Performance effects of information asymmetry and economies of scope in diversified service firms.

This study examined the performance effects of information asymmetry and economies of scope in diversified service firms. Tests using both accounting- and stock-market-based measures of performance revealed that information asymmetry improved performance more than economies of scope. As hypothesized, the benefits of information asymmetry were greater for firms offering services whose quality cannot be determined until after their purchase (experience services), and the benefits of economies of scope were greater for firms offering services whose quality can be determined prior to purchase (search services). However, without considering the interactive effects of service characteristics, economies of scope were negatively associated with performance for diversified service firms overall.     

Dynamic Economies of Scope in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Pharmaceutical industry estimates are used to simulate the innovativeperformance over time of firms with different capabilities.Competitive advantage due to dynamic scope economies is smallduring the initial exploration of technological trajectories,but subsequently grows. Firms exploring older trajectories havean advantage in product introductions if scope economies arelarge. Products based on older trajectories retain a cost advantage.These results suggest that incumbents can have a competitiveadvantage over technological pioneers because of the existenceof complementary assets.     

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND THE INNOVATION SYSTEM IN FRANCE 1985-2000

This paper investigates the relations between corporate governance and innovation in France over the period 1985-2000, with special focus on the development of firms' capabilities. The literature on innovation has often referred to a fit between environmental niches and institutional arrangements of corporate governance. By contrast, this paper presents the French case as an illustration of the numerous possibilities for institutional arrangements in ownership and control of industry and their multiple combinations with the national innovation system. The paper discusses the changing role - and importance - over time performed by the French system of corporate governance and its impact on the development of innovative capabilities by firms. The paper demonstrates that the impact of the national system of corporate governance on the innovative system is strongly mediated by the distribution of power and the conduct of business strategy inside large domestic firms.     

How do top management team characteristics affect digital orientation? Exploring the internal driving forces of firm digitalization

The top management team (TMT) plays a key role in the process of the firm digital transformation. However, few studies have focused on the impact of TMT characteristics on the digital orientation of firms. In this paper, we simultaneously explore the impact of the dispersion, aggregation, and background characteristics of TMT on the digital orientation of firms. Based on the upper echelons theory and strategic orientation theory, we propose that the diversity and average education level of TMT positively impact firms' digital orientation. The average age and tenure of TMT have a negative impact on the digital orientation of firms. The overseas and financial backgrounds of TMT members have a positive impact on the digital orientation of firms. Our hypothesis was tested using large-scale longitudinal data and computer-aided text analysis methods from Chinese listed companies. This paper provides useful supplements to early research on digital driving factors and digital orientation in emerging economies, and also provides more universal suggestions for digital practices in firms.     

Defense conversion and systems architecture: challenges to Taiwan's aircraft industry

How to establish a complex high-tech systems engineering industry is crucial for many newly industrializing countries to further their economic development beyond efficient manufacturing of relatively simple products. Because the aircraft industry is a user and driver of advanced product and process technologies, in 1990 Taiwan's government officially designated this industry as a national strategic area to receive policy support. The ultimate success of this endeavor depends on the transformation of a combat aircraft producer into a commercial champion and the sustainability of the supporting industries. However, the prospect of defense conversion is dismal. The commercial benefits of military work are minimal because military and civilian needs of design are very different and so are scale economies, scope economies, and experience curve. Moreover, neither spin-off nor dual-use strategy can apply effectively, leaving the focal company an enclave isolated from the local industry. Another insurmountable barrier is the integral architecture of the aircraft and engine systems. In this industry, most functional and design specifications and standards are imposed by the upper-tier buyers and integrators. This implies that the lower-tier firms cannot pursue their own engineering and production competence rather independently and flexibly as most other local firms in Taiwan do in the fields of highly open components and easily adjustable interfaces. This case typifies a government's futile efforts in a global industry of complex proprietary technological systems and points to the criticality of defense conversion and systems architecture in the commercial world of systems engineering.     

Externalizing,Internalizing and Fostering Commitment: The Case of Born-Global Firms in Emerging Economies

This paper examines the HR practices of mature born-global firms from 29 emerging economies. Through an examination of large scale survey data the paper questions the extent to which firm size impacts the employment of temporary workers, the employment of skilled workers and the extent of employee training. Findings suggest that as firm size increases the use of temporary workers decreases, the number of skilled workers increases and the number of employees receiving training also increases. The paper highlights how born-global firms are able to shift away from externalized, market-based approaches towards more internalized, commitment-based approaches in order to survive, adapt and grow.     

