Medium-term financial planning: An answer to community budget crises?

In June 1988 the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission concluded an “Interinstitutional Agreement on Budgetary Discipline and Improvement of the Budgetary Procedure”. A key element of the agreement is a commitment to medium-term financial planning for the Community for the period up to 1992. Can this agreement put the Community budgetary procedure on a new footing and ensure that the decisions taken at the Brussels summit on agricultural reform and budgetary discipline can be implemented?     

Translating strategy into action: The importance of an agile mindset and agile slack in international business

There is growing recognition that agility, the ability to respond quickly, is essential for international business (IB) in times of daunting challenges. Drawing on the resource-based view, we argue that agility is more than a capability and therefore should be investigated from a broader perspective. The current study offers insights for the IB literature by introducing agile resources (mindset and slack) as drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness capability. An agile mindset drives firms to seek out and introduce new management methods and approaches by encouraging their members to be alert to new and innovative ways of doing things. Agile slack refers to unutilized resources that can be quickly deployed in new strategic initiatives. An analysis of survey data from 179 managers via structural equation modeling shows that an agile mindset and agile slack strongly drive marketing strategy effectiveness capability. Marketing strategy effectiveness is a crucial driver of international performance. Nevertheless, the results suggest that while agile resources are important drivers of marketing strategy effectiveness, they do not influence performance directly. Hence, a firm’s ability to exploit resources through capabilities is critical, and to be truly agile, firms must invest in agile slack resources. Managers are advised to improve their firm’s effectiveness and performance by adopting an agile mindset while relying on agile slack resources.     

The influence of individual and firm level social capital of marketing managers in a firm’s global network

Firm success is dependent, to a degree, on a marketing manager’s ability to develop social capital within the firm’s global network. A model is developed employing individual social capital (both internal and external) as the foundation for three types of firm level social capital (i.e., customer, business partner and governing agency) resident in a firm’s global network. It is theorized that customer, business partner and governing agency social capital provide a basis for enhancing customer value delivery and thus firm performance. Specific marketing management strategies necessary for the development of each type of firm level social capital, as well as the benefits derived from each type of social capital are presented. This analysis raises a number of previously unexplored research issues concerning the nature and scope of social capital in a firm’s global network and how social capital can be employed in a global marketplace.     

Hidden ties in international new venturing: The case of portfolio entrepreneurship

A hitherto neglected phenomenon in international new venturing is portfolio entrepreneurship, which occurs when entrepreneurs found, own, manage and control more than one business at a time, with ownership of the new venture being distinct from that of the existing business ventures. This study introduces the phenomenon of portfolio entrepreneurship in international new venturing through a longitudinal study of a cluster of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Tasmania, Australia, where 6 of 11 firms in the cluster were international new ventures (INVs). The pattern of international portfolio entrepreneurship pursued by the Tasmanian entrepreneurs and coupling between firms is described. Key findings include the ability of portfolio entrepreneurs to leverage high-discretion slack resources, positive legitimacy spillovers, and learning effects and experimentation across loosely coupled INVs in the portfolio. The findings also identify dysfunctional elements of portfolio entrepreneurship, and cast doubt over the conventional use of ‘the firm’ as the focal unit of analysis in INV studies. A particular contribution of this study is to remind us of the richness and pluralism inherent in international new venturing.     

Cultural and Ethical Effects in Budgeting Systems: A Comparison of U.S. and Chinese Managers

This study developed and tested a model of culture’s effect on budgeting systems, and hypothesized that system variables and reactions to them are influenced by culture-specific work-related and ethical values. Most organizational and behavioral views of budgeting fail to acknowledge the ethical components of the problem, and have largely ignored the role of culture in shaping organizational and individual values. Cross-cultural differences in reactions to system design variables, and in the behaviors motivated or mitigated by those variables, has implications for the design and effectiveness of budgeting systems. The data largely support our research model, demonstrating the hypothesized national cultural differences in system design variables (e.g., participation, standards tightness, budget emphasis, etc. which we characterized as the opportunity and incentives to create budgetary slack), and the expected relationship between incentives (but not opportunity) to create slack and slack creation behavior. The data demonstrate hypothesized cultural differences in ethical ideology but show ethical ideology related to slack creation behavior only for U.S. managers. A discussion of the results and their implications is included.     

