Knowledge structures of prospectors,analyzers, and defenders: content,structure, stability,and performance

The managerial cognition perspective argues that managers operating in complex, dynamic environments develop knowledge structures that help them focus their attention, interpretation, and actions. We explore the content and structure of top managers' strategic knowledge structures by measuring differences in the level of attention they give in annual reports to strategic issues and themes that Miles and Snow used to describe their main strategic types. Twenty-one themes that form seven main factors describing managers' strategic cognition are identified, and these demonstrate reasonable fit with the Miles and Snow model. We show that expert raters can recognize these factors when they read annual reports that contain them. Cluster analysis is then used to identify groups of firms that share similar profiles on these strategic dimensions which are interpreted as examples of cognitive strategic groups. These groups show alignment with Miles and Snow's strategic types, are relatively stable over time, and differ in financial performance. The sample comprises 1,038 listed Australian firms between the years 1992 and 2003. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure,conduct, performance,and welfare

This paper extends previous analysis of weaknesses of the structure-conduct-performance paradigm and of the price-cost margin as a measure of performance. Sufficient conditions are established under which monotonic linkages may not exist between virtually any two of social welfare, its individual components, structure, conduct, or performance.     

Threat of entry,asymmetric information,and pricing

This paper examines the impact of asymmetric information on incumbent firms' propensity to engage in limit pricing when faced with threat of entry. I draw from information economics to argue that incumbents will use price to respond ex ante to entry in situations characterized by asymmetric information. I suggest two situations in which asymmetric information can arise: when potential entrants are from outside the primary industry and when incumbent firms are members of R&D consortia. I then study pricing in the U.S. cable TV industry to show that pricing patterns of incumbent cable TV systems are consistent with limit pricing when the relationship between the incumbent and potential entrant is characterized by asymmetric information. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Technological Diversification, Coherence, and Performance of Firms

Technological diversification at the firm level (i.e., the expansion of a firm's technology base into a wide range of technology fields) is found to be a prevailing phenomenon in all three major industrialized regions,—the United States, Europe, and Japan—prompting the term multitechnology corporation. Whereas previous studies have provided insights into the composition of technology portfolios of multitechnology firms, little is known about the relationship between technological diversification and firms' technological performance. Against a backdrop of the technology and innovation management literature, the present article investigates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance, taking into account the moderating role of technological coherence in firms' technology portfolios. Hereby, technological coherence is defined as the degree to which technologies in a technology portfolio are technologically related. To measure the technological coherence of portfolios, a measure of technological relatedness of technology fields is constructed based on patent citation patterns found in 450,000 European Patent Office (EPO) patent grants. Two hypotheses are presented here: (1) Technological diversification has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with technological performance; and (2) technological coherence moderates the relationship between technological diversification and technological performance positively. These hypotheses are tested empirically using a panel data set (1995–2003) on patent portfolios pertaining to 184 U.S., European, and Japanese firms. The firms selected are the largest research and development (R&D) actors in five industries: pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; chemicals; engineering and general machinery; information technology (IT) hardware (i.e., computers and communication equipment); and electronics and electrical machinery. Empirical results, obtained by fixed‐effects negative binomial regressions, support both hypotheses in the present article. Technological diversification has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with technological performance. Technological diversification offers opportunities for cross‐fertilization and technology fusion, but high levels of diversification may yield few marginal benefits as firms risk lacking sufficient levels of scale to benefit from wide‐ranging technological diversification, and firms may encounter high levels of coordination and integration costs. Further, the results show that the net benefits of technological diversification are higher in technologically coherent technology portfolios. If firms build up a technologically coherent diversified portfolio, the presence of sufficient levels of scale is ensured and coordination costs are limited. At the same time, technologically coherent diversification puts firms in a better position to benefit form cross‐fertilization between technologies. The present article clearly identifies the important role of technological coherence in technology diversification strategies of firms.     

Antitrust,the Rule of Reason,and Democracy

Professor Barnes responds to William Curran's fictional dialogue between Senator John Sherman and philosopher John Rawls, with a fictional letter from Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Professor Barnes discusses the importance of the anarcho-socialist movement of the late nineteenth century to the adoption of the Sherman Act, the historical and logical inevitability of adoption of a rule of reason in antitrust law, the relevance of efficiency to the rule of reason, and the relationship between competition and the promotion of democratic ideals.     

Productivity,Innovation and Economic Performance,Ray Barrell,Geoff Mason,and May O'Mahoney,editors.

