Despite the significant role of social sustainability in the sustainable development agenda, there is a lack of research to clearly define and fully operationalise the concept of urban social sustainability. The aim of this study is to contribute to the existing literature by developing a comprehensive measurement scale to assess urban social sustainability at the neighbourhood level. We argue that urban social sustainability is a multidimensional concept that incorporates six main dimensions of social interaction, sense of place, social participation, safety, social equity and neighbourhood satisfaction. Failure to consider each of these dimensions may lead to an incomplete picture of social sustainability. Validity, reliability and dimensionality of the urban social sustainability scale are examined using factor analysis. We also illustrate the application of the urban social sustainability scale by investigating the influence of quality of design, as one of the least studied factors of urban form, on different dimensions of social sustainability. The paper uses data collected from the household questionnaire survey in a sample of 251 respondents from five case study neighbourhoods of Dunedin city, New Zealand. This study provides new evidence on the significance of improving neighbourhood quality of design and its positive and significant relationship with different dimensions of social sustainability and the overall social sustainability.

This article aims to explore the under-researched topic of post-entry speed of internationalisation (PSI) in the context of international new ventures (INVs). We unbundle PSI and examine its relationship with both financial and non-financial export performance, considering three related, but conceptually distinct, dimensions of PSI: internationalisation intensity, spread and geographical diversity. Building on organisational learning theory, we highlight different mechanisms that contribute to post-entry performance outcomes among INVs. Our findings from a sample of 112 INVs in New Zealand provide evidence that the three dimensions of PSI are distinct and that they have different impacts on financial and non-financial export performance. This article contributes to the limited, yet growing body of literature on PSI by providing a deeper understanding of PSI and its constituent dimensions. In addition, this study offers new theoretical insights into how and why different dimensions of post-entry speed of internationalisation can contribute to stronger export performance.

Despite considerable research on export performance, relatively little scholarly attention has been devoted to incorporating managers’ perspectives into operationalizing this concept. This study proposes a new approach for measuring small and medium-sized enterprises’ export performance in the presence of multiple, potentially conflicting, goals while accounting for different approaches to assessing export performance. Adopting a contingency approach, the authors develop two customized measures of perceived export performance: the individualized perceived export performance framework and the simplified model. They demonstrate the application of both measures with a sample of 78 exporting small and medium enterprises in New Zealand and compare the outcomes. The proposed frameworks are intended to measure export performance considering managers’ specific priorities and by incorporating manager- and firm-specific differences in the types and importance of goals, indicators, and benchmarks. This article extends the understanding of export performance by proposing a more nuanced and holistic measurement approach that is tailored to individual firms and reflects firm-specific idiosyncrasies.