Environmental influences upon firm entry into new sub-markets: Evidence from the worldwide hard disk drive industry conditionally

Firms need to access skills, capital and customers to enter into an industry initially and the choices they make to access these resources are likely to exert path dependent influences over subsequent entry behavior into new sub-markets. This paper explores how firms configure themselves to access skills, capital and customers and reports data on their association with whether and when firms enter new sub-markets in the worldwide hard disk drive (HDD) industry. While, as with other studies, there appear to be geographic differences between US and Japanese firms in sub-market entry behavior, these are shown not to simply reflect differences in region: US startup firms with former IBM personnel and Japanese incumbent firms with keiretsu linkages to their customers, exhibit different entry behavior than other firms in the same region. The analysis suggests that entry decisions are influenced by firms’ configuration choices to access needed resources and that the menu of configuration options available to firm managers varies across different institutional settings.     

Information-sharing in academia and the industry: A comparative study

This paper investigates how scientists decide whether to share information with their colleagues or not. Detailed data on the decisions of 1694 bio-scientists allow to detect similarities and differences between academia-based and industry-based scientists. Arguments from social capital theory are applied to explain why individuals share information even at (temporary) personal cost. In both realms, the results suggest that the likelihood of sharing decreases with the competitive value of the requested information. Factors related to social capital, i.e., expected reciprocity and the extent to which a scientist's community conforms to the norm of open science, either directly affect information-sharing or moderate competitive interest considerations on information-sharing. The effect depends on the system to which a scientist belongs.     

高管职业背景会影响企业研发披露吗？

选用2008-2014年沪深两市非金融行业的上市公司作为样本，本文研究了高管团队的职业背景对研发支出的自愿性披露的影响。研究发现：有研发职业背景的高管团队更可能在年报中披露公司的研发支出。在控制了公司创新强度、高管团队的其他特征（年龄、学历、性别），采用高技术行业样本，利用董监高研发职业背景比例，进行PSM配对等一系列稳健性检验后，上述结论依然成立。进一步区分高管类型发现，有研发职业背景的CEO、董事长和有学术研究背景的CEO对公司披露研发支出的可能性有显著正向影响，而CFO的职业背景对公司研发披露决策没有明显影响。本文将职业背景这一重要高管特征引入企业研发披露的研究领域，丰富了“高层梯队理论”与研发活动的会计信息披露的相关研究。     

中小企业信贷约束的成因与衡量:理论背景及分析框架

本文探讨了中小企业信贷约束及其影响因素、信贷约束衡量问题。首先,对形成中小企业信贷约束的两个方面即企业的信贷需求和银行的信贷供给行为,进行了理论背景及概念框架分析。其次,结合相关研究进展的评述,对影响中小企业信贷约束两个方面的因素,包括金融机构中小企业提供信贷服务供给的意愿和能力的影响因素、中小企业信贷获取能力的影响因素,进行了分析。然后,对信贷约束衡量方法及实证研究进展,进行了回顾与讨论。最后,讨论了理论分析、相关研究进展所具有的政策含义和研究含义。     

高管性别、制度环境与企业CSR决策

基于商业伦理和性别角色差异的理论视角,探讨了高管性别对企业CSR决策的影响效应和作用机理,并利用2010~2013年我国沪深上市公司社会责任数据,运用多元回归、2SLS工具变量回归和广义矩回归等方法进行实证检验。结果表明：（1）高管性别对企业CSR决策产生了重要影响,当企业CEO为女性或高管团队中女性比例增加时,企业CSR质量得到显著提升;（2）制度环境对高管性别与企业CSR质量之间的关系具有显著的调节作用,企业所在地区的制度环境越落后,女性高管改善企业CSR质量的积极效应越明显。本研究拓展了对企业伦理决策与社会责任的理论认知,也丰富了女性高管决策领域的研究文献。     

Understanding knowledge management software-organisation misalignments from an institutional perspective: A case study of a global IT-management consultancy firm

Inspired by the proposition that “Enterprise IS configurations chosen by the organisations will encode institutionalised principles into these systems” (Gosain, 2004, p. 169), this study seeks to draw attention to potential sources of misalignment between knowledge management (KM) software and the implementing organisation from an institutional theory perspective. Using a case of a global consultancy firm, the study elucidates such misalignments as the consequence of different institutional contexts where technology developers and adopters operate. This study demonstrates how institutional forces affect the implementation project and provides some lessons learned for organisations that are rich in high-value text-based knowledge for making decisions.     

