How the Resource-based and the Dynamic Capability Views of the Firm Inform Corporate-level Strategy

This paper explains that the resource‐based view essentially addresses issues of competitive strategy, but by integrating some arguments from its evolutionary version, the dynamic capability view, it can be extended to inform our understanding of corporate‐level strategy. We concentrate on the issue of value creation from corporate centres and ask how the centre can possess or provide resources. The primary dynamic capabilities identified by Teece, Pisano and Shuen (1997) are elaborated into six distinct modes of resource creation. Each mode is considered in relation to a set of organizational design parameters. We then propose resource‐creating configurations that are congruent with respect to the modes and the required states of the design parameters. We point out areas of tension that are likely to arise if corporations try to combine different modes of resource creation. We conclude that corporate centres may possess resources but must display dynamic capabilities otherwise they will destroy shareholder value.     

The spatial structure of epidemic emergence: geographical aspects of poliomyelitis in north-eastern USA, July-October 1916

Summary.  The great epidemic of poliomyelitis which swept New York City and surrounding territory in the summer of 1916 eclipsed all previous global experience of the disease. We draw on epidemiological information that is included in the seminal US Public Health Bulletin 91, 'Epidemiologic studies of poliomyelitis in New York City and the northeastern United States during the year 1916' (Washington DC, 1918), to re-examine the spatial structure of the epidemic. For the main phase of transmission of the epidemic, July–October 1916, it is shown that the maximum concentration of activity of poliomyelitis occurred within a 128-km radius of New York City. Although the integrity of the poliomyelitis cluster was maintained up to approximately 500 km from the metropolitan focus, the level and rate of propagation of disease declined with distance from the origin of the epidemic. Finally, it is shown that the geographical transmission of the epidemic in north-eastern USA probably followed a process of mixed contagious–hierarchical diffusion.     

Estimation of Seemingly Unrelated Tobit Regressions via the EM Algorithm

An expectation-maximum (EM) likelihood algorithm is used to estimate two seemingly unrelated Tobit regressions in which the dependent variables are truncated normal. An illustrative example on the determination of the life-health insurance and pension benefits is also given.     

Inputs and Outcomes of Outdoor Management Development: Of Design,Dogma and Dissonance

Although it is now a multi‐million pound international industry, there is continuing scepticism about the benefits of Outdoor Management Development (OMD). This study investigates the impact of participation in an archetypal example of OMD on a cohort of junior managers (n=19). Participants reported changes in a variety of attitudes including, their opinions of themselves, team‐working and the theoretical frameworks used to underpin the programme. Analysis of individuals' accounts found associations between participation in particular forms of outdoor training activities and changes in certain categories of attitude. Cognitive dissonance theory is used as a framework to explain these changes. More specifically, we contend that task selection and review‐style choices made by providers and sponsors significantly influenced the reactions, sense‐making processes and training outcomes reported by participants. This study challenges the design of contemporary OMD programmes that privileges a linear, incremental view of development where one starts with simple tasks of short duration and gradually progresses to longer and more complex activities.     

The Influence of Functional Experience on Perceptions of Strategic Priorities

This paper reviews three previous studies of functional bias (Dearborn and Simon, 1958; Walsh, 1988; Nystrom, 1991) which have produced conflicting evidence. The results of a study into functional bias in perceptions of strategic priorities are presented. These results, which provide evidence of functional bias, are discussed and some suggestions for future research are made.     

Combining Neural Networks and Statistical Predictions to Solve the Classification Problem in Discriminant Analysis*

A number of recent studies have compared the performance of neural networks (NNs) to a variety of statistical techniques for the classification problem in discriminant analysis. The empirical results of these comparative studies indicate that while NNs often outperform the more traditional statistical approaches to classification, this is not always the case. Thus, decision makers interested in solving classification problems are left in a quandary as to what tool to use on a particular data set. We present a new approach to solving classification problems by combining the predictions of a well-known statistical tool with those of an NN to create composite predictions that are more accurate than either of the individual techniques used in isolation.     

Discourses of Diversity,Equality and Inclusion: Trenchant Formulations or Transient Fashions?

Using bibliometric analysis of published work, we examine the discursive trends, patterns and implications of three different anti‐discrimination solutions (equality, diversity and inclusion) over a 40‐year period from 1970 to 2010. The findings reveal that the anti‐discrimination discourses are consistent with management fashions, in terms of both their trends and the rhetorical strategies used by proponents to establish the dominance of their favoured approach, particularly by denigrating previous approaches. Practitioner‐facing academics play a key role in the process by giving shape, exposure and credibility to the anti‐discrimination solutions, but not in creating them. Only by breaking free of the oppositional discursive patterns can the debate move on to anti‐discrimination solutions that attempt to blend together equality, diversity and inclusion.     

Financial Literacy and Emergency Saving

Using data collected by the National Financial Capability Study, a survey recently commissioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, this paper investigates the correlations between subjectively and objectively assessed measures of financial knowledge, and the probability of having savings adequate to cover 3 months of typical expenses. Results indicate that households who are more financially knowledgeable or more confident in their financial ability are significantly more likely to report having emergency funds. These findings support the growing literature on the relationship between financial knowledge and economic behaviors and have wide policy implications.     

Data‐Driven Classification Using Boundary Observations

Classification is often a critical task for business managers in their decision‐making processes. It is generally more difficult for a classification scheme to produce accurate results when the input domains of the various output classes coincide, to some degree, with one another. In an attempt to address this issue, this article discusses a data‐driven algorithm that identifies the region of coincidence, or overlap, for two‐group classification problems by empirically determining the convex boundary for each group. The results are extendable to multigroup classification. The class membership of a new observation is then determined by its relative position with respect to each of these boundaries. Due to minimal data storage requirements, this boundary‐point classification technique can adapt to changing conditions far more easily than other approaches. Test results demonstrate that the new classification technique has similar performance to a back‐propagation neural network under static conditions and significantly outperforms a back‐propagation neural network under dynamic conditions.     

The Impact of Causal Ambiguity on Competitive Advantage and Rent Appropriation

We seek to develop the conceptual and practical understanding of causal ambiguity. Specifically we extend current thinking by setting out three types of causal ambiguity, based on whether firm resources are perceived to display linkage and/or characteristic ambiguity, and by examining for each type the impact of causal ambiguity on the sustainability of competitive advantage and on rent appropriation. We highlight the difficulties decision‐makers face when they perceive ambiguity and finally we explore some implications of ambiguity with respect to resource‐creation processes.