Software firm turnarounds in the 1990s: An analysis of reversing decline in a growing,dynamic industry

Investigations into management actions that reverse organizational decline have produced inconsistent findings. Prior studies have focused on the value of retrenchment actions versus strategic actions to engineer a performance turnaround. These studies, however, have generally not controlled for the cause of firm decline, overlooking a major theoretical contingency. Examining prepackaged software firms in the 1990s, we test the association of strategic and retrenchment actions in facilitating turnarounds in a munificent industry. The results show that measures of strategic actions—new product introductions, strategic alliances, and acquisitions—were positively associated with turnarounds. Conversely, measures of retrenchment actions—layoffs, asset reductions, and product withdrawals—were negatively associated with performance recovery. Our results suggest declining firms in munificent industries cannot retrench their way back to prosperity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organizational public value and employee life satisfaction: the mediating roles of work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

Building on Meynhardt’s public value concept, which has been developed to make transparent an organization’s contributions to the common good, we investigate the influence of organizational common good practices in the perceptions of employees (measured as public value) on employees’ work attitudes and life satisfaction. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 1045 Swiss employees taken from the 2015 Swiss Public Value Atlas data-set. Study findings reveal that organizational public value is positively related to employee life satisfaction, and that this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, we show that employee common good orientations strengthen the positive impact of organizational public value on employee work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Results also provide evidence that the indirect effects of organizational public value on employee life satisfaction via work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior are stronger at higher employee common good orientation levels.     

The ECA-method for Identifying Sensitive Reactions within an IO Context

The paper introduces an alternative method to determine "sensitivity' within an input–output-context and makes the most sensitive connections visible in an overall graph. The method called ECA (Elasticity Coefficient Analysis) tries—like the Important Coefficient Analysis (ICA)—to derive structures from a certain property of the Leontief inverse. As the core of the method is elasticity—i.e. taking the relative reaction of the element bij of the inverse as a measure of response to a 1% change of the input coefficient aij—it describes the dynamic potential of certain sectors on possible changes of technical coefficients. In the second part of the paper, comparisons are made between the results of MFA (Minimal Flow Analysis), ICA and ECA upon using the same table for analysis. ICA and ECA to some extent show similarities but also some differences. Both contrast with MFA with respect to the very basis of the approach that enforces different interpretations of the results. Finally, some hypotheses on the differences and similarities are set up that could give a perspective for the further use of the different methods.     

The Subsystem—MFA: A Qualitative Method for Analyzing National Innovation Systems—The Case of Germany

The paper develops a method derived from the so-called minimal flow analysis (MFA), based on a subsystem approach, to find the characteristic technology flow structure of a national innovation system. The analysis uses input–output tables for Germany for the years 1980 and 1986, as well as innovation expenditure vectors, released by the Ifo-Institut, detailed for 58 sectors for the same years. The data are integrated into a subsystem approach and deliver a matrix of technology providers and technology users, which is analyzed by a suitably modified version of MFA. The results, differentiated according to rather economic vs more technical aspects, show what the German innovation system looks like and show that there was little change between 1980 and 1986.     

Central Bank Independence, Inflation Variability, and the Revenue Smoothing Hypothesis

This paper examines the revenue-smoothing hypothesis, which posits that an optimizing government will adjust both taxes and inflation to meet shocks to government spending. Our contribution is to examine this through the lens of a new methodology that relates both the first and second moments of inflation rates to central bank independence (CBI) measures. Unlike existing least-squares-based CBI papers, this study uses a maximum likelihood framework that facilitates the direct inclusion of CBI parameters in the residual covariance matrix. This new approach allows for a more intensive use of information contained in the CBI indexes and the estimates obtained are better reflective of CBI influences. Our results provide stronger evidence confirming the revenue-smoothing hypothesis, in particular for those countries with more independent central banks.     

哈佛商学院隐形冠军

在一次演讲中，有人问我：德国为什么能够成为全球最大的出口国之一？哪些企业贡献最大？我一时语塞，于是开始研究这个问题。     

The United Germany in The Single European Market

Dr Hermann von Richthofen, German Ambassador in London 1988–1993, now German Ambassador to NATO, spoke at the second LSE Business Performance Lecture on 29 January 1992 about the radical changes taking place in Europe. In particular, the Ambassador stressed that Germany's integration is an inseparable part of Europe's integration and will provide opportunities not only for Germany but also for the rest of Europe.