International venture capital research: From cross-country comparisons to crossing borders

Venture capital (VC) has become an international phenomenon, and VC firms are a specific kind of service firm whose characteristics have distinctive implications for international behaviour. There is now a disparate body of research on international aspects of VC across a number of disciplines comprising finance, economics, strategy, entrepreneurship, international business and economic geography. A novel aspect of this paper is that we review and synthesize this disparate literature. A number of research gaps and limitations in the theoretical and methodological approaches involved in previous studies are identified and suggestions made for further research. We show that the vast majority of the literature relates to cross-country comparisons; that is, macro-level comparisons of VC industries across different countries and micro-level comparisons of VC behaviour across countries. From our review of the literature, we argue that an under-researched area concerns the influence of institutional contexts, especially the role of social networks and cultures. Furthermore, our review of the literature indicates that there is a major research gap in relation to work dealing with the crossing of country borders by VC firms. We suggest that resource-based, capabilities, institutional and network theories may be offer insights to further our understanding of the behaviour of VC firms in this area.     

From bias to exclusion: A multilevel emergent theory of gender segregation in organizations

This article presents a multilevel emergent theory of organizational segregation linking gender bias in performance assessment (a micro-level phenomenon) to gender segregation in organizations (a macro-level phenomenon). Based on an integration of multilevel research, emergence and signaling theory, we propose the following: (a) gender segregation in organizations is an emergent phenomenon that arises from the collective behavior of individuals who express only a small bias in favor of males, in concert with the signals governing promotion decisions and organizational mobility; (b) the emergence of a gender-segregated organization is often unintentional and the bottom–up and top–down processes that produce segregation are difficult to see; and (c) agent-based modeling is especially well-suited for illuminating the dynamics of bias that produce gender-segregated organizations. This multilevel emergent-based theory contributes to the research literature on organizational stratification by: (a) revealing the manner in which micro-level and macro-level forces conspire, oftentimes unwittingly, to produce gender-segregated organizations; (b) providing new and very different directions for future research on gender segregation that rely on agent-based modeling; and, most importantly, (c) moving a 30-year debate over the “real-world” impact of gender bias that continues to occupy the field of human resource management and, most recently, Supreme Court justices on to more fertile ground.     

Empathic emotion and leadership performance: An empirical analysis across 38 countries

The purpose of our research is to examine the relationship between subordinate ratings of a target-leader's empathic emotion and boss ratings of performance of that target-leader. Furthermore, using hierarchical linear modeling, we assess whether the cultural background of the target-leader moderates this relationship. Our results show that leaders who are rated by their subordinates as engaging in behaviors that signal empathic emotion are perceived as better performers by their bosses. In addition, we found that the GLOBE societal culture dimension of power distance was a significant cross-level moderator of the relationship between empathic emotion and performance. Implications for leading in cross-cultural and multicultural contexts are discussed.     

Closer than ever: Growing business-level connections between Australia and Europe

Despite the growing presence of European firms in Australia and vice versa, studies of these business-level connections have been few and far between. Building on points made in our earlier macro-level analysis of Australian-European relations, this study examines business-to-business and business-to-consumer activity at the micro-level between the two continents.We focus on three themes illustrative of these growing business-level relations. First, we examine the different pathways taken by Australian businesses in their quest to develop a European market presence. Second, we discuss instances of business and technological innovation in the Australian context, including stories of success in digital innovation and university-corporate collaboration as well as cautionary tales for European institutions arising from the Australian experience. Third, we compare and contrast how Australian and European businesses have responded to the challenge of climate change, focussing on the issues of green lending and retail insurer performance.In foregrounding these three themes, we offer reflections on the implications and lessons for the growing number of businesses operating across both continents.     

