Revisiting the effectiveness of the German accounting enforcement reforms: a replication study

Management Review Quarterly - In this paper, we replicate and extend the study “Economic Consequences of Accounting Enforcement Reforms: The Case of Germany” published by Ernstberger,...     

Revisiting the monday effect: a replication study for the German stock market

Management Review Quarterly - Monday is unique for its reputation as a “bad” day—one that is characterized by pessimism and reluctance as noted by Rystrom and Benson (Financ Anal...     

The institutional embeddedness of local inter-firm networks: a leverage for business creation

There is an increasing concern for the notion of ‘embeddedness’ of economic activity; yet the conceptualization of the concept and its operationalization remain underdeveloped. First, embeddedness may concern, on the one hand, the structure of relations that tie economic actors together (structural embeddedness) and, on the other hand, the social strands supplementing economic strands in each relation (substantive embeddedness). In this paper, a network framework is outlined which proposes several layers or ‘orders’ of embeddedness. Focusing on small firms, the point of departure is individual exchange relationships as personal ties combining economic and social concerns. First-order embeddedness concerns the localized business networks created by combining these dyadic relations. Second-order embeddedness is achieved when considering also the memberships of business persons in economic and social local institutions while third-order embeddedness concerns the special cases where these institutions bridge gaps between firms. The network model is operationalized and applied to a small Swedish industrial (furniture) community, its firms and economic/social institutions. The findings generally support the applicability of the model and demonstrate the supplementarity of different layers/orders of embeddedness. Further research challenges are deduced and implications for practitioners are provided.     

Entrepreneurship of an institutional field: the emergence of coworking spaces for digital business models

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Coworking spaces have been proliferating world-wide in urban and rural areas while facilitating entrepreneurship and new, especially digital...     

The influence of the media on the history of business success

All the main indicators related to entrepreneurship have increased since 2011 (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018, 2019). The positive perception of this phenomenon was boosted by the socio-economic situation and by a specific agent of the entrepreneurial ecosystem: the economic specialized media. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the economic media has given their readers an excessively positive discourse, linked to success and to the lack of analysis of the entrepreneurial phenomenon. The sample is defined in terms of a linguistic corpus comprising content related to entrepreneurship drawn from the digital editions of the three most important Spanish economic newspapers for the period 2010 to 2018. A systematic standardize assignment of categories to the contents and an analysis of the relationships between those categories has been carried out (Riffe et al. 2019). These categories are ‘number of contents’, ‘information treatment’, ‘percentage of success stories’, ‘percentage of content analysis’ and ‘sources’. The results reveal a clear intention of the media to offer an overly optimistic perception of the entrepreneurial phenomenon considering the survival rate of the projects mentioned. There is evidence for a selection of information linked to success, a lack of follow-up of the stories and a poor preparation by the media, which lacks specialized journalists and, above all, replicates agency contents. This study provides empirical evidence that helps to identify the optimistic perception imposed by the media for the entrepreneurial phenomenon. This perception, together with other relevant facts, contribute to the creation of an ‘information bubble’ (Cervantes-Zacarés 2019) during the period under study.

     

Unlocking the influence of family business exposure on entrepreneurial intentions

Although the impact of family business exposure on offspring’s entrepreneurial intentions has attracted significant attention, assessments of this impact remain inconsistent. To solve this puzzle, we switch the focus from the presence of family business exposure to the content of exposure by examining the learning experiences of business family offspring. Specifically, we test the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions and explore the underlying process in this relationship. Findings from a sample of 131 Chinese business family offspring support that perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards are positively related to entrepreneurial intentions, and this relationship is found to be partially mediated by entrepreneurial self-efficacy; additionally, offspring’s family business involvement weakens the positive impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards on entrepreneurial intentions but strengthens the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The findings from this research contribute to the social cognitive career theory, family business, and entrepreneurial cognition literature. We also provide practical guidance for parent entrepreneurs by clarifying the impact of perceived parental entrepreneurial rewards and family business involvement on their children’s entrepreneurial intentions.     

