Revamping research on unrelated diversification strategy: perspectives,opportunities and challenges for future inquiry

With the aim of achieving an advanced understanding of current research on unrelated diversification and providing fruitful groundwork to foster active interchange between disciplinary traditions, this paper detects articles from two relevant research streams; i.e., strategic management and financial economics. We first provide a brief overview of management thinking on unrelated diversification strategy. Then, we present a conceptual map that offers a comprehensive appreciation of unrelated diversification strategy antecedents (i.e., environmental and institutional, organizational value-enhancing, and managerial drivers), implementation process (i.e., managerial complexity, misallocation of resources, and structural inertia), and consequences (i.e., diversification premiums and discounts). Finally, we unpack the major gaps in our current knowledge that may help refocus the research agenda on unrelated diversification strategy and revamp the apparent waning proclivity of this issue.     

信息技术治理影响分销渠道敏捷的机理研究

如何获取供应链敏捷是信息系统和运作管理领域共同关注的热点和前沿问题。然而，当前研究主要关注供应链流程柔性或信息技术柔性对于供应链敏捷形成的作用，忽视了供应链环境中如何通过IT治理来实现供应链的分销渠道敏捷。基于IT治理和IT-商务战略匹配理论，本文构建了一个有调节的中介模型来实证研究IT治理、企业间电子商务战略匹配（知识匹配和运作匹配）和环境动荡性影响渠道敏捷的机理。通过对209家被调查企业的数据分析发现：IT治理通过知识匹配和运作匹配对渠道敏捷产生积极正向影响；环境动荡水平越高，运作匹配所发挥的中介作用越强；环境动荡性在IT治理和知识匹配之间存在负向调节作用，而在知识匹配和渠道敏捷之间存在正向调节作用。本文通过融合IT治理和IT-商务战略匹配理论，揭示了焦点企业和渠道伙伴的IT治理对渠道敏捷的作用机理，为供应链敏捷理论贡献新知。     

Employee Misuse of Information Technology Resources: Testing a Contemporary Deterrence Model

Recent research in information systems and operations management has considered the positive impacts of information technology (IT). However, an undesirable side effect of firms’ increasing reliance on IT to support the distribution and delivery of goods and services to customers is a greater exposure to a diverse set of IT security risks. One such risk is intentional employee misuse of technology resources. In this article, we draw upon modern deterrence frameworks to develop a predictive model of technology misuse intention that incorporates formal and informal sanctions as well as employment context factors. The model specifies previously untested relationships between formal and informal sanctions, thereby providing fresh insight into the role of sanctions in deterring technology misuse in organizations. Our results suggest that a predisposition toward the need for social approval and moral beliefs regarding the behavior are key determinants of technology misuse. Contrary to criminological research that has questioned the relative importance of formal sanctions in the deterrence process, we also found that the threat of formal sanctions has both direct and indirect influences on technology misuse intention. Further, from an employment context standpoint, employees who spend more working days away from the office (i.e., “virtual” mode) appear more inclined to misuse their organization's technology resources. The findings have implications for the research and practice of technology management.     

Equity sharing in international joint ventures: an empirical analysis of strategic and environmental determinants

Equity sharing in international joint ventures (IJVs) is a critical issue with implications for risk sharing, resource allocation, knowledge commitment, and organizational control. As a departure from previous research, this study aims to explore strategic antecedents and environmental dimensions underlying sharing arrangements. It argues that the structure of equity sharing controls the ex post degree of economic exposure or risk propensity, and boosts risk-adjusted returns earned from strategic resources or global integration. Analysis of data collected from IJVs in China suggests that strategic orientation, resource dependence, knowledge protection, and global integration as sought by MNEs are important antecedents of equity sharing. Equity sharing is an inverse function of host-country environmental complexity and hostility as perceived by MNE managers.     

