Cluster life cycle and diaspora effects: Evidence from the Indian IT cluster in Bangalore

The role of local clusters has been of interest to scholars and policymakers in international business alike. Research found that clusters enable a region to develop faster compared to dispersed economic activity, based mainly on a local concentration of competing and cooperating firms and sophisticated domestic demand. Locating in a cluster has certain benefits for firms stemming from pooling of human capital and supporting institutions varying by industry and international specialization.In this paper, we extend the local view of clusters and emphasize the complementary role of non-local linkages, in particular diasporas, illustrating our model employing the case of the evolution of the Bangalore IT cluster. The novelty of our paper lies in its longitudinal character. We are thereby able to identify how the roles of local and non-local networks differ across life-cycle phases; moreover, we find that diasporas can trigger or accelerate local development. We discuss implications for managers and policy makers.     

Organizational Networking in UK Biotechnology Clusters

Differences in growth patterns between regional clusters are often attributed to the extent to which they benefit from agglomeration, defined as the advantages that derive from being proximately located with other companies and institutions in the same industry. Foremost among these supply‐side externalities are the knowledge ‘spillover’ effects that can result from firms interacting extensively in both horizontal (complementary equivalent firms) and vertical (value chain) directions. The paper presents evidence from two surveys, one national and one regionally based, of networking patterns in UK biotechnology, focusing on how firms engage with other small firms, with large pharmaceuticals, and with research centres, and how far these interactions are regional, national or international in character. It suggests that where companies do collaborate, there is a tendency for the intensity of activity to increase as the location of the partner moves from the local to the international space. We evaluate the obvious interpretation that local linkages may be satisfactory for idea generation and early product development, but that national and international connections are more important for manufacturing, marketing and distribution activities. However, we conclude that a broader set of largely industry factors account for the networking patterns – namely, the science‐technology base, research funding, firms' business models, and competitor strategies in evolving markets – and that these matter more to clustered UK biotechnology firms than the cluster itself. These findings suggest a rethinking of cluster policy and the theoretical basis for clusters.     

基于企业学习策略的集群持续创新机制及实证研究

由于集群网络的复杂性,集群创新机制的研究目前较为缺乏,有限的研究也往往假设集群企业具有同质性.本文提出,集群企业依据其在集群网络中的位置采用不同的学习策略,领导型企业更加侧重于探索式学习,跟随型企业更加侧重于利用式学习,两者的分工和异质性互动构成了集群持续创新的内在机理.本文在个体和企业层次双重学习研究的基础上,结合集群特有的组织条件,提出集群双重学习的机制,据此将集群企业进行分类,并建立集群中企业学习的理论模型,接着选取国内某地化工产业集群的236家企业作为样本,运用结构方程模型对集群中企业进行分类检验和比较研究.研究结果表明,集群中不同类型企业的学习策略存在差异,集群网络的作用是产生这一差异的可能原因;集群中不同类型企业的学习策略具有互补性,有利于企业间互动和集群的持续创新.     

Local, regional, or global? Geographic orientation and relative financial performance of emerging market multinational enterprises

We extend the regional/global strategies literature by analyzing the relative performance of emerging market (EM) multinational enterprises (MNEs) based on their geographic orientation. We develop a framework showing that firms adopt three geographic orientations—local, regional, and global—and test our framework with the market penetration strategies (sales) of 701 MNEs from 28 EMs during 2000–2006. Our analysis shows that distinguishing among these three geographic segments is important, as not all of these geographic segments enhance firms’ financial performance relative to their industry: a combination of local and global orientations enhances while regional orientation reduces the relative financial performance of EM MNEs.     

Legitimacy in international joint ventures: It is still needed

International joint ventures (IJVs) enable foreign firms to complement their lack of local knowledge and resources by accessing their local partners' knowledge and resource bases. However, IJV formation is not simply a means of overcoming legitimacy-related challenges that stem primarily from a local market's unfamiliarity with foreign firms. This paper proposes that foreign firms can increase the legitimacy of their IJVs to facilitate local market penetration by building interorganizational linkages through which third parties and, especially, prospective customers in local markets can infer the viability and competence of IJVs. Our empirical analyses of manufacturing IJVs in Japan support our arguments.     

