraction Methods Unit of analysis is the multibusiness health care firm. Sample consists of 796 firms, defined as nonprofit organizations that own two or more direct patient care businesses in two or more separate areas across the health care value chain. Firms were clustered into five mutually exclusive organizational configurations with unique scope characteristics revealing a new taxonomy of corporate strategies. Principal Findings Analysis of the scope variables revealed five strategic types (along with the number of firms and distinguishing features of each strategy) defined as follows: (1) Core Service Provider (340 firms with the smallest scope providing core set of patient care services), (2) Mission Based (52 firms with the next smallest scope offering core set of services to underserved populations), (3) Contractor (266 firms with medium scope and contracting with physician groups), (4) Health Plan Focus (83 firms with large scope and providing health plans), and (5) Entrepreneur (55 firms with the largest scope offering both a core set of services and investing in a variety of new noncore business opportunities including many for-profit ventures). Significant differences in financial performance among the strategies were found when controlling for payer reimbursement conditions. Specifically, in an unfavorable condition with high Medicaid and low commercial insurance, the Mission Based strategy performs significantly worse while the Entrepreneur strategy performs surprisingly well, in comparison with the other strategies. Conclusions Findings suggest: (a) scope can be used to classify a large number of multibusiness health care firms into a taxonomy representing a small group of distinct corporate strategies, which are recognizable by senior management in the health care industry, (b) no single strategy dominates in performance across different payer profiles, instead there appears to be complementarities or fit between strategy and payer profiles that determines which firms perform well and which do not under different conditions, and (c) senior management of nonprofit health care firms are cross-subsidizing unprofitable patient care through ownership of nonpatient care businesses including for-profit ventures. PMID:17610444

  13. Pautas para Programas de Asesoramiento Gestional para Microempresas (Guidelines for Management Consulting Programs for Small-Scale Enterprise). Appropriate Technologies for Development. Peace Corps Information Collection & Exchange Manual Series No. M-27.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaughan, Gary L.

    Written in Spanish, this manual is designed to assist management consultants in working with small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries. Addressed in an overview of the small-scale enterprise (SSE) are the role of the SSE in Third World development, problems of SSEs, and target firms. The second chapter deals with various forms of…

  14. The Impact of Price-cap Regulations on Exit by Generic Pharmaceutical Firms.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Wei; Guh, Daphne; Sun, Huiying; Marra, Carlo A; Lynd, Larry D; Anis, Aslam H

    2016-09-01

    In 1998, the Province of Ontario in Canada adopted price-cap "70/90" regulations whereby the first generic entrant was required to be priced at ≤70% of the associated brand-name product and subsequent generics were priced at ≤90% of the first generic price. The price-caps were further lowered to 50% in 2006 and 25% in 2010. This study assessed the impact of such price-cap regulations on exit by generic drug firms. Formulary (2003-2012) listings of prescription drugs covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit program were used. The formulary tracks the "status" (on formulary, discontinued by manufacturer, and delisted for other reasons) for each drug. Markets were defined based on unique active ingredient and form within Ontario. Firm exit occurred when a manufacturer discontinued all its generic drugs within a market. The exit rate was defined as the number of generic firm-market exits divided by total generic firm-market follow-up years. Poisson regression was used to compare the exit rates during the 3 policy periods ("25," "50," and "70/90"). A total of 1126 generic manufacturers paired with 290 markets were identified. The exit rate ratio during the 25% price-cap period compared with the 70%/90% period was 2.42 (95% confidence interval, 1.56-3.77). A small manufacturer or a manufacturer in a market with ≥3 competitors or in an older market was more likely to exit. Lowering the price-cap level is associated with a higher incidence of generic firm exit from markets. Continuously reducing price-caps may have the unintended consequence of forcing generic firms to exit.

  15. 48 CFR 252.227-7018 - Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. 252.227-7018 Section... Clauses 252.227-7018 Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software—Small Business... Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (MAR 2011...

  16. Innovation under Regulatory Uncertainty: Evidence from Medical Technology

    PubMed Central

    Stern, Ariel Dora

    2016-01-01

    This paper explores how the regulatory approval process affects innovation incentives in medical technologies. Prior studies have found early mover regulatory advantages for drugs. I find the opposite for medical devices, where pioneer entrants spend 34 percent (7.2 months) longer than follow-on entrants in regulatory approval. Back-of-the- envelope calculations suggest that the cost of a delay of this length is upwards of 7 percent of the total cost of bringing a new high-risk device to market. Considering potential explanations, I find that approval times are largely unrelated to technological novelty, but are meaningfully reduced by the publication of objective regulatory guidelines. Finally, I consider how the regulatory process affects small firms’ market entry patterns and find that small firms are less likely to be pioneers in new device markets, a fact consistent with relatively higher costs of doing so for more financially constrained firms. PMID:28652646

  17. Business cycles’ correlation and systemic risk of the Japanese supplier-customer network

    PubMed Central

    Chakraborty, Abhijit; Inoue, Hiroyasu; Fujiwara, Yoshi

    2017-01-01

    This work aims to study and explain the business cycle correlations of the Japanese production network. We consider the supplier-customer network, which is a directed network representing the trading links between Japanese firms (links from suppliers to customers). The community structure of this network is determined by applying the Infomap algorithm. Each community is defined by its GDP and its associated business cycle. Business cycle correlations between communities are estimated based on copula theory. Then, based on firms’ attributes and network topology, these correlations are explained through linear econometric models. The results show strong evidence of business cycle correlations in the Japanese production network. A significant systemic risk is found for high negative or positive shocks. These correlations are explained mainly by the sector and by geographic similarities. Moreover, our results highlight the higher vulnerability of small communities and small firms, which is explained by the disassortative mixing of the production network. PMID:29059233

  18. Factors Influencing e-Business Adoption in the Greek Hotel Sector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Samanta, Ir.; Kyriazopoulos, P.

