The Effects of Interfirm Ties on Illegal Corporate Behavior

Although numerous benefits are associated with interfirm ties, these external relationships can also have negative consequences. Theoretically based in the relational component of social capital, we identify one potentially serious consequence of interfirm ties, propensity of firms engaging in illegal behavior. Results of our study of S&P 500 firms suggest that companies benefit from a lower likelihood of illegal behavior when they have numerous weak ties to other firms. Conversely, when they become overly embedded in a network of strong ties, they are more likely to engage in illegal behavior. We also found evidence that reciprocity and status similarity influence firms’ propensity to engage in illegal behavior.     

跨国专利合作网络中技术接近性的调节作用研究

技术接近性对于企业间的跨国专利合作具有重要作用.基于多维接近性整体分析框架,采用中国电力系统技术领域2000年至2008年国外专利合作数据,分析技术接近性对其他接近性的调节作用.通过构造112家中外企业的专利合作网络,运用QAP网络回归方法实证检验跨国专利合作网络中技术接近性在地理接近性和社会接近性影响专利合作网络中节点连接距离和连接重要性过程中的调节作用.研究结果表明,在考虑多维接近性共同作用时,技术接近性对网络节点的连接距离和连接重要性具有重要影响,有助于节点之间构筑较短的连接渠道并形成较为重要的合作关系.除此以外,技术接近性还能正向调节社会接近性对连接重要性的正效应,但对于社会接近性与连接距离之间的关系没有显著的影响.由此验证了技术接近性可以影响其他接近性与跨国知识合作关系的基本假设,为进一步揭示不同接近性之间的相互作用机制提供了理论基础.     

Strategy implementation and organizational change: How formal reorganization affects professional networks

Strategy implementation is difficult, particularly as it often requires changes in formal organization structures. Prior research has shown that change in the formal structure may affect employee networks. Yet, we know relatively little about how such changes affect different network ties. This paper considers how formal structural change affects senior managers’ ability to maintain their intraorganizational networks. The hypotheses are tested on sample of 884 work-related relationships of 96 partners in a global professional services firm. This firm had recently implemented a new strategy, which led to a change in the product-market focus and the resulting formal structure. Our findings reveal that the characteristics of a specific network tie determine whether it is affected by formal structural change. In particular, we find that network ties that are highly embedded in the social structure are more likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. In contrast, ties that are relationally embedded are less likely to be affected by change in the formal structure. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results. In particular, the findings may have consequences for the success of strategy implementation and strategic transformation efforts.     

Centrality Asymmetry and Partner Complementarity as Influences on Alliance Dissolution

Research on interfirm alliances indicates that partner firms’ asymmetry in network centrality increases the likelihood of alliance dissolution because it gives rise to a power imbalance and opportunism in the partnership. We contend that this view of centrality asymmetry does not consider the binding force that network resource complementarity can provide in an alliance, which motivates partners to ally for the long term. We propose that centrality asymmetry can have both divisive and cohesive forces in an alliance, which – when considered together – lead to a prediction that centrality asymmetry has a U‐shaped relationship with alliance dissolution. Moderate levels of asymmetry lead to lower rates of dissolution than high and low levels of asymmetry. The degree of cooperation between partners and the degree of external competition reduce the effects of centrality asymmetry on alliance dissolution because they mitigate power imbalances while encouraging partners to strengthen the alliance to withstand competitive challenges.     

Structural Constraints,Strategic Interactions and Innovative Processes: Measuring Network Effects in New Product Development Projects

In this paper I approach the analysis of innovation activities as relational processes first deriving the econometric specification of an endogenous model of network effect on individual outcome, and then using data on innovation projects to empirically test the impact on actors' performance of relational activities in new product development. A complete relational set of inter-unit relationships in 173 new product development projects among 24 R&D units of a profit oriented R&D organization is analyzed using mixed regressive-autoregressive models. Results show the importance of a network effects on unit's performance, after controlling for unit's attributional characteristics. The magnitude and directionality of these effects are sensitive to project characteristics, but not to the directionality of the ties. Implications for theory and research in innovation management are discussed by elaborating on the importance of the content of the ties to assess the impact of relational activities, and to examine client (i.e. ties sent) and server (i.e. ties received) relational options as complementary aspects of interaction strategies.     

