限制性行业中企业战略行为合法性研究:以中国汽车行业为例

基于战略的制度基础观,本文认为在中国限制性行业中,企业战略行为的变化主要受制于其所在的制度环境,企业在制度框架下所具备的合法性高低决定了其战略行为的变化情况。依照历史发展的脉络,我们采用离散事件历史分析方法,对我国20多家汽车企业在1980年代到1990年代之间的轿车合资行为进行了考察,发现企业的声望和能力是汽车企业取得合法性的两个重要因素。研究发现,限制性行业中影响企业合法性的因素与其它行业有所不同,而合法性高的汽车企业成为行业中战略行为改变的先行者。     

Managing value appropriation in buyer–supplier relationships: The role of commercial decision resources

The resource-based view explains firms’ value appropriation in buyer–supplier relationships by pointing to sustained differences in economic efficiency across firms. Firms with more efficient resources create more value than competitors, which in turn provides a “protective cushion” against competition. However, just as firms may differ in the economic efficiency of their resources and in the value they create, they may also differ in their information processing and how successful they are at value appropriation. Building on the literature on decision-making under uncertainty in psychology, I argue that firms may increase their value appropriation in exchange relationships by investing in commercial decision resources that allow for more effective information processing in commercial decisions. Examples of commercial decision resources include IT-based systems for product costing and tracking customers/competitors, the design of commercial organization, control systems, and commercial experience and skill.     

Local and Global Knowledge Complementarity: R&D Collaborations and Innovation of Foreign and Domestic Firms

We analyze how research and development (R&D) collaborations affect product innovation for subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms and domestic firms. We build on the knowledge-based view to propose that subsidiaries and domestic firms differ in their ability to benefit from alternative R&D partners as a result of the variation in their knowledge complementarities. Specifically, we propose that subsidiaries may benefit more from undertaking R&D collaborations with customers and competitors, whose deeper knowledge of local conditions better complements the more global knowledge base of subsidiaries. In contrast, we argue that domestic firms may benefit more from engaging in R&D collaborations with suppliers and universities, whose more global nature of knowledge better complement the deeper local knowledge base of domestic firms.     

Syndication and Foreignness: Venture Capital Investments in Emerging and Developed Markets

This paper aims to understand when foreign and domestic firms have different likelihoods of syndication in venture capital investments. Although current theory may imply that foreign firms face the liability of foreignness that constrain their syndication opportunities, empirical studies provide quite mixed evidence. To address this issue, this study emphasizes the contingency roles of settings, experience, and reputation. In particular, I argue that foreign firms are more likely to syndicate, compared with domestic ones, when focal investments are less mature, or when local markets are colder and less capitalized. However, the difference in syndication between foreign and domestic firms decreases when they accumulate more experience or when they acquire higher reputation. I find empirical evidence from a sample of venture capital investments in China, UK, and the Netherlands. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end.     

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.     

An empirical study of the impact of firm resources on alliance governance structures

Alliances between smaller biotechnology firms and larger pharmaceutical firms are the backbone of new product development strategies within the pharmaceutical industry. While pharmaceutical firms seek access to new technologies and products, small biotechnology firms depend on these alliance relationships to access key resources such as financing and downstream capabilities because they typically do not have the resources needed in-house to successfully commercialize their products. In this study, we investigate the governance structure of these alliance relationships arguing that the more resource rich a biotechnology firm is, in terms of technical, commercial, and social capital, the less likely it is to give up equity to an alliance partner. Results suggest that greater biotech patent quality, cash position, and alliance credibility impact the type of governance structure that is chosen by the alliance partners and therefore the extent of control that the biotechnology firm is willing to give up in the relationship.     

The antecedents of new R&D collaborations with different partner types: On the dynamics of past R&D collaboration and innovative performance

We examine firms' propensity to adapt their R&D collaboration portfolio by establishing new types of R&D collaboration with different kinds of partners (suppliers, customers, competitors and universities & public research institutions). We argue that existing R&D collaboration with one of the two value chain partners (suppliers or customers) is associated with the formation of new R&D collaboration with the other value chain partner to ensure temporal alignment in innovation within the value chain. In contrast, issues related to governance and unintended knowledge spillovers suggest that ‘horizontal’ R&D collaboration with competitors only spurs R&D collaboration with other partner types if such competitor R&D collaboration has been discontinued earlier (‘delayed temporal alignment’). We posit that persistent prior R&D collaboration with institutional partners is an antecedent to the establishment of new R&D collaboration with industrial partners, and that discontinuation of a particular type of R&D collaboration is likely to lead to a restart of such R&D collaborative effort. Strong prior innovative performance is expected to increase the probability that firms establish R&D collaborations with new partner types, except for R&D collaboration with competitors, since the most innovative firms may fear leakage of proprietary knowledge to rivals. We find broad support for these predictions in a large panel of Spanish innovating firms (2004–2011). Our findings highlight that it is not just the configuration of R&D collaborations with existing partner types that predicts tie formation with new partner types, but also the intertemporal pattern of prior R&D collaboration and managerial discretion provided by past innovation success.     

