Shareholders and managers: Who care more about corporate diversity and employee benefits?

We test two competing theories that explain a firm’s engagement in corporate diversity and employee benefits: socially responsible investment theory and management overinvestment theory. We find that publicly-traded companies with strong shareholder rights are more likely to promote women and/or minorities to the positions of CEO and board of directors in their organizations, conduct business with women- and/or minority-owned operations, and provide better family benefits to their employees than firms with strong management power. These findings indicate that the companies with strong shareholder rights engage more actively in internal aspects of CSR activities, which supports the socially responsible investment theory rather than the management overinvestment theory. Shareholders (i.e. institutional investors) tend to integrate their social goals (i.e. internal CSR issues) and financial goals into their investments. In response to these changes, managers should engage in the internal aspects of corporate social issues more aggressively as the agents of shareholders.     

From Bureaucratic Administration to Network Administration? An Empirical Study on E-Government Focus on Catalonia

This article aims to (1) analyse the extent to which there is a movement from a Weberian bureaucratic administration towards a new organisational model that we call network-administration and (2) consider whether the premises of New Public Management (NPM) theory are present in this process of transformation. The study centres on the analysis of the channels for citizen attention and the processes of technological innovation around these channels carried out by the Catalonian Government. Our initial conclusions indicate that while there is a change in Public Administration (PA), this change is incremental and has several nuances: a slight evolution towards network-administration is observed as currently existing alongside the traditional hierarchical and compartmentalised bureaucracy. In parallel, the private sector is increasingly involved in a relationship that tends to be more controlled by the public sector. We should add that there is also a new emphasis being placed on the relationship with the citizen as a service-user.

Shame on Who? The Effects of Corporate Irresponsibility and Social Performance on Organizational Reputation

This study examines the relationship between corporate irresponsibility, corporate social performance and changes in organizational reputation. By combining attribution theory with expectancy violations theory, we provide the first systematic analysis of how organizational reputations are influenced by attributions of corporate irresponsibility in the context of social expectations. Drawing on a comprehensive and unique corporate irresponsibility dataset, this study reveals that firms previously believed to be most socially responsible are penalized by evaluators when corporate culpability is verified by a court of law. Conversely, firms perceived as least socially responsible were more likely to suffer reputation penalties when accused of irresponsibility, without their culpability established through litigation. Overall, the results of our study suggest that organizational reputations are mostly stable in light of irresponsibility, in that evaluators only penalize certain firms, in certain circumstances. Specifically, reputation penalties occur when highly responsible firms are perceived as hypocritical and least responsible firms were not found culpable by a court of law. Upon reflection on these findings, our study reveals that the mechanisms of social sanction previously assumed to regulate irresponsibility are weaker than currently understood. The theoretical and policy implications of this study are discussed, along with directions for future research on social evaluations.     

Who will lead?

A recent survey conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Services Management and the Physician Executive Practice of Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, sheds light on the emerging physician executive's role. The goal of the research was to identify success factors as a means of evaluating and developing effective industry leaders. Respondents were asked to look at specific skills in relation to nine categories: Communication, leadership, interpersonal skills, self-motivation/management, organizational knowledge, organizational strategy, administrative skills, and thinking. Communication, leadership, and self-motivation/management emerged, in that order, as the three most important success factors for physician executives. An individual's general competencies, work styles, and ability to lead others through organizational restructuring defines his or her appropriateness for managerial positions in the health care industry.     

Does innovation lead to global orientation? Empirical evidence from a sample of Italian firms

This paper analyses the relationship between innovation at firm and industry level, and the global vs regional strategy of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Based on data from a sample of large Italian manufacturing firms, the analysis shows that technological assets affect a firm’s ability to overcome the liability of (regional) foreignness: the extent to which MNEs can exploit their firm-specific technological advantages is greater within their home region, but they also exploit them outside it. Furthermore, the results show that a firm’s foreign (outside the home country) and global sales (outside the home region) are higher, the greater the technology intensity of the industry in which they operate. These findings suggest that, although MNEs tend to operate regionally rather than globally, their strategic orientation is contingent upon firm- and industry-specific factors. Managers need to take the potential for globally exploiting R&D investments into account, even if it may not be equally successful within and outside the home region, and may be constrained by a number of inter-regional barriers.     

Contingencies or cognitions? Two paths for research on organization and technology

This article reviews and criticizes the treatment of the concepts of technology in organization theories. It pays special attention to how authors of the contingency school interpret empirical results concerning relationships between technology and organization structure. When authors have encountered contradictory results, they attempt to find flaws in previous research and to ask for methodologically more precise research. As this way of dealing with anomalies yields little fruit in the long run, organization theorists need new frameworks for investigating the significance of technology for the design of organizations. An actor-oriented approach can frame investigations into the cognitive processes dissolving or modifying the relationships.     

Who influences strategic decisions?

Drawing on information provided by 407 European top managers, the results of this study indicate that the influence process varies for different types of strategic decisions. Each of three types of strategic decisions—product-market, technological and administrative—was primarily influenced by a different set of departments. Only the managing director maintained moderate influence over all decisions. The patterns of effective power bases also differed for each type of decision. Environmental scanning was a more important source of departmental influence on product-market decisions while formal position and access to resources proved more important for influencing technological and administrative decisions.     