Embedded Networks and Suboptimal Resource Matching in Alliance Formations

Interest has been growing in alliance networks, and research has demonstrated several advantages of embedded networks, including joint problem solving. How embedded networks function as social capital and promote alliance formation has also been explored. However, less is known about constraints that they impose on firms’ extensive search for partners. In this study, we advance our understanding of the downsides of embedded networks by proposing that embedded networks facilitate alliance formations, but they may also cause suboptimal resource matching in alliance formations. Specifically, we predict that, in alliances where initial resource matching is more important than ex post collaborative activities, suboptimal resource matching is more likely when firms ally with partners with which they have pre‐existing direct or indirect ties and that such alliances decrease firm‐level resource utilization performance in operations. Using codeshare alliance data from the global airline industry, we find support for our predictions.     

Who Cares About Your Big Day? Impact of Life Events on Dynamics of Social Networks

With online social networking having revolutionized the way in which individuals communicate and interact with each other, there is heightened research interest in the dynamics of social networks. This article seeks to contribute to this stream of research by addressing the key question of the impact of major life events, such as getting married or graduating from college, on social network evolution. Consistent with prior studies on the evolution of individuals’ social networks, we specifically focus on two key attributes of an individual's network: indegree of ties and relational embeddedness. By longitudinally analyzing the network activities of a large‐scale online social network, we find that the indegree of ties increased significantly following a major life event, and that this impact was stronger for more active users in the network. Interestingly, we also find that the broadcast of major life events served to revive dormant ties as reflected by a decrease in embeddedness following a life event. We also found that one‐time life events such as weddings had a greater impact than recurring life events such as birthdays on the evolution of a user's social network. From a research perspective, our study contributes to existing research by focusing on a user's communication network as opposed to friendship network and by emphasizing how exogenous life events add a different dimension to user communication patterns. The importance of life events on social network evolution has important implications for practice as well by providing insights to advertisers as well as to social networking sites.     

Embracing complexity: Learning from minority, 50-50, and majority joint venture experience

Learning from joint venture (JV) experience is commonly viewed as a way to improve JV performance. However, many JVs are complex and difficult to learn from. How can firms embrace this complexity to realize the learning potential of their JV experience? To answer this question, we consider how minority, 50-50, and majority JVs differ in terms of complexity stemming from the interdependencies between the JV partners and between the JV and its parent organizations. We theorize that the relatively limited complexity of minority JV experience facilitates learning from more complex experience with majority and 50-50 JVs. However, the same facilitating effect is not expected between two forms of complex experience. We test these predictions on a comprehensive set of equity JVs formed by Dutch listed companies between 1966 and 2005, using JV survival and abnormal stock market returns as complementary JV performance measures.     

Is a powerful rival a right partner?

This paper explores why powerless firms are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to collaborate with other powerful firms. Two natures of power, competitive and cooperative natures, are compared to study such an imbalance between firms in market power and social power. Testing the syndicated underwritings in the U.S. from 1998 to 2009, we find that egos of low market power are less likely to partner with alters of high market power. In contrast, egos of low social power are more likely to collaborate with alters of high social power. Moreover, the results show that collaborations with powerful partners are not necessarily beneficial or detrimental for the performance of powerless focal firms; only when the high power partners possess a high network constraint which constrains opportunism and facilitates trust, do collaborations with such partners help the performance of powerless focal firms.     

Ex-post governance in joint ventures: Determinants of monitoring by JV boards of directors

Considerable advances have been made in corporate governance research in recent years and opportunities exist to consider these developments within alliances. We extend the “scope of operations” hypothesis to the domain of joint ventures. This proposition suggests that the monitoring carried out by boards increases when organizations become more complex. The inherent characteristics of JVs generate unique sources of complexity that are currently unexplored in the corporate governance literature. First, we seek to determine their influence on monitoring by using primary data on JV board monitoring. Second, we adopt the size of JV boards as a proxy for monitoring in order to examine whether the determinants of board size and monitoring in fact coincide and to reveal if certain effects are masked by using board size as a simple proxy for monitoring. Doing so enables us to investigate the black-box of what boards actually do as well as extend governance research to other organizational forms. Our findings confirm that the unique characteristics of JVs influence the information needs by the boards resulting in more monitoring by JV directors. Our findings show there is value in bridging alliance theory and the literature on corporate governance research. We also advance practitioner's understanding by providing suggestions on how to structure JV boards in relation to their complexity.     

