Different knowledge,different benefits: toward a productivity perspective on knowledge sharing in organizations

We develop a differentiated productivity model of knowledge sharing in organizations proposing that different types of knowledge have different benefits for task units. In a study of 182 sales teams in a management consulting company, we find that sharing codified knowledge in the form of electronic documents saved time during the task, but did not improve work quality or signal competence to clients. In contrast, sharing personal advice improved work quality and signaled competence, but did not save time. Beyond the content of the knowledge, process costs in the form of document rework and lack of advisor effort negatively affected task outcomes. These findings dispute the claim that different types of knowledge are substitutes for each other, and provide a micro‐foundation for understanding why and how a firm's knowledge capabilities translate into performance of knowledge work. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk attitudes, randomization to treatment, and self-selection into experiments

Randomization to treatment is fundamental to statistical control in the design of experiments. However randomization implies some uncertainty about treatment condition, and individuals differ in their preferences towards taking on risk. Since human subjects often volunteer for experiments or are allowed to drop out of the experiment at any time if they want to, it is possible that the sample observed in an experiment might be biased because of the risk of randomization. On the other hand, the widespread use of a guaranteed show-up fee that is non-stochastic may generate sample selection biases of the opposite direction, encouraging more risk averse samples into experiments. We directly test these hypotheses that risk attitudes play a role in sample selection. Our results suggest that randomization bias does affect the overall level of risk aversion in the sample we observe, but that it does not affect the demographic mix of risk attitudes in the sample. We show that the common use of non-stochastic show-up fees can generate samples that are more risk averse than would otherwise have been observed.     

Optimal low-price guarantees with anchoring

Many low-price guarantees are offered by small local firms who compete against much larger rivals. The prices of these larger rivals are often set nationally and thus are independent of local market conditions. Our objective in this paper is to explain why small firms in such environments might nevertheless adopt low-price guarantees. We characterize when offering a low-price guarantee is profitable, and assess which form it should take (i.e.,?conditional on offering a low-price guarantee, should the small firm offer to match or beat its larger competitor??s prices). We also assess the implications thereof (i.e., do the low-price guarantees benefit or harm the small firm??s customers).     

Collection of recyclables from cubes – A case study

Collection of recyclable materials is a major part of reverse logistics and an important issue in sustainable logistics. In this paper we consider a case study where paper and glass are collected from recycling cubes and transported to a treatment facility and processed for reuse. We show how outsourcing the planning and transportation of this service may result in conflicts of interest and unsustainable solutions. Finally, we suggest an alternative payment structure which can lead to a common goal, overall financial sustainability, and an improved financial situation for both the public company and the logistics provider.     

Forecasting the Commercial Attractiveness of User‐Generated Designs Using Online Data: An Empirical Study within the LEGO User Community

Web 2.0 technologies and the rapid emergence of virtual user communities have created new challenges and opportunities for producer firms. The challenges concern the problem of idea overload when a large number of users are empowered to develop their own design creations. At the same time, opportunities arise because firm‐hosted user communities offer a promising source of creativity outside the firms' boundaries. In this paper, we study which data present in firm‐hosted online communities on user‐generated designs and user‐designers can be used to help a focal producer firm to reduce its workload in the selection phase by predicting which user‐generated designs it would most likely perceive as commercially attractive. Prior research emphasizes that among the vast amount of ideas generated in online user communities, it is the lead users' ideas that tend to stick out in terms of commercial attractiveness. Our paper aims to provide the next step by developing a heuristic for filtering commercially attractive ideas that are generated in online user communities. Therefore, prior lead user research is used as a point of reference for our study. This research stream has produced rich insights into the characteristics of users who are capable of developing new products that are commercially attractive from the perspective of a focal producer firm, as well as the characteristics of artifacts that such users tend to develop. Based on prior lead user research, we use theories on problem solving, creativity, and new product adoption to develop hypotheses on the factors that might influence the attractiveness of user‐generated designs from the focal producer firm's perspective in such a setting. Applying multilevel generalized linear modeling, 1799 designs from 116 user‐designers in the LEGO user community are analyzed. Our findings show that three prominent variables, the complexity of a given design, positive feedback from the community on specific designs, and the intensity of design activity by a user‐designer, can be used by a focal producer firm as filtering heuristics for the selection of promising user‐generated designs. We find an inverted U‐shaped relationship between the complexity of a user‐generated design and its perceived commercial attractiveness. Furthermore, we find a positive relationship between the positive feedback received by a given user‐generated design within the peer community and its perceived commercial attractiveness, as well as a U‐shaped relationship between the intensity of a certain user‐designer's activities and the likelihood that a given design by that user will be perceived as commercially attractive. The study is a first step toward a new Web‐based marketing research approach that can enable firms to filter vast numbers of user‐generated designs more effectively and efficiently.     