Shared Values, Social Trust, and the Perception of Geographic Cancer Clusters

Extensive scientific investigations often fail to identify specific carcinogens that have caused geographic clusters of cancer cases. In many such examples, public health officials and other experts have concluded that the cluster is not the result of a particular local environmental condition. Despite this conclusion by experts, concerned members of local communities often persist in believing that the cancer cluster was not random. The present study accounts for the persistence of this belief on the basis of two factors: (a) the tendency of the human mind to identify patterns (and causes), rather than randomness; and (b) a lack of social trust in public health experts. It was expected that perceived shared values evoke social trust. Individuals who conclude that public health experts share their values should be more likely to accept the experts' conclusion that a cancer cluster reflects randomness, not a particular local cause. Individuals who trust authorities should be more inclined than individuals not having trust to accept that a geographic cluster of cancer cases is a coincidence. Data from Swiss students (N = 334) supported these expectations. Additionally, significant gender differences were observed. Females had less trust in authorities and perceived the cancer cluster as less likely to be a result of pure chance than did males. Practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Clustering of small agro-processing firms in Indonesia

Small-scale industries in Indonesia provide more than 65% of total manufacturing employment. Sixty-three percent of small-scale firm employment is in firms that are clustered. A cluster is defined statistically in Indonesia as at least 20 firms in a village. For some agro-processing industries, such as bamboo plaiting, clustering does not involve interaction among firms; for others, notably the furniture industry, clustering firms make joint marketing efforts, subcontract each other, and share large orders. This article uses two recent case studies in the agro-processing sector—the furniture and the palm sugar industries—in Central Java. We argue that the target market of the industry (local or international) influences the nature of the contracts and other forms of interaction in the clusters. Targeting an international market requires formal contracts, more focus on marketing, and separate roles for finishing firms and subcontracting firms. Policy should be directed at enabling clusters to shift to the international market by improving contract enforcement regulations, vocational training, and providing opportunities for group lending.     

集群企业创新绩效生成的结构-行为路径研究

从中国背景下集群企业的规模、内外部连接关系等结构因素,以及集群企业探索式、利用式学习行为角度,研究集群企业创新绩效的结构和行为来源。将集群中的企业分为领导型和跟随型,研究这2类企业建立的集群内外部连接关系,以及集群企业的探索式、利用式学习行为对创新绩效的影响,揭示集群企业的不同连接关系与学习行为在生成创新绩效过程中的功能和作用。以南京市六合化工产业集群的236家企业为样本,运用结构方程模型进行了分类检验和比较。研究发现,集群企业的内外部连接关系是探索式、利用式学习行为的结构基础,并通过探索式、利用式学习行为影响其创新绩效;领导型企业通过双重学习提升创新绩效,跟随型企业则侧重于利用式学习来提升增量创新绩效;2类企业创新绩效生成的路径存在差异,集群整体创新绩效的提升依赖于二者对结构、学习行为和创新的协同作用。     

行业、地区和市场信息,谁主导中国证券市场价格的变化

本文以我国A股市场为对象,基于CAPM和APT理论,建立单变量和多变量回归分析模型,探讨市场、行业和地区信息对证券价格的影响及其程度大小.结果表明:在我国证券市场中,一方面个股价格变化同时存在显著的行业和地区联动效应,但行业效应更强,行业信息主导着证券价格的变化.在控制了市场和地区信息后,行业信息仍具有信息增量提供能力.另一方面,行业信息与地区信息有互补性,市场信息可被行业和地区信息替代.另外,市场竞争越激烈的行业,行业联动效应越强.当企业变更行业类型时,新旧行业对股票价格变化的影响存在显著的差异.究其原因,与行业内的公司基本面之间所存在的显著正相关性相关.     

Macroeconomic conditions and agribusiness profitability: An analysis using pooled data

Theoretical and empirical insights into the linkages between firm profitability and macroeconomic conditions are developed for nineteen agribusinesses. The hypothesis investigated in this analysis is that firm financial performance is a function of firm specific factors and macroeconomic conditions common to all firms. Seemingly unrelated regression with an unequal number of observations is used to estimate macroeconomic linkages. Empirical results indicate that macroeconomic conditions have differing affects on firm profitability dependent on a firm's financial structure and the market segment in which it operates. Capital intensive industries and highly leveraged firms have higher business risk and are more susceptible to macroeconomic conditions.     

