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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY
BUSINESS RESEARCH, IN ASSOCIATION
WITH EUROMED ACADEMY OF BUSINESS

The Changing Role of

SMEs in Global Business
Volume II: Contextual Evolution
Across Markets, Disciplines and Sectors
Edited by Alkis Thrassou · Demetris Vrontis
Yaakov Weber · S. M. Riad Shams
Evangelos Tsoukatos
 Palgrave Studies in Cross-disciplinary Business
Research, In Association with EuroMed Academy
of Business

Series Editors
Demetris Vrontis
Department of Marketing
University of Nicosia
Nicosia, Cyprus

Yaakov Weber
School of Business Administration
College of Management
Rishon Lezion, Israel

Alkis Thrassou
Department of Marketing
University of Nicosia
Nicosia, Cyprus

S. M. Riad Shams
Newcastle Business School
Northumbria University
Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Evangelos Tsoukatos
Department of Accounting and Finance
Hellenic Mediterranean University
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Reflecting the growing appetite for cross-disciplinary business research,
this series aims to explore the prospects of bringing different business
disciplines together in order to guide the exploration and exploitation of
scholarly and executive knowledge. Each book in the series will examine
a current and pressing theme and consist of a range of perspectives such
as management, entrepreneurship, strategy and marketing in order to
enhance and move our thinking forward on a particular topic.
Contextually the series reflects the increasing need for businesses to
move past silo thinking and implement cross-functional and cross-disci-
plinary strategies. It acts to highlight and utilize the emergence of cross-
disciplinary business knowledge and its strategic implications across
economic sectors, geographic regions and organizational types.
Published in conjunction with the EuroMed Academy of Business,
books will be published annually and incorporate new scientific research
works developed specifically for the book or based on the best papers
from their conferences. Over the last decade EuroMed have developed a
cross-disciplinary academic community which comprises more than
30,000 students and scholars from all over the world.
Each submission is subject to a proposal review and a double blind
peer review. For further information on Palgrave’s peer review policy
please visit this website: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/
your-career/early-career-researcher-hub/peer-review-process. For infor-
mation on how to submit a proposal for inclusion in this series please
contact Liz Barlow: liz.barlow@palgrave.com.
For information on the book proposal process please visit this website:
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/publishing-guidelines/
submit-a-proposal

More information about this series at

http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15956
 Alkis Thrassou
Demetris Vrontis • Yaakov Weber
S. M. Riad Shams • Evangelos Tsoukatos
Editors

The Changing Role

of SMEs in Global
Business
Volume II: Contextual Evolution
Across Markets, Disciplines
and Sectors
Editors
Alkis Thrassou Demetris Vrontis
Department of Marketing Department of Marketing
University of Nicosia University of Nicosia
Nicosia, Cyprus Nicosia, Cyprus

Yaakov Weber S. M. Riad Shams

School of Business Administration Newcastle Business School
College of Management Northumbria University
Rishon Lezion, Israel Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Evangelos Tsoukatos
Department of Accounting and Finance
Hellenic Mediterranean University
Heraklion, Crete, Greece

ISSN 2523-8167     ISSN 2523-8175 (electronic)

Palgrave Studies in Cross-disciplinary Business Research, In Association with EuroMed
Academy of Business
ISBN 978-3-030-45834-8    ISBN 978-3-030-45835-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45835-5

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
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This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Contents

1 Editorial Introduction: Contextual Evolution of SMEs

across Markets, Disciplines and Sectors  1
Alkis Thrassou, Demetris Vrontis, Yaakov Weber, S. M. Riad
Shams, and Evangelos Tsoukatos

2 The Impact of Digitalization and Sustainable

Development Goals in SMEs’ Strategy: A Multi-Country
European Study 15
Belyaeva Zhanna and Lopatkova Yana

3 Business in a Foreign Country: A Contextual Analysis of

Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Their SMEs 39
Ozgur Ozmen and Raluca Mariana Grosu

4 Defining the SME: A Multi-Perspective Investigation 61

Stefano Montanari and Ulpiana Kocollari

5 To Fail or Not to Fail: An Algorithm for SME Survival

Prediction Using Accounting Data 83
José Manuel Pereira, Humberto Ribeiro, Amélia Silva, and
Sandra Raquel Alves

v
vi Contents

6 Dynamic Capabilities and System Thinking: The Role of

Networking Capabilities to Foster Innovation in SMEs109
Demetris Vrontis, Gianpaolo Basile, Mauro Sciarelli, and
Mario Tani

7 The Influence of Social Vision, Social Networks, and

Financial Return on Social SME Sustainability133
Sunday Adewale Olaleye, Emmanuel Mogaji, Josue Kuika
Watat, and Dandison Ukpabi

8 Prediction of Viticulture Farms Behaviour: An Agent-

Based Model Approach155
Aníbal Galindro, João Matias, Adelaide Cerveira, Cátia Santos,
and Ana Marta-Costa

9 Digitalization of SMEs: A Review of Opportunities and

Challenges179
Alkis Thrassou, Naziyet Uzunboylu, Demetris Vrontis, and
Michael Christofi

10 Financing and Innovativeness of Small and Medium-Sized

Enterprises: The Case of Poland201
Tomasz Kusio and Barbara Siuta-Tokarska

11 Italian Furniture Sector SMEs: Sustainability and

Commercial Ethics225
Guido Migliaccio and Luigi Umberto Rossetti

Index261
 Notes on Contributors

Sandra Raquel Alves is Professor at College of Technology and

Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal. She has a
Doctorate in Business Sciences from the Faculty of Economics of the
University of Porto, Portugal; A Master in Accounting and Auditing,
Open University; A Degree in Business Management, College of
Accounting and Administration of Coimbra. She is a Chartered
Accountant, researcher at the Information Systems and Technology
Management Lab, São Paulo, Brazil; A member of scientific and profes-
sional associations. Former Manager, and Auditor Assistant. She has been
visiting professor at several universities, is a scientific conferences orga-
nizer, reviewer at journals and conferences, and author of numerous pub-
lications, including books, book chapters and scientific journals.
Gianpaolo Basile got his PhD in Communication Science in University
of Salerno (Italy). He is Professor of Destination Management and
Economy and Management of innovation in Universitas Mercatorum
(Italy) and from 2010 is Adjunct Professor of a Business Management
PhD course in Vitez University (Bosnia-Herzegovina). He is author of
numerous published articles and books and board member in a number
of international journals. He is founder and President of Business Systems
Laboratory (www.bslaboratory.net). His main research interests are:

vii
viii Notes on Contributors

Systems Thinking Approach, Place Marketing and Management,

Innovation and Competitiveness, Corporate Social Responsibility.
Adelaide Cerveira received her PhD in Statistics and Operations
Research from the University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, in 2006. She
is currently Associate Professor in the Mathematics Department of the
Science and Technology School at the University of Trás-os-Montes and
Alto Douro. Her current research interests include statistics data analysis,
combinatorial optimization and applications, especially modeling and
optimization of problems in the vineyard sector, in forest management,
network design, lot sizing and scheduling.
Michael Christofi holds a PhD in Business Administration from the
University of Gloucestershire Business School, Cheltenham, UK. He is
Senior Research Fellow in Marketing Strategy and Innovation at the
University of Nicosia in Cyprus, having previously served from various
R&D, sales and marketing positions within large organisations. His
research spans across the fields of corporate social responsibility, cause-
related marketing, strategic marketing, product innovation, strategic agil-
ity and organisational ambidexterity. His work has appeared in the
Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, Journal of
Services Marketing, and Marketing Intelligence & Planning, among others.
Aníbal Galindro has a degree in Economics and a double MSc in
Economics and Applied Mathematics, he is currently a research fellow at
the University of Aveiro involved in the project P-RIDE. The project
intends to improve and develop the Portuguese decision support systems
using a broad set of interdisciplinary researchers. He was also involved
previously in the project INNOVINE & WINE which intended to
improve and develop the Portuguese wine-making process in the Douro
region. His work compiles optimal control, dynamical systems, binary
optimization, maximum entropy estimation, forecasting and machine-
learning methods. The previously mentioned work was developed mainly
in Python, R, Matlab, Netlogo and Gretl.
Raluca Mariana Grosu, PhD is Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at the
Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Romania. She was visiting
scholar at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the University
 Notes on Contributors ix

of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy; and the University of Seville, Spain. She is part
of the Romanian Regional Science Association Board and member of
European Regional Science Association, Regional Science Association
International and Association for Innovation and Quality in Sustainable
Business and is part of the editorial board of Amfiteatru Economic and
Romanian Journal of Regional Science scientific journals. Her main general
research areas cover entrepreneurship, regional science and demograph-
ics, focusing mainly on relationships between entrepreneurship, migra-
tion, aging and local and regional development.
Ulpiana Kocollari is Associate Professor in Management and
Accounting at the Marco Biagi Department of Economics and
Management of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia where she
teaches Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Management
and Accounting. She has taken part in numerous national and interna-
tional research projects in collaboration with other Universities and
Research Centres funded by EU and other institutions. Her research
activity has been developed mainly on the following topics, producing
several publications on: Corporate Strategy, Innovative Startups and
SME, Social Entrepreneurship and Crowdfunding.
Tomasz Kusio, PhD is Assistant Professor at Cracow University of
Economics (CUE), researcher at the Department of Economic Policy
and Development Programming, College of Economics, Finance and
Law. He is also member of the European Research Center at the CUE. His
research interests are primarily focused on innovativeness, entrepreneur-
ship and commercialization. He has authored and co-authored more
than 100 publications nationally and internationally, he has been strongly
engaged in national and international projects and is also a member of
thematic networks.
Ana Marta-Costa holds a PhD in Agri-social Sciences and she is
Assistant Professor at the Department of Economy, Sociology and
Management of University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal).
She is a full member of CETRAD—Centre for Transdisciplinary
Development Studies, where develops research on the sustainability
assessment and planning of the farming systems. She has participated in
x Notes on Contributors

