Showing papers by "Grenoble School of Management published in 2013"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict entrepreneurial behavior and find that attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are significant predictors of entrepreneuria.
Abstract: This article contributes to the occupational choice literature pertaining to entrepreneurship by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict entrepreneurial behaviour. Originating from social psychology, the TPB posits that intention, a function of behavioural beliefs, is a significant predictor of subsequent behaviour. In spite of an established stream of scholarship explaining the formation of entrepreneurial intentions, empirical research has not yet employed longitudinal data to examine whether the intention to start a business measured at one point of time translates into subsequent entrepreneurial behaviour. This article provides a full test of the TPB in the prediction of business start-up intentions and subsequent behaviour based on two-wave survey data (2006 and 2009) from the working-age population in Finland. The econometric results support the predictions outlined in the TPB: attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are significant predictors of entrepreneuria...
420 citations
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TL;DR: In an attempt to explain why some nascent organizations become new organizations while others do not, this paper argued that the process of organizational emergence can be understood and predicted by viewing it as a quest for legitimacy and found empirical evidence to suggest that the actions a nascent organization takes (or strategic legitimacy) may be more important than its characteristics (or conforming legitimacy) in explaining organizational emergence.
Abstract: In an attempt to explain why some nascent organizations become new organizations while others do not, we contend that the process of organizational emergence can be understood and predicted by viewing it as a quest for legitimacy. We subsequently find empirical evidence to suggest that the actions a nascent organization takes (or strategic legitimacy) may be more important than its characteristics (or conforming legitimacy) in explaining organizational emergence. Such a conclusion is important in that it provides a theoretical framework with which to understand organizational emergence and in so doing advances our knowledge of this important process.
386 citations
TL;DR: This article proposes a typology of business models that emphasizes the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value, to extend current work on cognitive categorization and open up new possibilities for organization research.
Abstract: Most research on business models lies in the literature on strategy and competitive advantage and focuses on their role as descriptors of actual phenomenon, often by reference to taxonomic categories. In this article, we explore how business models can be seen as a set of cognitive configurations that can be manipulable in the minds of managers (and academics). By proposing a typology of business models that emphasizes the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value, we explore how business model configurations can extend current work on cognitive categorization and open up new possibilities for organization research.
337 citations
TL;DR: In this article, two different governance modes of university-industry interactions are studied: in the institutional mode, interactions are mediated by the university through its administrative structures, while in the personal contractual mode interactions involve formal and binding contractual agreements between firms and individual academics, carried out without the direct involvement of the university.
197 citations
TL;DR: Two studies demonstrate that the opposite intuition exists in France: unhealthy food is spontaneously associated with bad taste, while healthy food is linked to tastiness, and how the healthy = tasty French intuition influences taste perceptions in a product test conducted in an experimental lab.
194 citations
TL;DR: The research findings provide new evidence on the facilitating initiatives, underlying mechanisms and structures that are related to the leading firms' orchestration of innovation ecosystems.
Abstract: This study focuses on value creation and capture in innovation ecosystems. It presents and discusses the findings from a qualitative, comparative case study on two European-led innovation ecosystems from the ICT and aerospace and defence sectors. The purpose of the research is to explore the tangible and intangible mechanisms related to how leading firms may facilitate value creation and capture in this context. In particular, we focus on mechanisms related to the building phase to help attract and gather relevant stakeholders, and on the management phase to help maintain and realise the business goals of all ecosystem participants. We also discuss the differences between the case industries concerning the effectiveness and usage of such mechanisms. Overall, the research findings provide new evidence on the facilitating initiatives, underlying mechanisms and structures that are related to the leading firms’ orchestration of innovation ecosystems.
194 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of university-industry collaboration for the development of innovation in mature and emergent industries in new industrialized countries is explored and discussed, and the policy implications of these preliminary findings are discussed.
177 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined when and why organizational environments influence how employees respond to moral issues and proposed that power makes people more self-focused, which makes them more likely to act upon their preferences and ignore (un)ethical social influences.
