Organizing a precarious black box: An actor‐network account of the Atlantic Schools of Business, 1980–2006

There is a growing use of actor‐network theory (ANT) throughout management and organization studies. While earlier ANT research used ethnography to “follow the actors” in the production of organization/knowledge, more recent studies use archival sources to examine developments over time. We extend the latter approach using qualitative social network analysis (SNA) and apply this to a case study of the Atlantic Schools of Business (ASB). Our contribution is two‐fold: first, through an examination of actors in the ASB networking processes over 26 years, we demonstrate how the seemingly stable surface of an organization can hide the precariousness of organizing; second, we reveal the potential fusion of ANT with SNA as a method for dealing with large qualitative datasets over long periods of time. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Target‐Setting,Pay for Performance,and Quality Improvement: A Case Study of Ontario Hospitals’ Quality‐Improvement Plans

This study examines whether difficult targets and quality indicators in executives' pay‐for‐performance (P4P) plans affect performance. The impact of target‐setting and P4P plans on quality improvement in the public sector is unclear. The Ontario government initiated the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), which requires hospitals to set targets for quality indicators annually and link executive pay to target achievement since 2011. Analyzing Health Quality Ontario's database and hospitals' 2012–2013 QIPs, this study shows greater quality improvement in hospitals with difficult targets than hospitals with easy targets or without assigned targets; however, the positive impact disappears for high‐performance hospitals relative to their peers. We find no significant effect of the use of quality indicators in executives' P4P plans on quality improvement. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reducing environmental uncertainty: How high performance work systems moderate the resource dependence‐firm performance relationship

Firm performance is a major concern for all organizations and involves a multitude of antecedents. Reducing environmental uncertainty and dependency through the use of strategic actions in the resource dependency theory (RDT) framework and enhancing work practices through high performance work systems (HPWS) lead to higher levels of firm performance. We reveal the interconnectivity between RDT and HPWS and develop propositions as to how components of HPWS positively moderate the relationship between firm performance and the environmental uncertainty‐reducing strategic actions proposed by RDT such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, boards of directors, political action, and executive succession. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Technology Synergy,Product Characteristics,and New Product Performance: A Meta‐Analytic Review

The associations of technology synergy, product characteristics, and new product performance are widely spread in the marketing and innovation management literatures. However, little research integrates these associations. This study adopts a meta‐analytic approach to aggregate prior findings across studies published before 2010 to review the relationships between technology synergy, product characteristics, and new product performance. Structural equation analysis reveals that technology synergy has: (a) a positive medium effect on new product performance; (b) a positive and strong impact on product advantage, which then affects new product performance; and (c) an indirect effect on new product performance through product innovativeness and product advantage. These findings suggest that product innovation and advantage are important intermediaries between technology synergy and new product performance—as yet unrevealed in extant literature. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring location‐specific assets and exploiting firm‐specific advantages: an integrative perspective on foreign ownership decisions

Exploiting existing assets and exploring new assets are two major and often concurrent forces driving firms to invest abroad. Moving beyond prior attention to their separate effects on foreign ownership decisions, this study examines their integrative impact. I develop hypotheses aligning a set of firm‐specific advantages with asset‐seeking motives, and test these relationships on a sample of Taiwanese overseas investments. I find that wholly‐owned subsidiaries are preferred to joint ventures when multinationals are able to tap into host innovatory dynamism by employing extant technological capabilities and to access local natural resources by leveraging corporate scales. Nonetheless, multinationals face difficulties in deploying marketing knowledge in different contexts and thus are more likely to choose joint ventures for an aggressive foreign market entry. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effectiveness of deservingness‐based advertising messages: The role of product knowledge and belief in a just world

Are advertisements that tell consumers they deserve a product effective? Given evidence showing people are motivated to get what they deserve, we argue that for certain consumers this is the case. In two experiments, we manipulated the type of ad participants viewed for a luxury product and then assessed ad effectiveness. We also measured participants’ belief in a just world (BJW) and product knowledge. Deservingness‐based ads were (a) more effective for strong BJW participants, mediated by the degree to which the ads matched participants’ worldview and justified buying the product, and (b) less effective for high knowledge participants. We conclude that deservingness‐based advertising can be successful, depending on consumer characteristics. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Private Benefits of Managerial Control,Government Ownership,and Acquirer Returns: Evidence from the Chinese State‐Controlled Listed Companies

