Showing papers by "IE University published in 2008"

Trustworthiness, Risk, and the Transfer of Tacit and Explicit Knowledge Between Alliance Partners

Abstract: The transfer of knowledge in alliances entails risk to partners, whose willingness to accept it presumably relies on the trustworthiness that they perceive in their partners. We investigate the extent to which the perceptions of trustworthiness and the willingness to take risk determine the transfer of knowledge between alliance partners and their ultimate impact on alliance success. The results show that the transfer of tacit versus explicit knowledge have very different trust and risk profiles. Whereas explicit knowledge is closely associated with the firm's willingness to take risk, tacit knowledge is intimately related to high trustworthiness. The results support the important role of trust and the transfer of tacit knowledge on the success of learning alliances.

Earnings Management in Family Firms: Evidence From R&D Cost Capitalization in Italy:

Abstract: Recent accounting-related scandals have underscored the prevalence of earnings management in financial markets. This article provides empirical evidence on the motivations for earnings management in publicly listed family companies, highlighting the differences from public nonfamily firms. Basing our predictions on an analysis of the salient characteristics of family firms in both an agency and a stewardship framework, we hypothesize that family firms are less sensitive to income-smoothing motivations than are nonfamily firms, while they are similarly motivated to manage earnings for debt-covenant and leverage-related reasons. We test our hypotheses by looking at a specific accrual, R&D cost capitalization, where statistical tests confirm our hypothesized relationships.

Toward a Model of Cross-Cultural Business Ethics: The Impact of Individualism and Collectivism on the Ethical Decision-Making Process.

Abstract: In this paper, we explore the impact of individualism and collectivism on three basic aspects of ethical decision making – the perception of moral problems, moral reasoning, and behavior. We argue that the inclusion of business practices within the moral domain by the individual depends partly upon individualism and collectivism. We also propose a pluralistic approach to post-conventional moral judgment that includes developmental paths appropriate for individualist and collectivist cultures. Finally, we argue that the link between moral judgment and behavior is related to individualism and collectivism.

Feasibility of recycling pulp and paper mill sludge in the paper and board industries

Abstract: Pulp and paper mills typically generate significant quantities of non-hazardous solid waste which require management as a waste material or as a by-product. Most of these solids are removed after primary mechanical treatment, resulting in a sludge that contains large quantities of fibers, papermaking fillers, or both. Although this primary sludge is commonly landfilled, it could be recycled into production on-site, reused in other pulp and paper mills, or used in other products. In an effort to explore these possibilities, the fiber content, fiber quality, and key physical and chemical properties (humidity, ash content, abrasiveness, drainability, and O2 uptake) of 20 different primary sludges sampled in European mills are reviewed in this paper. Although sludge characteristics are highly variable across pulp and paper mill processes, sludges can be considered to fall into two main types: high-ash sludge (>30% dry weight) and low-ash sludge (<30% dry weight). Results of paper tests (caliper, breaking length, tear index, elongation, bursting strength, stiffness, opacity, whiteness, and porosity) and board tests (ring crush test, Concora medium test, corrugated crush test) suggest that at least 12 of the sludges studied could be reused in the paper and board industry. The results make it possible to differentiate three primary sludge grades: the first needs little cleaning and has appropriate strength properties to be a component of printing and writing papers, tissues, and wrapping papers; the second requires cleaning, bleaching, or both and has appropriate strength properties for applications that do not require high brightness, such as corrugated board, boxboard, and some tissue grades; the third requires cleaning and has limited strength properties, but could be used in some mills that operate using closed water cycles because the final product can tolerate a certain degree of dirt and contamination, as in some packaging and construction-paper grades. Primary sludges share several features in common with recycled paper, and therefore these two materials could be managed together.

Application support to product variety management

Abstract: Offering a large variety of products at competitive prices and reasonable delivery times is a complex managerial challenge that many companies have to address. Software vendors responded to this challenge by developing and proposing various solutions, such as product configuration (PC) systems, product data management (PDM) systems and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The relative newness, complexity and mutual interdependencies among these systems make it difficult to understand how they—individually and as a whole—actually support a firm in managing its product variety. Precisely these complexities, ultimately, add to the risks of software selection, leading companies to make inconsistent choices or to implement the wrong systems. Starting from this theoretical and practical concern, the present paper provides a conceptualization of the essential functions of PC, PDM and CRM systems, discussing how these functions help a company to manage its product variety and how they relate to each ot...