funded research projects and published several papers and books on these
fields. She is the Director of the Agribusiness and Sustainability Doctoral
Program and member of the Direction of APDEA—Agrarian Economy
Portuguese Association.
João Matias is Associate Professor of Numerical and Statistics Methods
at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal,
and holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics, an MSc in Informatics and a
DSc in Mathematics. He is a member of the CMAT Mathematics Center
at the University of Minho and collaborator in the Vine and Wine
Innovation Platform project – INNOVINE & WINE. His research
interests include nonlinear modeling and optimization.
Guido Migliaccio is Associate Professor of Business Administration and
Accounting at the University of Sannio. He received his PhD in Public
Sector Management (2007) and another PhD in Marketing and
Communication (2010) both awarded by the University of Salerno, Italy.
He has written many books and articles.
Emmanuel Mogaji holds a PhD in Marketing and is Lecturer in
Advertising and Marketing Communications at the University of
Greenwich, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and a
Certified Management & Business Educator (CMBE). He has published
several peer-reviewed journal articles and presented his work at numerous
national and international conferences. He has also coedited books on
marketing higher education in Africa published by Routledge and
Springer Nature. He received the 2019 Emerald Literati Highly
Commended Paper Award.
Stefano Montanari is Associate Professor in Management and
Accounting at the Marco Biagi Department of Economics and
Management of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he
teaches Accounting and Business Evaluation. His research activity has
been developed mainly on the following topics, producing several publi-
cations on: Family Business, Corporate Strategy and Accounting.
Sunday Adewale Olaleye received his Master of Science in Information
Systems from the Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland; MBA from
 Notes on Contributors xi

the Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Tornio, Finland; NMS iICT

Certificate, Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the Nordic Master
School of Innovative ICT, Turku Centre for Computer Science (TUCS),
Turku, Finland; and Certificate of Leadership and Management in Health
from the University of Washington, USA. Currently, he is doing his post-
doctoral research at the University of Oulu, Finland. He has presented
papers at conferences and published in academic journals. His research
interests are emerging mobile technologies, entrepreneurship, tablet
commerce, mobile commerce, circular economy and mobile apps.
Ozgur Ozmen, PhD is Assistant Professor of International Trade at the
Nevsehir HBV University. He completed his master’s and PhD in
Bucharest University of Academic Studies in Romania after he graduated
from industrial engineering BA at Marmara University in Istanbul. He
worked as founding assistant professor of international trade departments
in several universities of Turkey. His publication record includes many
book chapters, articles, proceedings and abstracts at the international
dimension, covering international trade, entrepreneurship, immigration
economy and entrepreneurship, EFQM/Total Quality Management and
innovation management. He barely turned back to academia in 2019
after long years due to some political problems with the government. He
is also an international entrepreneur in business life and owns some com-
panies in the EMEA countries.
José Manuel Pereira is an accounting professor at the School of
Management, Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA). He has a
PhD in Accounting from Vigo University, Spain; an MSc in Accounting
and Auditing from the University of Minho, Portugal; degree in Business
Management from the University of Beira Interior, Portugal. He is a
researcher at the CICF—Research Center on Accounting and Taxation
from IPCA; Chartered Accountant; member of several scientific and pro-
fessional associations; reviewer of journals and conferences; and author of
numerous publications.
Humberto Ribeiro is Professor at the University of Aveiro, ESTGA,
and Researcher at GOVCOPP, Portugal. He has a PhD in Business and
Management Research, Leicester Castle Business School, DMU, UK; an
xii Notes on Contributors

MPhil in Quantitative Methods Applied to Economy, Santiago de

Compostela University, Spain; Master’s and PGD in Accounting and
Corporate Finance; and a BSc in Economics. He is a Certified Economist
and Chartered Accountant, member of the Social Responsibility Research
Network, and other scientific and professional associations, former
Operational Manager and Certified Investing Advisor, and visiting pro-
fessor at several universities worldwide. He is an Academic and Scientific
Conferences organizer, member of editorial boards, reviewer of journals
and conferences, and author of numerous publications.
Luigi Umberto Rossetti received his PhD in Management and Local
Development at the University of Sannio (2012). He is a professor of
Business Administration, member of EFT—MIUR and also business
consultant. He is an independent researcher, member of the research
group of Prof. Guido Migliaccio at the University of Sannio, Department
of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods. He has
published some studies, above all on the furnishing sector in which he
has many years of experience.
Cátia Santos has a degree in Biology, an MSc in Ecotoxicology and
Toxicology and a PhD in Agronomic and Forest Sciences. She has partici-
pated in different projects as a research fellowship. Her research activity
and interests are focused on by-products valorization, waste manage-
ment, sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, composting, biofertilizers,
­circular economy and sustainability. She also participated in a study on
the productive efficiency of viticulture in north of Portugal. Her research
work has been published in international conference proceedings, books
and journals. Currently, she is Project Officer on Circular Economy area
at CoLAB VINES&WINES at ADVID.
Mauro Sciarelli is Full Professor in Business Management and
Coordinator of Business Management Course (University of Naples
Federico II). He is in the Board of BS-LAB (Business Systems Laboratory).
Member of AIDEA (Accademia di Economia Aziendale), SIMA (Società
Italiana di Management), GBS (Gruppo di studio sul bilancio sociale).
He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Venice
Ca’ Foscari. He is a visiting Scholar at the Fisher College of Business,
 Notes on Contributors xiii

Ohio State University, Columbus (1998). His main research topics are
related to: Strategic management, Corporate Social Responsibility,
Sustainability, New venture creation, Tourism management, Business
ethics, Facility management. He has authored/edited four books, numer-
ous articles in scientific journals and contributions in international
handbooks.
S. M. Riad Shams is a lecturer at the Newcastle Business School,
Northumbria University, UK. He worked in academia and industry in
Australia, Bangladesh and Russia. He pursues research in entrepreneur-
ship, social business, CSR, business sustainability, strategic management,
and stakeholder relationship management and marketing, and has pub-
lished eight edited books, contributed articles to top-tier international
journals, and guest-edited for various reputed journals, including the
Journal of Business Research, Journal of International Management,
International Marketing Review, Management Decision, European Business
Review, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Journal of Operational Risk,
Journal of General Management, Tourism Management Perspectives, Journal
of Hospitality and Tourism Research, and EuroMed Journal of Business. He
is the founding editor of the International Journal of Big Data Management,
and has led a number of international academic conference tracks.
Amélia Silva is Assistant Professor at Porto Accounting and Business
School, Polytechnic Institute of Porto. She teaches Cost Accounting,
Management Accounting and Strategic Management Accounting. Since
2011, she holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Vigo, Spain.
Her research interests are accounting and management control in health-
care, accountability in public organizations, and business failure predic-
tion. She supervised several Master’s dissertations and PhD theses. She
has participated in international conferences and national and interna-
tional projects. She also has several scientific publications and collabora-
tions as peer reviewer in international journals.
Barbara Siuta-Tokarska, PhD, DSc, is Associate Professor of Cracow
University of Economics (CUE). She is Deputy Director of the Institute
of Management, member of Management Sciences and Quality, and a
research and didactic worker in the Department of Economics and
xiv Notes on Contributors

