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Showing papers by "IE University published in 2014"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe three distinct methodological accounts of case study: theory generation, theory testing, and theory elaboration, and argue that each approach has its own idiosyncrasies, in particular when it comes to the interplay between theory and empirics.

945 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the role of context in the advancement of entrepreneurship research is discussed and the challenges in undertaking contextualized entrepreneurship research are considered, focusing on temporal, industry, spatial, social and organizational, ownership and governance.
Abstract: This article analyzes the role of context in the advancement of entrepreneurship research. It defines contextualization and discusses why and how it is important in entrepreneurship research analysing the evidence relating to different dimensions of entrepreneurial context, focusing on temporal, industry, spatial, social and organizational, ownership and governance. The nature of entrepreneurship research, with and without contextualization, is explored and finally, the article considers the challenges in undertaking contextualized entrepreneurship research.

493 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article conducted an empirical study as to whether family firms are more socially responsible than their non-family counterparts and explored the conditions in which this difference in social behavior occurs, concluding that family firms, given their socioemotional wealth bias, have a positive effect on social dimensions linked to external stakeholders, yet have a negative impact on internal social dimensions.
Abstract: This paper conducts an empirical study as to whether family firms are more socially responsible than their nonfamily counterparts and explores the conditions in which this difference in social behavior occurs. We argue that family firms, given their socioemotional wealth bias, have a positive effect on social dimensions linked to external stakeholders, yet have a negative impact on internal social dimensions. Thus, family firms can be socially responsible and irresponsible at the same time. We also suggest that institutional and organizational conditions act as catalysts in the relationship between firm type and corporate social responsibility (CSR). General support for our thesis that family firms neglect internal social dimensions came from the study of a sample of 598 listed European firms over a period of 4 years. Moreover, while national standards and industry conditions influence the degree of CSR in nonfamily firms, these factors do not affect family firms. However, family firms' social activities are more sensitive to declining organizational performance.

340 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that when making decisions about informality, entrepreneurs in emerging economies purposefully navigate between the enabling and constraining rules of the macro institutional environment and the norms of the meso institutional environment.
Abstract: Our qualitative research shows that when making decisions about informality, entrepreneurs in emerging economies purposefully navigate between the enabling and constraining rules of the macro institutional environment and the norms of the meso institutional environment We show that: (1) informality is a multidimensional continuum along which path to formalization unfolds; (2) as entrepreneurs grow more successful they become simultaneously more attuned to the countervailing constraints of both the macro and meso institutional environments; and (3) informal firms and formal firms weave together an exchange system that legitimizes the persistence of informality In the context of informality, meso institutions serve as the connective tissue which cross-link levels of the environment and shape the context in which entrepreneurs make decisions Copyright © 2014 Strategic Management Society

187 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the mediating effect of absorptive capacity (AC) related to innovation and efficiency performance in the context of buyer-supplier relationships and concluded that AC is necessary to achieve sustainable performance improvement.
Abstract: Companies increasingly depend upon the knowledge of supply chain partners to deliver superior value to customers with ever shifting preferences. This transference requires absorptive capacity (AC), which allows an organization to identify external knowledge and convert it into value for the firm. Based on an approach of dynamic capabilities, AC encompasses three related learning processes: exploration, assimilation, and exploitation. Within the particular context of buyer�supplier relationships (BSR), the aim of this research is to examine AC, one of its most relevant antecedents � organizational compatibility � and its outcomes. Two samples of 153 and 199 companies, operating as key suppliers of two focal buyers, a European multinational retail chain and an American multinational spare parts distributor, respectively, constitute the empirical base of the study. Results derived from structural equation modeling and, more precisely, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and a formal test of mediation, strongly indicate for both samples that AC mediates between organizational compatibility on the one hand and innovation and efficiency performance on the other hand. Results also indicate that the mediating effect of AC related to innovation increases with demand uncertainty. This paper thus suggests that managers must be aware that the selection of supply chain partners based on their compatibility alone is not enough. AC is necessary to achieve sustainable performance improvement.

135 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Tara S. Wernsing1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined measurement invariance of the 12-item psychological capital survey across 12 national cultures (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States), representing a cross-section of all major world cultures corresponding to the GLOBE research project.
Abstract: This study examined measurement invariance of the 12-item psychological capital survey across 12 national cultures (Brazil, China, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States), representing a cross-section of all major world cultures corresponding to the GLOBE research project. Analysis of data from 56,363 employees confirms the configural second-order hierarchical factor structure for psychological capital in all national cultures. However, more stringent levels of metric equivalence were supported only with a simplified three-factor structure proposed in this research as a cross-cultural nine-item instrument. Implications for comparing means for psychological capital across national cultures are discussed.