    The purpose of this research is to identify the impact of business process improvement in the area of e-marketing in the hotel industry. The research identifies the barriers which block organizational change effort. A sample of thirty hotels in the city of Athens was used.This paper presents a SWOT analysis of the hotel sector, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that firms faced in the process of change. The results show that the majority of firms use, to a small extent, the e-marketing concept to improve their communication strategy and reach market segments.

  19. Software Tool Issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hennell, Michael

    This chapter relies on experience with tool development gained over the last thirty years. It shows that there are a large number of techniques that contribute to any successful project, and that formality is always the key: a modern software test tool is based on a firm mathematical foundation. After a brief introduction, Section 2 recalls and extends the terminology of Chapter 1. Section 3 discusses the the design of different sorts of static and dynamic analysis tools. Nine important issues to be taken into consideration when evaluating such tools are presented in Section 4. Section 5 investigates the interplay between testing and proof. In Section 6, we call for developers to take their own medicine and verify their tools. Finally, we conclude in Section 7 with a summary of our main messages, emphasising the important role of testing.

  20. Entropy measure of credit risk in highly correlated markets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gottschalk, Sylvia

    2017-07-01

    We compare the single and multi-factor structural models of corporate default by calculating the Jeffreys-Kullback-Leibler divergence between their predicted default probabilities when asset correlations are either high or low. Single-factor structural models assume that the stochastic process driving the value of a firm is independent of that of other companies. A multi-factor structural model, on the contrary, is built on the assumption that a single firm's value follows a stochastic process correlated with that of other companies. Our main results show that the divergence between the two models increases in highly correlated, volatile, and large markets, but that it is closer to zero in small markets, when asset correlations are low and firms are highly leveraged. These findings suggest that during periods of financial instability, when asset volatility and correlations increase, one of the models misreports actual default risk.

  1. The social control of energy: A case for the promise of decentralized solar technologies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gilmer, R. W.

    1980-05-01

    Decentralized solar technology and centralized electric utilities were contrasted in the ways they assign property rights in capital and energy output; in the assignment of operational control; and in the means of monitoring, policing, and enforcing property rights. An analogy was drawn between the decision of an energy consumer to use decentralized solar and the decision of a firm to vertically integrate, that is, to extend the boundary of a the firm to vertically integrate, that is, to extend the boundary of the firm by making inputs or further processing output. Decentralized solar energy production offers the small energy consumer the chance to cut ties to outside suppliers--to vertically integrate energy production into the home or business. The development of this analogy provides insight into important noneconomic aspects of solar energy, and it points clearly to the lighter burdens of social management offered by decentralized solar technology.

  2. 48 CFR 252.227-7025 - Limitations on the use or disclosure of government-furnished information marked with restrictive...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Software and Noncommercial Computer Software Documentation clause of this contract. (3) For Small Business... Rights in Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program clause of this contract. (b) Technical data or computer software provided to the Contractor as...

  3. Design and Implementation of Software Protocol in VAX/VMS Using Ethernet Local Area Network.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-06-01

    firm hclding the trademark: INTEL Ccrporation, Santa Clara, California INTELLEC IDS Multbus DIGITAL Research, Pacific Grove, California CE/M-80...bcard NS2030 VMS device driver and N11010 diagnostic program DIGITAL Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts V&Z-11/780 Mini computer VAX/VMS...8217 . . - - . , . editors, libary , etc.) of one node to an application process in another ncde. Such protocols may include: 1) .. 11 T f6 - allowing a process in one node to

  4. How to avoid the ten most frequent EMS pitfalls

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Andrews, W.

    1982-04-19

    It pays to do your homework before investing in an energy management system if you want to avoid the 10 most common pitfalls listed by users, consultants, and manufacturers as: oversimplification, improper maintenance, failure to involve operating personnel, inaccurate savings estimates, failure to include monitoring capability, incompetent or fradulent firms, improper load control, not allowing for a de-bugging period, failure to include manual override, and software problems. The article describes how each of these pitfalls can lead to poor decisions and poor results. (DCK)

  5. Vane Pump Casing Machining of Dumpling Machine Based on CAD/CAM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Yusen; Li, Shilong; Li, Chengcheng; Yang, Zhen

    Automatic dumpling forming machine is also called dumpling machine, which makes dumplings through mechanical motions. This paper adopts the stuffing delivery mechanism featuring the improved and specially-designed vane pump casing, which can contribute to the formation of dumplings. Its 3D modeling in Pro/E software, machining process planning, milling path optimization, simulation based on UG and compiling post program were introduced and verified. The results indicated that adoption of CAD/CAM offers firms the potential to pursue new innovative strategies.

  6. Database Management System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    In 1981 Wayne Erickson founded Microrim, Inc, a company originally focused on marketing a microcomputer version of RIM (Relational Information Manager). Dennis Comfort joined the firm and is now vice president, development. The team developed an advanced spinoff from the NASA system they had originally created, a microcomputer database management system known as R:BASE 4000. Microrim added many enhancements and developed a series of R:BASE products for various environments. R:BASE is now the second largest selling line of microcomputer database management software in the world.

  7. The Challenge of Implementing an ERP System in a Small and Medium Enterprise--A Teaching Case of ERP Project Management

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Hongjiang; Rondeau, Patrick J.; Mahenthiran, Sakthi

    2011-01-01

    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation projects are notoriously risky. While large-scale ERP cases continue to be developed, relatively few new ERP cases have been published that further ERP implementation education in small to medium size firms. This case details the implementation of a new ERP system in a medium sized…

  8. NASA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2001-01-01

    The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) within NASA promotes the utilization of small, disadvantaged, and women-owned small businesses in compliance with Federal laws, regulations, and policies. We assist such firms in obtaining contracts and subcontracts with NASA and its prime contractors. The OSDBU also facilitates the participation of small businesses in NASA's technology transfer and commercialization activities. Our driving philosophy is to consider small businesses as our products. Our customers are the NASA Enterprises, Field Centers, Functional Staff Offices, major prime contractors, and other large institutions. We hone the skills of our products to make them marketable to our customers in the performance of NASA missions.

