Showing papers by "Danny Miller published in 2006"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the nature of family businesses in an attempt to explain why some seem to do so well and others so poorly, and draw conclusions about the drivers that make some family businesses great competitors, while leaving others at a disadvantage.
Abstract: After decades of being viewed as obsolete and problem ridden, recent research has begun to show that major, publicly traded family-controlled businesses (FCBs) actually out-perform other types of businesses. This article examines the nature of such family businesses in an attempt to explain why some seem to do so well and others so poorly. It begins with four fundamental governance choices that distinguish among different kinds of family businesses: level and mode of family ownership, family leadership, the broader involvement of multiple family members, and the planned or actual participation of later generations. Using precepts from agency and stewardship theory, it relates these dimensions to the nature of the resource-allocation decisions made by the business and capability development, which in turn have implications for financial performance. Propositions are drawn about the drivers that make some family businesses great competitors—while leaving others at a disadvantage.
1,097 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors link the domains of corporate governance, investment policies, competitive asymmetries, and sustainable capabilities, and propose a framework to link these domains to the domain of sustainable capabilities.
Abstract: This article seeks to link the domains of corporate governance, investment policies, competitive asymmetries, and sustainable capabilities. Conditions such as concentrated ownership, lengthy tenure...
705 citations
01 Oct 2006
TL;DR: The next generation of policymakers and decision-makers will have to think differently about how to deal with the challenges of climate change and how to respond to it.
Abstract: Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Infrastructure Chapter Three: Locations Chapter Four: Possession Chapter Five: Link-Up Chapter Six: Coping Chapter Seven: Pressure Chapter Eight: Welfare Chapter Nine: Evaluation
496 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the opportunities for adaptive learning are limited because a CEO assumes office with a relatively fixed paradigm that changes little thereafter; inertia limits the speed at which an organization can align itself with a new CEO's paradigm; and for any within-paradigm learning to occur, the external environment must be stable enough so that the cause-effect relationships that CEOs glean today remain relevant tomorrow.
Abstract: Scholars have characterized CEO tenures as life cycles in which executives learn rapidly during their initial time in office, but then grow stale as they lose touch with the external environment. We argue, however, that the opportunities for adaptive learning are limited because (1) a CEO assumes office with a relatively fixed paradigm that changes little thereafter; (2) inertia limits the speed at which an organization can align itself with a new CEO's paradigm; and (3) for any within-paradigm learning to occur, the external environment must be stable enough so that the cause–effect relationships that CEOs glean today remain relevant tomorrow. In a longitudinal study of 98 CEOs in the relatively stable branded foods industry and 228 CEOs in the highly dynamic computer industry, we found results that strongly supported our hypotheses. In the stable food industry, firm-level performance improved steadily with tenure, with downturns occurring only among the few CEOs who served more than 10–15 years. In contrast, in the dynamic computer industry, CEOs were at their best when they started their jobs, and firm performance declined steadily across their tenures, presumably as their paradigms grew obsolete more quickly than they could learn. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
480 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, ownership concentration, owner preferences, and competitive advantage of family-controlled businesses are modeled and used to explain how successful family controlled businesses differ from firms with less concentrated ownership and less successful FCBs.
Abstract: This article models ownership concentration, owner preferences, and competitive advantage. It argues that ownership structure and owner preferences can give rise to resources and capabilities that increase firm profits. The model is then used to explain how successful family-controlled businesses (FCBs) differ from firms with less concentrated ownership and less successful FCBs. Because of their ownership concentration and reduced monitoring costs, many FCBs will have a resource surplus. That surplus and the tendency toward long-term investment among some FCBs create unique competitive opportunities under conditions we specify.
77 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that businesses do well only when they are well-configured, and that businesses must first, match organizational priors and match organizational configurations, which is not always the case.
Abstract: Scholars from the configuration school have suggested that businesses do well only when they are well-configured. Specifically, they have argued that businesses must first, match organizational pri...
69 citations
03 Oct 2006
TL;DR: This article found that family controlled businesses (FCBs) have been found to out-survive and out-earn non-FCBs, and their market valuations reflect that.
Abstract: Family controlled businesses (FCBs) have been found to out-survive and out-earn non-FCBs, and their market valuations reflect that. This edge may be attributed in part to the agency- and stewardship-related consequences of ownership – consequences that via organization governance and design allow many family businesses not only to reap advantages of continuity and focus (“exploitation”), but also to reorient themselves when needed (“exploration”). These capacities rest on qualities such as owners’ discretion, knowledge and incentives, and their stewardship over the mission, core capabilities, people, and external relationships of the firm. We suggest a research agenda to investigate these issues.
32 citations
TL;DR: Younger children were significantly less efficient than older participants, especially when an object changed color or had a part deleted, and changes in object orientation were detected more readily.
Abstract: Changes to a scene often go unnoticed if the objects of the change are unattended, making change detection an index of where attention is focused during scene perception. We measured change detection in school-age children and young adults by repeatedly alternating two versions of an image. To provide an age-fair assessment we used a bimanual choice rather than open-ended verbal responses. The difference in detection speed and accuracy between 50-ms versus 250-ms blank screens between views indexed change detection in short-term visual memory independent of sensory and response processes. Younger children were significantly less efficient than older participants, especially when an object changed color or had a part deleted. Changes in object orientation were detected more readily. These results point to important differences in the perceptual reality of younger and older children.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a detailed examination of the ornaments of one living room and a careful study of how and why they were collected and the part they played in the life of their owner is presented.
Abstract: This article argues that instead of examining kitsch from the perspective of taste, the same material needs to be understood from the experience of those who possess it and live through it. The emphasis in the case study presented here is not on humor and irony but on sentimentality, which is often the most denigrated aspect of kitsch. Through a detailed examination of the ornaments of one living room and a careful study of how and why they were collected and the part they play in the life of their owner, we can start to see how kitsch can actually work as a powerful aesthetic form that carefully discriminates between accepted and rejected social relations and ultimately is seen to possess transcendent qualities, or even, in this case, the light of the divine.
23 citations
TL;DR: It is found that mobile phones are not used to obtain jobs or to help individuals become entrepreneurs, but for quite different reasons, mobile phones have become central to the survival strategies of the lowest income population.
Abstract: A year-long ethnographic study of the use of mobile phones in Jamaica was conducted during 2004. Our findings, which are almost the exact opposite of the expectations that appear in The Economist and other sources in early 2005, are that, in Jamaica at least, the phones are not used to obtain jobs or to help individuals become entrepreneurs. For quite different reasons, however, mobile phones have become central to the survival strategies of the lowest income population. To understand why this should be, we need to examine how the phone fits within other forms of communication, and how both the phone and the phone call are evaluated. This is tantamount to asking how one person values their communication with another and under what conditions does communication become an end in itself?