私人关系对投机行为的抑制作用何时更有效？——传统文化与市场经济双重伦理格局视角的研究

现有研究发现边界人员私人关系能够抑制渠道投机行为,但对于如何增强以上治理效果的研究仍十分有限,尤其缺乏本土语境下的研究。本研究遵从双重伦理格局,即传统文化伦理和市场经济伦理的引导,依据制度理论和渠道治理理论,分别在企业外部制度环境和企业内部管理要素层面,探索私人关系抑制投机行为的有利情境。通过收集双边匹配一手调查数据以及二手数据对研究假设进行实证检验,研究发现,在受儒家思想影响较深、市场化水平较高的地区以及在企业领导对边界人员支持力度较大的企业中,私人关系抑制投机行为的效果会增强。随着市场化水平的提高,儒家思想影响增强私人关系对投机行为抑制作用的效果愈发明显。本研究为双重伦理格局对私人关系抑制投机行为效果的影响提供了经验证据,回应了与私人关系治理机制相关的学术争论,有助于丰富本土语境下的渠道治理机制研究。     

网络环境下技术创新过程中企业知识基础的演变

构造了网络的知识空间,并利用创新产品作为顶点刻画知识基础空间的维度。将技术创新过程理解为一个从空间到空间的变换;继而,分别从微观与宏观2个方面研究技术创新过程中知识基础的演变。微观上,将技术创新过程中知识基础演变的整体变换裂解为信息流动过程中知识边界的迭代序列,并运用分形数学给出其演化模型;宏观上,结合最大熵定律,探讨作为信息产生源头的企业在接收输入信息后的信息输出与自身知识基础演变的熵特征与信息流动途径之间的联系。     

Medical resource allocation: rationing and ethical considerations, Part II

The proliferation of medical technology during the past decade has doubtless surpassed that of any other recent period. We have witnessed and are continuing to witness rapid advances in human genetic engineering, reproductive technology, and biomedical intervention in the life process. Our population has benefitted from this technology as a result of its ability to extend the life of individuals, particularly the elderly sector of our society. This technological proliferation has caused philosophers, physicians, engineers, and policy strategists to focus upon questions of ethics and mortality relating to their application. In approaching the ethics of rationing, consideration must be given to both the deontological concepts of the individual and the utilitarian principles of societal preservation. This article continues a discussion of the issues of resource allocation that was begun in the February 1994 issue of Physician Executive.     

Institutional theory-based research on corporate social responsibility: Bringing values back in

Research applying institutional theory to corporate social responsibility (CSR) has experienced remarkable momentum. Institutional theory-based CSR research illustrates the role of values in guiding both agentic choices for CSR and the influence of institutional structures on CSR agency. Although values have been explored in this literature, systematic studies of values that seek to gain insights into the mutual relationship between agentic choices and structures are lacking. Such insights are crucial for exploring whether and how CSR is enabled or constrained. We thus ask two interrelated questions: (1) What is the role of values in institutional theory-based CSR research? (2) How and along which avenues should future institutional theory-based CSR research that focuses on values be mobilised? Based on our analysis of this line of literature from 1989 until 2021, first, we take stock of established institutional theory perspectives on CSR and disentangle what role values have played in this literature. Second, we outline how to mobilise values in future institutional CSR research based on four promising but under-investigated areas. From our literature analysis, two central functions emerge (which we label ‘bridging’ and ‘referencing’) that values can perform in the institutional analysis of CSR. Based on these two functions, our values-focused framework will help scholars examine the moral foundations that inform business–society interactions as well as understand how companies can responsibly manage those interactions with societal stakeholders.     

Just how multi-level is leadership research? A document co-citation analysis 1980–2013 on leadership constructs and outcomes

The use of multi-level theories and methodologies in leadership has gained momentum in recent years. However, the leadership field still suffers from a fragmented and unclear evolution and practice of multi-level approaches. The questions of how and to what extent multi-level research has evolved in both leadership phenomena and leadership outcomes, and which informal research networks drove this evolution, remain vastly unexplored. In this study, the extent of literature published between 1980 and 2013 is analyzed using a document co-citation analysis and invisible colleges' framework. This allows us to map the evolution of the multi-level intellectual structure of the leadership field. Specifically, we identify a number of distinct colleges – their conceptualization of leadership and outcomes – and trace their evolution paths over thirty years. We find a considerable fragmentation of the field, with the usage of multi-level leadership conceptualization mostly embraced by more peripheral clusters. Finally we discuss implications for further research with regard to a set of distinct trajectories for the future evolution of multi-level approaches in the leadership domain.     