Strategic resource decisions to enhance the performance of global engineering services

This paper extends our understanding of the internationalisation and firm performance (I-FP) relationship of service firms by considering the influence of strategic decisions on three types of slack resources. The research focusses on an important type of service operations ? global engineering services, which are a major part of the global economy and represent a distinctive business model in the contemporary business environment. In doing so, we theorise the I-FP relationship by addressing the knowledge-intensive, project-based and people-centric features of engineering service firms (ESFs); and test the relationship with a carefully assembled dataset containing 12 years’ data from 242 ESFs. We identify a negative overall I-FP relationship, i.e. ESFs’ international expansion leads to worse financial performance in general. The presence of slack resources explains why such a result exists. Our findings have significant implications, both for future research on internationalisation and performance and for firms to effectively deploy their resources to support global service operations in a strategic manner.     

CEOs’ regulatory focus and firm internationalization: The moderating effects of CEO overconfidence,narcissism and career horizon

While the international business literature has mainly focused on the firm- or industry-level antecedents of internationalization strategies, scholars have recently advocated a greater focus on the microfoundations of firms’ strategic decisions. Building on the regulatory focus theory, this study focuses on how CEO promotion and prevention foci impact firm internationalization. Looking into dispositional and situational attributions, this study also theorizes how these factors moderate the relationship between a CEO’s psychological motivations and firm internationalization. Using data from publicly traded US firms listed in the Fortune 500, the findings of this study show that a CEO’s promotion focus is positively associated with the extent of a firm’s internationalization, whereas a CEO’s strong prevention focus limits the extent of a firm’s internationalization. The findings also reveal that the relationship between a CEO’s regulatory focus and the extent of a firm’s internationalization is moderated by a CEO’s overconfidence, narcissism, and career horizon. These findings have important research and managerial implications for firms engaged in international business.     

Organizational goals and resource allocation to overseas foreign direct investment

We investigate how organizational goal setting impacts slack resource allocation between markets at home and overseas, and argue that organizational goals, publicly announced, impact managers’ evaluations of resource allocation opportunities. Based on a sample of Chinese publicly listed manufacturing firms for the period 2010 to 2016, we find that when firms announce publicly a sales increasing goal as their priority, their attention will be focused on this goal with a tendency to invest the firm's slack resources locally. This tendency to invest slack resources locally is enhanced if the announced goal is not achieved, but is not achieved with a minor discrepancy. However, if the goal is not achieved, and with a major discrepancy, managers will likely conduct problemistic search and look to foreign locations to invest the firm's slack resources to achieve this goal. We also find the impact of organizational goal setting is more salient for SOEs and is dependent on levels of remuneration in the firm. As such, we revisit the importance of organization goals and the resource allocation decision in the firm which has not received the research attention one may have expected.     

财政政策的顺周期实施效应特征与基本成因

改革开放以来,为抵御外部风险、稳定经济增长,我国持续实施积极财政政策,政策设计愈发重视反周期相机调控理念.但政策的实施效果存在争议,不完全满足反周期特征,导致调控结果与初衷存在背离难题.为厘清我国财政政策效应的周期特征,本文引入多频谱分析,以极大似然小波分解(MODWT)剔除序列趋势成分的扩张效应干扰,利用带有时变参数的结构向量回归模型(TVP-SVAR)分析我国预算收支和经济波动的关系.结果显示,我国预算收支变化与经济周期趋同,财政政策的实施结果具有顺周期性.具体来看,我国经济增速变化一个单位将导致预算收支分别同方向变化0.7及 0.05个单位以上,预算收入变化一个单位将导致预算支出变化0.9个单位以上.本文还证明,预算收入的顺周期属性是导致支出与经济波动顺同的主要影响因素.     

