Organizing a precarious black box: An actor‐network account of the Atlantic Schools of Business, 1980–2006

There is a growing use of actor‐network theory (ANT) throughout management and organization studies. While earlier ANT research used ethnography to “follow the actors” in the production of organization/knowledge, more recent studies use archival sources to examine developments over time. We extend the latter approach using qualitative social network analysis (SNA) and apply this to a case study of the Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB). Our contribution is two‐fold: first, through an examination of actors in the ASB networking processes over 26 years, we demonstrate how the seemingly stable surface of an organization can hide the precariousness of organizing; second, we reveal the potential fusion of ANT with SNA as a method for dealing with large qualitative datasets over long periods of time. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing a Global Mindset: Integrating Demographics,Sustainability, Technology,and Globalization

Business schools face a number of challenges in responding to the business influences of demographics, sustainability, and technology—all three of which are also the fundamental driving forces for globalization. Demographic forces are creating global imbalances in worker populations and in government finances; the world economy faces sustainability and climate change challenges; technology is accelerating business change and changing the nature of work; and the global economy is being re-structured with the rise of major emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China. Given an uncertain future, this essay examines the nature of these challenges and contends that while providing measurable knowledge of global business and specific job skills are important, business schools must focus on the attitudes, skills, and knowledge helpful for student career flexibility including leadership skills, a good work ethic, and abilities to continue learning.     

Employee Identities in Corporate Codes of Ethics: The Equal,Responsible, Subordinating,and Self‐Monitoring Employee

The article invites the reader to engage in a critical perspective. It emphasizes the role of language in formal corporate documents and the discursive practices of language use. It presents the results of a study that analyzes the corporate codes of ethics of the German Dax30‐companies. The study conceives codes of ethics as texts deploying discursive practices in order to position the various actors addressed in the documents. Four distinct identities have been elaborated: the equal, the responsible, the subordinating, and the self‐monitoring employee. This study demonstrates that codes of ethics propose various subject positions of the employee and through this positioning aim to regulate the identification processes. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microfoundations of institutional change: Contrasting institutional sabotage to entrepreneurship

This paper addresses little understood microfoundations of institutionally driven organizational change and utilizes an institutional‐conflict‐based approach to examine innovation in organizational forms. Using a two‐case comparative analysis, we longitudinally examine the antecedents, mechanisms, and success/failure of attempts at change by institutional entrepreneurs. We analyze and develop theoretical insights on the interplay between internal political processes and external competitive actions in the creation of innovation in organizational forms and the subsequent legitimacy struggles through which an organizational field evolves in a sports (cricket) business context. We draw implications for institutional actors by observing patterns in organizational and institutional evolution in such contexts. We contribute to institutional entrepreneurship literature by developing a nuanced process model of success and failure in institutional entrepreneurship. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Presuccession Performance,CEO Succession,Top Management Team,and Change in a Firm's Internationalization: The Moderating Effect of CEO/Chairperson Dissimilarity

Extending the literature on CEO succession, we found that a succession event together with a change in top management related positively to strategic change toward greater internationalization. In a study of 160 Taiwanese firms, we found relationships between firm performance, outside CEO appointment, change in firm's top management team (TMT), and the degree of a firm's internationalization. Moreover, the positive association between a post succession TMT structural change and degree of internationalization was observed only in those cases where dissimilarity between CEO and chairperson (with respect to educational degree and overseas education) was low. The implications of these findings for scholarship and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identifying the preferable bancassurance alliance structure from the bank's executive management perspective: analytic network process application

This paper identifies the preferable bancassurance alliance structure from the bank's executive management perspective in the Taiwan area. In combination with the relevant literature and interviews with experts, this study adopts the modified Delphi method and the analytic network process (ANP) to construct an evaluation method and to determine ANP effectiveness. The results indicate that executives of banks and insurance companies most prefer financial holding companies. In this study, we apply ANP to construct an evaluation method and introduce four criteria and ten subcriteria for evaluating six alternative bancassurance alliance models. This paper supports ANP as an effective decision making tool. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How Does Legitimacy Operate in Emerging Capital Markets? Investigating the Moderating Effects of Premium Listings and Firm Size on Risk