Review of Industrial Organization -     

Structure and process of diversification,compensation strategy,and firm performance

This study tests six hypotheses on the extent to which a match between compensation and diversification strategies affects firm performance. Using both archival and survey data, results generally support the notion that a firm's compensation strategies make a greater contribution to firm performance if these are attuned to extent and process of corporate diversification. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for future research on compensation-diversification strategy relations and their interactive effect on firm performance.     

Bundling,tying, and collusion

Tying a good produced monopolistically with a complementary good produced in an oligopolistic market in which there is room for collusion can be profitable if some buyers of the oligopoly good have no demand for the monopoly good. The reason is that a tie makes part of the demand in the oligopolistic market out of the reach of the tying firm's rivals, which decreases the profitability of deviating from a collusive agreement. Tying may thus facilitate collusion. It may also allow the tying firm to alter market share allocation in a collusive oligopolistic market.     

Leadership, the buying center, and supply chain performance: A study of linked users, buyers, and suppliers

With conceptual foundations taken from leadership theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this study examines the influence of transactional and transformational leadership on the relationship between the value of the corporate buying center and performance in supply chains. The sample consists of 58 directly linked and matched supply chains, each composed of one user (internal customer), one corporate buyer, and one external supplier. The results indicate that transformational leadership has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the value of the corporate buying center and performance, while transactional leadership negatively moderates this relationship. Two “localness” dimensions (formalization and centralization) and two “openness” dimensions (participative and reflective) were included as controls in the analysis.     

Standards,consortia, and innovation

The development of formal ICT standards is a challenging form of collaborative innovation, combining consensus decision making and R&D rivalry. To supplement this formal standard setting process, it has thus become frequent that part of the involved firms creates ad hoc consortia to better align positions on a common technology roadmap. This paper aims to assess whether such consortia can effectively mitigate R&D coordination failure through enhanced cooperation. We first develop a theoretical model showing that depending on the nature of firms' incentives to contribute proprietary technology, different types of R&D coordination failure – namely a Public Good or Rent Seeking problem – may occur in equilibrium. Using a large panel of standards, we then confirm empirically the prediction that consortia have different effects on innovation under a Public Good or Rent Seeking regime. Overall, we observe an increase in innovation after a firm joined a consortium. However, this effect is significantly weakened or even reversed for standards characterized by a strong Rent Seeking regime.     

Prominence,complexity, and pricing

This paper analyzes prominence in a homogeneous product market where two firms simultaneously choose both prices and price complexity levels. Market-wide complexity results in consumer confusion. Confused consumers are more likely to buy from the prominent firm. In equilibrium, there is dispersion in both prices and price complexity. The nature of equilibrium depends on prominence. Compared to its rival, the prominent firm makes higher profit, associates a smaller price range with lowest complexity, puts lower probability on lowest complexity, and sets a higher average price. However, higher prominence may benefit consumers and, conditional on choosing lowest complexity, the prominent firm’s average price is lower, which is consistent with confused consumers’ bias.     

物价 结构 速度

我国经济两位数的增长速度保持了5年。2007年下半年以来居民消费价格迅速上涨,只有采取有效措施抑制通货膨胀,才能把经济平稳较快增长的局面继续保持下去。要针对这次通货膨胀主要由部分农产品供给波动引起的原因,把财政政策与货币政策结合起来,特别是要发挥财政政策的作用;要把近期调控措施与长期结构对策结合起来,减少以致消除由短缺资源进口价格上升带来的通货膨胀压力。财政政策运用应以鼓励短缺产品生产、增加生活补贴、降低通货膨胀预期为主。货币政策应以优化信贷结构为主,不宜继续加大银根收紧力度。对石油、食用油、大米、饲料、生猪、城镇住房等,要制定长期供给保障专项规划。对美国次贷危机等影响,要善于变挑战为机遇。要把转变发展方式作为破解发展难题的根本途径。     

Knowledge,power, and hypermedia

Our paper explores the relationship between knowledge and power first articulated in the modern age by Francis Bacon, in terms of M. Foucault's postmodern critique of Power/Knowledge that seems to reverse the meaning of Bacon's “knowledge is power” maxim. We apply Foucault's critique to instructional technology concentrating especially on hypermedia. We remark on the many similarities between Foucault's postmodern critique and the concerns of Theodore Nelson who coined the words “hypertext” and “hypermedia.” We will combine Foucault's Nietzschian insights with Nelson's characterization of “the Information Lords” to conclude with the following postmodern questions: Who makes the categories and constraints that are translated into truth and power? Is God dead, and if so, who will become the Information Lord?