利益相关者对商业生态系统的影响分析模式

文章通过从利益相关者的角度来分析研究商业生态系统,建立了利益相关者对商业生态系统影响的评价体系,构建了商业生态系统中的利益相关者定量分析模式,并通过例证加以分析。这一分析模式有助于帮助企业提高竞争力水平,对指导商业生态系统的良好发展具有一定的意义。     

The making of the German minimum wage: a case study of institutional change

In the more recent dualistic theories, Germany is cited as an example of a less solidaristic equilibrium, in which ‘producer coalitions’ between core workforces supposedly unaffected by deregulation and their employers prevented the introduction of a minimum wage. The present article shows that such an equilibrium never existed. Core workforces are being threatened by the outsourcing of jobs to the low‐wage sector. This threat created the breeding ground for a joint campaign by manufacturing and service unions for a minimum wage, which made it possible to amalgamate the unions' considerable resources at company level, their strength being derived from the German system of codetermination. Under pressure from the manufacturing unions in particular, the arrangements for the minimum wage follow, as far as possible, the traditions of free collective bargaining. As a result, the social partners in Germany have a considerably stronger influence on the minimum wage than those in the UK.     

Implementing supply chain information integration in China: The role of institutional forces and trust

This study investigates the effects of Chinese companies’ institutional environment on the development of trust and information integration between buyers and suppliers. Three aspects of China's institutional environment are salient: legal protection, government support, and the importance of guanxi (interpersonal relationships). This study uses structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 398 Chinese manufacturing companies. Government support and importance of guanxi significantly affect trust, which subsequently influences two elements of information integration, namely, information sharing and collaborative planning. Furthermore, the importance of guanxi has a direct, positive impact on information sharing, and government support has a direct, positive effect on both information sharing and collaborative planning.     

Influence of institutional environment on entrepreneurial intention: a comparative study of two countries university students

Institutional environment influences the perceptions of desirability and feasibility, society’s social and cultural environment, such as beliefs, values and attitudes, conditions behaviour and decisions made by individuals. This research evaluates the influence of institutional environment on entrepreneurial intention using a comparative analysis of different attitudes among university students in two countries: Portugal and Spain. In particular, this study aims to examine the perceptions of desirability, feasibility and intention toward the creation of one’s own business and how that variables influence the entrepreneurial intention as compared these two different institutional contexts. Results revealed difference among attitudes toward entrepreneurship in both countries. With respect to the perception of feasibility, the majority of students in Extremadura (Spain) consider that it is easier to create a business in nowadays than it was several decades ago. However, from the students of Beira Interior (Portugal) consider that it is more difficult. Furthermore, in Extremadura, the entrepreneurial intention is higher than in Beira Interior.     

The influence of countries' climate change-related institutional profile on voluntary environmental disclosures

This paper analyzes how the regulative, normative, and cultural dimensions of institutions exert pressure both on companies' decisions to voluntarily disclose environmental information and on the quality of the information disclosed. Prior research has focused on the influence of economic, disclosure, and generic institutional determinants, although little attention has been paid to the analysis of the influence exerted by climate change-related institutional pillars. The results show that the three institutional pillars have different effects as regards both the decision to respond and the quality of disclosure. The regulative pillar positively influences the response decision but does not influence disclosure quality. The normative pillar positively affects both the propensity of companies to disclose and the quality of the information reported. Meanwhile, the cultural pillar positively influences disclosure quality, but it has no effect on firms' decisions to disclose environmental information. This paper is the first to analyze whether the institutional profile of climate change in different countries influences voluntary environmental disclosures.     

Religiosity as a source of influence on work engagement: a study of the Malaysian Finance industry

Abstract

The majority of work engagement studies have been conducted using a quantitative approach with limited attention to the institutional and social contexts. Meanwhile, the role of religion in shaping people’s philosophy and behaviour in life and work has been gaining attention from management researchers. Studies have revealed the positive impact of religiosity on a number of human resources and organizational outcomes. However, few studies treat religious belief as a job or personal resource from a HRM perspective. This study fills part of this research gap by focusing on the relevant factors that may affect work engagement in the Malaysian Islamic context. Drawing on data from 41 semi-structured interviews with mid-ranking professionals from the finance sector, this study responds to calls for more focus on contexts and for deeper qualitative investigations into individual dynamics that concern religiosity and work engagement. It provides evidence that religiosity plays an important role in work engagement. Our findings have implications for people management in organizations that have a diverse workforce representing multiple religions.     

Market entry of firms with different legal forms: an empirical test of the influence of institutional factors

Drawing upon institutional theory we develop a conceptual model and investigate the determinants of market entry for worker cooperatives, publicly traded and limited-liability companies. Our results show that formal institutional conditions (i.e., mercantile legislation) influence the start-up choice of entrepreneurs regarding the legal form of their new venture. In addition, we take into account the influence of informal institutional conditions (i.e., local corporate culture) on the market entry rate of firms with different legal structures. Findings show that, while market entry is sensitive to the general economic climate, entry rates of firms with a different legal structure respond differently to the same economic conditions.