Collaborative Product Development: The Effect of Project Complexity on the Use of Information Technology Tools and New Product Development Practices

Collaboration is an essential element of new product development (NPD). This research examines the associations between four types of information technology (IT) tools and NPD collaboration. The relationships between NPD practices and NPD collaboration are also examined. Drawing on organizational information processing theory, we propose that the relationships between IT tools and NPD collaboration will be moderated differently by three project complexity dimensions, namely, product size, project novelty, and task interdependence, due to the differing nature of information processing necessitated by each project complexity dimension. Likewise, the moderation effects of the project complexity dimensions on the relationship between NPD practices and NPD collaboration will also be different. We test our hypotheses using data from a sample of NPD projects in three manufacturing industries. We find that IT tools are associated with collaboration to a greater extent when product size is relatively large. In contrast, IT tools exhibit a smaller association with collaboration when project novelty or task interdependence is relatively high. NPD practices are found to be more significantly associated with NPD collaboration under the contingency of high project novelty or high task interdependence. The findings provide insights about circumstances where several popular IT tools are more likely to facilitate collaboration, thus informing an NPD team's IT adoption and use decisions.     

重量级IT项目敏捷管理方法研究

重量级IT项目具有高度复杂性和不确定性,以过程为基础的项目管理需要借敏捷方法加以改进.本文以阐明IT项目的复杂产品系统特性为起点,从复杂产品系统的模块化及分解入手,讨论了IT产品的动态形成过程.提出了一个重量级IT项目敏捷管理方法框架.在该方法中,探讨了复杂产品分解的随机Petri网概念模型、柔性团队行为模型、重载方法适度规范集以及基于知识转移的敏捷开发过程.     

Structuring Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A China–U.S. Study

Buying and supplying organizations rely on each other for developing better products in an efficient manner, which explains the popularity of involving suppliers in new product development (NPD). However, such involvement is not always successful, partially due to the challenges of structuring a buyer–supplier team to manage joint dependence and dependence asymmetry. This study adopts an organizational dependence view to examine how three types of intergroup structures—administrative (formalization and centralization), task (task interdependence), and physical (colocation)—influence project performance and buyer learning in NPD projects. Furthermore, adopting a contingency theory perspective, we study whether the national context moderates the effects of intergroup structures on project outcomes. We adopt a two‐group structural equation modeling approach to test hypotheses with survey responses from a sample of NPD projects in the United States (US) and China. Results show different ways in which intergroup structures influence project performance and buyer learning in the two culturally, economically, and institutionally distinct countries. We discuss the implications of these new findings and present directions for future research.     

Leveraging Open Innovation Using Intermediary Networks

Open innovation, fuelled by the rise of the Internet, has made it feasible and cheaper for firms to open themselves up to a wide range of external sources of innovative ideas. The explosive growth of open innovation intermediary networks, such as InnoCentive or Linked‐in, enables the rapid pairing of firms seeking knowledge to address a wide range of business challenges (seekers) with other firms or individuals who already have relevant knowledge (solvers or knowledge brokers). These intermediary networks allow procurement departments to source codified and un‐codified knowledge from firms or individuals outside their traditional supplier networks using one‐off transactional relationships. Although sourcing ideas in this way theoretically poses problems for knowledge search and transfer, we have found that companies can draw on processes and integration mechanisms developed by procurement and design engineering to develop effective organizational learning routines. These routines are strategically vital to source new ideas through open innovation using intermediary networks and create competitive advantage.     

知识型团队动态能力构建、团队体系模型与创新运作模式研究

知识型团队是现代组织执行复杂创新任务的重要组织形式.本文从分析知识型团队与知识工作任务的匹配关系入手,在引入知识链及知识链网络等概念的基础上,探讨了基于知识链的知识型团队的动态能力构建机制,分析了围绕知识链网络的知识团队结构体系模型及创新运作机理.     

Determinants of Seeking and Avoiding Risk‐Related Information in Times of Crisis

This research is designed to provide insight into the psychological (e.g., threat appraisal or coping appraisal) and other determinants (e.g., information quality judgments or demographics) of risk information seeking or avoidance in times of an acute risk, as part of the process of increasing public resilience through adherence to risk mitigating advice. Data were collected via telephone interviews. A specialized agency interviewed 1,000 Dutch citizens, randomly confronted with one of eight fictitious, but realistic, acute risk and emergency situations. Results indicate that information seeking in an acute situation is anticipated by a less elaborate set of predictors (age and risk perception) than information seeking in a nonacute situation (age and risk perception, as well as educational level and social norm). Although risk perception is a predictor for risk information seeking, its predictive value for acute‐risk‐related behavior, as one might have assumed based on theories such as protection motivation theory (PMT) or the extended parallel process model (EPPM), appears to be limited. Implications for risk communication are discussed.     