127 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed an integrated framework to financial reporting decisions in family-controlling firms, which suggests the criticality of recognizing the existence of different family owners' reference points, given the gambling nature of accounting choices.
Abstract: We develop an integrated framework to financial reporting decisions in family-controlling firms. Our model contends that in these firms, financial reporting decisions (i.e. earnings management and voluntary disclosure) are driven by a diverse set of family owners’ motives that can be synthesised in the preservation of the different aspects of the family socioemotional wealth (SEW). The proposed model suggests the criticality of recognising the existence of different family owners’ reference points, given the gambling nature of accounting choices. By focusing on two dimensions of SEW (‘Family Control and Influence’ and ‘Family Identification’), we explore how the prioritisation of one dimension or the other will imply a different family owners' evaluation of benefits and costs of accounting strategies and, hence, a diverse resolution of the accounting gamble.

125 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of product market competition on the incentives to engage in earnings manipulation was studied, and it was shown that manipulating earnings is particularly rewarding in more competitive markets since the boost in market value of reporting good earnings is especially important.
Abstract: We study theoretically the effect of product market competition on the incentives to engage in earnings manipulation, and we show how manipulating earnings is particularly rewarding in more competitive markets since the boost in market value of reporting good earnings is especially important. Using a panel dataset of about 70,000 observations spanning the period 1989–2011, we document that the competitive environment is an important determinant of Jones type discretionary accruals and it also affects real earnings management. In additional analysis, we find that the effect of competition on earnings manipulation is particularly important for companies that seem to be underperforming their competitors and that the competition-earnings management linkage is moderated by the degree of information visibility at the industry level.

94 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These complementary approaches converge to a plastid origin occurring during the divergence of one of the major cyanobacterial lineages that include N2-fixing filamentous cyanobacteria and species able to differentiate heterocysts.
Abstract: Chloroplasts originate from endosymbiosis between a cyanobacterium and a eukaryotic mitochondriate ancestor. Here, the authors show that the plastid ancestor is related to a cyanobacterial lineage that include N2-fixing filamentous cyanobacteria and species with specialized nitrogen-fixing cells.

88 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Peter T. Bryant1
TL;DR: This paper developed a model of the microfoundations of imprinting based on collective memory and argued that entrepreneurial founding teams naturally develop transactive autobiographical memory systems, and partially managing the design and imprinting of these memory systems may improve their venture's long-term capacity to adapt.
Abstract: Entrepreneurial ventures need frequently to adapt. Yet their adaptive capacity is often limited by the legacies of imprinted founding characteristics. The question then arises whether it is possible to explain and manage the imprinting process so that the capacity to adapt is enhanced, rather than diminished. I address this question by developing a model of the microfoundations of imprinting based in collective memory. I argue that entrepreneurial founding teams naturally develop transactive autobiographical memory systems. By partially managing the design and imprinting of these memory systems, I argue that founders may improve their venture's long-term capacity to adapt.

