The origins and evolution of democracy: an exercise in history from a constitutional economics approach

In this article the conditions for the rise and fall of representative regimes are explored. High citizen mobility and unexploited opportunities for investment create the need of reassuring factor owners against the tax hunger of the State. This may lead to the emergence of representative institutions of government, a process that reverts when those conditions disappear. Factors that facilitate or restrain the mobility of citizenry are identified, mainly in the domain of military technology. Thus, a number of interrelations between production and war technologies, political development and economic performance are revealed, giving rise to an interpretation of historical evolution.

The effect of international staffing practices on subsidiary staff retention in multinational corporations

This paper contributes to the scarce body of research on employee turnover in multinational corporations' foreign subsidiaries and addresses some key issues related to dealing with turnover of local staff. Based on a literature review, I conceptualize locals' perceived career prospects and their organizational identification as key variables mediating the relationship between international staffing practices and local staff turnover. In a second step, the paper develops instruments that help international firms to retain their subsidiary staff. Specifically, I focus on how international staffing practices need to be configured to ensure employee retention and I derive moderating factors. My arguments are integrated into a framework for the effect of international staffing practices on subsidiary staff retention in multinational corporations.     

On the relationship between supplier integration and time-to-market

Recent operations management and innovation management research emphasizes the importance of supplier integration. However, the empirical results as to the relationship between supplier integration and time-to-market are ambivalent. To understand this important relationship, we incorporate two major recent developments. First, the literature has started to redefine supplier integration into two dimensions, supplier product integration and supplier process integration. Second, recent research has begun to examine spillover effects that extend beyond the direct costs and benefits of the supplier contract. Using survey data of 116 firms in the industrials, health care, and information technology industries, the results confirm our hypotheses and show that supplier product integration decelerates time-to-market while supplier process integration accelerates time-to-market. The results also show a positive relationship between supplier integration and the adoption of external technologies, which either decelerates or accelerates time-to-market depending on the level of internal exploration activities. Our research, thus, helps to open the ‘black-box’ of the relationship between supplier integration and time-to-market, and provides a theoretically grounded explanation to the apparent contradictory results in prior research about the influence of supplier integration on time-to-market. In addition, we contribute to research on spillover effects by emphasizing that information technology adoption and assimilation is an important spillover effect of supplier integration.     

Marketingerfolg richtig messen: Optimale Kennzahlensysteme

Zusammenfassung  Wie kann man zuverl?ssige Methoden entwickeln, um die Erfolgswirkungen von Marketingma?nahmen auf den Unternehmenswert zu messen? Am Anfang steht dabei die Frage, was Marketingerfolg eigentlich ist. Eine reine Fokussierung auf die Stakeholdergruppe der Kunden reicht hier nicht aus. Andere, durch Marketing ebenfalls erreichte Interessensgruppen wie z.B. Investoren oder Mitarbeiter müssen auch betrachtet werden. Und das alles vor dem Hintergrund moderierender Kontextfaktoren wie etwa der Unternehmensstrategie oder der Branche. Dipl.-Kfm. Sascha Raithel Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Marktorientierte Unternehmensführung an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t München sowie Consultant bei der Pepper GmbH in München Dipl.-Kfm. Sebastian Scharf Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Marktorientierte Unternehmensführung an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t München Prof. Dr. Manfred SchwaigerVorstand am Institut für Marktorientierte Unternehmensführung an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t München     

Experimental investigation of stationary concepts in cyclic duopoly games

We experimentally test the predictive success of three stationary concepts in two cyclic duopoly games. The concepts are Nash equilibrium, impulse-balance equilibrium and payoff-sampling equilibrium. In the experiment 11 independent subject groups, consisting out of six participants interacting over 200 rounds, were gathered for each game. The comparison of the three concepts with mixed strategies shows that the order of performance from best to worst is as follows: payoff-sampling equilibrium, impulse-balance equilibrium, and Nash equilibrium. In addition the data exhibit a weak but significant tendency over time in the direction of coordination at a pure strategy equilibrium.     

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Determinants of idea sharing in crowdsourcing: evidence from the automotive industry

Drawing on external ideas through crowdsourcing has become common practice for firms that seek to improve and extend their product portfolios. As these initiatives often address the users of products, it is essential for firms to recognize those attributes that determine these individuals' willingness to share their ideas. This study takes the example of the automotive industry to examine how three attributes of car drivers determine their sharing behavior – that is, altruism, psychological ownership of ideas, and trust in car manufacturers. Our findings suggest that trust and altruism strengthen idea sharing, while psychological ownership weakens it. Furthermore, we find that car drivers' perception of sharing‐related risk acts as an important boundary condition for these relationships.     

Steering the Sales Force for New Product Selling: Why Is it Different,and How Can Firms Motivate Different Sales Reps?

This study investigates how to direct and assemble the sales force for new product selling. In a first step, the authors draw on self‐determination theory to explore and empirically test a threefold conceptualization of motivation. Results provide insights into why sales force steering works differently in the new product selling context. Specifically, results show that for new products’ financial performance, internalized new product selling motivation is more important than intrinsic and controlled motivation. In a second step, the authors show how firms can motivate different sales reps to achieve higher financial performance of new products. In doing so, they examine the interaction effects of sales reps’ predispositions and widespread firm‐steering instruments on new products’ financial performance. Results reveal that the new product sales orientation of the bonus strengthens the positive relationship between sales reps’ performance predisposition and new product financial performance but weakens the relationship between sales reps’ learning predisposition and financial new product performance. Moreover, results reveal that the new product sales orientation of the periodic review strengthens the positive relationship between sales reps’ learning predisposition and financial new product performance. A post hoc analysis shows that a differentiated steering approach that matches appropriate steering instruments with sales reps’ varying predispositions substantially enhances reps’ financial new product performance.     

Firm Characteristics and NPD Program Success: The Significant Influence of Global Discovery Management

Managing new product development (NPD) with a global point of view is argued to be essential in current business more than ever. Accordingly, many firms are trying to revitalize their NPD processes to make them more global. Therefore, examining global NPD management is one of the top priorities for research. While scholars have examined global launch management, there has been scant attention on the direct effect of global discovery management on NPD success. Therefore, this study investigates how a globally managed discovery phase enhances a firm's overall NPD success. Drawing upon the resource‐based view (RBV) and using Kotabe's ( 1990 ) generic model for market success in global competition as the overarching framework, this study examines four drivers of NPD success: global discovery management, the firm's “global footprint,” its inbound knowledge sourcing practices (i.e., “open innovation proclivity”), and nationality of the teams (i.e., “cross‐national global NPD team use”). The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 255 business units from multiple industries, headquartered worldwide, and surveyed during the 2012 PDMA Comparative Performance Assessment Study (CPAS). The PLM‐SEM analyses show that, of the four drivers examined, only global discovery management strongly influences a firm's NPD program success. The findings enhance our understanding of the particularities in global NPD. Based on the study's results, suggestions are provided as to how multinationals can leverage their international operations in the course of their front‐end activities.