Reverse knowledge diffusion: Competitive dynamics and the knowledge seeking behavior of Korean high-tech firms

This paper endeavors to enrich the existing knowledge acquisition literatures by specifically highlighting downsides of external ties of individuals. We introduce the concept of reverse knowledge diffusion (RKD) through external ties of individuals, and develop theoretical propositions to explain how the risks of RKD vary based on competitive dynamics and status of firms as innovation market leaders or market followers. We develop the construct of RKD to help explain why rivals may pursue contrasting knowledge seeking strategies with regards to leverage external ties of individuals, the timing of establishing these ties, and ex ante control mechanisms designed to regulate these relationships. We also discuss how our propositions advance the theory of knowledge seeking behaviors and generate future research opportunities.     

Asymmetric rivalry between strategic groups: response,speed of response and ex ante vs. ex post competitive interaction in the spanish bank deposit market

The objective of this study is to examine asymmetric rivalry between strategic groups in a given industry. Two research hypotheses argue for the existence of asymmetric rivalry in the sense that strategic groups of small companies have a greater degree of response but a slower speed of response to the actions of strategic groups of large companies, than vice versa. To test this, we use an ex post approach that examines the news releases published on the strategic actions and reactions of firms. A third hypothesis compares ex ante competitive expectations with ex post asymmetric rivalry between strategic groups. To test this, we compare ex post news on actions/reactions with an ex ante approach that estimates conjectural variations. The empirical application carried out on bank deposits in the Spanish market defines strategic groups in terms of size due to the historical and institutional conditions of the industry (deregulatory change). The results obtained show that rivalry patterns between strategic groups in terms of company size can be predicted as asymmetric in the sense that smaller bank strategic groups have a greater degree of response (Stackelberg ‘leader–follower’ competitive interaction), and a slower speed of response to the actions of larger bank strategic groups than is found the other way around. Moreover, ex ante expectations of aggressiveness on the part of larger strategic groups characterize greater ex post reactions from the smaller‐size strategic groups. Therefore, the size distribution of strategic groups is valuable to research on complex industries with deregulation changes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Critical realism in case study research

Case study research is the most popular research method for researchers in industrial marketing. However despite a number of attempts the problem of satisfactorily justifying the use of case research remains. This paper proposes critical realism as a coherent, rigorous and novel philosophical position that not only substantiates case research as a research method but also provides helpful implications for both theoretical development and research process. The article describes the critical realist approach due to Sayer and develops a general application of a critical realist approach to case research. An example of its use in practice is presented using a case study of the development of a buyer-seller relationship after the installation of a new MIS system.     

The limitations of market-based regulation of the electronic communications sector

The European Union has recently implemented a system of regulation for the sector based on principles of competition law. The regulatory framework includes 18 markets where Regulatory Authorities should consider imposing ex ante obligations on dominant players. The paper explores the economic methodology being employed in particular to define market boundaries and concludes that the sector is too unstable for this approach to provide predictability and encourage long-term investment. In particular, emerging infrastructures and services can easily be captured while legacy networks remain subject to perpetual regulation. There are significant costs of excessive regulation and alternative approaches may be better.     

How to develop great conceptual frameworks for business-to-business marketing

Robust conceptual frameworks are essential to building academic knowledge. Theory development involves high-quality conceptualization that integrates and builds on existing knowledge, possibly using a multi-disciplinary approach. Further, especially in an applied research area such as business-to-business marketing, the emerging theory will have meaningful implications for managerial decision-makers. Insightful conceptual framework development advances theory substantially, not incrementally. Theoretical development can be either purely conceptual or based on empirical data. Nevertheless, there are comparatively few guidelines for the process of conceptual framework development. This editorial discusses pathways to developing conceptual frameworks to support academic research, with emphasis on business-to-business marketing research. As guidelines and conventions are available for data-driven approaches such as grounded theory, we focus on theorizing processes in which existing theory plays a pivotal role.     

Innovation promoters — A multiple case study

This paper empirically examines the role of innovation promoters in loosely-coupled inter-organisational innovation projects. With a starting point from existing literature on innovation promoters, it seeks to develop a theoretical framework for analysing the particular challenges of inter-organisational innovation projects. Data from seven inter-organisational innovation projects provides the empirical setting of the paper, and these data are analysed on the basis of an inductive, interpretive approach. The paper results in the development of four types of innovation promoters (power, expert, process and relationship). In addition, the results indicate the substantial challenges of dividing the labour between several promoters in inter-organisational innovation projects. The paper concludes with some managerial and research implications.     