Does the capital of social capital matter? Relational resources of the board and the performance of Brazilian companies

Based on theories of social capital, in this study, we seek to assess the impact of a board’s social capital on the market value of companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange. As our indicator of social capital, we use the relational resources identified in the direct, indirect and heterogeneous ties of the board. Employing panel data from 508 observations, our results indicate that heterogeneous relational resources have a stronger and more significant influence than the resources available from board members’ direct relationships. Additionally, as the effects of board interlock are endogenously determined by several factors related to the firm level, we seek to mitigate the endogeneity problem using models of instrumental variables and simultaneous equations. Our hypotheses were consistent after controlling for endogeneity. We also check whether the board’s social capital could present a U-inverted effect on the market value. This relationship was only plausible in social capital by indirect ties. Finally, we isolate the effect of relational resources within and between industries on Tobin’s Q. There was no significant effect through interlocks within the same industry. However, ties with companies in several other industries were significant.     

Exponential random graph models for management research: A case study of executive recruitment

We introduce a recent development in the statistical analysis of relational data that offers rigorous discrimination of a variety of structural and behavioural effects of interest to management research. Exponential random graph models account for the highly interdependent nature of network data that are problematic for the predominant inferential statistical analysis used in management research. We illustrate the value of the approach with an application focused on executive recruitment by large UK firms, modelling migrations of managers among firms as a network of relationships. We find rigorous statistical support for the influences of industry origin in executive recruitment, particularly in relation to legal and accounting activities. The flexibility and sophisticated relational variables available in the models offer considerable analytical power of value to a wide range of management applications.     

How do CEOs matter? The moderating effects of CEO compensation and tenure on equity ownership in international joint ventures

We propose that CEO compensation and tenure moderate the relationship between multinational corporations' (MNCs) R&D intensities and their percentages of equity ownership in international joint ventures (IJVs). Transaction cost economics (TCE) suggests a positive relationship between MNC R&D intensity and IJV equity ownership, but this relationship has not been confirmed consistently in prior research. We examine the moderating effects of CEO compensation and tenure on the relationship between MNC R&D intensity and IJV equity ownership, thereby bringing more nuanced explanations from agency theory and upper echelons theory into the discussion. Our proposed relationships were tested using a sample of 202 IJVs formed between U.S. MNCs and foreign partners in high-tech industries for the period 1993 to 2003. We found an overall positive relationship between MNC R&D intensity and the percentage of equity ownership in IJVs. Moreover, CEO tenure and bonus compensation each weaken the positive R&D intensity-equity ownership relationship in our sample, while CEO stock options compensation amplifies it. These findings indicate that CEO compensation and tenure influence decision making about equity ownership in IJVs, suggesting that scholars and boards of directors should consider these CEO-related factors when evaluating strategic decisions regarding IJVs.     

The ties that lead: A social network approach to leadership

This article investigates, for leadership research, the implications of new directions in social network theory that emphasize networks as both cognitive structures in the minds of organizational members and opportunity structures that facilitate and constrain action. We introduce the four core ideas at the heart of the network research program: the importance of relations, actors' embeddedness, the social utility of connections, and the structural patterning of social life. Then we present a theoretical model of how network cognitions in the minds of leaders affect three types of networks: the direct ties surrounding leaders, the pattern of direct and indirect ties within which leaders are embedded in the whole organization and the interorganizational linkages formed by leaders as representatives of organizations. We suggest that these patterns of ties can contribute to leader effectiveness.     

