Abstract The purpose of the present study is to theoretically and empirically examine how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities. More specifically, this study focuses on the business model antecedents, in other words, entrepreneurial actions between the moment of opportunity identification and the inception of the functioning business model. By reviewing the extant literature on opportunity and business models, this study develops and argues for an action approach to understanding the business model creation process. Focusing on theory development, this research follows a cyclical process of research-oriented action research, utilizing the diary method. In total, one hundred fifty five diaries were collected and analyzed for the purposes of this research. Four groups of respondents were included: the participants of a start-up accelerator program in Oulu, Finland; the participants of a project carried out at the University of Oulu, Finland; the participants of a venture creation training organized by the Business Model Design Center, Ålborg, Denmark; and two novice entrepreneurial teams based in Helsinki, Finland. This study develops a conceptual model that illustrates how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities. The model suggests that the process of business model creation is a continuous iteration of conceptualizing and contextualizing. Conceptualizing is associated with choices and decisions made under uncertainty, whereas contextualizing is about acting upon these choices and decisions, thereby testing their feasibility and acceptability against perceived reality. Conceptualizing triggers action as entrepreneurs try to actualize the choices and decisions they have made. Conceptualizing and contextualizing mutually support and reinforce each other by means of feedback loops: Changes in opportunity conceptualizations and/or business model conceptualizations necessitate modifications in their contextualization and vice versa. The major contribution of this study lies in addressing what has previously been a mostly neglected area of research and explaining how entrepreneurs create business models to capture opportunities from the action perspective. From the methodological perspective, this study employs a novel combination of action research and the diary method, which allows investigating entrepreneurial actions in their natural setting. / Tiivistelmä Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kuinka yrittäjät luovat liiketoimintamalleja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia hyödyntääkseen. Erityisesti työssä keskitytään liiketoimintamallien aihioihin, joita yrittäjät työstävät liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien tunnistamisen ja toimivan liiketoimintamallin syntymisen välisenä aikana. Työssä rakennetaan aiempaan liiketoimintamahdollisuus- ja liiketoimintamallitutkimukseen perustuva, yrittäjien päiväkirjoja hyödyntävä toimintatutkimuslähestymistapa, jonka tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä liiketoimintamallien luomisen prosessista sekä teoreettisesta että empiirisestä näkökulmasta. Kaikkiaan tutkimuksessa kerättiin ja analysoitiin 155 päiväkirjaa neljästä eri vastaajaryhmästä: yrityskiihdyttämöstä Oulussa, Oulun yliopiston järjestämässä yrittäjyysprojektissa, Aalborgin yliopiston Business Model Design Centerin järjestämässä yrityksen perustamiskoulutuksessa, ja kahdessa aloittavien yrittäjien tiimissä Helsingissä. Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin käsitteellinen malli kuvaamaan kuinka yrittäjät luovat liiketoimintamalleja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien hyödyntämiseksi. Malli esittää liiketoimintamallin luomisen jatkuvana ja iteratiivisena konseptointina sekä kontekstualisointina. Konseptoinnilla tarkoitetaan tässä yhteydessä yrittäjien epävarmuuden vallitessa tekemiä valintoja ja päätöksiä, kontekstualisoinnilla näiden valintojen ja päätösten mukaisesti toimimista. Konseptualisoinnissa ja kontekstualisoinnissa testataan liiketoimintamalliaihioiden toimivuutta, kannattavuutta ja hyväksyttävyyttä yrittäjien kokemassa todellisuudessa. Konseptointi käynnistää toiminnan, jolla yrittäjät pyrkivät toteuttamaan tekemiään valintoja ja päätöksiä. Konseptointi ja kontekstualisointi vahvistavat ja tukevat toisiaan kaksisuuntaisen palautemekanismin kautta: muutos liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien ja liiketoimintamallien konseptoinnissa aiheuttaa tarpeen muuttaa tapaa, joilla niitä testataan ja toteutetaan käytännössä – samalla käytännön toteutuksessa opittu heijastuu takaisin siihen, miten liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja liiketoimintamalleja konseptoidaan. Työn pääasiallinen kontribuutio on liiketoimintamallien toimintatutkimuksen alueella. Aiemmassa liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia ja liiketoimintamalleja yhdistävässä tutkimuksessa ei ole juurikaan sovellettu toimintatutkimuksellista lähestymistapaa. Työssä onkin kehitetty uusi päiväkirjoihin perustuva toimintatutkimusmenetelmä, joka mahdollistaa yrittäjien toiminnan tutkimisen tilannesidonnaiset tekijät huomioon ottaen. Käytännössä työn tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää uuden yritystoiminnan luomisessa sekä yrittäjien ja yritysten tukemisessa.

