Showing papers in "Journal of Management Studies in 2016"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study whether and how a sustainability orientation affects entrepreneurs' ability to acquire financial resources through crowdfunding and hypothesize that a venture's sustainability orientation will enhance its fundraising capability.
Abstract: Research generally suggests that, relative to commercial entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs stand at a disadvantage at acquiring resources through traditional financial institutions. Yet interest in social entrepreneurship appears to be at an all-time high. The current paper advances the argument that an innovative institutional form – crowdfunding – has emerged to address the needs of social entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs with limited access to traditional sources of capital. To examine this, we study whether and how a sustainability orientation affects entrepreneurs’ ability to acquire financial resources through crowdfunding and hypothesize that a venture's sustainability orientation will enhance its fundraising capability. We also suggest that project legitimacy and creativity mediate the relationship between a sustainability orientation and funding success. Our analysis produces two key findings: 1) a sustainability orientation positively affects funding success of crowdfunding projects, and 2) this relationship is partially mediated by project creativity and third party endorsements.
356 citations
Abstract: This article takes stock of the discourse on ‘political CSR’ (PCSR), reconsiders some of its assumptions, and suggests new directions for what we call ‘PCSR 2.0’. We start with a definition of PCSR, focusing on firms’ contribution to public goods. We then discuss historical antecedents to the debate and outline the original economic and political context. The following section explores emerging changes in the institutional context relevant to PCSR and reconsiders some of the assumptions underlying Habermas’ thesis of the postnational constellation. This highlights some neglected issues in previous works on PCSR, including the influence of nationalism and fundamentalism, the role of various types of business organisations, the return of government regulation, the complexity of institutional contexts, the efficiency of private governance, the financialization and digitalization of the economy, and the relevance of managerial sensemaking. Finally, we discuss the contributions to this special issue and relate them to the newly emerging research agenda.
271 citations
TL;DR: Findings illustrate how the nature of the dynamic capability and the economic context in which it is utilized shape its value, thus offering a more nuanced conceptualization of theynamic capabilities-performance relationship.
Abstract: We move the dynamic capabilities view (DCV) forward in two important ways by meta-analysing prior empirical studies. First, we evaluate the two core theoretical tenets of the DCV: (1) Dynamic capabilities are positively related to performance, and (2) this relationship is stronger in industries with higher levels of technological dynamism. We find support for the former (rc = 0.296) but not for the latter, though results suggest the existence of moderators. Second, we theorize and demonstrate empirically that higher-order dynamic capabilities are more strongly related to performance than lower-order dynamic capabilities, lower-order dynamic capabilities partially mediate the relationship between higher-order dynamic capabilities and performance, and dynamic capabilities contribute more to performance in developing economies than in developed economies. These findings illustrate how the nature of the dynamic capability and the economic context in which it is utilized shape its value, thus offering a more nuanced conceptualization of the dynamic capabilities-performance relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
259 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop five pillars on which the evolving social role of entrepreneurship can rest and have its impact: connecting entrepreneurial activities to other societal efforts aimed at improving the quality of life, achieving progress, and enriching human existence, identifying ways to reduce the dysfunctional effects of entrepreneurial activities on stakeholders, redefining the scope of entrepreneurship activities as a scholarly arena, recognizing entrepreneurship's social multiplier, and pursuing blended value at the organizational level, centring on balancing the creation of financial, social and environmental wealth.
Abstract: There is a need to rethink and redefine the social value added of entrepreneurial activities to society. In this paper we develop five pillars on which the evolving social role of entrepreneurship can rest and have its impact: (1) connecting entrepreneurial activities to other societal efforts aimed at improving the quality of life, achieving progress, and enriching human existence, (2) identifying ways to reduce the dysfunctional effects of entrepreneurial activities on stakeholders, (3) redefining the scope of entrepreneurial activities as a scholarly arena, (4) recognizing entrepreneurship's social multiplier, and (5) pursuing blended value at the organizational level, centring on balancing the creation of financial, social and environmental wealth. In a final section we discuss implications for practices and for further research.
257 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how complex environments affect a firm's adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and propose that these effects will be weighted depending on their relative salience.
