Exploring entrepreneurs’ human capital components and effects on learning orientation in early internationalizing firms

This study aims to enhance our understanding of the role of entrepreneurs’ human capital components and the influences on learning orientation in early internationalizing firms. Drawing from the integration of human capital theory, resource-based view theory, learning theory, and on the literature of international entrepreneurship and strategic management, a research model is proposed and consists of five constructs, namely international business skill, international business knowledge, entrepreneurial competence, managerial competence and learning orientation. The empirical analysis was carried out on a sample of 158 early internationalizing firms in a food industry in Thailand. Partial least square technique was conducted to test the structural equation models and hypotheses. This followed by some illustrative case studies as supplementary to the empirical findings. The results confirm our hypotheses and support the proposed research model. This study yielded interesting findings in which an entrepreneur’s skill and knowledge in international business enhance entrepreneurial and managerial competencies. These competencies, in turn, play an important role in influencing a firm’s strategic learning orientation     

Three levels of culture and firms’ entrepreneurial orientation: A research agenda

Numerous studies examining the linkage between corporate entrepreneurship and performance resort to the entrepreneurial orientation construct to assess a firm's degree of entrepreneurship. Little conceptual and empirical research has been devoted to understanding the factors and conditions that produce Entrepreneurial Orientation. Generic explanatory variables such as environment, organization, strategy and culture have been mentioned in past research, but though a number of hypotheses have been proposed, few have been thoroughly developed and tested. In this article, we focus on one explanatory variable – culture – that we develop along multiple axes. We propose a conceptual framework that aims to provide a better understanding of how three interdependent levels of culture – national, industry and corporate – influence Entrepreneurial Orientation.     

The role of supply management innovativeness and supplier orientation in firms’ sustainability performance

Questions about the influencing factors and measurement of firms' sustainability performance have attracted growing research interest, as the requirements for sustainability have steadily increased. This study examines whether supply management innovativeness and supplier orientation make positive impacts on firms' overall sustainability performance. An empirical study based on a survey targeting large- and medium-sized manufacturing companies in Finland shows that innovativeness in supply management considerably influences a firm's overall sustainability performance and that supplier orientation positively relates to sustainability performance. The benefits of innovativeness in supply management and strategic supplier orientation are directly realised in sustainability performance. Therefore, supply management is not only a gatekeeper against sustainability risks arising from the supply base but is also a function by which new ideas aiming to influence supply markets and firms' sustainability are presented.     

Financial liberalization and firms’ capital structure adjustments evidence from Southeast Asia and South America

This paper investigates the impact of financial liberalization on the adjustment of debt ratios in 12 emerging markets using firm-level data from 1991 to 2004. The results support the central hypothesis of this paper that adjustment costs are important in explaining firms’ adjustment toward their debt ratio targets. Our results show that deviations from targets are halved within 1.09 years in South America and 1.19 years in Southeast Asia, suggesting speed of adjustment is relatively faster in South American countries than Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, our results show that after full liberalization those countries where rule of law and creditors rights were properly enforced, firms had higher adjustment speed compared to those countries where such enforcement was not present.The estimated adjustment coefficients imply that on average firms’ adjustment speeds have increased in all South American countries over the period of financial liberalization. On the contrary, firms’ adjustment speeds did not increase in Southeast Asian countries, reflecting the uneven effect of liberalization on the firms’ financing behaviour in Asian countries. There was a significant reduction in time (in years) taken to half the gap between actual debt ratios and targets only in Pakistan and South Korea. This finding supports the idea of uncertain impact of financial liberalization programs on the domestic financial markets in those emerging markets which started opening up their market and integrating with the rest of the world latter than others. These findings have significant implications for the sequence of banking sector liberalization in the emerging markets.     

Examining the relationship between customer and entrepreneurial orientation on nascent firms’ marketing strategy

Is entrepreneurial marketing (EM) a ??one type fits all?? approach? Research suggests that EM is especially suitable for small firms. However, it is obvious that??despite their size??small firms show a myriad of different characteristics. In this paper, it is argued that different firm characteristics can be seen in different business orientations, namely customer orientation (CO) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO). In turn, different amounts of EO and CO lead to different forms of EM strategy. The Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) serves as source to investigate relationships between EO, CO, and respective marketing strategies among nascent firms. The study suggests that innovativeness is strongly related to the importance of several marketing strategies, such as developing new or advanced product or process technologies. However, other strategies, such as lower prices or convenient location, are not related to either significant levels of CO or EO. The paper offers two main implications. Firstly, small business founders have to be aware of the fact that certain strategies cannot come ??out of nowhere??. This paper shows that running proactive marketing strategies that aim for ongoing innovativeness require the existence of an underlying EO. Secondly, there are different forms of ??small firm EM??; a finding that requires further research in the future.     

