Network position and identity: A language-based perspective on strategizing

This article explores processes of strategizing within business networks by showing how managers employ sensemaking to cope with network paradoxes. It takes the linguistic turn to analyze how participants discursively construct their organizations' identities and positions within a ‘designed’ network context. In doing so, the paper attempts to answer the research question posed so provocatively over a decade ago by Håkansson and Ford (2002): by exploring how companies interact in business networks. Our contribution is to show how firms interact by taking a language-based perspective on strategy to help understand the links between network, organizational and micro-levels of social construction. An in-depth discussion of a case study is presented, with particular emphasis on the identity-constructing processes affecting (and affected by) the positioning and strategizing of various network actors. We conclude by reflecting on the theoretical and practical contributions of our analysis, the latter focusing on tensions in Indigenous business development.     

Innovation network trajectories and changes in resource bundles

This paper reports on an investigation into how changes in network resource bundles influence the success of innovation networks and how they change trajectories over time. Innovation networks are complex adaptive systems, and this paper uses a fuzzy set theory simulation methodological approach to capture complexity. The findings indicate that the interdependencies between knowledge variables and financial resources are the greatest contributor to high performing innovation networks, whereas the loss of social capital and its interdependency with the environment are the largest contributors to declines in innovation network performance. The paper suggests a more nuanced role for social capital within innovation networks and, importantly, highlights the sequencing of knowledge contributions, which take low performing innovation networks to high performing innovation networks.     

Segmented financial risk tolerances within the standardised initial public offering regulatory environment of the Australian Securities Exchange

This study examines differentiated financial risk tolerance attitudes between three listing branches within the Australian Securities Exchange’s (ASX) standardised listing environment. Western Australia’s (WA) concentration of earlier-stage IPOs (51% of all ASX small, (predominately mining) initial public offerings (IPOs)) appears to reflect a localised ‘entrepreneurial’ risk attitude towards smaller, higher-risk transactions, comparative to New South Wales and Victoria . Our mixed method approach identifies that the concentration of small-cap, capital raising experiences that are (in)/formally shared through key ‘gatekeepers’, shape locally adopted funding capabilities, business processes, and risk attitudes. Underlying risk attitudes were influenced by the shared confidence in the recognition and management of risk, thereby increasing the propensity to participate in more speculative opportunities, and WA’s presumptive higher risk tolerance.     

The effect of Airbnb announcements on hotel stock prices

The sharing economy model that was developed in the last decade has a major effect on a different aspect of life. The purpose of this research is to test the effect of a sharing economy product on its competitors. Specifically, this study used the event study approach to examine how Airbnb announcements affected hotel stock prices. To accomplish this goal, we used 180 Airbnb announcements to investigate the general effect of Airbnb, and the effects according to the type of announcement and the type of audience. The findings indicate that general Airbnb announcements have a negative effect on the hotel stock prices. In addition, investors respond negatively to positive announcements but not to neutral ones. Finally, announcements targeting young people have no effect on the stock prices of hotel companies, while the effect of announcements targeting families lasts the longest. We also explored investment strategies for general investors and those with inside information. We suggest that general investors short sell the stock on the day of the news announcement. Investors with inside information should short sell the stock a few days before the day of the news announcement. In both cases, investors should close their positions a few days later depending on the type of announcement.