Is there a liability of localness? How emerging market firms respond to regulatory punctuations

In the 1990s, emerging economies all over the world deregulated, privatized and liberalized their domestic markets. These regulatory punctuations caused radical institutional changes for emerging market firms (EMFs). We argue that, for EMFs, regulatory punctuations created a liability of localness, parallel to the liability of foreignness that firms face when they go abroad. Whereas liability of foreignness comes from the differences caused by changing one's geographic place from ‘here’ to ‘there’; liability of localness comes from changing one's point in time from ‘then’ (pre-exogenous regulatory shock) to ‘now’ (post-exogenous regulatory shock). In both cases, firms incur additional costs, and the ones that survive are ones that best develop strategies for coping with “being in a strange land”. We apply our arguments to the Mexican banking industry, which was privatized and liberalized in the 1990s.     

Does valuing androgyny and femininity lead to a female advantage? The relationship between gender-role,transformational leadership and identification

The notion of ‘think manager–think male’ has been demonstrated in many studies. The current study examines whether leaders are perceived as more effective when they have ‘feminine’, ‘masculine’ or ‘androgynous’ characteristics, and how this relates to the leader's and followers' sex. Using carefully matched samples of 930 employees of 76 bank managers, we studied the relationship between managers' gender-role identity (perceived ‘femininity’, ‘masculinity’ and ‘androgyny’) and how this relates to leadership effectiveness in terms of transformational leadership and personal identification with the leader. Our findings show that among both male and female leaders, ‘androgyny’ was more strongly related to transformational leadership and followers' identification than ‘non-androgyny’, and that leaders' ‘femininity’ was more strongly related to leadership effectiveness than ‘masculinity’. Furthermore, the results show that women paid a higher penalty for not being perceived as ‘androgynous’ (mixing ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’), in comparison to men with regard to personal identification. When examining same- versus cross-sex relationships, we found that ‘non-androgynous’ male managers were rated higher by their male employees than by their female employees. Our findings suggest that women and men who are interested in being perceived as effective leaders may be well advised to blend ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ behaviors, and even more so when they are in situations of non-congruency (i.e., women in leadership roles and leading in cross-sex relationships). We discuss the implications of these findings for both theory and practice.     

Dynamic strategies for branch and bound

Some straightforward but unconventional strategies are proposed for implementing branch and bound methods. These include ‘shrinking’ the branch and bound tree and instituting ‘branch reversals’ by reference to the notion of the relative influence of particular branches in the current solution. An attractive feature of these strategies is their ease of implementation, and the fact that they free the solution process from its customary dependency on early branches created on the basis of inadequate information.     

Labour Market Flexibility,Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance

Labour market flexibility is often portrayed as a key to the competitive success of the UK and US economies. We surveyed several hundred firms in the UK, and using the resulting data (on over 200 manufacturing firms) this paper investigates the relationships between firms’ use of flexible work practices, human resource systems and industrial relations on the one hand, and corporate performance on the other hand. The results suggest that ‘low‐road’ practices – short‐term contracts, a lack of employer commitment to job security, low levels of training and low levels of human resource sophistication – are negatively correlated with corporate performance. In contrast, it is found that ‘high‐road’ work practices –‘high commitment’ organizations or ‘transformed’ workplaces – are positively correlated with good corporate performance. It is also found that human resource management practices are more likely to contribute to competitive success where they are introduced as a comprehensive package, or ‘bundle’ of practices. Significant interaction effects between human resource systems, trade unions and flexible work practices add further support to the bundling hypothesis.     

The Dilemmas of Internationalization: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Multinational Corporation

We add to the global–local debate by highlighting concerns with the empirical and conceptual validity of the construct ‘integrated’ as it operates within corporate social responsibility (CSR). We do so by investigating the extent to which foreign national culture and related local issues are incorporated into the CSR policy of 37 multinational corporations, examining strategy development and implementation across global locations. This research suggests that integrated internationalization strategies do not resolve global and local CSR issues. In fact, they reinforce outcomes similar to global strategies, where core issues identified by headquarters are legitimated and local issues are marginalized, an outcome that appears somewhat at odds with the spirit of local responsiveness embedded in CSR thinking.     

