Strategic repertoire variety and new venture growth: The moderating effects of origin and industry dynamism

New ventures (companies eight years or younger) face an important choice in attempting to achieve growth: Should they follow “strategic simplicity” by relying on a few similar competitive actions, or emphasize “strategic variety” by implementing multiple different competitive actions? Data from 140 new ventures in Spain suggest that new ventures benefit from pursuing strategic variety, especially when their industries are highly dynamic. Further, although new ventures in general gain from strategic variety in highly dynamic industries, independently owned ventures achieve higher growth rates than their corporate counterparts. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of fit between competitive strategy and it adoption on organizational performance in small banks

The exploratory study empirically investigates the effect of congruence (fit) between information technology (IT) and competitive strategy on organizational performance. Building on anecdotal evidence and existing theory, a conceptual model of strategy-IT fit is derived. The model is tested through moderated regression analysis of data from 156 small banks. The results suggest that the level of technology adoption in itself bears no relationship to financial performance. IT-strategy congruence, however, is associated significantly with organizational performance.     

THE MERGING OF TWO UNEQUAL AXISYMMETRIC PARALLEL TURBULENT JETS

Results of an experimental study of the merging of unequal parallel round turbulent jets are presented.Experiments were conducted for a jet axial separation to nozzle diameter ratio of 3.0 and the Reynolds numbers ranging from 8 000 to 15 000.The distance to the point where the jets are merged was measured for a range of jet source momentum flux ratios.Three different merger criteria were used based on the mean velocity profile,mean passive tracer concentration profile,and Reynolds stress profile.The results show that the concentration profile merges closest to the jet sources followed by the velocity profile with the Reynolds stress profile merging furthest from the nozzles.For all three profiles the merge distance is relatively insensitive to the momentum flux ratio,consistent with previous findings for slot jets and buoyant round jets.The measured merge distances are consistent with previously published results for equal round jets,though the poor spatial resolution of data in the literature means that limited comparison is possible.There are no studies of unequal jet merger currently in the literature that could be used for comparison.     

Background and work experience correlates of the ethics and effect of organizational politics

Empirical studies exploring managerial views of organizational politics (OP) are scarce. Furthermore, the literature is replete with inconsistent results regarding the correlates of OP. In this paper, data collected from 302 managers were used to examine the association between seven background and work experience variables and managerial attitudes regarding the ethics, locus, affect of OP on the organization, and the motives behind political maneuvering in the workplace. The results, however, show that association between managers' background and work experience factors and attitudes regarding OP is weak. The results suggest several promising lines of inquiry for future research. Shaker A. Zahra is Assistant Professor of Management at the School of Business Administration of the Old Dominion University, Norfolk, virginia. His research focuses on the role of political factors in strategy development.     

Development of an Optimal Reservoir Operation Scheme Using Extended Evolutionary Computing Algorithms Based on Conflict Resolution Approach: A Case Study

Optimal reservoir operation and water allocation are critical issues in sustainable water resource management due to increasing water demand. Multiplicity of stockholders with different objectives and utilities makes reservoir operation a complicated problem with a variety of constraints and objectives to be considered. In this case, the conflict resolution models can be efficiently used to determine the optimal water allocation scheme considering the utility and relative authority of different stakeholders. In this study, the Nash product is used for formulation of the objective function of a reservoir water allocation model. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to determine the importance of each stockholder in bargaining for water. The Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) and the Imperialism Competitive Algorithm (ICA) are applied to solve the proposed optimization model. System performance indices including reliability, resiliency and vulnerability are used to evaluate the performance of optimization algorithms. The simplest and most often-used reservoir policy (Standard Operating Policy, SOP) is also used in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed models. The proposed model is applied to the Karkheh River-Reservoir system located in south western part of Iran as a case study. Results show the significance of the application of conflict resolution models, such as the Nash theory and proposed optimization algorithms, for water allocation in the regional scale especially in complicated water supply systems.     

Domestic and international competitive focus, technology strategy and company performance: an empirical analysis

This study empirically explores the association of a firm's approach to domestic and international operations with its technological choices and financial performance. The technological choices examined unclude the following: commitment to leading the creation of new technologies: emphasis on internal and external sources of technology: capital spending for technological pursuits: R&D investments. Cluster analysis of data from 180 US electronics firms produced four clusters of international and domestic operations. These clusters exhibited variaions in companies' technological choices and in the associations between technology variables and company financial performance. The results help to identify viable technolgical choices under different combinations of domestic and international competition.     

Entrepreneurship and strategic thinking in business ecosystems

Success in business ecosystems that include well-established companies and new ventures requires collaboration and competition, a task that demands strategic thinking to leverage a firm's resources and capabilities. Strategic thinking and the entrepreneurial activities in an ecosystem influence one another in a cycle that perpetuates and even sparks innovation. These interactions vary significantly across four types of business ecosystems—Orchestra, Creative Bazaar, Jam Central, and MOD Station—and determine the success and failures of new ventures and established companies. The nature and effect of the dynamic interactions in a business ecosystem can have profound implications for organizational success.     

Digital buying behavior: The role of regulatory fit and self-construal in online luxury goods purchase intentions

Drawing on regulatory focus theory, this study examines how consumers’ promotion and prevention focus influences luxury purchase intentions in an online domain. The research further investigates the interactive effects of regulatory focus, goal orientation, and self-construal through four studies. Study 1 shows that promotion-focused versus prevention-focused consumers have a greater tendency to purchase luxury goods online and in-store. Contrary to extant research regarding the compatibility between message frame and consumers’ regulatory focus, using varying manipulations, Studies 2 and 3 find the primacy of prevention-framed messages in influencing online luxury purchase intentions for promotion- and prevention-focused consumers. Further, unlike prior studies, Study 4 shows no significant interaction effect between regulatory focus, goal orientation, and self-construal and adds a possible boundary condition by demonstrating how regulatory focus and self-construal effects differ for luxury purchase online. Overall, the studies offer important contributions to theory and practice relating to luxury consumption in cyberspace.     

International entrepreneurship in the post Covid world

How will the world look post Covid-19? What is the role of international entrepreneurship (IE) in this new world? This article attempts to answer these two questions. It highlights the changes caused by Covid and how they might affect the scope and types of international entrepreneurial activities in years to come. It also discusses how international entrepreneurs are likely to operate and shape the emerging world order. The article concludes by outlining the implications of these changes for IE scholarship, offering an agenda for future research.     

An Approach for Estimating Monthly Curve Number Based on Remotely-Sensed MODIS Leaf Area Index Products

Water Resources Management - Curve number (CN) is a principal factor which is widely used in hydrology, specifically in the rainfall-runoff modelling. Its value varies based on soil moisture...