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.

Platform competition: Strategic trade-offs in platform markets

Abstract: Because the literature on platform competition emphasizes the role of network effects, it prescribes rapidly expanding a network of platform users and complementary applications to capture entire markets. We challenge the unconditional logic of a winner-take-all (WTA) approach by empirically analyzing the dominant strategies used to build and position platform systems in the U.S. video game industry. We show that when platform firms pursue two popular WTA strategies concurrently and with equal intensity (growing the number and variety of applications while also securing a larger fraction of those applications with exclusivity agreements), it diminishes the benefits of each strategy to the point that it lowers platform performance. We also show that a differentiation strategy based on distinctive positioning improves a platform's performance only when a platform system is highly distinctive relative to its rivals. Our results suggest that platform competition is shaped by important strategic trade-offs and that the WTA approach will not be universally successful.

Predicting SMEs' adoption of enterprise systems

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model that can be used to predict which small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are more likely to become adopters of enterprise systems (ERP, CRM, SCM and e‐procurement).Design/methodology/approach – Direct interviews were used to collect data from a random sample of SMEs located in the Northwest of England. Using logistic regression, 102 responses were analysed.Findings – The results reveal that the factors influencing SMEs' adoption of enterprise systems are different from the factors influencing SMEs' adoption of other previously studied information systems (IS) innovations. SMEs were found to be more influenced by technological and organisational factors than environmental factors. Moreover, the results indicate that firms with a greater perceived relative advantage, a greater ability to experiment with these systems before adoption, greater top management support, greater organisational readiness and a larger size are predicted to become adopters ...

What really is alliance management capability and how does it impact alliance outcomes and success

Abstract: Strategy scholars have asserted that a firm's alliance capability provides competitive advantage. As interest in alliance capability has grown, we see two streams of research emerge that address different, but equally important, issues related to this subject: one stream that focuses on how alliance capability develops in firms, and a second stream that investigates what elements specifically constitute a firm's alliance capability. In recent literature, the question of how firms develop alliance capability has received greater attention than the question of what elements actually comprise it; therefore, in this study we address the latter issue in great depth. We do this by building on prior research and on our fieldwork, to conceptualize alliance management capability as a multidimensional construct that comprises three distinct but related aspects or skills to address the following aspects in managing a given individual alliance after it is up and running: coordination, communication, and bonding. We then test our conceptualization in a framework that also links this capability to relevant outcomes at the alliance and firm level. We use survey and secondary data from a large sample of interfirm relationships between software service providers and three major global software vendors. We find general empirical support for our conceptualization of alliance management capability and for its predictive validity in impacting certain alliance outcomes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact of supply chain structure on the use of supplier socially responsible practices

Abstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to explore the integration of social issues in the management of supply chains from an operations management perspective. Further, this research aims to develop a set of scales to measure multiple dimensions of supplier socially responsible practices. Finally, the paper examines the importance of three dimensions of supply chain structure, namely transparency, dependency and distance, for the adoption of these socially responsible practices.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on literature from several theoretical streams, current best‐practice in leading firms and emerging international standards, four dimensions of supplier socially responsible practices were identified. Also, a multi‐dimensional conceptualization of supply chain structure, including transparency, dependency and distance, was synthesized from earlier research. Using this conceptual development, a large‐scale survey of plant managers in three industries in Canada provided an empirical basis for validating the...

Perceptions of Benevolence and the Design of Agency Contracts: CEO-TMT Relationships in Family Firms

Abstract: In this study, we view the contracts of top managers from an integrated agency theory-trust perspective, arguing that two conditions reflecting CEO risk bearing, top management team (TMT) behavioral uncertainty and CEO vulnerability, are negatively related to a CEO's perceptions of TMT benevolence toward him-/herself, which in turn influence the protective features of TMT contracts. Model tests on data from 122 family-owned firms in Spain support our hypotheses overall. Agency theory may be enhanced by accounting for a CEO's perceptions (as principal) of TMT benevolence and for the effect of those perceptions on contracts with TMT members (as agents).