Showing papers in "Journal of Management Studies in 2008"

Corporate governance in emerging economies: A review of the principal-principal perspective: Review paper

Abstract: Instead of traditional principal–agent conflicts espoused in most research dealing with developed economies, principal–principal conflicts have been identified as a major concern of corporate governance in emerging economies. Principal–principal conflicts between controlling shareholders and minority shareholders result from concentrated ownership, extensive family ownership and control, business group structures, and weak legal protection of minority shareholders. Such principal–principal conflicts alter the dynamics of the corporate governance process and, in turn, require remedies different from those that deal with principal–agent conflicts. This article reviews and synthesizes recent research from strategy, finance, and economics on principal–principal conflicts with an emphasis on their institutional antecedents and organizational consequences. The resulting integration provides a foundation upon which future research can continue to build.

Inter- and Intra-organizational knowledge transfer: a meta analytic review and assessment of its antecedents and consequences

Abstract: Research on organizational knowledge transfer is burgeoning, and yet our understanding of its antecedents and consequences remains rather unclear. Although conceptual and qualitative reviews of the organizational knowledge transfer literature have emerged, no study has attempted to summarize previous quantitative empirical findings. As a first step towards that goal, we use meta-analytic techniques to examine how knowledge, organization and network level antecedents differentially impact organizational knowledge transfer. Additionally, we consolidate research on the relationship between knowledge transfer and its consequences. We also demonstrate how the intra- and inter-organizational context, the directionality of knowledge transfers, and measurement characteristics moderate the relationships studied. By aggregating and consolidating existing research, our study not only reveals new insights into the levers and outcomes of organizational knowledge transfer, but also provides meaningful directions for future research.

Inter-Organizational Knowledge Transfer: Current Themes and Future Prospects

Abstract: Many papers have been published recently in the fields of strategy and international business research incorporating the role of organizational knowledge as a basis of firm competitive advantage. While such knowledge is normally developed within the firm, it is important that firms possess the ability to learn from others in order to meet the increasing pace of competition. Knowledge transfer, defined here as an event through which one organization learns from the experience of another, has thus become an important research area within the broader domain of organizational learning and knowledge management. This paper presents a theoretical framework, identifies key themes covered by the six articles included in the Special Issue on Inter-Organizational Knowledge Transfer, and then discusses priorities for future research.

Defining and measuring servant leadership behaviour in organizations

Abstract: This paper examines the development and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of servant leadership behaviour (Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale). Both qualitative and quantitative studies are reported to establish preliminary psychometric properties for the new 35-item, six-dimension measure. The resultant servant leadership model is characterized by its service orientation, holistic outlook, and moral-spiritual emphasis, thereby extending current models of servant leadership and existing works on contemporary leadership approaches. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.

Senior Team Attributes and Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership

Abstract: Organizations capable of pursuing exploration and exploitation simultaneously have been suggested to obtain superior performance. Combining both types of activities and achieving organizational ambidexterity, however, leads to the presence of multiple and often conflicting goals, and poses considerable challenges to senior teams in ambidextrous organizations. This study explores the role of senior team attributes and leadership behaviour in reconciling conflicting interests among senior team members and achieving organizational ambidexterity. Findings indicate that a senior team shared vision and contingency rewards are associated with a firm's ability to combine high levels of exploratory and exploitative innovations. In addition, our study shows that an executive director's transformational leadership increases the effectiveness of senior team attributes in ambidextrous organizations and moderates the effectiveness of senior team social integration and contingency rewards. Hence, our study clarifies how senior executives reconcile conflicting demands and facilitate the balancing of seemingly contradictory forces in ambidextrous organizations. Implications for literatures on senior team attributes, transformational leadership and organizational ambidexterity are discussed.

Heterogeneity and Specificity of Inter‐Firm Knowledge Flows in Innovation Networks

Abstract: Literature on innovation networks reveals little of to what extent different types of knowledge are exchanged and combined by collaborating firms to foster innovation. Based on field research in the aerospace industrial cluster of Rome, this study investigates the exchange of technological, market and managerial knowledge. Using social network analysis, the paper shows that the three types of knowledge are unevenly distributed and exchanged, thus revealing that the process of exchange is knowledge-specific. Further, it is found that in most collaborative relationships, partners exchange technological knowledge together with market and managerial knowledge, emphasizing the complex nature of the innovation process which requires access to and recombination of diverse knowledge. This phenomenon concerns not only large companies, but also small-to-medium enterprises. The reconsideration of the relative salience of the three types of knowledge has remarkable managerial and theoretical implications, which are developed in terms of propositions offered for further research.