Die Wirkung von Mehrfachqualifikationen auf Einkommen und Zufriedenheit – Gibt es einen Trade-Off?

The entire educational path influences one’s ability to succeed professionally. This study indicates that for individuals who decide to complete several vocational certifications, the combination of the chosen subject areas has a significant impact on their future employment. In the context of this analysis three cases can be distinguished: vocational specialisation in one area, vocational specialisation in more than one area and vocational diversification. In order to study the impact of these three different forms of vocational education, this study considers two dimensions of success: financial success, such as realised income, and subjective success, such as job satisfaction. The empirical results of this study clarify the gender-specific effect of vocational specialisation or diversification. Vocationally diversified men face a lower level of income than their vocationally specialised colleagues and are less satisfied with their income – even if the amount of money they get is controlled. On the other hand, women who are vocationally diversified do not differ from those who are specialised as regards their level of income. However, they are particularly unsatisfied with the content of their work. This suggests that neither financial nor subjective dimensions of success dominate the other. Furthermore, no clear trade-off between those two aspects of success can be observed.     

The Dynamics of Research Alliances: Examining the Effect of Alliance Experience and Partner Characteristics on the Speed of Alliance Entry in the Biotech Industry

Few studies have moved beyond the dyadic level of an ongoing alliance and examined factors contributing to the success of entering a series of alliances. In this paper we expect biotechnology firms over time to learn from their alliance experience and to develop general alliance capabilities. Specifically, we expect the speed with which they enter into new research alliances, e.g. their alliance formation rate, to be affected by capabilities built up in prior alliances as well as by characteristics of their partners. We use longitudinal event history data for the complete population of US biotechnology firms for 1973–1999 to test four hypotheses about factors affecting the rate of new alliance formation. Our analysis suggests that the speed of entering research alliances is affected by prior experience of the focal firm, but not by partner characteristics. Our findings provide evidence that biotech firms learn how to learn more effectively from multiple research alliances; however, this effect is generalized and not tied to specific characteristics of the alliance partner.     

Climate change,consumer lifestyles and legitimation strategies of sustainability-oriented firms

This study explores the links between climate change, consumer lifestyles, and legitimation strategies of sustainable firms. Our findings offer new insight into this under-researched area based on qualitative case studies of four Nordic firms operating in industrial and consumer contexts. We find that climate change consciousness is a major driver for all case firms’ sustainability-focused operations, but the dynamics differed. Achieving sociopolitical legitimacy emerges as an important factor for the case firms operating in the energy sector, especially as it connects to government incentives and regulative pressures. However, cognitive legitimacy is increasingly important for them also, and the firms are trying to connect to their consumers’ lifestyles as well. In turn, for the case firms operating in the consumer (clothing) industry, functionality and the use of products are highlighted even though cognitive legitimacy based on linking to their consumers’ lifestyle is visible. Finally, the findings reveal that despite the sustainable lifestyles are increasingly important and better recognized in firm strategies and practices, other practicalities of running the business successfully in a highly competitive marketplace are relevant. Building legitimacy in such a way that captures and justifies different approaches, therefore, emerges as the connecting factor between the changing consumer behavior and pro-environmental firm practices.     

“We open doors others do not!”: Position and power of foreign institutional networks

Foreign institutional actors (INAs) can act as a liaison between firms and authorities and other power players to navigate bureaucratic structures, both as resource and legitimacy providers in the host market. Building on institutional theory, this study draws from broader organizational sociological literature, to explore the structural position of INAs in a host country context, and engages with fundamental questions of legitimacy, status, and power. It responds to repeated calls that more studies in international business research are needed on the impact of institutional differences, how to obtain legitimacy, and enhance the home country support networks. To understand INAs' position, specifically within the social structure of a bureaucratic host environment, our study uses in-depth interviews with elite actors from the support networks. Japan is chosen for this study as a host market, because it is the European Union's second largest trading partner in Asia, has a strong central bureaucracy, and historically and currently remains a challenging market for Westerners due to complex market entry barriers. The findings provide a new theoretically derived empirical model demonstrating the positional leverage of these INAs, to “open-doors” into a complex environment and offer a nuanced understanding of their formal and informal structural positions of power. The findings also demonstrate a significant overlap between organizational legitimacy and the exemplary status of these INAs in the bureaucratic environment, which enhances and empowers their leverage to reach authorities, press, and other important actors in the market.     