The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view

This paper elucidates the underlying economics of the resource-based view of competitive advantage and integrates existing perspectives into a parsimonious model of resources and firm performance. The essence of this model is that four conditions underlie sustained competitive advantage, all of which must be met. These include superior resources (heterogeneity within an industry), ex post limits to competition, imperfect resource mobility, and ex ante limits to competition. In the concluding section, applications of the model for both single business strategy and corporate strategy are discussed.     

Toward a theory of intraorganizational attention based on desirability and feasibility factors

Why would managers in the same firm differ in their attention to opportunity versus threat aspects of the same exogenous shock? Drawing on the attention‐based view, strategic issue diagnosis theory, and construal level theory, we propose and test a theoretical model of differentiated attention among managers within a firm driven by desirability (shock distance) and feasibility (capability perception) considerations. Managers more distant from the locus of the shock and managers with stronger ex ante perceptions regarding organizational capabilities to address the shock paid more attention to opportunity aspects and less attention to threat aspects. We also found subordination effects between shock distance and capability perception, and a moderating role of domain‐specific experience on the effects of capability perception.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Moving beyond simple examples: Assessing the incremental value rule within standards

This paper presents a model of patent licensing in a standard setting context when patented technologies are heterogeneous in multiple dimensions. The model allows us to assess a policy proposal put forth in the literature: that an incremental value pricing rule should define Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) patent licensing within Standard Setting Organizations as it replicates the ex ante efficient competition outcome. We find that when patented technologies must be weighed on numerous factors, and not simply one-dimensional cost-savings, there is unlikely to be a single incremental value that can be agreed upon by all relevant parties. Furthermore, ex ante competition fails to select the efficient technologies by penalizing the more versatile ones. These results cast some doubt on the usefulness of the incremental value as a precise benchmark for FRAND.     

对管理学的理解和认识——基于理论的视角

管理学作为当代社会科学一门主流学科难以名副其实。理论研究中的方向迷失造成管理理论的异常混乱。管理理论与实践脱节在全世界都是严重的问题。中国管理学研究者的自娱自乐式研究和骗取科研经费的“伪装式”研究应当终止。有责任的管理学研究者应该致力于纠正偏失，以特有的使命感，为振兴中国管理学做出力所能及的贡献。     

Corporate governance and national institutions: A review and emerging research agenda

We present a critique of corporate governance research grounded in agency theory and propose that cross-national comparison of corporate governance should consider how the nature and extent of agency relationships differ across different institutional contexts. Building on prior governance studies grounded in sociology and organizational theory we argue that performance outcomes of boards of directors, ownership concentration, and executive incentives may differ depending on the legal system and institutional characteristics in a specific country. Institutions may also affect the extent of complimentarity/substitution among different firm-level governance practices producing patterned variations in firm-level governance mechanisms. Our discussion suggests that researchers need to develop more holistic, institutionally embedded governance framework to analyze organizational outcomes of various governance practices.     

Ex ante or ex post competition policy? A progress report

When intervening in markets, say to block a merger, competition authorities are constrained by the limited information they have about the social desirability of the available alternatives. Compared to ex ante control, ex post control is based on the more accurate information that becomes available in the intervening period, but entails temporary losses to social welfare and reversal costs incurred to unscramble the eggs. Through a toy model, we identify situations in which the competition authority finds it optimal to commit to forego the option of ex post review in order to avoid chilling ex ante socially beneficial mergers. On the other hand, the case for ex post review is strengthened if post-merger market conducts can signal the merged firm's private information about the consequences of the merger.     

Ameliorating food loss and waste in the supply chain through multi-stakeholder collaboration

We elaborate mechanisms through which multi-stakeholder collaboration can ameliorate food loss and waste (FLW) from the end-to-end supply chain. In this context, we integrate the discourse on collaborative relationships in supply chains with stakeholder theory (roles and orientations) and use a multi-method approach combining systematic literature review (SLR) and embedded case studies based on secondary data. We develop a conceptual framework that illustrates collective stakeholder orientation emerging from aligned vertical and horizontal stakeholder orientation across the supply chain towards reducing FLW. We explain how achieving such alignment requires these stakeholders to navigate various collaboration conditions (structural and sporadic) that otherwise spur individualism, culminating in FLW mitigation efforts across food supply chains. We develop propositions, motivate future research, and offer practical implications.     

The deployment and penetration of high-speed fiber networks and services: Why are EU member states lagging behind?

One of the most controversial regulatory issues in Europe (and elsewhere) is whether the emerging next-generation access (NGA) infrastructure should be subjected to cost-based access regulation or whether at least a temporary removal of ex ante obligations (“regulatory holidays”) should be granted. Likewise, the role of NGA-specific state aid policies is increasingly capturing the attention of policy makers and the academic literature.     