  9. Improving the Product Documentation Process of a Small Software Company

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Valtanen, Anu; Ahonen, Jarmo J.; Savolainen, Paula

    Documentation is an important part of the software process, even though it is often neglected in software companies. The eternal question is how much documentation is enough. In this article, we present a practical implementation of lightweight product documentation process resulting from SPI efforts in a small company. Small companies’ financial and human resources are often limited. The documentation process described here, offers a template for creating adequate documentation consuming minimal amount of resources. The key element of the documentation process is an open source web-based bugtracking system that was customized to be used as a documentation tool. The use of the tool enables iterative and well structured documentation. The solution best serves the needs of a small company with off-the-shelf software products and striving for SPI.

  10. Directives Relatives a l'Elaboration de Programmes de Conseil en Gestion pour Petites Entreprises (Guidelines for Management Consulting Programs for Small-Scale Enterprise). Appropriate Technologies for Development. Peace Corps Information Collection & Exchange Manual Series No. M-29.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaughan, Gary L.

    Written in French, this manual is designed to assist management consultants in working with small-scale entrepreneurs in developing countries. Addressed in an overview of the small-scale enterprise (SSE) are the role of the SSE in Third World development, problems of SSEs, and target firms. The second chapter deals with various forms of management…

  11. 48 CFR 19.308 - Protesting a firm's status as an economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) as... decision. (iv) The concern must remove its designation in CCR and ORCA as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern...

  12. LSW Lets Opportunity Knock

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Manpower, 1975

    1975-01-01

    LSW Industries has one feature that distinguishes it from other small firms in that every full-time employee is classified as "disadvantaged"--either poor, from a minority group, handicapped, a migrant worker, a parolee, poorly educated, or a combination of these. (Author/BP)

  13. 48 CFR 219.7105 - Reporting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Section 219.7105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Pilot Mentor-Protege Program 219.7105 Reporting. Mentor and protege firms must report on the progress made under mentor-protege agreements as...

  14. 48 CFR 219.7105 - Reporting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Section 219.7105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Pilot Mentor-Protege Program 219.7105 Reporting. Mentor and protege firms must report on the progress made under mentor-protege agreements as...

  15. 48 CFR 219.7105 - Reporting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Section 219.7105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Pilot Mentor-Protege Program 219.7105 Reporting. Mentor and protege firms must report on the progress made under mentor-protege agreements as...

  16. 48 CFR 219.7105 - Reporting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... Section 219.7105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Pilot Mentor-Protege Program 219.7105 Reporting. Mentor and protege firms must report on the progress made under mentor-protege agreements as...

  17. 48 CFR 219.7105 - Reporting.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Section 219.7105 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEFENSE ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS Pilot Mentor-Protege Program 219.7105 Reporting. Mentor and protege firms must report on the progress made under mentor-protege agreements as...

  18. 2 CFR 215.44 - Procurement procedures.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ..., and women's business enterprises, whenever possible. Recipients of Federal awards shall take all of... women's business enterprises are used to the fullest extent practicable. (2) Make information on... facilitate participation by small businesses, minority-owned firms, and women's business enterprises. (3...

  19. Effect of biological type of cattle on the incidence of the dark, firm, and dry condition in the longissimus muscle.

    PubMed

    Shackelford, S D; Koohmaraie, M; Wheeler, T L; Cundiff, L V; Dikeman, M E

    1994-02-01

    The objectives of this experiment were to characterize longissimus muscle color, texture, and firmness for beef carcasses of diverse biological types and to determine the genetic parameters of lean color, texture, and firmness. The carcasses (n = 3,641) used in this experiment were from steers produced by mating Angus, Brahman, Braunvieh, Charolais, Chianina, Galloway, Gelbvieh, Hereford, Jersey, Limousin, Longhorn, Maine Anjou, Nellore, Piedmontese, Pinzgauer, Red Poll, Sahiwal, Salers, Shorthorn, Simmental, South Devon, and Tarentaise sires to Hereford and Angus dams. Steers were fed a corn-corn silage diet from weaning until slaughter at 356 to 575 d of age. Steers were slaughtered at commercial packing plants and longissimus muscle color, texture, and firmness were scored by trained carcass evaluators. Sire line least squares means for lean color, texture, and firmness ranged approximately one unit on a 7-point scale. Chianina crosses had darker-colored lean than all breed groups except Tarentaise and Simmental crosses (P < .05). Moreover, a higher percentage (P < .05) of Chianina crosses than of all other breed groups had unacceptably dark-colored ("dark red" or darker) lean. Bos indicus sire lines were not different from Bos taurus sire lines in frequency of carcasses with unacceptably dark-colored lean. However, Bos indicus crosses were more likely to be scored "very light cherry-red." Lean color and texture were lowly heritable, whereas lean firmness was moderately heritable. Thus, this experiment demonstrated that there is genetic variation in the incidence of the DFD condition; however, genetic variation was small relative to environmental variation.

  20. Minority business bidding for local government contracts: the complexity of availability.

    PubMed

    Bangs, Ralph L; Murrell, Audrey; Constance-Huggins, Monique

    2007-01-01

    While minority-business enterprises (MBEs) have gained some access to local government contracts during the last three decades, these firms continue to receive a small share of local government contract spending relative to the number of available firms. Researchers have suggested two general explanations for the low representation of MBEs in contract awards: (1) lack of qualifications and capacity among MBEs, and (2) public and private discrimination against MBEs in contracting processes. This study on prime contract opportunities in a Northern central city and county with a large minority population finds that low bid rates greatly contribute to the low MBE shares of prime contracts and that bidding is reduced by both local government processes and characteristics of the firms. Some implications of these findings are that local governments need to: (1) monitor MBE shares of prime contract bids by size of contract and use share of bids as one measure of program and organizational effectiveness; (2) identify MBEs that are qualified for prime contracts and encourage and help interested firms to submit competitive bids; and (3) ensure that local government policies and practices do not diminish access to information about prime contract opportunities for qualified and interested minority firms. Another implication is that bidders lists should not be a primary basis for determining MBE availability, since many qualified and interested MBEs do not bid because of perceived barriers in local government.