Research and Technology Commercialization

Abstract: This paper introduces the special themed section on organizational interactions involving universities and firms that result in the commercialization of research and technology. Our objective is to shed light on some of the most vexing, yet under-researched predicaments research institutions encounter, despite their best efforts to advance commercialization. First, we synthesize and extend recent studies, including the papers in the special themed section. Next, we develop a taxonomy of modes of commercialization. Specifically, we consider internal approaches, quasi-internal approaches (e.g. incubators), university research parks, regional clusters, academic spin-offs and start-ups, licensing, contract research and consultancy, corporate venture capital, and open science and innovation. We also identify areas for further research at the individual (e.g. heterogeneity of entrepreneurial teams and experience; incentives), organizational and intra-university (e.g. corporate governance; nature of growth strategies; relationships with trading partners; boundary spanning activities) and technology levels (e.g. institutional context; reconfiguration of technology; valuation of technology).

When Does University Research Get Commercialized? Creating Ambidexterity in Research Institutions

Abstract: We examine the tensions that make it difficult for a research-oriented university to achieve commercial outcomes. Building on the organizational ambidexterity literature, we specify the nature of the tensions (between academic and commercially-oriented activities) at both organizational and individual levels of analysis, and how these can be resolved. We develop hypotheses linking specific aspects of the organization and the individual researcher to the likelihood of their research projects generating commercial outcomes, and we test them using a novel dataset of 207 Research Council-funded projects, combining objective data on project outcomes with the perceptions of principal investigators. We show that the tension between academic and commercial demands is more salient at the level of the individual researcher than at the level of the organization. Universities show evidence that they are able to manage the tensions between academic and commercial demands, through for example their creation of ‘dual structures’. At the individual level, on the other hand, the tensions are more acute, so that the people who deliver commercial outcomes tend to be rather different to those who are accustomed to producing academic outcomes.

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.

Effectiveness and Efficiency of Cross‐Border Knowledge Transfer: An Empirical Examination

Abstract: Based on a sample of 102 US organizations, this study examines the impact of knowledge characteristics, recipient learning intent, source attractiveness, and relationship quality on the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge transfer from the international business affiliates of these organizations. Findings indicate that recipient learning intent and source attractiveness positively impact the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In addition, recipient learning intent was found to have a positive effect on knowledge transfer efficiency. In particular, results highlight the strong positive impact that the quality of the relationship between the source and the recipient has on both the efficiency and effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer. The study also indicates that knowledge value is positively associated with recipient learning intent and that knowledge value, rarity and non- substitutability influence source attractiveness. Finally, findings suggest that the relationship between knowledge characteristics and knowledge transfer is partially mediated by recipient learning intent and source attractiveness.

Reflecting on Reflexivity: Reflexive Textual Practices in Organization and Management Theory

Abstract: This paper identifies four sets of textual practices that researchers in the field of organization and management theory (OMT) have used in their attempts to be reflexive. We characterize them as multi-perspective, multi-voicing, positioning and destabilizing. We show how each set of practices can help to produce reflexive research, but also how each embodies limitations and paradoxes. Finally, we consider the interplay among these sets of practices to develop ideas for new avenues for reflexive practice by OMT researchers.

Market Orientation, Generative Learning, Innovation Strategy and Business Performance Inter‐Relationships in Bioscience Firms

Abstract: We propose conceptual arguments to establish relationships between market orientation and generative learning and their respective impact on exploitative innovation strategy and explorative innovation strategy. We then consider the ambidextrous association between both forms of innovation strategy and business performance. This model is subject to an empirical test using data generated from 160 bioscience firms. Using structural equation modelling, two mutually exclusive paths are specified where market orientation leads to exploitative innovation strategy, while generative learning leads to explorative innovation strategy. We then find that the ambidexterity exhibited by firms in the form of exploitative innovation strategy and explorative innovation strategy significantly explains improvements in firms’ business performance. Discussion is given to these findings and managerial implications are presented along with avenues for further research.