Interactive Effects of Network Capability,ICT Capability,and Financial Slack on Technology‐Based Small Firm Innovation Performance

This study examines the influence of network capability (the ability to use external relationships), information and communications technology (ICT) capability (the ability to strategically use ICT for business purposes), and financial slack (unused and uncommitted financial resources) on the innovation performance of small firms. This extends the current resource‐based view and small firm innovation management literatures by proposing the direct and interactive effects of organizational capabilities and financial slack. The results of regression analysis based on survey data from technology‐based Swedish small firms show that the three‐way interaction involving network capability, ICT capability, and financial slack influences innovation performance.     

Intragroup Transactions,Corporate Governance,and Corporate Philanthropy in Korean Business Groups

This study examines how the corporate philanthropy decisions of group-affiliated firms in Korea (Chaebol firms) are made. Based on the attention-based view, we argue that when corporate decision makers at group-affiliated firms focus their attention more (less) on internal markets than external stakeholders because of the firm’s high (low) reliance on intragroup transactions, the firm will decrease (increase) its level of corporate philanthropy. We further argue that the relationship will be stronger when governance mechanisms focus on the instrumental value of corporate philanthropy. Using a panel sample of group-affiliated firms in Korea from 2011 to 2015, we find that as intragroup sales increase, the level of corporate philanthropy decreases, and such a negative relationship is stronger when outside director representation and foreign investor ownership are high. Our study suggests that internal dependence and corporate governance mechanisms jointly affect the level of corporate philanthropy at firms in a business group. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on corporate philanthropy, business group, and corporate governance.     

The impact of industry 4.0 on the 2017 version of the Uppsala model

The emergence of Industry 4.0 offers firms internationalization opportunities employing digital platforms and emerging technologies. Relying upon the Uppsala model as applied in light of a firm case study, we contribute to the validity of the Uppsala model 2017. We respond to the counterpoint by Coviello, Kano, and Liesch (2017) to the Uppsala 2017 model, answering the question, What is the impact of Industry 4.0 on the validity of the 2017 version of the Uppsala model? This study builds on a qualitative research methodology through a single case study of Delivery Hero, a global service provider firm. We adopt an extensive longitudinal approach to understand a startup firm’s digital business concept and business evolution, including its internationalization paths. We conclude that the mechanisms of the Uppsala model are valid, but their characteristics have changed by digital and globalized value-adding processes. The dynamic capabilities possessed by the founding entrepreneur turn out to constitute a critical micro foundation for the firm’s international business success. Our findings explain these change mechanisms, illustrating the stepwise progression process led by entrepreneurial decision-making. Industry 4.0 technologies have changed the very manner by which ?rms arrange their value-adding activities with their business stakeholders in course of the firm’s internationalization. By relying on reasonable business targets, algorithms, and data management systems, real-time market monitoring enables international startup firms to learn and adopt local identities faster, thereby efficiently alleviating liabilities of foreignness.     

Expansion of the public sector,the current account and the exchange rate

Attributing the foreign trade effects of an expansion in the state budget to a single cause cannot do justice to the multitude of macro-economic interrelationships. Both theory and observation can reveal quite differing links between the public sector financial balance, the balance of payments and the exchange rate. The financing and nature of additional budgetary expenditure and the pattern of private investors’ expectations therefore have to be taken into consideration to obtain a clear picture of the possible consequences of budgetary expansion.     

The Future of Stakeholder Management Theory: A Temporal Perspective

We propose adding a temporal dimension to stakeholder management theory, and assess the implications thereof for firm-level competitive advantage. We argue that a firm’s competitive advantage fundamentally depends on its capacity for stakeholder management related, transformational adaptation over time. Our new temporal stakeholder management approach builds upon insights from both the resource-based view (RBV) in strategic management and institutional theory. Stakeholder agendas and their relative salience to the firm evolve over time, a phenomenon well understood in the literature, and requiring what we call level 1 adaptation. However, the dominant direction of stakeholder pressures can also change, namely, from supporting resource heterogeneity at the firm level to fostering industry homogeneity, and vice versa. When dominant stakeholder pressures shift from supporting heterogeneity towards stimulating homogeneity in industry, the firm must engage in level 2 or transformational adaptation. Stakeholders typically provide valuable resources to the firm in an early stage. Without these resources, which foster heterogeneity (in line with RBV thinking), the firm would not exist. At a later stage, stakeholders also contribute to inter-firm homogeneity via isomorphism pressures (in line with institutional theory thinking). Adding a temporal dimension to stakeholder management theory has far reaching implications for this theory’s practical relevance to senior level management in business.     