Drawing on an institutional theoretical perspective, we investigate the impact of the origins of organizational legitimacy on systematic risk using a sample of 358 Brazilian companies between the years 2002 and 2007. We regard three origins of legitimacy—formal–regulatory (presence in premium listings), cultural–cognitive (board of directors), and normative legitimacy (reputation)—to empirically investigate how a company's size and adherence to premium lists moderate other sources of legitimacy. Our results indicate that only under apparently better quality corporate governance conditions—presence in premium listings—do corporate reputation and the board of directors reduce systematic risk. In addition, we show that the effect of reputation on risk is positively moderated by firm size. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Building an Inclusive Diversity Culture: Principles,Processes and Practice

In management theory and business practice, the dealing with diversity, especially a diverse workforce, has played a prominent role in recent years. In a globalizing economy companies recognized potential benefits of a multicultural workforce and tried to create more inclusive work environments. However, many organizations have been disappointed with the results they have achieved in their efforts to meet the diversity challenge [Cox: 2001, Creating the Multicultural Organization (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco)]. We see the reason for this in the fact that while much attention has been paid to the strategic dimension of diversity policies, systems, and processes, much less thought has been given to the normative dimension, the norms and values involved. Given the fact that diversity is essentially about cultural norms and values, appropriate reflection work becomes a fundamental task to create a truly inclusive work environment where people from diverse backgrounds feel respected and recognized. Therefore, we focus in this article on the challenge of building an inclusive diversity culture showing that such a culture of inclusion has to be built on solid moral grounds. We present a conceptual framework of inclusion based on a moral theory of recognition and introduce the founding principles of reciprocal understanding, standpoint plurality and mutual enabling, trust and integrity. After revealing barriers that hinder a culture of inclusion from emerging we shed light on the process of developing such a culture which involves four essential transformational stages: The first phase focuses on raising awareness, building understanding and encouraging reflection. The second phase deals with the development of a vision of inclusion as an important step to define the change direction. In a third phase key management concepts and principles should be re-thought. This leads to the fourth, action-oriented phase, that focuses on an integrated Human Relations Management (HRM)¹ system that helps implement change by doing both, translating the founding principles via competencies into observable and measurable behavior and fostering the development, reinforcement and recognition of inclusive behavior.     

商业集群、第三产业空间演化与经济发展——基于浙江省数据的实证分析

文章利用浙江省各市2001-2008年间的数据,实证分析了商业集群在浙江省第三产业空间演化和经济发展中的作用。结果显示,商业集群促进了第三产业在浙江省各市之间的演化,第三产业增加值份额与商业集群指数之间呈正相关关系。通过面板数据的计量模型发现：较高的商业集群指数提高了经济发展水平、缩小了城乡经济差距、改善了产业结构和就业结构、提高了城市化和信息化水平,从而证实了商业集群促进经济发展的内在机理,并提出了相应的发展建议。     

Toward a Multistage,Multilevel Theory of Innovation

Despite an impressive amount of research, the innovation literature may be characterized as fragmented with little cross‐fertilization and synthesis of findings across levels. Based on a review of conceptual and empirical work on innovation, we present a cross‐level theory that aims to clarify terminology in the innovation process and highlight key concepts and themes that have emerged in innovation research across levels of analysis. We model innovation, offer specific research propositions derived from the model, and identify directions for future research both within and across levels of analysis. Overall, this research responds to the need for greater cross‐level theory building on innovation and a more inclusive consideration of various social and contextual influences in the innovation process. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coercion,Guidance and Mercifulness: The Different Influences of Ethics Programs on Decision-Making