Abstract: In this research, we examine when and why organizational environments influence how employees respond to moral issues. Past research proposed that social influences in organizations affect employees' ethical decision making, but did not explain when and why some individuals are affected by the organizational environment and some disregard it. To address this problem, we drew on research on power to propose that power makes people more self-focused, which, in turn, makes them more likely to act upon their preferences and ignore (un)ethical social influences. Using both experimental and field methods, we tested our model across the three main paradigms of social influence: informational influence (Study 1 and 2), normative influence (Study 3), and compliance (Study 4). Results offer converging evidence for our theory.
122 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of providing feedback on electricity consumption in a field trial involving more than 1500 households in Linz, Austria, were analyzed and it was shown that feedback provided to the pilot group corresponds with electricity savings of around 4.5% for the average household.
114 citations
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01 Jan 2013TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined when and why organizational environments influence how employees respond to moral issues and proposed that power makes people more self-focused, which makes them more likely to act upon their preferences and ignore (un)ethical social influences.
Abstract: In this research, we examine when and why organizational environments influence how employees respond to moral issues. Past research proposed that social influences in organizations affect employees' ethical decision making, but did not explain when and why some individuals are affected by the organizational environment and some disregard it. To address this problem, we drew on research on power to propose that power makes people more self-focused, which, in turn, makes them more likely to act upon their preferences and ignore (un)ethical social influences. Using both experimental and field methods, we tested our model across the three main paradigms of social influence: informational influence (Study 1 and 2), normative influence (Study 3), and compliance (Study 4). Results offer converging evidence for our theory.
106 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a theoretical model predicts that the agents' power and the manner in which they are held accountable jointly determine their propensity to make self-serving decisions and that holding agents accountable for their decision-making procedure reduces the level of selfserving decisions under moral hazard and also curbs the negative consequences of power.
Abstract: This paper provides an answer to the question of why agents make self-serving decisions under moral hazard and how their self-serving decisions can be kept in check through institutional arrangements. Our theoretical model predicts that the agents' power and the manner in which they are held accountable jointly determine their propensity to make self-serving decisions. We test our theory in the context of financial investment decisions made under moral hazard using others' funds. Across three studies, using different decision-making tasks, different manipulations of power and accountability, and different samples, we show that agents' power makes them more likely to behave in a self-serving manner under moral hazard, but only when the appropriate accountability mechanisms are not in place. Specifically, we distinguish between outcome and procedural accountability and show that holding agents accountable for their decision-making procedure reduces the level of self-serving decisions under moral hazard and also curbs the negative consequences of power. Implications for decisions under moral hazard, the psychology of power, and the accountability literature are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, an inductive study of occupational safety and health managers in a multinational construction company is presented to better understand the way staff professionals bring professional practices inside their organization by examining how they enact a practical agency to promote or disrupt practices.
Abstract: This paper seeks to better understand the way staff professionals bring professional practices inside their organization by examining how they enact a practical agency to promote or disrupt practices. From an inductive study of occupational safety and health managers in a multinational construction company, we develop a framework of how staff professionals build perceived legitimacy and exert unobtrusive influence tactics to manoeuvre around social constraints. We contend that our principal contribution to the literature on institutional work is to provide a situated account of the practical agency of staff professionals inside one organization. In doing so, we extend current knowledge of the embedded agency paradox. Finally, our analysis offers new insights into the literature on professions and institutions by highlighting the work of staff professionals in a real-life context, which has received scant attention in the last three decades.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that in order to create new organizations, nascent entrepreneurs must acquire resources from an increasingly diverse set of relatively stronger and weaker ties throughout the emergence phase, and hypothesize why this evolutionary path is effective across the various dimensions of tie strength.
Abstract: Purpose – The objectives of this study are threefold: first, to analyze the development of intentions of individuals over time; second, to explore potential gender differences in intention development; and third, to analyze the relatedness of the initial level and development of the antecedents of intentions to the initial level and the development of intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Ajzen's Theory of Planned behavior is applied. Longitudinal data were collected in the fall of 2010, 2011 and 2012 in seven different universities of applied sciences, with students representing seven different study fields. In our data, there are 192 individuals with all three measurement waves and 104 individuals with two measurement waves. The analysis of change on multi-wave panel data is done using latent growth curve analysis with structural equation modeling. Findings – Our empirical results are threefold. First, entrepreneurial intentions of higher education seem to decrease during their studies. Second, ther...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors give an explicit representation of the lowest cost strategy (or "cost-efficient" strategy) to achieve a given payoff distribution, and highlight the connections between cost-efficiency and dependence (copulas).
