Showing papers on "Embeddedness published in 2015"

Toward a Dynamic Theory of Global Production Networks

Abstract: Global production networks (GPN) are organizational platforms through which actors in different regional and national economies compete and cooperate for a greater share of value creation, transformation, and capture through geographically dispersed economic activity. Existing conceptual frameworks on global value chains (GVC) and what we term GPN 1.0 tend to under-theorize the origins and dynamics of these organizational platforms and to overemphasize their governance typologies (e.g., modular, relational, and captive modes in GVC theory) or analytical categories (e.g., power and embeddedness in GPN 1.0). Building on this expanding literature, our article aims to contribute toward the reframing of existing GPN-GVC debates and the development of a more dynamic theory of global production networks that can better explain the emergence of different firm-specific activities, strategic network effects, and territorial outcomes in the global economy. It is part of a wider initiative—GPN 2.0 in short—th...

Family Ties in Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks and New Venture Growth:

Abstract: Family ties are an important conduit of resources for entrepreneurs, but both positive and negative outcomes can arise. Building upon a family embeddedness perspective, we develop hypotheses about curvilinear relationships between the proportion of family ties in entrepreneurs' networks and venture growth. We test them on entrepreneurs from China, France, Russia, and the United States. These effects appear to be related to the type of entrepreneurs' social network (business advice, emotional support, and business resources). Our results confirm effects specific to each network: an inverted U-shape for advice and emotional support networks but a U-shape for the business resource network, measuring what proportion of kin in each entrepreneurial network type is valuable to or, conversely, undermines new venture growth.

Job embeddedness: A multifoci theoretical extension

Abstract: Integrating the expanding job embeddedness (JE) literature, in this article we advance a multifoci model of JE that is theoretically grounded in conservation of resources (COR) theory. From COR theory, we posit that employees' motivation to acquire and protect resources explains why they become embedded and how they behave once embedded. Our COR-based JE model highlights contextual antecedents that clarify how employees become embedded within different foci. Its multifoci theoretical lens also illustrates how different forms of work-focused embeddedness differentially affect work outcomes and how they interact with nonwork foci to influence those outcomes. Along with directions for further research, we further discuss theoretical and practical implications of our integrative formulation.

The best of both worlds: how rural entrepreneurs use placial embeddedness and strategic networks to create opportunities

Abstract: Entrepreneurial activities are strongly influenced by the context in which they occur. It is therefore imperative to understand how different contexts enable entrepreneurs to create opportunities. In this paper, we focus on the spatial context of rural entrepreneurs and explore how the rural context impacts on their opportunity creation. Based on a multiple case study, we find that rural entrepreneurs mix what we refer to as placial embeddedness – an intimate knowledge of and concern for the place – with strategically built non-local networks, i.e. the best of two worlds. Notably, the entrepreneurs seek to exhaust the localized resource base before seeking out non-local resources. Our findings thus contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurship in context and challenge future research to explore how different forms of contexts are bridged in different settings to create varieties of entrepreneurial activities.

Fitting In or Standing Out? The Tradeoffs of Structural and Cultural Embeddedness

Abstract: A recurring theme in sociological research is the tradeoff between fitting in and standing out. Recent work examining this tension has privileged network structural accounts over cultural explanations. We remedy this imbalance by developing a theory of how structural and cultural embeddedness jointly relate to individual attainment within organizations. Given that organizational culture is hard to observe, we develop a novel approach to assessing individuals' cultural fit with their colleagues in an organization based on the language expressed in internal email communications. Drawing on a unique data set that includes a corpus of 10.25 million email messages exchanged over five years among 601 employees in a high-technology firm, we find that network constraint impedes, while cultural fit promotes, individual attainment. More importantly, we find evidence of a tradeoff between the two forms of embeddedness: cultural fit benefits individuals with low network constraint (i.e., brokers) but hurts highly constrained actors.

Political tie heterogeneity and the impact of adverse shocks on firm value

Abstract: Past research has recognized the contingent value of corporate political ties but largely neglects their heterogeneity. Drawing on the political embeddedness perspective and literature on emerging economy political institutions, we develop hypotheses regarding how political networks comprising managerial and government ownership ties may have different valuation effects in the face of adverse political shocks. Examining stock market responses to an unanticipated, high-profile political event in China, we find a negative valuation effect of managerial ties to municipal government, but an insignificant effect of government ownership ties. Further, companies combining managerial and ownership ties experienced less post-shock reduction in market value than those holding only managerial political ties. These findings shed light on the values of different configurations of corporate political ties and inform firms of potential ways to manage ubiquitous political hazards in emerging economies.