  1. P1198: software for tracing decision behavior in lending to small businesses.

    PubMed

    Andersson, P

    2001-05-01

    This paper describes a process-tracing software program specially designed to capture decision behavior in lending to small businesses. The source code was written in Lotus Notes. The software runs in a Web browser and consists of two interacting systems: a database and a user interface. The database includes three realistic loan applications. The user interface consists of different but interacting screens that enable the participant to operate the software. Log files register the decision behavior of the participant. An empirical example is presented in order to show the software's potential in providing insights into judgment and decision making. The implications of the software are discussed.

  2. A Multi-User Microcomputer System for Small Libraries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leggate, Peter

    1988-01-01

    Describes the development of Bookshelf, a multi-user microcomputer system for small libraries that uses an integrated software package. The discussion covers the design parameters of the package, which were based on a survey of seven small libraries, and some characteristics of the software. (three notes with references) (CLB)

  3. 48 CFR 19.308 - Protesting a firm's status as an economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Central Contractor Registration (CCR) and Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) as... its designation in CCR and ORCA as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern, and shall not submit an offer as an...

  4. 22 CFR 226.36 - Intangible property.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... Foreign Relations AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION OF ASSISTANCE AWARDS TO U.S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Post-award Requirements Property Standards § 226.36 Intangible property. (a) The... Organizations and Small Business Firms Under Government Grants, Contracts and Cooperative Agreements.” (c) The...

  5. 37 CFR 401.11 - Appeals.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Appeals. 401.11 Section 401.11 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT...

  6. 37 CFR 401.17 - Submissions and inquiries.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    .... 401.17 Section 401.17 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER... or inquiries should be directed to Director, Technology Competitiveness Staff, Office of Technology...

  7. Work-site health promotion: an economic model.

    PubMed

    Patton, J P

    1991-08-01

    Despite a burgeoning interest in and acceptance of corporate health promotion, the overall economic effects of these programs are not clear. Although ultimate resolution of this question awaits detailed empiric research, a theoretical approach can be useful in structuring the problem and understanding the critical issues. The financial model presented views the firm as a value-maximizing enterprise and evaluates health promotion as a use of corporate assets. The model projects the benefits and costs to the firm of a 7-year health promotion program under a variety of assumptions regarding the employee mix and the effects of the health promotion program on health and productivity. The analysis reveals that the base case assumptions result in a program that creates value for the firm when the cost is less than $193 per participating employee per year. Firms with a highly productive, difficult to replace, and older employee group are most likely to find health promotion to be a good investment. Productivity gains produce the majority of the economic benefits of the program. Effects on health care expense alone are projected to be relatively small. Gains from reduction in employee mortality or retiree health expense are found to be insignificant in this model.

  8. The Global Financial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-02

    financial institutions, as well as government capital injections and loans to private corporations have become parts of rescue and stimulus packages and...postponement of corporate tax increases, government guarantees for loans to small and midsize businesses, spending on public works, including public...measures to assist specific industries or firms. For example, the government reduced the corporate tax rate from 24% to 20% and the tax rate on small

  9. Career and Training in the New Economy: A Study Focused to Small Scale Enterprises Located in OSTIM Organized Industrial Region in Ankara/Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aksoy, Hasan Huseyin

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore and describe training levels related to careers, employment, and influences of "new economy" in small and mid-sized firms. The organizational side of career development behaviors was also a focus of this study. Interviews related to company policies and practices were conducted with 26 employers…

  10. The synchronicity between the stock and the stock index via information in market

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, Hai-Ling; Li, Jiang-Cheng; Guo, Wei; Mei, Dong-Cheng

    2018-02-01

    The synchronicity between the stock and the stock-index in a market system is investigated. The results show that: (i) the synchronicity between the stock and the stock-index increases with the rising degree of market information capitalized into stock prices in certain range; (ii) the synchronicity decreases for large firm-specific information; (iii) the stock return synchronicity is small compared to the big noise trading, however the variance noise facilitates the synchronization within the tailored realms. These findings may be helpful in understanding the effect of market information on synchronicity, especially for the response of firm-specific information and noise trading to synchronicity.

  11. 48 CFR 252.227-7018 - Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. 252.227-7018 Section... Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As prescribed in 227.7104(a), use the following clause: Rights in Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (JUN 1995...

  12. 48 CFR 252.227-7018 - Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. 252.227-7018 Section... Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As prescribed in 227.7104(a), use the following clause: Rights in Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (FEB 2014...

  13. 48 CFR 252.227-7018 - Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. 252.227-7018 Section... Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As prescribed in 227.7104(a), use the following clause: Rights in Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (MAR 2011...

  14. 48 CFR 252.227-7018 - Rights in noncommercial technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... technical data and computer software-Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. 252.227-7018 Section... Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As prescribed in 227.7104(a), use the following clause: Rights in Noncommercial Technical Data and Computer Software—Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (MAY 2013...

  15. SCIL Executive Summaries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Samuels, Alan R.; And Others

    1987-01-01

    These five papers by speakers at the Small Computers in Libraries 1987 conference include: "Acquiring and Using Shareware in Building Small Scale Automated Information systems" (Samuels); "A Software Lending Collection" (Talab); "Providing Subject Access to Microcomputer Software" (Mitchell); "Interfacing Vendor…

  16. Generic Data Pipelining Using ORAC-DR

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allan, Alasdair; Jenness, Tim; Economou, Frossie; Currie, Malcolm J.; Bly, Martin J.