Abstract: In this paper, we give an explicit representation of the lowest cost strategy (or "cost-efficient" strategy) to achieve a given payoff distribution. For any inefficient strategy, we are able to construct financial derivatives which dominate in the sense of first-order or second-order stochastic dominance. We highlight the connections between cost-efficiency and dependence (copulas). This allows us to extend the theory to deal with state-dependent constraints to better reflect real world preferences. We show in particular that path-dependent strategies (although inefficient in the Black Scholes setting) may become optimal in the presence of state-dependent constraints.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that in order to create new organizations, nascent entrepreneurs must acquire resources from an increasingly diverse set of relatively stronger and weaker ties throughout the emergence phase, and hypothesize why this evolutionary path is effective across the various dimensions of tie strength.
Abstract: Networks are important to entrepreneurial success. However, most research in this area to date has merely addressed the what; namely, what types of networks enable success. We seek to extend this stream of research by answering the how and the why. In so doing, we elaborate on how entrepreneurs can develop their networks, arguing that in order to create new organizations, nascent entrepreneurs must acquire resources from an increasingly diverse set of relatively stronger and weaker ties throughout the emergence phase. We then hypothesize why this evolutionary path is effective across the various dimensions of tie strength. Analyzing data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics I (PSED I) with multilevel random coefficient growth curve modeling, we find strong support for our hypotheses. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for both academics and practitioners.
TL;DR: It is argued that organizations with a knowledge use advantage, namely, an ability to mobilize accessible knowledge by organizing for knowledge circulation and a socialized search that deals with the organization’s challenges of knowledge distribution in order to master solution development – especially at mid-level – can pursue capability development.
Abstract: Searching for knowledge to solve non-routine problems allows middle managers not only to design new solutions but also to develop organizational capabilities. We focus on knowledge search to develop our understanding of how individuals engage with organizational knowledge in practice, how they acquire and use knowledge, and the implications for organizational knowledge development. Investigating middle managers’ knowledge search practices in response to non-routine events, we uncover four practices: isolating; overcoming knowledge distribution challenges; socializing; and mastering solution development. From these, we identify two aspects of knowledge search: not only can it produce new solutions but it can also have different effects in terms of developing organizational capabilities, either modifying existing routines or creating new ones. We argue that organizations with a knowledge use advantage, namely, an ability to mobilize accessible knowledge by organizing for knowledge circulation and a socializ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated what are the motivational factors influencing medical professionals intention to use e-Health services in developing countries, and found that performance expectancy, social influence through moderators, government policy, medical education, and medical knowledge contribute to the intention of using e-health services.
Abstract: eHealth services are experiencing a slow diffusion in developing countries. Yet, despite the managerial importance of such a question, little research considers e-health and its adoption. This article therefore investigates this topic and aims at better understanding what are the motivational factors influencing medical professionals intention to use eHealth services. Literature on Technology Acceptance Models was first investigated and adapted to the research context with the help of a qualitative study. Then a quantitative study was performed. Data from 10 developing countries revealed atypical findings. Performance expectancy, social influence through moderators, government policy, medical education, and medical knowledge contribute to the intention to use eHealth services in developing countries. Analytical results indicate the importance of government attitude in the adoption of these innovative services. Geographic differences between urban and rural areas also revealed the need for differen...
TL;DR: In this article, the role of principal investigators on nanotechnology projects as actors in technology transfer is examined and the authors investigate the actions of four principal investigators in SBIR and university projects that have been successful in funding scientific projects while fostering commercialization.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show how traditional approaches to improving collaboration often invisibly slow decision-making and hurt performance, and describe how companies can identify and address points of collaboration overload and use structural and behavioral interventions to streamline information-sharing and decision making interactions.