O estudo tem por objetivo contribuir na construção de modelo econômico de precificação sustentável, mais especificamente na atividade do agronegócio do fumo, explicando a percepção dos fumicultores e empresas fumageiras da região Sul do Brasil sobre o valor da remuneração do trabalho no custo da safra negociada entre as partes, com vistas à minimização dos conflitos existentes. Para atingir tal objetivo foi utilizada uma pesquisa exploratória para a interpretação dos conceitos, natureza e mensuração do modelo negocial vigente, assim como a revisão e análise dos principais indicadores de mensuração a ele relacionados e a análise dos modelos de precificação existentes na literatura que forneceram o arcabouço necessário à construção do modelo proposto. Em um segundo momento, com base nos modelos de precificação analisados, foi identificado o modelo de precificação "K" (Markup) como a melhor alternativa para o modelo construído. Simulou-se, através de modelos econométricos, as relações entre as variáveis dos fatores de produção e do preço de venda do fumo industrializado pelas indústrias fumageiras, extraindo-se correlações entre elas, formadoras da base do modelo construído. A seguir, são apresentados dois ensaios de modelos de precificação propostos sendo definido o modelo construído, para o qual se utilizou as variáveis de custo da mão-de-obra de terceiros (safristas), mão-de-obra do agricultor proprietário da terra e demais custos fixos e variáveis para a composição do custo de produção da safra e do custo de oportunidade sustentável, sendo este suportado pela teoria do Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Com base na teoria e nos resultados obtidos com a aplicação prática do modelo nos dados oriundos da pesquisa, foram extraídas algumas conclusões que definem o modelo construído como o mais apropriado para a precificação da safra de fumo que permite minizar os conflitos negociais entre os atores desse elo da cadeia produtiva. Observa-se que o modelo construído tende a eliminar os conflitos negociais entre os fumicultores e industriais fumageiras, visando a preservar a renda dos agricultores pela inserção no modelo de precificação do custo de oportunidade do agricultor como um prêmio de risco baseado no CAPM, proporcionando a permanência dos mesmos na atividade fumageira, além da possibilidade de utilização como ferramenta de minimização dos recursos utilizados para a preservação da rentabilidade do setor. Finalmente, conclui-se que este trabalho traz uma efetiva contribuição ao estudo de modelos econômicos de precificação no agronegócio, mais estreitamente na atividade do fumo. / The survey aims at contributing for the construction of an economic model of sustainable precification, more specifically in the tobacco agribusiness, explaining the tobacco farmers' perceptions and the tobacco companies at the Southern region in Brazil on the amount of the remuneration of the work on the cost of the crop negotiated between the parties aiming at the minimization of the existing conflicts. In order to reach this goal, it was used a exploratory research for the interpretation of concepts, nature and measurement of the ruling business model, as well as the review and analysis of the main indicators of related measurement and the analysis of the precification models in the literature which supplied the fundamentals necessary for the construction of the proposed model. Secondly, based in the precification models analyzed, it was identified the precification model "K" (Mark-up) as the best alternative for the constructed model. Through econometric models, it was simulated the relations between the variables of production factors and the selling price of the tobacco industrialized by the tobacco industries, extracting the correlations between them, the base formers of the constructed model. Next, two essays of proposed precification models are presented and it was used two variables: cost of third parties manpower, landowner manpower, and other fixed and variable costs for the composition of the crop production cost and the sustainable opportunity cost, the latter being supported by the Capital Asset Pricing Model -CAPM. Based in the theory and results obtained with the practical application of the model on the data from the research, some conclusions were obtained, defining the constructed model as the most appropriate for the tobacco crop precification, allowing the minimization of business conflicts between the actors of this link of the productive chain. It is observed that the constructed model tends to eliminate the business conflicts between tobacco farmers and tobacco industries, aiming at preserving the farmers' income by the insertion in the cost precification model of the farmer as a risk premium based in the CAPM, propitiating their permanence in the tobacco activity, besides the possibility of its utilization as a minimization tool of the resources used for the preservation of the sector profitability. Finally, it is concluded that this work brings an effective contribution to the study of economic models of precification in agribusiness, more strictly in the tobacco activity.

