The Importance of Alliances in Firm Capital Structure Decisions: Evidence from Biotechnology Firms

Building on finance research, we argue that the ex post hazards arising from alliance formation depend upon the firm's financial condition. Financial distress jeopardizes the continuity of an alliance and the value of the investments involved. Thus, firms should reduce leverage to signal continued commitment and to induce investments from alliance partners. Accordingly, we find that a firm's current alliance propensity predicts its subsequent capital structure decisions and that this relationship is most pronounced in the presence of other exchange hazards. Our paper contributes to alliance research and to the growing literature discussing the strategic consequences of capital structure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relationship between Slack Resources and the Performance of Entrepreneurial Firms: The Role of Venture Capital and Angel Investors

In this study, we seek to further delineate factors that condition the relationship between slack resources and firm performance. To do so, we develop and test a model that establishes the role of venture capital (VC) and angel investors as powerful external stakeholders who positively moderate the slack–performance relationship. In addition, we provide more insight into this relationship by examining differences between these two types of private investors and by examining the role of their ownership stakes. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 1215 private firms, including VC‐backed firms, angel‐backed firms, and similar firms without such investors. We find that the presence of VC investors positively moderates the relationship between both financial and human slack resources and firm performance, while angel investors only positively moderate the effect of human resource slack. Further, VC investors are only marginally better at helping entrepreneurs to extract value from human resource slack than angel investors and they are no better when it comes to financial slack. Finally, we find that the impact of financial and human resource slack on firm performance is more positive in VC‐backed firms when investors hold high ownership stakes, an effect which is significantly stronger than when angel investors hold high ownership stakes.     

The Development of Organizational Social Capital: Attributes of Family Firms*

abstract We develop and extend social capital theory by exploring the creation of organizational social capital within a highly pervasive, yet often overlooked organizational form: family firms. We argue that family firms are unique in that, although they work as a single entity, at least two forms of social capital coexist: the family's and the firm's. We investigate mechanisms that link a family's social capital to the creation of the family firm's social capital and examine how factors underlying the family's social capital affect this creation. Moreover, we identify contingency dimensions that affect these relationships and the potential risks associated with family social capital. Finally, we suggest these insights are generalizable to several other types of organizations with similar characteristics.     

Firm Experience and Market Entry by Venture Capital Firms (1962–2004)

In this paper, we examine a firm's decision to enter new markets as related to the depth and breadth of its experience and the relative distance of those markets. We situate our discussion and analysis in the context of the venture capital (VC) industry, and examine whether and when US VC firms enter five high‐technology investment markets through first‐ or later‐round investments. This setting allows us to observe both the firms that chose to enter a new market and those that did not, and analyse the antecedents of these decisions. We find that VC firms overall are less likely to enter distant markets; those with broader experience are more likely to make first‐round entries. In addition, VC firms with deeper investment experience are more likely to make first‐round entries in proximate markets and less likely to enter distant markets and make later‐round entries. These results offer interesting implications for the literature on organizational learning and entrepreneurship.     

强联结对企业知识获取绩效的影响研究——社会资本的视角

现有文献主要从资源基础观及知识基础观视角分析联结的强弱在企业知识获取中的利弊,却忽视了社会资本在此过程中的介质作用。本文从社会资本的新视角,研究强联结情境下,信任、互惠、社会化互动、网络联系等社会资本对企业知识获取绩效的影响路径。文章提出企业应该构建强关联网络,积累良好的社会资本,以提高知识获取绩效。     

基于企业社会资本的赣南脐橙企业债务融资行为——基于问卷的分析

企业社会资本是企业发展过程中不可忽视的重要因素,企业的信用机制、企业内部关系网络和外部关系网络对企业的融资能力起到比较重要的影响。企业应建立良好的信用体制、从内部和外部社会关系网络的培养等多个方面,提高自身的债务融资能力。     

The Structure and Management of Alliances: Syndication in the Venture Capital Industry*

abstract Syndicates are a form of inter‐firm alliance in which two or more venture capital firms co‐invest in an investee firm and share a joint pay‐off. Syndication is a significant part of the venture capital market yet little research has been conducted into the process of structuring syndicate deals and the management of syndicates following deal completion. This paper analyses the neglected issues concerning the structuring and management of syndicated venture capital investments from the perspectives of both lead and non‐lead syndicate members using two surveys of venture capital firms and examination of syndication documents. Lead investors typically have larger equity stakes and the syndicated investment agreement is a document that enshrines the rights of participants rather than specifying behaviour. Contractual arrangements typically serve as a back drop to relationships as non‐legal sanctions are important and decisions are typically reached following discussion and consensus, but lead venture capital investors’ residual and specific powers are important in ensuring timely decision‐making. The findings extend previous work on alliances by emphasizing the importance of non‐legal sanctions, especially reputation effects, in mitigating opportunistic behaviour by dominant equity holders. The paper also adds to the limited research on the dynamics of alliances by highlighting the role of repeat syndicates.     

Analysing Social Capital and Product Innovativeness in the Relationship Evolution of Born-Global Companies the Mediating Role of Knowledge Acquisition

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal - Relatively little is known about how born-global companies (BGs) innovate abroad during their lifecycle or about how the international...     

