Inexperienced Managers Research Articles

Venture Capital Investment Success: A Study of the Factors that Matter

Venture capital funding is essential for emerging businesses because it allows them to gain access to capital and other resources necessary for growth. VC firms play an important role in economic growth because they inspire innovative thinking and provide funding for startups to develop marketable products and cutting-edge technologies. Consequently, it is essential for venture capitalists to take into consideration relevant aspects before investing in order to increase the proportion of investments that are successful. Through literature analysis which has revealed that there are six key components to a successful venture capital firm: the team, the syndication, the valuation, the value-add, the interaction with investors, and the exits. Importantly, venture capitalists place more weight on the selection of transactions than on the selection of investments. Rather than considering a company's track record or product offerings, investors will place greater emphasis on the management team behind the venture. Many venture investors subscribe to the old adage that investing in a mediocre idea with excellent management is better than a fantastic business strategy with inexperienced management because a team with competent and experienced employees will play a significant part in the firm's growth. Even while it's crucial to choose your transactions carefully, value can also be created by the addition of new elements after an investment has been made.

Managing where you are: agglomeration economies, managerial industry experience and innovation in South-East Asia

ABSTRACT It is well-established that firms leverage both internal and external resources for their innovation activities. Even though the role of agglomeration economies in shaping the external resources available to firms has been particularly well-studied it is still unclear whether it is diversity or specialisation within agglomerations that drives firm innovativeness. We suggest that both do but that their relations with firm innovativeness are moderated by managerial industry experience. Using data from four South-East Asian economies we find that managers with more industry experience are better able to make the most of where they are, leveraging the opportunities afforded by their geographic environment. This finding is most pronounced in rural areas where firms with inexperienced managers almost never innovate, whereas half of the firms with experienced managers do. This suggests that future agglomeration research should be attentive to firm-level idiosyncrasies.

The Impact of Corporate Governance on Long Term Survival of Small Businesses in Canada

ABSTRACT Small businesses are the bedrock of every nation’s economy, and Canada is not an exception. However, small businesses are plagued by low survival rates, partly due to inexperienced management and poor financial planning among other issues and challenges. This article considers the impact of corporate governance on long-term survival of small businesses in Canada. Presented is the lens of two opposing theories of corporate governance (stakeholder and resource dependency) that, if viewed together, help explain the importance of corporate governance and how the implementation of some corporate governance principles and frameworks can help increase the chances of survival of small businesses.

Financial Data Center Configuration Management System Based on Random Forest Algorithm and Few-Shot Learning.

To form a unified configuration and information management platform, FCCMS (financial center configuration management system) will integrate and sort information based on various configuration data and relationships as well as integrate processes and permissions. However, the most serious issue that data centers are currently facing is how to effectively manage these infrastructures. For various infrastructures, the data center currently uses a decentralized operation and maintenance management model. When an infrastructure fails due to inexperienced configuration management, this mode is not conducive to quickly locating and resolving the problem. A detection method of RFCO (random forest algorithm based on clustering optimization) is proposed, and an appropriate tree is selected from RF to integrate, so as to achieve the best effect. In this paper, the target matching algorithm based on FSL (few-shot learning) is deeply studied, and the target detection model is applied to the target matching and positioning task by using the ML method. The performance of the algorithm is tested by experiments on relevant datasets to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm in various scenarios.

Mapping the post-bureaucratic landscape: project managers’ perception of bureaucracy in European Union Cohesion policy projects

New post-bureaucratic organizational forms, such as projects, are increasingly used in policy implementation. Their assumed benefits in decreasing bureaucracy and increasing flexibility have, however, been questioned. It has been argued that public projects increase red tape (or bureaucracy perceived as a nuisance) because of the formal rules associated with them. Despite the topicality of the subject, we do not know how public project bureaucracy is perceived by the actors involved. This article explores the bureaucracy of public projects by analysing project managers’ perceptions of them with data from European Union Cohesion policy projects in Finland. The data consist of project register data and a survey to project managers ( N = 728). The study finds that when talking of the perception of bureaucracy, it is relevant to distinguish between a general attitude towards bureaucracy and a specific perception of the task at hand. The general attitude seems more negative than the specific perception of bureaucracy. We also show that project managers’ experience, institutional background and share of administrative tasks in the project condition the extent to which bureaucracy is perceived as red tape. To conclude, the findings are discussed in relation to previous research on red tape in public administration. Points for practitioners Project organization connotes flexibility and innovation but involves also bureaucracy, which can be received as red tape, especially for inexperienced managers. In general, managers consider project bureaucracy as red tape, while in their own projects, bureaucracy is seen as less burdensome. Public managers have an advantage over managers from non-public organizations by perceiving public project bureaucracy as less burdensome.

