The IPO Derby: Are There Consistent Losers and Winners on This Track?

We examine the individual and joint relation of discretionary accounting accruals, underwriter reputation, and venture capital backing with the long-run performance of initial public offerings (IPOs). We find that although correlated to some extent, these variables do not manifest the same underlying phenomena in their relation to IPOs' performance. The confluence of the variables is more important than using any one of them individually to identify IPOs that exhibit abnormal long-run stock returns. The combination of their negative aspects helps identify extreme underperformers. We also identify a set of winner IPOs by combining the positive aspects of the three variables.     

Environmental and Firm Level Influences on Inter‐Organizational Trust and SME Performance

We investigate the effects of focal firm knowledge intensity and uncertainty on inter‐organizational trust and subsequent performance of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). We integrate the trust literature with transaction cost literature as both of these offer partial explanations of the dynamics of inter‐organizational trust in the context of an SME. We propose that knowledge intensity of the focal firm will have a positive relationship while uncertainty will have a negative relationship with inter‐organizational trust in an exchange relationship. Further, we propose a positive relationship between trust and SME performance, which will be contingent on the level of external and internal uncertainty faced by the focal firm. Empirical evidence, based on the survey data of 565 German SMEs, mostly supports our arguments.     

Exploring the role of the spouse in expatriate failure: a grounded theory-based investigation of expatriate' spouse adjustment issues from India

This paper applied the grounded theory method in a study of the expatriates' spouses' relocation adjustment process and the impact of such adjustment problems in expatriate failure. A qualitative enquiry approach using open-ended questions in the form of personal interviews was adopted. Iteratively, the questions were changed to reach theoretical saturation and we allowed the respondents to lead us through the data collection process during our eventual theory development process. An action diagram technique was used to help structure and process the data. The study was conducted with 26 Indian origin spouses who had to encounter relocation issues one time or the other. We found the spouses' perceived gender role ideology to play a critical part in their adjustment process. Other factors that influenced the adjustment process in expatriate assignments were personality factors such as extraversion, organizational and family support, country demographics and pre-departure training.