Organizational embeddedness, turnover intentions, and voluntary turnover: The moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics and value orientations

Abstract: To explain why some employees who experience high embeddedness contemplate leaving their organizations and others do not, we examined the moderating effects of employee demographic characteristics (age and gender) and value orientations (individualism and risk aversion) between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions. Turnover intentions were further expected to increase voluntary turnover. Data were collected from 643 full-time employees at three points in time over a 12-month time period in a wide range of organizations in Japan, a relatively low turnover context with little prior embeddedness research. Findings show that gender and risk aversion moderate the relationship between organizational embeddedness and turnover intentions, which in turn predict voluntary turnover.

Institutional Theory and Contextual Embeddedness of Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership: Evidence from 92 Countries

Abstract: Building on GEM research, we develop a multi-level framework that draws on the notion of the contextual embeddedness of entrepreneurship and institutional theory. We examine the mediating role of the vision for women's entrepreneurship (VWE) on the relationship between the regulatory, normative and cognitive pillars of institutional theory and women's entrepreneurial leadership (WEL) in 92 countries. Results suggest that the institutional pillars influence VWE. Regulatory institutions, entrepreneurial cognitions, and entrepreneurial norms have a direct and an indirect effect (through VWE) on WEL.

The future of the euro

Abstract: "The Future of the Euro is an attempt by political economists to analyze the fundamental causes of the euro crisis, determine how it can be fixed, and consider what likely futures lie ahead for the currency. The book makes three interrelated arguments that emphasize the primacy of political over economic factors. First, the 'euro problem' is discussed as the result of the single currency's fundamental lack of institutional embeddedness, insofar as its original design omitted three 'forgotten unions' alongside of monetary union: a financial and banking union, mutually supporting institutions of fiscal union and economic government, and a political union holding similar legitimacy to the nation-state. Second, the 'euro experience' shows how the euro's unfinished design led to economic divergence - quietly altering the existing distribution of economic and political power within Europe prior to the crisis - which in turn determined the EU's crisis response. The book highlights how the euro's four most important members - Germany, France, Italy and Spain - each changed once they adopted the euro, why the crisis affected them so differently, and how each has since struggled to live with the commitments the euro necessitates. Third, the book examines three possible 'euro futures' through the lens of the politics of its reluctant leader Germany; through the lens of the EU's capacity to 'move forward' through crises; and through the geopolitical lens of the international monetary system. The book concludes that any successful long-term solution to the euro's predicament needs to start with the political foundations of markets."

Bounded Entrepreneurial Vitality: The Mixed Embeddedness of Female Entrepreneurship

Abstract: Despite the recent increased interest in female entrepreneurs, attention has tended to focus on dynamic individuals and generic incentives without considering the roles of gender and place in entrepreneurship. In this article, we draw on the notion of mixed embeddedness to explore how time-and-place–specific institutional contexts influence women’s entrepreneurship. Drawing on primary data collected in Ghana, where exceptionally more women engage in entrepreneurial activities than men, we examine the scale and characteristics of female entrepreneurial activity, exploring the factors that account for this strong participation of women, and examine whether this high entrepreneurial rate is also reflected in their performance and growth aspirations. The findings reveal a disjuncture between, on the one hand, the vibrant entrepreneurial endeavors of Ghanaian women and positive societal attitudes toward female entrepreneurship and, on the other hand, female business activities characterized by vulnerab...

Growth and Institutions in African Development

Abstract: * Growth and Institutions in African Development 2. Determinants of Industrial Embeddedness: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in an African Economy 3. Does Lack of Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Retard Economic Growth in Africa? 4. Exchange Rate Regimes and Trade: Is Africa Different? 5. Interrelationships among Health, Environmental Quality, and Economic Activity: What Consequences for Economic Convergence? 6. Emerging Evidence on the Relative Importance of Sectoral Sources of Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa 7. Tourism and Economic Growth: African Evidence from Panel Vector Autoregressive Framework 8. Hunting for Leopards: Long-Run Country Income Dynamics in Africa 9. Growth and Distributional Aspects of Poverty Reduction in South Africa 10. Outfits: Narrowly Tailored Laws that Harm Instead of Help. A Case Study of Liberia's Telecommunication Laws 11. Does Foreign Aid Support Democracy Development? Aid, Democracy, and Instability from Trade 12. Who's the Alien? Xenophobia in post-Apartheid South Africa 13. How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa? 14. Institutional Reforms, Private Sector, and Economic Growth in Africa 15. Women's Labour Supply and Household Insurance in Africa

Transnational Entrepreneurship amongst Vietnamese Businesses in London

Abstract: This paper draws on research with Vietnamese businesses in London which seeks to challenge some of the traditional views of transnational entrepreneurship. These have focused primarily on entrepreneurs embedded in both home and host countries and the need for regular travel between the two to manage the business. In contrast, this study suggests that transnational entrepreneurship today is more fluid than previous studies have suggested and is often characterised by multi-polar (rather than bipolar) links. Travel is also less relevant in the current age of ‘super-connectivity’. The research explores how Vietnamese entrepreneurs in London draw on various forms of transnational capital to further the development of their business, and develops a framework to measure the degree and extent of the transnational embeddedness and dependency of the business. The results suggest that transnational entrepreneurship amongst ethnic minority entrepreneurs today is better viewed as a continuum rather than a set of disc...