Abstract: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in complex transnational organizational fields with multiple, diverse, and possibly conflicting institutional forces. This paper examines how such complex environments affect a firm's adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices. To capture the effect of transnational fields, we consider the institutional influences of all country environments to which the firm is linked through its portfolio of operations and propose that these effects will be weighted depending on their relative salience. We identify a set of factors that make certain pressures more salient than others, including firm's economic dependence on a particular country, heterogeneity of institutional forces within the firm's transnational field, exposure to leading countries with more stringent CSR templates, and intensity and commitment to particular economic linkages (i.e., foreign direct investment versus international trade). Our hypotheses are tested and supported in a study of 710 US MNEs from 2007 to 2011 with global ties to over 100 countries.
249 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a thematically-driven review of CSR communication literature across five core sub-disciplines, identifying dominant views upon the audience and CSR purpose, as well as pervasive theoretical approaches and research paradigms.
Abstract: Growing recognition that communication with stakeholders forms an essential element in the design, implementation and success of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has given rise to a burgeoning CSR communication literature. However this literature is scattered across various sub-disciplines of management research and exhibits considerable heterogeneity in its core assumptions, approaches and goals. This article provides a thematically-driven review of the extant literature across five core sub-disciplines, identifying dominant views upon the audience of CSR communication (internal/external actors) and CSR communication purpose, as well as pervasive theoretical approaches and research paradigms manifested across these areas. The article then sets out a new conceptual framework - the 4Is of CSR communication research - that distinguishes between research on CSR Integration, CSR Interpretation, CSR Identity, and CSR Image. This typology of research streams organizes the central themes, opportunities and challenges for CSR communication theory development, and provides a heuristic against which future research can be located. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
243 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual model that explains differences in CSR talk versus walk based on organizational cost and firm size is developed to theorize the antecedents of what they call the large firm implementation gap (large firms tend to focus on communicating CSR symbolically but do less to implement it into their core structures and procedures).
Abstract: In this paper we address two interrelated research gaps in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature. The first results from a lack of understanding of different patterns of CSR engagement with respect to CSR talk (impression management and the creation of symbolic images and documentation) and CSR walk (substantive implementation of CSR policies, structures and procedures). Related to this, the second gap concerns limited knowledge about the influence of firm size on CSR engagement. We develop a conceptual model that explains differences in CSR talk versus walk based on organizational cost and firm size. This allows us to theorize the antecedents of what we call the large firm implementation gap (large firms tend to focus on communicating CSR symbolically but do less to implement it into their core structures and procedures) and vice versa the small firm communication gap (less active communication and more emphasis on implementation). Our model expands a new theoretical understanding of CSR engagement based on as yet underemphasized firm-level antecedents of CSR, and opens up several new avenues for future, and in particular comparative, research.
233 citations
TL;DR: This paper present a model of corporate political responsibilization for a wicked problem that explains how a "field frame" of responsibility can emerge, explaining shifting boundaries between public and private responsibilities and the changing role of the state as catalytic rather than coercive.
Abstract: While scholars have explained how business has increasingly taken on regulatory roles to address social and environmental challenges, less attention has been given to the process of how business is made responsible for wicked problems. Drawing on a study of ‘conflict minerals’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we examine the process through which companies became responsible for a humanitarian crisis. We contribute by: (1) bridging insights from contentious performance and deliberative approaches – to present a model of corporate political responsibilization for a wicked problem that explains how a ‘field frame’ of responsibility can emerge; (2) explaining shifting boundaries between public and private responsibilities and the changing role of the state as catalytic rather than coercive; and (3) showing how responsibility can be attributed to a target by framing an issue and its root cause in ways that allow such an attribution, and how the attribution can diffuse and solidify.
202 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal study of the evolution of coffee sustainability standards suggests that PCSR can be understood as a process of challenging and defending value regimes, within which viable configurations of economic models, normative-cultural values, and governance structures are aligned and stabilized.
