External knowledge sourcing for R&D activities: antecedents and implications of governance mode choice

This paper investigates how internal and external factors affect the choice between alliances and joint ventures (A&;JVs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&;As) for the external sourcing of research and development (R&;D) activities, and whether or not such a choice is really contingent, that is, is it the best choice in terms of its impact on firms' innovative performance under those circumstances? We build a set of hypotheses based on both the transaction-cost theory and the resource-based view, and test them through a secondary data source analysis. We found that companies adopt either R&;D M&;A or A&;JV depending on internal (e.g. resources and capabilities, innovation experience) and external (e.g. degree of industry specialisation) factors. Surprisingly, this contingent choice turns to be effective on innovative performance only for the internal factors, rather than the external. This paper contributes to inter-firm relationships literature by presenting the real advantages of using integrated and contingency theoretical models to understand contingent decisions.     

A phenomenological study of corporate social responsibility in the Niger delta,Nigeria

Over the past half‐century, organization‐centric approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) dominated management practice. Though scholars and practitioners have embraced integrative CSR models, there are insufficient data about rural community constructs of corporate social behavior. Drawing largely from primary research conducted in the Niger Delta region, this article explores the meanings communities ascribe to corporate social responsibility. Through open‐ended interviews, this article examines the subtle underlying meanings of the narratives provided by the indigenes to identify clues potentially useful for developing effective CSR programs in the Niger Delta. The findings show that the Niger Delta people frame their views about CSR through the experience of poverty, loss of the traditional economy, erosion of traditional values, and degradation of the environment. Thus, CSR is associated with the restoration of control over land, alleviation of poverty, and community development.     

Pricing multiasset equity options: How relevant is the dependence function?

In this paper we test how different choices for the dependence function can affect the prices of a set of multiasset equity options. We conduct the analysis for various 5-dimensional baskets of UK shares, and a wide range of payoffs for the multiasset options, consistent with the instruments traded on the market. We also test the relevance of the dependence specification over both volatile and quiet market scenarios. Interestingly, we find that, in most circumstances, the choice of a dependence structure richer than the standard linear correlation does not seem to affect option prices substantially. However, the dependence function becomes more relevant in particularly volatile market conditions.     

The Route to Take‐up: Evidence from the UK Pension Credit Reform

Viable routes to increase the take‐up of cash transfer programs include raising the financial incentive to claim and reducing claiming barriers. Older people's response to both is evaluated exploiting the introduction of Pension Credit in the UK. The reform involved improved application assistance, simplified claiming procedure, extended recertification interval, less intrusive reporting requirements and outreach campaigning; also, the cash entitlement was increased for a subgroup of pensioners. The behavioral response is identified using Family Resources Survey data. Results support the effectiveness of financial incentives, while no effect is found in the case of reducing barriers policies when unaccompanied by financial incentives.     

A Socio‐Technical Perspective To The Right To The City: Regularizing Electricity Access in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas

This article takes the contemporary transformation in electricity access in Rio de Janeiro's favelas as a starting point for a broader review of the relationship between the right to the city in informal settlements and the neoliberalization of the electricity service (introduction of full cost recovery and ‘the user pays' principle). It examines the socio‐technical process through which contractual customer relationships have been established or restored through regularization of the electricity service in two favelas, namely, the installation of meters and networks. I suggest that applying a science and technology study perspective to the right to the city helps explore both the materiality and the spatial dimension of power and politics and, in so doing, provides an insight into some of the forms of mediation that help reshape recognition, urban practices and the favela dwellers' position within such an essential service. Our analysis shows how the means of recognizing these city dwellers ‘by the network' are materially and symbolically reshaped by commercial processes. The question then is whether this right to the city, which is being reshaped by commercial processes, will be the source of new inequalities or new politicizations.     

Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?

This article contributes to the literature by carrying out the first empirical investigation into the role of different types of enterprises in the creation of social trust. Drawing on a unique data set collected through the administration of a questionnaire to a representative sample of the population of the Italian Province of Trento in March 2011, we find that cooperatives are the only type of enterprise where the work environment fosters the social trust of workers.     

Bouncing back from a sudden-onset extreme event: exploring retail enterprises’ resilience capacity

ABSTRACT

A feature of recent decades has been the sudden and unexpected occurrence of catastrophic events seriously affecting people and territories. From an economic viewpoint, this has led scholars to pay increasing attention to factors and determinants taking enterprises face-to-face with extreme and catastrophic events, through the resilience lens. In this context, this study aims to contribute to the literature on resilience to natural disasters which is currently still limited in the business and management fields, both theoretically and empirically. This is particularly true as regards retailing, despite the key role played by retail in the aftermath and recovery periods following on from sudden-onset extreme events such as earthquakes.

The 2012 Emilia earthquake is a case in point with which to explore small retail enterprises’ resilience to sudden-onset disasters. Specifically, our empirical research consisted of administering a structured questionnaire to a sample of small retail enterprises which experienced an earthquake. The unit of analysis adopted was the retail enterprise. Data was processed applying Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM). The structural model aims to verify the impact of sales capabilities, market orientation and networking capabilities on the resilience capacity of retail enterprises affected by an extreme event, controlling for certain financial indicators such as suppliers’ payment timeframes and the use of debt capital, as well as respondent age and gender. The findings show that all the antecedents analysed exert a significant and positive effect on small retail enterprises’ resilience capacity and ability to bounce back from natural disasters. Moreover, suppliers’ payment timeframes showed a direct relationship with retail enterprises’ resilience capacity, with lower use of debt capital equalling higher retail business resilience. Age and gender do not exert any significant effect. Scientific, managerial and public policy implications are derived.

Abbreviation: SEM     

Managerial Sensemaking and Occupational Identities in Britain and Italy: The Role of Management Magazines in the Process of Discursive Construction

Processes of discursive construction in a British and an Italian personnel management magazine are analysed to show the ways in which the magazines, both as genre forms and providers of narratives and discursive resources, provide ‘story boards’ for their readers which are helpful to them when it comes to making sense of the tensions and dilemmas associated with their managerial roles. Tensions and occupational dilemmas generally associated with personnel management work are identified and variations found in the discursive constructions associated with the two magazines are related, with reservations, to cultural and institutional differences between British and Italian human resource management     

Cash flow vs. collateral‐based credit

We study factors affecting micro, small and medium‐sized enterprises (MSMEs) receiving loans and the effect of these loans on MSMEs performance. We study two types of loans – a new type based on cash flows and a traditional‐style loan based on collateral. We use unique surveys of MSMEs from Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. We find that MSMEs receiving a cash flow or collateral loan in the past are more likely to receive the same type of loan (and larger sized) in the future and that cash flow loans may be the preferred form of credit. Both types of loans are related positively to most performance indicators, enabling the MSMEs for instance to be more profitable and expand production. The cash flow loans also appear to be particularly attractive credit delivery schemes for micro and small enterprises. Finally, the effects of the smallest loans are often negative, suggesting that the minimum loan size is an important policy issue.