Organization of Enterprises at CUE. Her research interests are primarily

focused on the problems of functioning and development of SMEs not
only in Poland but also around the world, as well as sustainable develop-
ment. She is an author and co-author of four books and over 120 inter-
national and domestic research publications.
Mario Tani is Lecturer at the University of Naples Federico II. He holds
a PhD in Business administration defending a thesis on Knowledge Flows
in Short Food Supply Chains in February 2010. His main research topics
are Stakeholder Management, Innovation and Social Innovation, Social
Enterprises (mostly focused to Fair Trade Organizations). He has pub-
lished several articles in scientific journals and chapters in books. He has
attended many conferences presenting papers that have been selected sev-
eral times to be published as chapters in books or in special issues of sci-
entific journals. He received the award of “Best Paper from Young
Researchers” in the XXXIII Convegno AIDEA.
Alkis Thrassou is a professor at the School of Business, University of
Nicosia, Cyprus, EU. He holds a PhD in Strategic Marketing Management
from the University of Leeds, UK, and is also a chartered marketer and
fellow (FCIM), a chartered construction manager and fellow (FCIOB), a
chartered management consultancy surveyor (MRICS) and a senior
research fellow of the EuroMed Academy of Business (SFEMAB/
EMRBI). He has extensive academic and professional/industry experi-
ence, and has undertaken significant research in the fields of strategic
marketing, management and customer behaviour. He has published over
120 works in numerous internationally esteemed scientific journals and
books, and he retains strong ties with the industry, acting also as a
consultant.
Evangelos Tsoukatos teaches management at the Hellenic
Mediterranean University, Greece, and is an adjunct faculty at the
University of Nicosia, Cyprus, and Hellenic Open University. He holds a
BSc in Mathematics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece, a postgraduate diploma and an MSc in Operational Research and
a PhD in Management Science from Lancaster University Management
School (LUMS), UK. He has authored and edited books and journal
 Notes on Contributors xv

special issues, published in scholarly journals, and presented in academic

conferences. He is Associate Editor of the EuroMed Journal of Business
(EMJB) and an editorial board member in a number of international
scholarly journals.
Dandison Ukpabi is a PhD in the Marketing Department, University
of Jyväskylä, Finland. He did his master’s degree programme at the
University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, in Marketing Management
and Strategy. His most recent publication appeared in Telematics and
Informatics. He has also presented papers in reputable conferences such as
ENTER e-Tourism conference, Bled eConference and the European
Marketing Academy Conference (EMAC). His research interest focuses
on e-tourism, digital marketing and social media, relationship marketing
and marketing strategy.
Naziyet Uzunboylu holds a BA in Events Management from Manchester
Metropolitan University and a MBA in Marketing from the University of
Nicosia (Cyprus). She is a second-year doctoral student in the School of
Business at the University of Nicosia. Her research area covers social
media marketing, user-generated content, digitalisation and brand self-
ies. Recently, her paper was published in Qualitative Market Research: An
International Journal.
Demetris Vrontis is the Vice Rector for Faculty and Research at the
University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He is the Editor in Chief of the EuroMed
Journal of Business and the Associate Editor of International Marketing
Review. He is also the Founder and President of the EuroMed Research
Business Institute. He has widely published, in over 200 refereed journal
articles and 40 books. He is a fellow member and certified Chartered
Marketer of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Chartered
Business and Chartered Marketing Consultant. He also serves as a con-
sultant and member of the board of directors to a number of interna-
tional companies.
Josue Kuika Watat is Digital Advisor for several rural municipalities in
Cameroon. He holds a master’s degree in Information Systems and two
bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Management Economics.
He is passionate about economic policy and e-governance in Africa. He
xvi Notes on Contributors

is the author of several scientific papers published in major conferences in

Information Systems such as AMCIS and EMCIS. His work focuses on
e-governance/e-participation in sub-Saharan Africa, Artificial Intelligence,
ICT4D, social media adoption and human behavioral change. He
strongly believes in the power of science to reach the SDGs in Africa,
reduce poverty and increase prosperity.
Yaakov Weber is Professor and Director of the Research Unit, School of
Business Administration, College of Management, Israel. His publica-
tions received many thousands of citations, he received the Outstanding
Author Award, and one of his papers was included in the lists of the most
important works published in International Bibliography of Sociology.
He has served in various editorial positions in leading journals such as
California Management Review, Journal of World Business, Human Resource
Management and British Journal of Management. He is the founder and
president of the EuroMed Research Business Institute and EuroMed
Academy of Business. He also consults large international companies,
start-ups, industrial associations and others.
Lopatkova Yana is Assistant Professor at Ural Federal University
(Russia), has a double master’s degree in International Management from
Ural Federal University and Lille-1 University (France). She is currently
doing her PhD in International Economics. The scope of her research
interest is the development of a sustainable economy in the framework of
digitalisation. She has published over ten refereed articles in national and
international journals.
Belyaeva Zhanna, PhD is Associate Professor at Ural Federal University
(Russia), Academic Director of Graduate School of Economics and
Management. She works as EPAS Accredited BA “International
Economics and Business” Programme Director. She has corporate experi-
ence in Russia, Switzerland and Sweden, helps to integrate economics
and businesses issues into study curriculum and research projects. During
different periods of her career, Prof. Belyaeva worked as a visiting profes-
sor in Russia, Canada, Italy, France and Cyprus to practice and explore
 Notes on Contributors xvii

different education techniques. She also leads the research unit for Global
Social Responsibility Excellence and International Business, which con-
tributes to proactive involvement of younger researchers. She has under-
taken significant research in the fields of international business and
economics, corporate social responsibility. Her research works have
appeared in numerous internationally esteemed scientific journals
and books.
 List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 Middle Eastern immigrant entrepreneurs and their SMEs

in Romania: opportunities and challenges 56
Fig. 5.1 Publication year in web of science about survival analysis
in the field of bankruptcy 87
Fig. 5.2 Word cloud resulting from content analysis 93
Fig. 7.1 Tested hypotheses conceptual framework 144
Fig. 7.2 Result of simple mediation analysis 146
Fig. 10.1 Share of innovative industrial and service enterprises in
Poland by size class for each period from 1998 to 2017
(in % of the total for each period from 1998 to 2017).
(Source: Own elaboration) 208

xix
 List of Tables

Table 2.1 SDGs and SMEs nexus 23

Table 2.2 SDGs and SMEs business model directions in Western
and Eastern European SMEs 29
Table 5.1 Main goal and methodology of the papers examined 88
Table 5.2 Variables in the equation 98
Table 5.3 Survival function table 99
Table 7.1 Result of tested hypotheses 145
Table 8.1 ABM variables formulation, description and initial
conditions (IC) 161
Table 8.2 Northern, centre and alentejo survival rates and surviving
farms’ area, in function of different financial incentives 168
Table 8.3 Northern, centre, and alentejo farms survival rate and
surviving farm area in relation to different increasing rates
in labour costs 169
Table 10.1 Share of innovative enterprises of the SME sector in Poland
and in the EU in selected years in the period 2006–2018
(in %). 209
Table 11.1 Comparison between organized large-scale distribution,
traditional stores, and online stores 239
Table 11.2 Research outcomes: Accredited Italian companies 245

xxi
 1
Editorial Introduction: Contextual
Evolution of SMEs across Markets,
Disciplines and Sectors
Alkis Thrassou, Demetris Vrontis, Yaakov Weber,
S. M. Riad Shams, and Evangelos Tsoukatos

1.1 Book Context

and Theoretical Foundations
Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), like most organizations across
the typological spectrum, have substantially and visibly been affected by
the wider (r)evolution that has transformed the business context

A. Thrassou (*) • D. Vrontis

Department of Marketing, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
e-mail: thrassou.a@unic.ac.cy; vrontis.d@unic.ac.cy
Y. Weber
School of Business Administration, College of Management,
Rishon Lezion, Israel
e-mail: yweber@bezeqint.net
S. M. R. Shams
Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
e-mail: riad.shams@northumbria.ac.uk

© The Author(s) 2020 1

A. Thrassou et al. (eds.), The Changing Role of SMEs in Global Business, Palgrave
Studies in Cross-disciplinary Business Research, In Association with EuroMed
Academy of Business, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45835-5_1
2 A. Thrassou et al.

internationally. The well-established, albeit undefined and unpredictable

combination of forces, such as information and communication tech-
nologies, sociocultural and political changes, economic crises and rising
consumer bargaining powers, have reshaped the very foundations upon
which SMEs traditionally grew and competed. And though change in
itself has diachronically been a constant in business contexts, its current
extent, nature and pace leave few lessons to be learnt from past experi-
ence. SMEs, thus, struggle to find their position and role in this new
world, and to do so they first need to understand it.
This book presents scholarly and executive readers alike with a collec-
tion of independent works that are mutually joined by their contribution
to our understanding of these changing conditions that ultimately shape
the business context of SMEs, providing, along the way, valuable infor-
mation of both scientific and practicable worth. The chapters cover topics
such as SME digitalization, sustainability, immigrant entrepreneurship,
contextual dynamic capabilities and innovation, survival predictability,
social effects, industry contextualization and contemporary ethical
questions.
SMEs constitute the basis of economic development of any given
country (Janda et al. 2013; Koudelková and Svobodová 2014; Belas et al.
2015; Simionescu et al. 2017; Ruchkina et al. 2017) and contribute to a
large extent to national economic development (Stefanovic et al. 2009)
by creating jobs, forming the economic capital and providing investment
opportunities and economic growth (Ongori and Migiro 2009).
Especially in developing countries, SMEs generate the vast majority of
businesses (Genc et al. 2019). There is no doubt that the changing needs
and demands of consumers (Christoforou and Melanthiou 2019), the
globalization of markets and the advancement of technology force the
nature of competitive paradigms to change continuously (Ocloo et al.