Family Control,Socioemotional Wealth,and Governance Environment: The Case of Bribes

This study examines the relationship between family control and young entrepreneurial firm’s bribing behavior around the globe. Relying on over 2,000 young firms from the World Bank Environment Survey, we find that family control helps to reduce a firm’s bribery behavior, but further investigation shows that this effect only exists in countries with weaker macro-governance environment. In countries with more established and transparent governance mechanism, family control does not seem to make any difference. We interpret our findings as the business family’s preservation of socioemotional wealth.     

Efficiency and Ethically Responsible Management

One common justification for the pursuit of profit by business firms within a market economy is that profit is not an end in itself but a means to more efficiently produce and allocate resources. Profit, in short, is a mechanism that serves the market’s purpose of producing Pareto superior outcomes for society. This discussion examines whether such a justification, if correct, requires business managers to remain attentive to how their firm’s operation impacts the market’s purpose. In particular, it is argued that the value of efficiency, despite views to the contrary, cannot be fully separated from the planning and intentions of business managers as long as those managers direct their firms in an ethically responsible fashion. This position is inspired by, and serves as a supportive clarification of Joseph Heath’s so-called “market failures approach” to business ethics.     

The impact of internal,external, and competitor factors on marketing strategy performance

ABSTRACT

Strategy formulation is commonly understood as the match between a firm’s internal resources and skills and its external environment. Marketing strategy performance is the function of a dynamic, interactive process incorporating internal firm resources, external environmental factors, and competitive actions. The study aims to assess the impact of competitor actions on marketing strategy performance. We develop a model that accommodates the effects of 29 variables (comprising internal marketing strategy variables, external environmental factors and competitors’ marketing mix variables) on business performance. We empirically test the model using simultaneous equation modelling of time-series data on UK car manufacturers collected from publically available resources and annual reports. The results show that external factors, in particular competitors’ marketing mix elements, have a greater influence on a company’s business performance than internal (marketing and non-marketing) strategy variables. Implications for marketing theory and management are discussed.     

我国企业预算控制存在的问题及应对措施

预算控制是现代企业一项重要的管理工具,是利用预算实施对行为和业绩的控制。在现代企业管理中,预算控制是大多数企业采用的一种方法。以既定的预算目标为依据,对企业生产经营活动进行有效的检查和监督,确保预算目标的实现。     

Internet resources and capabilities: Japanese SME risk-taking,industry and performance

This study investigates how Internet-related resources and capabilities are influencing performance in Japanese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We use a structural equation modelling approach to test these relationships between Internet readiness, Internet capability, risk-taking perceptions and performance within Japanese SMEs (350 SMEs). Unlike other counterpart countries, such as South Korea, Japanese SMEs have been relatively slow in implementing Internet technologies into business practice. However, the results indicate that if Japanese SMEs allocate appropriate resources and deploy Internet capabilities these firms will benefit with performance gains. Further, we find that both the perception of risk-taking and the industry in which the firm operates are key factors in either inhibiting or enhancing the firm’s ability to leverage Internet-related capabilities for firm performance.     

How Small Business Managers’ Age and Focus on Opportunities Affect Business Growth: A Mediated Moderation Growth Model

Research on business growth has been criticized for methodological weaknesses. We present a mediated moderation growth model as a new methodological approach. We hypothesized that small business managers’ age negatively affects business growth through focus on opportunities. We sampled 201 small business managers and obtained firm performance data over 5 years, resulting in 836 observations. Growth modeling showed systematic differences in firm performance trajectories. These differences could be explained by modeling focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationship between small business managers’ age and business growth. The study illustrates how mediation models can be tested using growth modeling.