Swinging a double-edged sword: The effect of slack on entrepreneurial management and growth

Resource slack represents a double-edged sword, simultaneously fueling and hindering growth. Drawing on Penrose's growth theory and Stevenson's entrepreneurial management theory, we have developed and tested a conceptual model that provides a more nuanced account of the resource slack-growth relationship. Using a large dataset spanning six years, we have found that slack has a positive direct effect on growth but a negative effect on entrepreneurial management, and that entrepreneurial management has a positive effect on growth. Our empirical and conceptual findings are important to the development of firm growth theory and explicate causal mechanisms transforming slack into firm-level outcomes.     

Managers' corporate entrepreneurial actions: Examining perception and position

Are organizational factors that support entrepreneurial action supportive for all? We use the literatures on corporate entrepreneurship and managerial levels to propose that managers differ in structural ability to make the most of their organizational environment. Using a sample 458 managers and moderated Poisson regression analysis we found that the relationship between managers' perceptions of the organizational environment and the number of entrepreneurial ideas implemented varied across managers of different structural levels. Specifically, (1) the positive relationship between managerial support and entrepreneurial action is more positive for senior and middle level managers than it is for lower- (first) level managers, and (2) the positive relationship between work discretion and entrepreneurial action is more positive for senior and middle level managers than it is for first-level managers. These findings suggest that managerial level provides a structural ability to “make more of” organizational factors that support entrepreneurial action.     

Board diversity and firm performance: The role of business group affiliation

There is little consensus globally on the relationship between board diversity and firm performance. Using the resource dependence and agency views, this paper examines how business group affiliation influences the relationship between board diversity and firm performance as a contextual/confounding factor. Based on data for listed firms in India, we find that board demographic diversity is positively associated with the firm performance (Tobin’s Q) of standalone firms, but this association is negative for group-affiliated firms. This negative effect of group affiliation is confirmed in a test based on a novel measure of firm performance using the stock market reaction to the announcement of mergers and acquisitions. For both measures of performance, we show that business group affiliation impairs the positive firm value effects of board demographic diversity. These findings imply that the relationship between board diversity and firm performance requires re-examination in the many countries where group affiliation is common. Our results also provide evidence of a new cost of group affiliation and show in a fresh context that cross-country studies should account for international variations in ownership and institutional structures.     

Cognitive foundations of firm internationalization: A systematic review and agenda for future research

Managerial cognition has a fundamental role in the internationalization of firms. However, there exists no coherent understanding of how prior research has examined and captured the cognitive foundations of internationalization. This paper provides a systematic review of this body of literature. The review identifies three main streams of research that, overall, consists of nine more specific research areas. We show that especially the areas addressing (1) managerial learning, (2) characteristics of upper echelons, (3) intra-organizational perceptions, and (4) external actors’ perceptions provide opportunities for the further advancement of internationalization literature. For harnessing these opportunities, we find that the microfoundational approach could support the empirical examination of the cognitive foundations and would notably contribute to the Uppsala model-based theorization of the firm internationalization process.     

Entrepreneurial leadership and MNE subsidiary performance: The moderating role of subsidiary context

Managers of international subsidiaries, especially subsidiary CEOs, operate at critical interfaces within multinational enterprises (MNEs) and hold strategic responsibility for the operations in their country. Yet, their impact on subsidiary performance has received scant research attention. Building on the subsidiary entrepreneurship and strategic leadership literatures, we develop a model of how subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership affects subsidiary performance, and how this relationship is moderated by the subsidiary context that determines managerial discretion. We combine survey data of 291 international subsidiaries in South Korea with archival data to test our hypotheses. Our results show that subsidiary CEOs’ entrepreneurial leadership enhances subsidiary performance and that this relationship is strengthened by managerial discretion. Our study highlights the pivotal role of subsidiary CEOs within MNEs and contributes to a microfoundational understanding of international subsidiary management.     

Strategic ambidexterity and innovation in Chinese multinational vs. indigenous firms: The role of managerial capability

In this study, we challenge the conventional understanding of ambidexterity as an unquestionable contribution to better performance. We combine the concept of ambidexterity and the notion of managerial capability to explore different effects of ambidexterity on innovation performance in the context of emerging markets. We investigate this ambidexterity-innovation effect, and how this effect is moderated by managerial capability, on a sample of 74 Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) vs. 60 indigenous firms that are both in high technology industries. We find that, surprisingly, ambidexterity has a negative effect on the innovation performance of indigenous firms, although this effect is less so in the case of Chinese MNEs. More importantly, strong managerial capability increases the positive effect of ambidexterity on the innovation performance of Chinese MNEs, but not so for indigenous firms. We discuss the implications of these findings on research on ambidexterity and product innovation.     