Banks’ capital,regulation and the financial crisis

This paper investigates whether regulatory capital requirements play an important role in determining banks’ equity capital. We estimate equity capital regressions using panel data of a sample of 560 banks for 2004–2010. Our results suggest that regulatory capital requirements are not first order determinants of banks’ capital structure. We document differences on the effect of most factors on banks’ share of equity according to the type of bank and to the region of the bank. Finally, we show that the determinants of this share are sensitive to the recent international financial crisis and to a set of regulatory country factors.     

Growing and mature stage technology selection patterns of small sized firms in selected Asian countries — Korea,Hong Kong,and Japan

By comparing successful technology innovation cases with unsuccessful ones in Hong Kong and Korea, as deueloping countries, comparing with Japan, as an advanced country in the Asian region, this study suggests a basic policy of the selection of R&D projects for small firms in developing countries. These countries have great differences. For instance, with respect to governmental support, small firms in Hong Kong do not haue any opportunity of government support while small firms in Korea enjoy it so much. In Japan, small firms have enjoyed it previously but now they face the similar situation of small firms in Hong Kong. Based on the difference of these countries, the existing hypotheses related to technology innovation are elicited and modified suitably for small sized firms in developing country, since these hypotheses have been derived on the basis of large firms in advanced countries by other authors. 77ns study shows the different selection pattern of R&D projects with respect to growing and mature stage technologies, based on the field study.     

The competitive advantage of cluster firms: the priority of regional network position over extra-regional networks – a study of a French high-tech cluster

This paper extends research on industry clusters by unbundling network from cluster effects and by analysing how network effects drive the performance of cluster firms. The results show that a firm's connectedness in a regional network is positively associated with firm performance. However, we found that for cluster firms, it is even more important to build strong network positions by developing rather exclusive alliance networks. In addition, a weak position within a cluster cannot be compensated for by strong extra-regional networking activities. From this perspective, cluster-specific advantages are firm-specific and the basis for competitive advantage. Regional competitiveness is therefore a non-substitutable pre-condition for the overall performance of cluster firms.     

An evolutionary model of industry dynamics and firms’ institutional behavior with job search, bargaining and matching

By combining features from distinct theoretical approaches, namely the evolutionary and the job search, matching and bargaining literatures, we propose a model that captures the main dynamics of a world where heterogeneous firms and workers interact and co-evolve. Within a micro-meso framework, the model focuses on the influence of firms’ labour choices (“institutional settings”) on industry dynamics, taking into account the existence of employment adjustment costs. The consideration of endogenous matching and bargaining processes in the labour market results in significant frictions, such as the simultaneous coexistence of unfilled job vacancies and unemployment. In a setting where technological progress is not biased a stylized fact of industrialized world economies in the last few decades emerges, the increasing wage inequality. Additionally, turbulence in the industry increases after a negative demand shock. As expected, the negative demand shock causes a decrease in the number of vacancies and, consequently, unemployment rates increase considerably. Interestingly, and mimicking the recent experiences of countries such as US, Spain, Greece and Portugal, the rise in unemployment is matched by a rise in contractual wages. This outcome is explained by the lower ability of the firms to fill their posted vacancies, which results from friction in the interactions among agents.     

The impact of appointment-based CEO connectedness on firms’ performance and profitability

This paper investigates whether the performance variables of newly added intangible capital elements give the appointment relationship a deeper impact on the firms’ performance and profitability. We document that after correcting for endogeneity, when considering intangible capital, Total Q is a better proxy than Tobin’s Q for explaining the effect of appointment-based CEO connectedness on firm performance and profitability. Furthermore, we show that the influence of directors on company performance and profitability is more important than that of executives or managers. We also find that the stronger the appointment relationship, the worse the company’s performance and profitability. We further provide a series of alternative interpretations and robustness test evidence showing that intangible capital is more important for high technology and internet firms than industrial firms. Further, we find that the greater the number of executives appointed by the CEO, the better the firm’s research and development, but the worse the firm’s investment policy.     

