This study examines the relationship between threat and courage and the moderating effect of living a calling on the relationship between threat and courage. Data are collected from 271 employees from different organizations with a two-wave procedure in Taiwan. The results of the study show that threat is positively related to courage. Also, the findings indicate that living a calling significantly moderates the relationship between threat and courage when the individual with a higher level of living a calling. Finally, based on the results, the implications and limitations of this study and the direction of future research are discussed.
This study investigates the following research question: How do SMEs enhance agility by developing dynamic capabilities and leveraging social networks, alongside entrepreneurial agility? This study advances the literature by offering a holistic approach to understanding SME agility through the interplay between internal capabilities, entrepreneurial agility, and external social networks. By examining these interconnected elements, our research sheds light on how SMEs navigate volatile market environments through both internal adaptability and entrepreneurial initiative, while engaging in external collaboration.
This study investigates the interplay between two competitive strategies, cost leadership and differentiation, and two organizational structures, formalization and decentralization, on the adoption of clean production technologies. By surveying 305 senior managers in China, analyzed via ordinary least square regressions, our findings reveal that firms pursuing differentiation and decentralized structures are more inclined to adopt clean production technologies. Notably, the interaction between formalization and differentiation, as well as decentralization and differentiation, positively influences adoption, whereas the combination of formalization or decentralization with cost leadership yields negative effects. These insights provide a strategic framework for managers to decide which combination of strategies is needed to adopt cleaner production technologies within the manufacturing industry.
This study examines the influence of Instagram on the art industry, positioning the platform as a disruptive innovation that has fundamentally altered traditional practices and relationships among artists, collectors, and galleries. By facilitating direct communication and transactions, Instagram empowers artists to promote and sell their work independently, challenging the intermediary role historically held by galleries. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research includes surveys and interviews with artists, collectors, and gallery owners to explore changes in power dynamics, information flow, and network relationships within the art ecosystem.
This study examines the impact of Fintech coverage on capital market pricing efficiency. Using a sample of Chinese firms, we find that stock price synchronicity decreases when a focal firm receives more coverage from Fintech firms. Our findings are robust to firm-fixed effect regression, propensity score matching, and exclusion of double-counting information, alternative metric of stock price synchronicity, difference-in-differences model, and instrument variable regression. Our cross-sectional and channel tests show that Fintech coverage reduces stock price synchronicity by mitigating information asymmetry. Moreover, Fintech coverage increases stock liquidity by incorporating firm-specific information into stock prices and reduces the cost of debt and equity. A textual analysis confirms that Fintech coverage statistically contains a greater amount of firm-specific information compared to traditional outlets. Our results carry implications for capital market development in emerging markets in the context of Fintech innovation.
CEOs and the influence of their social networks have been considered as important drivers for firm innovation. Yet, both theories and empirical evidence are lacking. To advance this stream of research, we study the effects of CEO network closeness and structural holes on exploratory innovation. Drawing from both structural embeddedness theory and structural holes theory, we argue that CEOs who are deeply embedded in executives' networks (higher network closeness) evaluate exploratory initiatives from a narrower perspective which makes them more selective in pursuing exploratory innovation. Further, we argue that structural holes propel CEOs to pursue more exploratory innovation, yet such effect of structural holes is attenuated by structural embeddedness. We test our hypotheses with a sample of 7,543 firm-year observations with 1,101 public U.S. firms from 2000 to 2014. The results show that CEO network closeness has a predominantly negative relationship with exploratory innovation. Further, the degree of structural holes has a positive relationship with exploratory innovation, but the relationship turns negative at high degrees of closeness. Our study contributes to research on strategic leadership, interfirm networks, and technological innovation.