Crossvergence and cultural tendencies: A longitudinal test of the Hong Kong,Taiwan and United States banking sectors

Cultural attitudes in two, sometimes assumed similar, regions of Greater China (Hong Kong and Taiwan) were compared and examined within the context of an often assumed, dissimilar region (the United States) for the banking industry during 1985 and 2000. The potentially dynamic nature of national culture, as opposed to a more static approach that is often assumed in management research using a Hofstede framework, is examined. The evidence of relative sample convergence, particularly in relation to collectivism and uncertainty avoidance, along with select, individual region static positions for cultural dimensions provide support for the crossvergence theory [Ralston, D., Holt, D, Terpstra, R., Kai-Cheng, Y., 1997. The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the U.S., Russia, Japan and China. Journal of International Business Studies 28, 177–207]. Pragmatically the research suggests organizational policies and practices should be updated for maximum effectiveness in relation to crossverging realities and that culture is not static. Academically the research cautions use of approaches that rely on dated rankings for cultural indicators as a basis for current examination since relative cultural positions among regions and nations are also not static.     

Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art

Abstract

For the last 30 years a growing number of scholars and practitioners have been experimenting with concepts and models that facilitate our understanding of the complexities of today’s business challenges. Among these, “stakeholder theory” or “stakeholder thinking” has emerged as a new narrative to understand and remedy three interconnected business problems—the problem of understanding how value is created and traded, the problem of connecting ethics and capitalism, and the problem of helping managers think about management such that the first two problems are addressed. In this article, we review the major uses and adaptations of stakeholder theory across a broad array of disciplines such as business ethics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting, management, and marketing. We also evaluate and suggest future directions in which research on stakeholder theory can continue to provide useful insights into the practice of sustainable and ethical value creation.     

Assessing the spiritual leadership effectiveness: The contribution of follower's self-concept and preliminary tests for moderation of culture and managerial position

This research examines several determinants considered to influence the spiritual leadership (SL) effectiveness, including one motivational mediating factor of follower's self-concepts, and two conditional factors, i.e., culture (as a macro-level factor) and managerial position (as a micro-level factor). The construct of SL was validated using a sample comprising 591 employees from various profitable organizations in two major Chinese societies: China and Taiwan (n = 372; 219). A second sample of 122 military police in the army was also recruited for validation purpose. We integrated the follower's transcendental self-concepts into the existing SL framework, and validated their substantiality to leadership effectiveness. In addition, the results showed that culture differs on the SL effectiveness, while position hierarchy (managerial vs. non-managerial positions) does not moderate between the intrinsic motivations of SL and in-role/extra-role performance.     

Leadership,values, and subordinate self-concepts

This article discusses two means by which leaders can impact on subordinate self-regulatory processes — making particular patterns of values salient and activating specific subordinate self-concepts. Research indicating compatible structures among values and self-identities is discussed, and it is suggested that such structures are automatically related by networks of mutual activation or inhibition. The potential of this framework for advancing leadership practice and research is also discussed.     

Traditional versus Secular Values and the Job–Life Satisfaction Relationship Across Europe

Using data from the European Values Survey (EVS), we examine the relationship between job and life satisfaction across Europe. We find that for the majority of employees job and life satisfaction are positively correlated, thus supporting the spillover hypothesis, whereby attitudes and practices developed in the life domain spill over into the work domain and vice versa. In contrast, we find little support for the compensation hypothesis, whereby employees who are dissatisfied in one domain seek compensatory rewards in the other domain. However, multivariate analysis reveals that the strength of the interaction between job and life satisfaction is mitigated by cultural values and interpersonal trust, as encapsulated in the ‘traditional versus secular values’ index reported in the EVS data. We thus find that predictors of the job–life satisfaction relationship vary across cultures and that such cross‐cultural variations are systematically related to salient cultural values and beliefs. The latter findings raise important questions about the universal application of existing theories in the subjective well‐being arena.     

Contextualizing Cultural Orientation and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This research attempts a more contextualized approach to examining organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Borrowing from theory in international and cross cultural management as well as organizational behavior, context is conceptualized as multi-level and as a shaper of meaning and variability in employee citizenship behaviors. By centralizing the unique socio-cultural, political and historical national context (i.e., omnibus context) of Lebanon at the core of our theorizing, we hypothesize, contrary to previous research, a positive relationship between idiocentrism and employee engagement in organizational citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, we explore the influence that unit level OCB (i.e., discrete context) has on the idiocentrism–OCB relationship. Our analysis confirms the positive relationship between idiocentrism and OCB in this unique context. In addition, our cross-level analysis suggests that in workgroups with higher levels of unit level OCB, idiocentrism is more strongly related to employee engagement in OCB. The findings highlight the value added in contextualizing research on OCB and employee behavior in general.     

