HEC Paris

About: HEC Paris is a education organization based out in Jouy-en-Josas, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Market liquidity & Entrepreneurship. The organization has 584 authors who have published 2756 publications receiving 104467 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales & HEC School of Management Paris.

Jules or Jim: Alternative Conformity to Minority Logics

Abstract: To what extent do organizations respond favorably to minority participation—that is, conform to demands from minority resource suppliers that hold an unconventional logic? A favorable response to m...

Balancing specialized and generic capabilities in the provision of integrated solutions

Abstract: Integrated bundles of products and services are gaining importance in various sectors and are reshaping the competitive landscape of many industries. They also pose new challenges to established firms, who need to reconfigure their capabilities. Drawing upon the resource-based view and contingency theory, we test a model of fit between environmental requirements and integrated solutions capabilities in the IT sector. We used the model to interpret the current industry structure and analyze its dynamics. The analysis suggests the existence of four different configurations and indicates that differences in fit between environmental variables and strategic choices partially account for performance differences among integrated solution providers. The results also suggest that, although the provision of bundled products and services confers some a priori advantages to IS providers over generic IT firms, these advantages are greater for firms that are able to align their capabilities to the characteristics of their operational environment.

The embedded sales force: Connecting buying and selling organizations

Abstract: Business-to-business firms are increasingly focusing on building long-term partnering relationships with key customers. Salespeople are often responsible for managing these relationships. To be effective as relationship managers, salespeople need to be embedded in both their firm’s and customers’ organizations. They need to have extensive knowledge of their customers’ business and also know and be able to leverage their firm’s resources to develop offerings tailored to their customers’ needs. Their companies and sales managers need to use different approaches to manage and support salespeople in this new role. In this paper, we examine some issues affecting the interfaces between elements of the embedded sales force and suggest some directions for future research and methods for examining these issues.

I used to work at Goldman Sachs! How firms benefit from organizational status in the market for human capital

Abstract: How does employer status benefit firms in the market for general human capital? On the one hand, high status employers are better able to attract workers, who value the signal of ability that employment at those firms provides. On the other hand, that same signal can help workers bid up wages and capture the value of employers' status. Exploring this tension, we argue that high status firms are able to hire higher ability workers than other firms, and do not need to pay them the full value of their ability early in the career, but must raise wages more rapidly than other firms as those workers accrue experience. We test our arguments using unique survey data on careers in investment banking.

The WACC Fallacy: The Real Effects of Using a Unique Discount Rate

Abstract: In this paper, we test whether firms properly adjust for risk in their capital budgeting decisions. If managers use a single discount rate within firms, we expect that conglomerates underinvest (overinvest) in relatively safe (risky) divisions. We measure division relative risk as the difference between the division's asset beta and a firm-wide beta. We establish a robust and significant positive relationship between division-level investment and division relative risk. Next, we measure the value loss due to this behavior in the context of acquisitions. When the bidder's beta is lower than that of the target, announcement returns are significantly lower.