Housing and Recidivism: The Critical Link to Reducing Louisiana’s Bulging Prisons

Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States in part because it has a high recidivism rate. One of the reasons ex-offenders return to jail is that they cannot find adequate housing after serving their time. As an inexperienced property manager of a mobile home park in rural Louisiana, the author gained an awareness of the re-entry hurdles ex-offenders face, in a most unexpected way. The park refused any potential resident who had a criminal background. One day a small unassuming man walked into the office, crumbled criminal background check in hand. His rejection certain, he nevertheless pulled out a large three-ring binder. “I know I’ve messed up in my life, but I’ve turned it around, and here’s my proof.” The author sat in silence as he paged through numerous certificates and glowing letters from prison guards, employers, and teachers both during and after his incarceration. The author was able to secure a waiver of the policy, and he became one of the best tenants the park ever had. This Article explores housing problems faced by the formerly incarcerated. It continues with a discussion of the problems faced by property managers in considering ex-offenders’ applications. Louisiana’s antiquated criminal system denies the formally incarcerated any easy means to prove the extent of their rehabilitation. To further complicate matters, property managers are denied access to the very information they most need to assess applicants’ qualifications. The Article recommends a three-pronged approach: (1) expand the criminal record to include communication about the ex-offender’s behavior while incarcerated; (2) allow web access to property managers regarding justice of the peace housing judgments; (3) and enact legislative changes that would protect the formerly incarcerated from discrimination.

Branch manager characteristics and efficiency during capital controls

This paper investigates the impact of manager characteristics on bank branch efficiency during the extreme economic event of capital controls. A unique branch-level data set comprising of accounting and personal managerial information of a representative Greek systemic bank is utilised. A profit-oriented bootstrapped DEA model is run for both the total branch network of the bank under investigation and a homogeneous group of its branches, covering the period from January 2016 to February 2017. It is found that university graduate managers outperform on average their colleagues with a secondary education level regardless of the sample used. In the case of the homogeneous sample, more experienced managers can tackle adverse crisis effects on branch performance more effectively than inexperienced managers; this is even more applicable to the large branches. In this homogeneous branch framework, management experience can satisfactorily compensate for educational limitations caused by a manager not having higher education qualifications.

Branch manager characteristics and efficiency during capital controls

This paper investigates the impact of manager characteristics on bank branch efficiency during the extreme economic event of capital controls. A unique branch-level data set comprising of accounting and personal managerial information of a representative Greek systemic bank is utilised. A profit-oriented bootstrapped DEA model is run for both the total branch network of the bank under investigation and a homogeneous group of its branches, covering the period from January 2016 to February 2017. It is found that university graduate managers outperform on average their colleagues with a secondary education level regardless of the sample used. In the case of the homogeneous sample, more experienced managers can tackle adverse crisis effects on branch performance more effectively than inexperienced managers; this is even more applicable to the large branches. In this homogeneous branch framework, management experience can satisfactorily compensate for educational limitations caused by a manager not having higher education qualifications.