Reflections on developments in institutional theory: Toward a relational approach

In this review article, we reflect upon recent developments in institutional theory with particular emphasis on first, how organizational fields have been conceived and second, on how action has been conceptualized and incorporated into institutional accounts. We show that progress has been made in regard to our understanding of field level processes and the role of institutional actors. However, we also identify a number of weaknesses and challenges, which we assess in the context of developing a relational approach to institutional analysis.     

虚拟企业:网络经济下企业创新的新平台

文章论述了在网络经济下的虚拟企业能够突出核心竞争力,能有效加强组织协调,能克服创新本身所具有的不确定性、路径依赖性、不可逆性以及系统集成性特征所引起的创新障碍,为企业创新的成功提供了一个崭新的平台。     

The effects of social heterogeneity on travel patterns: A replication study

This paper examines differences between the U.S. and Australian urban landscape in terms of the relationship between urban structure and the effectiveness of public transportation. A replication study is undertaken that tests the validated hypothesis from a U.S. study that urban travel corridor social heterogeneity reduces patronage of public transportation because of resident concerns with social composition of passengers and effects on the travel privacy dimension. A causal model is identified for the city of Sydney that specifies enogenous and endogenous variables, as per the U.S. study, which affect bus and rail use. Results do not lead to the acceptance of the hypothesized relationship. The presence of social heterogeneity in Sydney travel corridors does not deter residents within the study corridors from using the bus or train for the journey to work, nor do they appear to affect longer term decisions on car ownership. Bus patronage was shown to be dependent on social heterogeneity factors while rail use was associated with car owning households. These results highlight differences in urban spatial structure and travel patterns between Sydney and cities in the U.S. study, and suggest differential effects of changes in urban spatial structure and policy responses.     

The influence of individual characteristics,plan characteristics and work-related factors on salaried employees' attitudes towards profit sharing: a Canadian case

We examined the influence of individual and plan characteristics and work-related factors on salaried employees' attitudes towards profit sharing. Employees who were committed to their company, had a high work ethic, did not feel there should be a guaranteed minimum pay-out and who believed that there was a connection between exerting effort and their job performance as well as between their own performance and profit-sharing pay-outs had a more favourable attitude towards profit sharing in general. Employees who were committed to their company, had greater knowledge of their company's profit-sharing plan, preferred the cash bonus distribution scheme and believed there was a connection between their own performance and profit-sharing pay-outs had a more favourable attitude towards their company's profit-sharing plan. The results suggest that individual characteristics and work-related factors are as important to the successful implementation of a profit-sharing plan as the features of the plan itself.     

Exploring the benefits of contact centre offshoring: a study of trends and practices for the Australian business sector

A globalised knowledge economy has seen organisations restructure their delivery of customer services to take advantage of an open and competitive labour market. Gains achieved in developed economies such as the USA and UK from offshoring of business processes to developing countries are pressuring Australian businesses to offshore. This paper explores the practices of Australian businesses with offshore contact centres and considers emerging trends in offshoring in terms of potential risks and benefits for Australian organisations with broad customer contact. Findings suggest that Australian organisations are not only cautiously adopting offshore contact centre solutions to a range of onshore challenges including recruitment and retention of local staff and comparatively high local costs, but also achieving gains beyond cost savings in quality of service and enhanced business flexibility.     

The gap between research and practice: a replication study on the HR professionals' beliefs about effective human resource practices

In 2002 Rynes, Colbert and Brown asked human resource (HR) professionals to what extent they agreed with various HR research findings. Responses from 959 American participants showed that there are large discrepancies between research findings and practitioners' beliefs about effective human resource practices. The current research is a replication of the Rynes et al. study among 626 Dutch HR professionals. The results show remarkable similarities with the American study: there are large discrepancies between research findings and practitioners' beliefs in some content areas, especially recruitment and selection. Dutch practitioners are somewhat more likely to agree with research findings when there education level is higher, when they read HRM professional journals more frequently and when they have a positive attitude towards the applicability and usefulness of academic research.     

首尔的扩张与韩国的城市发展政策

分析了20世纪60年代以来韩国首尔和首尔都市区快速增长的驱动力,回顾了韩国政府的城市增长管理政策,并通过比较数据评析其政策成效.研究韩国的城市增长经验教训,可以为其他快速增长的国家和城市提供有益的启示.