Abstract: The global coffee sector has seen a transformation towards more ‘sustainable’ forms of production, and, simultaneously, the continued dominance of mainstream coffee firms and practices. We examine this paradox by conceptualizing the underlying process of political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) as a series of long-term, multi-dimensional interactions between civil society and corporate actors, drawing from the neo-Gramscian concepts of hegemony and passive revolution. A longitudinal study of the evolution of coffee sustainability standards suggests that PCSR can be understood as a process of challenging and defending value regimes, within which viable configurations of economic models, normative-cultural values, and governance structures are aligned and stabilized. Specifically, we show how dynamics of moves and accommodations between challengers and corporate actors shape the practice and meaning of ‘sustainable’ coffee. The results contribute to understanding the political dynamics of CSR as a dialectic process of ‘revolution/restoration’, or passive revolution, whereby value regimes assimilate and adapt to potentially disruptive challenges, transforming sustainability practices and discourse.
201 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate why and how individuals engage in environmental entrepreneurship, inductively defined as: the use of both commercial and ecological logics to address environmental degradation through the creation of financially profitable organizations, products, services, and markets.
Abstract: On the basis of a qualitative study of 25 renewable energy firms, we theorize why and how individuals engage in environmental entrepreneurship, inductively defined as: the use of both commercial and ecological logics to address environmental degradation through the creation of financially profitable organizations, products, services, and markets. Our findings suggest that environmental entrepreneurs: (1) are motivated by identities based in both commercial and ecological logics, (2) prioritize commercial and/or ecological venture goals dependent on the strength and priority of coupling between these two identity types, and (3) approach stakeholders in a broadly inclusive, exclusive, or co-created manner based on identity coupling and goals. These findings contribute to literature streams on hybrid organizing, entrepreneurial identity, and entrepreneurship's potential for resolving environmental degradation.
200 citations
TL;DR: This article developed a mediated moderation model that explains how and under which conditions perceived CSR affects employees' organizational identification, and tested the model by carrying out a three-wave longitudinal study on employees of an international utility company.
Abstract: Despite the increasing attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the management literature, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions explaining employees' responses to CSR. Drawing on social identity and cue consistency theory, we develop a mediated moderation model that explains how and under which conditions perceived CSR affects employees' organizational identification. We test the model by carrying out a three-wave longitudinal study on employees of an international utility company. The findings indicate that perceived CSR interacts with overall justice to predict organizational identification through the successive mediation of perceived external prestige and organizational pride. The study clarifies and advances some of the theoretical foundations surrounding the micro-level approach of CSR and has key implications for management research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors refine the concept of responsible leadership from an upper echelon perspective by exploring two distinct styles (instrumental and integrative) and further develop the understanding of the newly emerging integrative style.
Abstract: In this article we pursue two objectives. First, we refine the concept of responsible leadership from an upper echelon perspective by exploring two distinct styles (instrumental and integrative) and thereby further developing the understanding of the newly emerging integrative style. Second, we propose a framework that examines the micro-foundations of political corporate social responsibility (CSR). We explicate how the political CSR engagement of organizations (in social innovation and multi-stakeholder initiatives) is influenced by responsible leadership styles and posit that most CEOs tend to espouse either instrumental or integrative responsible leadership approaches, based on perceived moral obligations toward shareholders or stakeholders. We examine the moderating effects of societal- and organizational-level factors (such as power distance and corporate governance), and individual-level influences (such as cognitive and social complexity). We discuss both approaches with respect to their effectiveness in dealing with political CSR challenges in a complex environment and conclude that an instrumental responsible leadership style may be effective in relatively stable settings with strong institutional arrangements, while the complex and unstable context of a post-national constellation with weak institutions calls for an integrative responsible leadership style. The latter can be expected to be more effective in dealing with political CSR challenges in a global world, contributing to closing governance gaps and producing sustainable outcomes for societies.
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of a corporation's stakeholder engagement in social media is conducted and the authors propose a networked legitimacy strategy, where legitimacy is gained through participation in non-hierarchical open platforms and the co-construction of agendas.