Worlds Collide: Work, Life, and Social Media

While some cases may focus on using social media to advance the interests of a business or brand, this case is best positioned as a springboard for exploring social media as it may coexist with or be embedded in organizational life. The case depicts a challenge for a young direct report, a relatively inexperienced manager, and the manager's supervisor when the direct report reveals a passionate political opinion on Facebook and unwittingly links it to sensitive company information. The case discussion can (1) surface diverse student views on the uses of social media as they relate to work life; (2) encourage analysis of and decision-making in the context of a tricky multilevel managerial situation involving social media use, company nondisclosure policies, and communicating guidelines; and (3) consider how issues raised in the discussion may inform students' own choices as users of social media and as managers of people who use these channels. Larger managerial, organizational, and corporate communication issues that are complicated by employee social media use may arise in this class discussion, including: managing professional boundaries between levels of employees in an organization; the porous boundaries that exist between internal and external communication; and gray areas among private, personal, professional, political, and public speech. Excerpt UVA-BC-0267 Nov. 9, 2018 Worlds Collide: Work, Life, and Social Media Jenny Peters, assistant director of the Schools Assistance Contract at Atek International (Atek), sat at her computer at 8:00 a.m. on a cold Monday morning in February 2017, trying to slow her racing pulse. The prior afternoon, she had checked her Facebook account and discovered one of her direct reports, Richard Harley, had posted some sensitive company information to Facebook over the weekend that his friends, including several people in the company, had seen. Harley had even tagged her in the posts so that they showed up on her Facebook News Feed. She felt awful but didn't know how to respond, or what the consequences would be for herself, Harley, or the company. Peters then logged into her work email and saw a note from her supervisor, Mike Dupree, who said that he had also seen Harley's Facebook posts, and would see her at 10:00 a.m. Monday morning in his office. Peters tried to remain calm, but she had no idea what to do next. Atek International Atek, a government contractor, was cofounded in 1967 by Cal Sullivan, a Korean War veteran, and four former federal government employees. Over time, government contracting became a very lucrative business. By 2017, Atek was publicly traded and boasted 6,000 employees working in over 45 cities around the world and a global headquarters in Northern Virginia. Atek took a broad-brush approach to government support, pursuing contracts in the areas of government, education, energy, health, security, public safety, and social programming. The company provided comprehensive support including program management, business process, data analytics, cybersecurity, strategic planning, marketing strategy, and public relations. . . .

Multiple criteria-based efficient schemes for participants selection in mobile crowd sensing

Nowadays there is an increasing demand to provide a real-time environmental information. So, the growing number of mobile devices carried by users establishes a new and fast-growing sensing paradigm to satisfy this need which is called mobile crowd sensing (MCS). In MCS, the optimality of sensory data quality may not be satisfied due to the existence of inexperienced users and uncoordinated task management. This paper proposes a novel participant selection schemes for enhancing the data quality in MCS. The proposed selection schemes minimise incentive payments by selecting some participants while still satisfying sensory data quality constraint. Multiple criteria factors are used to evaluate the data quality of candidate users for selecting a minimal set of users with the best data quality values by using fuzzy logic controller. These factors include a user experience and a quality of sensory units of a mobile device with each user. The experimental results by using synthetic and real data show that the proposed selection schemes can gather high-quality sensory data with low cost compared to existing schemes.

A Framework of Efficient Material Storage Management on Congested Construction Site

Material storage management focuses on starting material into the built-up site to be recorded, the material layout and stored over a certain period until it is taken out of the storage area to the work site and the process is repeated. The emergence of new technologies that are not integrated and have no efficient management methods as well as inexperienced management negatively affect the storage management of overcrowded site sites. This study aims to devise an efficient set of materials storage management on a congested site. Critical studies have been referred on more than 50 previous research journals covering by the elements. The framework of this study comprises four elements that are defined as workflow of storage management, storage management systems, material storage methods and roles of responsible parties. The combination of the elements can contribute to the strengthening or discovery of the theory or concept that can be used by the developmental growth and future of the industry.

Implications of fund manager turnover in China

This study investigates the effect of manager turnover on fund returns in China, the largest developing market. Using unique Chinese data, we extend the study of Khorana (2001) by classifying manager turnover as internal relocation, switch to outside mutual fund, switch to hedge fund, and dropout from the fund industry. Among the four types of manager turnover, only dropout shows significantly negative pre-replacement and positive post-replacement excess returns over the benchmark. When a skilled (an unskilled) manager is replaced, post-replacement performance gets worse (better) than pre-replacement performance. A takeover of a fund by an experienced manager is likely to result in better post-replacement performance than takeover by an inexperienced manager.