Effects of Psychological Contract Breach on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Insights from the Group Value Model

Abstract: Research on psychological contract breach has referenced social exchange as its dominant theoretical foundation. In this study, we draw insights from the group value model as a theoretical extension to explain employees’ negative responses to psychological contract breach. According to the group value model, fair treatment by group members communicates symbolic messages about the relationship between the organization and the employee, and has implications for whether employees can take pride in their organizational membership. When people are treated unfairly, they lose trust in the organization and dis-identify from the group. This in turn results in less willingness on the part of the employees to engage in organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). We tested these relationships across three studies. In Study 1, we conducted a longitudinal test of the role of trust as a mediator between breach and organizational identification. In Studies 2 (cross-sectional) and 3 (longitudinal), we tested the complete model in which we examined the role of trust and identification in mediating the link between breach and OCBs. All three studies provided support for the mediated model. Furthermore, as predicted by the group value model, the hypothesized relationships emerged in response to relational but not transactional contract breaches. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Internal knowledge development and external knowledge access in venture capital investment performance

Abstract: We examine the performance effects of two knowledge-driven strategies - internal knowledge development and external knowledge access through inter-firm relationships - in the context of venture capital investing. Using longitudinal data on the investments, syndication, and performance of 200 US-based venture capital firms, we find that investing in industries in which a firm has more knowledge and investing with more or familiar external partners enhances investment performance. In addition, we reveal important interactions between the two strategies, such that access to external knowledge is particularly beneficial when the investment exposes gaps in the firm's own expertise. Thus, access to external knowledge is more effective when an incongruity exists between what the firm knows and what it intends to do. We discuss the study's implications for organizational knowledge and learning, strategic alliance, and venture capital literature.

Real Options, International Entry Mode Choice and Performance

Abstract: Recent scholarship suggests that combining insights from real option theory with transaction cost economics may improve decision-making models. In response to this suggestion we develop and test a model of international entry mode choice that draws from both perspectives. Examining samples of Dutch and Greek firms entering Central and Eastern European markets, we found that adding real option variables to a transaction cost model significantly improved its explanatory power. Additionally, firms that used the combined real option/transaction cost predicted choices had significantly higher levels of subsidiary performance satisfaction than firms that did not. Our results suggest that effective managerial decision-making may involve more than mere transaction cost minimization considerations; real option value creation insights also appear to influence the success of decision outcomes.

‘Citibankers’ at Citigroup: A Study of the Loss of Institutional Trust after a Merger

Abstract: In this paper, we present the results of a study of the loss of institutional trust following a merger. Specifically, we focus on how issues of organizational identity and identification processes contributed to the loss of institutional trust among a group of employees of Citigroup after its creation through the merger of Citicorp and Travelers. Our study makes two important contributions. First, we propose and demonstrate empirically that institutional trust, like interpersonal trust, can be identity-based. Second, adopting a narrative approach to organizational identity, we explore institutional trust in a post-merger context, highlighting how institutional trust is initially undermined after a merger by the ambiguity of the new organization's identity; and how later, once the identity of the new organization becomes less ambiguous, institutional trust can continue to be undermined by the absence of employees' identification with the new organization, especially among those who were highly-identified with their legacy organizations.

Examining the Conditional Limits of Relational Governance: Specialized Assets, Performance Ambiguity, and Long-Standing Ties

Abstract: Despite recognition of the benefits of relational governance in inter-organizational exchanges, factors that may erode its value have received little examination. We extend the literature by asking whether self-interested opportunities and long-standing ties erode the positive association between relational governance and performance. Consistent with transaction cost and moral hazard logics, exchange hazards, particularly asset specificity and difficult performance measurement, dampen the positive association of relational governance and performance. We further find, consistent with recent inquiries into the dark side of embedded ties that the performance benefits associated with relational governance decline when parties rely on repeated partnerships.

Tournament Rituals, Category Dynamics, and Field Configuration: The Case of the Booker Prize

Abstract: In this article we theorize the ways in which tournament rituals, in the form of prominent industry award ceremonies, configure organizational fields. We review field theory to distil four criteria to which field-configuring mechanisms should conform. We undertake an archival study of the Booker Prize for Fiction to explore how this tournament ritual has configured the field of contemporary English-language literature by championing the distinctive category of post-colonial fiction.

Conferences as Venues for the Configuration of Emerging Organizational Fields: The Case of Cochlear Implants

Abstract: I examine how conferences can be occasions for the configuration of emerging organizational fields by describing three that I attended during the development and commercialization of cochlear implants. These conferences served as venues for a variety of activities to unfold, ranging from the exchange of information to the enactment of technological possibilities. A full appreciation of conferences as holistic events, I argue, offers us a particularly valuable entry point into gaining a deeper understanding of how new fields are assembled in real time.

