Showing papers on "Resource dependence theory published in 2011"

Understanding Responses to Supply Chain Disruptions: Insights from Information Processing and Resource Dependence Perspectives

Abstract: Why, how, and under what conditions do firms respond to supply chain disruptions? These are important questions, given that firms around the world are increasingly exposed to disruptions that impede their supply chain relationships and associated operations. This study applies information processing and resource dependence perspectives to identify the repertoire of strategic responses to supply chain disruptions and to devise and test a model that explains the occurrence of the alternative responses. The findings suggest that these responses are shaped by the "stability motive" and by "interpretative postures," which evolve from past experiences.

Toward a “theoretical toolbox” for sustainability research in marketing

Abstract: This paper provides a foundation for future marketing research on sustainability through the application of nine prominent organizational theories. Specifically, we consider the implications for sustainability offered by transaction cost economics, agency theory, institutional theory, population ecology, resource dependence theory, the resource-based view of the firm, upper echelons theory, social network theory, and signaling theory. We consider how each theory can help researchers to better understand the ways that firms engage in sustainable marketing and business practices, and we develop insights that emerge from simultaneous examination of complementary or competing theoretical perspectives.

An Integrated Agency–Resource Dependence View of the Influence of Directors' Human and Relational Capital on Firms' R&D Spending

Abstract: In this paper, we contribute to the agency and corporate entrepreneurship literatures by focusing on board antecedents of research and development (R&D). Some researchers in this stream find outside directors negatively influence R&D spending, yet popular opinion suggests boards should be composed of outsiders, and at the same time, firms should be innovative and entrepreneurial. We begin to address this conflict by extending agency theory and incorporating resource dependence views in order to explore the influence of a wider range of director characteristics on R&D spending, a precursor of innovation and entrepreneurial activity. Our empirical results demonstrate that aspects of directors' human and relational capital (e.g. education, entrepreneurial finance experience, technical experience, and interlocks) significantly influence R&D spending. Our findings illustrate that boards can be configured to improve efficiencies, thereby reducing R&D spending, and/or to augment R&D spending. They reveal the merits of considering inside and outside directors separately and show how the independence (i.e. inside/outside status) of directors shapes the effect of their human and relational capital on R&D spending.

Organizational Path Dependence: A Process View

Abstract: The structuring and behaviour of organizations is increasingly explained with the help of process theories, taking into account that history and sequencing matter. Among them, the notion of path dependence has gained prominence, in particular when an explanation for the rigidification of organizational routines and strategies is at stake. The distinguishing feature of this concept is its emphasis on self-reinforcing mechanisms when explaining the dynamics of narrowing down the scope of alternative actions in and among organizations. After having presented and discussed the theory of organizational path dependence, the paper highlights commonalities and contrasts between related concepts. Thereafter, the papers of this Special Themed Section will be introduced.

Can Resource Dependence and Coercive Isomorphism Explain Nonprofit Organizations' Compliance With Reporting Standards?

Abstract: Nonprofit organizations worldwide are confronted with an increasing demand for accountability and improved financial transparency. Financial reporting by nonprofit organizations is no longer an exception; it has become a rule.The usefulness of a financial report to an organization’s stakeholders depends on its quality. The latter is safeguarded by reporting standards as well as the commitment of the organization to fully implement these standards. Although resource dependence and coercive isomorphism have been used in earlier nonprofit organization research, no empirical research has linked these theories to compliance with financial reporting standards. Using a unique setting in which a large number of (very) large Belgian nonprofit organizations are confronted with far-reaching changes in financial reporting regulations, the effect of resource dependence and coercive isomorphism on accounting and financial reporting compliance is documented.

Mutual dependence, partner substitutability, and repeated partnership: the survival of cross-border alliances

Abstract: Drawing on the resource dependence perspective, this study suggests that alliance survival is an adaptive response to both environmental dependence and partner dependence independently and jointly. Based on a sample of cross-border alliances formed and terminated by local and foreign firms in a longitudinal setting, the results suggest that the mutual trade dependence between a home country and a host country is positively related to the survival of cross-border alliances in the host country. Whereas partner substitutability reduces the probability of alliance survival, repeated partnership increases the probability. Moreover, mutual trade dependence reduces the negative effect of partner substitutability on alliance survival. The findings support the idea that resource dependence theory provides an important framework for the study of cross-border alliances. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rents to Riches?: The Political Economy of Natural Resource-Led Development