79 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was using new media, not talking politics online, that predicted the frequency with which respondents encountered blocked websites online and also perceptions of their ownpolitical efficacy, which may support voices that are skeptical about technology’s ability to sustain revolution.
Abstract: The uprisings after the 2009 elections in Iran generated debate on new media’s potential to affect dissent in authoritarian countries. We surveyed 2800 young, educated, metropolitan, and technologically savvy Iranians over a year after the election and during the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa to examine what sources these youth use for information, the extent to which they rely on new media for political exchanges, their experiences with online censorship, and political efficacy as related to new media. Although the Internet was stated as the most important news outlet, state-controlled television was often used, and Twitter was the least prevalent new media platform. Personal issues and IT/science were more often discussed via new media than politics. Further, it was using new media, not talking politics online, that predicted the frequency with which respondents encountered blocked websites online and also perceptions of their ownpolitical efficacy. Although our findings may support voic...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Drawing on data from 214 employees working in 30 teams of a public technology and environmental services organization, it is found that team leaders' betweenness centrality in the idea network within their teams as well as among their peer leaders provides creative benefits beyond employees' own internal and external ties.
Abstract: Employee radical creativity critically depends on substantive informational resources from others across the wider organization. We propose that the social network ties of employees� immediate leaders assume a central role in garnering these resources, thereby fostering their employees� radical creativity both independent of and interactively with employees� own network ties. Drawing on data from 214 employees working in 30 teams of a public technology and environmental services organization, we find that team leaders� betweenness centrality in the idea network within their teams as well as among their peer leaders provides creative benefits beyond employees� own internal and external ties. Further, employees� and leaders� ties within and external to the team interactively predict employee radical creativity. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether or not supply chain disruption management (SCDM) can be universally applied through the convergent versus divergent (national specificity) debate, and found that while risk sources are different in the various countries, the implementation of SCDM practices is universal.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use institutional and transaction cost theories to propose that informality shifts migrant remittances toward venture funding in developing countries, where weak institutional capacity to observe and regulate the economy discourages foreign capital inflows vital to venture investment.
Abstract: In developing countries, weak institutional capacity to observe and regulate the economy discourages foreign capital inflows vital to venture investment. This informality effect may differ for migrant remittances, inflows less reliant on formal arrangements. We use institutional and transaction cost theories to propose that informality shifts migrant remittances toward venture funding. Analyses in 48 developing countries observed from 2001-2009 support our proposition. When the informal sector exceeds approximately 46% of GDP, remittances increase venture funding availability. Migrants and their remittances are vital to funding new businesses and entrepreneurially-led economic growth in developing countries where substantial informality deters other foreign investors.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the extent to which organizational survival may be an objective of earnings management, and they argue that the relationship between financial crises and earnings management is non-monotonic.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the potential role of co-occurrence text analysis using ALCESTE, a computerized text analysis program, is discussed, using an illustrative case study from the biometric industry, demonstrating that this method offers a number of advantageous features, including the provision of visual outputs which are useful for interpreting results, the ability to study longitudinally the effectiveness of impression management at the interorganizational level of analysis and the possibility of studying large textual data sets without using predefined dictionaries.
Abstract: This paper reviews the potential role of co-occurrence text analysis using ALCESTE, a computerized text analysis program. Using an illustrative case study from the biometric industry, we demonstrate that this method offers a number of advantageous features, including the provision of visual outputs which are useful for interpreting results, the ability to study longitudinally the effectiveness of impression management at the inter-organizational level of analysis and the possibility of studying large textual data sets without using predefined dictionaries. Meanwhile, key limitations of the method include its limited versatility, its tedious data-cleaning process and its ineffectiveness in identifying the centrality or tonality of the discourse. Our overall conclusion is that the introduction and more widespread use of this method in management is timely, particularly for scholars interested in studying narrative fidelity and frame amplification.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that firms have to balance dual goals of reducing variation and promoting variation in their product configuration activities by fostering two distinct firm-level capabilities: product configuration effectiveness (PCE) and product configuration intelligence (PCI).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a significant accounting innovation in central government accounting, the introduction of Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) in the UK, is examined through the lens of Rogers diffusion theory.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the ethical register in the process of theory formation is discussed, and the importance of this register is emphasized, as opposed to the positive/normative dichotomy of post-positivist thinking.
Abstract: Theory building is conditioned by three registers – the ontological (reality), the epistemological (knowledge) and the ethical (values). The significance of the first two is widely acknowledged. But the third register tends to be overlooked, especially where a positive/normative dichotomy is assumed. Post-positivist thinking problematizes this dichotomy but leaves the ethical register unthematized. The paper addresses this neglect and illustrates the role of the ethical register in processes of theory formation. Attentiveness to the ethical register is seen to invite radical reflection on a dominant, anthropocentric value-orientation, and thereby problematize the institutionalized estrangement of researchers from the ‘objects’ of their analysis and the abstraction of organizations from their embeddedness in the biosphere.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the factors that influence the CEO succession decision in family firms whose incumbent CEO is a member of the controlling family, and proposed a new measure of directors' independence.
Abstract: This paper studies the factors that influence the CEO succession decision in family firms whose incumbent CEO is a member of the controlling family. The sample includes all such firms from France, Germany and the UK. We propose a new measure of directors’ independence, which adjusts for various links with the controlling family. While we find that conventionally defined directors’ independence has no impact on the CEO succession decision, our corrected measure reduces the likelihood of the successor being another family member. There is also evidence that firms from France that are cross-listed in the UK or USA are less likely to appoint another family CEO.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the characteristics and the key determinants of the likelihood of completion of M&As in the European Union between 1997 and 2007 and find that the deal attitude and the presence of competing bids are more important for the completion of a deal than the deal origin, the payment method, or industry regulation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the role and impact of emotions in family business strategy is explored and synthesized in a special issue focusing on the role of emotion in decision-making in family businesses.