Abstract: How can corporations develop legitimacy when coping with stakeholders who have multiple, often conflicting sustainable development (SD) agendas? We address this question by conducting an in-depth longitudinal case study of a corporation's stakeholder engagement in social media and propose the concept of a networked legitimacy strategy. With this strategy, legitimacy is gained through participation in non-hierarchical open platforms and the co-construction of agendas. We explore the organizational transition needed to yield this new legitimacy approach. We argue that, in this context, legitimacy gains may increase when firms are able to reduce the control over the engagements and relate non-hierarchically with their publics. We contribute to the extant literature on political corporate social responsibility and legitimacy by providing an understanding of a new context for engagement that reconfigures cultural, network, and power relations between the firm and their stakeholders in ways that challenge previous forms of legitimation.
TL;DR: This paper explore the consequences of a world of blended value in which every new venture is required to be a hybrid organization and reveal the boundary conditions of current social criticism levied against entrepreneurship and suggest that blended value may best be relegated to the role of ideal or guideline.
Abstract: Critics of entrepreneurial capitalism have argued that entrepreneurship creates dysfunction in individuals, families, communities, and society because entrepreneurs neglect social and environmental dimensions of value in favour of financial value creation. By way of contrast, hybrid organizations, such as Benefit Corporations, are created explicitly to address social and environmental objectives in addition to their financial objective. Therefore, in this paper we explore the consequences of a world of blended value in which every new venture is required to be a hybrid organization. In doing so, we reveal the boundary conditions of current social criticism levied against entrepreneurship and suggest that blended value may best be relegated to the role of ideal or guideline as opposed to normative or legal obligation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a two-wave survey of 638 employees nested in 173 groups across 34 organizations and found that general self-efficacy positively predicts ambidextrous behaviour through learning orientation, and paradoxical leadership also moderates the relationship between learning orientation and individual ambidexterity.
Abstract: Although research on organizational ambidexterity has exploded in the past several years, the determinants of individual-level ambidexterity have received little scholarly attention. This is surprising given that management scholars increasingly highlight the benefits of combining explorative and exploitative activities in individual employees’ work roles. Using data collected by a two-wave survey of 638 employees nested in 173 groups across 34 organizations, our research demonstrates that both psychological factors and leadership predict employees’ ambidextrous behaviour. Our results demonstrate that general self-efficacy positively predicts ambidextrous behaviour through learning orientation. In addition, we show that employees exhibit higher ambidexterity when their group managers demonstrate paradoxical leadership; that is, a leadership style that couples strong managerial support with high performance expectations. Paradoxical leadership also moderates the relationship between learning orientation and individual ambidexterity such that employees’ ambidextrous behaviour is highest when paradoxical leadership and employee learning orientation are simultaneously at high levels.
TL;DR: In this paper, sustainable, ethical, entrepreneurial (SEE) enterprises are moving in this direction, seeking to regenerate the environment and drive positive societal changes rather than only minimizing harm, and they also note that sustainability is justified and motivated by ethical considerations and pioneered by entrepreneurial engagement.
Abstract: The great challenge of sustainability is addressed by firms with varying levels of social and environmental responsibility and performance. Though traditionally, firms sought a balance, we argue that this is not enough. Rather, we advocate that the natural environment be the foundation on which society resides and the economy operates. Sustainable, ethical, entrepreneurial (SEE) enterprises are moving in this direction, seeking to regenerate the environment and drive positive societal changes rather than only minimizing harm. We also note that sustainability is justified and motivated by ethical considerations and pioneered by entrepreneurial engagement. The eight articles included in this Special Issue draw from cross-disciplinary scholarship to elaborate how SEE enterprises approach sustainability through new organizational forms, business models and innovation, and new governance mechanisms. They also emphasize the roles of institutional forces and logics, government policies and social movements for promoting or impeding sustainable practices. Collectively, they reveal new and compelling insights while spotlighting the great questions for SEE enterprise that await study.
TL;DR: The authors provides an overview of the main insights arising from the regional strategy literature and develops the contours of a new, rich research agenda for future international strategy scholarship, whereby the region should be introduced as an explicit, third geographic level of analysis, in addition to the country level and the global level.