E. Tsoukatos
Department of Accounting and Finance, Hellenic Mediterranean University,
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
e-mail: tsoukat@staff.teicrete.gr
 1 Editorial Introduction: Contextual Evolution of SMEs… 3

2014). These changes compel SMEs to compete and evolve throughout

different dimensions (Chen and Liu 2019) such as adopting technologi-
cal innovation to designing, developing and producing new products
(Kriemadis 2018), developing appropriate marketing strategies (Bresciani
et al. 2013) and accessing communication technologies such as smart-
phones (Oreku et al. 2009; Chimucheka and Mandipaka 2015).
Furthermore, globalization processes, such as advancements in trans-
portation, technology and communication, have declined barriers to
trade (Oviatt and McDougall 1994; Genc et al. 2019) and generated
changes in the global value chains (Coviello and Munro 1997; Young
et al. 1989; Genc et al. 2019), resulting in a growing number of SMEs
trying to take advantage of new environmental conditions (Chimucheka
and Mandipaka 2015), that is, expanding to international markets (Covin
and Miller 2014; Acosta et al. 2018). Globalization makes it easy for
SMEs to enter different geographic markets (Ng and Kee 2017) and thus
creates new structures and new relationships (Hafsi 2002; Harvey and
Novicevic 2002; Ocloo et al. 2014) and reinforces the competitive atmo-
sphere around the world (Thrassou and Frey 2017). When the recent and
ongoing wave of globalization combined with technological advances
(especially in ICTs) (Barba-Sanchez et al. 2007), unprecedented oppor-
tunities emerged for SMEs to become partners in international strategic
alliances (Cenamor et al. 2019), participants in cross-border mergers and
acquisitions (Thrassou and Vrontis 2008), members of globalized infor-
mal networks (Karimi and Walter 2015; McIntyre and Srinivasan 2017;
Cenamor et al. 2019) and specialized suppliers to multinational enter-
prises (Singh et al. 2010). Such arrangements can offer any of a variety of
benefits for SMEs including more efficient coordination of research
(Belyaeva 2018), access to financial and tangible resources (Knight and
Kim 2009), product development (Thrassou et al. 2018) and wider dis-
tribution channels (Tallot and Hilliard 2016).
SMEs faced increased competition in their home markets, especially
after the arrival of foreign competitors (Dana et al. 1999; Zahra and
George 2002; Genc et al. 2019), which placed a strong pressure on SMEs
(Ocloo et al. 2014) to develop good-quality and innovative products in
order to outperform their competitors (O’Dwyer et al. 2009; Rosenbusch
et al. 2011; Genc et al. 2019). Therefore, SMEs need to innovate in order
4 A. Thrassou et al.

to cover both product and process improvements (Karagouni 2018) since

it is observed that SMEs with greater innovation have superior productiv-
ity and profitability as compared to less innovative firms (Geroski et al.
1993; Roper and Hewitt-Dundas 1998; Genc et al. 2019). When the
innovation process is enhanced by the flexibility of SMEs (Knight 1995;
Rothwell 1994; O’Dwyer et al. 2009), these can quickly develop new
products (Rosenbusch et al. 2011; Bagheri et al. 2019) and easily cus-
tomize them to niche markets (Cenamor et al. 2019). Thus, SMEs are
qualified to be successful innovators (Verhees and Meulenberg 2004; Ng
and Kee 2017), despite facing resource limitations (Mort and
Weerawardena 2006; Terziovski 2010; Bagheri et al. 2019).
In such a demanding environment, it is no longer possible for SMEs
to be successful without their presence in international markets (Tallot
and Hilliard 2016) and/or having a good appreciation of global competi-
tion (Jones 2001; Oakey and Mukhtar 1999; O’Cass and Weerawardena
2009; Bagheri et al. 2019). Stronger participation by SMEs in interna-
tional markets can strengthen their contributions to economic develop-
ment (Stefanovic et al. 2009) and social well-being (Barba-Sanchez et al.
2007), and create opportunities to expand, accelerate innovation, facili-
tate technology and enhance productivity (Vrontis et al. 2006).
Furthermore, the unique characteristics of SMEs, such as greater flexibil-
ity and capacity to customize and differentiate products (O’Dwyer et al.
2009), provide them a competitive advantage in international markets
(Barba-Sanchez et al. 2007), as they are able to respond quickly (Ocloo
et al. 2014) to changing market conditions. Consequently, some niche
international markets and larger multinationals often become partners
with innovative SMEs (Shams 2018) in serving new markets and devel-
oping new products (Kriemadis 2018).
In addition, the introduction of digital technologies, like social media
and big data, has offered revolutionary changes in SMEs such as more
rapid internationalization (Tallot and Hilliard 2016) and access to the
same capabilities as large companies. Digital technologies have changed
how SMEs create and capture the value (Bharadwaj et al. 2013; Lucas
et al. 2013; Bouwman et al. 2019) and have allowed them to improve
their market intelligence (Ulas 2019) and access global markets and
knowledge networks at relatively low cost (Singh et al. 2010). Social
 1 Editorial Introduction: Contextual Evolution of SMEs… 5

media, for instance, is changing the way SMEs interact with customers
and deliver their services (Christoforou and Melanthiou 2019). The use
of these technologies also eases SMEs’ access through better job recruit-
ment sites (Ongori and Migiro 2009), outsourcing and a range of financ-
ing instruments (Baporikar 2014), as well as connection with partners
(Ocloo et al. 2014). In fact, changes in the global economy and being
constantly faced with a dynamic fast-paced competitive global landscape
drive SMEs to evolve and proactively reconsider both their internal and
external interactions (Kiel et al. 2016; Bouwman et al. 2019). As a result,
there is plenty of evidence that not only have SMEs thriven in domestic
economies (Belyaeva 2018), but that their international presence has
grown as well (Tallot and Hilliard 2016).

1.2 Book Content and Structure

The book presents ten works, in addition to this chapter, which have
been selected considering their quality, their relatedness to the book
theme, the significance of their contribution to knowledge, the degree to
which they complement the central questions of SME contextualization,
as well as their country and industry focus. The result is a collection of
scientific works that provide a multi-perspective outlook on the factors
and forces affecting contemporary SME business, through a number of
different market and industry contexts.
Chapter 2, ‘The Impact of Digitalization and Sustainable Development
Goals in SMEs’ Strategy: A Multi-Country European Study’ by Belyaeva
Zhanna and Lopatkova Yana, focuses on the global economy evolution
under the influence of Industry 4.0 and sustainable development which
builds a relatively new framework embracing the instrumental linkage of
entrepreneurship, digitalization and sustainable development in the con-
text of SMEs. The chapter particularly attempts to compare the role of
SMEs under the framework of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The authors base their discussion on the results of their own research
conducted among SMEs operating in six Western and Eastern European
countries. Qualitative and quantitative analyses reveal that digitalization
has the potential to positively affect the social and environmental
6 A. Thrassou et al.

dimensions of sustainable development. However, the overall sustainabil-

ity of digitalized business needs more attention, in order to better under-
stand this potential, and avoid rebound effects.
Subsequently, Chap. 3, ‘Business in a Foreign Country: A Contextual
Analysis of Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Their SMEs’ by Ozgur
Ozmen and Raluca Mariana Grosu, aims to raise awareness about the
opportunities and challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs and
their own SMEs, active in a foreign country. Based on a complex field
research and following an evolutionary approach, from past to present
and, very daringly, into the future, the chapter focuses on SMEs initiated
and developed by Middle Eastern immigrant entrepreneurs in
Eastern Europe.
From a multi-perspective approach, Chap. 4 ‘Defining the SME: A
Multi-Perspective Investigation’ by Stefano Montanari and Ulpiana
Kocollari, analyses the definitions of an SME. Because less is known
about the difficulty that researchers face in coming up with a precise defi-
nition of “SME”, the chapter aims to present the definitions of SME in
both legal and business terms, with the awareness that the application of
quantitative criteria alone will present a very heterogeneous set of busi-
nesses, and therefore it is only by identifying recurrent qualitative charac-
teristics that one can define SMEs’ shared organizational and management
features. The literature has provided a large number of quantitative
parameters for measuring different aspects of SME and many qualitative
variables that make the definition of SME more comprehensive and their
classification more accurate. Nevertheless, there is no one solution suit-
able for all purposes.
Chapter 5, ‘To fail or Not to Fail: An Algorithm for SME Survival
Prediction Using Accounting Data’ by José Manuel Pereira, Humberto
Ribeiro, Amélia Silva and Sandra Raquel Alves, examines the very signifi-
cant negative effects of the financial crisis, in particular on micro and
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The issue of corporate
bankruptcy has been, and continues to be, a topic of significant interest
to a broad set of economic agents. The chapter proposed an algorithm
that has been constructed for predicting the survival likelihood of a cor-
poration, using financial accounting data. Furthermore, due to the more
common fragility of SME, the authors consider this algorithm as a
 1 Editorial Introduction: Contextual Evolution of SMEs… 7

possible tool for assessing their financial condition, providing an imme-

diate insight into their survival odds and therefore helping the manage-
ment to better justify their decision-making processes, namely the critical
ones, driven to avoid business failure. Overall, the results suggest that the
proposed algorithm is reliable while forecasting the survival likelihood of
SMEs, based on their financial accounting reported data.
In the innovation context, Chap. 6, ‘Dynamic Capabilities and System
Thinking: The Role of Networking Capabilities to Foster Innovation in
SMEs’ by Demetris Vrontis, Gianpaolo Basile, Mauro Sciarelli and Mario
Tani, investigates the relationship between exploitation, exploration pro-
cesses and firm performance in the ecosystem of the Italian sharing econ-
omy in the face of change. Their research results show that the propensity
to adapt dynamically to the environment is significantly higher for com-
panies that are aware that they belong to a network. This fundamental
question has engaged scholars from disciplines as disparate as manage-
ment, strategy, organizational, sociology, psychology, and economics that
contributed also to redefining the firm concept. With these consider-
ations, the firm in this chapter is considered to be a complex and adaptive
system composed of tangible and intangible components in an interac-
tion to achieve survival by creating and maintaining dynamic relations
with numerous and heterogeneous stakeholders. The relational capabili-
ties identify the firm as a dynamic component of a supra system (place/
territory, industry, district) influenced by the other social and economic
systems in direct or indirect relationships between them. These interac-
tions, due to the great level of interrelatedness of system parts, introduce
the nonlinearities concept in the dynamics of the system. The no-linear
condition shows that relationships between systems create inputs and
outputs that will not be strictly plannable but stochastically predictable.
Chapter 7, ‘The Influence of Social Vision, Social Networks, And
Financial Return on Social SME Sustainability’ by Sunday Adewale
Olaleye, Emmanuel Mogaji, Josue Kuika Watat and Dandison Ukpabi,
explains the phenomenon from an entrepreneurial perspective and
focuses on entrepreneur sustainability. The data for this work were col-
lected at the firm level with questionnaires through the Qualtrics online
survey platform. The structured questionnaires target the social micro,
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMSMEs) in Nigeria. This chapter
8 A. Thrassou et al.