Journal ArticleDOI
José Esteves1
TL;DR: Results suggest that the categorised list of ERP training best practices can be used to better understand training activities in ERP implementation projects, and reveal that the company size and location have an impact on the relevance ofTraining best practices.
Abstract: Although training is one of the most cited critical success factors in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems implementations, few empirical studies have attempted to examine the characteristics of management of the training process within ERP implementation projects. Based on the data gathered from a sample of 158 respondents across four stakeholder groups involved in ERP implementation projects, and using a mixed method design, we have assembled a derived set of training best practices. Results suggest that the categorised list of ERP training best practices can be used to better understand training activities in ERP implementation projects. Furthermore, the results reveal that the company size and location have an impact on the relevance of training best practices. This empirical study also highlights the need to investigate the role of informal workplace trainers in ERP training activities.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors build on the literature on categorization to develop and test a model of input-level spillover effects, which predicts that when one firm suffers an accident with a particular input, investors will punish other users of that input by discounting their stocks, and that the magnitude of this negative spillover can be predicted by the nonresponsible firm's level of input usage.
Abstract: We build on the literature on categorization to develop and test a model of input-level spillover effects. Our model predicts that, when one firm suffers an accident with a particular input, investors will punish other users of that input by discounting their stocks, and that the magnitude of this negative spillover can be predicted by the nonresponsible firm’s level of input usage. We also hypothesize that the magnitude of the punishment will be moderated by intermediaries’ assessments of the input: Ex ante regulatory sanctions on the input will amplify negative spillovers, while the presence of input-level associations will weaken these effects. Finally, we predict that similarity between the responsible and nonresponsible firm in terms of two peripheral attributes— input portfolio and geographic location—will amplify the negative effect of input usage. We find strong support for our predictions in an event study that examines the stock market valuations of 270 nonresponsible manufacturing firms triggered by 78 industrial accidents involving a toxic chemical. We highlight our study’s theoretical and empirical contributions to the categorization and spillover literatures

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study seven potential drivers of house price dynamics in China using vector autoregressions identified with theory-consistent sign restrictions. And they show that, even if all shocks play relevant roles, productivity, savings glut, and policy stimulus have been the dominant drivers.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the water quality standards that are required for those most relevant industrial applications wherein the use of reclaimed water has noticeably been reported are reviewed, and the increasing proportion of municipal wastewater reclamation plants that rely on membrane filtration technologies versus the total number of reclamation facilities that are distributed worldwide is also assessed.
Abstract: The significant percentage of the world water consumption devoted to industrial use, along with an increasingly higher environmental concern of society, has awaken the interest of industry on using municipal reclaimed water for replacing fresh water use coming from utilities or natural resources. Depending on the type of industry and the specific application, water must meet certain quality requirements. Therefore, those water quality standards that are required for those most relevant industrial applications wherein the use of reclaimed water has noticeably been reported are herewith reviewed. Although the use of internal water treatments for recycling and reusing their own effluents has recently and widely been reported within many industrial sectors worldwide, the substitution of fresh water by reclaimed municipal wastewater has yet to be extended much. The increasing proportion of municipal wastewater reclamation plants that rely on membrane filtration technologies versus the total number of reclamation facilities that are distributed worldwide is also assessed within this review, including the discussion of their main related drawbacks.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The exploitation/exploration dichotomy faced by organizations in business strategy is applied to the decisions of individual executives as to whether to continue in their current organization and exploit career opportunities there or explore new ones through the avenue of job search.
Abstract: We apply the exploitation/exploration dichotomy faced by organizations in business strategy to the decisions of individual executives as to whether to continue in their current organization and exploit career opportunities there or explore new ones through the avenue of job search. Specifically, we observe whether executives pursue offers from an executive search firm to be considered for positions at other organizations. Insights from the multi-armed bandit problem help explain who searches and who does not, focusing on the structural attributes of each individual's situation. Individuals are more likely to search where their current roles are less certain and where broader career experience makes search more useful because the array of possible opportunities is greater. The results also shed light on the operations of executive search firms, who are central actors in executive careers.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend the size-innovation debate by incorporating decision-making style as a relevant factor in the innovation process, and show that the size of firms affects the scale and quality of product innovation through the adoption of different decision making styles.
Abstract: We extend the size–innovation debate by incorporating decision-making style as a relevant factor in the innovation process. We propose that the size of firms affects the scale and quality of product innovation through the adoption of different decision-making styles. Using the literature on cognition, we conceptualize decision-making style as the degree to which firms rely on analytical information for decision making during the R&D process. Using longitudinal data of Spanish firms, we show that, as firms increase in size, they rely more extensively on analytical decision tools for the innovation activity. Additionally, we show that the size of firms is negatively related to product innovation productivity in terms of scale and positively related to the quality, and that these relationships are mediated by firms’ reliance on analytical decision-making style. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications for innovation research and practice.