Abstract: This volume emphasizes instead the notion of 'good fit,' taking the position that welfare-promoting policies, institutions, and governance must be tailored, at least in part, to a country's specific context In this vein, the volume presents an analytical framework for assessing a country's political economy and institutional environment as it relates to natural resource management and, on that basis, it offers a substantial set of targeted prescriptions across the natural resource value chain that are technically sound and compatible with the identified underlying incentives In other words, the objective of this book is to help development practitioners unravel the political economy dynamics surrounding natural resource management in order to complement their technically grounded engagement To this end, the analytical approach has been two-pronged First, case studies were conducted on the political economy of the hydrocarbon and mineral value chains in 13 countries in the Africa, East Asia and Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean regions Second, in light of this empirical material, the book highlights the current frontier of applied political economy analysis on resource dependence This volume synthesizes the empirical and the theoretical with an emphasis on illuminating the implications for operational engagement in resource-dependent settings

Boomtowns, Resource Dependence and Socio-economic Well-being

Abstract: The issue of socio-economic well-being in resource-dependent communities has been one of ongoing interest for geographers, rural sociologists and economists. While much research focuses on the impacts of industry downturn and closure on well-being, this paper is focused on the implications of large-scale resource development and rapid growth in boomtowns. In contrast to a long tradition of research in other parts of the developed world, relatively few studies explicitly examine the relationship between resource reliance and socio-economic well-being in Australia's resource-dependent regions. Within the context of a nationwide resources boom, this paper presents an analysis of resource dependence and socio-economic well-being in the remote mining towns of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Port Hedland and Karratha-Dampier in Western Australia. The paper looks into the anatomy of the resources boom in terms of local demographic and economic change, and examines a range of socio-economic indicators, such as incom...

College Rankings as an Interorganizational Dependency: Establishing the Foundation for Strategic and Institutional Accounts

Abstract: Higher education administrators believe that revenues are linked to college rankings and act accordingly, particularly those at research universities. Although rankings are clearly influential for many schools and colleges, this fundamental assumption has yet to be tested empirically. Drawing on data from multiple resource providers in higher education, we find that the influence of rankings depends on constituencies’ placement in the higher education field. Resource providers who are vulnerable to the status hierarchy of higher education––college administrators, faculty, alumni, and out-of-state students––are significantly influenced by rankings. Those on the periphery of the organizational field, such as foundations and industry, are largely unaffected. Although rankings are designed largely for stakeholders outside of higher education, their strongest influence is on those within the higher education field.

Expanding the boundaries of psychological resource theories

Abstract: This article introduces JOOP’s special section on expanding the boundaries of resource theories in occupational and organizational psychology. After an introduction of the most relevant resource theories and their current application in occupational and organizational psychology – key resource theories, conservation of resources theory, resource theory of social exchange, and selective optimization with compensation theory – the opportunities and challenges for future research are outlined, as well as the innovative trends emerging from the contributions in this special section.

Founding Conditions, Learning, and Organizational Life Chances: Age Dependence Revisited:

Abstract: Empirical evidence about the relation between organizational age and failure is mixed, and theoretical explanations are conflicting. We show that a simple model of organizational evolution can explain the main patterns of age dependence and reconcile the apparently conflicting theoretical predictions. In our framework, the predicted pattern of age dependence depends crucially on the quality of organizational performance immediately after founding and its subsequent evolution, which in turn depends on the intensity of competition. In developing our theory, we clarify issues of levels of analysis as well as the relations between organizational fitness, endowment, organizational capital, and the hazard of failure. We show that once organizational learning is considered, founding conditions affect the fate of organizations in ways more complex than previously acknowledged. We illustrate how the predictions of our theory can be tested empirically and evaluate the effect of aging on the mortality hazards of American microbreweries and brewpubs by estimating the parameters of a random walk with timevarying drift. We also make some conjectures about expected patterns in other empirical settings.