双元文化、创新战略与科技企业创业绩效:一个知识流的视角

运用组织双元理论、战略管理理论和认知学习理论,构建了一个基于知识流动过程的双元文化机制、创新战略与科技企业创业绩效的关系框架,通过介入网络结构和领导调节因子来观察双元性三种前因机制的共同作用过程。对长江三角洲科技园区的283家小微创业型科技企业进行了实证调查,采用SPSS和AMOS软件进行统计分析,结果表明:双元文化通过改善企业创新战略的均衡实施来提高其创业绩效,其对突破及利润导向的战略行为均有正向影响;网络关系强度和权力距离在双元文化与创新战略之间产生调节作用,网络关系强度对利润导向行为产生正向调节,权力距离对利润导向行为的影响不显著,它们对突破导向行为均呈负向调节。研究将双元视角引入到组织与战略关系研究当中,对信息时代下的中国科技企业创业创新有一定的指导意义。     

On the Treatment of Uncertainty and Variability in Making Decisions About Risk

Much attention has been paid to the treatment of dependence and to the characterization of uncertainty and variability (including the issue of dependence among inputs) in performing risk assessments to avoid misleading results. However, with relatively little progress in communicating about the effects and implications of dependence, the effort involved in performing relatively sophisticated risk analyses (e.g., two‐dimensional Monte Carlo analyses that separate variability from uncertainty) may be largely wasted, if the implications of those analyses are not clearly understood by decisionmakers. This article emphasizes that epistemic uncertainty can introduce dependence among related risks (e.g., risks to different individuals, or at different facilities), and illustrates the potential importance of such dependence in the context of two important types of decisions—evaluations of risk acceptability for a single technology, and comparisons of the risks for two or more technologies. We also present some preliminary ideas on how to communicate the effects of dependence to decisionmakers in a clear and easily comprehensible manner, and suggest future research directions in this area.     

Supplier Opportunism in Buyer–Supplier New Product Development: A China‐U.S. Study of Antecedents,Consequences, and Cultural/Institutional Contexts

Collaborating with a supplier in a buying firm's new product development (NPD) project is commonly advocated and adopted, but does not always improve project performance. Some pre‐existing collaboration contexts, such as buyer–supplier NPD projects, are especially exposed to supplier opportunism due to the uncertain nature of the collaboration process. Adopting agency theory and transaction cost theory perspectives, we examine: (i) contextual antecedents and project consequences of supplier opportunism and (ii) if these causal influences vary in different cultural and institutional contexts. Using a survey sample of 214 United States (U.S.) and 212 Chinese buying firms’ responses about buyer–supplier NPD projects, we find that supplier opportunism is significantly influenced by the task and relational contexts. We also show that supplier opportunism damages both design quality and efficiency, two aspects of project performance. When comparing U.S. to China, we find that task and relational contexts have a greater impact on supplier opportunism in the U.S., but design efficiency is less hurt by supplier opportunism there. Finally, we show challenges of preventing supplier opportunism in certain NPD collaboration contexts, and offer solutions for overcoming these challenges.     

Strategic networks of discovery and creation entrepreneurs

Current research favors diversity within strategic networks as a source of idea generation and opportunity pursuit. However, diversity may not always be advantageous. Drawing from literature on entrepreneurial opportunities, social network theory, and cognitive psychology, it is argued in this paper that the level of diversity in entrepreneurial strategic networks differs based on the nature of the entrepreneurial opportunity context—discovery or creation. Competing hypotheses are developed for the nature of strategic networks in the discovery and creation opportunity contexts. The results from our two studies (using PSED II dataset and data collected from women entrepreneurs in India) show that entrepreneurial strategic networks differ based on whether entrepreneurs are pursuing discovery or creation opportunities, i.e., entrepreneurs operating in ‘discovery’ contexts tend to use networks ties with individuals who are relatively similar to themselves, while entrepreneurs in ‘creation’ contexts tend to use network ties with individuals who are relatively different from themselves. Further, the results also show that the diversity in strategic networks is not unidirectional in discovery and/or creation contexts but varies depending on the specific matters for which the entrepreneur seeks advice. Discussion and future research directions outline the unique findings of this study and potential implications for theory development.     