provides a fundamental understanding of structural relationships that

exist between the social vision, social network, financial return, innova-
tion and SMSME sustainability and contributes to the literature by deep-
ening the concepts of social entrepreneurship in developing countries,
where social and economic conditions are not stable.
Chapter 8, ‘Prediction of Viticulture Farms Behaviour: An Agent-­
Based Model Approach’ by Aníbal Galindro, João Matias, Adelaide
Cerveira, Cátia Santos and Ana Marta-Costa, intends to predict the wine
firm performance of three of the most relevant Portuguese regions, by
resorting to available data on the Portuguese Farm Accountancy Data
Network (PTFADN, 2001–2015). The existing social, economic and
environmental parameters allowed the work to be performed using
MATLAB, in order to obtain information about the variable’s behaviour.
Through the agent-based model (ABM) simulations, it is possible to real-
ize that, in general, the Alentejo region is substantially well prepared to
deal with negative scenarios when compared with the northern and cen-
tral regions.
Adding to the digitalization aspect of SMEs, Chap. 9, ‘Digitalization
of SMEs: A Review of Opportunities and Challenges’ by Alkis Thrassou,
Naziyet Uzunboylu, Demetris Vrontis and Michael Christofi, undertakes
a comprehensive review of extant scientific works to identify the range
and nature of opportunities and challenges faced by SMEs in contempo-
rary business in the context of digitalization and information and com-
munication technology developments. The chapter suggests that SMEs
have seen drastic changes in their their identity and position against large
companies and customers due to the information technology revolution
of the past two decades. This period has partly weakened them because of
competition from large global companies, but it has also armed them
with competencies and opportunities to do things and reach customers
that were unimaginable in the recent past.
Chapter 10, ‘Financing and Innovativeness of Small and Medium-­
Sized Enterprises—The Case of Poland’ by Tomasz Kusio and Barbara
Siuta-Tokarska, indicates the problems in the Polish economy related to
both the level of innovativeness of the surveyed entities by their size
classes and types of activity, as well as access to external sources of financ-
ing for innovative activities. Long-term analyses provided an opportunity
 1 Editorial Introduction: Contextual Evolution of SMEs… 9

to show changes, but also trends in this area. Conclusions from the analy-
sis for the Polish economy are also presented in the chapter.
The final chapter, Chap. 11, ‘Italian Furniture Sector SMEs:
Sustainability and Commercial Ethics’ by Guido Migliaccio and Luigi
Umberto Rossetti, centres on the Italian furniture supply chain to explain
the changes in the production and distribution of furniture; describes the
environmental and sustainability risks typical of the production and mar-
keting of furniture; presents ethical principles that can improve the pro-
duction processes of furniture and the relationships between sellers and
customers, fostering transparent and mutually convenient business rela-
tionships. To the theoretical development are added some deep consider-
ations deriving from many years’ experience in the furniture sector of one
of the chapter authors, Luigi Umberto Rossetti. Many considerations
expressed, therefore, can be considered derived from a multi-year qualita-
tive survey based on the daily presence in the Italian market, certainly
representative of wider Western markets that are in constant relation with
the Eastern ones. To the direct experience is added a study related to
some choices of primary Italian companies compared to the ethical certi-
fication. The analysis taken from the Italian industrial and commercial
reality is particularly useful for the theoretical development.
This book does not claim to offer any definitive or conclusive answers to the
questions of the state, conditions and effects of the SME business context. The
subject is too wide, too deep and too complex for any individual work, or col-
lection of works, to deal with. It does, however, offer a contemporary compre-
hensive view of the situation, and acts as a reminder of the changes that have
already taken place and as a foresight of things to come. We hope and trust it
shall make interesting reading for business scientists and managers, and that
it shall set the foundations for further research to develop.

References
Acosta, A. S., Crespo, A. H., & Agudo, J. C. (2018). Effect of market orienta-
tion, network capability and entrepreneurial orientation on international
performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). International Business
Review, 27, 1128–1140.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
battlement of rocks. Here a grassy sward smooth and level as a
billiard table was used as a croquet ground, this being at that time a
universal outdoor game in England. He had a democratic park. It had
no wall, and wire fences were as yet unknown, so he could not keep
deer. But on his fields we saw many cattle grazing. He told us he
was raising blooded stock, and expected the next year to commence
annual sales. We observed the very pleasant house beautifully
located in the valley, but he told us he was planning to remove it and
build a baronial hall in its place. I learned afterwards from Mr. Hoyle
that he had for some time kept two London architects employed on
designs for this hall, which designs he then employed another
draftsman to combine into a plan to suit himself, but had not as yet
determined on anything. As he was an old man, and had no one in
the world to leave this estate to, I could account for his devotion to it
only by his restless temperament, that must always find some new
outlet for his energy.
I, however, did not want him to expend any of this energy in
getting a steam-engine to suit him, and so the passing months
brought us no nearer to an agreement. My experience with
Ducommen et Cie. confirmed me in my decision not to let the
mechanical control of the engine in England pass out of my hands,
and Mr. Hoyle told me that he could not advise me to do so. Mr.
Whitworth was at that time in the death agonies of his artillery
system, and I did not meet him, but I learned through Mr. Hoyle that
he was highly indignant at me for presuming to take the position I
had done, and was immovably fixed in his own.
 CHAPTER XIV

Study of the Action of Reciprocating Parts. Important Help from Mr. Frederick J.
Slade. Paper before Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Appreciation of Zerah
Colburn. The Steam Fire Engine in England.

fter the close of the Paris Exposition I devoted myself

in earnest to the study of the action of the
reciprocating parts of the engine, and will here give a
sketch of its development. In the high-speed steam-
engine the reciprocating parts were found to be a most
essential feature. Besides transmitting the pressure of
the steam to the crank they perform quite another office. It is their
inertia, relieving the crank from shocks on the dead centers, and
equalizing the distribution of the pressure on it through the stroke,
that makes the high-speed engine possible. I employed this inertia
before I knew anything about it. I had been occupied with the subject
of balancing. I had demonstrated practically that the centrifugal force
of a weight equal to that of the reciprocating parts, opposite the
crank and at the same distance from the center as the crank-pin,
perfectly balanced a horizontal engine, and had shown this fact
conclusively at this exposition.
The problem before me was, “What is it that makes my engine run
so smoothly?” I am not a mathematician, and so could not use his
methods. I got along by graphic methods and study of the motion of
the piston controlled by the crank. My recollection of the several
steps of my progress is quite indistinct. One thing I do remember
distinctly, and that is the help that I got from my friend Frederick J.
Slade, who was younger than I, but who died several years ago. Mr.
Slade was a mathematical genius. The firm of Cooper, Hewitt & Co.
were at a later date the pioneer makers in the United States of
wrought-iron beams and other structural shapes; and all their
designs and computations were the work of Mr. Slade. I had formed
his acquaintance in London in ’63. I met him again in Paris in ’67. He
was then in France in the employ of Abram S. Hewitt, investigating
the Siemens-Martin process of steel manufacture. He took much
interest in the engine. One day he brought to me a diagram
representing the two now famous triangles, and a demonstration of
them which he had made, showing that the ordinates, representing
the acceleration or retardation of the piston motion at every point, if
erected on the center line of the engine, terminate in a diagonal line,
which, with a connecting-rod of infinite length, would cross this
center line at its middle point.
This exhibited at once the equalizing action of the reciprocating
parts in a cut-off engine, absorbing the excessive force of the steam
at the commencement and imparting it to the crank at the end of the
stroke. I feel myself more indebted to Mr. Slade than to any one else,
and would here record the tribute of my grateful acknowledgment.
On January 30, 1868, I had the honor of reading a paper on the
Allen engine before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The
discussion of the paper was postponed until the next meeting, April
30, and the paper was ordered meantime to be printed and sent to
the members. The result was that on the latter date we had a very
interesting discussion. I may mention two things which occurred at
the first meeting, but do not appear in the report of the transactions.
When the secretary reached the statement that the acceleration of
the piston was greatest at the commencement of the stroke, the
president of the meeting, Sampson Lloyd, Esq., one of the vice-
presidents of the Institution, stopped the reading and said to me,
“You do not mean, Mr. Porter, that this is on the commencement of
the stroke, but at a point near its commencement.” I was obliged to
answer him that I intended to say that precisely on the dead center,
at the point where motion in one direction had ceased and that in the
opposite direction had not yet commenced, at that precise point the
stress on the crank was at its maximum, the crank having brought
the reciprocating parts to rest, and then by a continuance of the
same effort putting them in motion in the reverse direction.
 Frederick J. Slade

