On micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities: A multi-level perspective based on CEO personality and knowledge-based capital

In recent years, researchers have asked why some firms are better than others at developing dynamic capabilities. The existing literature assesses micro-foundations separately, either on the managerial or on the organizational level. This study aims to provide a more holistic picture on the antecedents of dynamic capabilities by integrating managerial and organizational micro-foundations. Specifically, we posit that the personality of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), manifested through their core self-evaluation (CSE), represents an individual-level micro-foundation which influences three types of a firm's knowledge-based capital—human, social, and organizational capital. We also argue that these three, in turn, are organization-level micro-foundations that ultimately enable the development of a firm's dynamic capabilities. We test our multi-level framework using data from 307 German CEOs, and confirm that CEO CSE is positively related with all three forms of knowledge-based capital. We further find that human capital and organizational capital mediate the relationship between a CEO's CSE and a firm's dynamic capabilities. Our research contributes by extending a central framework of the micro-foundations project (the bathtub model) that integrates the upper echelons perspective into a multi-level analysis. We empirically validate this model and advance the understanding of how firm leaders indirectly influence firm dynamic capabilities by shaping individual learning conditions.     

组织知识、制度环境与风险投资机构的联合投资

风险投资行业在中国发展迅猛,对促进国家经济转型和鼓励本土创新创业具有重要战略意义。本文从知识基础观出发,探究中国风险投资机构的组织知识积累与其联合投资行为之间的关系,并讨论了外部制度环境因素对这一关系的影响。基于对中国风险投资机构首轮投资纵向历史数据的实证分析,本文发现:风险投资机构基于特定行业和地域的组织知识积累和该机构与其他风险投资机构进行联合投资的可能性负相关,而投资活动所在地的市场化程度作为调节变量,削弱了风险投资机构的组织知识和联合投资之间的负向关系。     

Incorporating social networks into leadership development: A conceptual model and evaluation of research and practice

Multilevel and relational views of leadership are expanding the focus of leadership development beyond individuals' knowledge, skills, and abilities to include the networked patterns of social relationships linking members of dyads and larger collectives. In this review, we present a conceptual model explaining how three distinct approaches for network-enhancing leadership development can improve the leadership capacity of individuals and collectives. We then present a review of the leadership development literature and the results of a survey of 282 practitioners to assess the extent to which these approaches have been examined in research and implemented in practice. Our review revealed that leadership research and leadership development practice are outpacing leadership development research in terms of incorporating networks. We aim to spur future research by clarifying the targets, objectives, and underlying mechanisms of each network enhancing leadership development approach in our conceptual model. Further, we identify additional literature, not traditionally considered within the realm of leadership development that may help advance empirical examinations of these approaches.     

Stress,social support and psychological well-being in British accountants

Abstract

This paper reports an exploratory study of stress, social support and psychological well-being in British chartered accountants, using data from 399 self-report questionnaires. The results suggest that the underlying structure of stress in British accountancy can be explained by three dimensions; quantitative overload stressors, professional/administrative interface stressors and nuisance stressors. The underlying structure of social support for the sample can be represented by three dimensions of help support, social dependability and esteem support. Intensity of quantitative overload stressors, intensity of professional/administrative interface stressors and all three dimensions of support were found to be related to psychological well-being in the sample. Differences between these variables, types of organization and organizational position were examined. The results are discussed with reference to stress management interventions for accountants. Possible generalizations to other professional groups are discussed.     

Stress, social support and psychological well-being in British accountants

This paper reports an exploratory study of stress, social support and psychological well-being in British chartered accountants, using data from 399 self-report questionnaires. The results suggest that the underlying structure of stress in British accountancy can be explained by three dimensions; quantitative overload stressors, professional/administrative interface stressors and nuisance stressors. The underlying structure of social support for the sample can be represented by three dimensions of help support, social dependability and esteem support. Intensity of quantitative overload stressors, intensity of professional/administrative interface stressors and all three dimensions of support were found to be related to psychological well-being in the sample. Differences between these variables, types of organization and organizational position were examined. The results are discussed with reference to stress management interventions for accountants. Possible generalizations to other professional groups are discussed.     

产品市场竞争优势、资本结构与商业信用支持——基于中国上市公司的实证研究

以2005年-2013年中国上市公司为样本,探讨产品市场竞争优势的含义及度量方法,产品市场竞争优势对企业资本结构与商业信用支持的影响,以及宏观、行业和微观因素如何发挥调节作用.研究发现:第一,产品市场竞争优势有助于降低企业的负债水平,并刺激企业对上下游企业提供更多的商业信用支持;第二,在经济越发达的地区、竞争强度越弱的行业,以及民营控股上市公司中,产品市场竞争优势会进一步降低企业的负债水平,同时加强其对上下游企业的商业信用支持.研究结论为从理论上更加全面和准确地理解产品市场竞争优势与企业资本结构和商业信用支持的关系提供了新的科学依据.     