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the main insights arising from the ‘regional strategy’ literature. It also develops the contours of a new, rich research agenda for future international strategy scholarship, whereby the region should be introduced as an explicit, third geographic level of analysis, in addition to the country-level and the global level. Regional strategy analysis requires a fundamental rethink of mainstream theories in the international strategy sphere. This rethink involves, inter alia, internalization theory, with its resource-based view and transaction cost economics components, as well as the integration (I) – national responsiveness (NR) framework.
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as mentioned in this paper examined how and why entrepreneurial passion for founding changes over time and proposed that in the founding phase of a venture's lifecycle entrepreneurs' founding identity centrality will remain stable over time, however, in their sample and time period studied, entrepreneurs' intense positive feelings for founding will decrease over time.
Abstract: This study examines how and why entrepreneurial passion for founding changes over time. In particular, we propose that in the founding phase of a venture's lifecycle entrepreneurs’ founding identity centrality will remain stable over time. We also propose, however, that in our sample and time period studied, entrepreneurs’ intense positive feelings for founding will decrease over time. On the basis of theories of positive illusion, self-regulation and role theory, we further hypothesize that venture idea change, change in role ambiguity and entrepreneurs’ feedback-seeking behaviour are factors that help explain the rate of change in entrepreneurs’ intense positive feelings for founding. Using a three-wave longitudinal research design, we find that among a sample of 112 entrepreneurs’ identity centrality does not change over time, whereas intense positive feelings for founding decrease over time. Moreover, the more entrepreneurs change their venture ideas, the weaker their decrease in intense positive feelings. Further, we show that entrepreneurs who frequently seek feedback suffer less from reduced positive feelings in response to higher increases in role ambiguity as compared to entrepreneurs who seek less feedback.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore a discrepancy between what the literature says about sustainability and how sustainability is actually practiced and find that a firm's response to external pressure to become truly sustainable greatly depends on its capabilities.
Abstract: This paper explores a discrepancy between what the literature says about sustainability and how sustainability is actually practiced. Our analysis reveals that we are in a transition era in which firms incrementally offset – rather than eliminate – their negative impacts on the environment and society. We also argue that external stakeholders have yet to create the conditions that would compel firms to become truly sustainable. We further find that a firm's response to external pressure to become truly sustainable greatly depends on its capabilities. For large firms, the decision to become truly sustainable is driven by their ability to manage external stakeholders’ expectations, with the most innovative of large firms remaining unsustainable even in the long term. In contrast, small innovative firms guide their decision-making based on their internal readiness to change and therefore will be the first to reach true sustainability. Finally, and regardless of size, firms that lack an innovation capability are unlikely to become truly sustainable; they will struggle to survive the transition era.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a multilevel contingency framework and proposed that the effectiveness of teams to achieve ambidexterity is contingent upon supportive leadership behaviours at the organizational level.
Abstract: In addressing the notion of team ambidexterity, we propose that socio-psychological factors (i.e., team cohesion and team efficacy) may help team members to resolve paradoxical challenges and to combine exploratory and exploitative learning efforts. In addition, we theorize that senior executives may play an important role in facilitating the emergence of ambidexterity at lower hierarchical levels. In doing so, we develop a multilevel contingency framework and propose that the effectiveness of teams to achieve ambidexterity is contingent upon supportive leadership behaviours at the organizational-level. Using multilevel, multisource, and temporally separated data on 87 teams within 37 high-tech and pharmaceutical firms, we not only reveal how team cohesion and efficacy may matter for the emergence of team ambidexterity but also show that the effectiveness of supportive leadership behaviours from senior executives varies across cohesive and efficacious teams.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how institutions vary on a national or societal level and how these affect firm structure and capabilities in both home and host countries, and find that the ability to navigate institutional complexity is a key to success or failure.
Abstract: For multinational corporations (MNEs), the ability to navigate institutional complexity is a key to success or failure. MNEs face a complex landscape of national institutional differences in the countries in which they do business, and decisions on how to respond to these differences are very much strategic ones, reflecting agency and management skill. To understand how institutional complexity affects MNE behaviour, it is necessary to examine how institutions vary on a national or societal level and how these affect firm structure and capabilities in both home and host countries.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the findings presented by the regional strategy literature do not capture the full array of global activities of the multinational enterprise (MNE), and they provide recommendations for future research both within and beyond the regionally strategy literature.