Determinants of farmers’ willingness to participate in subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones—A choice experiment study

Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers’ preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones. A random parameter logit framework was used to capture heterogeneity among farmers. Our results indicate that 1) the vast majority of farmers are willing to trade off the size of the subsidy for less restrictive scheme requirements and that 2) the amount of the subsidy they are willing to trade off varies with specific scheme requirements, suggesting which features are most important for successful policy design. Our results suggest that farmers value flexible contract terms higher than reduced administrative burdens. Finally, we suggest a practical approach to estimating a monetary value of farmers’ reluctance to participate in AES. While the trade off's that farmers are willing to make between subsidy size and individual scheme requirements are case specific, our results concerning increased use of farm advisors, farmers ability of valuing different types of flexibility, and our attempt to place a monetary value on farmers’ reluctance to engage in regulatory subsidy schemes have a potentially broader application platform.     

Environmental Satellite Models for a Macroeconomic Model

To support national environmental policy, it is desirable to forecast and analyse environmental indicators consistently with economic variables. However, environmental indicators are physical measures linked to physical activities that are not specified in economic models. One way to deal with this is to develop environmental satellite models linked to economic models. The system of models presented gives a frame of reference where emissions of greenhouse gases, acid gases, and leaching of nutrients to the aquatic environment are analysed in line with – and consistently with – macroeconomic variables. This paper gives an overview of the data and the satellite models. Finally, the results of applying the model system to calculate the impacts on emissions and the economy are reviewed in a few illustrative examples. The models have been developed for Denmark; however, most of the environmental data used are from the CORINAIR system implemented in numerous countries.     

LOST IN STATE SPACE: ARE PREFERENCES STABLE?*

We use field experiments to examine the temporal stability of risk preferences. Over a 17‐month period, we elicited risk preferences from subjects chosen to be representative of the adult Danish population. During this period we revisited many of these subjects and repeated a risk aversion elicitation task. We find some variation in risk attitudes over time, but we do not detect a general tendency for risk attitudes to increase or decrease over a 17‐month span. The results also suggest that risk preferences are state contingent with respect to personal finances.     

Governance Systems in Family SMEs: The Substitution Effects between Family Councils and Corporate Governance Mechanisms

The main objective of this paper is to explore the role of family councils vis‐à‐vis corporate governance mechanisms. Particularly, the paper explores whether family councils perform only their distinctive family governance role or if they also substitute for the roles performed by corporate governance control mechanisms. Based on a sample of 243 Italian family SMEs, our research findings show that the family council partially substitutes the shareholders' meeting and the board of directors in playing their respective corporate governance roles of ownership and monitoring. These findings are interpreted in the light of both agency and relational perspectives.     

Private Firms and Corporate Governance: An Integrated Economic and Management Perspective

This article provides a definition of corporate␣governance and highlights the challenges in adapting understanding of governance to the privately-held firm. We emphasize the need to develop the scope of governance in privately-held firms beyond the traditional agency theory focus in the financial economics literature relating to large publicly-listed corporations. There is a need to draw on and integrate an array of theoretical perspectives from both economics and other social science disciplines as well. We present a schematic model of corporate governance which places the contributions presented in the special issue in context and which serves as a guide to highlighting gaps in the research base. We review the principal issues relating to corporate governance in privately-held firms which relate to: governance in different organizational contexts (institutional context; the industrial sector within which the firm finds itself, the ownership context of the firm, and the stage within the firm’s life-cycle); the scope of corporate governance; and other internal governance mechanisms to be considered We identify areas for further research on corporate governance in privately-held firms with respect to processes of governance, organizational contexts, assumptions about the owners, executive remuneration, financial reporting, the nature of the dependent variable relating to the expected outcome of different approaches to governance and various methodological issues. We suggest a need to develop governance codes for privately-held firms that are flexible enough to take account of the different types of governance needs of firms at different stages in their life-cycle.