Social signaling and interorganizational relationships: Lessons learned from the professional sports industry

In today’s connected economy, interorganizational relationships are increasingly important. Whether government-to-government, political party-to-political party, business-to-business, department-to-department, or some other interorganizational pairing, these relationships can provide organizations with signals used to identify and better respond to changes in their environment and in their interorganizational relationships. This enables astute organizations to not only understand how others will interpret the social signals they send, but also to shape those signals in ways that will improve their interorganizational relationships. We illustrate this herein, using the public and readily recognizable relationships involved with labor relations in the professional sports industry. We show how social signals can explain the way organizations change and adapt to their environments, and how these changes send messages to related organizations. Finally, we provide a set of recommended advice for managers based on this case analysis.     

Stadiums and Scheduling: Measuring Deadweight Losses in the Victorian Football League, 1920–70

Over a 50 year period, Australian Rules football's major league, the Victorian Football League, did not always use its largest and best-equipped stadium for regular season games between its most popular teams or schedule those teams to play twice in a regular season. We calculate deadweight losses from the use of capital goods (stadiums) and effects of match scheduling in this professional sports league. Such analysis has not been attempted previously because of the absence of a counterfactual. The welfare losses were significant but not sufficient to threaten the survival of a distance-protected cartel.     

无线Ad Hoc网络中基于活跃节点数预测的时隙ALOHA算法

针对采用时隙ALOHA算法的无线Ad Hoc网络，考虑数据包到达的动态性与数据包传输的随机性，以最大化吞吐量为目标，同时满足数据队列稳定性，构建了关于接纳控制与竞争接入的随机优化问题。由于在时隙ALOHA算法中数据包传输的最优概率取决于无线Ad Hoc网络中数据队列非空的活跃节点数，提出了一种基于活跃节点数预测的时隙ALOHA算法。该算法要求无线Ad Hoc网络中的所有发送节点实时地侦听通信信道的忙闲状态，计算基于信道状态的活跃节点数条件期望，从而动态地预测无线Ad Hoc网络在不同时刻的活跃节点数，达到网络节点依据局部网络状态信息自适应地优化数据包传输概率的目的。仿真结果表明，所提算法能够有效估计无线Ad Hoc网络在每个时隙的活跃节点数，从而显著提升网络吞吐量并且降低数据包的平均排队时延。     

Environmental proactivity,competitive strategy,and market performance: The mediating role of environmental reputation

This article examines the impact of small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) proactive environmental strategy on market performance through the mediating mechanism of environmental reputation. In addition, we investigate the potential moderating role of competitive strategies on the environmental reputation-market performance nexus. Data were collected from 223 SMEs. Using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the results show that a proactive environmental strategy positively enhances environmental reputation. Also, the influence of proactively environmental strategy on market performance is mediated by environmental reputation. In addition, our findings show the relationship between environmental reputation and market performance is greater for firms that adopt the differentiation strategy but not significant for firms adopting the low-cost and integrated strategies. Our study offers several theoretical and practical implications.     

Arena-based events and crime: an analysis of hourly robbery data

This article makes use of hourly crime counts to model the relationship between events that take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ and robberies, an arena that has caused local controversy regarding the costs and benefits of hosting such an entertainment venue. Results from the econometric model suggest that the NHL’s New Jersey Devils ice hockey games, concerts, and Disney-themed events are all associated with increases in robbery, while various other event categories such as the NBA basketball games played by the Nets and boxing, and mixed martial arts (MMA) matches are not associated with an increase. These findings support two complementary ecological theories of crime that focus on how events provide additional opportunities for crime by increasing the associated benefits while simultaneously decreasing the cost for economically motivated offenders to take advantage of.     

Bayesian forecasting of UEFA Champions League under alternative seeding regimes

The evaluation of seeding rules requires the use of probabilistic forecasting models both for individual matches and for the tournament. Prior papers have employed a match-level forecasting model and then used a Monte Carlo simulation of the tournament for estimating outcome probabilities, thus allowing an outcome uncertainty measure to be attached to each proposed seeding regime, for example. However, this approach does not take into account the uncertainty that may surround parameter estimates in the underlying match-level forecasting model. We propose a Bayesian approach for addressing this problem, and illustrate it by simulating the UEFA Champions League under alternative seeding regimes. We find that changes in 2015 tended to increase the uncertainty over progression to the knock-out stage, but made limited difference to which clubs would contest the final.     

Corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: A developing country perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted wider research interests over recent decades. While some studies have examined the impact of CSR activities on firm competitive advantage (CA), the findings so far remain contradictory. Moreover, the role of export orientation, firm strategy, and structure on the association between CSR and CA has not been explicitly examined. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of export orientation, firm strategy, structure, and firm size on the association between CSR and CA. Using a sample of 179 responses from management staff in organizations across five sectors in a developing country context of Ghana, the study found positive effects of CSR on CA. The study contributes to the resource‐based view (RBV) scholarship by confirming the important complementary effect of export orientation and organizational structure as important resources and capabilities on the CSR–competitiveness relationship. However, no evidence of a moderating effect of firm strategy, or firm size on the CSR–CA relationship was found. These findings are instructive, impactful, and enrich the existing literature on CSR and strategy. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.     

When companies improve the sustainability of the natural environment: A study of large U.S. companies

In light of the call for companies to abandon current approaches to environmental management, this study adds to the environmental strategy literature and uses the evidence of competitive dynamics among companies to identify a mechanism by which companies invest in proactive environmental strategies and thereby improve the sustainability of the natural environment. An examination utilizing fixed effects regressions on a sample of large U.S.‐based companies reveal that even after controlling the number, environmental and financial performance of leading (environmental) companies, laggard (environmental) companies are more likely to invest in proactive environmental strategies when their leading peers display higher sustainability orientations. Neither the expectation of government regulation nor social movement pressure was found to be influential in this relationship. Therefore, the future dominance of companies' investments in the sustainability of the natural environment will be driven by companies themselves as long as competitive advantages are expected.     

战略差异如何影响公司现金持有

以2007—2015年全部A股上市公司为样本，结合企业竞争地位，考察企业战略差异对企业现金持有的影响。研究发现：企业战略差异度与现金持有水平正相关，企业竞争地位能够削弱两者正相关关系。进一步检验发现：企业战略差异增加了融资约束、企业风险及创新投资，进而导致企业现金持有水平提高；企业战略差异提高了现金持有竞争效应，但竞争地位高的企业不显著。研究表明，企业战略差异是现金持有的重要影响因素之一，研究结论能够为企业管理层制定现金持有策略、进行企业战略选择以获取竞争优势提供参考。     

一般竞争战略理论论战、观点流派与研究展望——从割裂到融合

一般竞争战略理论对企业战略决策具有广泛而深远的影响。学者们对一般竞争战略的割裂观和融合观一直争执不休，众多研究呈现出多角度、多证据、结论矛盾和研究混乱的局面。文章通过对相关理论回顾和梳理，揭示出一般竞争战略理论割裂观存在的问题和困境，呈现融合观的理论与实证证据，提炼出混合战略的三个流派，并揭示混合战略研究的脉络和趋势。文章揭示出融合是竞争战略的趋势，实现不同战略类型的融合和竞争战略的多维体系构建，有助于厘清竞争战略研究的混乱和矛盾，打破根深蒂固的“骑墙战略”禁区思维，为企业的战略决策提供系统和多维的视角，并推动一般竞争战略从割裂化向融合化演进，特别是对现阶段的中国企业战略制定具有重要意义。