Balancing board? The effects of board independence and capital on firms offering work‐family benefits

While prior research demonstrates the strategic human resource (HR) advantages associated with offering work–family benefits (WFBs), firms continue to be reluctant in providing their employees with these benefits. Drawing on the corporate governance and stakeholder orientation literatures, this study examines the role of board independence and capital for WFBs being offered in publicly‐traded firms. Our results demonstrate that various director independence and capital attributes are related to the firm offering WFBs. Specifically, board directors who are outsiders, women, and holders of additional directorships, with their broad stakeholder orientation, increase the likelihood of WFBs being offered by the firm [Correction added on December 14, 2017, after first online publication: the preceding sentence has been updated to clarify the findings of the study.]. These findings are of importance to HR practitioners considering the influence that corporate boards can have on the firm's use of HR practices, such as WFBs, that affect all employees, not just the executives.     

Are innovation and R&D the only sources of firms’ knowledge that increase productivity? An empirical investigation of French manufacturing firms

The economic literature presents knowledge accumulation as one of the most important characteristics of innovation. The accumulation of knowledge arises from complex and dynamic interactions between a firm??s own internal capacity and external expertise. Research and development (R&D) remains important in the innovation process, but it must be integrated with knowledge from other sources, such as training and knowledge capitalization. This paper investigates the relationship between such knowledge sources and the productivity of French firms. Using asymptotic least squares, a Cobb-Douglas function including R&D, innovation, training expenditure and ISO 9000 certification is estimated for 1,213 French manufacturing firms. Our results show that innovation, training and ISO 9000 certification have a positive and significant impact on firms?? productivity.     

The negative influence of the entrepreneur’s level of higher education on the attractiveness of European SMEs as alliance partners in Brazil: the role of practical experience and international entrepreneurial orientation

Notwithstanding the contemporary relevance of alliance strategies for SME internationalisation, especially in the case of uncertain business environments, few studies have investigated human resource issues in the context of SMEs prior to alliance formation. Even more scarce are studies looking at the impact of a manager/entrepreneur’s characteristics on pre-alliance formation, despite recognition of the expected crucial role of the entrepreneur in this context and of the strong connection between an entrepreneur and their SME. Drawing on international entrepreneurship theory and empirical observations from an exploratory study, we propose a post hoc conceptual model. The exploratory empirical part of our study employs a sample of entrepreneurs from biotechnology SMEs in the United Kingdom and Germany intending to ally in a large emerging market (i.e. Brazil). Our empirical observations suggest an anomalous (at first glance) negative association between the entrepreneur’s level of higher education (a construct at the individual level) and the attractiveness of the SME as a partner firm vis-à-vis alliance formation (a construct at the firm level). Our post hoc model emphasises the role of practical experience and the corresponding levels of international entrepreneurial orientation as theorised variables mediating the observed empirical relationship. We develop theoretical propositions, and suggest practical implications and future research directions.     

‘Types’ of private family firms: an exploratory conceptual and empirical analysis

Family firms that can leverage entrepreneurial experience and knowledge can shape local economic development. Practitioners concerned with fostering enterprise sustainability need to be aware that family firms cite contrasting goals, resource profiles and requirements. Family firms are not a homogeneous entity. The ‘targeting’ of support to ‘types’ of family firms could enable practitioners to satisfy their wealth creation and social inclusion objectives. To stimulate increased critical reflection, insights from agency and stewardship theories were drawn upon to illustrate six conceptualized ‘types’ of private firms based on company ownership and management structures as well as company objectives. Cross-sectional survey evidence was gathered from key informants in family firms in the UK. An agglomerative hierarchical QUICK CLUSTER analysis identified seven empirical ‘types’ of family firms. Four out of the six conceptualized ‘types’ were validated by the exploratory empirical taxonomy. Implications for policy-makers and practitioners as well as researchers are discussed.     

Growth of born globals: the role of the entrepreneur’s personal factors and venture capital

This paper examines to what extent the human capital of entrepreneurs and the receipt of venture capital (VC) financing affect the growth of born globals (BGs). The study analyzes a sample of 242 BGs resulting from a survey on high-tech start-ups operating in the ICT and electronics sectors, located in different countries throughout the world. A multivariate explorative analysis controlling for the endogenous nature of VC is conducted. The results indicate that the experience of the entrepreneur in having previously established another entrepreneurial firm positively affects the growth of BGs. A negative effect is associated with the presence of heterogeneity in the management team in terms of education background. With regard to the linkage between financial capital and growth, it is found that both VC financing and the number of founders (a proxy for the availability internal capital) positively influence the growth of BGs.     

