Corporate Frauds as Criminal Business Models: An Exploratory Study

In this article, we report on the findings of an exploratory, interpretive study of a notorious corporate fraud that occurred in Brazil from 1989 to 2005. We examine the process by which this scheme was created as well as how it was maintained for all those years. Our analysis covers both the substantive aspects (the actions fraud agents effectively perform) and the symbolic aspects (the resources of impression management that they use). We suggest that under certain circumstances, corporate frauds may be understood as the result of implementation of a criminal business model that focuses on a niche market of risk takers or greed investors, uses aggressive commercial practices and offers exclusivity, promotes the organization's image and personality cult of the entrepreneur, operates a management model that combines centralized control with fragmented systems, and uses complex fraudulent practices. This perspective allows us to understand the phenomenon of corporate fraud from a systemic point of view. We also suggest directions for future research and theory development on corporate frauds. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Factors that influence the consumption of food outside the home in Brazil

The food sector has taken on an unprecedented dynamism in recent years. The processing and distribution of food, although heavily influenced by tradition, have seen intensive innovations, leading to changes in the way individuals consume. One of these changes is the consistent growth of the habit of eating outside the home. Consuming food outside the home involves a number of practices such as eating at commercial establishments that specialize in food (restaurants, fast food restaurants and snack bars) and those that offer food as a part of their services (hotels, in‐flight meals), and non‐commercial alternatives such as the homes of family and friends. In order to describe the eating habits of consumers in the town of Lavras in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, especially when it comes to eating outside the home, a quantitative study was conducted, with 413 questionnaires being distributed by convenience sampling. Among the main results are: (a) a search for variety as a motivator for eating outside the home; (b) convenience as an important element on many occasions of consumption; (c) more intensive consumption and more favourable attitudes towards eating out on the part of younger people, people with higher incomes, no children and a higher degree of schooling; (d) importance of paying for food by the kilo. When compared with a study conducted in England, important similarities were identified in socio‐demographic influences, although the cultural factors are notable when it comes to dishes and the types of eating establishment. The growing habit of eating out has therefore become a worldwide phenomenon, but with cultural and regional differences that have led to different rhythms in terms of change and the way food is supplied. The recovery of embedded cultural habits, with increased value being given to slow food, traditional dishes and tradition itself, appears to co‐exist with a productivity model of food courts, pasteurization and accessible prices. The occasion for consumption, which may be understood as the dichotomies of ‘weekday versus weekend’ or ‘convenience versus leisure’, is an important element that influences consumer behaviours. The undertaking of a cross‐cultural comparative study can be seen as an important step in this field of research.     

Influence of Affective Traits on Entrepreneur's Goals and Satisfaction

Emotions are important to an individual's behavior. However, affective elements have rarely been included in the analysis of entrepreneurs' behavior. Using a sample of 335 entrepreneurs from multiple industries of the Spanish region of Castile and León, we analyze the role of emotions in entrepreneurs' statement of goals and in their satisfaction with business performance. The results show that positive affective traits influence an entrepreneur to state broad and ambitious goals, and personal negative affective traits influence an entrepreneur to state a narrow set of goals. We also find that positive (negative) affective traits are positively (negatively) related to entrepreneur satisfaction.     

Path dependence view of export behaviour: A relationship between static patterns and dynamic configurations

The main objective of this work is to understand the extent to which a relationship exists between static patterns and the dynamic configurations of a firm's export behaviour. The premise of our investigation is that the set of exporting decisions adopted over a period of time can be explained, in part, by the export pattern of the firm at the start of that period. Our empirical work is based on a sample of 754 exporting firms covering a 4-year period (2002–2006). Data were obtained from the Survey of Business Strategies (SBS). Our results support the path dependent focus of internationalisation, find some interdependences among three dimensions of export behaviour (extent, entry mode and scope), in static and dynamic fields, and support the idea that export experience influences some of the changes in foreign behaviour at one point in time, but not all. Our work contributes to the literature as it is one of the first works that (1) simultaneously analyses static and dynamic variables; (2) establishing relationships between both variables; (3) different dimensions of international export behaviour are introduced jointly; and (4) these relationships are contextualised according to the firm's export experience.     