We examine seasonality in commodity futures markets using monthly returns for 26 commodities from 1970 through 2023. Only a few commodities in the early years show half-monthly and monthly seasonality. The same-month trading strategy proposed by Keloharju, Linnainmaa, and Nyberg (2016) outperforms the other-month strategy mostly for the subperiod 1990–1999. We then backtest the momentum strategy and momentum with a reversal strategy to compare their performance with that of a seasonality strategy. When these momentum-and-reversal strategies are combined with the seasonality strategy, the result has significant composite returns. Moreover, the seasonal effects in the commodity futures market have weakened in recent years, indicating that the market tends toward efficiency. Nevertheless, our overall results demonstrate that the effects of combination strategies persist and significantly impact the market.
The primary aim of this work is to prognosticate and evaluate the trajectory pertaining to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contingent upon the income levels prevalent within a diverse cohort of 349 countries. Employing Holt’s forecast method, we classified SDGs in three bundles, namely higher needs, basic needs, and governance. Our analysis concludes that nations endowed with greater income levels exhibit a discernible amelioration in their SDGs indices, while countries with low and lower middle‐income strata manifest an alarming worsening of their trends. These empirical findings bear significant implications for policymakers ensconced within nations committed to the achievement of these goals, supranational institutions, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), and scholars. The widening developmental gap urges for greater institutional attention from the international community before the situation further deteriorates. Tailored policies and strategic initiatives might effectively address the idiosyncratic challenges faced by these nations. Concurrently, fostering international cooperation and collaborative endeavors stand as potent prerequisites, substantively bolstering the concerted pursuit of sustainable development goals and enduring sustainability for the entirety of humanity.
This study investigates the implications of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into performance management systems using the agency theory as a theoretical framework. By exploring the dynamics between principals and agents within organizations, the study aims to shed light on the practical implications and theoretical underpinnings of AI’s impact on performance management practices. The research employs a holistic approach, utilizing qualitative data sources to investigate the topic. Through rigorous data analysis processes (e.g., data coding and thematic analysis), the study uncovers key findings in five aspects regarding the use of AI in performance management. Theoretical implications encompass a redefined principal-agent relationship, and contribute to the existing body of knowledge: 1) AI can increase transparency and reduce agency problems related to performance management, and 2) we expand the knowledge of traditional agency theory in the field of HRM by adding AI as a new dimension within the relationship between principles and agents.
Many studies highlight firms' strong tendencies toward the internalization sourcing choice in dealing with architectural innovations while others suggest that firms (even with the externalization sourcing choice) can successfully manage architectural innovations by emphasizing the positive role of designing outsourced components in-house. How in-house design affects firms' internalization- externalization sourcing choices remains poorly understood. We explore the role of in-house design in the internalization- externalization sourcing decision in response to an architectural innovation. Firms regularly add new features to improve the initial performance of their architectural innovations, causing the degree of component interdependence of the initial innovation to change over time. We first argue that when dealing with a level of component interdependence ranging from none to moderate, firms employing the externalization choice coupled with the design of outsourced components in-house are likely to remain with the externalization choice. However, beyond a moderate level of component interdependence, even firms which design outsourced components in-house are likely to ultimately switch to the internalization choice. Second, we argue that even the same ultimate internalization choice can result in performance heterogeneity depending on the prior sourcing choice path (i.e., whether firms initially designed outsourced components in-house) before selection of the internalization mode.
We empirically investigate the theoretical mechanism through which labor turnover impedes information production in commercial lending and thereby adversely affects bank risk and performance. Using monthly matched employer-employee data from Brazil during 2003-2019, we find banks with higher labor turnover show lower risk buffers, higher loan growth and lower profitability, which is consistent with the firm specific human capital theory. Our IV analysis using local out-of-group labor turnover as instrument and placebo tests confirm that these results are well identified. The evidence suggests that high labor turnover deteriorates bank information production, promoting high risk, growth in transactional lending and short-termism.