After the reading was concluded, Mr. E. A. Cowper took the floor,
and stated that I was entirely mistaken in my explanation of this
action, that this had been investigated by a gentleman whose name
he gave but which I have forgotten, and who had demonstrated that
this retarding and accelerating action was represented by a curve,
which approximately he drew on the blackboard, but which he
excused himself from demonstrating there, as it would require the
use of the calculus and would take considerable time. For this
reason the discussion was postponed. At the next meeting Mr.
Cowper did not present this demonstration, and long afterwards he
wrote a letter to the editors of Engineering, stating that on full
investigation he had found the retardation and acceleration of the
piston to be represented by triangles and not by a curve. At the
discussion of the paper my view was supported by all the speakers
who addressed themselves to this point, except Mr. Cowper. An
especially careful and valuable exposition of the action of the
reciprocating parts was given Mr. Edwin Reynolds, then of the Don
Steel Works, Sheffield.
Zerah Colburn, the editor of Engineering, had always taken a
warm interest in my engine, and in the winter following the Paris
Exposition he invited me to furnish him the drawings and material for
its description in his paper. This I did, and from these he prepared a
series of articles written in his usual clear and trenchant style. These
will be found in Volume V of Engineering, the cuts following page 92,
and the articles on pages 119, 143, 158, 184, and 200.
Mr. Colburn’s articles in Engineering are so interesting in
themselves that I think I need make no apology for quoting from
them his remarks on this subject of the inertia of the reciprocating
parts, and those in which is depicted the revolutionary nature of the
high-speed engine, as viewed at that time.
After a prelude, with most of which the reader is already
acquainted, Mr. Colburn says:
“When a steam-engine is brought from abroad to the very spot
where the steam-engine originated, and where it has received, so far
at least as numbers are concerned, its greatest development, and is
claimed to be superior to those produced here, and to be able to run
advantageously at a speed hitherto deemed impracticable, its
promoters must not expect to have much attention paid to its claims
until such attention has been actually compelled, and then they must
be prepared for an ordeal of severest criticism....
“In employing a high grade of expansion, especially with the
considerable pressure of steam now usually carried in stationary
boilers, two serious practical difficulties are met with. The first arises
from the injurious effect of the sudden application of so great a force
on the centers, which the beam-engine, indeed, cannot be made to
endure, and the second is found in the extreme difference between
the pressures at the opposite ends of the stroke, which is such that
the crank, instead of being acted upon by a tolerably uniform force,
is rotated by a succession of violent punches, and these applied
when it is in its most unfavorable position....
“In the Allen engine the action of high speed causes all the
practical difficulties which lie in the way of the successful
employment of high grades of expansion combined with high
pressure of steam completely to disappear. The crank receives as
little pressure on the centers as we please; none at all if we like; the
force is applied to it as it advances, in a manner more gradual than
the advocates of graduated openings and late admission ever
dreamed of, and a fair approximation is made to a uniform rotative
force through the stroke. So that, in a properly constructed engine,
the higher the speed the smoother and more uniform and more silent
the running will be.”
After a page or more devoted to a demonstration of this action, Mr.
Colburn sums up the advantage of high speed in the following
illustration:
“Let us suppose that, in an engine making 75 revolutions per
minute, the reciprocating parts are of such a weight that the force
required at the commencement of the stroke to put them in motion is
equal to a pressure of 20 pounds on the square inch of piston. This
will not modify the diagram of pressure sufficiently to produce much
practical effect. But let the number of revolutions be increased to 150
per minute, the centrifugal force of these parts as the crank passes
the centers is now equal to 80 pounds on the square inch of piston,
and any pressure of steam below this amount acts only as a
relieving force, taking the strain of these parts partly off from the
crank. It makes no matter how suddenly it is admitted to the cylinder,
not an ounce can reach the crank; but as the latter advances, and
the acceleration of the reciprocating parts becomes less, the excess
of force not required to produce this becomes, in the most gradual
manner, effective on the crank.
“It will be observed how completely the designer has this action of
the reciprocating parts under control. He can proportion their speed
and weight to the pressure of steam in such a manner as to relieve
the crank from the blow on the center to whatever extent he may
wish. The notion that the reciprocating parts of high-speed engines
should be very light is therefore entirely wrong. They should be as
heavy as they can be made, and the heavier the better.
“The advantages of more rapid rotation are largely felt in the
transmission of power. Engineers understand very well that,
theoretically, the prime mover should overrun the resistance. Motion
should be not multiplied but reduced in transmission. This can
seldom be attained in practice, but high speed gives the great
advantage of an approximation to this theoretical excellence. On the
other hand, slow-speed engines work against every disadvantage.
Coupled engines and enormous fly-wheels have to be employed to
give a tolerably uniform motion; often great irregularities are
endured, or the abominable expedient is resorted to of placing the
fly-wheel on the second-motion shaft. Then comes the task of getting
up the speed, with the ponderous gearing and the enormous strains.
Slow motion also prevents the use of the belt, immeasurably the
preferable means of communicating power from a prime mover.
“But how about the wear and tear? The question comes from
friends and foes alike. The only difference is in the expression of
countenance, sympathetic or triumphant. The thought of high speed
brings before every eye visions of hot and torn bearings, cylinders
and pistons cut up, thumps and breakdowns, and engines shaking
themselves to pieces. It is really difficult to understand how so much
ignorance and prejudice on this subject can exist in this day of
general intelligence. The fact is, high speed is the great searcher
and revealer of everything that is bad in design and construction.
The injurious effect of all unbalanced action, of all overhanging
strains, of all weakness of parts, of all untruth in form or construction,
of all insufficiency of surface, increases as the square of the speed.
Put an engine to speed and its faults bristle all over. The shaking
drum cries, ‘Balance me, balance me!’ the writhing shaft and
quivering frame cry, ‘See how weak we are!’ the blazing bearing
screams, ‘Make me round!’ and the maker says, ‘Ah, sir, you see
high speed will never do!’
“Now, nothing is more certain than that we can make engines, and
that with all ease, in which there shall be no unbalanced action, no
overhanging strains, no weakness of parts, no untruth of form or
construction, no insufficiency of surface; in which, in short, there
shall be no defect to increase as the square of the speed, and then
we may employ whatever speed we like. ‘But that,’ interposes a
friend, ‘requires perfection, which you know is unattainable.’ No, we
reply, nothing unattainable, nothing even difficult, is required, but
only freedom from palpable defects, which, if we only confess their
existence, and are disposed to get rid of, may be easily avoided. It is
necessary to throw all conceit about our own work to the dogs, to lay
down the axiom that whatever goes wrong, it is not high speed, but
ourselves who are to blame, and to go to high speed as to our
schoolmaster.
“Among the many objections to high speed, we are often told that
the beam-engine will not bear it, and the beam-engine, sir, was
designed by Watt. In reverence for that great name, we yield to no
one. The beam-engine, in its adaptation to the conditions under
which it was designed to work—namely, a piston speed of 220 feet
per minute and a pressure of one or two atmospheres—was as
nearly perfect as any work of human skill ever was or will be; but we
wonder why the outraged ghost does not haunt the men who cling to
the material form they have inherited, when the conditions which it
was designed to meet have been all outgrown, who have used up
his factor of safety, and now stand among their trembling and
breaking structures, deprecating everything which these will not
endure.
“A journal and its bearings ought not only never to become warm,
but never even to wear, and, if properly made, never will do so with
ordinary care to any appreciable extent, no matter how great speed
is employed. It is well known that there exists a very wide difference
in bearings in this respect, some outlasting dozens of others. Now,
there need be no mystery about this: the conditions of perfect action
are so few and simple that it seems almost idle to state them. The
first is rigidity of a shaft or spindle between its bearings; but
everybody knows that if this is flexible, just in the degree in which it
springs, the journals must be cast in their bearings, though in actual
practice this perfect rigidity is not once in a thousand times even
approximated to. The point of excellence in the celebrated Sellers
bearing for shafting is that it turns universally to accommodate itself
to this flexure of the shaft, and the result is a durability almost
perfect.
“The second requirement, when we have a shaft capable of
maintaining perfect rigidity under all the strains it may be subjected
to, is abundant extent of bearing surface both in length and
circumference, a requirement, it will be seen, entirely consistent with
the first. It is a mistake to use journals of small diameter with the idea
that their enlargement will occasion loss of power on account of the
increased surface velocity, as, in fact, the coefficient of friction will
diminish in a greater ratio than that in which the velocity is increased.
In the Allen engine it is intended to make all shafts and journals too
large.
“But all is of little use unless the journal is round. High speed
under heavy pressure has a peculiar way of making it known when a
journal is not round, which, we suppose, is one of its faults. Now the
difference between a true cylindrical form and such an approximation
to it as a good lathe will produce in turning ordinarily homogeneous
metal is simply amazing; but when we compare with this the forms of
journals as commonly finished, the wonder is how many of them run
at all at any speed. When ground with a traversing wheel in dead
centers, which have themselves been ground to true cones, the only
known method by which a parallel cylindrical form can be produced,
their inequalities stand disclosed, and these are usually found to be
greater, often many times greater, than the thickness of the film of oil
that can be maintained in running. Then under pressure this film is
readily broken, the metal surfaces come into contact and abrasion
begins. But a true cylindrical journal swims in an oil-bath, separated
from its bearing at every point by a film of oil of uniform thickness,
and sustaining a uniform pressure, which cannot be anywhere
broken, and which has very little inclination to work out; and if it
revolves without deflection and the pressure per square inch of
surface is not sufficient to press out the lubricant, the speed is
absolutely immaterial and wear is impossible, except that due to the
attrition of the oil itself, which on hardened surfaces has no
appreciable effect.”
From the illustrations contained in these articles, I copy only the
following pair of diagrams with the accompanying note.