The risk implications of diversification: Integrating the effects of product and geographic diversification

The risk implications of product diversification have received considerable attention from scholars. However, our understanding of the effects of geographic diversification on risk is more limited. Relying on resource-based theory to frame our arguments, we argue that despite some similarities, the two types of diversification have differing effects on firm risk. We first establish the risk reducing effects for product diversification. We then integrate the unique aspects of geographic diversification that serve as a boundary condition to the RBV perspective, arguing for the risk increasing effects of geographic diversification. Finally, since many firms pursue both forms of diversification simultaneously, we explore the joint effects of both product and geographic diversification. We test our hypotheses in a longitudinal model on a sample of S&P 500 firms. Our findings suggest that total product diversification, as well as related diversification reduce risk, while total geographic diversification increases risk. Furthermore, our data provide evidence of a complex combination of joint effects of these two forms of diversification. These findings offer a more complete understanding of the risk effects of corporate diversification.     

Frontiers of research in international business

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are networked firms whose subsidiaries act as nodes embedded in a variety of local contexts. This allows them to tap into many local systems of innovation to access diverse knowledge bases and integrate them to create new competencies. Currently technology is altering our conception of space and forcing us to recognize that it is a multi-dimensional concept, incorporating geographic space, technological space and personal network space. At the corporate level, MNE managers need to understand comparative strategic management, constantly looking for arbitrage opportunities that arise due to differences in resources, capabilities and institutions across the local contexts. At the functional level, in order for the MNE to integrate knowledge from diverse geographic locations, managers must recognize that valuable knowledge resides in invisible communities of practice where narrow technological specializations, personal connections and information sharing are critical means of access.     

Firms,Destinations, and Aggregate Fluctuations

This paper uses a data base covering the universe of French firms for the period 1990–2007 to provide a forensic account of the role of individual firms in generating aggregate fluctuations. We set up a simple multisector model of heterogeneous firms selling to multiple markets to motivate a theoretically founded decomposition of firms' annual sales growth rate into different components. We find that the firm‐specific component contributes substantially to aggregate sales volatility, mattering about as much as the components capturing shocks that are common across firms within a sector or country. We then decompose the firm‐specific component to provide evidence on two mechanisms that generate aggregate fluctuations from microeconomic shocks highlighted in the recent literature: (i) when the firm size distribution is fat‐tailed, idiosyncratic shocks to large firms directly contribute to aggregate fluctuations, and (ii) aggregate fluctuations can arise from idiosyncratic shocks due to input–output linkages across the economy. Firm linkages are approximately three times as important as the direct effect of firm shocks in driving aggregate fluctuations.     

跨国企业嵌入集群下链与链竞争动态网络模型分析

在产业集群背景下,跨国企业携技术领先优势进入集群,经历从竞争嵌入(斯坦伯格博弈)到融合均衡(古诺博弈)两阶段。基于此,本文研究集群原有供应链在跨国企业嵌入后,形成原供应链与新供应链之间相互竞争,以及最终达到集群整体网络动态均衡的变化过程,通过利用变分不等式和动态博弈方法,建立起考虑汇率下的链与链动态竞争网络模型,并给出相应的算法。通过实例发现,在第一阶段原有集群供应链能保持较高的消费者满意度,且市场占有率高于跨国企业供应链;在第二阶段,跨国企业供应链的市场占有率则反超。更重要的是,在第二阶段集群市场整体销量和整体利润总和均高于第一阶段。     

From blind spots to hotspots: How knowledge services clusters develop and attract foreign investment

This paper explores local and global dynamics underlying the development of knowledge services clusters, which we define as new geographic concentrations of technical talent and service providers offering upstream technical and knowledge-intensive business services to regional and global clients. Taking a co-evolutionary perspective on the development of knowledge services clusters in Latin America, based on data from the Offshoring Research Network (ORN), we find that cluster growth results from intersecting trajectories: the emergence of local talent pools and capabilities initially serving local and regional demand; broadening global search for talent and expertise by multinational corporations; and internationalization strategies of service providers competing to serve global clients. Findings suggest that increasing commoditization of knowledge services opens up windows of opportunity for new clusters, but also involves challenges for sustainable growth. Results may stimulate future research on global sourcing and cluster development.     