Market reactions to acquisition announcements: The importance of signaling ‘why’ and ‘where’

Acquisitions are risky events but not all acquisitions involve the same levels of risk. We suggest that the announced acquisition motive – the ‘why’ of the acquisition – is an important risk signal. We categorize acquisition motives and distinguish between acquisitions with ‘pure explore’ and ‘pure exploit’ motives. Recognizing that most acquisitions have multiple motives, we identify acquisitions with ‘ambidextrous’ motives – that is different combinations of explorative and exploitative motives – too. Then, building on recent contributions to signaling theory, we argue that the ‘why’ will matter more, if the ‘where’ pertains to a high-risk setting. We measure this using target-to-acquirer industry relatedness. We find that the market reacts more positively to pure acquisitions, aimed at exploration or exploitation, compared to ambidextrous acquisitions. We show that the market reacts more positively to ambidextrous acquisitions orientated towards exploitation than ambidextrous acquisitions orientated toward exploration. Finally, we find that relatedness moderates this relationship, in that the market is more willing to tolerate exploration in a related industry. Our core contribution is to the literatures on acquisition motives and ambidexterity. We provide new insights into the incidence of specific motives, the ways in which they are mixed, and the market's reaction to their announcement. In addition, we contribute to the emerging literature that takes on behavioral perspective of market reactions by showing that the ‘why’ and ‘where’ of an acquisition matter.     

The use of multiple scenarios by U.S. industrial companies

A growing number of firms have responded to the ‘unpredictable future’ by developing ways to measure their proposed strategies against several plausible alternative futures. Probably the most widely used of these techniques is multiple (or alternative) scenario analysis (MSA).Survey results indicate that approximately 150 of the Fortune ‘1000’ industrials now use MSA in their formal planning processes. Most have begun using MSA within the last 3 or 4 years. Furthermore, a number of other companies are considering its use. Survey results also show that firms do not follow the relatively rigorous procedures as suggested in the literature. Also, MSA seems to be most successful when management is both knowledgable and involved with scenarios from the beginning.     

‘Environment’ Submissions in the UK's Research Excellence Framework 2014

There has been much debate about university research assessment exercises. In the UK, a major element of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) has been the research environment. Here we analyse 98 REF2014 ‘environment’ submissions in Business and Management Studies. We explore whether there are distinctive language‐related differences between submissions of high and low ranked universities and conclude that submission writers have a strong incentive to exaggerate strengths and conceal problems. In addition, innate biases such as the ‘halo’ and ‘velcro’ effects may distract the attention of assessors from a submission's strengths and weaknesses, since they are likely to influence their pre‐existing impressions. We propose several changes to improve how environment is evaluated. We also argue that the research environment would be more likely to be enhanced if the number of outputs submitted in future was an average of two and a maximum of four per academic, rather than the maximum of five currently being considered.     

Mitigating the environmental and social footprint of brownfields: The case for a peripheral CSR approach

Industrial plant closures create a largely unexplored challenge for corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. Such plant closures lead to brownfield sites: economic assets and large pieces of land that often cannot be redeployed for alternative purposes, except by incurring significant costs. The direct effects of plant closures typically include a rise in unemployment and value chain disturbance (or dismantling), but brownfields are usually also associated with additional social effects and environmental pollution. Here, a proactive CSR strategy means reducing or mitigating the joint, negative social and environmental footprint of industrial plant closures beyond what is mandated by law (which has tended primarily to address direct effects). We assess the various strategies firms can pursue to mitigate negative, post-closure footprints and we distinguish between two alternative strategic options beyond the ‘legal obligations’ approach, namely the ‘core business related’ (core) CSR approach, and the ‘peripheral CSR’ approach. We explore the case of a plant closure by Bekaert S.A., a large, Belgian industrial firm, which adopted a peripheral CSR approach to manage and redevelop a brownfield site. In this context, we identify four enabling conditions for peripheral CSR to be implemented effectively.     