    A generic data reduction pipeline is, perhaps, the holy grail for data reduction software. We present work which sets us firmly on the path towards this goal. ORAC-DR is an online data reduction pipeline written by the Joint Astronomy Center (JAC) and the UK Astronomy Technology Center (ATC) and distributed as part of the Starlink Software collection (SSC). It is intended to run with a minimum of observer interaction, and is able to handle data from many different instruments, including SCUBA, CGS4, UFTI, IRCAM and Michelle, with support for IRIS2 and UIST under development. Recent work by Starlink in collaboration with the JAC has resulted in an increase in the pipeline's flexibility, opening up the possibility that it could be used for truly generic data reduction for data from any imaging, and eventually spectroscopic, detector.

  17. A system dynamics approach to the study of Colombian coca cultivation and the counter-intuitive consequence of law enforcement.

    PubMed

    Jaén, Sebastian; Dyner, Isaac

    2014-03-01

    A large-scale expansion of the Colombian coca cultivation is one of the most revealing signs of a structural change in the illegal cocaine market in the Andean region. From being a modest and domestic production, in the space of five years Colombian coca cultivation supplied a competitive market, capable of substituting almost completely the foreign sources of supply. The purpose of this work is to explore the role and potential of system dynamics (SD) as a modeling methodology to better understand the consequences of drug policy. As a case study, this work tests the hypothesis that the outbreak of Colombian coca cultivations is a consequence of the take down of large cartels, leading to the surge of small drug-trafficking firms called "cartelitos." Using an SD model, and elements from the economic theory of the criminal firm, our work shows how the formation of these small firms might significantly contribute to the configuring of a more competitive domestic coca industry (and hence to a more efficient crime industry). We conclude that SD seems an appropriate dynamic modeling-based approach to address policy issues regarding drug markets. The methodology takes into account the dynamic nature of drug markets and their multi-dimensional responses to policy interventions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. 75 FR 22352 - Aviation Service Rules

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-04-28

    ... CONTACT: Tim Maguire, Mobility Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at (202) 418-2155...) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). 1. In this document, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau of... wireless service providers. The SBA has developed a small business size standard for wireless firms within...

  19. 37 CFR 401.15 - Deferred determinations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Deferred determinations. 401.15 Section 401.15 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER...

  20. The SOLO Librarian's Sourcebook.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siess, Judith A.

    This book provides an introduction to single staff information services, or SOLO librarianship. SOLO librarians are usually found in corporate libraries, private companies, small public libraries, museums, schools, churches or synagogues, prisons, law firms, hospitals or special libraries with specialized or limited materials and services with…

  1. Social Networks as a Source of Competitive Advantage for the Firm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Laere, Kristien; Heene, Aime

    2003-01-01

    Proposes a conceptual framework for managing relationships of small and medium-sized enterprises, based on the necessity of cooperation for survival. Describes characteristics of embedded relationship in stakeholder interactions, including trust, durability, information transfer, and collaboration. (Contains 72 references.) (SK)

  2. 77 FR 51759 - U.S. Medical Mission to Brazil; Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 21-24, 2013

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-27

    ... for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) \\1\\ and $5475 for large companies. This includes entry... will be the responsibility of each mission participant. \\1\\ An SME is defined as a firm with 500 or...

  3. How To Set Up Your Own Small Business. Service Company Case Study. Manufacturing Firm Case Study. Retail Store Case Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fallek, Max

    This collection of case studies is intended for use in a course in setting up a small business. The first, a case study of the process of setting up a service company, covers analyzing the pros and cons of starting one's own business, assessing the competition and local market, and selecting a site for and financing the business. The principal…

  4. An Examination of the Effects of Cultural, Climatic, Structural, and Technological Factors on Knowledge Management Effectiveness

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-12-15

    ineffective or missing incentive systems (Ruggles, 1998). A study of small and medium sized enterprises found that culture was the second highest rated...communicated by management and shared by the employees throughout the organization. In a study of small and medium sized companies, senior leadership was...operationalized as industry performance , diversification, firm size , structure and risk level (Tanriverdi, 2005). 14 Two recent studies examine KM

  5. 48 CFR 19.308 - Protesting a firm's status as an economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... for Award Management (SAM) as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern eligible under the WOSB Program, and shall not... reflect OHA's decision. (iv) The concern must remove its designation in SAM as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern...

  6. 37 CFR 401.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER GOVERNMENT..., developmental, or research work funded in whole or in part by the Federal government. This term also includes... of experimental, developmental, or research work under a funding agreement as defined in the first...

  7. 75 FR 52211 - Minority Enterprise Development Week, 2010

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-25

    ... communities. Today, as we emerge from a historic recession, many families and businesses face difficult... of our entrepreneurs and small business owners, whose tireless work ethic has defined the character... business owners whose firms generate jobs, strengthen our economy, and embody the entrepreneurial spirit of...

  8. Empirical Linkages between Firm Competencies and Organisational Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Peter; Donegan, Kevin

    2003-01-01

    Management, operational, technology, and learning competencies in 26 large and 15 small Australian construction contractors were identified at five levels: simplistic, structure, efficiency, value, and dynamic. Organizational learning appeared useful when combined with competency development embedded in the routines of a learning culture.…

  9. Environmental strategy and performance in small firms: a resource-based perspective.

    PubMed

    Aragón-Correa, J Alberto; Hurtado-Torres, Nuria; Sharma, Sanjay; García-Morales, Víctor J

    2008-01-01

    In spite of the widespread recognition of the important roles that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play in most economies, limited research has focused on their impacts on the natural environment and the strategies such enterprises adopt to reduce these impacts. It is usually assumed that SMEs lack the resources to implement proactive environmental strategies that go beyond minimum regulatory compliance. In this study of 108 SMEs in the automotive repair sector in Southern Spain, we found that SMEs undertake a range of environmental strategies from reactive regulatory compliance to proactive pollution prevention and environmental leadership. These strategies are associated with three organizational capabilities: shared vision, stakeholder management, and strategic proactivity, hypothesized based on the unique strategic characteristics of SMEs--shorter lines of communication and closer interaction within the SMEs, the presence of a founder's vision, flexibility in managing external relationships, and an entrepreneurial orientation. We also found that firms with the most proactive practices exhibited a significantly positive financial performance.

