Incubator mediation in commercialising disruptive innovation

One of the parameters supporting an innovation-based economy in an age of technological development is the formation of business incubators. This study focuses on disruptive innovation and the support of a business incubator through network and institutional mediation. Relevant literature shows limited research in this area. This paper brings a deeper understanding of the influences of business incubation on disruptive innovation with an in-depth investigation into four participant companies. Using comparative case analysis, mediation similarities and differences were examined throughout the cases’ innovation identification, planning and development and implementation process. Four themes emerged: mediation influences the disruptive mind-set, interdisciplinary input, financial support and technology and business uncertainty. The findings extend the literature; provide practical guidance for incubator management and allocation of resources in disruptive innovation.     

Twenty-five years of business systems research and lessons for international business studies

Since 1992, the national business systems (NBS) approach has been increasingly used to analyse not only firm characteristics, structures and strategies within NBS, but also the nature of international business and its interactions with both national and transnational institutions. In reviewing 25 years of NBS literature, we heed calls in IB journals urging researchers to use NBS notions and findings in IB research. Our systematic review of 96 articles analyses the patterns and contributions of NBS literature, revealing four thematic junctures: (1) comparative business systems, (2) firm internationalisation and the management/organisation inside MNCs, (3) the role of internationalisation in the development of organisational capabilities and innovation and (4) the emergence of transnational communities in and across firms and societies. Themes are described in terms of (a) the research questions (RQ) they focus on, (b) how NBS approach investigates the RQ and what are the major findings, (c) how IB frames and approaches the same RQ, (d) how does the NBS approach extend the perspectives of IB and (e) what are the problems faced by NBS in terms of developing further insights into the RQ. Our review contributes to the recent endeavour of IB research to institutionalism, encouraging a productive dialogue between IB and NBS research.     

Perceptions of Agriculture and Food Corporate Social Responsibility

An online survey of 1,201 U.S. residents was conducted in April 2015 to better understand individuals’ perceptions of prominent areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the food supply chain. Demographic and household consumption information, including supermarket patronage, was collected. Each respondent completed best–worst tasks for CSR areas designed to elicit their relative importance of CSR areas. Overall, health and safety were perceived as the most important CSR area, and environment was prioritized second. Indicating gender as female and/or reporting age over 65 was positively correlated with the relative importance placed on health and safety, but negatively correlated with the size of preference share for nearly all other CSR areas investigated. Membership in the younger age categories was positively correlated with the size of the preference shares devoted to procurement, labor, fair trade, and biotechnology.     

Speed under sail during the early industrial revolution (c. 1750–1830)

This article measures technological progress in oceanic shipping directly by using a large database of daily log entries from British, Dutch, and Spanish ships to estimate daily sailing speed in different wind conditions from 1750 to 1850. Against the consensus among economic (but not maritime) historians that the technology of sailing ships was fairly static during this time, we find that average sailing speeds of British East India Company and Navy ships in moderate to strong winds rose considerably after the 1770s. Driving this progress was the introduction of coppering in the 1780s, but subsequent rises are probably due to a continuous evolution of sails and rigging, and improved hulls that allowed a greater area of sail to be set safely in a given wind. By contrast, the speeds of Dutch and Spanish vessels were stagnant. Using separate data on the crossing times of Atlantic mail packets, we find gradual progress from the 1750s, followed by marked improvements when American packets appeared in the 1820s.     

Termination fees and bilaterally efficient merger contracts

We present a simple model of exchange in which mutual gains from trade motivate the use of termination fees in merger contracts. The inclusion of a termination fee permits bilaterally efficient merger contracts that make merger consummation more likely and result in higher merger payoffs for both the bidder and the target compared to contracts without termination fees. Introducing risk aversion for either the bidder or the target has negligible effects upon the preferred contracts, revealing that termination fees are not primarily a form of bidder insurance, although they do increase the probability that a merger is consummated. The model provides a rich collection of predictions, all of which are consistent with the empirical regularities reported to date.     

B Corp Certification and Its Impact on Organizations Over Time

Journal of Business Ethics - This study explores the impact of B Corp certification and its associated impact assessment on four case studies of small and medium-sized Brazilian companies certified...     

The spatial externalities of car-based worktravel emissions in greater London, 1981 and 1991

This research considers vehicle emissions from travel to work trips by car within and through the localities of London. Specific focus is placed on the residential origins of the trips and the analysis is based on 1981 and 1991 Census travel to work data. London is divided into some 24 one kilometre concentric ring bands and the number of vehicle kilometres travelled within each of these is calculated from ward to ward origin-destination worktravel movements by car. The spatial distribution of vehicle emissions from the perspective of the source origin of this type of urban environmental external disbenefit is derived. The research points to the highest concentrations of emissions located firmly in the centre of the city and this confirms scientific survey evidence of air quality. The results also confirm that in Central and Inner London the largest proportionate contribution to total emissions arises from vehicles originating from residences in Outer London.     

Threats to new product manufacturability and the effects of development team integration processes

The thesis of this article is that new product manufacturability (NPM) is influenced by certain challenges inherent in new product development (NPD), and by efforts to integrate manufacturing and other functional concerns into the product design process. This research tests the direct and interacting effects of these influences via a survey of 91 completed NPD projects representing a variety of manufacturing industries. While most hypotheses were supported, the analysis also provides some surprising findings. Project complexity and increased levels of design outsourcing are associated with poorer NPM. Product newness and project acceleration are associated with better NPM. All the measured aspects of development team integration are associated with better NPM, including intense manufacturing involvement, a collaborative work environment, supplier influence on the product design, and strong management support in the project. Furthermore, certain integration variables exert moderating effects on relationships between technological uncertainty, product newness, design outsourcing, project acceleration and NPM. By exposing these relationships this research extends the theory of product development influences on manufacturability beyond a focus on engineering-oriented approaches (e.g., design-for-manufacture). The results suggest that larger managerial issues must be addressed and that more contingency-oriented research is needed to explore the benefits and limitations of development team integration processes.     

Commentary: Some Further Evidence on Discount Rate Selection in the Context of Goodwill Impairment Testing

In an earlier edition of this journal, we published evidence relating to the nature of discount rates chosen by a sample of large Australian‐listed firms in the context of their goodwill impairment testing ( Carlin and Finch 2009 ). We argued that our evidence suggested that the rigour of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) goodwill impairment testing process was being undermined by inappropriate choice of discount rates on the part of many firms. In a commentary published alongside our article, questions were raised as to the validity of our conclusions and the methodology we applied in our study ( Gallery 2009 ). Subsequently, Bradbury has also contributed to the debate, raising similar concerns to those voiced by Gallery ( Bradbury 2010 ). In this brief paper, we provide further and better particulars in relation to our original dataset in a bid to assist those who have taken an interest in this debate to further inform their view of the merits (or otherwise) of the case we made in our original article.