Do Small Innovating Firms Outperform Non-Innovators?

The paper considers the relative performance [along a number of parameters] of a sample of 228 small manufacturing firms categorised by level of innovation. Whilst innovators appear no more likely to have experienced some form of sales or employment growth, they are significantly more likely to have grown more. In other words, the innovators' growth rate distributions are highly negatively skewed. With regards to export intensities, profitability and productivity levels, the findings are less clear. On the whole, the results reported here are similar to those of other small firm studies, yet vary markedly from large firm equivalents; suggesting that the nature of the returns to innovation may be contingent, at least in part, upon firm size. Moreover, the high levels of variation in firm performance should caution us against proffering innovative imperatives. If we are to counsel firms to "innovate at all costs", we must be clear about, and clearly demonstrate, the nature of the returns they may reasonably expect and the processes through which these may be optimised.     

Are Small Firms Really Less Productive?

Small and medium-sized establishments (SMEs) account for a large proportion of industrial employment and production in almost all countries. Moreover, the recent literature emphasizes the role SMEs play in nurturing entrepreneurship and generating new products and processes. Although SMEs could be a source of new ideas and innovations, there are substantial productivity differences between small and large establishments. In this paper, we analyze three sources of productivity differentials: technical efficiency, returns to scale, and technical change. Our analysis on the creation, survival, and growth of new establishments in Turkish manufacturing industries in the period 1987–1997 shows that all these three factors play a very important role in determining the survival probability and growth prospects of new establishments.     

How Do Chinese Firms Deal with Inter-Organizational Conflict?

Based on social exchange and customer relationship marketing theory, this study examines how ethical leadership contributes to inter-organizational conflict management (task conflict (TC) and relationship conflict), and the moderating role of task interdependence in these relationships. Data was collected from 81 suppliers and 45 corresponding managers of a large group company in China. Results show that ethical leadership is negatively associated with the levels of inter-organizational conflict, whether task or relationship. Task interdependence significantly moderates the relationship between ethical leadership and TC. Managerial implication in terms of creating sound buyer–supplier relationship through an ethical perspective is discussed.     

Why So Small? Explaining the Size of Firms in Latin America

On average, Latin American firms are small with respect to world patterns, both in terms of the quantity of assets they control and the amount of employment they generate. We examine data on firm size from developed and developing countries around the world to assess the influence of demand, supply and institutional factors on the size of the largest firms in each country. We find that, besides the size of the economy and the level of income per capita, the key determinants of the size of firms are trade openness, stock market capitalisation and physical infrastructure. Our simulations suggest that if the gaps with respect to the best Latin American performer were closed in each of these three areas, firm size in the countries of the region would – on average – reach world patterns.     

Where Do Firms Export,How Much and Why?

The empirical finding that exporting firms are more productive on average than non‐exporters has provoked a large theoretical literature based on models such as Melitz ( 2003 ), where more productive firms are more likely to overcome costs associated with trade. This paper investigates how closely the productivity heterogeneity framework fits the data from a firm‐level survey that includes information on export destinations and firm characteristics such as productivity. We find a high degree of unpredictable idiosyncratic participation in export markets by firms and a relatively weak positive correlation between the extent of a firm's export market participation and its export sales. We find that a small number of standard gravity variables provide a close fit to the country‐level determinants of trade but that greater variation results in more difficulty in explaining firm‐specific factors driving exporting behaviour. We also illustrate some elements of the dynamics over time in firm exporting patterns by destination. We show that lagged exporting activity has a significant effect on a firm's current exporting profile.     

Green Alliances: Are They Beneficial when Regulated Firms are Asymmetric?

Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade - In this paper, we analyze the collaboration between an environmental group (EG) and polluting firms when they are asymmetric in their abatement costs....     

How market oriented are business studies degrees?

When business courses are being reviewed and validated, academics will often claim that the course prepares students for their future careers in business and management. However, contacting graduates of long standing (who are well established in their profession and who would arguably be the best judges of the course's value) does not always happen.