  10. Industry evolution through consolidation: Implications for addiction treatment.

    PubMed

    Corredoira, Rafael A; Kimberly, John R

    2006-10-01

    Drawing on experiences in other industries, this article argues that the business of addiction treatment is likely to be transformed by the advent of a period of consolidation, in which a number of small independent programs will be acquired by larger, better capitalized, and managerially more sophisticated enterprises. Consolidation will be driven by opportunities to leverage new technologies, to exploit new regulatory initiatives, and to introduce economies of scale and scope into an industry that is currently highly fragmented. The process is likely to result in segmentation of the market, with the coexistence of large, generalist, highly standardized firms and a number of small highly specialized firms. When an industry consolidates, the types and quality of services provided can improve through the adoption of best practices and through increased competition among larger providers. If these larger providers are publicly traded, however, efforts to improve will inevitably be influenced by pressures to maintain or increase quarter-to-quarter earnings and share prices, leaving open the long-term impact on service quality.

  11. Moving beyond Stylized Economic Network Models: The Hybrid World of the Indian Firm Ownership Network1

    PubMed Central

    Mani, Dalhia; Moody, James

    2014-01-01

    A central theme of economic sociology has been to highlight the complexity and diversity of real world markets, but many network models of economic social structure ignore this feature and rely instead on stylized one-dimensional characterizations. Here, the authors return to the basic insight of structural diversity in economic sociology. Using the Indian interorganizational ownership network as their case, they discover a composite—or “hybrid”—model of economic networks that combines elements of prior stylized models. The network contains a disconnected periphery conforming closely to a “transactional” model; a semiperiphery characterized by small, dense clusters with sporadic links, as predicted in “small-world” models; and finally a nested core composed of clusters connected via multiple independent paths. The authors then show how a firm’s position within the mesolevel structure is associated with demographic features such as age and industry and differences in the extent to which firms engage in multiplex and high-value exchanges. PMID:25418990

  12. Relationship mapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Benachenhou, D.

    2009-04-01

    Information-technology departments in large enterprises spend 40% of budget on information integration-combining information from different data sources into a coherent form. IDC, a market-intelligence firm, estimates that the market for data integration and access software (which includes the key enabling technology for information integration) was about 2.5 billion in 2007, and is expected to grow to 3.8 billion in 2012. This is only the cost estimate for structured or traditional database information integration. Just imagine the market for transforming text into structured information and subsequent fusion with traditional databases.

  13. The Paradox of "Structured" Methods for Software Requirements Management: A Case Study of an e-Government Development Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conboy, Kieran; Lang, Michael

    This chapter outlines the alternative perspectives of "rationalism" and "improvisation" within information systems development and describes the major shortcomings of each. It then discusses how these shortcomings manifested themselves within an e-government case study where a "structured" requirements management method was employed. Although this method was very prescriptive and firmly rooted in the "rational" paradigm, it was observed that users often resorted to improvised behaviour, such as privately making decisions on how certain aspects of the method should or should not be implemented.

  14. An analysis of the relationship between staff qualification and export readiness of pharmaceutical companies: the case of iran.

    PubMed

    Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi

    2012-01-01

    Export and the readiness to export constitute the first step of international marketing, which are affected by both internal and external factors of firms. One of the most important internal factors is the presence of skilled personnel. The purpose of this study was to define the relationship between staff qualification and encouragment with the readiness level of Iranian pharmacuetical firms for engagement in export marketing. The research was based on a single case study on a basket of seven leading domestic firms. For the bias reduction, questionnaires as well as interviews with managers were used. The performance of the studied factor was lower than the desired level for export readiness and there was much scope for improvement in staff qualifications to achieve such readiness. The results of this research enable small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to evaluate their staff qualification levels needed for export readiness and to detect their shortcomings in order to improve them.

  15. An Analysis of the Relationship Between Staff Qualification and Export Readiness of Pharmaceutical Companies: The Case of Iran

    PubMed Central

    Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi

    2012-01-01

    Export and the readiness to export constitute the first step of international marketing, which are affected by both internal and external factors of firms. One of the most important internal factors is the presence of skilled personnel. The purpose of this study was to define the relationship between staff qualification and encouragment with the readiness level of Iranian pharmacuetical firms for engagement in export marketing. The research was based on a single case study on a basket of seven leading domestic firms. For the bias reduction, questionnaires as well as interviews with managers were used. The performance of the studied factor was lower than the desired level for export readiness and there was much scope for improvement in staff qualifications to achieve such readiness. The results of this research enable small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to evaluate their staff qualification levels needed for export readiness and to detect their shortcomings in order to improve them. PMID:24250528

  16. Promoting innovation in small markets: Evidence from the market for rare and intractable diseases.

    PubMed

    Iizuka, Toshiaki; Uchida, Gyo

    2017-07-01

    In many medical care markets with limited profit potential, firms often have little incentive to innovate. These include the market for rare diseases, "neglected" tropical diseases, and personalized medicine. Governments and not-for-profit organizations promote innovation in such markets but empirical evidence on the policy effect is limited. We study this issue by analyzing the impact of a demand-side policy in Japan, which reduces the cost sharing of patients with some rare and intractable diseases and attempts to establish and promote the treatment of those diseases. Using clinical trials data taken from public registries, we identify the effect of the policy using a difference-in-difference approach. We find that the demand-side policy increased firms' incentive to innovate: firm-sponsored clinical trials increased 181% (0.16 per disease per year) when covered by the policy. This result indicates that the demand-side policy can be an important part of innovation policies in markets with limited profit potential. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Users guide for STHARVEST: software to estimate the cost of harvesting small timber.