Moving from Outputs to Outcomes: A Review of the Evolution of Performance Measurement in the Human Service Nonprofit Sector

Abstract: Across the human service field, funders, executive directors, and program managers are faced with pressures to demonstrate effectiveness through measurable outcomes. Although performance measurement is often seen as an administrative burden imposed by funders to the detriment of direct service, it is increasingly accepted as crucial to achieving impact. Using a conceptual framework combining institutional theory and resource dependency theory, this article examines the field-level pressures facing human service organizations and reviews the research on nonprofit-level responses to these pressures. After an examination of key innovations in social measurement, including the theory of change logic model, outcome standardization projects, and trends in calculating social value, as well as lessons learned from data-driven social innovation efforts, future directions in research and practice are proposed.

Jules or Jim: Alternative Conformity to Minority Logics

Abstract: To what extent do organizations respond favorably to minority participation-that is, conform to demands from minority resource suppliers that hold an unconventional logic? A favorable response to minority participation (i.e., "alternative conformity") helps decrease the influence of dominant players, alter the resource suppliers' social structure, and promote new logics, which makes alternative conformity a "son control strategy" for organizations. We expect a positive relationship between minority participation and alternative conformity and expect that relationship to be attenuated by organizations' adherence to a dominant logic, the centrality of minority logic holders, and a minority logic's institutional credit. We test and find strong support for our hypotheses using original data on investment funds in the French film industry (1994-2008).

Governmental subsidies and coercive pressures. Evidence from sport clubs and their resource dependencies

Abstract: This contribution aims to analyse the adoption of subsidy conditions by voluntary sport clubs in relation to their dependence on government funding. Using a sociological neo-institutional approach based upon Pfeffer and Salancik’s (1978) resource dependence theory and DiMaggio and Powell’s (1983) concept of coercive isomorphism, this paper analyses the possible use of sport clubs by governments as instruments of sport policy. Data for these analyses are drawn from the Flemish Sport Club Panel 2009 and the Flemish Local Sport Authorities Panel 2010. The results show that sport clubs display a variety of resources. Although subsidies from the local government are relevant resources for the majority of voluntary sport clubs, the significance of these subsidies in the overall budgets is limited. Nevertheless, the outcomes of a multinomial logistic regression model indicate that there is a relationship between the share of governmental subsidies in the total income of sport clubs and their adoption of ...

Understanding Evaluation in Nonprofit Organizations

Abstract: This study uses organizational theory to explore why nonprofit organizations conduct evaluations and how they use evaluation information. According to rational choice theory, managers of nonprofit organizations will conduct evaluations to make sure they are making good decisions about how to improve their services and achieve their goals. Yet, according to data gathered about the experiences of 31 nonprofit organizations, this assumption about the evaluation practices of nonprofits rarely holds true. Rather, other organizational theories, such as agency theory, institutional theory, resource dependence theory, and stewardship theory, which make different assumptions about how organizations operate and how managers behave, provide a more accurate description of why nonprofits engage in evaluation and how they use evaluation information. The findings from this study are important because they help to identify strategies that would encourage nonprofit organizations to use evaluation in more productive and me...

Broader or Deeper? Exploring the Most Effective Intervention Profile for Public Small Business Support:

Abstract: Most advanced economies offer publicly financed advice services to start-up firms and SMEs. In England, local or regional Business Links organisations have provided these services, and divided their support into nonintensive one-off contacts providing information or advice and more intensive support involving a diagnostic process and repeated interaction with firms. A key choice for Business Link managers is how to shape their intervention strategies, balancing resources between intensive and nonintensive support. Drawing on resource dependency theory, we develop a typology of intervention strategies for Business Links in England which reflects differences in the breadth and depth of the support provided. We then test the impacts of these alternative intervention models on client companies using both subjective assessments by firms and econometric treatment models that allow for selection bias. Our key empirical result is that Business Links’ choice of intervention strategy has a significant effect both on actual and on perceived business outcomes, with our results emphasising the value of depth over breadth. The implication is that where additional resources are available for business support these should be used to deepen the assistance provided rather than extend assistance to a wider group of firms.

Scarcity and Abundance Revisited: A Literature Review on Natural Resources and Conflict

Abstract: Natural resources can contribute to economic growth, employment, and fiscal revenues. But many resource-rich and resource-dependent countries are, in fact, body of literature is devoted to the issue of intrastate resource conflicts. These studies can be broadly divided into two groups: studies which focus on resource characterized by disappointing growth rates, high inequality and wide-spread impoverishment, bad governance, and an increased risk of civil violence. A vast scarcity and conflict, and studies that analyse the relationship between resource abundance and conflict. While studying resources and intrastate conflict is anything but new, we show that the main findings from the literature, which are often conflicting, are difficult to compare due to a lack of adequate, and conflict, we discuss the central terminology and approaches to measuring independent and dependent variables (resources and conflict). general definitions and measurements of scarcity, abundance, and conflict. After overviews of research on resource scarcity and conflict and on resource abundance.

