How does entrepreneurs' social capital hinder new business development? A relational embeddedness perspective

While most studies argue that, relational embeddedness, one facet of social capital, facilitates the obtaining process of scarce resources, our study cautions that it may exert negative impacts. This study examines the underlying process about how shared cognition influences new business development. Results from a survey on entrepreneur social network in China demonstrate that strong ties bring decision-making constraints for entrepreneurs to bear, while trust helps to lessen such restriction. Additionally, shared cognition should not become a preferred standard for entrepreneurs in choosing their network members, because simply relying on the intermediate role of tie strength engenders dark sides. Implications for research as well as for practice are discussed.     

Cementing the case for collusion under the National Recovery Administration

Macroeconomists have long debated the aggregate effects of anti-competitive provisions under the “Codes of Fair Conduct” promulgated by the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). Despite the emphasis on these provisions, there is only limited evidence documenting any actual effects at the micro-level. We use a combination of narrative evidence and a novel plant-level dataset from 1929, 1931, 1933, and 1935 to study the effects of the NIRA in the cement industry. We develop a test for collusion specific to this particular industry. We find strong evidence that before the NIRA, the costs of a plant's nearest neighbor had a positive effect on a plant's own price, suggesting competition. After the NIRA, this effect is completely eliminated, with no correlation between a plant's own price and its neighbor's cost.     

The adoption of strategic marketing practices： A comparison between New Zealand and Chinese manufacturers

This article compares the extent to which ten basic ＂textbook＂ strategic marketing practices are being used among manufacturing firms in New Zealand and China. Data was collected via questionnaire and a total of 145 and 89 usable responses were received from firms employing more than 50 people in each country respectively. The results indicate that many of the basic strategic marketing practices which are typically advocated in the mainstream academic literature have been similarly and quite widely adopted by manufacturers in both countries. However, the results also suggest that, albeit in different areas, there is still scope for manufacturers in both New Zealand and China to embrace strategic marketing more fully.     

The quality and variety of exports from the new EU member states

The goal of this article is to evaluate the variety and quality of exports from the new EU member states (NMSs) in the period 1999–2009. The practical relevance of such an analysis is threefold: recent studies underline the importance of export variety for economic growth; empirical results show that export variety was influenced by the EU membership; and looking separately at export quality permits a better understanding of price competitiveness. Our results show that all NMSs significantly increased the average number of brands exported to the EU market, the largest increases being observed in 2004 and after. This indicates that integration into the EU market occurs in the extensive as well as the intensive dimension. We also find that all NMSs increased the average quality of their exports during the decade studied although there are differences between countries. Thus, a large part of the increase in the prices of exports from NMSs resulted from improving quality and did not result in a loss of competitiveness. Finally, estimates of relative quality are much more stable than relative prices, suggesting that our measure of relative quality is better than the traditional proxy.     

新政策下科技成果转移转化问题与对策研究

通过全面梳理和系统分析自《中华人民共和国促进科技成果转化法（2015年修订）》出台以来的新政策，结合科技成果转移转化过程及主体调研，分析科技成果转移转化落实过程发现，问题主要表现为新政策与中观层既有政策冲突、新政策缺乏微观层配套细则且落地困难、新政策下一些疑难问题仍难以突破。建议出台中观层、微观层配套政策及细则，加强政策权威解读与宣传，完善相关制度体系。     

Hospitality innovation strategies: An analysis of success factors and challenges

Innovation in hospitality has attracted considerable interest, partly because its processes and activities are so diverse, and partly because its impact on performance is still a puzzle. This study proposes a comprehensive theoretical model that reviews combinations of technological and non-technological innovation and the interrelation between different innovation strategies that contribute to generating competitive advantages. Using data from 2010 and 2012 CIS, it empirically examines different innovation strategies, analyzes their role in organizational performance, and thoroughly researches sectoral variation in innovation strategies between hospitality and other service subsectors. Comparative analysis suggests that hospitality is the least innovative service activity. The findings also show that in hotels sales turnover is positively related only to complex innovation strategies that emphasize both technological and non-technological innovation. The study concludes that the level of innovation varies from sector to sector and that innovation strategies can have different effects on performance depending on the sector.     

Connecting ethnography to the business of innovation

This article presents methods to help companies build processes that emphasize consumer ethnography, customer ethnography, and commercialization planning as components for innovation within mature, well-established consumer or industrial markets. It is written for multifunctional innovation teams and senior management toward increasing the success rates of new product innovations.