George S. Vozikis

Bio: George S. Vozikis is an academic researcher from University of Tulsa. The author has contributed to research in topics: Entrepreneurship & Initial public offering. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 33 publications receiving 602 citations. Previous affiliations of George S. Vozikis include California State University, Fresno & Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Signaling value to businessangels: The proportion of the entrepreneur's net worth invested in a new venture as a decision signal

Abstract: Prior investigations have demonstrated that, under the assumption of unlimited available personal funds, the proportion of equity retained by the entrepreneur in a new venture is an indicator of the proposed project's quality. Signaling theory argues that this signal of quality can be used by investors to help evaluate and decide which potential projects to fund. However, this paper will demonstrate that since many entrepreneurs have limited personal capital, a more appropriate signal is the proportion of the entrepreneur's initial wealth invested in the project (φ) since it indicates both the project's value and the entrepreneur's commitment to the project. Such information is beneficial to both investors and entrepreneurs as all parties seek to better understand the commitment of the entrepreneur, and the ultimate investment quality of a proposed venture.

Economic Factors And Individual Investor Behavior: The Case Of The Greek Stock Exchange

Abstract: This study undertook an empirical survey of the factors, which mostly influence individual investor behavior in the Greek stock exchange. The results revealed by our sample of 150 respondents confirm that there seems to be a certain degree of correlation between the factors that behavioral finance theory and previous empirical evidence identify as the influencing factors for the average equity investor, and the individual behavior of active investors in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) influenced by the overall trends prevailing at the time of the survey in the ASE.

Transfer of Technology to Promote Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries: An Integration and Proposed Framework:

Abstract: That entrepreneurship is vitally important to the economic development of a nation Is Indubitable. However, divergent approaches to promoting and fostering entrepreneurial development in the develo...

Linking Corporate Entrepreneurship to Financial Theory through Additional Value Creation

Abstract: The study of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has principally used accounting measures to gauge a firm's CE activities, even though it has increasingly been recognized in entrepreneurial research th...

Trust in Virtual Teams

Abstract: Discussed in this chapter are the role and importance of trust in virtual teams. It is suggested that the nature and degree of this trust are related to the culture and management philosophies of a firm, the interpersonal skills of management and team leaders, and the psychological characteristics and prior experiences and expectations of the team members. Trust and trust building are examined at three different levels: the firm level, the manager or team leader level, and the individual member level. A better understanding of the dynamics of trust in virtual teams will assist management in developing more efficient and effective virtual collaborative teams. INTRODUCTION Virtual teams can be identified by several characteristics. The teams make extensive use of information and communication technology (ICT) systems. They typically use a computer-mediated communication (CMC) system. They often use technology enablers, such as Lotus Notes/MS Exchange and Groove, and may use videoand audioconferencing and group decision support systems (GDSS). In some cases, the team has its own dedicated virtual workspace. The team members rarely, if ever, meet face-to-face, and the individual team members may represent different cultures, languages, and organizations. Frequently the teams are temporary, being formed and dissolved over a short period of time. Occasionally, virtual teams will be semipermanent. However, even in semipermanent teams, members frequently move on and off the team. Virtual teams are usually charged with interdependent tasks that have common goals. This chapter appears in the book, Virtual and Collaborative Teams: Process, Technologies and Practice, edited by Susan H. Godar and Sharmila Pixy Ferris. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING 100 Bradley and Vozikis Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. In order to achieve these goals, team members may have different competencies and different technical specialties (Townsend, DeMarie, & Hendrickson, 1998; Picolli & Ives, 2000; Bos, Olson, Gergle, Olson, & Wright, 2002; Bell & Kozlowski, 2002). In this kind of environment, it is difficult for managers to supervise employees and to assess individual employee behavior. For employees, typical factors contributing to team cohesion, such as close physical location and common backgrounds and experiences, are often absent. In this self-directed, sometimes isolated environment, trust becomes a pivotal element of success. Without trust, or with low levels of trust, virtual workers may engage in dysfunctional behavior designed to avoid interaction with other team members, such as low commitment to a project, lack of information sharing, and unilateral alterations of task structure and sequence. These behaviors limit the overall efficiency and effectiveness of a virtual team. Furthermore, customers dealing with virtual teams may perceive a lack of trust among team members as a lack of reliability or lack of concern for the customer’s needs. Management can ill afford dysfunctional geographically diverse teams that operate in cyberspace with a minimum of supervision. It is generally agreed that trust and trust building are essential if an organization is committed to virtual teams. Management has a vested interest in creating an environment that is conducive to the development of high trust levels among virtual team members. Several researchers suggest that trust is perhaps the most important determinant of success for virtual teams (O’Hara-Devereaux & Johansen, 1994; Lipnack & Stamps, 1997). This chapter begins with a brief background review of the topic of trust. This review includes definitions of trust, briefly discusses some research findings from F2F studies that have implications for virtual team trust, and presents research findings from several empirical studies on trust in virtual teams. The background review is followed by additional discussion of building and maintaining virtual team trust. This additional discussion describes some of the roles that management philosophy, manager/team leader behavior, and individual characteristics and behavior play in virtual team trust and trust building. We conclude with a short summary and suggestions for future research. BACKGROUND Trust has been defined in variety of ways. Trust has been framed in terms of an employee’s belief that the organization’s management and fellow workers will interact honestly and fairly and in a reliable and predictable manner (Lipnack & Stamps, 1997). Trust has also been defined as a willingness on the part of organizational members to allow themselves to be vulnerable and undertake actions based on the belief that other parties will perform their parts effectively 14 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the publisher's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/trust-virtual-teams/30799

Trust in Automation: Designing for Appropriate Reliance

Abstract: Automation is often problematic because people fail to rely upon it appropriately. Because people respond to technology socially, trust influences reliance on automation. In particular, trust guides reliance when complexity and unanticipated situations make a complete understanding of the automation impractical. This review considers trust from the organizational, sociological, interpersonal, psychological, and neurological perspectives. It considers how the context, automation characteristics, and cognitive processes affect the appropriateness of trust. The context in which the automation is used influences automation performance and provides a goal-oriented perspective to assess automation characteristics along a dimension of attributional abstraction. These characteristics can influence trust through analytic, analogical, and affective processes. The challenges of extrapolating the concept of trust in people to trust in automation are discussed. A conceptual model integrates research regarding trust in automation and describes the dynamics of trust, the role of context, and the influence of display characteristics. Actual or potential applications of this research include improved designs of systems that require people to manage imperfect automation.

Signaling in Equity Crowdfunding

Abstract: This paper presents an initial empirical examination of which start-up signals will induce small investors to commit financial resources in an equity crowdfunding context. We examine the impact of firms’ financial roadmaps (e.g., preplanned exit strategies such as IPOs or acquisitions), external certification (awards, government grants and patents), internal governance (such as board structure), and risk factors (such as amount of equity offered and the presence of disclaimers) on fundraising success. Our data highlight the importance of financial roadmaps and risk factors, as well as internal governance, for successful equity crowdfunding. External certification, by contrast, has little or no impact on success. We also discuss the implications for successful policy design.

The Impact of Team Empowerment on Virtual Team Performance: The Moderating Role of Face-to-Face Interaction

Abstract: We investigated the relationship between team empowerment and virtual team performance and the moderating role of the extent of face-to-face interaction using 35 sales and service virtual teams in a high-technology organization. Team empowerment was positively related to two independent assessments of virtual team performance— process improvement and customer satisfaction. Further, the number of face-to-face meetings moderated the relationship between team empowerment and process improvement: team empowerment was a stronger predictor for teams that met face-toface less, rather than more, frequently.