Addressing the cross-boundary missing link between corporate political activities and firm competencies: The mediating role of institutional capital

This study examines the mediating effect of institutional capital on the relationship between corporate political activities (CPA) and firm competencies. By adopting an institutional perspective, we identify the influence of a firm’s relational CPA and participation CPA, and its two types of institutional capitals, formal institutional capital (FIC) and informal institutional capital (IIC), on the firm’s competencies. Based on survey data from multi-informants in 303 Chinese firms, our results suggest that firms’ institutional capital (IIC/FIC) partially/fully mediates the relationship between CPA and firm competencies. The findings provide the evidence that how nonmarket strategy, such as corporate political activities, affects a firm’s institutional capital and then its competencies.     

The overlooked distinction of multinational enterprise subsidiary learning: Its managerial and entrepreneurial learning modes

The theme concerning modes of learning in multinational subsidiaries is the focus of enquiry in the current study. This theme is closely linked to the issue of how subsidiaries become alert and seize opportunities. Such an investigation is also important for management practice because effective subsidiary learning can render sustainable competitive advantage in the host country. We performed an in-depth case examination on six multinational subsidiaries of a large Finnish firm. We identify two learning modes of multinational subsidiaries that we refer to as managerial and entrepreneurial learning. We find that managerial learning shares characteristics with the systems-structural learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the MNE system; and, transferred in the MNE through many conventional and reverse knowledge flows. On the contrary, entrepreneurial learning shares characteristics with the interpretive learning perspective; is facilitated by embeddedness of the subsidiary in the host country; and, transferred in the MNE through relatively fewer reverse knowledge flows. The distinction between these two learning modes and their discrete characteristics enlighten past research that has largely failed to pinpoint the importance of the two modes for MNE subsidiary activities.     

History matters: The role of history in corporate brand strategy

This article explores how an organization can use its history to define and deliver its corporate brand strategy. We specifically look at Adidas, which, having rejected its history at one stage, rediscovered and used the philosophy and ideas of its founder to provide direction for the future, legitimate strategic choices, and enrich the corporate brand. Through analysis of material evidence and interviews with senior and long-serving employees, we conceptualize the way Adidas developed a systematic approach to the use of history in its corporate brand strategy by creating the means to uncover, remember, curate, and then embed it. Combining the lessons of the Adidas case with evidence from other cases in which history was used to refocus and revitalize corporate brands, we deliver key recommendations for managers.     

The impact of firm strategy and foreign ownership on executive bonus compensation in Japanese firms

Building on information-processing perspectives and the Japanese contextual factors, this study investigates the relationships between firm strategy and executive bonus pay as well as the moderating role of foreign ownership on the strategy-compensation relationship in Japanese firms. We focus on R&D investment and product diversification as strategy variables and investigate their direct effects on executive bonus pay. Further, we examine the moderating effects of foreign ownership on the strategy-pay sensitivity. The results, based on a sample of the 148 largest industrial firms in Japan for the 1990-1997 period, show that both R&D investment and product diversification are positively related to executive bonus pay. Our findings also indicate that foreign ownership negatively moderates the relationships between the strategy variables and executive compensation, suggesting that foreign investors play an active monitoring role, reducing cash bonus payments when their invested firms choose to increase R&D or pursue diversification strategy.     

Personalized managerial response and negative inconsistent review helpfulness: The mediating effect of perceived response helpfulness

Understanding the effect of managerial response on online review management has attracted the attention of scholars in recent years. However, the effect of personalized managerial response on the negative inconsistent review is a lack of evidence. This study investigates how personalized managerial responses influence negative review helpfulness according to the various levels of review inconsistency and the underlying mechanism behind the effect. We adopted a secondary data analysis based on the TripAdvisor dataset and used an online experiment study to investigate the impact mechanism. Findings reveal that the personalized managerial response positively influences review helpfulness, review inconsistency (negative rating with positive textual sentiment) moderates the effect of personalized managerial response on review helpfulness, and perceived response helpfulness mediates the above relationships. More specifically, personalized managerial response to negative inconsistent reviews has a pronounced effect on consumers’ perception of response helpfulness and their evaluation of review helpfulness. This study improves the current understanding of managerial responses, and provides practical guidance for hoteliers, consumers, and travel websites.     

Firm networks and firm development: The role of the relational mix

This study examines the role of different networks, called the relational mix, on the development of the entrepreneurial firm. Our regression analysis of survey data from 60 venture capital-financed firms questions the importance of network size on firm development. Rather, our results suggest that different types of networks are more important for firm development. In particular, we found a significant positive relationship for reputational networks and a weak significant negative relationship for cooperative technology networks at founding with time-to-break-even. Social networks at founding have no direct effect on time-to-break-even and a significant negative relationship with sales in the years after foundation. Furthermore, our findings show the important role of marketing information and co-opetition networks (relationships with direct competitors) on firm development in the years after foundation. These results suggest that the relational mix is a more appropriate construct for explaining network development than network size alone.     