An ethical framework in information systems decision making using normative theories of business ethics

As business environments become more complex and reliant on information systems, the decisions made by managers affect a growing number of stakeholders. This paper proposes a framework based on the application of normative theories in business ethics to facilitate the evaluation of IS related ethical dilemmas and arrive at fair and consistent decisions. The framework is applied in the context of an information privacy dilemma to demonstrate the decision making process. The ethical dilemma is analyzed using each one of the three normative theories—the stockholder theory, stakeholder theory, and social contract theory. The challenges associated with the application of these theories are also discussed.     

中国企业制度创业战略选择探析

将合法性与以往被认为在战略实施中起支持作用的资源作为战略选择的影响因素,探索它们对中国企业制度创业战略选择的影响。提出一个合法性与资源约束下的二元制度创业战略选择框架,认为企业根据合法性对其当前运营的重要程度,以及企业受到的资源约束的强度的不同,会倾向于选择优先/重点实施、暂缓实施、并行实施或者拼凑实施某种制度创业战略。     

The influence of financial features and country characteristics on B2B ICOs’ website traffic

Technology, blockchain, and initial coin offerings (ICOs) have changed the established ways of financing companies and doing business. The changes that affect organizational communications, specifically marketing communications, remain unclear, especially in the context of business-to-business (B2B) organizations. The current trend is for B2B companies to view social media as an optimal way to enhance lasting and valuable relationships with other companies. There is little research on social media marketing strategies by B2B organizations. To fill this gap, this study uses a sample of 57 B2B ICOs completed by December 2019 and qualitative comparative analysis to examine how the combined effect of four conditions related to B2B ICOs (percentage of tokens distributed, amount of funding raised, minimum investment required, and ICO price) and two conditions related to the promoter’s country (institutional efficiency and tax haven status) lead to a low Alexa Rank. While the percentage of tokens distributed and the amount of funds raised play a key role in achieving a low Alexa Rank, the minimum investment required seems to play a secondary role. Moreover, the importance of the characteristics of the B2B ICO promoter’s country depends on both the presence and the value of the conditions related to financial characteristics.     

Work-related factors influencing doctors search behaviors and trust toward medical information resources

Regulation of clinical practice is a characteristic aspect of the medical profession. Regardless of whether this regulation derives from government-sourced guidelines or materials from government-sponsored institutions, it results in a high production of information resources (institutional information resources), which are disseminated to the clinical stuff in order to ensure compliance. In that case, the issue of credibility of these information resources might arise, since medical practice is characterized by a high frequency of change. The latter involves a continuous effort on the part of the clinical staff, which is motivated by work-related factors (e.g., need for compliance) or personal motivation (e.g., need for self-improvement). In this study we consider a simple trust model, according to which we assume that perceived trust is a direct antecedent of perceived credibility. We evaluate whether work-related or personal motivating factors influence the relation between perceived credibility and trust toward institutional information sources and how the effect of each factor affects this relation. Findings suggest that work-related factors have a higher impact on the relation between credibility and trust than personal motivation factors, while they are stressing the important role of hospital libraries as a dissemination point for government-sponsored information resources.     

The role of the entrepreneur in identifying international expansion as a strategic opportunity

This research explores business internationalisation as a process of recognising and exploiting business opportunities in an international context and uses Spain's natural stone industry as a case study. We differentiate internationalisation into two stages: opportunity identification and subsequent opportunity exploitation. We focus on the initial identification stage to determine the impact of entrepreneurs’ cognitive variables when gathering relevant information for internationalisation of the firm, highlighting the role of entrepreneurs’ alertness, the centre of interest, causal logic, and prior experience. We also examine the importance of the entrepreneur's environment, social networks, and institutional setting. In our empirical analysis, we find that although interested in internationalisation, entrepreneurs in the natural stone industry devote very little time and effort to gathering information. As a result, decisions related to internationalisation are restricted by uncertainty and a poor understanding of the appeal, barriers, and available support services.     