Abstract: In this counterpoint paper we argue that the findings presented by the ‘regional strategy’ literature do not capture the full array of global activities of the multinational enterprise (MNE). While this literature makes an important contribution to the field by showing that sales and production activities in the MNE are regionally structured, we argue that this assessment is biased for two reasons. First, this approach overly focuses on geographical location of downstream activities, while disregarding that of knowledge creation and other relevant upstream activities in the MNE. Second, the approach associates the firm's value creation only with its internalized activities and does not capture the value created through any activities that are externalized. Many MNEs rely to a significant extent on value creation outside the firm's legal boundaries. We argue that such omissions are likely to lead to biased interpretations using different theoretical lenses, such as the knowledge-/resource-based view, internalization theory and more general transaction cost economics. Based on our reasoning, we provide recommendations for future research both within and beyond the ‘regional strategy’ literature.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use the case of the internationalization of English law firms into Italy, and the refocusing of their operations on the city of Milan, to make a number of contributions to existing literatures on responses to institutional complexity.
Abstract: In this paper we use the case of the internationalization of English law firms into Italy, and the refocusing of their operations on the city of Milan, to make a number of contributions to existing literatures on responses to institutional complexity. First, we contribute to the literature on how organizations address complexity at the field level, by revealing the role of 'field relocation' as a particular response strategy. We also identify a number of organizational tactics - re-scoping, re-scaling, and re-staffing - through which 'field relocation' is accomplished. Second, we also show the importance of further developing our understanding of the geography of institutional fields by highlighting how the 'receptivity' of different field locations may affect responses to complexity. This identifies the importance of geographically locating fields and sub-fields in studies of organizational responses to institutional complexity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors adopt a contingency approach to the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and seek to establish boundary conditions for the value of certain information technology (IT) capabilities.
Abstract: This paper adopts a contingency approach to the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and seeks to establish boundary conditions for the value of certain information technology (IT) capabilities. We first identify inter-organizational alliances as a specific strategy context in which IT capabilities are particularly valuable. We then consider more detailed boundary conditions that can shape the value of these capabilities within the alliance context. Our study shows that firms with better IT capabilities can derive greater value from an alliance, yet this effect also varies across different types of alliances depending on an individual alliance's characteristics. Specifically, IT capabilities are more valuable for alliances with a non-equity governance structure, as well as those involving a high degree of interdependence between partners. We highlight the implications of our findings for opportunities to advance the RBV.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative case study of two local stakeholder groups involved in a conflict over a pulp mill in the south of Chile, the authors examine the concept of political CSR, or legitimacy creation through deliberation, as something that can be universally agreed upon in places where incommensurable differences exist.
Abstract: This study critically examines the concept of political CSR, or legitimacy creation through deliberation, as something that can be universally agreed upon in places where incommensurable differences exist. Through a comparative case study of two local stakeholder groups – one urban and one rural – involved in a conflict over a pulp mill in the south of Chile, this paper asks: 1) why did the two groups choose different participation strategies in the deliberation over the desirability of the mill? Based on multiple data sources, the study finds differences in how each community made sense of the world through place-bound social imaginaries, which affected the stakeholders’ willingness to participate in deliberation. The findings suggest that legitimacy cannot be universally secured through dialogues that seek consensus at the expense of occluded imaginaries, rather it exists as a pluriversal construct. If political CSR is to play a role in legitimacy creation across imaginaries, the focus should be on constructing economic alternatives embedded in place that supports the co-existence of different forms of life.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the relationship between faultlines and board service performance in the particularly relevant context of social enterprises and reveal the importance of clear and shared organizational goals in attenuating the negative effects of faultlines.
Abstract: Following the growing interest in sustainability and ethics, organizations are increasingly attentive to accountability toward stakeholders. Stakeholder representation, obtained by appointing board members representing different stakeholder groups, is suggested to be a good ethical practice. However, such representation may also have nefarious implications for board functioning. Particularly, it may result in strong faultline emergence, subsequently mitigating board performance. Our study aims at understanding the process through which faultlines affect board performance, and particularly the board service role through which the board is involved in providing counsel and strategic decision-making. We study the relationship between faultlines and board service performance in the particularly relevant context of social enterprises. We find that faultline strength is negatively related to board service performance and that this relationship is mediated by board task conflict. Furthermore, our study reveals the importance of clear and shared organizational goals in attenuating the negative effects of faultlines.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze how stakeholders from government, civil society, and industry mobilized modes of justification and forms of power with the aim to influence the moral legitimacy of the fracking technology during a controversy surrounding shale gas exploration.
