IE University

About: IE University is a education organization based out in Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Corporate governance & Context (language use). The organization has 527 authors who have published 1709 publications receiving 64682 citations.

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Value Creation

Abstract: This paper examines the conditions under which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is related to value creation in the multinational enterprise (MNE). Following prior work by Burke and Logsdon (1996), we examine the relationship of centrality, appropriability, proactivity, visibility, and voluntarism to value creation. The results of a survey of 111 MNEs in Mexico suggest that centrality, visibility, and voluntarism are related to value creation.

The Achilles Heel of Firm Strategy: Resource Weaknesses and Distinctive Inadequacies

Abstract: Two separately developed views within the strategic management literature elucidate the source of a firm's competitive advantage based on the internal attributes of the firm: the resource-based view (Wernerfelt, 1984) and the distinctive competence view (Selznick, 1957). As developed in the literature, however, both views neglect important dimensions which inhibit the achievement of competitive advantage. These dimensions are resource weaknesses and distinctive inadequacies. Accounting for weaknesses and inadequacies exposes important choice-sets confronting management in making resource investments, and of time-related dimensions in developing sustainable advantage. Considering the effects of weaknesses and inadequacies provides insight on the limits to firm growth and to sustainability of competitive advantage. Theory on developing competitive advantage may lack explanatory and predictive power if it excludes these perspectives, which if included may also improve prescription for practitioners.

Product Market Competition, Information and Earnings Management

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.

Enacting Competitive Wars: Competitive Activity, Language Games, and Market Consequences

Abstract: Research in industrial/organization economics and strategic management defines “competitive wars” as periods of intensified competitive activity, which tend to have negative performance consequences for the warring firms. Drawing on Wittgenstein's concept of “language games,” we develop a model of competitive wars as a sociolinguistic process enacted through strategic actions, linguistic practices, and shifts in resource allocations. The model suggests that the war language game increases stakeholder involvement and enables the warring firms, oftentimes, to improve performance.