Foreign Location Choice: Review and Extensions

International Business (IB) research on foreign‐location choice has experienced a revival in recent years, yet a comprehensive review has been sorely lacking. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the findings of recently published articles on the topic of foreign‐location choice and offer fruitful directions for future research. This review consists of three sections: first, the authors provide a historical overview of this research stream by tracing its origins and analyzing the general trend that has shaped research on foreign‐location choice. Next, the authors conduct a review of 137 recent articles published in leading IB and business/management journals. These articles are categorized according to common topics, and the main findings of each category are synthesized in order to bring some cohesion to this fragmented field. Lastly, the authors identify issues that remain under‐researched or require re‐thinking some taken‐for‐granted assumptions. Through this effort, they are able to connect the past, present and future of research on foreign‐location choice and to shed some new light on the IB literature.     

An audit of received international business corruption literature for logic,consistency, completeness of coverage

This analysis of International Business (IB) corruption literature identifies gaps and inconsistencies in how corruption is perceived or deliberated in top academic journals. The reviewed articles tend to focus on one of the three key themes of IB corruption (Contributing factors, Consequences, and Combating) and are categorised into the six sub-domains of the IB framework. The content of the articles is categorised into the respective themes and discussed in relation to underpinning theories and key constructs. The process is intended to be less a synthesis of the literature than an audit revealing that IB corruption research is weakened by tendencies to: 1) Be siloed within its subtheme and to not cross-tie to work in other key themes—this issue is very severe in the Combating theme; 2) Have a short-term focus that disregards the cumulative effects of total graft, and; 3) Asymmetrically focus (predominantly) on the supply side of corruption. These finding suggest several avenues for further research.     

Global myopia: globalization theory in International Business

This paper critically evaluates some shortcomings in the handling of the globalization concept in International Business (IB). In particular, the paper identifies disciplinary isolation (and its consequences) and lack of a general, theoretically satisfying, definition for the concept as key culprits driving the often myopic views of globalization in IB. Some remedies are proposed, and a general definition of globalization is offered in the hope of stimulating a wider discussion.     

A longitudinal analysis of the impact of firm resources and industry characteristics on firm-specific profitability

Using a dynamic heterogeneous panel data model, we examine the relationship between firm-specific resources (corporate management capabilities, employee value-added and technological competence) and firm-specific profitability and the potential moderating effects of industry characteristics on this relationship. We find that firm-specific resources enhance both accounting-based measures (return on assets and return on sales) and market-based measure (Tobin’s q) of firm-specific performance. Moreover, industry characteristics moderate the relationship between firm-specific resources and firm-specific profitability. Managerial implications are discussed.

On dominant logic: review and synthesis

Building on the idea of managerial relatedness among businesses, the concept of “Dominant Logic” (DL) was developed to provide insights into what the determinants for successful diversification and organizational adaptation may be. Since Prahalad and Bettis’ seminal article (Strateg Manag J 7(6):485–450, 1986), management scholars have drawn on the concept of DL for almost 25 years and applied it to various strategic management contexts. However, the lack of a systematic review that integrates the past decades’ fragmented research on DL and resolves its conceptual inconsistencies hinders the purposeful application of the concept and its further development. Hence, we seek to contribute to the literature by addressing this substantial gap. Developing an integrated framework, we provide an overview of DL research concentrating on (1) the antecedents of DL formation and adaptation, (2) the DL commonality-performance linkage, and (3) the dynamics of DL. By introducing the distinction between absolute and relative dominance, we offer a more precise definition of DL that clarifies and theoretically distinguishes the concept. We conclude by highlighting salient research gaps and identifying promising areas for future research efforts.     

The effects of demand,competitive, and technological uncertainty on board monitoring and institutional ownership of IPO firms

This paper considers industry-specific contingencies that may account for some of the inter-firm heterogeneity in the deployment of specific corporate governance mechanisms in IPO firms. We examine how differences in demand, competitive, and technological uncertainty in the industry influence the levels of IPO firm monitoring by board outsiders and institutional investors. We test our theory using a sample of U.S. firms that completed an IPO in 24 manufacturing industries. The results indicate that industry uncertainty is, indeed, significantly related to the use of corporate governance mechanisms. In particular, the empirical results indicate that industry effects on IPO firm board monitoring and institutional investor ownership are the strongest and most consistent for demand uncertainty and competitive uncertainty.