    Treesearch

    Roger D. Fight; Xiaoshan Zhang; Bruce R. Hartsough

    2003-01-01

    The STHARVEST computer application is Windows-based, public-domain software used to estimate costs for harvesting small-diameter stands or the small-diameter component of a mixed-sized stand. The equipment production rates were developed from existing studies. Equipment operating cost rates were based on November 1998 prices for new equipment and wage rates for the...

  18. 48 CFR 19.308 - Protesting a firm's status as an economically disadvantaged women-owned small business concern or...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Management (SAM) as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern eligible under the WOSB Program, and shall not submit an offer...'s decision; and (iii) The concern must remove its designation in SAM as an EDWOSB or WOSB concern...

  19. Humboldt County Employer Survey.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lyons, Dave

    A project was undertaken in Humboldt County to collect information from large and small businesses in the areas of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, wholesale and retail, finance, services, and public information with respect to their employee requirements and needs. In all, 451 firms were surveyed to determine the size of the…

  20. The Employer's Voice: Frontline Workers and Workforce Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA.

    Seventeen small and mid-sized employers from Annie E. Casey Foundation Jobs Initiative sites addressed the challenges of recruiting, retaining, and promoting frontline workers. Employers shared collaboration experiences with Jobs Initiatives sites to develop effective, efficient strategies to prepare and support low-income residents. Firms relied…

  1. 37 CFR 401.4 - Contractor appeals of exceptions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Contractor appeals of exceptions. 401.4 Section 401.4 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TECHNOLOGY POLICY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE BY NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESS FIRMS UNDER...

  2. 13 CFR 120.660 - Suspension or revocation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... dealer from engaging in the securities business, or is investigating the firm or broker for a practice... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Suspension or revocation. 120.660 Section 120.660 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Secondary...

  3. Learning to Cope with Change: The Story of an OD Intervention.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McGivern, Chris; Broomhall, Mike

    1978-01-01

    Describes a change program developed for a small manufacturing firm to enable management to cope with organizational change and development. Intervention methods included data collection, anonymous questionnaires, a confrontation meeting, and introduction of change technologies using the organizational analysis approach. Benefits and problems…

  4. 78 FR 51746 - Trade Barriers That U.S. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Perceive as Affecting Exports to the...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-21

    ... this report, an SME is defined as a firm with fewer than 500 U.S.-based employees.) The Commission is... countries; the relative effect on exports of different EU trade barriers; and ways in which SME...

  5. 48 CFR 970.5227-10 - Patent rights-management and operating contracts, nonprofit organization or small business firm...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... operate, in the case of a machine or system; and, in each case, under such conditions as to establish that... request title within sixty (60) days after learning of the failure of the Contractor to disclose or to...

  6. 48 CFR 970.5227-10 - Patent rights-management and operating contracts, nonprofit organization or small business firm...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... operate, in the case of a machine or system; and, in each case, under such conditions as to establish that... request title within sixty (60) days after learning of the failure of the Contractor to disclose or to...

  7. 48 CFR 970.5227-10 - Patent rights-management and operating contracts, nonprofit organization or small business firm...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... operate, in the case of a machine or system; and, in each case, under such conditions as to establish that... request title within sixty (60) days after learning of the failure of the Contractor to disclose or to...

  8. A method for the inline measurement of milk gel firmness using an optical sensor.

    PubMed

    Arango, O; Castillo, M

    2018-05-01

    At present, selection of cutting time during cheesemaking is made based on subjective methods, which has effects on product homogeneity and has prevented complete automation of cheesemaking. In this work, a new method for inline monitoring of curd firmness is presented. The method consisted of developing a model that correlates the backscatter ratio of near infrared light during milk coagulation with the rheological storage modulus. The model was developed through a factorial design with 2 factors: protein concentration (3.4 and 5.1%) and coagulation temperature (30 and 40°C). Each treatment was replicated 3 times; the model was calibrated with the first replicate and validated using the remaining 2 replicates. The coagulation process was simultaneously monitored using an optical sensor and small-amplitude oscillatory rheology. The model was calibrated and successfully validated at the different protein concentrations and coagulation temperatures studied, predicting the evolution of storage modulus during milk coagulation with coefficient of determination values >0.998 and standard error of prediction values <3.4 Pa. The results demonstrated that the proposed method allows inline monitoring of curd firming in cheesemaking and cutting the curd at a proper firmness to each type of cheese. Copyright © 2018 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. The impacts of the rise of Paragraph IV challenges on startup alliance formation and firm value in the pharmaceutical industry.

    PubMed

    Filson, Darren; Oweis, Ahmed

    2010-07-01

    Court decisions in 1998 encouraged generic producers to pursue Paragraph IV patent challenges. A follow-up decision in 2000 marked the first successful challenge involving a blockbuster and brought further attention to this pathway for generic entry. We consider the impacts of these decisions on R&D-based startups, and we focus on the propensity to form alliances as a primary channel of impact. We find substantial negative impacts on alliance formation and firm value, and only the first event's impacts are restricted to small molecules. The results suggest that policy analyses in settings with R&D-based startups should consider impacts on alliance formation.

  10. Report from Massachusetts: employers largely support health care reform, and few signs of crowd-out appear.

    PubMed

    Gabel, Jon R; Whitmore, Heidi; Pickreign, Jeremy

    2008-01-01

    Based on a 2007 survey of 1,056 randomly selected Massachusetts firms, this paper presents findings about employers' attitudes about, knowledge of, and responses to recently enacted reform legislation. A majority of Massachusetts employers agree that all employers bear some responsibility for providing health benefits, firms not offering benefits should be required to pay a "fair share" contribution up to $295 annually per employee, and employers with ten or fewer employees should not be exempt from this requirement. Only 24 percent of employers with 3-50 workers are familiar with the Connector purchasing pool. About 3 percent of Massachusetts small employers intend to drop coverage, similar to national figures.