Abstract: As a result of the spread of social media and collaboration technologies in the workplace, the adoption of matrix-based structures, and the proliferation of initiatives to create a “one firm” culture, many organizations are experiencing collaboration overload. Too often, excessive collaboration harms organizational performance, overworking employees for only marginal gains. High-performing employees are especially vulnerable because they already shoulder a disproportionate collaboration burden. This article shows how traditional approaches to improving collaboration often invisibly slow decision making and hurt performance, and describes how companies can identify and address points of collaboration overload and use structural and behavioral interventions to streamline information-sharing and decision-making interactions.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a typology of business models that emphasises the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value.
Abstract: The current literature on business models lies mainly in the literature on strategy and competitive advantage and focuses on their role as descriptors of actual phenomenon, often by reference to taxonomic categories. In this essay we explore how business models can be seen as a set of cognitive configurations that can be manipulable in the minds of managers (and academics). By proposing a typology of business models, that emphasises the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value, we explore how business model configurations can extend current work on cognitive categorization and open up new possibilities for organisation research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore a new fee structure for variable annuities, where the fee rates supporting the cost of guarantees depends on the moneyness of those guarantees, and derive formulas for calculating the fee rate assuming fees are paid only when the guarantees are in-the-money, or are close to being in the money, and illustrate with some numerical examples.
Abstract: For variable annuity policies, management fees for the most standard guarantees are charged at a constant rate throughout the term of the policy. This creates a misalignment of risk and income - the fee income is low when the option value is high, and vice versa. In turn, this may create adverse incentives for policyholders, for example, encouraging surrenders when the options are far out-of-the-money.In this paper we explore a new fee structure for variable annuities, where the fee rates supporting the cost of guarantees depends on the moneyness of those guarantees. We derive formulas for calculating the fee rates assuming fees are paid only when the guarantees are in-the-money, or are close to being in-the-money, and we illustrate with some numerical examples. We investigate the effect of this new fee structure on the surrender decision.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reconcile two contradicting sets of findings on the role of cognitive control in socially desirable behaviors: one set of findings suggests that people are tempted by self-serving impulses and have to rely on cognitive control overriding such impulses to act in a socially desirable way.
TL;DR: Carayannis et al. as mentioned in this paper conducted a series of interviews with chief executives from businesses across a wide swath of business sectors to empirically document the ways and means that mobile technologies and "Smart-phones" impact an executive's productivity and efficiency at work.
Abstract: This paper details a journey of perception, change, leverage, and serendipitous discovery through emerging technologies and learning. Emerging technologies such as mobile technologies and “Smart-phones” have the potential to change the way business executives communicate, interact, learn, and behave. Leveraging learning activities is an imperative function for innovating firms. Technology has played a role in human affairs including business for millennia—starting with the lighting of the first fire, the carving of ideograms on the walls of caves and inventing the first round artifact that would eventually serve as a wheel. In that regard, mobile technologies, specifically “Smart-phones” are the latest developments in a long line of predecessors some illustrious and some infamous, however, there is a qualitative as well as quantitative difference in where, how and why “Smart-phones” make a difference in people’s professional and personal lives. We have tried in this research to empirically document the ways and means that mobile technologies and “Smart-phones” impact an executive’s productivity and efficiency at work by conducting a series of opened ended interviews with Chief Executive Officers from businesses across a wide swath of business sectors. Our findings further corroborate the presence, role and impact of what we call “happy accidents” (Carayannis, Industry & Higher Education 22(6): 1–11, 2008) in terms of strategic knowledge serendipity and arbitrage (SKARSE™; ibid) as factors shaping and even driving choices made by business leaders and managers with strategic intent and implications.
TL;DR: In this article, the fair strike of a discrete variance swap for a general time-homogeneous stochastic volatility model was studied and conditions on the parameters under which the fair value of such a swap is higher or lower than that of a continuous variance swap.
Abstract: We study the fair strike of a discrete variance swap for a general time-homogeneous stochastic volatility model. In the special cases of Heston, Hull-White and Schoebel-Zhu stochastic volatility models we give simple explicit expressions (improving Broadie and Jain (2008a) in the case of the Heston model). We give conditions on parameters under which the fair strike of a discrete variance swap is higher or lower than that of the continuous variance swap. The interest rate and the correlation between the underlying price and its volatility are key elements in this analysis. We derive asymptotics for the discrete variance swaps and compare our results with those of Broadie and Jain (2008a), Jarrow et al. (2013) and Keller-Ressel and Griessler (2012).