The role of relationship on time and monetary compensation

Service failures are inevitable in the service industry. In this study, the author suggests that companies that only provide monetary compensation for service failures are following a risky recovery strategy. Instead, service managers should consider the offered compensation’s fit with customer relationship type. The author proposes and empirically tests several hypotheses about service failures and how customers in communal relationship with service firms prefer time compensation (saving time), while customers in exchange relationships prefer monetary compensation (saving money). The results are evidence that properly matching relationship type (i.e. communal and exchange) with compensation type (i.e. time and monetary) can help recover customers’ overall satisfaction and restore the customer–service company relationship. The author concludes this article with a discussion of the practical implications and suggest future research directions.     

The impact of home-country institutions and competition on firm profitability

Firm profitability depends on firm characteristics, industry structure and home-country institutions. Firm profitability is negatively associated with institutional quality. The effect of entry regulation on profitability runs through competition, while the effect of legal and political institutions only partially runs through competition.     

CEO tenure and ownership mode choice of Chinese firms: The moderating roles of managerial discretion

Based on upper echelon theory, this study has explored how CEO tenure affects ownership mode choice of Chinese firms investing abroad, and how some organizational factors, such as firm size, firm age and CEO duality, moderate this relationship. Using secondary data, this study finds CEO tenure has a positive relationship with the choice of full control mode, CEO duality can reinforce this relationship, but firm size and firm age have no significant moderating effect.     

Drivers of R&D investment: The interaction of behavioral theory and managerial incentives

This research explores the interaction of behavioral theory and agency theory, investigating their joint effects on firm-level R&D investment. Based on the logic of organizational routines driving R&D investment, we rely on the effects of organizational slack, performance relative to aspirations and distance from bankruptcy as the foundation for our research model. We argue that managerial incentives moderate the relationships between these behavioral theory variables and R&D investment, albeit in contrasting directions. Specifically, we hypothesize that stock option pay positively moderates these relationships while managerial stock ownership has a negative moderating effect. Using panel data for 573 publicly-traded manufacturing firms, we find support for several of our hypotheses, highlighting the interdependence of these two perspectives on R&D investment.     

Intellectual capital and innovativeness in software development firms: the moderating role of firm size

Abstract

We examine the effect of intellectual capital on firms’ innovativeness and the moderating role of firm size in software development firms in Kenya. Using moderated regression analysis, we found support for the proposition that human and social capital enhance firms’ innovativeness. We did not, however, find any significant effect of organizational capital on firms’ innovativeness. The results from the moderated regression suggest that the smaller the firm, the stronger the influence of intellectual capital on firms’ innovativeness. The results therefore indicate that human and social capital are critical in the innovation process and so firms that neglect these capitals are unlikely to realize the potential to innovate particularly in software development firms.     

Escaping the green prison: Entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for sustainable development

While entrepreneurial activity has been an important force for social and ecological sustainability; its efficacy is dependent upon the nature of market incentives. This limitation is sometimes explained by the metaphor of the prisoner's dilemma, which we term the green prison. In this prison, entrepreneurs are compelled to environmentally degrading behavior due to the divergence between individual rewards and collective goals for sustainable development. Entrepreneurs, however, can escape from the green prison by altering or creating the institutions—norms, property rights, and legislation—that establish the incentives of competitive games. We provide a variety of evidence of such entrepreneurial action and discuss its implications for theory and practice.     

CSR and the national institutional context: The case of South Korea

The different institutional contexts in which businesses practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) lead researchers to challenge the validity of the extant standardized global approach. This study follows recent studies in employing institutional theory to explore the specific pressures and factors that lead CSR practices to differ between countries, and how they lead to those differences. The study is a detailed qualitative analysis of CSR practice in South Korea, a country with very different value and governance systems from the US and UK where contemporary CSR evolved. Contrary to simplistic expectations, Korea shows a concern for short-termism more than for sustainability; and a normative more than a strategic orientation in its CSR, where CSR lies at a crossroads between implicit and explicit CSR behavior. The practices reflect many Korean institutional factors, but not in simple and direct ways. Institutional factors interact in intricate ways to create complex and dynamic pressures for CSR practice. CSR research needs to consider these interactions and dynamic processes with care and institutional theory can help provide a sufficiently intricate research framework.     

Board gender diversity and firm performance: The moderating role of firm size

This paper investigates the relationships among board gender diversity, firm performance, and firm size. Our paper provides new insights into the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance by examining whether firm size alters the impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. We use a panel data from A-share-listed non-financial firms in China to examine the relationship during the period of 2007–2012. Our finding demonstrates that the gender diversity on the board has a positive impact on firm performance if and only if the value of firm size is less than some critical value. In addition, we also find that firm size may undermine the positive impact of board gender diversity on firm performance. This paper contributes to the literature by offering a contingency approach to examine the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance as well as shedding light on the relationship in the context of a developing economy.