Pair of Diagrams from 18×30 Allen Engine at South Tyne Paper Mill, 108
Revolutions, Vacuum 28 Inches. Only Half Intended Load on Engine.

The winter of 1867-8 was devoted by me partly to watching the

dissolving view of my engineering prospects in England. It grew
more and more evident that through my difference with Mr.
Whitworth all my efforts and successes there would come to naught,
as they did.
But my friend, Mr. Lee, had even worse luck than I had. It will be
some relief from the monotony of my reverses if I go back a little and
tell of a reverse that befell another man. Curiously enough, Mr. Lee’s
reverse came from the overwhelming character of his success. The
English engineers had their breath quite taken away and lost their
heads, with the result that Mr. Lee lost his position. He was
ambitious to show his steam fire-engine doing its utmost. If he had
been wiser and had realized the limit of what his judges could stand,
he would have shown about one half its capacity and all parties
would have been happy.
To understand how naturally this most unexpected dénouement
came about, we must recall what the English people had been
accustomed to. In London fires were rare and trifling. Buildings were
low, built of brick with tile roofs. Open grates afforded the means of
cooking and of warming sufficiently for their climate. Every tenant of
a building who called in the fire department was fined five pounds,
which encouraged careful habits. The apparatus itself was
something quite ridiculous. It consisted of little hand-engines, worked
by about a dozen men. On the side of a corner building occasionally
one saw painted a distance in feet and inches. This meant that by
measuring this distance from this corner out into the street and
digging a little into the macadam pavement, a connection would be
found with the water-main. From this the water was permitted to flow
gently into an india-rubber saucer some 6 feet in diameter spread on
the ground. Out of this saucer the engine drew its water for a feeble
little stream.
Mr. Lee’s engine, with Worthington duplex pump, was, on its
completion, exhibited before a large company of invited guests,
principally officials of the fire department and prominent engineers.
The engine maintained a vertical column of water, delivered from a
much larger nozzle than had ever before been used in England, and
considerably over 100 feet high. There was also a corresponding
column of sparks from the chimney of the steam-pump. The
exhibition was made late in the afternoon of a short winter day, and
before it was over the coming darkness showed the column of
incandescent cinders to the best advantage. The few Americans
there enjoyed this miniature Vesuvius hugely. The Englishmen were
frightened out of their wits. Their unanimous verdict was that the
engine would evidently put out a fire, half a dozen of them for that
matter, but it would kindle twenty. And this where the engine had
been pushed to its utmost, and had not kindled one fire. Easton,
Amos & Sons instantly decided that they could never sell a steam
fire-engine under Mr. Lee’s management, and they discharged him
the next morning.
During the following season we had quite a steam-fire-engine
excitement. Some one, I have forgotten who, but think it was the
Duke of Sutherland, made a public offer of a thousand pounds
sterling for the best steam fire-engine, competition to be open to all
the world, the engines to be tested for six days in the park of the
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, in the month of July following. There
were a number of amusing incidents connected with that exhibition.
One was the following: The common council of New York City
determined that the city must have that prize, so they sent over
engine No. 7, a favorite engine, one of Mr. Lee’s make, and which
had been three or four years in service. A junket committee of the
city fathers accompanied it. The London Fire Department received
this delegation with great enthusiasm, and devoted itself to making
them happy. They took entire charge of their machine and exhibited
it in London to admiring crowds. A few days before the time fixed for
the opening of the trial they took the engine to Sydenham, where on
the way to its station it accidentally rolled down a hillside and was
pretty well broken up. Mr. Lee being in London was hurriedly sent for
to see if it could be repaired in time for the trial. He found that the
injuries were of so serious a nature that the repairs could not be
completed in less than three weeks. So that competitor was out of
the way. Their sympathizing friends were full of condolence, and
assumed all the cost of the repairs. They also proposed that when
the engine was put in proper order they should have an excursion
down the Thames to Greenwich and have there an exhibition of its
powers. So a steamboat was chartered and a large party
accompanied the machine to Greenwich. On arrival there it was
found that the two nozzles, a large one and a smaller one for long-
distance streams, which had been taken especial charge of by the
members of a fire company, had been accidentally dropped into the
Thames. The New York delegation were glad to get their engine
back to New York without further accident.
Easton, Amos & Sons also concluded that they would like that
prize. After they had taken the engine into their own hands, they
found a number of features which seemed to them to need
amendment, so they made some quite important changes. On the
second day of the trial this engine broke down and had to be
withdrawn.
I have forgotten how many competitors remained in the field, but
the prize was awarded to a London firm, builders of hand fire-
engines, who had only lately taken up this new branch of
manufacture. This successful firm applied to the government for an
order to supply steam fire-engines for the protection of the public
buildings. This application was referred to Easton, Amos & Sons, the
consulting engineers of the government. This firm concluded if
possible to have this order given to themselves, and applied to Mr.
Lee to recommend the changes in his engine necessary to put it in
proper working order. Mr. Lee replied that it was only necessary to
put the engine back in the precise condition in which he left it. They
finally agreed to do this, and employed Mr. Lee to direct the work.
When completed the engine was tried in the gardens of Buckingham
Palace, in competition with the prize winner, before a large body of
government officials. The Easton, Amos & Sons engine proved its
superiority on every point so completely that the government
immediately purchased it.
Some time before this, however, Mr. Lee had associated himself
with a capitalist for the manufacture of steam fire-engines in
England, and was then engaged on plans for them. His financial
associate was Judge Winter, by which title only he was known to us.
He was an American, and before the war was the proprietor of the
Winter Iron Works in Georgia (the precise location I have forgotten),
the most prominent engineering establishment in the Southern
States, in which business he had become wealthy. He will be
remembered by some gray heads as having been an exhibitor in the
New York Crystal Palace in 1853. He sent to it a steam-engine
bearing the name of “The Southern Belle.” This stood in the
machinery department, close to a Corliss engine, the two being the
only engines of any size which were exhibited there. This engine
was beautifully finished, polished pretty much all over, but its working
features were of the most ordinary character. Mechanically it was
valueless.
 Judge Winter was a determined opponent of secession, and on
the adoption of that ordinance by the State of Georgia, was
compelled to fly from the country. He then took up his residence in
London, to which he had transferred such portion of his wealth as he
was able to convert into money.
He took a deep interest in the new steam fire-engine, and spent
part of nearly every day in the office where Mr. Lee and Mr. Taylor,
an American engineer whom Mr. Lee had associated with himself,
were engaged on their plans.
The point of interest to myself in this story lies here. The old judge
had no sound mechanical education, but was very fertile minded. He
came almost every morning with a new idea that he wanted
embodied. It was always absurd. He generally protested vigorously
against being overruled. When he was furnishing all the money he
could not see why he should not be allowed to have something to
say about it. I happened to be present in their office one morning
when he got particularly excited over their opposition. He was a stout
party, and on this occasion I had the fun of joining in the shout of
laughter that greeted him, when, after pacing the floor in silence for a
few minutes, he exclaimed, with his hand on the fabled seat of his
sympathies, “I thank my God that if there is one thing I am free from,
it is pride of opinion.”
My recollection of the above action of Easton, Amos & Sons and
of Judge Winter contributed materially to form my imagination of the
predicament in which I would certainly find myself, should I yield to
Mr. Whitworth the power to make whatever changes might occur to
him in my engine.
 CHAPTER XV

Preparations for Returning to America. Bright Prospects.