团队内社会网络质量、工作竞争对团队成员知识转移的影响研究

本研究以团队为对象,考察了在正式的工作关系背景下,当团队成员间存在工作竞争时,团队内社会网络对知识转移的影响.研究认为,反映社会网络质量的网络信任会促进团队内知识转移,而网络认知信任和网络情感信任对团队内知识转移具有不同的作用,其中网络情感信任的影响要强于网络认知信任.工作竞争具有调节这种影响的作用,并且对网络认知信任和情感信任的调节程度会有所不同.研究对所提假设进行了实证检验,并对结果进行了进一步解释,旨在进一步剖析知识活动的规律,从而为企业有效的管理知识提供指导.     

Impact of subsidiaries' cross-border knowledge tacitness shared and social capital on MNCs' explorative and exploitative innovation capability

As subsidiaries' cross-border knowledge increases in tacitness, it becomes more difficult for subsidiaries to articulate and for multinational corporations' (MNCs') headquarters to integrate and apply. Herein, dynamic capabilities and social capital theory frame structural and relational social capital as capabilities that improve the productivity of subsidiaries' cross-border knowledge tacitness shared on MNCs' headquarters explorative and exploitative innovation capability. The hypotheses are tested on a data set consisting of survey data collected from 220 senior managers or executives at the headquarters of Taiwan-based MNCs. Interestingly, structural social capital between headquarters and subsidiaries strengthens the negative association between subsidiaries' cross-border knowledge tacitness shared and explorative innovation capability; relational social capital attenuates the negative association between subsidiaries' cross-border knowledge tacitness shared and both explorative and exploitative innovation capability. Stated differently, different types of social capital can facilitate (i.e., relational social capital) or impede (i.e., structural social capital) innovation capability when cross-border knowledge tacitness is high. The validity and managerial implications of these findings are explored through interviews with senior managers or executives of MNCs headquarters or subsidiaries. Theoretically, this study emphasizes the importance of understanding relationships between subsidiaries and MNCs' headquarters to understand the association between subsidiaries' resources and MNCs' headquarters innovation capability.     

Disentangling reciprocal relationships between R&D intensity,profitability and capital market performance: A panel VAR analysis

Research and development (R&D) investments are strategic choices that firms make to create and sustain competitive advantage. Extant literature proposes that firms’ R&D investments and their profitability and capital market performance are reciprocally related. However, the direction of these relationships and their temporal nature are unclear. We take a real options perspective to argue that the long-run firm performance effects of R&D investments are better than their short-term ones, and that the initial level of R&D intensity influences the nature of these relationships. We apply panel vector autoregression (P-VAR) to a sample of 6623 U.S. firms over the 1990–2020 period in order to test our hypotheses. Our results indicate that increases in R&D intensity have negative effects on profitability in the short term, yet these effects diminish relatively quickly. The effects of increases in R&D intensity on capital market performance are positive and persist over time. Consistent with our predictions, they are contingent on the initial levels of R&D intensity and performance. The findings are fundamentally in line with the real options perspective employed here, yet they add important nuance to our understanding of when, how, and under which conditions R&D investments and firm performance affect one another.     

The social responsibility of organizations: Perceptions of organizational morality as a key mechanism explaining the relation between CSR activities and stakeholder support

Prior research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has documented how specific CSR activities relate to responses of relevant stakeholders, mainly examining employees. However, it is as yet unclear whether these findings generalize to other types of CSR activities or to responses of other stakeholder groups. In fact, results from studies to date also show inconsistent effects in need of further explanation.In this contribution we offer a new perspective on this literature. We extend current insights on organizational CSR activities and stakeholder support, by elaborating on the psychological mechanisms that can explain these relations. We draw together recent developments on organizational anthropomorphism with insights on organizational identification, to argue that the impact of CSR activities on a broad range of stakeholder responses depends on perceptions of organizational morality. We connect prior work on organizational ethics, CSR, and stakeholder support, to social psychological theory and research on impression formation, impression management, and impression updating. This new perspective allows us to broaden the current debate on CSR and stakeholder support.Building on this analysis, we propose a new model that offers a roadmap for future research. We explain the impact of organizational CSR on stakeholder responses, by highlighting perceived organizational morality as a key mediating variable. We then proceed to consider likely moderators of this relation distinguishing between (a) characteristics of the organization, (b) characteristics of (communications about) CSR activities, and (c) characteristics of the perceivers. On the basis of this extended model we develop specific predictions, and review initial evidence supporting these prediction.