The effects of an environmental accountability system on local environmental governance and firms’ emissions

The Chinese central government introduced the environmental accountability system (EAS) policy in 2006 to encourage local governments to execute environmental policies appropriately. However, the effects of this EAS policy have not been investigated at the firm level. In this study, we first measured the environmental governance intensity of local governments by calculating the environment word portion (EWP) of the annual governments’ work reports and found that local governments increased their efforts after the EAS policy implementation. We then constructed a continuous difference-in-difference (DID) strategy to estimate the effect of the EAS on firms’ emission and found that firms significantly reduced their sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emission under the regulation intensity of local governments after the EAS policy. The reductions are mainly because of the private, non-export, labour- and capital-intensive firms. The EAS policy may encourage firms to reduce coal usage, design more products, decrease capacity investment and even withdraw from the market, thus reducing pollutant emission. Finally, we tested firms’ response in various polluting sectors and found that the EAS policy may cause local governments to fail in distinguishing low pollution sectors from high pollution sectors.     

The effects of psychological capital and risk tolerance on service workers’ internal motivation for firm performance and entrepreneurship

This study investigates how psychological capital and risk tolerance can inspire service workers to develop internal motivation and entrepreneurial confidence. Data were gathered from a survey of 255 service workers in the metropolitan area of Seoul, South Korea. The results showed that service workers’ psychological capital consisted of two main constructs: hopeful self-efficacy and optimistic resilience. The results indicated that hopeful self-efficacy had no significant effect on service workers’ internal motivation, while the optimistic resilience had a positive effect which in turn positively impacted entrepreneurial confidence. On the other hand, risk tolerance was found not to affect service workers’ internal motivation. These results imply that optimistic service workers, with recuperative powers, tended to be proactive in their work and have more confidence when establishing new ventures. They also suggest that service firms can improve organizational performance by promoting worker optimism and resilience. This study provides practical insights into why service firms should pay attention to worker optimism and resilience to improve firm performance over the long run, not only for the firms but for the national economy as a whole.     

The effect of university and regional knowledge spillovers on firms’ performance: an analysis of the Spanish USOs

Previous empirical studies of university spin-off (USO) growth have applied a firm-based approach without modelling how contextual factors may influence firm growth. By adopting an ‘interactionist approach’, this paper tests the hypothesis that the regional and university contexts may partly determine USO growth, together with firms’ internal resources. Using a sample of 531 Spanish USOs located in 16 Spanish regions and launched by 51 universities over the 2001–2013 and applying multilevel modelling with macro- and micro-data, the findings confirmed that regional context, together with firm-specific characteristics, are important for explaining USO growth. More specifically, the presence of venture capitalists, the capacity to generate internal funds, and operating in high-tech industries have a positive effect on USO growth. On the basis of the results, we propose some policies for fostering USO growth.     

Sim-heuristics low-carbon technologies’ selection framework for reducing costs and carbon emissions of heavy goods vehicles

ABSTRACT

UK logistics fleets face increasing competitive pressures due to volatile fuel prices and the small profit margins in the industry. By reducing fuel consumption, operational costs and carbon emissions can be reduced. While there are a number of technologies that can reduce fuel consumption, it is often difficult for logistics companies to identify which would be the most beneficial to adopt over the medium and long terms. With a myriad of possible technology combinations, optimising the vehicle specification for specific duty cycles requires a robust decision-making framework. This paper combines simulated truck and delivery routes with a metaheuristic evolutionary algorithm to select the optimal combination of low-carbon technologies that minimise the greenhouse gas emissions of long-haul heavy goods vehicles during their lifetime cost. The framework presented is applicable to other vehicles, including road haulage, waste collection fleets and buses by using tailored parameters in the heuristics model.     

Further model-based estimates of US total manufacturing production capital and technology, 1949–2005

Production capital and technology (i.e., total factor productivity) in US manufacturing are fundamental for understanding output and productivity growth of the US economy but are unobserved at this level of aggregation and must be estimated before being used in empirical analysis. Previously, we developed a method for estimating production capital and technology based on an estimated dynamic structural economic model and applied the method using annual SIC data for 1947–1997 to estimate production capital and technology in US total manufacturing. In this paper, we update this work by reestimating the model and production capital and technology using annual SIC data for 1949–2001 and partly overlapping NAICS data for 1987–2005.