Emotion in strategic management: A review and future research agenda

Emotion in strategic management has attracted increasing scholarly interest during the past twenty-five years. Researchers have demonstrated the nature and significance of emotion in strategic management from a broad range of perspectives across different levels of analysis. Given the expanding research on the topic, the time is ripe to synthesize this diverse and multifaceted body of knowledge. In a thematic synthesis of the literature, we address the following questions: how does emotion influence strategic management, and how can the field be further developed? We review emotion constructs used in the extant literature and identify three themes related to how emotions influence strategic management: the nonconscious influence of emotions, emotion regulation, and collective emotions. Based on these themes and our analysis, we propose three areas of future research to inspire the field to develop further: (1) scope conditions of emotion research in strategic management; (2) capturing emotion in strategic management; and (3) the ethics, power and politics of emotions in strategic management.     

International business and institutional development in Central and Eastern Europe

Since the early 1990s, Central and Eastern Europe has attracted international business research into the interaction between radical societal change and business development in these emerging market economies. This research has effectively utilized institutional theories, and thus revealed limitations of similar applications in other contexts, while setting the stage for more refined argumentations, especially with respect to rapidly changing contexts. This introductory paper outlines both economic and the sociological perspectives on the influence of institutions on business, and thus sets the stage for this Special Issue. On this basis, we introduce the five papers in this special issue, and outline an agenda for future research.     

Putting the individual and context back into national human resource development research: A systematic review and research agenda

Conceptualization of national human resource development (NHRD) emphasizes that it is an ongoing development process of the individual that is shaped by context. However, the extant literature has focused primarily on describing and evaluating NHRD policies and interventions in different countries with limited consideration of NHRD across the lifespan and the interaction of life stage with context. Using ecological systems theory (EST) and a lifespan development perspective (LDP), we present a systematic review of the NHRD literature based on 310 sources. We identify key themes and gaps in research across the lifespan and at distinct levels of the ecological system. We build on this review to suggest future research informed by both EST and an LDP. We propose a future research agenda focused on several key areas, including: the developing individual as the primary focus of NHRD; the dynamic relationship between NHRD microsystems and how this evolves over time; the exosystem and macrosystem, which provide the context of the NHRD development experience for the individual over their lifespan; and the imperatives of directing research attention to top-down and bottom-up influences within the ecological system. We also propose three methodological innovations to address many of the questions raised by our review, drawing on national archive databases, the use of historical methods and a focus on longitudinal data analysis. Finally, we highlight the practical implications of our analysis for ecosystem and microsystem NHRD actors.     

Measuring Seat Value in Stadiums and Theaters

We study how the seat value perceived by consumers attending an event in a theater/stadium depends on the location of their seat relative to the stage/field. We develop a measure of seat value, called the Seat Value Index, and relate it to seat location and consumer characteristics. We implement our analysis on a proprietary data set that a professional baseball franchise in Japan collected from its customers, and provide recommendations. For instance, we find that customers seated in symmetric seats on left and right fields might derive very different valuations from the seats. We also find that the more frequent visitors to the stadium report extreme seat value less often when compared with first‐time visitors. Our findings and insights remain robust to the effects of price and game‐related factors. Thus, our research quantifies the significant influence of seat location on the ex‐post seat value perceived by customers. Utilizing the heterogeneity in seat values at different seat locations, we provide segment‐specific pricing recommendations based on a service‐level objective that would limit the fraction of customers experiencing low seat value to a desired threshold.     

A Behavioral Theory of Corporate Governance: Explicating the Mechanisms of Socially Situated and Socially Constituted Agency

We propose a behavioral theory of corporate governance based on an ontological foundation of socially situated and socially constituted agency. More specifically, we advance a multi-level, mechanism-based, theory of governance that is socially informed yet actor-centric, and thus offers a distinct alternative to under-socialized governance theories, such as agency theory. We highlight the contributions of recent governance research in providing the foundation for such a behavioral theory, with particular emphasis on our prior work that demonstrated the relevance of social structural relationships, institutional processes, and social cognition. We conclude with a discussion of the central themes that emerge from our perspective.