Realizing the Need for Rework: From Task Interdependence to Social Networks

Design rework is a core phenomenon in new product development (NPD). Yet carrying out design rework presupposes recognizing the need for it. I characterize the types of interpersonal knowledge transfer that help developers realize the need for design rework in NPD. As predicted by the NPD literature, I find that individuals who interact frequently with colleagues to address their task interdependences are more likely to realize the need for rework. I also learn that interacting with colleagues who have different expertise in process‐related knowledge (as opposed to product‐related knowledge) facilitates realizing the need for rework. However, to develop a deeper understanding of how individuals recognize the need for rework when interacting with others, we must expand our views beyond task interdependence and expertise‐related factors. In particular, organizational variables—both formal and informal—play a significant role. With respect to formal hierarchical structures, actors of superior rank are less likely to realize the need for rework regardless of whether or not their interacting partner is of superior rank; however, actors of superior rank are more likely to trigger realizing the need for rework when interacting with partners of subordinate rank. By examining an organization's informal structure, I discover that the social “embeddedness” of developers (i.e., the energy and attention invested in a dyadic relationship) significantly influences their propensity to realize the need for rework. Several hypotheses are tested in a sociometric study conducted within the development department of a software company, and I discuss the implications for behavioral operations in NPD.     

The international training of expatriates in Western subsidiaries of emerging multinational enterprises: A knowledge-based perspective

There is a considerable gap in academic theoretical literature about the international training of expatriates in multinational enterprises (MNEs). While the majority of research has focused on developed (Western) multinationals operating in developing countries, very limited research has been conducted on emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) operating in developed countries and the expatriates who work in them. In this study, we explore the international training of expatriates in Indian MNEs from the information technology industry operating in Australia to examine how they provide training to their expatriate staff who are sent on international assignments. We collected qualitative data in the form of multiple case studies via interviews with senior executives based in the Australian subsidiaries. Our findings reveal that Indian IT MNEs provide a variety of centralised training programmes for their managerial and technical expatriates and use training as a key instrument to leverage and transfer home country knowledge to their Australian subsidiaries. We also found that each stakeholder involved in the training process plays a distinct role in the knowledge transfer process, which allows Indian EMNEs to integrate the training with their people-centred business model to deliver IT services in host countries.     

IT服务企业中文化对知识共享与创新行为关系的影响

在全球一体化进程加速、IT服务企业员工文化价值取向趋于多元化的背景下,有必要了解员工文化观念对企业的影响。本文研究员工的集体主义观念和权力距离观念对IT服务企业中知识共享与创新行为之间关系的影响。在北京、西安的具有不同文化特色的IT服务企业进行问卷调查,收集了484份问卷,运用SPSS及SmartPLS进行数据分析。研究结果表明:员工的集体主义观念增强时,知识共享对创新行为的影响会增加;权力距离增大时,知识共享对创新行为的影响会减弱。对实践的启示是:管理者应培养、提高员工的集体主义文化价值观;根据公司的企业文化特色,区分对待员工权力距离对知识共享与创新行为之间关系的影响作用。     

The Influence of Forward‐Looking Antecedents,Uncertainty, and Anticipatory Emotions on Project Escalation*

This study extends research on the escalation of commitment phenomenon by investigating decision makers' tendency to look forward to project completion and develop anticipatory perceptions and emotions concerning goal attainment. We examine the influence of two project‐specific predictors of escalation (level of progress and presence of an alternative project) on perceived uncertainty and the extent to which anticipatory emotions (i.e., current affective reactions to possible future events) mediate the influence of uncertainty on levels of commitment to a failing project. Results indicated that level of progress and the presence of an alternative project affected uncertainty, which influenced anticipatory emotions. Lower levels of uncertainty and higher levels of positive anticipatory emotions increased the tendency to escalate commitment.     

People perception: Social vision of groups and consequences for organizing and interacting

An enormous amount of research on person perception exists. This literature documents how people form impressions of one another and how these impressions influence behavior. However, this literature surprisingly has not been extended to people perception—how people visually perceive and judge groups (e.g., teams, classrooms, boards, crowds) rather than individuals. We propose a model of people perception processes, including three stages of Selection, Extraction, and Application (the SEA model). We integrate this model with literature from organizational, social, cognitive, and visual sciences to describe the important role of people perception in organizational and social behavior. We focus our discussion on organizational and social phenomena such as group tone, group hierarchy, and group evaluation.