Despite the current popularity of CSR authenticity as a subject of interest within CSR research, there is a notable lack of empirical studies investigating the influence of CSR authenticity on consumer responses, particularly in the context of sport. This study explores the influence of perceived CSR authenticity on sport fans' intention to participate in a team's CSR program and the role of sport fans' trust in a team in driving the participation intention. It also investigates how these relationships are affected by fans' psychological connection to the team. The study hypotheses were tested using a scenario-based design by randomly assigning a total of 636 study participants in one of the two conditions (i.e., high CSR authenticity and low CSR authenticity). Results indicate a significant difference in CSR participation intention among fans based on their perceived CSR authenticity. Additionally, fans' trust in the team mediates the relationship between perceived CSR authenticity and CSR participation intention. However, no significant differences were found in the conditional indirect effect among various fan groups. The research broadens understanding of the connection between perceived CSR authenticity and sport consumer responses, emphasizing the importance of conveying authentic CSR activities to build trust, regardless of fans' psychological connection to the team.
Increasing studies recognize the important role of women in family business. While prior studies mainly highlight the role of women as daughter (being a female heir or a female entrepreneur), our study aims to explore the role of women as heirs' mother in large family business. Inspired by the “uterine family” in anthropology and dyadic power theory, we expect that a mother in a polygamous business family tend to engage in control attempts by strategically allocating her resources to enhance the chance of one of her children becoming the successor, which influence power imbalance among heirs. Using family business groups in Taiwan as our research context, we found that the heirs of the same mother are more likely to have greater power imbalance in the family business group. This effect is weakened when the mother has a first-born son. Our study contributes to succession and family business literatures by enriching the understanding of heirs' mother in family business.
Franchised outlets are not isolated actors; instead, they are embedded within a local network consisting of the focal outlet and their uniform counterparts. While extant research has acknowledged the interlinks between component stores, few studies have examined how an actor's performance is affected by the network configurations. Taking a network theory perspective, we view a focal franchised outlet to be embedded within a regional franchise network. We conceptualize and empirically test how the overall network configurational characteristics, including network connectedness and network heterogeneity, individually and jointly, affect individual outlet failure. We conduct the complementary log-log regression on the survival duration of 17,959 outlets across 26 franchisors operating in United States from 2002 to 2021. The result shows that network connectedness has a U-shaped impact on outlet failure, and network heterogeneity increases an individual outlet failure. Furthermore, network heterogeneity steepens the U-shaped impact of network connectedness on outlet failure. Our research provides actionable insights for franchisors to strategically configure their franchise networks. In particular, franchisors should watch out the back-firing effect of MUFs by avoiding an overconnected network and can set an imbalanced franchisee configuration to mitigate the positive effect of high network connectedness on outlet failure.
Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and traditional behavioural experiments, this study examines managers' brain activity in decision-making under feelings of insecurity and gratitude. Consistent with dual-processing theory, I find a positive correlation between the activation of a brain area associated with System 1 processing and managers' capital investment decision-making under feelings of insecurity. I also find that managers exposed to insecurity exhibit a higher degree of materialistic behaviour, resulting in incongruent risk-taking and a focus on immediate consumption compared with managers who are not exposed to insecurity. However, the negative effect induced by insecurity is reduced when managers reflect on the company's kindness to them. Collectively, this study uses a neuroimaging technique to shed light on the neurobiological mechanisms behind managers' decisions under insecurity and how organisational kindness can translate into nonmonetary rewards, which can be useful to organisations in their incentive design choices.
In this paper, we have developed a process model of creating shared value and social innovation by six Hong Kong-based social enterprises, based on qualitative data. These enterprises have made benevolent collaborations with friendly organizations and harnessing the resources and expertise of these organizations, which are motivated to achieve the mutual goal of value creation. We have found that the founders of the focal firms had a strong sense of service and dedication to improve societal condition, which appears to be their career anchor and they had a clear vision and mission with strong attribute of caring disposition. The focal firms also adopted a strategy of cooptation and working with their competitors, who are also seeking to achieve a mutual goal of social value creation. Interviewees indicated that the social innovation of focal firms have created numerous beneficial outcomes for society, salient stakeholders and the firms themselves. The focal firms created business and social value simultaneously and also building social capital in the industry through social innovation.