Paradox Research in Management Science: Looking Back to Move Forward

Paradox studies offer vital and timely insights into an array of organizational tensions. Yet this field stands at a critical juncture. Over the past 25 years, management scholars have drawn foundational insights from philosophy and psychology to apply a paradox lens to organizational phenomena. Yet extant studies selectively leverage ancient wisdom, adopting some key insights while abandoning others. Using a structured content analysis to review the burgeoning management literature, we surface six key themes, which represent the building blocks of a meta-theory of paradox. These six themes received varying attention in extant studies: paradox scholars emphasize types of paradoxes, collective approaches, and outcomes, but pay less attention to relationships within paradoxes, individual approaches, and dynamics. As this analysis suggests, management scholars have increasingly simplified the intricate, often messy phenomena of paradox. Greater simplicity renders phenomena understandable and testable, however, oversimplifying complex realities can foster reductionist and incomplete theories. We therefore propose a future research agenda targeted at enriching a meta-theory of paradox by reengaging these less developed themes. Doing so can sharpen the focus of this field, while revisiting its rich conceptual roots to capture the intricacies of paradox. This future research agenda leverages the potential of paradox across diverse streams of management science.     

The paths embedding of the arrangement graphs with prescribed vertices in given position

Let n and k be positive integers with n?k≥2. The arrangement graph A _n,k is recognized as an attractive interconnection networks. Let x, y, and z be three different vertices of A _n,k . Let l be any integer with $d_{A_{n,k}}(\mathbf{x},\mathbf{y}) \le l \le \frac{n!}{(n-k)!}-1-d_{A_{n,k}}(\mathbf{y},\mathbf{z})$ . We shall prove the following existance properties of Hamiltonian path: (1)?for n?k≥3 or (n,k)=(3,1), there exists a Hamiltonian path R(x,y,z;l) from x to z such that d _R(x,y,z;l)(x,y)=l; (2) for n?k=2 and n≥5, there exists a Hamiltonian path R(x,y,z;l) except for the case that x, y, and z are adjacent to each other.     

Evaluating time streams of income

When a decision maker considers possible returns from a business project or investment, he often faces the problem that these returns are not all received at the same time, and thus he must make some adjustments to take account of his time preference for money. After a review of discounting, a utility theory approach is made by developing a two-attribute utility function u(x, t) which represents the desirability of an income of x at a time t in the future. Assumptions to simplify the assessment of this function are considered. Then u(x, t) is used to form a criterion for evaluating infinite time streams of income.     

Giddens’ structuration theory and its implications for management accounting research

The purpose of this essay is to briefly review the pillars and the rationale of Giddens’ theory of structuration, and offer a snapshot of the impact of these ideas on research in management accounting. Conceptualised as a way of making sense of social life, structuration theory represents a sensitizing device for researchers, which has be drawn upon “in a selective way in thinking about research questions or interpreting findings” (Giddens, Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age, 1991). In the following pages the duality of structure, the modalities of structuration, the concept of double positioning, the theory of the subject as well as concepts such as ontological security, routines or trust will be reviewed as essential elements of a vocabulary originally framed within Giddens’ The constitution of society (1984). The essay ends sketching the work of Macintosh and Scapens (Management accounting and control systems—an organisational and behavioural approach, 1990), who broke new ground to interpret management accounting systems in light of structuration theory terms and concepts, as well as some of the more recent works in accounting that have built on Giddens’ latest ideas on the The Consequences of Modernity (1990).

Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives

Scholarly research on the topic of leadership has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade, resulting in the development of diverse leadership theories. To take stock of established and developing theories since the beginning of the new millennium, we conducted an extensive qualitative review of leadership theory across 10 top-tier academic publishing outlets that included The Leadership Quarterly, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Psychologist, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organizational Science, and Personnel Psychology. We then combined two existing frameworks (Gardner, Lowe, Moss, Mahoney, & Cogliser, 2010; Lord & Dinh, 2012) to provide a process-oriented framework that emphasizes both forms of emergence and levels of analysis as a means to integrate diverse leadership theories. We then describe the implications of the findings for future leadership research and theory.     

Demand-side strategy and business models: Putting value creation for consumers center stage

Value creation for consumers, as the conditio sine qua non for value capture, is at the heart of demand-side strategy research and is a core element of almost any business model. In this paper, we discuss the unique ideas that demand-side strategy and business model research jointly contribute to the strategy literature, and we elaborate on the potential for cross-fertilization between both areas of study. We argue that both the demand-side perspective and the business model concept could jointly promote a better understanding of strategy-making by mutually relying on the distinctive insights from each stream; specifically, while research on demand-side strategy can help business model scholars gain a more robust and granular understanding of effective value propositions, business models can serve as a “bridging concept” that links the shared ideas of both areas of study to resource-based streams of strategy research.     

How digital visualizations shape strategy work on the frontlines

The scholarship on Open Strategy and the role of visualization in strategy work are maturing streams of research. Open Strategy scholarship has so far primarily focused on how employees can contribute ideas to strategy making. Also, the lion's share of strategy visualization research has been on the role of visuals in strategy development by top management. Therefore, focusing on the role that specific visualization features play, especially within strategy realization work by frontline employees, can contribute to the nexus of both streams of research. We attempt to do so by drawing on a qualitative interpretive case study of how a university faculty employed digital visualizations to implement a significant organizational turnaround strategy. The focus of the faculty was on strategically transforming the undergraduate curriculum to reverse quality drift and enrollment decline, while gaining international accreditation. The study findings highlight how digital visualizations' features (i.e., incorporating non-narrative elements, network depiction, and adaptive interface functionalities) influenced the realization phases of strategy understanding and strategy enactment. In particular, the study shows that the understanding of strategy appeared to be enhanced by three affordances, namely, affectivity, relationality, and interactivity of the visualization tools and their associated features. Our study further shows that frontline employees' work on strategy enactment was shaped simultaneously via both legibility affordances (aiding the enactment of strategy consistent with the original intent) and enunciability affordances (enabling the enactment of strategy beyond the original intent). We contribute to the literature by showing how digital visualizing features work together as a bundle of affordances reciprocally reinforcing each other and influencing the strategy realization work of frontline employees, thereby enhancing the understanding of strategy and aiding in its enactment.     

An extension of Stein-Lovász theorem and some of its applications

The Stein-Lovász theorem provides an algorithmic way to deal with the existence of certain good coverings, and thus offers bounds related to some combinatorial structures. An extension of the classical Stein-Lovász theorem for multiple coverings is given, followed by some applications for finding upper bounds of the sizes of (d,s out of r;z]-disjunct matrices and (k,m,c,n;z)-selectors, respectively. This gives a unified treatment for some previously known results relating to various models of group testing.     

Corporate strategy: Some lessons from consultancy: Solving management consultants

Solving is an international management consulting form specializing in strategy and with offices in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Cologne. The consulting staff, including President Roland Fitoussi, have written three articles, all on aspects of corporate strategy, which embody their experience in this field.The first, Diversification: Strategic Cure-All? takes a hard look at corporate diversifications. It points out that the chances of success increase if development is the motive rather than survival and if there is managerial synergy between the new and original areas of activity. The criteria used in choosing between diversification opportunities are important.In Turning a Business Around, Solving takes us through three main phases of turning around a company in trouble: rescue, diagnosis and reconstruction. The last involves a search for the organization's core business activity on which to rebuild.In Strategy: The Choice of Acquisitions, again making suitable acquisitions means looking at the acquiring company's basic business definition and unique strengths. Synergy, size of acquisition and the way the acquiror modifies his business portfolios are all important factors to consider.     