TL;DR: Workplace reification can be observed in diverse areas of human resource management, reflecting a “human capital” view of employees, and recognition is a fundamental building block of workplace dignity, and a key element of cultural respect in the workplace as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop the idea of recognition in organizations, arguing that recognition is a fundamental building block of workplace dignity, and a key element of cultural respect in the workplace.Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual paper, the current work approaches discussions of human resource management through the lens of recognition theory, applying ideas of recognition and reification to workplace issues.Findings – Workplace reification can be observed in diverse areas of human resource management, reflecting a “human capital” view of employees. The paper traces this view in terms of measurement and incentives, as well as individual and group diversity within the workplace.Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature on care in human resources by briding ideas from management and critical social theory, contributing to the former by couching workplace dignity in terms of social theoretic foundations of recognition, and contributing to the latter by ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the various kinds of carbon norms that have emerged and ask why firms would adopt a carbon norm and thus assume an additional constraint on a voluntary basis, and point out that carbon norms can fulfill a dual function: they help to position a firm strategically by creating a specific favorable image, and they deal with constraining factors as a consequence of a firm's carbon dependency and stakeholder influence.
Abstract: In recent years, many firms have decided to adhere to a specific carbon norm, such as carbon neutrality or carbon labels, to show their commitment to climate change mitigation. Nevertheless, it is still unclear what it means when a firm sets a specific carbon norm. This article reviews the various kinds of carbon norms that have emerged and asks why firms would adopt a carbon norm and thus assume an additional constraint on a voluntary basis. We point out that carbon norms can fulfill a dual function: They help to position a firm strategically by creating a specific favorable image, and they deal with constraining factors as a consequence of a firm's carbon dependency and stakeholder influence. As there is still also some mistrust of corporate carbon norms, we conclude the article with lessons for managers that intend to implement carbon norms.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between firms' manufacturing and innovation activities has been explored in three case studies representing the food, mineral and steel industries, and the importance of the area of process innovation stands out in all these firms, and among the individual variables ‘product flexibility' ranked highest in all of them.
Abstract: In the perspective of value creation and capture, firms in the future must not only be excellent in developing commodities or innovative functional products; they must also be able to manufacture them in a competitive cost structure within the framework of a proper business model. Deploying a conceptual model of the material transformation system in the process industries, the relationship between firms' manufacturing and innovation activities has been explored in three case studies representing the food, mineral and steel industries. Using the methodology of Quality Function Deployment, each firm's position on the model structure has been condensed into a matrix relating the manufacturing system's characterizing variables to the firm's raw material innovation, innovation of process technology and product innovation. The importance of the area of process innovation stands out in all these firms, and among the individual variables ‘product flexibility’ ranked highest in all of them. It is recommended that in the development of corporate innovation strategies, the product–market perspective ought to be supplemented by a process–manufacturing perspective. Combining the information from both perspectives and striking a proper balance ought to be beneficial in overbridging the manufacturing–R&D interface.
TL;DR: The results of a pilot study in which the new instrument was developed and tested to measure the formation of entrepreneurial intentions in multi-country context are presented and the implications of the empirical observations of their pilot study are discussed.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present the results of a pilot study in which the new instrument was developed and tested to measure the formation of entrepreneurial intentions in multi-country context. The developed instrument was largely based on the Theory of Planned Behavior Ajzen 1991. In the pilot study, the authors were also paying attention to two issues, namely i whether the level of entrepreneurial intentions varies as a function of country of origin, ii whether the relative importance of the three antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions varies as a function of country of origin, and iii whether the background variables exercise similar effects on the formation of entrepreneurial intentions in different countries. The empirical context of the pilot study is made of two higher education institutions one in Finland, one in Spain and concerns their first-year students at undergraduate programs. In the end of this paper, the authors will discuss the implications of the empirical observations of their pilot study.