Institutional stability and industry renewal: diverging trajectories in the Cognac beverage cluster

Adding to approaches highlighting network dynamics as a basis for regional economic development, increased attention is paid to institutions as contextual factors contributing to explaining how and why economies change. Research has shown that firms tend to react differently to the same institutional configurations, with the main explanatory factors being their sectoral backgrounds and intra-firm characteristics. This study adds to these insights by examining a regional economy in France, that of Cognac, in which 300 firms are operating under homogeneous institutional preconditions. Despite these similarities, we identify different development trajectories from the 1990s onwards. Our observations illustrate how firms’ responses to external change diverge and bring them on different trajectories due to different positions in the industry hierarchy and different experiences and capabilities among individuals within firms. The study contributes to the better understanding of mechanisms of path dependence, which have gained wide recognition in the literature in the recent decades.     

Collaborative mechanisms for sustainability-oriented supply chain initiatives: state of the art,role assessment and research opportunities

Whether from government policies, customer expectations or personal beliefs, there is increasing pressure on firms and their supply chains to adopt sustainable practices. Manufacturing companies are particularly targeted, for example, to reduce CO₂ emissions, offer sustainable products, etc. Research in this field has significantly increased in recent years. Most research states the importance of collaboration with upstream and downstream entities as a critical success factor when aiming for a sustainable supply chain and proposes various collaborative mechanisms (CMs) to enable firms in the implementation of a sustainability-oriented initiative. The goal of this paper is to investigate the role of collaboration in these initiatives and explore the proposed CMs via a systematic literature review method. A total of 404 articles were reviewed and the multitude of CMs proposed in the literature were classified into seven categories: relationship management, contractual and economic practices, joint practices, technological and information sharing practices, governance practices, assessment practices, and supply chain design. This systematic mapping of the field provides an in-depth view of the current state of research as well as research gaps. It also intends to help practitioners by highlighting the role played by these mechanisms in four phases of sustainable supply chain deployment.     

Generating Stylistic Innovation: A Process Perspective

In contrast to technological innovation, little is known about how innovation arises in the creative industries. This inductive study of product development practices in five fashion firms examines how organizations in the fashion industry develop a particular type of innovation: stylistic innovation. The resulting theoretical framework reveals that successful fashion firms develop stylistic innovations based on a unique combination of three sets of interrelated product development practices—creative sensing (inspiration-based), stylistic orchestrating (coherence-focused) and agile synchronization (timing-driven). This study's main contributions to the innovation literature are its crystallization of the key properties of stylistic product innovation, its development practices and extension of thinking about how these properties are different from prior development practices found in traditional technological industries.     

Human Resource Practices and Firm Performance in Chinese Enterprises

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促进鲆鲽类养殖产业朝循环经济方向持续健康发展——基于鲆鲽类主产区调研的战略思考

根据对主产区26个县的132户养殖单位的调查结果,按照循环经济原则,对我国鲆鲽类养殖产业的发展模式作出了初步判断,总结了现已存在的几种循环经济模式,剖析了发展鲆鲽类产业循环经济的5个主要障碍因素,阐述了循环经济发展中需要避免的三大误区,并提出了我国鲆鲽类产业从线性经济向循环经济转化的5个战略对策。     

Complementarity effect of governance mechanisms on environmental collaboration: does it exist?

This study evaluates the effect of pre-existing relational governance mechanisms on environmental collaboration. Specifically, our study distinguishes between structural and process dimensions of relational governance mechanisms so as to facilitate a more nuanced investigation into the inherent complementarities and performance implications. Using data collected from 145 US firms and a combination of methodologies – three-stage least squares and structural equation modelling, a number of direct, complementary and mediation effects are hypothesised and tested. The three-stage least squares methodology was adopted to overcome endogeneity and simultaneity issues inherent in the hypotheses covering complementarity. Contrary to conventional wisdom, structural and process governance mechanisms were not found to act as complements for environmental collaboration. Instead, the effect of structural mechanisms was found to be completely mediated by the process mechanisms. Thus, process mechanisms of relational governance were found to be much more important in promoting advanced practices such as environmental collaboration. Our results also document the significant mediating role of environmental collaboration. Implications for future research and practice are offered.     

Worlds Apart? A Comparison of the New Product Development Strategies of Biopharmaceutical Firms in Europe and the USA

Globally the biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by strong competition, research-intensive and protracted new product development (NPD) processes, intensive regulation and extensive alliance activity. Policy regimes and operating environments differ markedly, however. Here we examine how these differences impact on the NPD strategies of biopharmaceutical firms in the USA and three major EU economies (the UK, France and Germany). Our analysis suggests four key differences between firms' NPD strategies in the two areas. First, while levels of R&D intensity and continuity are broadly similar in the two areas, US firms have notably stronger patent profiles, and are significantly more active in technology licensing than their European counterparts. Second, product development cycles are significantly longer in the USA than among our European respondents. Third, the nature of the product development pipeline is very different in the USA and the major European economies covered by our study: US firms conduct early stage development of more compounds than European firms but take only a similar number to market. Fourth, we see broadly similar levels of alliance activity in our US and European respondents at both the early and late stages of the NPD process. These results suggest a greater substitution of “market” for “hierarchy” in US firms' NPD strategies, reflecting differences in the availability and structure of government support in the USA and Europe.     