Developments in technology have changed the way we do everything; advanced our research capabilities, enhanced our communication abilities and speeds, even the way people commit crimes. It provides perpetrators with a new way to commit traditional crimes as well as new forms of crime. One of the many opportunities involved with increased communication devices is known as sexting. Adolescent sexting has received national and local attention due to possible long-term implications such as registering as a sex offender and even suicide. Sexting, which is considered an antisocial behavior among adolescents, has progressively become implicated in peer pressure as well. Peer pressure causes individuals to commit cruel acts or crimes in which they normally would not do because they are forced, or feel obligated to do so, by their peers. Further study into peer pressure and sexting is needed to discover if peer pressure and opportunity are the reasons why adolescents engage in sexting. To discover this, I surveyed college undergraduate students to determine the causes behind their sexting habits in high school.

O estudo tem por objetivo contribuir na construção de modelo econômico de precificação sustentável, mais especificamente na atividade do agronegócio do fumo, explicando a percepção dos fumicultores e empresas fumageiras da região Sul do Brasil sobre o valor da remuneração do trabalho no custo da safra negociada entre as partes, com vistas à minimização dos conflitos existentes. Para atingir tal objetivo foi utilizada uma pesquisa exploratória para a interpretação dos conceitos, natureza e mensuração do modelo negocial vigente, assim como a revisão e análise dos principais indicadores de mensuração a ele relacionados e a análise dos modelos de precificação existentes na literatura que forneceram o arcabouço necessário à construção do modelo proposto. Em um segundo momento, com base nos modelos de precificação analisados, foi identificado o modelo de precificação "K" (Markup) como a melhor alternativa para o modelo construído. Simulou-se, através de modelos econométricos, as relações entre as variáveis dos fatores de produção e do preço de venda do fumo industrializado pelas indústrias fumageiras, extraindo-se correlações entre elas, formadoras da base do modelo construído. A seguir, são apresentados dois ensaios de modelos de precificação propostos sendo definido o modelo construído, para o qual se utilizou as variáveis de custo da mão-de-obra de terceiros (safristas), mão-de-obra do agricultor proprietário da terra e demais custos fixos e variáveis para a composição do custo de produção da safra e do custo de oportunidade sustentável, sendo este suportado pela teoria do Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Com base na teoria e nos resultados obtidos com a aplicação prática do modelo nos dados oriundos da pesquisa, foram extraídas algumas conclusões que definem o modelo construído como o mais apropriado para a precificação da safra de fumo que permite minizar os conflitos negociais entre os atores desse elo da cadeia produtiva. Observa-se que o modelo construído tende a eliminar os conflitos negociais entre os fumicultores e industriais fumageiras, visando a preservar a renda dos agricultores pela inserção no modelo de precificação do custo de oportunidade do agricultor como um prêmio de risco baseado no CAPM, proporcionando a permanência dos mesmos na atividade fumageira, além da possibilidade de utilização como ferramenta de minimização dos recursos utilizados para a preservação da rentabilidade do setor. Finalmente, conclui-se que este trabalho traz uma efetiva contribuição ao estudo de modelos econômicos de precificação no agronegócio, mais estreitamente na atividade do fumo. / The survey aims at contributing for the construction of an economic model of sustainable precification, more specifically in the tobacco agribusiness, explaining the tobacco farmers' perceptions and the tobacco companies at the Southern region in Brazil on the amount of the remuneration of the work on the cost of the crop negotiated between the parties aiming at the minimization of the existing conflicts. In order to reach this goal, it was used a exploratory research for the interpretation of concepts, nature and measurement of the ruling business model, as well as the review and analysis of the main indicators of related measurement and the analysis of the precification models in the literature which supplied the fundamentals necessary for the construction of the proposed model. Secondly, based in the precification models analyzed, it was identified the precification model "K" (Mark-up) as the best alternative for the constructed model. Through econometric models, it was simulated the relations between the variables of production factors and the selling price of the tobacco industrialized by the tobacco industries, extracting the correlations between them, the base formers of the