Effects of Corporate Diversification on Productivity

Using plant-level observations from the Longitudinal Research Database I show that conglomerates are more productive than stand-alone firms at a given point in time. Dynamically, however, firms that diversify experience a net reduction in productivity. While the acquired plants increase productivity, incumbent plants suffer. Moreover, stock prices track firm productivity and this tracking is equally strong for diversified and stand-alone firms. Therefore, lower transparency of conglomerates is unlikely to explain the discrepancy between productivity and stock prices on average. Finally, I offer some evidence that this discrepancy may arise because conglomerates dissipate rents in the form of higher wages.     

How Do Controls Impact Employee Trust in the Employer?

Do organizational controls facilitate or hinder employees’ trust in their organization? We addressed this question through a mixed‐methods design using three studies. Based on a literature review and an open‐response survey study (Study 1), we developed a theoretical model proposing that organizational control is positively related to employees’ trust in their organization, and that this relationship is mediated by procedural fairness and organizational prestige. This mediated model was tested and supported in a quantitative survey of 582 European managers and professional employees from a range of organizations (Study 2). A complementary, qualitative interview‐based study (Study 3) confirmed that well‐implemented controls facilitate trust in the organization; however, poorly implemented control systems that are inconsistent, overly rigid, or incentivize untrustworthy behavior can undermine trust in the organization. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An Investigation of Analysts' Praise of Management During Earnings Conference Calls

Through the textual analysis of a large sample of earnings conference calls, the authors find that analysts praise management on over half of earnings conference calls by saying complimentary phrases such as “congratulations on the great quarter.” The results show that analysts' complimentary phrases reflect the nature of the information released at the earnings announcement. The authors find that the amount of praise by analysts on an earnings conference call is strongly associated with the earnings surprise and to a greater extent the earnings announcement stock return. They also find that there is value to investors in tracking analysts' flattery of management during earnings conference calls, as it predicts abnormal stock returns over the following quarter. The findings, which are incremental to prior research on the tone of earnings conference calls, highlight a previously ignored aspect of analyst feedback.     

Patient intensity in an ambulatory oncology research center: step forward for the field of ambulatory care--part III

Nursing leaders in ambulatory care need to objectively quantify patient intensity to balance patient care needs and nursing resources. The day-to-day application of the Ambulatory Intensity System (AIS) is illustrated in this final article of a three-part series that reviewed current literature on acuity/intensity tools, and described the development of an AIS system to objectively quantify the nursing care.     

The globalization of angel investments: Evidence across countries

This paper examines the role of investments by angel groups across a heterogeneous set of 21 countries with varying entrepreneurship ecosystems. Exploiting quasi-random assignment of deals around the groups’ funding thresholds, we find a positive impact of funding on firm growth, performance, survival, and follow-on fundraising, which is independent of the level of venture activity and entrepreneur-friendliness in the country. However, the maturity of startups that apply for funding (and are ultimately funded) inversely correlates with the entrepreneurship-friendliness of the country. This may reflect self-censoring by early-stage firms that do not expect to receive funding in these environments.     

Testing Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek in the G-7

Testing Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek in the G-7. —This paper extends previous tests of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (H-O-V) model by restricting testing to a group of countries expected to best conform to the assumptions of the model. Specifically, this study restricts the sample to the G-7 countries which are similar in relative endowments and technology. In this sample, limited empirical support for H-O-V is found in the “rank” test of factors across countries and the regressions. The results suggest that serious consideration of the assumptions of the model may improve the concordance of the theory to the data.     

Trust in the employer: the role of high-involvement work practices and procedural justice in European organizations

Despite the central role of trust in the organizational sciences, we know little about what makes people trust the organizations they work for. This paper examines the antecedents of employees' trust in their organizations drawing on survey data from over 600 European professional workers and managers. The results revealed direct as well as indirect relationships of both human resource (HR) practices and procedural justice with trust. The relationships of both HR practices and procedural justice with trust were partially mediated by perceptions of organizational trustworthiness (in terms of perceived ability and trustworthy intentions of the organization). Justice and HR practices were also found to interact such that justice forms a stronger predictor of trust in organizations when HR practices are less developed. In addition, employees' dispositional propensity to trust explained significant variance in employee trust in their organization, even when it was controlled in our analysis. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.