The role of embeddedness for resource integration Complementing S-D logic research through a social capital perspective

Abstract: Marketing research highlights the importance of actors' relationships as mechanisms for integrating resources. With its roots in sociology, the concept of embeddedness has gained prominence in the literature on organizations, providing in-depth insight into how relational structures regulate resource integration processes and outcomes. However, the concept of an actor's embeddedness is rarely discussed in association with service-dominant (S-D) logic. This limits the extant understanding of factors that influence resource exchange and value cocreation among individual actors in service ecosystems. Against this background, this article links S-D logic with social capital theory to establish and conceptualize embeddedness as a key concept. More specifically, this research identifies and delineates structural, relational, and cultural properties of embeddedness and offers a systematic and complementary theoretical understanding to better explain relational constellations based on actors' resource integration potential. In so doing, this research significantly advances marketing science and particularly the S-D logic school of thought by explicitly clarifying the role of embeddedness and its implications for resource integration. A set of research propositions is presented laying the foundation for future research.

Is output performance all about the resources? a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of street-level bureaucrats in switzerland

Abstract: This article refines Lipsky's assertion that lacking resources negatively affects output performance It uses fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to analyse the nuanced interplay of contextual and individual determinants of the output performance of veterinary inspectors as street-level bureaucrats in Switzerland Moving ‘beyond Lipsky’, the study builds on recent theoretical contributions and a systematic comparison across organizational contexts Against a widespread assumption, output performance is not all about resources The impact of perceived available resources hinges on caseloads, which prove to be more decisive These contextual factors interact with individual attitudes emerging from diverse public accountabilities The results contextualize the often-emphasized importance of worker–client interaction In a setting where clients cannot escape the interaction, street-level bureaucrats are not primarily held accountable by them Studies of output performance should thus consider gaps between what is being demanded of and offered to street-level bureaucrats, and the latter's multiple embeddedness

Opportunism in Distribution Networks: The Role of Network Embeddedness and Dependence

Abstract: Prior research documents the value of network relationships to firm behavior but is relatively silent on how networks influence opportunism in distribution channels. Focusing on a common type of distribution networks in which multiple distributors serve a single, dominant supplier, this study moves beyond a dyadic view to examine how a focal distributor's relational and structural embeddedness in such a distribution network influences its opportunism toward the dominant supplier. In particular, we postulate that a distributor's relational embeddedness in the network curbs its opportunism, whereas its network centrality, as a form of structural embeddedness in the network, promotes its opportunism. Moreover, we propose that relational embeddedness magnifies the role of a focal distributor's dependence on the supplier in suppressing the distributor's opportunism, whereas network centrality buffers such a role. We first empirically test these hypotheses using data collected from car dealers in China; the results provide support for the hypotheses. We then develop an analytical model to validate and further explain the underlying mechanisms of the network effects. Our analytical results not only validate the empirical results but also provide guidance for managers on controlling opportunism in distribution networks

Network Dynamics: How Can We Find Patients Like Us?

Abstract: Social networks have been shown to affect health. Because online social networking makes it easier for individuals to interact with experientially similar others in regard to health issues and to exchange social support, there has been an increasing effort to understand how networks function. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how these networks are formed. In this paper, we examine the driving forces behind patients' social network formation and evolution. We argue that patients' health-related traits influence their social connections and that the patients' network layout is shaped by their cognitive capabilities and their network embeddedness. By studying longitudinal data from 1,322 individuals and their communication ties in an online healthcare social network, we find that firsthand disease experience, which provides knowledge of the disease, increases the probability that patients will find experientially similar others and establish communication ties. Patients' cognitive abilities, including the information load that they can process and the range of social ties that they can manage, however, limit their network growth. In addition, we find that patients' efforts to reach out for additional social resources are associated with their embeddedness in the network and the cost of maintaining connections. Practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Climate policy meets national development contexts: Insights from Kenya and Mozambique