The objective of the research was to make contact with ex‐students, who graduated some time ago, with the aim of obtaining useful information on the following inter‐related topics:

1. Their post‐university career pathway;

2. The vocational relevance of their course;

3. Their attitudes to and take‐up of postgraduate and professional qualifications;

4. Their opinions of course structure and content; and

5. An assessment of market needs in the development/ modification of courses.

Graduates of the BA (HONS) Business Studies degree were contacted and the above objectives were achieved. The methodology used should be transferable to other institutions and disciplines.     

How are institutional capabilities transferred across borders?

We develop the idea that an emerging economy firm can develop institutional capabilities at home that can be transferred to institutionally proximate emerging economies. Drawing upon the organizational capabilities, internationalization process, and institutional work literatures, we define institutional capabilities as heuristics, skills, and routines that facilitate the execution of institutional strategies in host countries. Since institutional capabilities gestate over a long period of time, we narrate a longitudinal case study of a property developer operating at the blurred boundaries between state and private enterprise in two Southeast Asian countries.     

Do Small and Medium‐Sized IT Firms Form Service Partnerships with Nonlocal IT Firms? An Assessment of Facilitators

For small and medium‐sized information technology firms (IT SMEs), the service partnerships formed with other IT firms are strategic instruments to overcome their resource constraints, increase efficiency, and offer complementary services to their customers. Although these firms have a tendency to form local partnerships due to ease of trust building, few of them are engaged in nonlocal partnerships. This research aims to explore the facilitators of this divergent firm behavior. The findings suggest that a firm's alliance capabilities and organizational proximities between distant partners can substitute the lack of geographical proximity and enable IT SMEs' engagement in nonlocal service partnerships. More importantly, the type of IT service rendered through the partnership acts as a moderator and determines the extent of the organizational capabilities and proximities.     

Financial Constraints and Small and Medium-Sized Firms’ Export Propensity: Evidence from Portuguese Manufacturing Firms

The internationalization of firms through exports is often crucial to their survival and growth in this era of globalization. This is particularly the case for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in small and saturated markets, as is the case in Portugal. However, firms face several barriers to exporting, and this study aims to verify whether financial constraints influence a firm’s export propensity. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 12,732 Portuguese manufacturing SMEs during the period 2008–2012, and tests two different proxies of financial constraints: the liquidity and leverage ratios. The results indicate that the SMEs in less healthy financial positions are less likely to export than the others are, although the impact of financial constraints on these Portuguese firms appears to be relatively small.     

How dangerous are measurement errors to homeland security?

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government instituted rigorous new rules and procedures for screening incoming cargo, with the aim of averting a future catastrophe delivered via the nation's global trade infrastructure. While the efficacy of these policies in curbing terrorism is difficult to assess, sophisticated statistical techniques can be used to help gauge the performance of homeland security policies in mitigating risks. Abnormal weight analysis is one such technique. This study examines the weight characteristics of import transactions processed by U.S. Customs before and after the terrorist attacks to identify patterns of abnormalities that could indicate foul play. Abnormalities are calculated by first determining average weights by commodity, and then estimating and analyzing dispersion among reported weights. Our results indicate that while the vast majority of import transactions are being reported more accurately since 9/11, a small percentage of extreme outliers exist, and this should be cause for concern for multinational managers, policymakers, and society at large. Based on these results, conclusions are drawn and recommendations for policy and practice are offered. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How Do Real Estate Firms Expand Nationwide？

China's real estate industry is undergoing rapid growth, and the market is becoming even more centralized with the new macro-control measures passed by the government. The battle among real estate companies is stiffening and big companies are swallowing up their smaller rivals. These days, real estate developers have been forced to expand inter-regionally due to rapid growth in the industry and bitter competition in the market.     