危机下的中国气体

对新形势下的中国气体业进行了详细的回顾,展望中国气体业的未来,指出随着金融危机的过去,传统的气体生产理念和经营方式也将发生质的变化,这将为中国气体业同国际接轨起到里程碑的作用。     

System-on-a-chip integration in the semiconductor industry: industry structure and firm strategies

Miniaturization has spurred ever-increasing on-chip integrationin the semiconductor industry so that large-scale electronicsystems can now be put on a single chip. The proliferation ofsuch ‘systems-on-a-chip’ has important repercussionsfor the structure of the electronics industry, and the strategiesof electronics firms. In a detailed case study, we apply a theoreticalframework developed in Somaya and Teece [‘Combining inventionsin multi-invention contexts: organizational choices, intellectualproperty rights, and public policy,’ SSRN Working Paper(available at: www.ssrn.com) 2001] to understand how system-on-a-chipintegration is altering the balance between integrated approaches,components trading, and the licensing of ‘design modules’(DM) in the semiconductor industry. Consistent with the framework,we observe a burgeoning market for licensed DMs in the industry,along with the primarily in-house design approach being pursuedby large integrated firms. Important technical and institutionalfactors that are shaping industry structure, and the strategiesbeing pursued by different types of firms are documented. Basedon the framework, implications are drawn for firm strategy inresponse to technological shifts of the kind engendered by system-on-a-chipin the semiconductor industry. We extend the Somaya–Teeceframework to include firm strategies that seek to influencethe institutional environment in which they operate, and thusalter the balance between competing organizational modes.     

Circular supply chains in emerging economies – a comparative study of packaging recovery ecosystems in China and Brazil

This paper provides a circular supply chain perspective of packaging recovery ecosystems being implemented by Tetra Pak, a prime global player in the food packaging industry, in two major emerging economies: China and Brazil. The circular supply chain archetype considered in the research allowed a consistent comparative analysis of Tetra Pak's circular supply chains in both countries. Through a case study approach, the research provides theoretical propositions and learning points that are valuable for academics and practitioners interested in the Chinese and Brazilian markets as well as in the supply chains supporting recovery ecosystems in the packaging industry. In particular, the distinct environments in the Chinese and Brazilian markets render Tetra Pak opportunities to design circular supply chains in different ways showing adaptation and learning to local market characteristics. The industrial perspectives from these emerging economies add to the contributions offered in the paper. Overall, the conceptual considerations and practical recommendations presented in the paper provide useful insights for the development of further studies and implementation of industrial practices advocated by the circular economy.     

Linking quality citizenship to process design: a quality management perspective

As organisations emphasise their role in society, there is a need to determine the effect of socially responsible practices on organisational processes and firm performance. Although the effect of corporate social responsibility on firm performance has been addressed from different perspectives, little is known about the influence of corporate social responsibility on organisational processes and internal operations of firms. The paper aims to make a link between corporate social responsibility, quality management practices and quality outcomes through emphasising quality citizenship as one of the practices associated with quality management. This paper provides a new perspective on the link between quality citizenship and product/process design within the quality management framework. The stakeholder theory of the firm is used to explain the formation and development of new management practices within a firm. Data were collected from managers in the petroleum industry to examine the role of quality citizenship on design and development of organisational processes. The results show that quality citizenship has a significant effect on employee involvement and an indirect effect on process design. Quality citizenship enables firms to obtain a much broader perspective on product/process design and facilitates design and development of products, services and processes that meet the needs of a broader set of customers – the stakeholders.     

Firm innovation system: Paths for enhancing corporate indigenous innovation capability

To obtain a sustainable competitive advantage and achieve global innovation leadership, firms in China and other emerging economies must develop strong indigenous innovation capabilities through the coevolution of strategy, organization, resources, and culture. Drawing on current innovation management theories and practices, this study proposes four systematic paths for improving firm innovation systems (FISs), namely, the R&D-based internal collaborative FIS, the strategic vision-driven FIS, the open and user-driven FIS, and the holistic ecosystem-driven FIS. This study contributes to the systematic approach for enhancing corporate indigenous innovation capability based on FISs. Moreover, this study provides theoretical and practical insights for China as well as other developing countries to cultivate world-class enterprises and build an innovative nation.