Customer satisfaction: Cost driver or value driver? Empirical evidence from the financial services industry

We investigate the relation between customer satisfaction, customer servicing costs, and customer value in a financial services firm. We find that customer satisfaction is positively associated with future customer servicing costs, as well as with customer value. The relation between customer satisfaction and customer value appears non-linear; higher customer satisfaction appears to have a higher return for the most profitable customer segments. Our findings indicate that customer satisfaction is a value driver; however, customer satisfaction is not cost-free and managers have to consider the costs, as well as the benefits, of increasing customer satisfaction.     

How Do SMEs Decide on International Market Entry? An Empirical Examination in the Middle East

This study contributes to the scant literature that scrutinises the decision-making process preceding foreign entries, particularly in the Middle Eastern context. While considerable research has examined the content and antecedents of the internationalisation decision of firms, far less attention has been paid to how SMEs decide on international market entry. The answer to this question is important to advance our understanding of internationalisation processes and offer essential insights for first and successive market entries, particularly post political crises. Through an embedded approach to case study, the analysis of four SMEs based in Egypt and Qatar suggests that SMEs' decision-making evolves into a rational mode as SMEs progress through successive international market entries. The study also captures the co-existence of reactive and bounded rationality modes during SMEs' unplanned internationalisation and suggests that SMEs are likely to adopt a bounded rationality mode as a response to the occurrence of a political crisis in the home country.     

Will retiree health benefits survive FAS 106?

Recent months have seen dramatic public announcements about retiree health care coverage. General Motors recorded a $24 billion quarterly loss this year, due almost entirely to a one-time charge for future retiree health care costs. Other major employers have also reported sudden staggering losses, along with plans to decrease or stop retiree health coverage entirely. Some of these companies have been taken to court. The headlines also identify a culprit--an obscure accounting requirement, Financial Accounting Standard 106. To understand how an accounting rule can have such a profound effect on both the health care of our seniors and the financial strength of American industry, it is necessary to understand how employers pay for their retirees' care, how new accounting rules governing these costs can threaten a company's survival, and how employers are changing their employees' health coverage to meet these threats.     

Coopetition Strategy – When is it Successful? Empirical Evidence on Innovation and Market Performance

Coopetition (collaboration between competing firms) has been viewed as a potentially beneficial but also a risky relationship for a firm. Earlier literature provides inconclusive evidence in terms of the effects of a firm's coopetition strategy on innovation and market performance, suggesting both positive and negative implications. Some of this variation could be attributed to the fact that coopetition is successful only in certain types of business environment. In order to take the research further, this study examines the effect of a coopetition strategy on the firm's innovation and market performance, focusing on the moderating effects of market uncertainty, network externalities and competitive intensity. The results from a cross‐industry survey of 209 Finnish firms provide novel evidence on the conditions under which coopetition is successful and when it is not.     

A Social Capital Perspective of Innovation from Individuals to Nations: Where is Empirical Literature Directing Us?

Social capital is regarded as the bedrock of innovation. However, inadequate efforts have been made to synthesize the way in which different components of social capital dynamically influence innovation. This paper reviews existing empirical studies on the relationship between social capital and innovation of the individual, team, organization, city and nation. Analyses were carried out to identify consensus, discordances and gaps in the social capital–innovation connection. The findings suggested that the structural components of social capital, including ego network size, structural holes, tie strength and centrality have a significant impact on innovation. Their impact, however, tends to be moderated by contextual and intellectual factors, such as the nature and type of innovation, internal vs external ties, costs of maintaining the ties and existing intellectual capital. The relational components of social capital, trust and cognitive norms, demonstrated a consistently positive relationship with innovation across contexts. The cognitive components of social capital have not sufficiently established their contribution to innovation apart from the other two dimensions. Several insights regarding the general literature on social capital and innovation were identified, including the conceptualization of social capital, measurement of innovation, and the causal relationship between social capital and innovation. Suggestions are offered for future research agenda. Implications for managerial practices based on the study findings are also drawn.     

Do board characteristics and ownership structure matter for bank non-performing loans? Empirical evidence from US commercial banks

Journal of Management and Governance - This paper aims to study the ability of the corporate governance of banks to reduce non-performing loans. The dynamic panel GMM estimation is applied to 184...     

How do I get my way? A meta-analytic review of research on influence tactics

Despite considerable research investigating the role of influence tactics on work-related outcomes in organizations, consensus on the effectiveness of influence tactics has been elusive. Specifically, there is a lack of integration concerning the relationships between proactive influence tactics and their outcomes. We investigate the effectiveness of 11 influence tactics from a comprehensive perspective using meta-analytic techniques. In particular, the current study focuses on relationships between each of the 11 influence tactics (i.e., rational persuasion, exchange, inspirational appeal, legitimating, apprising, pressure, collaboration, ingratiation, consultation, personal appeals, and coalition) and task- and relations-oriented outcomes. In addition, we investigate the moderating effects of the direction of influence tactics, measurement of influence tactics, singular influence tactic (versus use of a combination of influence tactics), independence of data sources, and study setting involved in the study. Regardless of task- and relations-oriented outcomes, based on 49 independent samples (N = 8987), our results show positive relationships between outcomes and rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, apprising, collaboration, ingratiation, consultation, and a negative relationship between pressure and outcomes. Rational persuasion is the only tactic which held stable positive relationships with both categories of outcomes regardless of moderating factors. Implications and directions for future research in the area of influence tactics are discussed.