Waste management plan for higher education institutions in developing countries: The Continuous Improvement Cycle model

Waste management in higher education institutions is generally a complex and multidisciplinary activity, which demands experienced managers. This work discusses the implementation of a Waste Management Plan based on Continuous Improvement Cycle at higher education institutions in developing countries. Proposed method is simpler than other iterative techniques as life cycle assessment, providing a higher probability of success for inexperienced managers, even in a scenario of financial resources scarcity. The results show three different scenarios: before implementation of the plan; after implementation of the plan; and after waste minimization awareness campaign. Percentages of recyclable material wasted were 60.0, 23.2, and 15.3, respectively. Paper was the most important generated waste in terms of quantities, and the percentages obtained were 50.5, 15.3, and 9.4, respectively. In addition, chemical waste and construction waste stored over many years could be managed. Environmental awareness aspects, difficulties found and the respective solutions are discussed as well. Proposed methodology is perfectly suitable for developing countries with high efficiency and low cost, leading to greener universities.

Who neglects risk? Investor experience and the credit boom

Many have argued that overoptimistic thinking on the part of lenders helps fuel credit booms. We use new micro-data on mutual funds’ holdings of securitizations to examine which investors are susceptible to such boom-time thinking. We show that firsthand experience plays a key role in shaping investors’ beliefs. During the 2003–2007 mortgage boom, inexperienced fund managers loaded up on securitizations linked to nonprime mortgages, accumulating twice the holdings of more seasoned managers. Moreover, inexperienced managers who personally experienced severe or recent adverse investment outcomes behaved more like seasoned managers. Training and institutional memory can serve as partial substitutes for personal experience.

Harnessing the power of the job description

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show managers can effectively utilize a job description throughout an employee's tenure. Typically, a job description is used in the hiring process. However, a job description can be utilized in recruiting and selection, compensation, evaluation, training and development, health and safety, and succession planning. Design/methodology/approach The author approached the use of a job description from a manager’s perspective. Using both existing literature and conceptual usage of a job description, the author provides a potential use of a job description to improve the human resource competitiveness of an organization. Findings If utilized throughout the life of employment, a job description is a powerful tool that can aid managers. Managers have a road map that can help them with their duties of planning, leading, organizing, controlling and staffing. With a road map, the complexities of management become easier. Research Limitations/implications The limitations involve actual data that prove the effectiveness of the job description. Most of the information provided in the article is theoretical but potentially provides practical information for practitioners. Practical implications The article provides a practical application of the use of a job description. The information provided can be utilized immediately by practitioners. Specifically, inexperienced managers can use the job description as a road map for supervising an employee through the employment relationship. Social implications Unfortunately, there are very little social implications. However, whenever organizations can improve their relationships with their employees, society will surely benefit. Originality/value The article presented involves pieces of previous works, but to date, the author could not find another example of the total use of the job description through the employment relationship. Therefore, it appears to be very original in application.

Perceived managerial functions in the front-end phase of innovation

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore managerial functions and related activities of inexperienced project managers in the front-end of the innovation (FEI) process.Design/methodology/approach– In total, 15 student project managers were interviewed while they were engaged in the front-end phase of their respective eight-month projects. In total, 757 interview transcript segments on their perceptions of managerial functions were categorized based on thematic similarity of content.Findings– Four major managerial functions emerged: providing structural support, coordinating and acting as a link, empowering the team, and encouraging and providing social support. Out of these, traditional task-oriented managerial functions were emphasized.Research limitations/implications– Although limited by the small amount of participants in a university setting, the results suggest that task-oriented managerial functions are dominant even in the FEI for inexperienced project managers. More research is needed to understand the antecedents and consequences of such task-dominance, and whether it persists as more experience is accrued. On the other hand, domain knowledge seemed to play a smaller role than indicated by previous research.Practical implications– Project managers should pay attention to creating structure in the uncertain front-end phase. Swift familiarization with the capabilities and practices of each team member cannot be overemphasized, as otherwise the heterogeneity of the team might become a limitation rather than asset. On the other hand, domain experience of the manager may not be necessary in the FEI.Originality/value– The study addresses the gap in previous research on managerial functions specifically in the FEI. Task-oriented managerial functions emerged as way of novice project managers attempting to deal with the fluctuating contingencies in order to foster innovation.