A framework for evaluating the benefits of collaborative technologies in engineering innovation networks

In times of rapid economic change, the decrease in knowledge value becomes inversely proportional to its speed of obsolescence, with successful organisations seeking to connect more rapidly and more effectively with others in the creation of new knowledge. The past decade has seen a growing interest in communities of practice as a method for transferring and generating knowledge within product development, rooted as they are in the nature of knowledge creation as a socially embedded process. Given the widespread adoption of collaborative technologies as facilitative platforms for innovation in the interactions of contemporary communities of practice, the objective of this research is to develop an evaluation paradigm and employ it to examine how such interaction is facilitated through the medium of Web 2.0 technologies. The contribution of this research to theory and innovation technology practice will be to further the understanding of collaborative technologies by examining the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on engineering innovation networks. Furthermore, it brings together the three diverse research areas of technology innovation, internet collaborative tools and psychological barriers and enablers.     

基于不同预期报价决策的电力市场动态演化及其混沌控制

基于市场参与者不同预期的报价决策方式,提出了考虑输电网约束的电力市场动态模型,即内嵌市场清算优化问题的差分动态模型.该模型刻画出发电方和需求方同时报价的不用决策行为,并准确反映出独立系统调度员ISO的统一市场清算过程,考虑了输电网固有物理特性所赋予电力市场的复杂约束.借助非线性互补函数,对应不同的输电网运行状态:阻塞和不阻塞,分析比较了电力市场处于Nash均衡、周期和混沌的经济表现.针对经济表现差的市场混沌态,提出电力市场状态和参数时滞反馈控制方法,给出电力市场由混沌到Nash均衡的调控措施和手段,从而为有效提高电力市场的经济效益提供了理论依据.     

Network influence and organizational performance: The effects of tie strength and structural equivalence

We combine theory and empirical evidence to develop and test three related claims about how ties strength and structural equivalence affect interorganizational performance similarity. First, network partners attain similar levels of performance because direct network ties facilitate information and resource sharing, and the diffusion of organizational practices. Organizations occupying similar network positions attain similar levels of performance because they face similar competitive constraints. Second, because mechanisms underlying performance similarity implied by direct network ties and similarity in network positions are different, strength of network ties and network position affect different dimensions of organizational performance. Third, we expect that tie strength will affect aspects of performance that are more likely to be influenced by processes activated by the direct contact between network partners. We expect structural equivalence to affect more strongly those aspects of organizational performance that are more directly influenced by competition. An analysis of interorganizational networks and organizational performance within a regional community of hospitals provides evidence in support of these claims. Models estimated on a sample of 8190 interorganizational dyads suggest that the effects of tie strength and structural equivalence on organizational performance are highly differentiated and contingent on specific aspects of performance. We show that these conclusions are robust with respect to a wide variety of other factors that may be responsible for performance similarity including competitive interdependence, structural homophily, and resource complementarity.     

Choosing between international technology licensing partners: An empirical analysis of U.S. biotechnology firms

This paper examines the potential factors that might influence U.S. biotechnology holders’ licensing decisions regarding whom to choose as foreign licensing partners in the context of a global environment. The important explanatory factors relate to the knowledge appropriability regime of the licensee country (i.e. strength of IPR protection), familiarity through prior interaction, business similarity between partners, and prior independent experience as a licensor. U.S. biotechnology firms also license technology more to partners who have joint manufacturing, marketing, and research and development (R&D) experience. The results show that transaction cost considerations weigh heavily when choosing international licensing partners.     

基于讨价还价的私募基金机制比较研究

作为私募基金的主要形式，有限合伙制具有比公司制更高的激励作用，原因可能是两者在契约设计上的不同。本文引入讨价还价模型对公司制与有限合伙制进行分析，求解了两种机制下的均衡契约。研究发现，股东(或有限合伙人)和经理(或普通合伙人)之间的博弈等价于包含外部选择的讨价还价博弈，当经理保留收益不断提高，有限合伙制将逐步取代公司制。进一步地，有限合伙制将给出更高的分成比例，进而实现更高的激励，更有效地利用人力资本。     

网络嵌入结构对企业创新行为影响的实证研究

本文基于网络结构嵌入理论,研究了网络结构不同维度对企业创新行为的影响。利用331份企业有效样本数据进行统计分析,对本文的理论模型进行了检验。实证研究结果表明:关系强度、网络位置和网络密度均对渐进式创新产生显著正向影响,而对突变式创新产生显著负向影响;网络异质性对渐进式创新产生显著负向影响,但对突变式创新产生显著正向影响。