Drivers of customer likelihood to join grocery retail loyalty programs. An analysis of reward programs and loyalty cards

This paper aims to identify which personal features of customers may determine their likelihood to join a grocery retail loyalty program. We consider five aspects: price sensitivity, search for variety, shopping enjoyment, attitude toward loyalty schemes, and one personality trait: privacy concerns. Some of these variables have already been explored in the literature. Where our research breaks new ground is in establishing the difference between profiles of customers attracted by two of the most common types of loyalty programs currently used by grocery retail firms: a reward program and a loyalty card. The two kinds of program evidence differences in how they are managed, and we posit that the drivers of likelihood to take part in each are different. The study was carried out using logistic regression with a sample of 600 clients of a Spanish supermarket chain. Findings show that one particular type of customer is more likely to take part in these schemes: those displaying little shopping enjoyment, who are greatly concerned with privacy, and who show a favorable attitude toward loyalty programs in general. Furthermore, as expected, differences were observed between drivers of participation likelihood in reward programs and loyalty cards.     

Knowledge acquisition and corporate entrepreneurship: Insights from Spanish SMEs in the ICT sector

The contingent perspective on the corporate entrepreneurship–performance relationship has focused mainly on the influence of factors either environmental or internal to the organization. Only recently have researchers turned their attention to the relational context and specifically to inter-organizational alliances’ potential to influence this relationship. Our paper analyzes how knowledge acquisition from alliances affects the corporate entrepreneurship–performance relationship in a sample of Spanish SMEs from the Information and Communication Technology sector (ICT). The results obtained show that both corporate entrepreneurship and knowledge acquisition have a positive influence on performance but that the moderating effect of knowledge acquisition on the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and performance is negative and it varies depending on the level of knowledge-based resources of the firm.     

Dark times for cosmopolitanism? An ethical framework to address private agri-food governance and planetary stewardship

The scholarly tradition of cosmopolitanism (illustrated by the old saying, “I am a citizen of the world”) offers important insights into the examination of agri-food multinational corporations (MNCs) as powerful global actors. Acknowledging that agriculture is the business sector with the highest planetary environmental impact, in this paper, we advance existing discussions around cosmopolitanism and the normative implications of considering agri-food MNCs as political actors. Relying on an integrative literature review, we propose a tripartite ethical framework that gives a new momentum to the ideals and tenets of cosmopolitanism. This novel lens offers an integrated, seamless ethical approach and revolves around three dimensions: culture, morality, and governance. The first dimension examines key agri-food cultural and social-ecological issues, the second acknowledges interdependence and causality as central to understanding MNCs’ ethical responsibilities, and the third outlines several governance parameters around legitimacy, planetary reach and efficiency. Hence, our integrative framework resituates the planetary geographical imagination of cosmopolitanism within the biophysical parameters outlined by the planetary boundaries concept, advancing key issues on private agri-food environmental governance and planetary stewardship.     

Intermediate units in multinational corporations: A resource dependency view on coordinative versus entrepreneurial roles

Due to the dispersion of headquarters’ activities across organizational and geographical boundaries, intermediate units (IUs) are emerging as a key actor of international business. IUs are intermediate structural layers between headquarters (HQ) and local subsidiaries with specific HQ responsibilities. Our study relies on original data of 67 IUs and, taking on a Resource Dependence approach, explores empirically the two HQ roles attributed to IUs: coordinative versus entrepreneurial. According to our results, the main differences between both roles relate to external network embeddedness, internal network position and autonomy. We argue that these differences arise from the dominant sources of power in each role. These findings have signi?cant relevance for theory development and managerial practice as we provide a starting point for understanding the dispersion of complex HQ systems as well as how those systems are discharged and add value.     

Network embeddedness,headquarters entrepreneurial orientation,and MNE international performance

The aim of this paper is to examine the role played by external and internal network embeddedness in the headquarters entrepreneurial orientation of multinational enterprises (MNEs), and the role of the latter in MNE performance. Drawing on responses from CEOs in a sample of 143 European MNEs, our study offers evidence for the antecedent role of network embeddedness on headquarters entrepreneurial orientation on the one hand, and for the positive impact of headquarters entrepreneurial orientation on international performance on the other. Our findings contribute to the network view of MNEs in the international business and international entrepreneurship literature by disentangling the complex phenomenon of entrepreneurship in MNEs, partly explained by its multiple embeddedness in external and internal networks, and by studying its impact on international performance.     

Organizational innovation as an enabler of technological innovation capabilities and firm performance

This study assesses the relationship between organizational innovation and technological innovation capabilities, and analyzes their effect on firm performance using a resource-based view theoretical framework. The article presents empirical evidence from a survey of 144 Spanish industrial firms and modeling of a system of structural equations using partial least squares. The results confirm that organizational innovation favors the development of technological innovation capabilities and that both organizational innovation and technological capabilities for products and processes can lead to superior firm performance.