Motivation and ability in the decision to acquire

This study considers the decision to undertake an acquisition using a framework built around the concepts of motivation and ability to acquire. The paper develops an integrative model to examine how firm characteristics contribute to motivation and ability in predicting the likelihood of an acquisition and draws on two streams of literature to motivate the model: behavioral theory of the firm to explain a firm's motivation to acquire, and absorptive capacity to explain a firm's ability to acquire. Results from a publicly traded sample show that firms failing to meet aspirations (i.e., those with motivation) are more likely to acquire, as are firms that have a high absorptive capacity (i.e., those with ability). Most interestingly, absorptive capacity moderates the influence of performance shortfalls in the decision to acquire and is most important when the motivation to acquire is low.     

Fuzzy goal programming based genetic algorithm approach to nutrient management for rice crop planning

The main purpose of this paper is to present a tolerance based fuzzy goal programming (FGP) and a FGP based genetic algorithm (GA) model for nutrient management decision-making for rice crop planning in India. In the proposed model, we have included fuzzy goals such as fertilizer cost and rice yield in the decision-making process. Fuzzy goals are converted to goal constraints using their corresponding membership function values and the deterministic equivalent of the fuzzy model is obtained using tolerance based FGP approach. This deterministic nutrient management model is also solved using a proposed real coded GA and the optimal combination of fertilizer is obtained to maximize the yield of rice within the available budget. A case example is solved under various scenarios to demonstrate the proposed approach.     

Emerging market multinational corporations' cross-border mergers and acquisitions and political distance: Does corporate political activity matter?

Due to rising anti-globalization sentiment, emerging market multinational corporations (EMNCs) face additional challenges in conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the developed markets. Built on institutional theory, we specifically examine how political distance, representing host–home country differences in various attributes in the political environment, influences the speed of approval for EMNC acquisition in the United States. The findings suggest that a larger political distance between the United States and EMNCs home country reflects challenges for EMNCs to gain legitimacy in the United States, resulting in the longer time required for acquisition approval. The EMNCs' corporate political activity moderated this relationship in that more corporate political activity improves the legitimacy perception of EMNCs among political actors, decreasing the time required for acquisition approval.     

Persistence of financial efficiency in indian hospitality and tourism industry: a dynamic panel Approach

This paper analyses the degree of persistence of financial efficiency for the hospitality and tourism industry in India. The paper deploys the Data Envelopment Analysis technique to generate overall technical efficiency scores as well as pure technical efficiency scores. Furthermore, a dynamic panel technique proposed by Arellano and Bond (1991), is employed to test the degree of persistence of financial efficiency and its key determinants. The results confirm positive and significant persistence of efficiency for the sample firms from the hospitality industry in India. The overall results indicate that hospitality firms in India can create entry and exit barriers to generate positive persistence of financial efficiency. The study suggests regulators specifically focus on policies that can enhance the competitive dynamics of the industry. Such measures may make it imperative for the management of the firms in the sector to streamline their financial management policies to control costs and devise methods for the enhancement of revenues.