Asian Management Research: Status Today and Future Outlook

Abstract: This paper reviews the existing management research on Asia. The findings highlight that Asian management research not only builds the understanding of Asia, but also makes a critical contribution to the broad domain of management studies. In particular, Asian-focused research allows researchers to extend and revise theories through the consideration of new contextual variables. This enables researchers to fine-tune theories by developing context-specific conditions and operationalization of key constructs, which in turn allows researchers to develop new theories and constructs which are generalizable to research in other contexts. This systematic examination will help to lay the foundation for the further expansion of the understanding of both Asia and of management research in general.

Learning to Build a Supply Network: An Exploration of Dynamic Business Models

Abstract: Firms are confronted with the challenge of learning how to develop and manage supply networks, which reduce their operating costs and maximize their effectiveness in the marketplace. In pursuit of such goals they are increasingly turning to the use of dynamic business models. Dynamic business models represent continuous change and therefore make firms learn constantly new and better ways of doing things. These changes are manifestations of inter-firm knowledge transfer. The aim of this research is to explore dynamic business models as an example of inter-firm knowledge transfer. Adopting a case study approach, we examine three components of dynamic business models – network structure, inter-firm routines and knowledge forms – and describe their integration through a problem solving approach to building an offshore supply network. Our empirical findings suggest that dynamic business models help organizations identify and link key actors with each other (at the firm and individual level), and aid the identification and specification of appropriate knowledge types and knowledge transfer mechanisms for different actors, in different contexts.

Field-Configuring Events as Structuring Mechanisms: How Conferences, Ceremonies, and Trade Shows Constitute New Technologies, Industries, and Markets

Abstract: In this introductory article to the Special Issue we make a case for the study of ?field-configuring events? (FCEs). We begin with a discussion of the nature and character of FCEs. We next situate the study of FCEs in the context of ongoing research addressing the growth and evolution of institutional, organizational, and professional fields. We follow this with an overview of the relationship between FCEs and the evolution of fields, paying particular attention to how FCEs link field evolution at the macro level with individual action at the micro level. We then examine the unique methodological advantages that the study of FCEs offers to researchers who are interested in studying dynamic field processes. We conclude with a summary of the five papers that make up this Special Issue.

Coevolution of Institutions and Corporations in Emerging Economies: How the Salim Group Morphed into an Institution of Suharto's Crony Regime

Abstract: We investigate whether large family groups in emerging economies can proactively change their environment. We use a coevolutionary approach, which accounts for the influence of context on the entrepreneur and for the freedom of the latter to modify it. We find that entrepreneurs can shape institutions to their advantage, illustrated by the Salim Group, which achieved growth by aligning with and influencing politicians, eventually ‘morphing into an institution’. We unravel unique coevolutionary patterns, which we use to extend existing theories. Our first contribution is to initiate a new line of inquiry in coevolution theory, focusing on individual companies coevolving with institutions. Secondly, we document factors that increase and decrease strategic choice for family groups in emerging economies. Thirdly, we find that the Salim Group became part of the crony Suharto regime. The group became both an institutional entrepreneur and an entrepreneurial institution, demonstrating that companies and institutions are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The Performance Differential between Private and State Owned Enterprises: The Roles of Ownership, Management and Market Structure

Abstract: This article examines differences in performance between private companies (POEs) and state owned enterprises (SOEs), with an emphasis on the effects of market structure. The study uses a comprehensive panel covering in principle all registered companies during the 1990s in Norway, a country where SOEs play an important role in regular markets. Return on assets as well as costs relative to sales revenue are used as measures of performance in markets where SOEs and POEs compete with each other. Overall, POEs perform significantly better than SOEs. The study tests the hypothesis that SOE managers may learn from POE managers in environments with stronger competition, but finds only weak empirical support for such a learning mechanism.

Creating a High-Trust Organization: An Exploration into Organizational Policies that Stimulate Interpersonal Trust Building

Abstract: We examine empirically how an organization that deliberately enhances interpersonal trust to become a significant organizational phenomenon, is different from a similar organization without explicit trust enhancement policies. The point of departure is relational signalling theory, which says that trust is a function of consistently giving off signals that indicate credible concern, to potential trustors. A matched pair of two consulting organizations, with different trust policies but otherwise similar characteristics, were studied intensively, using survey research, participant observation and half-open interviewing, focused on the generation of trust and the handling of trouble when trust was threatened or destroyed. A higher stage of trust can be reached by an inter-related set of policies: promoting a relationship-oriented culture, facilitation of unambiguous signalling, consistent induction training, creating opportunities for meeting informally, and the day-to-day management of competencies. Such policies are in principle independent of recognized contextual contingencies. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2008.

