Corporate Real Estate Sale and Leaseback Effect: Empirical Evidence from Europe

Corporate real estate disposals have increased in Europe during the past few years. In this research paper, we study market reactions of publicly traded European companies' real estate sale and leaseback announcements during 1998–2004. This study is one of the first ones to study the sale and leaseback impact on corporate value with a pan‐European data. We find that the sale and leaseback announcements have on average positive impact to firm's value which is in line with the previous studies. However, we also find that the positive effect is mainly caused by the deals with high transaction value to company market value ratio. Smaller transactions do not create on average any abnormal returns. Our results support the hypothesis that the positive sale and leaseback announcement effect is a consequence of revealed hidden value of the company's assets. Thus, sale and leaseback can also be seen as a mechanism for revealing the hidden value of company's assets to the market.     

Understanding innovation in practice: a discussion of the production and re-production of Nordic Walking

Building on the work of those who have highlighted the role of consumers and lead users we focus on innovations not in products but in what people do. In developing a method of conceptualising the emergence and reproduction of practice we argue that innovation is not a one-off moment but a continuous on-going process. Specifically, we suggest that innovations in practice involve changing combinations of symbolic and material ingredients and of competence or know-how. In addition, we argue that managers, manufacturers and consumers are all variously involved in making and sustaining connections between these defining elements. We illustrate and elaborate on these ideas with reference to Nordic Walking, a form of speed walking with two sticks. First practiced in 1997, it is now a regular pursuit for more than seven million people in over 30 countries and is reputed to be Europe's fastest growing form of exercise. In discussing this case we specify the constitutive ingredients of Nordic Walking and its location relative to other practices that already exist. Our analysis raises a number of general questions. For example, how can managers and manufacturers institutionalise practices that require consumption of the things they make? Is there any fundamental difference in the role of ‘lead’ and ‘ordinary’ users in generating and sustaining innovations in practice? Taking these questions forward, we develop a theoretical position that relativises the conventionally distinct roles of consumers and producers and that represents a novel hybridisation of innovation studies and sociological theories of practice.     

Finnish polytechnics as providers of knowledge-intensive services

Polytechnics are newcomers in companies' regional innovation environments in Finland. Particularly in regions with no university of their own or with only few knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) providers, they may become, and in some cases already are, important providers of science-and-technology-related services. The aim of this article is to analyse the roles, possibilities and challenges of polytechnics as public KIBS providers. Also, the position of polytechnics as a tool of Finnish innovation policy will be discussed.     

Dynamic environmental performance analysis: A Malmquist index approach

This article presents a general framework for dynamic environmental performance analysis by generalizing the approach proposed by Kuosmanen and Kortelainen [Kuosmanen, T., Kortelainen, M., 2005. Measuring Eco-Efficiency of Production with Data Envelopment Analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology 9(4), 59-72.] from a static to a dynamic setting. For this purpose we construct an environmental performance index (EPI) by applying frontier efficiency techniques and a Malmquist index approach. Compared to other dynamic environmental productivity and efficiency analysis approaches based on these methods, our approach builds on the standard definition of eco-efficiency as it is presented in the ecological economics literature. Recognizing the importance to analyze the sources of environmental performance changes, we show how changes in overall environmental performance can be decomposed into changes in relative eco-efficiency and shifts in environmental technology, respectively. We apply the presented technique at the macro level to dynamic environmental performance analysis of 20 member states of the European Union in 1990-2003. According to the results, environmental technical change mostly explains the improvement in overall environmental performance, while relative eco-efficiency change has been minor for most countries during the sample period.     

Stochastic non-smooth envelopment of data: semi-parametric frontier estimation subject to shape constraints

The field of productive efficiency analysis is currently divided between two main paradigms: the deterministic, nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the parametric Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). This paper examines an encompassing semiparametric frontier model that combines the DEA-type nonparametric frontier, which satisfies monotonicity and concavity, with the SFA-style stochastic homoskedastic composite error term. To estimate this model, a new two-stage method is proposed, referred to as Stochastic Non-smooth Envelopment of Data (StoNED). The first stage of the StoNED method applies convex nonparametric least squares (CNLS) to estimate the shape of the frontier without any assumptions about its functional form or smoothness. In the second stage, the conditional expectations of inefficiency are estimated based on the CNLS residuals, using the method of moments or pseudolikelihood techniques. Although in a cross-sectional setting distinguishing inefficiency from noise in general requires distributional assumptions, we also show how these can be relaxed in our approach if panel data are available. Performance of the StoNED method is examined using Monte Carlo simulations.     

Born internationals: Market expansion and business operation mode strategies in the digital media field

This paper examines leading Swedish and Finnish Internet consultancies operating in the digital media service field. These are ‘born international’ firms that internationalise their business at an exceptionally rapid pace. The paper focuses on why and to what extent the market expansion and business operation mode strategies of these companies deviate from the traditional pattern depicted by the Scandinavian process school. The empirical data consisted of interviews with the founder and senior management and secondary data from company and public archives. The research findings show that in fact both the international new venture research and the Scandinavian internationalisation model appear to be valid. The former model was evidenced by the fact that the born internationals indeed deviated from the behaviour of the traditional firms. The latter was exemplified by the fact that the final internationalisation profile, after the withdrawals of firms from unsuccessful markets, was close to what the Scandinavian internationalisation model would call ‘rational’ expansion. Hence, if the investigation period is long enough to account for unsuccessful endeavours and withdrawals, we may then find empirical support for the traditional model as well. To be reliable, the investigation period should cover at least one economic slow down.     

The battleship strategy: The complementing role of born globals in MNC’s new opportunity creation

In the high-tech industries, new innovations affect a multinational company’s (MNC’s) competitive advantage. This article empirically explores why and how MNCs complement their in-house R&D by forming strategic alliance constellations with small, innovative born globals. We focus on loose, non-equity opportunity-seeking co-opetitive relationships. We call this approach the battleship strategy. The critical elements of an MNC’s battleship strategy include an open innovation commercialization strategy and creation of forums for facilitating open innovation and capturing ideas generated externally. Hence, we suggest that MNCs may externalize some of their innovation activities while gaining a competitive advantage through access to open innovation. This article contributes in several ways to earlier research focusing on the strategic alliances and networks formed between MNCs and born globals by examining the relationship from an MNC’s perspective.     

International advertising campaigns in fast-moving consumer goods companies originating from a SMOPEC country

A particularly interesting area of research concerns how international fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies from small and open economies that operate in turbulent markets plan successful advertising campaigns for international markets. The objective of this research was to determine how they are planned and what factors affect this planning. The theoretical part of the study reviews literature related to the internationalization of firms, international advertising campaigns, and standardization versus adaptation of international advertising. Based on the literature, a theoretical framework and propositions regarding the international campaign planning process for FMCG companies were developed. The empirical part uses the multiple-case study method to examine four FMCG companies that were founded in Finland. The empirical results show that five stages are especially important in the international campaign planning of FMCG companies. Moreover, the companies need to consider a number of factors when deciding on international adverting campaigns. The study presents a number of theoretical contributions and managerial implications. A novel finding relates to the importance of understanding the impact of the internationalization/globalization phase of the company. During internationalization often within the home continent, companies increasingly adapt advertising campaigns to different countries, whereas globalization to other continents calls for increased standardization across countries. Another interesting finding was that FMCG companies from small and open-economy (SMOPEC) countries often use innovative non-traditional campaigns to overcome the resource limitations.