We mapped the actions of extra-institutional actors: transnational donors of aid/grants for gender reforms against the backdrop of institutional change. We then examined the effect of the reforms on recipient country firms' gender related outcomes. Our findings suggest that while the reforms could help drive women's employment, they may be counterproductive for gender equality, and can be a disadvantage for women in top management. However, government owned enterprises could make the reforms have more positive outcomes. We developed and tested the study's hypotheses based on data from a project level international dataset on foreign donor activities between 2006 and 2020.
Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) are facing continuous negative media coverage legitimacy challenges in many Western countries, given the rising US−China rivalry. This study aims to scrutinize this phenomenon to examine how the media frames MNEs' legitimacy and how firms can deal with such challenges when facing geopolitical complexities. To examine the phenomenon of interest, this study takes a cross-disciplinary approach by combining the subjects of international business and mass communication. Through a case-based research design, I analyzed the media framing of Trump's TikTok ban in the US in 2020. Findings shows that there is a media battlefield of legitimation contestation on TikTok between the news media from the sanctioned company's host and home country. Then, I employed an international business-centric framework to discuss MNEs' legitimation dynamic in the media, thereby articulating the role and processes of media in shaping the legitimacy of a contested Chinese MNE facing geopolitical complexities. Further, such dynamics lead me to conduct supplementary interviews to explore Chinese MNEs' media strategy when facing rising geopolitical rivalries. More generally, this study extends knowledge and makes contributions to corporate media coverage by articulating the media framing of MNEs' legitimacy, and to nonmarket strategy by exploring MNEs' media strategies.
This study investigates the value-relevance of CEO Big Five Personality Traits by examining their impact on stock returns and prices when interpreting earnings results. We focus on S&P 500 firms over the period of 2009 to 2020. Drawing on the value-relevance literature, which questions the informativeness of accounting information in isolation, we explore how nonfinancial information, specifically CEO personality traits, can provide incremental and valuable information to investors. We adopt a two-model approach to examine the association between CEO Big Five Personality Traits and stock prices and market values. The return model is based on the annual return model popularized by Easton and Harris, while the price model is a modified version of the Ohlson model.
Derived from a systematic literature review in economics, sociology, political science, management, and social psychology, which covered a period of observation of 54 years, we propose a refined and integrated conceptualization of social innovation, together with a novel measurement scale for its operationalization. We clarify the domain of the construct, its discriminant validity, and its taxonomical specificity. To consolidate the face validity of the revised concept and demarcated its ontologies, we conducted in-depth interviews. After providing an integrated conceptualization, we differentiate social innovation from technical innovation and identify three dimensions for its operationalization. We then propose and methodically assess a new measurement scale. In order to strengthen the generalizability of the scale and empirically assess the relationship between global identity, proactive work behavior, and social innovation across nations, we conducted a between-cultures difference test in two countries. By so doing, we examine the influence of social identification as a precursor of proactive work behavior and the latter as antecedent of social innovation. Our findings reveal that both local and global identity positively influence proactive work behavior, and that proactive work behavior fosters social innovation. Nonetheless, the strength and directionality of such effects vary depending on sociocultural contexts.
The evolving landscape of travel planning has been significantly reshaped by the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The study aims to examine user preferences toward functionalities offered by AI-based travel planning platforms. As the digital era is characterized by sophisticated algorithms and data-driven personalization, it is crucial to examine how these technological advancements align with the expectations of modern travelers. A notable aspect of this research was the investigation into how different types of travel activities, namely cultural and outdoor activities, influence user preferences toward features of AI-based trip planning platform. Results revealed significant variations in user preferences based on the type of activity, emphasizing the importance of contextual factors. Study results further indicate the influence of perceived effectiveness associated with AI-based trip planners as an efficient data-gathering tool. The varying user preferences in the utilization of AI-based trip planners present profound implications for both academic research and industry practice to be addressed at the research seminar.