The Relationship Between University Support to Entrepreneurship with Entrepreneurial Activity in Spain: A Gem Data Based Analysis

Abstract: The main purpose of this research is to analyse the statistical relationship between entrepreneurship university support and the level of entrepreneurial activity in Spain. Concerning the methodology, data has been provided by the National Spanish GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor). Different statistical methods have been used in this research (descriptive statistics, anova, correlation, linear regression and non linear regression and logit). The main findings of the study demonstrate that there is not a significant statistical relation between entrepreneurship universities support and the entrepreneurial level of activity in Spain. Moreover, it has been found that entrepreneurial intention is statistically related with universities support, showing the improvement of the influence of high education in Spanish entrepreneurship.

From Mass Production to Mass Customization: Hindrance Factors, Structural Inertia, and Transition Hazard

Abstract: Research on mass customization has largely overlooked the issue of organizational change associated with the mass production-to-mass customization transition. To address this gap in the literature, we conduct a longitudinal case study of a manufacturing facility belonging to a division of a Fortune 1000 discrete manufacturing firm as it seeks to transition from mass production to mass customization. We empirically identify five factors hindering the mass production-to-mass customization transition within the research site and articulate five corresponding generalizations explaining how and why these hindrance factors relate to the mass production-to-mass customization transition hazard beyond the research site (i.e., how and why the five hindrance factors, in general, threaten the likelihood of a successful mass production-to-mass customization transition). We then theoretically validate the five hindrance factors and corresponding generalizations by mapping them onto the antecedents and tenets of structural inertia theory. We conclude with a brief discussion of the scientific and pragmatic significance of the findings and highlight opportunities for future research.

Cross-listing and liquidity in emerging market stocks.

Abstract: In this study, we analyze liquidity costs for stocks and ADRs from the four main Latin American markets. The results indicate that international investors are exposed to different trading costs in Latin America, with market location and firm size as important determinants. In the local market, stocks that cross-list internationally do not always present a liquidity cost advantage relative to non-cross-listed stocks. When the ADR and the local stock markets are compared, large firms present lower trading costs in the home market. The opposite occurs for small firms.

Determinants of the Incidence and Scale of Seed Capital Investments by Venture Capital Firms

Abstract: Employing both behavioral decision making and agency theories, our study seeks to identify those factors that influence a venture capital (VC) firm’s decision to undertake seed capital investments and, subsequently, the scale of such activity. Using data on the investments made by 2949 VC funds raised worldwide between 1962 and 2002, we find investor age, timing of investment, and fund location to be of importance. In addition, the size of the fund and the existing number of portfolio firms exert opposite influences on the level of seed capital activity of the VC firm. These results suggest that seed activity is a valuable source of market intelligence for leading VC firms seeking proactively to identify and invest in novel technologies.

Contractual Corporate Governance

Abstract: Companies have the choice to deviate from their national corporate governance standards by opting into another system. They can do so via contractual devices - such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, (re)incorporations, and cross-listings - which enable firms to choose their preferred level of investor protection and regulation. This paper reviews these three main contractual governance devices, their effect on value, and whether their adoption by firms induces a race to the bottom or a race to the top. Indeed, firms may opt for less shareholder-orientation or investor protection shareholder-expropriation hypothesis) rather than for more stringent rules that require firms to focus on shareholder value (bonding hypothesis).

Transformational leadership among Spanish upper echelons

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between managers' beliefs and goal orientation and the self‐perception of transformational and transactional leadership styles and how this relationship is moderated by the level of formal education.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 76 top executive officers reported their managerial values and beliefs by completing measures of McGregor's Theory XY philosophy of management and Dweck's learning and performance goal orientations. They also reported their use of transactional versus transformational leadership styles with their direct reports and their degree of formal education.Findings – Regression analyses revealed that ratings of transformational leadership are associated with theory Y philosophy of management and a learning goal orientation; whereas ratings of transactional leadership were found to be associated with performance goal orientation. In addition, executives with higher levels of education reported greater behavioral integrit...