constructed model. Next, two essays of proposed precification models are presented and it was used two variables: cost of third parties manpower, landowner manpower, and other fixed and variable costs for the composition of the crop production cost and the sustainable opportunity cost, the latter being supported by the Capital Asset Pricing Model -CAPM. Based in the theory and results obtained with the practical application of the model on the data from the research, some conclusions were obtained, defining the constructed model as the most appropriate for the tobacco crop precification, allowing the minimization of business conflicts between the actors of this link of the productive chain. It is observed that the constructed model tends to eliminate the business conflicts between tobacco farmers and tobacco industries, aiming at preserving the farmers' income by the insertion in the cost precification model of the farmer as a risk premium based in the CAPM, propitiating their permanence in the tobacco activity, besides the possibility of its utilization as a minimization tool of the resources used for the preservation of the sector profitability. Finally, it is concluded that this work brings an effective contribution to the study of economic models of precification in agribusiness, more strictly in the tobacco activity.

O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir com o aperfeiçoamento das informações contábeis para a gestão das Instituições de Ensino Superior com Certificado de Entidade Beneficente de Assistência Social - IESCEBAS, por meio da proposição de um modelo de apuração e evidenciação do resultado com o Certificado de Entidade Beneficente de Assistência Social. O estudo desenvolve-se a partir da análise dos seguintes aspectos: caracterização e definição de uma IESCEBAS, processo de gestão e sistemas de informações com base numa abordagem sistêmica. Os gestores, governo e sociedade necessitam de informações úteis e confiáveis sobre os resultados com o CEBAS para a tomada de decisões. Porém, conforme se constatou pela pesquisa de campo realizada por meio de questionários e análises das demonstrações contábeis, que a prática adotada pelas instituições objeto de estudo e também a norma editada pelo Conselho Federal de Contabilidade, não são adequadas para fornecer informações que subsidiem os gestores, governo e sociedade na tomada de decisões. Ao discorrer sobre os conceitos de receitas, custos, ativos, passivos e custo de oportunidade, conclui-se que o CEBAS gera impactos patrimoniais e econômicos que devem ser apurados e evidenciados pela contabilidade. Contudo, verificou-se pela análise dos resultados da pesquisa de campo, que não existe clareza quanto aos procedimentos contábeis e à legislação aplicáveis na apuração e evidenciação desses impactos pela contabilidade. A partir desta constatação, é proposto um modelo de apuração e evidenciação dos resultados com o certificado das IESCEBAS, de modo a subsidiar os gestores, governo e sociedade na tomada de decisões. Ao final, o modelo proposto é aplicado ao caso de duas IESCEBAS, com a finalidade de verificar sua utilidade. / This study aims to contribute to the improvement of accounting information for administering Higher Education Institutions with a Philanthropy Certificate - IESCEBAS, through the proposal of a model for verifying and disclosing the income obtained through the Philanthropy Certificate. The study is based on the analysis of the following aspects: characterization and definition of an IESCEBAS, management process and information systems on the basis of a systemic approach. The managers, government and society need useful and trustworthy information about the results obtained through the Philanthropy Certificate with a view to decision-making. Nevertheless, as we observed from the field research held by means of questionnaires and from the analysis of the financial statements, the practice adopted by the institutions in this study as well as the norm issued by the Brazilian Federal Accounting Council are not adequate to supply information that assists the managers, government and society in decision-making. Our discussion of the revenues, costs, assets, liabilities and opportunity cost concepts leads us to the conclusion that the Philanthropy Certificate generates equity and economic impacts that have to be verified and disclosed by accounting. However, we observed from the analysis of the field research results that there are uncertainties with respect to the accounting procedures and legislation that should be applied in the verification and disclosure of these impacts by accounting. On the basis of this observation, we propose a model for verifying and disclosing the income obtained through the Philanthropy Certificate, so as to assist the managers, government and society in making decisions. Finally, the proposed model is applied to two IESCEBAS, with a view to verifying its usefulness.