How Have Restaurant Firms Responded to Food Safety Crises? Evidence From Media Coverage

Media communication has become a crucial part of crisis communications due to the rapid dissemination of information along with its immense impact on consumers and other stakeholders. Based on a structured content analysis of electronic media reports on restaurant-associated food safety crises from 1993 to 2015, this study examined media reporting patterns focusing on three elements: instructing information, crisis response strategies, and stakeholders. This study also identified the effect of situational factors (severity of risk and crisis type) on the media reporting patterns using Chi-square tests. The results indicated that restaurant firms were more likely to use proactive than passive response strategies, and identified primary stakeholders during a food safety crisis such as regulatory agencies, victims, and customers. Finally, two situational factors were found to influence the pattern of media reporting. The media reporting patterns were found to vary by risk severity and crisis type.     

Ethical Distance in Corrupt Firms: How Do Innocent Bystanders Become Guilty Perpetrators?

This paper develops the concept of the ‘continuum of destructiveness’ in relation to organizational corruption. This notion captures the slippery slope of wrongdoing as actors engage in increasingly dubious practices. We identify four kinds of individuals along this continuum in corrupt organizations, who range from complete innocence to total guilt. They are innocent bystanders, innocent participants, active rationalizers and guilty perpetrators. Traditional explanations of how individuals move from bystander status to guilty perpetrators usually focus on socialization and institutional factors. In addition to these factors, we propose that the very distance between an act and its ethical consequences (ethical distance) may also play a determining role – if not always in the same way – in the transition process. Having developed this conceptual argument, we conclude with a discussion of managerial and research implications. An Earlier version of this paper was presented at the The Twelfth Annual International Conference Promoting Business Ethics, New York, October 2005     

How Valuable are the Patents Behind Section 337 Cases?

A US patent protects the owner of the intellectual property from imitators producing in the US and foreign imitators selling in the US market. There are two venues for filing infringement cases against international infringement of US patents, with the International Trade Commission (ITC) using Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 or with federal district courts. Three indicators of patent value suggest that patents litigated under Section 337 are on average more valuable; however, their values tend to be more variable. The latter suggests that some firms may be using Section 337 not for protection against international infringement of US patents but for protection against imports.     

Is Predicting Recessions Enough?

We propose an ordered probit framework to simultaneously predict the probabilities of recession, weaker recovery, and stronger recovery. Our approach helps identify (a) whether the next phase is a recession, (b) when the recovery period starts, and (c) whether the recovery would be a weak or strong one compared to historical standards. We believe our approach would help policy makers decide when would be appropriate to (1) start expansionary policies (higher probabilities of recession), (2) continue expansionary policies (higher probabilities of weaker recovery), or (3) turn to neutral/contractionary policies (higher probabilities of stronger recovery). The ordered probit model shows the probabilities of recession staying above 50 percent during all five recessions in our simulated out-of-sample analysis of 1980:Q1–2016:Q1. The probabilities of weaker recovery are consistent with actual periods of below trend growth. Based on 2016:Q1 data, the model suggests a meaningfully higher chance of continuing below trend growth. One key result is that the probability of weaker growth has been persistently higher than the other two scenarios for the past several years. These higher probabilities of weak growth are consistent with the accommodative monetary policy stance of the past eight years.     

How and Why Do Firms Adjust Their Cash Holdings toward Targets? Evidence from China

We examine the dynamic adjustment of cash holdings of publicly traded Chinese firms during 1998–2006. The empirical evidence is supportive of the dynamic trade-off theory of cash holdings. In particular, there is strong evidence of asymmetric adjustments, i.e., adjustments from above the target are significantly faster than those from below. Moreover, the speeds of adjustment (SOA) are heterogeneous for firms facing differential adjustment costs. More specifically, the adjustment speed is higher in firms with bank lines of credit, positively related to the deviation from the target, but it is negatively related to firm size. Furthermore, in terms of adjustment method, firms make adjustments to their targets primarily through debt and equity financing when they are in cash shortage, On the other hand, the dividend payments play a minimal role in it. Lastly, in terms of motives for adjustment, we find that the precautionary motive arising from financial constraints well explains the cash holdings adjustment behaviors of Chinese listed firms.