The development of an ethics program is a method frequently used for organising responsible behaviour within organisations. For such a program, certain preconditions have to be created in the structure, culture and strategy. In this organisational context, managers have to take their decisions in a responsible way. This process of decision-making, embedded in an ethics program, is the main focus of this article. Ethics programs often influence decision-making in a formal way; certain norms and types of behaviour are formalised and controlled within the organisation. Subsequently, individual managers have to infer the meaning of responsible behaviour from the demands laid down in the ethics program. Such a formal ethics program has some important advantages but the dangers of such an approach are often ignored. This article discusses both the advantages and disadvantages of a formal ethics program and adds two alternative ways of stimulating responsible behaviour in the organisation. In a monological approach the reflections of the decision makers on their own values are central in differentiating between right and wrong. In a dialogical approach, the communications between decision makers and other stakeholders involved are the foundations for determining a responsible solution. Because each approach is appropriate for certain issues, a well-chosen combination is justified. Such an ethics program should be strict on certain issues but leave room for reflection and interaction on other issues.     

Over the Line: Managers' experience of a labour strike

The experiences of managers who continue to work through a labour stoppage is a largely overlooked question in industrial relations research and practice. Qualitative long interviews were conducted with managers who worked through a strike. A shared narrative for managers' strike experiences emerged. Managers perceived that their prestrike workplace was cooperative and characterized by positive labour‐management relationships. The strike was experienced as contentious and personalized with managers reporting that they and their families were targets of aggression from strikers. The managers envisioned a more formal poststrike workplace characterized by less collegial labour‐management interactions. We discuss the implications of these findings and call for further research on managers' experiences of industrial relations events. Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TIME‐CHANGED MARKOV PROCESSES IN UNIFIED CREDIT‐EQUITY MODELING

This paper develops a novel class of hybrid credit‐equity models with state‐dependent jumps, local‐stochastic volatility, and default intensity based on time changes of Markov processes with killing. We model the defaultable stock price process as a time‐changed Markov diffusion process with state‐dependent local volatility and killing rate (default intensity). When the time change is a Lévy subordinator, the stock price process exhibits jumps with state‐dependent Lévy measure. When the time change is a time integral of an activity rate process, the stock price process has local‐stochastic volatility and default intensity. When the time change process is a Lévy subordinator in turn time changed with a time integral of an activity rate process, the stock price process has state‐dependent jumps, local‐stochastic volatility, and default intensity. We develop two analytical approaches to the pricing of credit and equity derivatives in this class of models. The two approaches are based on the Laplace transform inversion and the spectral expansion approach, respectively. If the resolvent (the Laplace transform of the transition semigroup) of the Markov process and the Laplace transform of the time change are both available in closed form, the expectation operator of the time‐changed process is expressed in closed form as a single integral in the complex plane. If the payoff is square integrable, the complex integral is further reduced to a spectral expansion. To illustrate our general framework, we time change the jump‐to‐default extended constant elasticity of variance model of Carr and Linetsky (2006) and obtain a rich class of analytically tractable models with jumps, local‐stochastic volatility, and default intensity. These models can be used to jointly price equity and credit derivatives.     

Disentangling CEO compensation: A simultaneous examination of time,industry, and firm‐level effects

Despite decades of research, how CEO compensation is determined remains an enigma. Drawing on agency, managerial hegemony, and institutional theoretical perspectives, we use hierarchical linear modelling—a multilevel analytic technique—to examine how firm‐, industry‐, and time‐level effects drive CEO compensation in US corporations. Results show that while cash salary is mostly driven by firm‐specific factors, equity‐based compensation responds to time‐level effects with firm‐ and industry‐level effects playing a marginal role. We argue that such evidence is consistent with the institutionalization of the CEO compensation determination process through the widespread adoption of benchmark peer‐group comparisons. Such practices underlie economy‐wide changes in CEO compensation that are increasingly disconnected from other fundamental firm‐ or industry‐specific factors. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Getting From ‘Me’ to ‘We’: Role Clarity,Team Process,and the Transition From Individual Knowledge to Shared Mental Models in Employee Dyads