Internationally mobile individuals such as migrants and expatriates exhibit a higher level of entrepreneurial activity than people without cross-cultural experience. Current research suggests that this pattern is rooted in specific resources and institutional arrangements that increase the attractiveness of exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities. In this study, we provide an additional explanation: We argue that cross-cultural experience increases the ability to recognize entrepreneurial opportunities. This argument is supported by two complementary studies - a longitudinal quasi-experiment and a priming experiment. We find convergent evidence that cross-cultural experience increases a person's capabilities to recognize particularly profitable types of opportunities by facilitating the application of cross-cultural knowledge for the discovery of arbitrage opportunities and creative recombination. (authors' abstract)

O estudo tem por objetivo contribuir na construção de modelo econômico de precificação sustentável, mais especificamente na atividade do agronegócio do fumo, explicando a percepção dos fumicultores e empresas fumageiras da região Sul do Brasil sobre o valor da remuneração do trabalho no custo da safra negociada entre as partes, com vistas à minimização dos conflitos existentes. Para atingir tal objetivo foi utilizada uma pesquisa exploratória para a interpretação dos conceitos, natureza e mensuração do modelo negocial vigente, assim como a revisão e análise dos principais indicadores de mensuração a ele relacionados e a análise dos modelos de precificação existentes na literatura que forneceram o arcabouço necessário à construção do modelo proposto. Em um segundo momento, com base nos modelos de precificação analisados, foi identificado o modelo de precificação "K" (Markup) como a melhor alternativa para o modelo construído. Simulou-se, através de modelos econométricos, as relações entre as variáveis dos fatores de produção e do preço de venda do fumo industrializado pelas indústrias fumageiras, extraindo-se correlações entre elas, formadoras da base do modelo construído. A seguir, são apresentados dois ensaios de modelos de precificação propostos sendo definido o modelo construído, para o qual se utilizou as variáveis de custo da mão-de-obra de terceiros (safristas), mão-de-obra do agricultor proprietário da terra e demais custos fixos e variáveis para a composição do custo de produção da safra e do custo de oportunidade sustentável, sendo este suportado pela teoria do Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Com base na teoria e nos resultados obtidos com a aplicação prática do modelo nos dados oriundos da pesquisa, foram extraídas algumas conclusões que definem o modelo construído como o mais apropriado para a precificação da safra de fumo que permite minizar os conflitos negociais entre os atores desse elo da cadeia produtiva. Observa-se que o modelo construído tende a eliminar os conflitos negociais entre os fumicultores e industriais fumageiras, visando a preservar a renda dos agricultores pela inserção no modelo de precificação do custo de oportunidade do agricultor como um prêmio de risco baseado no CAPM, proporcionando a permanência dos mesmos na atividade fumageira, além da possibilidade de utilização como ferramenta de minimização dos recursos utilizados para a preservação da rentabilidade do setor. Finalmente, conclui-se que este trabalho traz uma efetiva contribuição ao estudo de modelos econômicos de precificação no agronegócio, mais estreitamente na atividade do fumo. / The survey aims at contributing for the construction of an economic model of sustainable precification, more specifically in the tobacco agribusiness, explaining the tobacco farmers' perceptions and the tobacco companies at the Southern region in Brazil on the amount of the remuneration of the work on the cost of the crop negotiated between the parties aiming at the minimization of the existing conflicts. In order to reach this goal, it was used a exploratory research for the interpretation of concepts, nature and measurement of the ruling business model, as well as the review and analysis of the main indicators of related measurement and the analysis of the precification models in the literature which supplied the fundamentals necessary for the construction of the proposed model. Secondly, based in the precification models analyzed, it was identified the precification model "K" (Mark-up) as the best alternative for the constructed model. Through econometric models, it was simulated the relations between the variables of production factors and the selling price of the tobacco industrialized by the tobacco industries, extracting the correlations between them, the base formers of the constructed model. Next, two essays of proposed precification models are presented and it was used two variables: cost of third parties manpower, landowner manpower, and other fixed and variable costs for the composition of the crop production cost and the sustainable opportunity cost, the latter being supported by the Capital Asset Pricing Model -CAPM. Based in the theory and results obtained with the practical application of the model on the data from the research, some conclusions were obtained, defining the constructed model as the most appropriate for the tobacco crop precification, allowing the minimization of business conflicts between the actors of this link of the productive chain. It is observed that the constructed model tends to eliminate the business conflicts between tobacco farmers and tobacco industries, aiming at preserving the farmers' income by the insertion in the cost precification model of the farmer as a risk premium based in the CAPM, propitiating their permanence in the tobacco activity, besides the possibility of its utilization as a minimization tool of the resources used for the preservation of the sector profitability. Finally, it is concluded that this work brings an effective contribution to the study of economic models of precification in agribusiness, more strictly in the tobacco activity.

