Tropical Agriculture: Is Africa Different?

We investigate the determinants of agricultural productivity in a panel of 27 tropical developing countries from 1984 to 2005 and test whether the coefficients of the right‐hand side variables are significantly different in sub‐Sahara Africa. We find evidence that the point estimates of fertilizer usage, telephones, tractor usage, rainfall and irrigation are positively and significantly related to agricultural productivity in the tropics. We also show that sub‐Saharan Africa is different in several respects. For instance, we find no evidence that fertilizer is associated with greater agricultural productivity in the African sample. Also, while the coefficient on infrastructure is positively associated with agricultural productivity in the full sample, its quantitative effect is smaller in sub‐Saharan Africa. As a robustness test, we experiment with an alternative measure of tropicality and find that the results are broadly similar.     

Settling up in CEO compensation: The impact of divestiture intensity and contextual factors in refocusing firms

We examine the relationship between strategic change and CEO compensation by studying how a firm's refocusing program influences CEO compensation after completing the change. We contribute to the ‘settling up’ literature by arguing that strategic change is often uncertain for both the CEO and the board of directors responsible for executive compensation. As such the firm is likely to settle up with the CEO by paying for compensation risk and effort undertaken during refocusing after the extent and impact of strategic change are better known. We find that refocusing intensity is positively related to post‐refocusing CEO total compensation, suggesting that ‘settling up’ through post hoc compensation is an important factor in strategic change. We also find that prior firm performance, governance structure and industry dynamism are important moderators of this relationship. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determinants of the Locations of Alternative Financial Service Providers

Many low-to-moderate income US households rely upon alternative financial service providers (AFSPs) for a variety of credit products and transaction services. The social welfare implications of this segment of the financial services industry are quite controversial. One aspect of the controversy involves the location decisions of AFSPs. This study examines the determinants of the locations of three types of AFSPs: payday lenders, pawnshops, and check-cashing outlets. Using county-level data for the entire country, I find that the number of AFSP outlets per capita is significantly related to demographic characteristics of the county population, measures of the population’s creditworthiness, and the stringency of state laws and regulations that govern AFSPs.     

Live Streamers on Twitch.tv as Social Media Influencers: Chances and Challenges for Strategic Communication

ABSTRACT

Twitch.tv is one of the most successful online live streaming platforms in the world, with 200 million viewers, 2 million regular “streamers,” and a market value of over $1billion. In this paper, we offer a first conceptualization of streamers as social media influencers, and how effectively they can perform strategic communication for sponsors. We draw on extensive ethnographic research and over a hundred semi-structured interviews with streamers to address two questions: first, how does Twitch operate as a platform for strategic communication; second, what skills do streamers need to be successful influencers? In the first case, we show Twitch is well suited to influencing, in large part due to its integration of data analytics, while streamers are using these tools to adopt a business-oriented mindset; in the second case, we show the importance of authenticity to both streamers and clients, and how channels of different sizes offer strategic communication opportunities. The article contributes to the emerging literature on Twitch, developing insights from influencing and strategic communication, but given the increasing scope of live streaming, we also argue the phenomenon – particularly when combined with the economic dynamics of influencing – is just as important for making sense of the wider media landscape today.     

The New Civic Leadership: Place and the co-creation of public innovation

This paper discusses the role of place-based leadership in stimulating the co-creation of inclusive public services and outcomes. A conceptual framework, designed to illuminate the forces shaping the power of place, and to provide a fresh way of envisaging the changing nature of modern local leadership and public management, is presented. This New Civic Leadership (NCL) framework, one that can be contrasted with the outdated idea of New Public Management (NPM), is being used to guide the development of the One City Approach to urban governance in Bristol, UK. This effort to unite public purpose in a city is discussed, and emerging themes relating to the role of place-based leadership in spurring new ways of co-creating public service futures are explored.     

Consideration of ethical attributes along the consumer decision-making journey

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science - Information about ethical strengths and weaknesses of individual products (e.g., cause-related marketing, corporate social responsibility records) is...     

The Role of Structural and Planning Autonomy in the Performance of Internal Corporate Ventures

Historically, autonomy has been treated as a broad one‐dimensional construct. This paper proposes that there are two major types of autonomy for internal corporate ventures (ICVs)—planning autonomy and structural autonomy—and examines their respective impact on performance. Little prior knowledge exists regarding the autonomy–performance relationship for ICVs despite the billions of dollars of corporate investment in ICVs. In this study, I collect primary data on 38 ICVs at different stages of development from both venture‐level and corporate‐level managers from over a dozen companies in the U.S. Midwest. I find that a negative relationship exists for planning autonomy regardless of venture stage. However, for venture structural autonomy, a more complex relationship was discovered, which ranged from positive to negative to curvilinear based on the venture's stage of development.     

Collaborative-based HRM practices and open innovation: a conceptual review

Abstract

This conceptual paper analyses the role of collaborative-based HRM practices in supporting open innovation. There is already an extensive literature that investigates the impact of HRM practices on organizations’ innovation performance. As organizational boundaries become increasingly permeable and knowledge flows more freely, open innovation continues to receive close attention in management studies. However, relationships between HRM practices and open innovation have still not been examined. From a knowledge management perspective, we identify three kinds of barrier that may deter or impede open innovation. These relate to cognitive biases, concerns about transaction costs, and shortfalls in terms of organization capability. We also discuss the role of four types of collaboration-oriented HRM practices (i.e., teamwork-based recruitment, training in teamwork skills, team-based appraisals and rewards, and rotational job design) in reducing barriers to open innovation. Based on our analyses, we envisage future research directions about the role of collaborative-based HRM practices in supporting open innovation.