This article examines how government ownership affects the relationship between private benefits of managerial control, measured as excessive overhead expenses, and profitability of acquirers. A total of 246 merger and acquisition (M&A) events from Chinese state‐controlled listed companies (CSCLCs) between 2001 and 2006 constitutes the analytical sample. Under a low level of government shareholding, private benefits of managerial control positively correlated with acquirer announcement returns. However, there was no relationship between private benefits of managerial control and acquirer announcement returns under a high level of government shareholding. The implications of these findings for scholarship and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Target Costing,Business Model Innovation,and Firm Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Chinese Firms

Market orientation theory was used to relate the implementation of target costing systems and business model innovation to firm performance using a sample of 189 electronics and information industry manufacturers in China. As expected, the implementation of target costing was positively associated with both business model innovations and firm performance. Further, the diversity of product development teams was also crucial. It positively moderated the association between target costing and business model innovation. Finally, the business model innovation was positively related to firm performance. Copyright © 2012 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the relationships between innovation and internationalization of small and medium‐sized enterprises: A nonrecursive structural equation model

This article seeks to provide more insights on the two‐way link between internationalization and innovation by considering total, direct, and reciprocal effects using a nonrecursive structural model. Innovation is defined through product and process development, while internationalization is defined through inward and outward internationalization in both closer and farther markets. The results suggest that these two major sources of growth are linked by different sets of relations, from the investment in product and process innovation to outward internationalization in a closer market, or from inward and outward internationalization in farther markets to the investment in product innovation. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corporate social responsibility and stock price informativeness: The public interest perspective

In this paper, we propose a new theory that sheds a different light on the potential relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Stock Price Informativeness (PI). More specifically, we explain why a neutral association between CSR and PI can be an indicator of high economic and social welfare, while a positive association can be an indicator of both markets and governments failure. Under a neutral relationship, we argue that mandatory disclosure is getting firms to disclose near their optimal level. Therefore, any voluntary disclosure beyond the mandatory regime (such as CSR disclosure) should not improve PI. We base our hypothesis on public interest theory that suggests that regulators promote the public interest when a market failure is identified. On the other hand, under a positive association between CSR and PI, we argue that regulators do not offer adequate incentives for firms to disclose at their socially optimal levels because the level of voluntary disclosure by socially responsible firms is optimal in comparison to the level of mandatory disclosure provided by other firms with weak CSR engagement.     

Relinking Cross‐functional Collaboration,Knowledge Integration Mechanisms,and Product Innovation Performance: a Moderated Mediation Model

Previous research shows that knowledge integration mechanisms (KIMs) mediate the cross‐functional collaboration‐product innovation performance relationship; however, this mediating effect seems to be rather weak. This study, in contrast, develops a moderated mediation (MOME) model to argue that such a mediating effect is moderated by product innovativeness. A sample comprised of 106 manufacturing firms is utilized in the analyses. A moderated‐mediation approach shows that the mediating effect of KIMs in the linkage between cross‐functional collaboration and product innovation performance varies by different perspectives of product innovativeness. From an industry (macro‐level) perspective, product innovativeness positively moderates the mediating effect of KIMs on product innovation performance; in contrast, such a moderating effect is not significant under a firm (micro‐level) perspective. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Political risk and the internationalization of firms: An empirical study of Canadian‐based export and FDI firms

Political risk analysis primarily receives attention for foreign direct investment (FDI) but only rarely for exporting. We examine how exporters and foreign direct investors evaluate the relative importance of political risk factors. We provide a rationale for exporters to evaluate political risk factors for FDI and for foreign direct investors to evaluate political risk factors for exporting. Survey data were collected from Canadian exporters and foreign direct investors and capture the distinctive nature of salient factors for exporting and FDI. We offer unique insights on the evolutionary character of political risk that are of practical value for both exporting and FDI. Copyright © 2007 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.