Data bank on the future business environment

This paper describes research undertaken using futures research methods to construct a data bank on the future business environment. It is called The Business Trends Library. It is often said that it is not possible to forecast business futures, so planning should be adapted so that we can drive blind into the future. The author disagrees with this school of thought. Most studies of business futures appear to be too narrowly based and not systematic enough. When interactions from all relevant areas can be taken into account, it is possible to narrow the uncertainty considerably about future events, and be much more specific about what will happen. Examples are shown to illustrate this.     

Revisiting emergence in emergent leadership: An integrative,multi-perspective review

We draw attention to how and why multiple perspectives on emergence can promote leadership scholarship within the broad umbrella category of emergent leadership. Tracing the derivation of emergent leadership and related concepts since 1941, we identify four empirically derived themes: Entries, or how and where definitions were introduced and adopted; Essences, identification of key components and processes; Eclipses, where certain constructs and approaches have gained prominence over others; and Erasures, where particular lines of inquiry and methodologies have been subsumed, ignored, or removed from easy access by researchers. In critically reviewing the emergent leadership literature, we apply these themes to reveal a number of flaws that inhibit emergent leadership research, including: inconsistent measures, narrow sampling frames, tautological definitions, limited theorization, and very little attention to implications for the development of leader-follower relations. Based on this analysis, and with reference to contemporary issues, we propose an agenda for future research on emergent leadership that is informed by interdisciplinary perspectives that give prominence to emergence dynamics.     

Interorganizational Relationships in Marketing: A Critical Review and Research Agenda

Over recent decades, the area of marketing interorganizational relationships (IORs) has received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners, even if a comprehensive portrayal of past research is still lacking. Hence, the aim of the present paper is to review the literature on marketing IORs in order to develop a framework meant to organize the different contributions in this area and suggest new paths for future research. The analysis suggests that three main streams of research can be identified with regard to the type of relationship between variables investigated by each article. Moreover, taking into account the purpose of the IOR, common patterns within each stream may be identified. A critical analysis of articles grounded on both the streams and the purpose of marketing IORs suggests there are still substantial gaps in knowledge, which open new paths for future research regarding both methodological issues and hot topics.     

The effects of board size and ‘busy’ directors on the market value of Italian companies

This paper presents evidence that corporate governance quality measured by (1) the board size and (2) the fraction of directors that serve on more corporate boards, influences the market value of firms. The analysis is based in Italy, a country that is characterized by family and concentrated ownership, low legal protection of investors and pyramidal firm structures. Our empirical results suggest that the level of ‘busy-ness’ of corporate directors as a measure of board effectiveness has a significant influence on firm’s market performance. By contrast, we find limited evidence that board size has a substantial impact on the market valuation, except in small and medium enterprises and in some specific industry sectors.

The evolution of Omega-The International Journal of Management Science over the past 40 years: A bibliometric overview

The aim of this study is to reflect on where Omega-The International Journal of Management Science (Omega) comes from and evaluate where Omega currently is in a field that arguably paves the way for the challenging task of identifying future directions and trends. To achieve this goal, this study presents a bibliometric overview of Omega over the past 40 years, from 1979 to 2018. First, this study outlines the basic bibliometric profile of Omega. Second, VOSviewer is employed to visualize the collaborative relationships that Omega has with other journals to show how Omega has linked to them over the past 40 years. Finally, co-occurrences of keywords are analysed and strategic diagrams are built to reveal the thematic trends in Omega. The results show that Omega has substantial influences in the field of operational research and management science (OR&MS), with contributors from all over the world. Omega has strong connections with other leading journals in the fields of OR&MS and engineering. The mainstream research of Omega mainly focuses on production and manufacturing management, mathematical modelling for optimization problems, supply chain management, data envelopment analysis, multicriteria and decision making. Moreover, motor themes, highly developed-and-isolated themes, emerging-or-declining themes, and basic-and-transversal themes are identified. The study provides strong evidence that Omega has been a story of success, and the findings of this study will support decision making for the Omega-related scientific community.