Narratives of Success and Failure in Systems Development

This paper explores a narrative perspective on 'success' and 'failure' in computer systems development. Organizational narratives can be seen as sense-making devices and as having a purposive aspect in the ways in which they evolve and change and influence behaviour. Narratives like success and failure in particular can be seen as persuasive rhetorics used in legitimizing particular courses of action. The narrative approach challenges more accepted notions, particularly rationalist views that see computer success/failure as outcomes brought about by simple causation. It also reveals the limitations of process models of IT success/failure, though these stress a more complex form of decision making around IT. In the paper, these issues are explored in contrasting projects in financial services firms. In two case studies, computer success and failure emerge not as discrete conditions, but as interacting themes employed by organizational members in response to the circumstances they confront. The corporate capacity to build success out of failure, and to distance the new from the old, discriminated between successful and unsuccessful projects.     

中层管理者多重角色行为对企业绩效影响的实证研究

中层管理者是企业管理中重要的一个环节.本文关注中层管理者多重角色行为对企业绩效的影响.首先,将中层管理者的多重角色划分为企业家、执行者、辅导者与协调者四个维度;其次,通过结构方程模型,实证性的验证了中层管理者多重角色行为模型及各个角色维度对组织财务绩效与运营绩效的不同影响.结论表明中层管理者企业家角色行为仅对企业财务绩效具有积极影响,其余三个角色行为仅对企业运营绩效具有积极影响.最后,分析讨论研究结论,并给出相应的对策和建议.     

政治关联与财务困境公司的政府补助——来自中国ST公司的经验证据

本文以2002-2007年沪深两市的ST公司为样本,实证研究了企业的政治关联对财务困境公司获取政府补助的影响.结果显示:(1)民营企业的政治关联对企业处于财务困境时获取政府补助有显著影响,但对国有企业作用不显著.(2)考虑企业所处的地区环境差异之后,本文发现民营企业的政治关联优势受到地区财政富余程度的显著影响,而地方政府干预要起作用也受到地区财政状况的制约.只有在地方财政有充足财力的情况下,民营企业才可能利用政治关联获得更多的政府补助.(3)从政府补助的效果来看,政府补助虽然可以在救助当年明显改善公司业绩,但对公司长期业绩的提升作用却因企业政治关联程度和企业性质的不同而存在差异:政治关联较弱的民营企业获得的政府补助对公司长期业绩的提高作用显著,但对于国有企业以及具有较强政治关联的民营企业作用则不显著,这在一定程度上说明政治关联导致了政府补助资金的低效运作.     

家族期望落差与创业退出：基于中国数据的分析

作为创业过程的重要活动之一, 创业退出并未引起学者太多的关注, 大多数现有研究文献从企业家、企业、行业和宏观环境去分析创业退出的原因, 而忽略了创业家族的影响.本文以家族期望作为分析单元, 从理论上探讨了家族期望落差与创业退出之间的关系, 以及寻租活动在其间的传导效应.本文的经验分析主要得到了以下研究结论: (1) 新创企业的创始人及其家族具有多重期望目标, 包括家族财富、家族声望、家族团结以及人丁兴旺期望的实现. (2) 家族期望落差对企业家是否选择创业退出具有显著的影响, 即家族的财富丰腴、团结和谐和社会声望期望落差越大则家族企业创始人越倾向于退出经营领域, 而人丁兴旺期望落差越小则越有可能坚持创业. (3) 寻租行为在家族期望落差与创业退出之间起中介传导效应, 即家族期望的未实现将导致企业主倾向于选择非法性寻租行为, 而寻租的高成本与潜在的风险则会进一步增加其退出创业的可能性.     

Is philanthropy being used by corporate wrongdoers to buy good will?

While an increasing number of philosophers and community activists argue in favor of corporate philanthropy, the practice is not without its critics. A number of firms that have restated suspect earnings also appear on lists of top corporate givers or are ranked among most ethical firms, prompting the suspicion that companies are using philanthropy as a kind of moral window-dressing. This paper explores whether restating firms are (1) using philanthropy to divert public attention away from suspect financial results; or (2) making donations to buy good will or a better reputation after they have been required to restate suspect earnings. Our results paint a mixed picture of the morality of corporate philanthropy. Firms forced to restate suspect earnings do seem to be using philanthropy either to divert attention away from their lackluster earnings or to elicit good will from the large community after such restatements. However, the reverse is not true. Just because a firm is a top giver, it does not follow that it is more likely to be a restater of earnings. Nor did we find evidence that firms ranked as very ethical are more likely to be restaters than non-restaters. Firms engage in philanthropy for a variety of reasons. We should not uncritically praise them for their giving, but neither should we regard with a cynical eye all corporate reputations for goodness or all corporation donations.     