Entrepreneurial failure: Statistical and psychological explanations

Research summary: Entrepreneurial start‐ups suffer high rates of business failure. Previous research on entrepreneurial failure has focused on two kinds of explanations: statistical and psychological. Statistical explanations attribute excess entry to random errors made by boundedly rational entrepreneurs attempting to estimate business opportunities in risky markets. Psychological explanations focus on entrepreneurial overconfidence and competition neglect. These explanations emerged independently and have not been tested or compared in the same study. In this experimental study, we distinguish entrepreneurial markets from other types of markets and test statistical and psychological hypotheses for all market types. We find that excess entry is significantly greater in small, risky markets than in other market types, and that confidence levels account for excess entry, over and above the effects of unbiased statistical errors.Managerial summary: How can we explain the fact that most entrepreneurial ventures fail within five years? Market risk, inadequate capital and inexperienced management certainly play a role. However, from an economic point of view, it seems odd that inexperienced, under‐funded people continue to engage in risky behavior that is widely known to fail. We conducted experiments that tested two explanations of entrepreneurial failure. The first explanation – the statistical hypothesis – argues that entrepreneurship involves high uncertainty, so random errors are inevitable and can produce excess entry (or under‐entry). The second explanation – the psychological hypothesis – says that entrepreneurs' mistakes are not random but skewed heavily toward excess entry; hence, their decisions are distorted by psychological factors such as overconfidence. Our experiments found support for both of these explanations. Random errors under uncertainty explained 60% of the excess entry in our experiments. However, the overconfidence hypothesis correctly predicted that excess entry exceeds under‐entry, and our psychological measures of overconfidence found support in the data. We also found that the markets that most often attract entrepreneurial investment – emerging markets with high uncertainty – were the markets most conducive to excess entry, due to a combination of psychological and market factors. Hence, we conclude that potential entrepreneurs should pay less attention to their own abilities and aspirations, and more attention to the external realities of competition in the marketplace. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mutual Fund Performance and Governance Structure: The Role of Portfolio Managers and Boards of Directors

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of the relation between the performance and governance structure of open-end, domestic-equity mutual funds during the 1985 to 2002 period. We show that experienced large-fund portfolio managers outperform their size, book-to-market, and momentum benchmarks, but that experienced small-fund portfolio managers underperform their benchmarks — indicating the presence of managerial entrenchment in the mutual fund industry. When we examine the role of fund boards, we find that independent directors are crucial for terminating underperforming seasoned portfolio managers, as outflows are not sufficient to pressure the management company to do so. In fact, our evidence indicates that independent boards impact pre-expense performance much more significantly than their prior-documented impact on fund fees. We also find a role for internal governance: inside directors and large management company complexes appear to better monitor performance due to “hidden actions,” as well as terminating underperforming inexperienced managers.

The demographics of fund turnover

This article documents various demographic factors which influence mutual fund turnover including managerial experience, location, education, and gender. On average, funds in financial centers trade more but this excess turnover declines with experience. While most extra trading is concentrated among less experienced managers in financial centers, they do not outperform inexperienced managers located in smaller towns. Furthermore, managers in financial centers increase trading after good performance. This result is particularly strong for inexperienced, more educated male fund managers investing in growth stocks and located in New York. Our results provide strong evidence that demographic factors influence fund manager trading behavior.

Simulator-Based Team Training to Share Resources in a Matrix Structure Organization

Project management in a matrix organization is complex because project managers share the organization resources (budget and human), and cooperation between managers is critical for effective resource sharing. Therefore, training project managers in the matrix structure to work as a team is required. A simulator-based method to train managers to work as a team is presented. A project team builder (PTB) simulating a dynamic, stochastic multiproject environment was designed and implemented in a project management course for graduate students in systems engineering. Recording the learning history and having a debriefing mechanism were implemented as mechanisms to facilitate team learning. A total of 132 participants composed of graduate students, representing experienced managers, and undergraduate students as inexperienced managers, assigned into teams of three participants each, used the simulator in a multiuser multi-project mode. The findings indicate that for the initial learning phase and transfer to a different scenario, the three factors, history, debriefing, and experience, affected the performances. Furthermore, the interactions between the debriefing and history factors, between the experience and debriefing factors, and between the history and experience factors were all significant. Based on these findings, a new paradigm for a simulation-based team learning is presented.