Shared mental models are crucial for team functioning; however, little research to date has focussed on uncovering the predictors of shared mental models. The present study investigates the effect of role clarity on shared mental models by means of its indirect effects via team process. Two hundred and two undergraduate students participated in a dyadic firefighting simulation in which their role clarity, team process, and mental model similarity were measured. Analyses conducted at the dyadic level suggest that role clarity predicts mental model similarity via its effects on team process. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How absorptive capacity moderates the value of firm innovativeness in turbulent markets

Drawing on the complementarity perspective and contingent resource‐based theory, this study develops a moderated moderation framework to investigate how absorptive capacity moderates the value of firm innovativeness under market turbulence. The results of the survey data from 402 firms reveal that the efficacy of firm innovativeness is not universal but simultaneously contingent on absorptive capacity and market turbulence. Furthermore, absorptive capacity does not always enhance the value of firm innovativeness; the positive moderating effect of absorptive capacity manifests itself only when market turbulence is relatively high. These findings also highlight that change in customer needs is a key factor affecting the complementarity of relevant resources and capabilities. Thus, this study contributes to advances in theory and has new practical implications. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conformity and diversity of accounting and financial reporting practices in Portuguese local government

Portuguese governmental accounting has evolved from essentially a cash‐based budgetary accounting system to an accrual‐based financial and cost accounting system. Evidence from financial reports shows a great level of diversity amongst municipalities' voluntary compliance with the new accounting rules. Using a sample of Portuguese municipalities in the year 2003 we calculate and analyse the levels of compliance with the practices required by law and document the diversity in compliance across municipalities. The differences across municipalities are explained by some fundamental factors: size, financial conditions, urban characteristics, and diffusion across neighbouring municipalities. We show an unexpected effect of size. Larger municipalities comply less with accounting standards. Organizational complexity, conservative practices, and aversion to change may explain this result. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Narratives of irony and failure in ethnographic work

Organizational ethnography is one of the most valued approaches to qualitative studies of organizations. Much attention has been given to the development of the research process, of which the researcher's identity is an integral part. However, we believe that the analysis of research failures has been much less developed in the discourse of ethnographic methods for the study of organizations. Therefore, we have explored some of the “slips” in ethnographic work, as described in accounts of fellow organizational anthropologists. As the study is qualitative, we have adopted a narrative research method. We have divided the “slips” (i.e., errors) into four categories important for the ethnographer's identity: (a) one's role; (b) one's project, (c) one's relation to “the Other”; and (d) the social context of the slip. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transformation of the Information Technology Function in Organizations: A Case Study in the Manufacturing Sector

The main goal of this study is to better understand the nature of transformations of the Information Technology (IT) function in organizations. A conceptual framework combining a typology of the IT function and key elements of the theory of punctuated equilibrium was developed and applied in a case study of a manufacturing company. Our results suggest that IT functions are transformed in response to various pressures that push it toward change. However, these pressures need to be channelled through a catalyst consisting of three independent elements: (a) the vision of the enterprise concerning the potential value of IT tools, (b) the degree of Chief Information Officer's participation in strategic decision making, and (c) the level of IT knowledge among members of the executive team. Finally, our results challenge the notion that all IT functions tend towards the same optimal profile over time. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excess control and the risk of corporate expropriation: Canadian evidence

Corporate governance in Canada was examined by looking at the ultimate ownership structure of a large sample of publicly traded firms. Results suggest that small investors in Canada are vulnerable to corporate expropriation in large firms. Despite the similarities in institutional indexes, Canada displays different patterns of ownership structure than sister Anglo‐Saxon countries (the U.S. and the U.K). More importantly, results suggest that excess control drives expropriation over and above the typical Jensen type of agency problems that are attributable to regular separation of ownership and control. Equally important, firms headquartered in Quebec appear to be undervalued vis‐à‐vis firms headquartered in the rest of Canada. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.