The role of information in strategic decision-making

Aspects of the role of information in strategic decision-making by executives in industry are hardly ever mentioned in management research publications. We therefore investigate in this paper the way information is obtained, analysed, judged and applied by executives in industry that have to take strategic decisions. We interviewed executives from thirteen companies in The Netherlands and in Germany about the stages in the decision process that they followed in thirty two recent decisions they had to make.We found that executives that follow a rational approach collect and use ample information in a structured decision-making process passing through a number of distinct phases in time. In this process, information plays a crucial role in reducing uncertainty. Over all discussions held, the aspect of the quality of the information used by the board was stressed. We could only obtain circumstantial evidence of changes in the decision making process caused by developments in new information acquisition and analysis methods such as use of the Internet becoming common practice. But we can affirm that with more relevant information available, discussions in the boardroom on issues affecting the choices and alternatives can now be better controlled and rational decision-making is thus facilitated.     

创业制度环境对创业决策的影响机制

创业是我国推进创新驱动战略与经济结构转型的重要力量。对于“为何同样制度环境下个体有着差异化创业决策”的问题,现有创业制度研究未能有效解答。因此研究引入认知视角,试图揭示创业制度环境三类因素影响创业决策的微观机制,包括个体风险感知、机会评估及创业自我效能在这一“黑箱”中的作用。通过五省市1000份调研数据实证分析,结果表明：（1）三类创业制度的积极认知将显著促进创业决策生成;（2）创业制度通过影响个体风险感知、机会评估最终作用于创业决策;（3）三类制度作用机制有所不同,认知制度完全经由风险感知与机会评估的连续中介影响创业决策,规制制度与规范制度的作用路径则被二者部分中介;（4）风险感知会显著负向影响机会评估,两类认知因素对创业决策分别起到负向与正向作用。研究结论有助于深入理解创业成因与制度影响,进而提升“双创”建设和我国创业质量。     

私营企业家外部环境风险感知与企业创新投入

企业家是私营企业中的灵魂人物,企业家在企业创新战略的制定中发挥了决定性作用。本文使用中国私营企业调查（CPES）数据库,研究了企业家外部环境风险感知对企业创新投入的影响。具体的,我们按照综合因子得分将企业家外部环境风险感知划分为高值组与低值组,使用PSM的方法,估计了高值组企业与低值组企业创新投入的平均差异水平（ADL）。研究发现：企业家市场环境风险感知越强,企业创新投入水平越高;而企业家制度环境风险感知越强,企业创新投入水平越低;综合来看,企业家外部环境风险感知越强,企业创新投入水平越低。在企业创新投入决策中我国私营企业家风险规避动机强于风险寻求动机,而且低个人地位感知度的企业家的风险规避动机强于高个人地位感知度的企业家。     

Funding intellectual-capital-abundant technology development: empirical evidence from the Finnish biotechnology business

This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to answering the questions of whether and how the intellectual capital (IC) of a company is related to its financial structure. To this end, we consecutively apply factor and regression analyses on a sample of 65 small and medium-sized Finnish biotechnology companies. Based on the results, we find that firms with a well-balanced IC base finance their operations to a larger extent with retained earnings and debt while companies with less well-balanced IC bases revert to other sources of financing, for example, external equity. Utilizing the conventional pecking order theory as a theoretical backdrop on one hand and recent results from its empirical research on the other, we present two alternative rationales behind deviating capital structure choices made by companies with dissimilar IC bases.     

东道国特征和ODI的区位选择：基于能力的视角

中国企业独特的ODI区位选择策略挑战了传统的跨国公司理论,深入分析中国跨国公司的能力性质及其对于ODI行为的影响机制有助于解释以往研究中存在的理论争议。本文以2014到2018年间A股上市公司中的制造企业为研究样本,基于能力的视角探讨中国企业ODI的区位选择机制。研究结果表明东道国的技术禀赋、制度质量对于ODI的区位选择具有显著的正向影响;企业的技术能力和制度邻近性在东道国特征对于ODI区位选择的影响关系中具有显著的调节作用;中国企业在发达国家和发展中国家ODI存在不同的区位选择机制,主要表现在企业特征的调节作用具有显著的差异。研究结果反应了东道国特征和中国企业海外投资策略的动态变化特征,有助于更加有效地解释中国企业ODI的区位选择机制。     

Greater adaptivity or greater control? Adaptation of IOR portfolios in response to technological change