Abstract: How could a de facto moratorium on shale gas exploration emerge in Quebec despite the broad adoption of fracking in North American jurisdictions, support from the provincial government and a favourable power position initially enjoyed by the oil and gas industry? This paper analyses this turn of events by studying how stakeholders from government, civil society, and industry mobilized modes of justification and forms of power with the aim to influence the moral legitimacy of the fracking technology during a controversy surrounding shale gas exploration. Combining Boltanski and Thevenot's economies of worth theory with Lukes’ concept of power, we analytically induced the justification of power mechanisms whereby uses of power become justified or ‘escape’ justification, and the power of justification mechanisms by which justifications alter subsequent power dynamics. We finally explain how these mechanisms contribute to explaining the controversy's ultimate outcome, and advance current debates on political corporate social responsibility.
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed look at the concept of a relationship, from the perspective of the stakeholder, by focusing on the perceived psychological bonds that drive a stakeholder to decide whether to continue a relationship with the firm and, if the relationship does continue, how much pro-relationship behaviour to exert.
Abstract: Scholars and managers continue to seek a better explanation for the behaviours displayed by various stakeholders. An enhanced understanding of the drivers of these behaviours ought to improve an organization's ability to appropriately manage relationships with stakeholders, thereby improving firm performance. This paper provides a detailed look at the concept of a relationship, from the perspective of the stakeholder, by focusing on the perceived psychological bonds that drive a stakeholder to decide whether to continue a relationship with the firm and, if the relationship does continue, how much pro-relationship behaviour to exert. Our analysis works out how the strength of the perceived psychological bond is measured and establishes the conditions under which bonds will be broken. We also develop conditions that either promote or quash stakeholders' pro-relationship behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that effectual entrepreneurial agency is co-constituted by distributed agency, the proactive conferral of material resources and legitimacy to an eventual entrepreneur by heterogeneous actors external to the new venture.
Abstract: textEffectuation theory invests agency - intention and purposeful enactment - for new venture creation in the entrepreneurial actor(s). Based on the results of a 15-month in-depth longitudinal case study of Amsterdam-based social enterprise Fairphone, we argue that effectual entrepreneurial agency is co-constituted by distributed agency, the proactive conferral of material resources and legitimacy to an eventual entrepreneur by heterogeneous actors external to the new venture. We show how in the context of social movement activism, an effectual network pre-committed resources to an inchoate social enterprise to produce a material artefact because it embodied the moral values of network members. We develop a model of social enterprise emergence based on these findings. We theorize the role of material artefacts in effectuation theory and suggest that, in the case, the artefact served as a boundary object, present in multiple social words and triggering commitment from actors not governed by hierarchical arrangements.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between venture teams' transactive memory systems (representing the distribution, integration, and utilization of the teams' knowledge) and EO and the moderating influence of team-, firm-, and environment-level factors.
Abstract: The increasing importance of entrepreneurial behaviour has led scholars to embrace the idea that an entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is an important predictor of firm performance. While EO occupies a central position in strategic entrepreneurship research, scholars have yet to explore its origins in new ventures. Drawing on the knowledge-based and cognitive views, we theorize that a new venture team's transactive memory system is a cognitive mechanism that spurs the development of an EO. In a field study of high-tech new ventures in China, we examined the relationship between venture teams' transactive memory systems (representing the distribution, integration, and utilization of the teams' knowledge) and EO and the moderating influence of team-, firm-, and environment-level factors. We found that the transactive memory system of a new venture team enhanced their EO and that this relationship was positively influenced by intra-team trust, the structural organicity of a venture, and environmental dynamism. Our findings provide novel insights into the micro-foundations of TMS in developing an EO in new ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]