Managerial Collective Cognitions: An Examination of Similarities and Differences of Cultural Orientations

abstract    Using the context of market orientation, we examine how an exemplary business's market orientation culture is reflected in managers' mental models, evaluate how mental models and perceived behaviours differ across hierarchical levels and functions, and compare the cognitive values and beliefs or the cognitive aspects of market orientation culture with behavioural aspects. Results from a rich, multi-method, case study suggest that while managers in the business share core beliefs regarding the customer dimension of market orientation, their beliefs regarding competitors, technology and inter-functional coordination dimensions vary widely across the levels and functions of the business. We found differences in terms of both the integration between the four dimensions of market orientation and the depth of knowledge within the dimensions. Our findings reveal that customer rather than competitor beliefs are the most important commonly shared beliefs in successful companies, leading us to encourage cognitive researchers to move beyond competitor analysis when examining managerial cognition. Another implication for future research is that a strong market orientation implies common core beliefs regarding customer dimensions but does not imply that all beliefs will be or should be shared. From the methodological standpoint, we find that cognitive mapping techniques provide rich insights into a business's market orientation culture that are not gained from behavioural methods alone.     

Contextualizing the categorical imperative: Category linkages,technology focus,and resource acquisition in nanotechnology entrepreneurship

This paper examines the role of category affiliations in entrepreneurial resource acquisition. Pace existing studies, we suggest category spanning will cause firms to be overlooked or discounted because evaluators assume that they have less expertise than their category-focused competitors; a phenomenon known as the ‘categorical imperative’. We suggest, however, that categories can be related both vertically and horizontally, and that this has important implications for understanding how the actors that span between them are evaluated. Studying startup ventures in nanotube technology, we show that venture capital investments were affected by a firm's position across patent classes that were related at both of these levels of analysis and that the interaction between them had implications for which firms received the largest investments.     

On the Relation between Local Amenities and House Price Dynamics

This study explores the extent to which local amenities are related to house price volatility, returns and risk‐adjusted returns across 238 MSAs. We find strong evidence that high amenity areas experience greater price volatility. In regards to returns, high amenity areas experience greater (lower) real returns in appreciating (depreciating) markets. However, high amenity areas experience little to no abnormal risk‐adjusted returns. Results from the study are robust to an endogenous treatment of amenities and land supply elasticity. Overall, we conclude that the desirability of a metropolitan area is a significant channel through which land values drive house price dynamics.     

Mindfulness-based training interventions for employees: A qualitative review of the literature

We provide a comprehensive qualitative review of 67 published studies that have examined mindfulness-based training interventions conducted with employees. The findings indicate that the most common research designs were the pre-test/post-test only design (35.8%) and the randomized waitlist control group design (26.9%). About two-thirds of the studies included a control group (61.2%), with approximately three-quarters (75.6%) of these studies using random assignment. Of the 63 studies that used a conventional experimental design, the majority (65.1%) included only one follow-up assessment, most often immediately after training. Results indicated a great degree of heterogeneity in terms of program content, although many studies used some adaptation of Kabat-Zinn's (1990) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (41.8%), an approach with a strong evidentiary base with clinical populations. All training programs incorporated practice, most (85.1%) used multiple methods of delivering the training material, and training varied considerably in total duration, session length, and the number of training sessions. Our review also found that the intended purpose of mindfulness-based training for employees was most commonly the reduction of stress/strain (80.6%), although a wide range of other targeted outcomes were documented. Based on our findings, we offer suggestions for future research aimed at advancing our understanding of mindfulness-based training interventions with employees.     

Informality,innovation, and aggregate productivity growth

This paper investigates how the costs of innovation in the formal sector temper or magnify the impacts of traditional policy levers such as taxation on sectoral choice. I embed a decision whether to operate formally or informally into a richer, general equilibrium model. Formal firms are subject to taxation, but they can improve their productivity through process innovation. Informal firms can potentially avoid taxation, and their productivity is determined by productivity growth in the formal sector. I find that changing tax rates from 50% to 60% decreases formal‐sector participation by 20.9%; however, this percentage falls by 10% when the cost of innovation is lower in the formal sector. The model also illustrates how changes in tax policy affect total factor productivity growth by limiting both the number of formal‐sector firms and the intensity of innovation. These results indicate a potential mechanism to induce firms to operate formally or mitigate harmful impacts of necessary tax changes.     

Three principles for sound water policy

Three economic principles are often neglected when formulating water policy. First, the quantity of water supplied is of paramount importance for policy not the price of water. Water policy should be judged by how much high-quality water is supplied, not by whether that policy meets some distributional objective. Second, the regulated alternatives for water policy have performed poorly. Regulated monopolies, concessions and government ownership have failed to deliver satisfactory results. Third, the real debate is between regulated and unregulated privatisation, not privatisation versus government ownership. The debate over water policy should move in a more free market direction.     

Implications of student‐generated screencasts on final examination performance

While educational technologies can play a vital role in students’ active participation in introductory accounting subjects, learning outcome implications are less clear. We believe this is the first accounting education study examining the implications of student‐generated screencast assignments. We find benefits in developing the graduate attributes of communication, creativity and multimedia skills, consistent with calls by the profession. Additionally, we find improvement in final examination performance related to the assignment topic, notably in lower performing students. The screencast assignment was optional, and the findings suggest a tailored approach to assignment design related to students’ developmental needs is appropriate.     

Arbitrage and knowledge

I investigate in depth the contemporary, nation-wide arbitrage phenomenon of copper penny hoarding. While penny hoarding represents a “pure arbitrage” opportunity, it also clearly demonstrates the knowledge problems that face those entrepreneurs who are fully informed about intra-market price differences. This paper contrasts the Neoclassical and Austrian views on the role of information and knowledge in arbitrage, emphasizing the greater depth in understanding to be gained from the knowledge-based Austrian approach, as opposed to the information-based Neoclassical approach.