Abstract: Despite the growth in work linking climate change and national level development agendas, there has been limited attention to their political economy. These processes mediate the winners, losers and potential trade-offs between different goals, and the political and institutional factors which enable or inhibit integration across different policy areas. This paper applies a political economy analysis to case studies on low carbon energy in Kenya and carbon forestry in Mozambique. In examining the intersection of climate and development policy, we demonstrate the critical importance of politics, power and interests when climate-motivated initiatives encounter wider and more complex national policy contexts, which strongly influence the prospects of achieving integrated climate policy and development goals in practice. We advance the following arguments: First, understanding both the informal nature and historical embeddedness of decision making around key issue areas and resource sectors of relevance to climate change policy is vital to engaging actually existing politics; why actors hold the positions they do and how they make decisions in practice. Second, we need to understand and engage with the interests, power relations and policy networks that will shape the prospects of realising climate policy goals; acting as barriers in some cases and as vehicles for change in others. Third, by looking at the ways in which common global drivers have very different impacts upon climate change policy once refracted through national levels institutions and policy processes, it is easier to understand the potential and limits of translating global policy into local practice. And fourth, climate change and development outcomes, and the associated trade-offs, look very different depending on how they are framed, who frames them and in which actor coalitions. Understanding these can inform the levers of change and power to be navigated, and with whom to engage in order to address climate change and development goals.

Buyer-supplier embeddedness and patterns of innovation

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe different ways in which a buyer and supplier can be embedded in a dyadic relationship and how these differences influence patterns of inter-firm innovation activities and outcomes. Specifically, to address the relative paucity of theoretical work on how dyadic configurations influence parties’ joint innovation behavior, this study examines how different buyer-supplier embeddedness (BSE) configurations change the four choices that pertain to the levels of involvement buyers and suppliers exhibit in inter-firm innovation activities. These choices concern the processes buyers use to engage suppliers; the scope of efforts in each party; the locus of effects determining the beneficiaries; and the extent to which parties disclose private innovations within the relationship. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on social embeddedness literature, the authors conceptualize dyad level, BSE in two dimensions: relational and structural. The relational dimension desc...

Governing the Embedded State: The Organizational Dimension of Governance

Abstract: Governing the Embedded State integrates governance theory with organization theory and examines how states address social complexity and international embeddedness. Drawing upon extensive empirical research on the Swedish government system, this volume describes a strategy of governance based in a metagovernance model of steering by designing institutional structures. This strategy is supplemented by micro-steering of administrative structures within the path dependencies put in place through metagovernance. Both of these strategies of steering rely on subtle methods of providing political guidance to the public service where norms of loyalty to the government characterize the relationship between politicians and civil servants. By drawing upon this research, the volume will explain how recent developments such as globalization, Europeanization, the expansion of managerial ideas, and the fragmentation of states, have influenced the state's capacity to govern. The result is an account of contemporary governance which shows the societal constraints on government but also the significance of close interaction and cooperation between the political leadership and the senior civil servants in addressing those constraints.

Sharing Economy: a Step towards the Re-Embeddedness of the Economy?

Abstract: The expression «sharing economy» has spread exponentially in the past few years, a sign of the growing interest in a phenomenon that continues to maintain boundaries thar are somewhat vague. The hypothesis of this paper is that this can be attributed not only to the pervasiveness and enabling power of new technologies but also to the need to fill a social vacuum due to the failures of the rnarket and the state. The sharing economy is introducing collaborarive social forms able (at least ideally) to embed economic relations within social ones. To test this hypothesis, the article uses the instrumentation implemented by Karl Polanyi to analyze the forms of integration of economy and society (exchange, reciprocity, redistribution). The political economy of the late twentieth century was especially interested in exchange (market) and redistribution (state), leaving social reciprocity in the background. However, we have to look at this more carefully to grasp any social and institutional innovation that the sharing economy can promete. The first part of this paper is devoted to an analysis of the forms of integration and, in particular, to reciprocity in its different variants. The second part, in light of the taxonomy proposed in the first, analyzes some of the most significant experiences of the sharing economy, seeking to determine the institutional characteristics and social dynamics that this could (at least potentially) engender and support. The conclusions will attempt to answer the questions formulated and indicate avenues for further research.

Firm Performance, Innovation Modes and Territorial Embeddedness

Abstract: This paper seeks to identify different innovation modes and their territorial embeddedness, relating them to firms’ innovative and economic performance. We also analyse the relationship between the different innovation modes and the economic impact of the crisis on firms’ performance. These relationships are tested by regression and latent class models for the Portuguese population of firms, using a sample of 397 firms classified according to technological intensity, size and region. Our results show three different innovation modes: a DUI (Doing, Using and Interacting) mode, an STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) mode and a TEI (Territorial Embeddedness Innovation) mode in which territory plays a key role. These innovative modes are related in different ways to firms’ economic and innovative performance and also have marked distinctions in terms of resilience to the economic crisis. These findings lead to a reflection on regional innovation policy in the European context.