A Theoretical Model of Manufacturing Lead Times and Their Relationship to a Manufacturing Goal Hierarchy*

In recent years, manufacturing firms have realized that a new, higher level of global competition causes them to compete simultaneously on multiple manufacturing goals, such as quality, delivery, cost, and flexibility. In response to this realization, considerable research now focuses on the relationship of manufacturing improvement programs to manufacturing goals. However, to date, this research has not investigated the specific underlying statistical relationships between manufacturing goals and the shop floor. This study investigates manufacturing lead time linkages with manufacturing programs and manufacturing goals. The basic purpose of this study is to understand and explain how programs affect the elements of manufacturing lead time and how manufacturing lead time affects manufacturing goal capabilities. By understanding these linkages, managers can logically trace the effects of specific programs to their eventual effects on manufacturing goal capabilities. This study's most important finding is that statistical variations in the elements of lead time cause a tendency for certain manufacturing goals to be more difficult to control and achieve than others because of canonical relationships of lead time variances. To control these lead time variances, successful firms concentrate their early program targets first on achieving “fitness for use” quality, followed by delivery reliability, short delivery lead time and cost, current product flexibility, and lastly, new product flexibility. This study mathematically illustrates which improvement programs most affect manufacturing goals through their relationship to manufacturing lead time variance reduction. It suggests that firms improve goal performance by initially targeting improvement through setup time reduction programs, defect reduction programs, and preventive maintenance programs, to facilitate quality improvements. By targeting specific programs and their related lead time variances, firms improve their manufacturing facility competitiveness with minimum obstacles.     

Organizational modifications to support JIT implementation in manufacturing and service operations

This study investigates JIT implementation practices and performance in manufacturing and service organizations in the US. Literature related to JIT usage and performance in both sectors is reviewed. A field study is then conducted to investigate the actual implementation experiences of a selected group of service and manufacturing users of JIT. Our findings from the literature and the field study are used to develop four research hypotheses that are tested using survey data from 130 manufacturing and 61 service firms. Manufacturing and service firms that had engaged in modifications such as operator and management training and improving linkages with suppliers prior to implementing their JIT systems experienced less implementation problems and achieved higher levels of success than firms that placed less emphasis on these modifications. This paper details and discusses these and other results from our study. In addition, managerial implications of our findings are presented.     

Network management and associated firms’ outcomes: multilevel analysis in the southern Brazilian context

This article seeks to provide theoretical and managerial insights with respect to the following questions: What is the effect of network management on the outcomes of associated firms? Do these effects on outcomes vary among small-firm networks (SFNs)? Do these outcomes vary among associated firms within the same SFN? Which management elements are most influential in the variation of these SFN outcomes? To answer these questions, this study adopts a multilevel analytical approach using SFNs in southern Brazil that benefit from the Cooperation Networks Program, a local public policy initiative that supports the formation, development, and consolidation of SFNs. The findings suggest that the outcomes provided by the networks differ between networks but are similar for firms in the same network. They also indicate that strategy and processes at the network level are related to firms’ outcomes. These findings show that the influence of structure on firms’ outcomes varies among networks and that the market segment is the only network-level variable that is significantly related to firms’ outcomes.     

政府控制与企业高管人员薪酬绩效敏感度

根据我国新的国有资产管理体制特征,着眼于我国政府对国有企业实行分级管理的背景,将国有上市公司分为中央政府控股的上市公司和地方政府控股的上市公司2类。由于政府对这2类公司监管程度的差异、企业面对的市场风险的不同,以及这2类公司高管人员对薪酬的关注程度存在差异,说明薪酬在这2类国有上市公司中的重要性并不一致。研究结果表明,国有上市公司高管人员薪酬的业绩敏感性与政府控制人的行政级别相关,中央政府控制企业的高管人员的薪酬业绩敏感性更低。     

The illusion of independence: Spun-off firms’ risk-taking as a function of status and attachment to the parent firm

This paper examines the post-divestiture behavior of spun-off firms. Drawing on the spin-off literature and middle-status conformity theory, we argue that spun-off firms—as newly independent and publicly traded firms—tend to limit their risk-taking behavior to match the expectations of a crucial audience, i.e., security analysts. Following the logic of middle-status conformity theory, we hypothesize that firms with mid-level status are particularly susceptible to analysts' pressures, whereas high- and low-status firms are free to take greater risks. Crucially, however, we propose that this relationship is less pronounced for spun-off firms that are more attached to their parent firms, as formal and informal linkages between these two types of firms can endure beyond the separation and limit spun-off firms' independence. Using a dataset of 102 spin-off transactions occurring between 1995 and 2010, we find empirical support for a U-shaped relationship between spun-off firms' status and risk-taking. This relationship is attenuated when spun-off firms are more attached to their parents. We contribute to the spin-off literature by demonstrating that a spun-off firm's post-divestiture behavior is determined by the capital market audience's expectations and the attachment to the parent firm. In so doing, we also contribute to the literature on middle-status conformity theory by identifying a boundary condition of the theory. Additionally, we make a methodological contribution by combining ideas from the spin-off and institutional theory literature to develop a particularly comprehensive measure of attachment.