Investigating the Success of Decision Making Processes

Abstract: A decision making process is made up of action-taking steps indicating how to make a decision. When linked to indicators of success, process provides the basis for building an action theory for decision making. The success of many different types of processes must be documented before such a theory can be constructed. In this research, processes called 'idea imposition' and 'discovery' are investigated by analysing 202 organizational decisions and their outcomes. Discovery was derived from prescriptive literature, which stresses logical and political rationality. Idea imposition was inferred from the descriptive/interpretive literature, which stresses pragmatics and sense making. Some of the discovery efforts may be abandoned to exploit an opportunity, becoming an 'emergent opportunity' process. Idea imposition efforts end if the motivating idea fails, calling for steps to find a replacement with a 'redevelopment' process. Analysis revealed that discovery was more successful than idea imposition and both process adaptations. Discovery was more successful than the other three processes no matter what the urgency, importance, resource level, initial support, decision maker level, sector, or type of decision.

Transformation Networks in Innovation Alliances: The Development of Volvo C70

Abstract: This paper addresses an important gap in the literature intersection between network theory and networked innovation by developing a theoretical framework on how to leverage learning alliances across extra- and intra-corporate levels to support both exploration and exploitation of innovation to secure its creation and its implementation A detailed case of the Volvo C70 development is analysed with focus on how the full innovation from exploration to exploitation of innovation seem to rely on fundamentally different types and structures of networks Our detailed description and analysis of how a 'transformation network' was established and operated across different organizational levels to secure not only transfer, but also transformation and integration of knowledge into commercialized innovation makes an important contribution to extant theory on inter-organizational knowledge transfer and networking (Less)

Normalized intensity: the New Labour process of middle management

Abstract: Based on qualitative interviews (n = 64) within five UK organizations that have embarked on large-scale restructuring (including delayering, downsizing, culture change, role redesign, lean production) we argue that middle managers are currently experiencing significant and progressive work and personal pressures. Performance is monitored more closely, hours and intensity of work are increasing, roles and tasks are changing frequently, and prospects for promotion are downscaled within flattened hierarchies. Whereas middle managers report increased levels of autonomy and skill, are often well remunerated, and frequently appear motivated (at least in the private sector), we suggest their burgeoning grievances over working hours, role pressures and promotion prospects have worrying implications for the future performance of UK industry. We argue further that the motivation for corporations to embark on such large-scale restructuring is best understood with reference to the incessant demands of international capitalism. We conclude that such restructuring, and the personal managerial experiences that result from it, is in keeping with many, but crucially not all, of the trends predicted by Bravermanian labour process theory.

Towards a Socio-Cognitive Approach to Knowledge Transfer

Abstract: Dominant research streams in the knowledge transfer field, such as the positivist and social constructionist approaches, largely assume that knowledge transfer is accomplished through instructions and/or socially constructed practices. Underlying these views is the belief that texts and practices carry with them the codes necessary for their own decoding and therefore enable an unproblematic knowledge transfer. In contrast, we argue that the decoding of information into meaningful knowledge is always mediated by people's private and cultural models, which are created from the unique combination of their cognitive dispositions (i.e. acumen, memory, creativity, volitions, emotions) and socio-cultural interaction. The degree to which people apply these models reflectively and/or categorically (i.e. automatically) depends on the need for cognition as well as environmental demands and feedback. Therefore, knowledge transfer is always tentative, because it depends on the application of private and cultural models along the continuum that goes from reflective to categorical processing. We present first a critique of the positivist and social constructionist positions; then we introduce a socio-cognitive model that captures and explicates socio-cognitive processes involved in sense making during knowledge transfer. Finally, we explore future research streams and managerial implications.

The Decision to Persist with Underperforming Alliances: The Role of Trust and Control

Abstract: We draw on theories of persistence to develop a model of alliance managers' decisions towards persisting in underperforming alliances based on their concomitant consideration of the control and trust in those alliances We test the model using experimental data based on 2,816 decisions nested within 88 alliance managers We find that output, behavioural and social control, competence and goodwill trust, and interactions between trust and control variables significantly explain alliance managers' decisions to persist in underperforming alliances We discuss the implications of these findings for the control, trust and strategic alliance literatures