Vulnerability and Agenda: Context and Process in Project Management

This paper explores how the project management role is conditioned by the context in which change is progressed. The argument draws on Pettigrew's (1985, 1987) contextual and processual view of change, a view which does not clarify the management implications of contextual variation. Using data from a two-stage research design combining diary and survey methods, four context dimensions are identified, concerning ‘interlocking’, ‘shifting sands’, ‘ownership’ and ‘senior management view’. For analytical purposes, two extreme contexts are characterized as exposing the project manager to high and low levels of ‘vulnerability’ respectively. Project management literature typically offers a rational-linear account of change, and concentrates on ‘content’ and ‘control’ agendas, concerning technical expertise on the one hand, and planning, budgeting and monitoring techniques on the other. Sociological analyses reveal the limitations of the rational-linear account, and focus on the political and cultural dimensions of the ‘process’ agenda. The data suggest how contextual variation affects the relative priority of these agendas. The management implications of these findings are explored, for project management selection, career progression, and the development of diagnostic skills and ‘agenda management’ strategies.     

Those Glass Chains that Bind You: How British Muslim Women Professionals Experience Career,Faith and Family

This paper contributes to gender and diversity research through proposing a new theoretical construct: glass chains. We develop ‘glass chains’ as a metaphor to illuminate how highly educated British Pakistani Muslim women professionals in the UK negotiate a fine balance between faith, family and personal ambition. Using a qualitative approach, we highlight tensions between religious and familial guidance within Islam, and workplace practices. Drawing upon the construct of ‘glass chains’, we articulate how 37 British Pakistani Muslim career women felt bound, by invisible glass chains, to the tenets of their faith. We show how the pull of glass chains obliged these women to resist certain career‐advancing opportunities. In so doing, we borrow from French philosopher Michel Foucault ideas about self‐oriented moral codes, engaging with his arguments that individuals may prioritize, over other obligations, the ties (or glass chains) which bind them to personal value sets in order that they may become ‘ethical selves’. While previous glass metaphors highlight barriers to female progression from external and structural angles, ‘glass chains’ are, by contrast, concerned with the potential for internal and personal constraints on women's ambitions. The metaphor ‘glass chains’ may be extended to enhance understanding of career constraints among other workers.     

Limitations of working memory capacity: The cognitive and social consequences

This paper aimed to explore, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, the natural limitations of human cognition that determine our capabilities to deal with information overflow. These limitations are related mainly to the working memory system. This system is conceived to be composed of the storage components, which are responsible for active maintenance, and executive control that supervises the storage units. People differ in their working memory capacities, and because virtually every complex cognitive activity requires the temporal availability of a certain amount of cognitive representations, these differences are predictive of many outcomes. In the area of ‘cold’ cognition, these outcomes include intelligence and verbal reasoning, multitasking, language comprehension and verbal fluency, whereas in the area of ‘hot’ cognition, they include mentalising, stereotyping and self-control. Natural limitations in working memory capacity may be overcome (to some extent) through the training of working memory skills or the application of processing strategies (e.g. task simplification, using external environment as in situated or distributed cognition, changing a code of mental representation).     

Union–Firm Bargaining as a Repeated Game and the Behaviour of Wages over the Business Cycle

This paper studies a repeated game between a union and a firm in the presence of revenue fluctuations. The simple setup, mainly based on Schultz’s (1995) model, gives support to the idea that the existence of a long-term relationship may change the predictions of the static one-shot model of wage and employment determination in unionized labour markets. In particular, when revenue is fluctuating and the discount factor is moderate the players can commit themselves to some ‘second best’ strategies, rather than playing non-cooperative strategies. As a consequence of the enforcement problems a flat wage over the business cycle may arise. This analysis suggests that ‘second best’ strategies allowing for a pro-cyclical wage as well as for a counter-cyclical wage are feasible. However, when the discount factor decreases and approaches a certain threshold value the parties cannot do better than play a wage constant over the cycle. Moreover, the resulting wage varies less than the employment level, in accordance with the empirical evidence.     

