Exploring the role of internationalization knowledge in fostering strategic renewal: A dynamic capabilities perspective

Internationalization knowledge (IK) is important to successfully enter and develop competitive strategies abroad. Yet, how IK is advanced and improved across the multinational enterprise (MNE), and how this contributes to the MNE’s strategic renewal is less understood. This analysis is based on an in-depth case study of Microsoft International to explore how IK is advanced, improved, and integrated across the enterprise. Our findings suggest that IK plays a critical role in fostering strategic renewal of an MNE. More specifically, sensing, seizing, and transforming capabilities jointly provide the necessary basis that enable IK to facilitate strategic renewal. We contribute to the literature by (1) explicating three categories of IK and their hierarchical relationship; (2) reveal how three distinct capabilities required by MNEs capture and integrate the three categories of IK across the enterprise; and, (3) offering that strategic renewal is triggered by routines based on the development and integration of IK.     

Short‐ and Long‐Run Policy Evaluation: Support for Grassland‐Based Milk Production in Switzerland

Following the abolition of the milk quota in 2008, farmers in Switzerland strongly increased the use of concentrate feed in milk production. Against this background, the Swiss government introduced the voluntary grassland‐based milk and meat (GMF) programme in 2014, which combines economic incentives with feeding restrictions to reduce the reliance on concentrate feed and increase the use of grass feed. We analyse the economic and ecological impacts of the GMF programme at the farm and at the sector level in the short‐ and long‐run. We use a difference‐in‐differences approach (ex‐post) and an agent‐based simulation model SWISSland (ex‐ante) to construct counterfactual states to evaluate the programme's impacts. We find that the GMF programme reduces the use of concentrate feed and increases the use of grass feed in Swiss milk production. Whereas the programme has a positive effect on economic indicators such as the farm income, we find no effect on ecological indicators such as the N surplus. Our analysis suggests that feeding restrictions on concentrate feed are not enough to achieve a reduction in the N surplus. Additional feeding restrictions on grassland are necessary. Furthermore, the GMF programme has a dampening effect on sectoral milk supply, and leads to a higher milk price.     

Migration and regional convergence in the European Union

We offer an empirical, econometric analysis of the impact of migration on the EU27’s NUTS2 regions in the period 2000–2007. We find that migration had no significant impact on regional unemployment in the EU, but affected both GDP per capita and productivity. A 1 percentage point increase in immigration to immigration regions increased GDP per capita by about 0.02?% and productivity by about 0.03?% on impact and by 0.44?% for GDP per capita and 0.20?% for productivity in the long run. For emigration regions an increase in the emigration rate leads to similar reductions of GDP per capita and productivity both on impact and in the long run. Since immigration regions are often regions with above average GDP, while emigration regions in Europe practically all have below average GDP, migration does not seem to promote convergence.     

The perception of tourism in coffee-producing equatorial countries: An empirical analysis

Some scholars have emphasized the importance of food tourism in mature and certain emergent economies for growing consumption-related products (e.g., wine, beer, rice, and tea) and attempts have been made to study tourism levers and threats in developing economies. However, to the best of our knowledge, little research has been conducted on the potential development of tourism activities centered on coffee producers and their farms in equatorial countries to determine whether a coffee tourism market is developing in these locales and if this could enhance these countries’ brand perceptions. Thus, this study explores the antecedents of the perceptions, potentialities, attitudes, and behavior of tourists specifically with regard to coffee tourism and coffee cultivation visits. To achieve our goal, we employ a quantitative method involving a survey of potential tourists. Our findings indicate that while the effects of gender and age on the perceptions of coffee cultivation visits are not significant, the effects of coffee consumption and travel in coffee-producing countries are positive and significant. These findings help us draw some relevant theoretical and managerial implications.     

Human values and beliefs and concern about climate change: a Bayesian longitudinal analysis

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of human values on beliefs and concern about climate change using a longitudinal design and Bayesian analysis. A sample of 298 undergraduate/master students filled out the same questionnaire on two occasions at an interval of 2 months. The questionnaire included measures of beliefs and concern about climate change (i.e., perceived consequences, risk perception, and skepticism) and human values (i.e., the Portrait Values Questionnaire). After controlling for gender and the respective baseline score, universalism at Time 1 was associated with higher levels of perceived consequences of climate change and lower levels of climate change skepticism. Self-direction at Time 1 predicted Time 2 climate change risk perception and perceived consequences of climate change. Hedonism at Time 1 was associated with Time 2 climate change risk perception. The other human values at Time 1 were not associated with any of the measures of beliefs and concern about climate change at Time 2. The results of this study suggest that a focus on universalism and self-direction values seems to be a more successful approach to stimulate public engagement with climate change than a focus on other human values.     

Unsafe cycling behaviours and near crashes among Italian cyclists

This study investigates the direct and indirect effect of three types of unsafe behaviours (i.e. errors, generic violations and smartphone-specific violations) on the likelihood of near crashes and actual crashes among Italian cyclists. We considered smartphone-specific violations as a different unsafe behaviour subtype that enhances the probability of committing errors, thus increasing the likelihood of being involved in near crashes. Furthermore, we hypothesized that near crashes will predict actual crashes. Results revealed that errors predicted near crashes, whereas generic and smartphone-specific violations did not. Near crashes mediated the effect of errors on crashes. Moreover, smartphone-specific violations predicted crashes throughout its consecutive effects on errors and near crashes. These findings contribute to deepen our understanding of the relationship between cyclists’ unsafe behaviours, near crashes and actual crashes. To our knowledge, the present study is the first that links errors to near crashes among cyclists.     

Why Do We Buy Traditional Foods?

Consumer behavior toward traditional specialties varies according to the cultural context of consumption. It thus becomes crucial to develop marketing strategies that target segments with different levels of familiarity with food. Our article purposes to analyze the purchase drivers of traditional foods known to consumers because of their reiterated consumption. The importance of the product’s attributes, the purchasing motivations, and the information channels are studied by applying the CUB model, which utilizes a probabilistic structure that simulates the individual’s psychological mechanism in adopting a choice of preference. The case study is that of extra-virgin olive oil in Italy, where this product is a fundamental element of the culinary tradition. The results show that in the ambit of traditional specialties, in contexts of elevated familiarity, the traditional information channels of marketing are less effective and call for strategies based on a more direct connection between consumer and producer.     

When a picture’s worth a thousand words: The effects of visual construal priming on information acquisition and choice

Individuals acquire information in an attribute- or alternative-based way depending on the construal level of the choice situation. This research contributes to the literature by showing that different information acquisition strategies can emerge not only as a function of the psychological distance from the object of evaluation but also through situational cues unrelated to the evaluation task, such as a visual priming. Furthermore, results show that which pattern of information acquisition is adopted in turn affects individual choices. While the literature has already found a direct effect of construal levels on choices, the present analysis supports the existence also of an indirect effect, mediated by the information acquisition pattern. Consequently, managers can implement simple tools, such as visual stimuli alongside the presentation of product-related information, to display information consistently with individuals’ construal levels, bearing in mind that the way consumers acquire information is a predictor of their choices.