The present study examines the background of the Economic Opportunity Act in a local administrative structure. An extensive investigation is made of the Community Action Program of Laredo, Texas. The Community Action Program is a new approach which is still in the formative period and this receptive to constructive suggestions for change. Perhaps, it is hoped, this study will point the direction for such change, to the benefit of the long-run effectiveness of the poverty program as well as healthier interlocal relations.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Small enterprises (SMME) have become central to South Africa's efforts to create jobs, alleviate poverty and develop the economy. SMMEs, however, face a wide range of problems, with "market access" one of the key bottlenecks. This centres (i.a.) around the ease of access to outsourcing markets of larger corporations and public-sector procurement opportunities. To address some of these specific challenges in the Western Cape, the Business Opportunity Network (Bon) was established in 1995 as an NOO. It was at that stage a path-breaking institution in the Western Cape, paralleled by only a few in the rest of the country. It is the purpose of this minithesis to assess the role, operation and evolution of the Bon. This study examines the background and particular factors that lead to the establishment of the Bon as a business-linkage organisation. Then critically assess the actual process of how the Bon attempted to facilitate SMME access to corporate and public-sector procurement in the Western Cape's metropolitan and platteland areas from 1994 to 2004. Thereafter moving toward the evaluation of the process, an assessment of the effectiveness of Bon's business-linkage efforts in the light of a continuously changing and evolving procurement environment. It is also the intention to reveal and assess how Bon's procurement support relates to BEE efforts unfolding in the Western Cape

In the Tampa Bay region, increasing population and changing demographics have begun to alter the characteristics of established neighborhoods. An increase in suburban growth has triggered a shift in the location and profitability of food establishments in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Supermarket closures have garnered attention from public health officials who are concerned with the overall availability of fresh food throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Unfortunately, there has been little research surrounding the quality of food sold at establishments in both the Tampa Bay region and abroad. Instead, many geographic studies have chosen to group both fresh and prepared food establishments into a singular category for analyses. While helpful for a generalized understanding of food access overall, these methods do little to convey access to fresh foods which are essential for a balanced diet. This study offers a different perspective from traditional food access studies by categorizing food stores into fresh and prepared categories. For each food category, the Cumulative Opportunity Measure (COM) was first applied to measure food accessibility at the census block group level; a descriptive analysis was then employed to examine the relations between food accessibility and socioeconomic variables. In order to provide a meaningful comparison, these same steps were taken to emulate the results of the combined model (fresh and prepared) that is often utilized in previous studies. Finally, a map displaying the COM ratio of fresh to prepared food by block group was created to highlight areas with disproportionately more fresh (or prepared) food opportunities. Results indicate that rural may be at a disadvantage with respect to fresh food accessibility. Also, a discrepancy between the fresh model and the prepared and combined models, in relation to female headed households, may indicate that food establishment classification has a significant effect on food accessibility. Overall, positive relationships were observed between factors relating to minority status, no GED, room occupancy, public assistance, limited English, poverty, and lack of vehicle ownership for the fresh, prepared, and combined food accessibility models. Finally, the ratio of fresh to prepared food establishments could explain why some populations exhibit higher rates of obesity even when in direct proximity to fresh food opportunities.