  11. Antibody-enabled small-molecule drug discovery.

    PubMed

    Lawson, Alastair D G

    2012-06-29

    Although antibody-based therapeutics have become firmly established as medicines for serious diseases, the value of antibodies as tools in the early stages of small-molecule drug discovery is only beginning to be realized. In particular, antibodies may provide information to reduce risk in small-molecule drug discovery by enabling the validation of targets and by providing insights into the design of small-molecule screening assays. Moreover, antibodies can act as guides in the quest for small molecules that have the ability to modulate protein-protein interactions, which have traditionally only been considered to be tractable targets for biological drugs. The development of small molecules that have similar therapeutic effects to current biologics has the potential to benefit a broader range of patients at earlier stages of disease.

  12. Virtual Observer Controller (VOC) for Small Unit Infantry Laser Simulation Training

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-04-01

    per-seat license when deployed. As a result, ViaVoice was abandoned early in development. Next, the SPHINX engine from Carnegie Mellon University was...examined. Sphinx is Java-based software, providing cross-platform functionality, and it is also free, open-source software. Software developers at...IST had experience using SPHINX , so it was initially selected it to be the VOC speech engine. After implementing a small portion of the VOC grammar

  13. Software-assisted small bowel motility analysis using free-breathing MRI: feasibility study.

    PubMed

    Bickelhaupt, Sebastian; Froehlich, Johannes M; Cattin, Roger; Raible, Stephan; Bouquet, Hanspeter; Bill, Urs; Patak, Michael A

    2014-01-01

    To validate a software prototype allowing for small bowel motility analysis in free breathing by comparing it to manual measurements. In all, 25 patients (15 male, 10 female; mean age 39 years) were included in this Institutional Review Board-approved, retrospective study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on a 1.5T system after standardized preparation acquiring motility sequences in free breathing over 69-84 seconds. Small bowel motility was analyzed manually and with the software. Functional parameters, measurement time, and reproducibility were compared using the coefficient of variance and paired Student's t-test. Correlation was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression. The 25 segments were analyzed twice both by hand and using the software with automatic breathing correction. All assessed parameters significantly correlated between the methods (P < 0.01), but the scattering of repeated measurements was significantly (P < 0.01) lower using the software (3.90%, standard deviation [SD] ± 5.69) than manual examinations (9.77%, SD ± 11.08). The time needed was significantly less (P < 0.001) with the software (4.52 minutes, SD ± 1.58) compared to manual measurement, lasting 17.48 minutes for manual (SD ± 1.75 minutes). The use of the software proves reliable and faster small bowel motility measurements in free-breathing MRI compared to manual analyses. The new technique allows for analyses of prolonged sequences acquired in free breathing, improving the informative value of the examinations by amplifying the evaluable data. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) area-characterization toolbox

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Price, Curtis V.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Hitt, Kerie J.

    2010-01-01

    This is release 1.0 of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Area-Characterization Toolbox. These tools are designed to be accessed using ArcGIS Desktop software (versions 9.3 and 9.3.1). The toolbox is composed of a collection of custom tools that implement geographic information system (GIS) techniques used by the NAWQA Program to characterize aquifer areas, drainage basins, and sampled wells. These tools are built on top of standard functionality included in ArcGIS Desktop running at the ArcInfo license level. Most of the tools require a license for the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. ArcGIS is a commercial GIS software system produced by ESRI, Inc. (http://www.esri.com). The NAWQA Area-Characterization Toolbox is not supported by ESRI, Inc. or its technical support staff. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

  15. Assessing the use of computers in industrial occupational health departments.

    PubMed

    Owen, J P

    1995-04-01

    Computers are widely used in business and industry and the benefits of computerizing occupational health (OH) departments have been advocated by several authors. The requirements for successful computerization of an OH department are reviewed. Having identified the theoretical benefits, the real picture in industry is assessed by surveying 52 firms with over 1000 employees in a large urban area. Only 15 (29%) of the companies reported having any OH service, of which six used computers in the OH department, reflecting the business priorities of most of the companies. The types of software systems used and their main use are examined, along with perceived benefits or disadvantages. With the decreasing costs of computers and increasingly 'user-friendly' software, there is a real cost benefit to be gained from using computers in OH departments, although the concept may have to be 'sold' to management.

  16. The Importance and Satisfaction of Collaborative Innovation for Strategic Entrepreneurship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tsai, I-Chang; Lei, Han-Sheng

    2016-01-01

    Building on network, learning, resource-based and real options theories, collaborative innovation through the sharing of ideas, knowledge, expertise, and opportunities can enable both small and large firms to successfully engage in strategic entrepreneurship. We use the real case of a research-oriented organization and its incubator for analysis…

  17. 48 CFR 919.7006 - Incentives for DOE contractor participation.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... ENERGY SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS The Department of Energy Mentor-Protege Program 919... Mentor firms may earn award fees associated with their performance as a Mentor. The award fee plan may... Mentor's performance in the DOE Mentor-Protege Program under any Mentor-Protege Agreement(s) as a...

  18. 48 CFR 719.273-6 - Application process.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... SOCIOECONOMIC PROGRAMS SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mentor-Protégé Program 719.273-6 Application process. Entities interested in becoming a Mentor firm must... the Mentor-Protégé Agreement and shall be evaluated for approval. Evaluations will consider the nature...

  19. Passing the Buck: This Is Not Teacher Leadership!

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grant, Carolyn; Singh, Hitashi

    2009-01-01

    Despite an enabling democratic policy framework, the leadership of many South African schools remains firmly entrenched within the formal, hierarchical management structure. The potential for teacher leadership is, therefore, relatively untapped and, where it is enacted, it is often restricted. We report on a small qualitative study which explored…

  20. Espey, Huston & Associates Technical Library. A Proposal.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fortine, Suellen

    This proposal for the establishment of a library or information center for an environmental and engineering consulting firm in Texas is divided into two phases--current problems, and future expansion of library service. Major considerations include informational problems of the existing small library facility, i.e., locational and subject access,…

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