Strategic Use of CSR as a Signal for Good Management

Abstract: More than thirty years of research exploring the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) could not provide a satisfying resolution to the tension exists between economic and social objectives. In this paper, we have contributed to the existing CSR literature both theoretically and empirically. On the theoretical side, we challenged the assumption that managers consider all stakeholders equally important and we contend that managers prioritize stakeholders instead. We also extend agency theory by suggesting that CSR may actually reduce monitoring costs since it has informative value about the quality of management. On the empirical side, we proposed a stakeholder-weighted CSR which will alleviate the "stakeholder misalignment" problem which is articulated to be one of the reasons why there are inconclusive results about the relationship between CSR and CFP.

Introduction to Special Topic Forum Influencing Politics and Political Systems: Political Systems and Corporate Strategies

Abstract: This special topic forum is intended to encourage scholarship on private firms' influence on politics and political systems from a variety of management disciplinary and intellectual perspectives. The papers in this STF develop counterintuitive theory about the circumstances of those private firms developing different corporate strategies to influence government policy. They suggest that management scholars are only beginning to address this important topic and propose several additional promising research directions.

Intraphylum Diversity and Complex Evolution of Cyanobacterial Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases

Abstract: A comparative genomic analysis of 35 cyanobacterial strains has revealed that the gene complement of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARSs) and routes for aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis may differ among the species of this phylum. Several genes encoding AARS paralogues were identified in some genomes. In-depth phylogenetic analysis was done for each of these proteins to gain insight into their evolutionary history. GluRS, HisRS, ArgRS, ThrRS, CysRS, and Glu-Q-RS showed evidence of a complex evolutionary course as indicated by a number of inconsistencies with our reference tree for cyanobacterial phylogeny. In addition to sequence data, support for evolutionary hypotheses involving horizontal gene transfer or gene duplication events was obtained from other observations including biased sequence conservation, the presence of indels (insertions or deletions), or vestigial traces of ancestral redundant genes. We present evidences for a novel protein domain with two putative transmembrane helices recruited independently by distinct AARS in particular cyanobacteria.

Importance of the premigratory areas for the conservation of lesser kestrel: space use and habitat selection during the post‐fledging period

Abstract: The conservation importance of the post-fledging period in migratory birds has been scarcely assessed. In this study, we examined the space use and habitat selection of radio-tagged lesser kestrels Falco naumanni at two spatial scales during summer in north-western Spain, where premigratory aggregations of around 1000 lesser kestrels occur. Space use was estimated by kernel accounting for the spatiotemporal autocorrelation of the radio locations, and habitat selection was analysed by weighted compositional analysis accounting for the intensity of use. Kestrels moved within 9 km around roosts during daylight and returned daily during sunset to the same roosts, exhibiting refuging behaviour. They foraged on average 3.7 km from the roost in an area of 346.8 ha (home range), 92.7 ha of which were used intensively (core area). Within these areas, lesser kestrels intensively used more farmland than any land-scale habitat. Within farmland, kestrels significantly avoided the irrigated crops. This avoidance seemed to be due to the difficulty of prey access and/or scarcity of prey available. Conservation plans of lesser kestrel should include the post-fledging period by legally protecting roost sites and maintaining dry farmland systems around the communal roosts.

Cybersecurity, Capital Allocations and Management Control Systems

Abstract: The design and use of management control systems can play a key role in dealing with cybersecurity issues that have arisen in tandem with the emergence of the Internet. Efficient management control systems will reduce a firm's likelihood of suffering significant losses from cybersecurity breaches. Drawing on and extending the extant agency-based capital budgeting literature, this paper demonstrates the relevance of the study of management accounting controls to problems arising in the cybersecurity setting. The main finding is that firms can use an information security audit (which is an integral part of a management control system) along with adjustments to the compensation payments to the agent and the investment decision rules, to mitigate a Chief Information Security Officer's inherent empire building preferences. The paper also identifies additional research areas where management accountants with expertise in management control systems can contribute to the academic literature and practice surroundi...

Can institutional forces create competitive advantage? an empirical examination of environmental innovation.

Abstract: The article discusses research on the factors contributing to environmental innovation that uses a hybrid framework based on institutional theory and the resource-based theory of the firm. The stud...