Communication under Fire: The Role of Embeddedness in the Emergence and Efficacy of Disaster Response Communication Networks

Abstract: Communication networks among responders are critical to effective coordination and information transfer across agencies active in a disaster response. Using the theory of embed dedness, we investigate how aspects of relational and institutional embeddedness influence the emergence and efficacy of interactions among responding agencies using network data from three significant wildfire events in the wildland/urban interface. For this study, relational embeddedness is investigated as the degree of familiarity between two responders before the incident. Institutional embeddedness is explored in terms of nesting within shared affiliations and common roles. Our findings suggest that both relational and institutional embeddedness significantly shape the disaster communication network during an incident, but relational embeddedness appears to play a stronger role. Further, the most problematic interactions appear to occur among institutionally embedded responders who do not know each other. Consequently, knowing something about relational and institutional embeddedness within the network of responders before an incident provides insight into what the communication network will look like when a disaster occurs. Findings also provide insights for how we might mitigate risk for problematic information flow and coordination during the incident. INTRoDu CTIoN Failures in effective communication and coordination within the network of responding organizations and agencies during a disaster can lead to problematic and even dangerous outcomes (Eikenberry, Arroyave, and Cooper 2007; Kapucu and Van Wart 2006). For this reason, a key area of concern in the study of disasters is the interactions that take place among leaders of these organizations and their effect on the collective response. Although a growing literature has documented the structure of disaster response networks (e.g., Comfort 2007; Comfort and Kapucu 2006; Kapucu 2005, 2006; Kapucu,

Workplace fun matters … but what else?

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend research on fun in the workplace by focussing on its relationship with job embeddedness among Millennials. This research examined the influence of four dimensions of fun, including fun activities, manager support for fun, coworker socializing, and fun job responsibilities, on embeddedness. In addition, this research assessed the impact of fun relative to other aspects of the employment experience. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from 234 full-time working Millennials via survey methodology. Findings Fun job responsibilities were the most dominant predictor of embeddedness followed by perceived career opportunities and praise and rewards. The other dimensions of fun accounted for significant variance in embeddedness, yet their influence was more modest. Research limitations/implications The research demonstrated that fun plays a role in enhancing Millennials’ embeddedness, accounting for significant additional variance beyond other important aspects of the employment experience. At the same time, some aspects of fun were more dominant predictors of embeddedness than others, and other aspects of the employment experience were more dominant predictors than certain aspects of fun. These findings should be interpreted in the context of the primary limitation that the data were cross-sectional. Practical implications Workplace fun may play a role in enhancing embeddedness, but organizations should not lose sight of other human resource management practices. Originality/value The present study examined the role of workplace fun in a more nuanced perspective by examining its relationship on embeddedness relative to other important constructs.

Migration, migrants and leisure: meaningful leisure?

Abstract: This special issue looks at the ways in which migrants’ leisure activities contribute to self-perception, daily life organisation, multiple embeddedness and sense of belonging. The precariousness o...

Social Capital, Reputation and Contract Duration in Buyer-Supplier Networks for Information Technology Outsourcing

Abstract: This paper presents new evidence on the role of embeddedness in predicting contract duration in the context of Information Technology (IT) Outsourcing. Contract duration is a strategic decision that aligns interests of clients and vendors, providing the benefits of business continuity to clients and incentives to undertake relationship specific investments for vendors. Considering the salience of this phenomenon, there has been limited empirical scrutiny into how contract duration is awarded. We posit that clients and vendors obtain two benefits from being embedded in an inter-organizational network. First, the learning and experience accumulated from being embedded in client-vendor network could mitigate the challenges in managing longer-term contracts. Second, the network serves as a reputation system that can stratify vendors according to their trustworthiness and reliability, which is important in longer term arrangements. We analyze a dataset of 22039 outsourcing contracts implemented between 1989 and 2008. We find that contract duration is indeed associated with structural and positional embeddedness of participant firms, with the relational embeddedness of the buyer-seller dyad and with the duration of other contracts to which it is connected through common firms. Given the nature of our data, identification using traditional OLS based approaches is difficult given the unobserved errors being clustered along two non-nested dimensions and the autocorrelation in a firm’s decision (here the contract) with those of contracts in its reference group. We employ a multi-way cluster robust estimation and a network auto-regressive estimation to address these issues. Implications for literature and practice are discussed.