Family firm’s management composition: the role played by family members’ age in TMT and supervisor levels

Quality & Quantity - Family firms (FFs) are the backbone of entrepreneurial fabric in many countries. Management of such businesses is complex because of their features: the overlap between...     

Brexit: How Will UK Agriculture Fare?

There is little doubt that Brexit would have significant implications for UK agriculture, a sector with strong trade links to the EU and strong reliance on CAP income support. This article reports preliminary results from employing a Computable General Equilibrium Model, a Partial Equilibrium Model and Farm Level Models to explore selected trade and domestic policy scenarios post‐Brexit. These allow for the estimation of changes in producer prices, production and farm incomes against a baseline scenario of continued EU membership. Under a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, agricultural impacts are relatively modest. By contrast, unilateral removal of import tariffs has significant negative impacts on prices, production and incomes. Adoption of the EU's WTO tariff schedule for all imports favours net importers (e.g. dairy) and harms net exporters (e.g. sheep). Given the strong dependence of most UK farms on direct payments, their removal worsens negative impacts of new trade arrangements and offsets positive impacts. Impacts vary across different types and sizes of farm, but also regionally. However, the period of adjustment to new trade and domestic policy conditions may prove very challenging for a large number of farm businesses.     

Does it pay off for museums to foster creativity? The complementary effect of innovative visitor experiences

This paper aims to explore the link between creativity orientation, investment in visitors’ experience and operating and funding performance in tourist attractions, taking museums as a case study. The empirical work is based on an analysis of the information provided by a sample of Spanish, French, German, British and American museums. The findings highlight the positive impact of creativity orientation on museums’ operating performance, but show a curvilinear effect on funding performance. The use of new technologies and adaptation to the audience proves positive when seeking to attract visitors.     

An Empirical Investigation on the Transfer of Expatriates Within MNCs from a Knowledge Perspective

We study the use of expatriates in transferring knowledge within a multinational corporation (MNC). We argue that MNCs use expatriates to allocate knowledge between headquarters and its foreign affiliates. With data from MNCs headquartered in South Korea, we trace unobservable knowledge using observable labour mobility. Our empirical analysis shows that the use of expatriates increases as communication between South Korea and the host country becomes more costly. However, the extent to which the use of expatriates relates with communication costs decreases in the sectoral complexity.     

Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy

This article provides an in‐depth, longitudinal analysis combining real‐time and retrospective data on a set of Mondragon's industrial cooperatives that are organized as international groups. We examine the life cycle of these international cooperative groups, which is expected to evolve differently to that of small‐ and medium‐sized cooperatives that operate exclusively on a local scale. The article is theoretically informed by the cooperative life cycle theory, as well as by recent insights from the degeneration and regeneration theses. Our analysis yields an intricate picture of the evolution of cooperatives faced with a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy. On the one hand, our findings reject the highly simplistic and deterministic view of the degeneration thesis by demonstrating that these cooperatives can mobilize resources to revitalize cooperative values and practices. On the other, we find that regeneration may not occur in a consistent, sequential fashion as the previous literature suggests, but rather degenerative and regenerative tendencies can occur simultaneously, even leading to long‐lasting, unresolvable situations. In light of this, the article asks future research to draw on power‐aware and politically informed approaches for further understanding of how cooperatives manage the tensions at each organizational stage of their life cycle, and of which organizational actors benefit, and how, from reversing some degenerative tendencies while maintaining others intact.     

Validity and Reliability of Satisfaction as a Mediator between Quality Constructs in Manufacturer–Supplier Relationships Through Time and Across Contexts

Purpose: The main objective is to test and assess a research model through time and across contexts in which satisfaction is a mediator between quality constructs in manufacturer–supplier relationships. Satisfaction is positioned as a mediator between trust and commitment (i.e., causes) on the one hand, and cooperation, coordination and continuity expectancy (i.e., outcomes) on the other. The objective is also to provide a substantiation and contribution through time and across contexts, to business theory of supplier-manufacturer relationships

Methodology/approach: One out of eight samples selected for additional empirical substantiation for this study comprises a total of 600 small and medium-sized Spanish enterprises from various industrial sectors. A total of 259 usable questionnaires were returned, generating a response rate of 43.2%. The study is positioned (and compared) in relation to seven other samples that have been tested within the same research model in Canada, Finland, Norway (twice), South Africa, Sweden, and Taiwan. The total number of useable questionnaires is 1641, the average number of useable questionnaires per study is 205 and the average response rate is 37.4% in the studies assessed of this article.

Findings: The research model tested and assessed in the eight studies meets the requirements for satisfactory convergent, discriminant and nomological validity, as well as for construct reliability. The measurement and structural metrics support validity and reliability over time and across contexts, which is rare in marketing research.

Research implications: The theoretical framework contributes, through time and across contexts, to the business theory of supplier–manufacturer relationships. The tested research model demonstrates properties of validity and reliability across countries and company sizes. Implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

Practical implications: The empirical findings indicate key factors that contribute to satisfaction in manufacturer–supplier relationships in different countries and companies.

Originality/value: The article makes a contribution to theory relating to supplier–manufacturer relationships, providing evidence that the tested, hypothesized relationships are generally applicable. The validation or falsification of empirical findings in previous research is crucial in building valid and reliable theory over time and across contexts. Otherwise, theory becomes fragmented and undermines the credibility of marketing research.     

To Bundle or Not to Bundle: Firms’ Choices under Pure Bundling

We examine the economic implications of pure bundling under the settings of monopoly and duopoly. We show that under monopoly and pure bundling of goods with independent demands, the bundled price is strictly less than the sum of the unbundled prices. In the setting of duopoly and Nash prices, we examine whether bundling can be used as a tool to deter entry. In contrast to the findings of previous studies, we show that with low entry costs, entry is deterred by unbundled as opposed to bundled sales. With high entry costs, however, the incumbent chooses to bundle.     

Financing obstacles and growth: an analysis for euro area non-financial firms

This paper investigates the determinants of financing obstacles (FOs) and their impact on firm growth. For this purpose, we rely on both balance sheet data and survey data for a sample of non-financial firms in the euro area. The latter allows us to devise a direct measure of the firms’ probability of facing FOs. First, our results indicate that FOs are linked to characteristics such as the age of the firm, its size, its sales level or the sector in which it operates. Second, we find that, though based on few variables, our measure of FOs appears to be relevant in explaining firm growth in four out of the five countries considered; likewise, growth is found to be positively linked to cash flow.     

Can Consumers Buy Responsibly? Analysis and Solutions for Market Failures

This paper analyses one of the business case arguments for social responsibility: that corporate social responsibility plans are rewarded by consumers. This paper explores the ability of consumers to buy responsibly, identifies the main obstacles for responsible consumption, and suggests conditions for it to work. The review of previous studies leads us to conclude that consuming responsibly is seen as a time consuming activity, economically disadvantageous, and stressful. The main thesis of this paper is that unless market failures are corrected, consumers will not be able to buy responsibly, and therefore, market incentives for CSR are seriously threatened.