Dimensions of Social Capital and Firm Competitiveness Improvement: The Mediating Role of Information Sharing

abstract    This study investigates the mediating role of information sharing in the relationships between dimensions of social capital and firm competitiveness, thereby positing a possible explanation for the divergent empirical results of the social capital–performance relationship in the existing literature. The study uses a sample of 108 Hong Kong-based Chinese family-owned firms from the manufacturing sector. Largely supporting the theoretical predictions, the results from multiple regression and structural equation model tests show that information sharing plays a mediating role in the relationships between three dimensions of social capital (trust, network ties, and repeated transactions) and firm competitiveness improvement.     

Effect of Knowledge Leadership on Knowledge Sharing in Engineering Project Design Teams: The Role of Social Capital

Knowledge sharing is a precondition for engineering project design teams to achieve an efficient design; however, designers are not always willing to share knowledge with other team members. To improve knowledge sharing, this article investigates the effect of knowledge leadership on knowledge sharing in engineering project design teams by examining the role of social capital. Our results show a significant indirect effect of knowledge leadership on knowledge sharing through the mediating role of social capital. Therefore, effective knowledge sharing depends on knowledge leaders to develop a share vision, and promote a trustworthy and collaborative environment for designers.     

Impact at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’: The Role of Social Capital in Capability Development and Community Empowerment

Rooted in the notion of inclusive capitalism, the Bottom‐of‐the‐Pyramid (BoP) approach argues for the simultaneous pursuit of profit and social welfare by creating markets for the poor. This idea has been both celebrated and criticized in the literature. We do neither in this paper. Instead, by leveraging insights from Amartya Sen's work on capability development and the literature on social capital, we offer a more socially embedded and community‐centric BoP approach. By redefining poverty not just as a lack of income, but also as a lack of ‘capabilities’ in Sen's sense that can be developed through leveraging social capital, we offer a systemic framework for understanding the societal impact of business‐driven ventures in the BoP and empowering BoP communities through these ventures. Specifically, we argue that any business initiative in the BoP ought to be evaluated on the basis of whether it advances capability transfer and retention by (a) enhancing the social capital between a particular community and other more resource rich networks, and (b) preserving the existing social capital in the community.     

论以网络组织为基础的产融结合

产融结合是指产业资本与金融资本的再融合,其研究对象之一是产业资本与金融资本的结合方式。网络组织作为兼具市场组织和层级组织特性的组织结构,可以适度提高产业资本与金融资本的嵌入性,达到网络组织参与各方帕累托改进的效果。本文根据产业链上下游利益模型、投资收益模型和金融机构融资模型,结合实际操作的光伏产业网络组织产融结合案例,对以网络组织为基础的产融结合进行研究。计算结果为产融结合网络组织中的各参与方效用达到了帕累托改进的效果。最终得出以网络组织为基础的产融结合是一种有效的产融结合组织形式的结论。     

The Decision to Persist with Underperforming Alliances: The Role of Trust and Control

abstract We draw on theories of persistence to develop a model of alliance managers' decisions towards persisting in underperforming alliances based on their concomitant consideration of the control and trust in those alliances. We test the model using experimental data based on 2,816 decisions nested within 88 alliance managers. We find that output, behavioural and social control, competence and goodwill trust, and interactions between trust and control variables significantly explain alliance managers' decisions to persist in underperforming alliances. We discuss the implications of these findings for the control, trust and strategic alliance literatures.     

基于社会资本视角的敏感性工程社会冲突成因及其治理路径

敏感性工程是中国转型时期工业化、城市化和现代化进程的产物,在当前的工业化、城市化和现代化进程中,大型工程的建设是必不可少的。然而,因为一些大型工程在环境安全、利益影响等方面存在着敏感性,常常会遭到周边居民反对,引起社会冲突,甚至导致社会失稳。从社会资本的视角对敏感性工程社会冲突及其成因进行了解读,并进而提出了此类冲突化解与治理的有效途径。这一研究不仅在理论上为我国正在开展的重大工程社会稳定风险评估提供了理论基础;而且其中提出的一些措施建议,对于我国有效治理敏感性工程社会冲突具有较重要的参考价值。     

企业财务关系与企业社会责任——小议企业财务关系中企业社会责任的缺失

本文从企业财务关系中企业社会责任意识的缺失对社会和谐、社会主义市场经济秩序、企业文化等五个方面的影响讨论了企业社会责任的重要性及其缺失可能带来的后果。     

Bonding and Bridging Associational Social Capital and the Financial Performance of Local Authorities in Israel

Abstract

This study explores whether bridging and bonding social capital differ in their impacts on government performance at the local level and the extent to which these impacts vary between localities exhibiting differing socioeconomic resources. The study is based on an analysis of 256 local authorities in Israel. The findings show that bridging and bonding social capital do differ in their respective effects on government performance and that the nature of the relationship of each type of capital with government performance varies by the community's socioeconomic profile. Poor communities with high densities of bridging social capital were characterized by lower deficits as a percentage of total municipal budgets, more accurate expenditure forecasts and greater spending on services per capita.