This paper addresses the question of how firms accomplish the strategic task of adapting their entire set of IORs (interorganizational relationships) to changing environmental conditions. To study this, we move beyond the focus on collaboration with individual partners (the dyadic perspective) that has been the dominant emphasis in the literature until now. Instead, we view the firms’ portfolios through the lens of the different modes of IOR engaged in (licensing agreements, non-equity alliances, venture capital investments, minority investments, joint ventures, and mergers & and acquisitions). We study the role of environmental change within the high-tech setting of the bio-pharmaceutical industry and distinguish between industry technological change and firm-specific technological change. In doing so, we rely on prospect theory to theorize how firms’ perceptions of environmental change in terms of a looming loss or a potential gain affect their risk-bearing, how this leads them to adjust their IOR portfolio diversity, and how these adjustments get implemented at the mode level. Whereas most of our hypotheses were confirmed by the study, a key unexpected finding was that firms respond to both types of technological change through stronger forms of adaptation than theoretically anticipated. Firms adapt to industry technological change through an increase in the diversity of their portfolio of IORs and by churning it up, which leads to a loosening of control at the individual mode level but greater adaptivity at the portfolio level. When facing firm-specific change instead, they adapt by reducing portfolio diversity, while cutting back on collaboration across five out of the six modes. Our findings both contribute to the literature on organizational adaptation, interfirm collaboration, and IOR portfolios and provide a greater behavioral understanding of network change.     

Varieties of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A comparative study of Tokyo and Bangalore

This paper, through a longitudinal qualitative study of comparable but different entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) in Tokyo and Bangalore, contributes to the understanding of how local EEs can be compared and measured in a way that pays attention to context and time. In contrast to many existing approaches to measuring EEs, this study follows a bottom-up approach anchored in organisation theory to uncover potentially systematic EE differences (pointing to EE types) and – based on those – propose contextualised EE measurement dimensions in an inductive way. Specifically, the paper conceptualises EEs as organisational fields, and introduces and traces a unit of analysis comprised of institutional work and practice performed by EE stakeholders (entrepreneurs, investors, various supporters) on elements related to institutional infrastructure of their EEs (e.g. financial and labour resources, support infrastructure, markets). This analysis illuminates which EE elements are particularly important in a given location and time as evidenced by the stakeholders’ actions.The findings reveal similarity in elements related to EEs’ institutional infrastructure that have been the objects of action in both locations. At the same time, there are patterns of similarities and differences in substance and sequence of the actions. For instance, institutional work and practice regarding support infrastructure consisted of similar specific actions and occurred in similar sequence over time in both Tokyo and Bangalore, in contrast to the actions related to markets. Further, uncovering the existence of disputes regarding some instances of actions performed with regards to EEs’ institutional infrastructure, allows identifying a set of interacting dimensions (underlying EEs’ institutional infrastructure) that drive similarities and differences in EEs’ evolution trajectories in Tokyo and Bangalore by moderating stakeholders’ actions: transnational connectedness, domestic old economy factors, perceived local EE needs, and EE benchmarks. This set of dimensions and their interactions is conceptualised as beginnings of a novel framework for comparing sub-national EEs – Varieties of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems – which is anchored in organisation theory but sensitised by insights from established comparative frameworks like Varieties of Capitalism. The cases examined in this paper allow to specify two EE types: more domestically-oriented EE (like Tokyo) and more transnationally-oriented EE (like Bangalore), both sharing the characteristic of developing and strengthening over time. Based on the Varieties of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, the paper proposes contextualised EE measurement dimensions as an alternative and complementary way to the existing approaches to measuring EEs.Overall, this paper contributes to EE studies (including the implications for policy and practice regarding how to assess and measure EEs), as well as to organisation theory, to the underdeveloped issue of how to compare across organisational fields using the institutional infrastructure concept.     

同构如何影响企业融入开源社区创新:认知合法性的中介作用

此文基于制度理论,依托成都天府软件园的企业样本,从治理制度和商业模式两个维度刻画了企业向开源社区的二元同构过程,并发现在认知合法性的中介作用下,这种跨组织属性同构有助于提高企业与开源社区的耦合程度。该研究结论不仅在实践层面为企业融入以开源社区为代表的开放创新平台提供了一条可行路径,更在理论层面对制度理论做出了适当的补充和延展：首先,整合、提炼了同构的子维度构成,使同构作为一个构念更为饱和。其次,打破了过往研究将同构对象限定在同一制度场域内具有相同属性的组织之间的前提假设,关注更适用于开放创新情境的跨组织属性的同构过程。随着新治理逻辑与新组织形式不断涌现,跨组织属性同构在将来可能更具有现实意义与研究价值。