The Primary Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethicality in Corporate Reputation: An Empirical Study

We examine three assumptions commonly held in the corporate reputation literature: (1) reputation ratings of owners and investors are generally representative of all stakeholders; (2) stakeholders will generally provide a higher reputation rating to firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility versus firms that do not; and (3) profitability is the primary criterion of importance to all stakeholders when rating a firm's reputation. Using an exploratory in‐class exercise, our findings suggest that: (1) there are significant differences among stakeholder groups in their reputation ratings; (2) firms that emphasize corporate social responsibility are not rated more highly across all stakeholder groups; and (3) for all stakeholder groups, the ethicality criterion explained more of the variance in firms' reputation ratings than the profitability criterion.     

Corporate governance and accounting irregularities: Canadian evidence

This study examines the extent to which corporate governance acts as an efficient means of protecting investors against accounting irregularities. It is grounded in the literatures on public enforcement of securities laws by market authorities, governance, and fraudulent financial statements. A unique feature of the Canadian tracking and enforcement system for reporting issuers in default is used to refine the definitions of accounting irregularities or fraudulent financial statements used in other studies. We test and find that the governance mechanisms of firms found in default of financial reporting regulations during the first 5 years of existence of the Canadian system are weak compared to a sample of no-default firms. For instance, they have fewer independent and financial expert directors on their boards and audit committees, are more prone to have recently changed auditor and to having their CEO as chair of the board. They also appear to fulfill their financing requirements through private rather than public funds, which is consistent with the fact that default firms are less likely to be in a position to return to the public market to fulfill their needs. This study offers evidence relevant to policy makers and others who are concerned with the potential role of market authorities and governance in protecting investors against accounting irregularities.     

股票市场中的外来者劣势研究

作为一个重要的研究主题,外来者劣势已经吸引了学者和实践者的广泛关注。但是,关于外来者劣势的研究大多集中于产品市场,而关于股票市场中外来者劣势的研究较缺乏。鉴于外来者劣势会影响公司在股票市场中的绩效,因而有必要理解并克服股票市场中的外来者劣势。因此,选取股票市场中的外来者劣势作为研究对象,以期在某种程度上丰富已有研究。 基于信息不对称理论和合法性理论,检验信息缺失和合法性缺失对外来者劣势的直接影响。借鉴已有研究,探讨制度质量、行业类型和交叉上市对信息缺失和合法性缺失与外来者劣势关系的调节效应。依据理论分析,提出研究假设并建立概念模型。选取2005年至2013年在海外上市的145家中国公司为样本,通过SPSS软件对相关假设进行实证检验。 研究结果表明,信息缺失和合法性缺失对外来者劣势产生显著的正向影响,即当在海外证券交易所缺失信息和合法性时,公司会遭遇外来者劣势;制度质量显著减弱合法性缺失对外来者劣势的正向影响,行业类型对合法性缺失与外来者劣势的正向关系具有显著的强化作用,而对信息缺失与外来者劣势的正向关系具有显著的弱化作用,交叉上市显著增强信息缺失和合法性缺失对外来者劣势的正向影响。 根据研究结果从弥补信息缺失和合法性缺失两方面给出降低外来者劣势的策略指导,建议选择制度质量较高的东道国和高科技公司聚集的交易所来弱化外来者劣势,研究结果对在海外上市时遇到外来者劣势的公司管理者具有一定的指导借鉴意义。     

盈余管理、金融市场化与公司超额银行借款

公司在获取银行信贷的过程中会通过盈余管理以满足会计业绩审核要求的行为已得到学者们的关注, 但现有文献尚未研究公司在获得一定的银行借款后是否会继续进行盈余管理以获得超额银行借款.本文基于该问题, 以2003年～2016年中国A股上市公司为研究对象, 从应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理两个维度, 考察了盈余管理行为与公司超额银行借款之间的关系.研究结果表明, 应计盈余管理和真实盈余管理均与公司超额银行借款正相关;进一步, 在考虑地区金融市场化程度之后, 发现金融市场化弱化了应计盈余管理与公司超额银行借款的正相关关系, 但增强了公司通过真实盈余管理获得更多超额银行借款的行为.本文从公司超额银行借款行为出发, 同时结合金融市场化程度, 拓展了会计信息质量与信贷资源配置的研究视角.