Option to acquire or divest a joint venture

This paper develops a model for assessing options in joint ventures. The model is used specifically to examine the option to acquire or divest a joint venture, both in the case where the acquisition/divestiture price is specified ex ante in the initial contract and in the case where the price is to be negotiated ex post. The results derived from the model show how the value of the option and each partner's pay‐off from the venture vary with the structure of the option and how the presence of the option may affect the structuring of the joint venture. The main theoretical insights are stated in 12 potentially testable propositions, and possible ways to operationalize some of the propositions for empirical testing are also explored. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Governing interfirm knowledge transfer in the Chinese market: The interplay of formal and informal mechanisms

Building on knowledge management literature and relational exchange theory, this study addresses how formal (i.e., ex ante contracts and ex post control) and informal mechanisms (i.e., trust) affect interfirm knowledge transfer in the Chinese emerging market. The results of a survey of 343 manufacturer–supplier relationships show that whereas formal control fosters knowledge transfer, contracts are not significantly related to knowledge transfer, and trust greatly facilitates knowledge flows between exchange relationships. Moreover, trust and contracts have a positive joint effect, whereas trust and control have a negative joint effect, on interfirm knowledge transfer. The findings provide important theoretical and managerial implications for interfirm knowledge governance in China.     

Do decentralized innovation systems promote agricultural technology adoption? Experimental evidence from Africa

We use experimental data collected in 8 African countries to investigate whether a decentralized approach can promote the adoption of agricultural innovations. This participatory model is based on the creation of so-called ‘innovation platforms’ where local stakeholders meet and seek to identify problems and prioritize solutions. While we document evidence that the participatory model robustly promotes the adoption of crop management innovations across all research sites, we do not find significant effects for other domains of innovation. We also document considerable heterogeneity in terms of local priorities, and show that not all innovation platforms are equally successful. We present tentative evidence that the performance of these platforms depends on specific dimensions of ex ante social capital.     

Using Intuition in Fuzzy Front‐End Decision‐Making: A Conceptual Framework

The goal of decision‐making during the execution of the fuzzy front end (FFE) is to develop a creative new product concept. Although intuitive decision‐making has been found to increase new product creativity, the theoretical knowledge base as to why and under which conditions intuition use during the process of generating a creative outcome is beneficial, is rather limited. Therefore, this study develops a conceptual framework theorizing why and under which conditions using intuition in FFE execution decision‐making may or may not be (as) beneficial for new product concept creativity. To develop this framework, the authors combine a creativity perspective of the FFE and a dual‐processing perspective of intuition. Interviews with eight FFE practitioners are used to support and illustrate the framework development. The theorizing leads the authors to postulate that intuition use may be beneficial to making generation and evaluation decisions during FFE execution because of the capabilities of the unconscious mind from which intuition results. However, the framework acknowledges that, due to the shortcomings of the unconscious mind, intuition may not be as beneficial to FFE decision‐making in some situations. The authors believe that this framework offers researchers a fertile area for further research and practitioners better insight into when intuition might be effective in FFE execution decision‐making.     

Behavioral assumptions and theory development: the case of transaction cost economics

From a critical realist perspective, I discuss the role played by behavioral assumptions in organization theories, and use transaction cost economics as an illustrative example. Core behavioral assumptions often constitute the foundation of the mechanismic explanations of a theory, and thus should play a pivotal role in theory development. I distinguish between assumption‐based and assumption‐omitted theory testing, and show that empirical research in transaction cost economics has been dominated by assumption‐omitted testing. To establish a solid foundation for a new theory, management researchers should pay more attention to assumption‐based testing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysing disruptive potential: the case of wireless local area network and mobile communications network companies

In this article, we analyse the prediction that wireless local area network (W-LAN) technologies will be disruptive for incumbent mobile communications network operators. For this purpose, we develop a methodology of guided interviews to assess technologies for their disruptive characteristics based on theory of disruptive technology developed by Christensen (1997) and recent extensions. The application of our comprehensive step-by-step method improves the precision of the disruptive technology concept and its usability for practitioners to make ex ante distinctions between disruptive technologies and other phenomena caused by emerging technologies. Our method predicts that contrary to common assumptions, W-LAN is not likely to represent a disruptive technology for the established mobile communications network firms in terms of Christensen's concept. This research was conducted in close collaboration with Vodafone Pilotentwicklung, an R&D and technology monitoring unit of the Vodafone Group. Vodafone provided part of the empirical data through expert interviews and market reports.