aving but little practical work to occupy me that

winter, I devoted myself to getting out for Elliott Bros. a
second edition of my instruction book to accompany
the Richards indicator, and my paper for the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers and the illustrations and
material for Mr. Colburn’s articles on the Allen engine
published in Engineering.
I found in the library of the Manchester Philosophical Society a
copy of the twentieth volume of the “Memoirs of the French Academy
of Sciences,” containing the report of the experiments of M. Regnault
to determine the properties of steam, with the leaves uncut, of which
I was then able to make some use. I was anxious to obtain a copy of
this volume for myself, and also of Volume 21, containing other
memoirs by M. Regnault. This object I succeeded in accomplishing
when in Paris that winter through the kind interest of M. Tresca, the
well-known Sous-Directeur of the Ecole des Arts et Métiers. This
was a matter of so much difficulty, that a letter from M. Tresca to the
publisher was found not to be sufficient. It was necessary that M.
Tresca should personally identify me as the “savant” to whom he had
given the letter. I was then able to obtain both the volumes, which I
brought home with me on my return to America.
Now was the winter of my discontent made glorious summer, and
all the clouds that lowered about my enterprise in the deep bosom of
the ocean buried, by the receipt of a letter from Mr. Hope, telling me
that Mr. Allen’s report after his visit of inspection was of so entirely
satisfactory a character that, after full consideration, it had been
concluded to write me to leave everything in England in whatever
condition I might be obliged to, and return home and join with Mr.
Allen in the manufacture of the engines, for which ample capital
would be furnished. So in my ecstasy I went about quoting to myself
Shakespeare’s lines and applying them to my reviving fortunes. Mr.
Hoyle congratulated me warmly on this favorable turn in my affairs,
seeing clearly that I would never do anything with Mr. Whitworth,
unless on his own inadmissible terms.
After I had sobered down from my excitement, I began to consider
the matter carefully, and to determine upon the preparations that
ought to be made as a foundation for what, by judicious
management, should grow to be a great and profitable business. I
fully realized the responsibility that was devolved upon me, and
determined that both in foresight and prudence I would prove myself
equal to its requirements.
I wrote a glad acceptance of the proposition and expatiated on the
advantage we should enjoy from what I had learned in England. I
told them that the selection of a suitable location was of the first
importance, and suggested that a plot of twenty or thirty acres
should be purchased in the environs of a large manufacturing town,
affording a good labor market and having good railway facilities, and
where the land could be got at farm prices. I would plan shops on a
scale large enough for a great business and of a form adapted for
enlargement from time to time, and build at first a small part, which
as the business grew could be added to without alteration. I asked
them to look about for the best place, but do nothing further until I
got home, when I would have carefully studied plans, embodying the
most recent improvements in building and tools to lay before them.
I then entered with enthusiasm into the preparation of my plans.
The model shop, now in common use, had then lately been designed
by the firm of Smith & Coventry, tool makers of Salford, which is a
suburb of Manchester, separated from it only by a narrow stream,
the river Irwell, and their plan had been at once followed by the firm
of Craven Brothers of Manchester, also tool makers. It was, of
course, still unknown in the United States.
The general idea of this shop was taken from the nave and side
aisles of Gothic cathedrals. The central and wider portion, which we
may call the nave, was one story in height and was commanded by
the travelers, and its floor was occupied by the largest tools only, and
for erection. The side aisles were two stories in height. The smallest
work, of course, was on the upper story, and tools and work of
medium size on the floors below, the latter being transported by
carriages suspended from the floor above. No rails were laid or
gangways kept open on any floor. All transportation of heavy objects
was through the air. The great value of this improvement, made by
this firm in shop design, and which has brought this design into
general use, lay in its natural classification of the work. Travelers
were already quite common in England, but under them large and
small tools, often very small ones, were found mingled quite
promiscuously. Their shop had an entire glass roof, made on the
ridge and furrow plan, first used in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park
for the International Exhibition of 1851. That roof would not answer,
however, in this climate, on account of our snow in winter, so I had to
plan a different one. But in every other respect their plan was
perfect. The columns, of course, at that time were of cast iron. These
were cast in pairs connected by a web, the longer columns in each
pair supporting the roof, the short ones the rails for the travelers.
In Smith & Coventry’s shop the traveler was operated from the
floor by means of a loop hanging from a wheel on the crab. The
arrangement was exceedingly convenient in every respect.
I obtained full detail drawings of Smith & Coventry’s shop. The
accompanying outline presents a cross-section of this shop, and is
figured to the dimensions I proposed to adopt. I proposed to build a
length of only 75 feet, which by successive additions could be
extended to 500 feet if required. Moreover, at first the office,
drawing-office, pattern shop, and storeroom, besides the machine
shop, in short everything, except only the engine and boiler, smith
shop and foundry, were to be accommodated in this one building. I
was greatly pleased with my plan, and felt sure that it would
commend itself to my associates, as no shop possessing these
conveniences then existed in the United States. I, however,
introduced one modification of the English shops, or rather one
addition. I had observed that reliance on the traveler for local work
involved a serious loss of time. I had seen in various shops men
standing idle, sometimes from fifteen to thirty minutes, waiting for the
traveler to be at liberty to come and give them a lift. It appeared
evident to me that the province of the traveler was to fetch and carry;
not to perform local work, unless of the heaviest class. So for the
latter purpose I provided swing cranes, which could be operated by
the workman himself without assistance. This also enabled one
traveler to cover a much longer extent of floor.

Cross-section of Machine Shop Proposed by Mr. Porter in 1868, after the Design
of Smith & Coventry.

Smith & Coventry had made numerous improvements on Mr.

Whitworth’s tools. I have already mentioned their arrangement which
made it possible to take up the wear of the lathe spindle bearings. In
the radial drill, an invention of Mr. Whitworth’s, as made by him, in
order to bring the drill to the right position longitudinally, the workman
was obliged to go to the end of the arm and turn the screw. From this
point he could not see his work, and had to guess at the proper
adjustment. I have seen him in the Whitworth works go back and
forth for this purpose three or four times, and have always doubted if
he got it exactly right after all. Smith & Coventry introduced an
elegant device by which the workman was able to make this
adjustment without moving from his place. They also first made the
arm of the radial drill adjustable vertically by power. By simply
reversing the curve of the brackets under Mr. Whitworth’s shaper
tables, they made these unyielding under the pressure of the cut.
This firm also first employed small cutting tools set in an arm which
was secured in the tool-post, and put an end to tool-dressing by the
blacksmith, which had caused a fearful waste of time, and also
encouraged idle habits among the workmen. This improvement has
since come into common use. Their system of grinding these small
tools interested me very much. The workman never left his machine.
He was provided with a number of tools, set in compartments in a
box. When a tool became dull he took it out, set it in the box upside
down, and substituted another. A boy went regularly through the
shop, took up all the upside-down tools, ground them, and brought
them back. The grindstones were provided with tool-holders and a
compound screw feed, by which the tools were always presented to
the stone at the same desired angle, and were prevented from
wearing out the stone by running into grooves or following soft spots.
The whole surface of the stone was used uniformly and kept in
perfect condition.
I picked up in that shop the solid wrench made with the elegant
improvement of inclining the handle at the angle of 15 degrees from
the line of the jaws; enabling it, by turning the wrench over, to be
worked within a radial angle of 30 degrees. This adapted it for use in
tight places. I brought the idea home with me and always supplied
my engines with wrenches made in that way. I offered the plan to
Billings & Spencer for nothing, but they did not think it worth making
the dies for. Mr. Williams was more appreciative. I believe it is now in
quite common use.
At that time toolmaking in this country, which has since become so
magnificently developed, was in many important respects in a
primitive condition, and I proposed to introduce into my shop every
best tool and method, adapted to my requirements, that I could find
in England. For this purpose I visited and carefully studied all the tool
works of good standing, and my final conclusion was that the best
tools for design, strength, solidity, facility of operation and truth of
work were those made by Smith & Coventry. This may be guessed
from the few examples I have given of their fertile mindedness and
advanced ideas. So I prepared a careful list of tools that I proposed
to order from them in time to be ready for use as soon as my shop
should be completed. I found also the remarkable fact that I could
obtain these tools, duty and freight paid, decidedly cheaper than
corresponding inferior tools could then be got from American
makers.
Before bidding good-by to England, I must tell the luck I had in
endeavoring to introduce Mr. Allen’s double-opening slide valve,
shown in the general view of my London exhibit, now in common use
the world over. No locomotive engineer would even look at it. Finally
I got an order from Mr. Thomas Aveling for one of these valves with
single eccentric valve-gear, to be tried on one of his road
locomotives or traction engines. Mr. Aveling is known to fame as the
inventor of the road locomotive and steam road roller. He once told
me how he came to make this invention. He was a maker of portable
engines in Rochester, which was the center of a wheat-growing
district. These engines were employed universally to drive threshing
machines. Horses were used to draw both the machine and the
engine from farm to farm. The idea occurred to him that this was
almost as foolish as was the practice of the Spanish muleteers, in
putting the goods they transported on one side of the animal and
employing a bag of stones on the other side to balance them. Why
not make the engine capable of moving itself and drawing the
threshing machine, and dispense with the horses altogether? So he
applied himself to the job and did it. Then it was found that the self-
propelling threshing-machine engines could draw a great many other
things besides threshing machines, and the business grew to large
proportions.
Mr. Aveling made an engine with valve and valve-gear from my
drawings, and I took a ride with him on it from Rochester to London,
the engine drawing two trucks loaded with the two halves of a fly-
wheel. The performance was entirely satisfactory. He said the engine
was handled more easily than any other he ever made, and it
maintained its speed in going up hill in a manner to astonish him,
which was accounted for by the double valve opening. The little
engine ran very rapidly, about 300 revolutions per minute, being
geared down to a slow motion of the machine, about 4 miles travel
per hour. With a single opening for admission it had admitted only a
partial pressure of the steam, but the double opening valve admitted
very nearly the whole pressure and made a sharp cut-off, all which I