Immunolocalization of a Cell Wall ß-Galactosidase Reveals its Developmentally Regulated Expression in Cicer arietinum and its Relationship to Vascular Tissue

Abstract: We report the generation of antibodies against a s-galactosidase from Cicer arietinum, sIV-Gal, and the subsequent immunolocalization of the protein in different parts and developmental stages of the plant. The sIV-Gal protein is encoded by the CanBGal-4 gene, which belongs to a family of at least four s-galactosidase genes, transcripts of which were previously reported to be mainly present in seedling epicotyls and plant stem, its transcription pattern being inversely related to elongation rate of these organs. sIV-Gal protein was detected in the cell walls of seedling epicotyls and plant stems. The immunodetection of sIV-Gal protein in the cell wall protein extracts from aged epicotyls and basal stem internodes, both undergoing low rates of elongation, is in agreement with the trend of the CanBGal-4 transcript and indicates a relationship of this cell wall protein with the end of cell elongation. The specific main location of the sIV-Gal protein in vascular tissue of epicotyls and stems and in a layer of sclerenchymatic cells surrounding the vascular cylinder (perivascular fibers) allows us to postulate a function for this s-galactosidase in the modification of cell wall polymers during the development of cells of the vascular system. The localization of the sIV-Gal protein also in the cell walls of collenchyma cells in internodes is consistent with the involvement of sIV-Gal in cell wall modifications that lead to thick cell walls, such as in vascular cells.

Indicators of entrepreneurship activity: some methodological contributions

Abstract: Using a model-based approach, this paper reexamines the measurement of entrepreneurial activity at the national level. Our contribution centres on two main aspects. First, our study allows for the measurement of the likelihood of entrepreneurial behaviour, or entrepreneurial propensity. Second, utilising the social network theory, we introduce the social entrepreneurial environment as a key indicator of the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity. Using the data provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project, we provide an alternative measure of entrepreneurial activity, which includes entrepreneurial social environment, assumes the existence of a continuum in entrepreneurial behaviour and provides a measure of entrepreneurial propensity. Results indicate that our model provides support for the combined use of entrepreneurial propensity and the entrepreneur's social context.

Open Innovation: A 'Swingers' Club' or 'Going Steady'?

Abstract: The term Open Innovation has become popular in recent years to describe an approach to innovation that decidedly goes beyond the boundaries of a single organization by encouraging firms to pull together knowledge and creativity from a wide variety of parties. As such, Open Innovation evokes an image of firms working with a multitude of partners, always searching for new linkages that could enhance their innovative potential, or for the highest bidders for knowledge that they may wish to sell - in short, this is a "swingers club" of firms engaged in innovation. Yet, drawing on resourced based view, absorptive capacity, and other concepts, we propose that firms, even when practicing Open Innovation, will not be all that open - rather, they will "go steady" with a more limited number of partners. To explore the microstructure of "openness" we develop a number of hypotheses for which we find general support in proprietary survey data from Spain.

Human capital, age and job stability: evidence from Spanish certified auditors (1976-1988)

Abstract: During the period 1976–1988, Spain witnessed pervasive transformations that led the country from a military dictatorship to a fully‐fledged democracy. In turn, the audit profession experienced high demand which doubled the number of members of the Institute of Sworn Auditors of Spain (Instituto de Censores Jurados de Cuentas de Espana). In this unique social laboratory, we draw on the insights of human capital theory and the entrepreneurship literature to examine the profile of newly certified auditors at the time of receiving the audit certificate that enabled them to (i) become a licensed auditor and engage in public practice, or (ii) become an unlicensed auditor and leave the profession immediately after receiving the professional qualification. Our results indicate that those Spanish auditors who had high general or specific human capital and job stability and were at the younger or older ends of the age continuum were less likely to apply for audit licences than their counterparts (i.e. low ...

Gender, family situation and the exit event: reassessing the opportunity-costs of business ownership

Abstract: Previous research into entrepreneurial exit has examined exit from a firm perspective focusing upon performance as the primary determinant of exit; however, new research is emerging which suggests that other variables (e.g. entrepreneurial human capital) may impact the exit decision over and above that accounted for by firm performance. Our research adopts a gender and family embeddedness perspective to examine the impact that gender and family situation (marital status, number of children, running a family business) have on voluntary exit decisions over and above that attributed to firm performance.