Promoting Scholarship that Matters: The Uselessness of Useful Research and the Usefulness of Useless Research

Our ambition in this essay is to challenge received wisdoms about the importance of ‘useful’ management scholarship. Suggesting that usefulness and uselessness are contingent on issues of temporality and power, we advocate caution in assigning terms such as useful and relevant – they are inherently problematic, we argue, and should be viewed more as ideology than as empirical statements. We conclude by a call for reflexivity about what it is we are doing when we do ‘useful’ research, along with a greater concern for the values for which business schools stand.     

INCOMPLETE SOCIAL CONTRACTS

There is a long normative ‘Social Contract’ tradition that attempts to characterize ex‐post income inequalities that are agreeable to all ‘behind a veil of ignorance.’ This paper takes a similar normative approach to characterize social decision‐making procedures. It is shown that quite generally some form of majority‐voting is preferred to unanimity ‘behind a veil of ignorance’ whenever society faces deadweight costs in making compensating transfers. Deviations from unanimity (or ex‐post Pareto optimality) are ex‐ante efficient to the extent that they economize on costly compensating transfers. Put another way, the optimal decision rule trades off the benefits of minority protection and those from greater flexibility. (JEL: H11, G33, G34, D63, P16, P48)     

The Digital Challenge for Multinational Mobile Network Operators. More marginalization or rejuvenation?

Multinational mobile network operators (MNOs) rapidly emerged in the early 1990s and for a decade and a half were the dominant actors in their industry. We analyze the development and competitiveness of a typical MNO, Telenor. With the introduction of 4G in 2010, we show that Telenor, like other MNOs largely failed to respond to the opportunity that connectivity provided to develop digital services. Instead, these were developed by technology platform companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Telenor became a marginalized supplier of standardized internet connectivity. We argue that the ‘decade of lost opportunity’ (2010–2020) for Telenor was a product of a lack of ‘recombinant firm-specific advantages’ (FSARs). With the launch of 5G, an emerging global digital infrastructure, this sidelining is set to intensify unless Telenor responds to this new opportunity by developing B2B digital services. We analyze the FSARs that are necessary for a successful transition of capturing the value that 5G provides and the degree to which they are present, or potentially present, in Telenor.     

Processing Institutional Change in Public Service Provision

With the proliferation of New Public Management (NPM) worldwide, public service providing agencies are increasingly expected to operate in a business-like manner and exposed to ‘competing institutional logics’. Exploring the German hospital sector, this article shows that this is processed within two areas of collective action simultaneously: at enterprise-level and at the regulatory infrastructure of the organizational field. In both places, ‘institutional work’ takes place, albeit differently. With emerging tensions, trial-and-error strategies (deployed by individual hospitals) and mitigating (regulatory) measures engender a nervous cohabitation of the two logics, endangering potentially the sector’s public mission in the long term.     

The Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Over-Represented in Precarious Leadership Positions

There has been much research and conjecture concerning the barriers women face in trying to climb the corporate ladder, with evidence suggesting that they typically confront a ‘glass ceiling’ while men are more likely to benefit from a ‘glass escalator’. But what happens when women do achieve leadership roles? And what sorts of positions are they given? This paper argues that while women are now achieving more high profile positions, they are more likely than men to find themselves on a ‘glass cliff’, such that their positions are risky or precarious. This hypothesis was investigated in an archival study examining the performance of FTSE 100 companies before and after the appointment of a male or female board member. The study revealed that during a period of overall stock‐market decline those companies who appointed women to their boards were more likely to have experienced consistently bad performance in the preceding five months than those who appointed men. These results expose an additional, largely invisible, hurdle that women need to overcome in the workplace. Implications for the evaluation of women leaders are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.