Adoption of Cloud Computing in Organizations

Abstract: Cloud Computing is gaining popularity as a new IT arrangement in organizations, offering many advantages such as cost reduction and high flexibility that help in coping with high elasticity of demand. This study investigates organization‟s propensity to adopt Cloud computing services. The decision is viewed as an IT outsourcing decision and as a technology adoption decision through three theoretical perspectives: Transaction cost theory, resource dependence theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Based on these theories, a conceptual model is proposed with research hypotheses for future empirical testing. The study makes an attempt to contribute to the emerging literature of cloud computing, in addition to offering organizations considering adoption a list of benefits and risks of adopting cloud computing.

Organisation response to institutional pressures in Higher Education: the important role of the disciplines

Abstract: How do Higher Education Institutions respond to steering attempts in different disciplines? How can different responses be explained? Case studies have been developed in the Italian Higher Education context and at the departmental level, with a focus on government interventions through funding and evaluation of research. The paper tests the predictions of the model proposed by Oliver (1991) to forecast acquiescence and resistance to external pressures, and develops a new model to interpret and predict organisational response from a wider perspective.

Sustainable development: the role of network communication

Abstract: Research within the field of sustainable development has documented a number of network initiatives taken by corporations in order to manage financial, social, and environmental pressures. So far, the focus of the research has been to address the concerns raised by a number of external stakeholders. As such, research attention has been paid to the reactive corporate response rather than to the proactive communication of the sustainability message with the purpose of developing and driving corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability. Only recently, a few papers have emerged on the issue. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the field by proposing a theoretical analysis of the organizational and communicative bases of CSR and sustainability networks. Resource dependence theory and social network theory are used to form the theoretical framework set up for understanding how governments build relations with local networks, including corporations. The framework is tested on an example from Denmark. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Environmental factors and health information technology management strategy.

Abstract: Background: Previous studies have provided theoretical and empirical evidence that environmental forces influence hospital strategy. Purposes: Rooted in resource dependence theory and the information uncertainty perspective, this study examined the relationship between environmental market characteristics and hospitals' selection of a health information technology (HIT) management strategy. Methodology/Approach: A cross-sectional design is used to analyze secondary data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics Database, and the Area Resource File. Univariate and multinomial logistic regression analyses are used. Findings: Overall, 3,221 hospitals were studied, of which 60.9% pursed a single-vendor HIT management strategy, 28.9% pursued a best-of-suite strategy, and 10.2% used a best-of-breed strategy. Multivariate analyses controlling for hospital characteristics found that measures of environmental factors representing munificence, dynamism, and/or complexity were systematically associated with various hospital HIT management strategy use. Specifically, the number of generalist physicians per capita was positively associated with the single-vendor strategy (B = -5.64, p = .10). Hospitals in urban markets were more likely to pursue the best-of-suite strategy (B = 0.622, p < .001). Dynamism, measured as the number of managed care contracts for a given hospital, was negatively associated with the single-vendor strategy (B = 0.004, p = .049). Lastly, complexity, measured as market competition, was positively associated with the best-of-breed strategy (B = 0.623, p = .042). Practice Implications: By and large, environmental factors are associated with hospital HIT management strategies in mostly theoretically supported ways. Hospital leaders and policy makers interested in influencing the adoption of hospital HIT should consider how market conditions influence HIT management decisions as part of programs to promote meaningful use.

Resources, Resourcing, and Ampliative Cycles in Organizations

Abstract: H1) This chapter presents an overview of resourcing theory, comparing it with other perspectives such as resource dependence and the resource based view of the firm. After developing an understanding of the basic tenets of resourcing theory, the chapter goes on to explicate three mechanisms of resourcing in context that arise from recent empirical research and are likely to be of value to positive organizational scholars. The chapter concludes with an exploration of how the endogenous nature of resourcing and the potential for ampliative cycles can support positive spirals, a subject of vital interest to those studying positive organizational scholarship.