Department of Strategic Management and Globalization

Assistant Professor Charles Williams - February 27th 2014 - cancelled

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Charlie Williams is a strategy scholar at Bocconi University with an interest in how people, structure, and experience affect the evolution of firms. He has studied how firms adapt their knowledge while expanding abroad, how executive movement through firms affects the likelihood of entering and exiting markets, and how entrepreneurial firms face the challenges of growth. His research has been published in Management Science and Strategic Management Journal, and he has served on the editorial boards of Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science. He teaches strategy and entrepreneurship at Bocconi and previously taught at University of Illinois and Duke University. Before earning his PhD at the University of Michigan he worked in journalism and market research.

RENEWAL THROUGH ROOKIES: THE GROWTH EFFECT OF TOP MANAGEMENT

RECRUITS FROM DIFFERENT LEVELS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INDUSTRIES

Abstract: Hiring outsiders has the potential to bring new knowledge and build new capabilities, yet recent research establishes that it carries substantial costs. This study explores the growth effect of adding different types of executives to the top management team in the emerging U.S. cellular industry. We argue that the level of prior experience is an overlooked characteristic of executive hires that shapes the impact of different profiles. The study finds that outside rookies – those new to top management and the firm – have a more positive relationship with firm growth than other types of executives. The result suggests that deeper functional knowledge is more useful for strategic renewal and that quality rookies are more mobile for top management positions than equivalent seasoned executives.

Associate Professor Luca Berchicci  - November 28th 2014

Assistant Professor Evan Rawley  - November 21th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15

Evan RaEvan Rawleywley joined The Columbia Business School in the strategy area as an Associate Professor in 2012. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the Wharton School. His research on corporate strategy and entrepreneurship has won numerous awards and has been published in Management Science, Organization Science, the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, and the Strategic Management Journal. Evan holds a Ph.D. from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Prior to completing his Ph.D. Evan worked for the Boston Consulting Group in New York and for Deloitte in Detroit.

Assistant Professor Carlos J Serrano  - November 7th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Carlos J. Serrano is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Business at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where he teaches business economics, business strategy, and economic institutions and markets. Before coming to Pompeu Fabra, Serrano taught at the University of Toronto (2005-2012), University of Minnesota (2002-2004), and was a Research Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (2002-2005). Serrano received his doctorate degree from University of Minnesota in 2006. Professor Serrano’s research has been in the Economics of Innovation and Technological Change, and Entrepreneurship.

Assistant Professor Benjamin Campbell  - October 24th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

 

Benjamin A. Campbell is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Max M. Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. His research explores the boundary conditions of mechanisms that limit the mobility of human capital to established and entrepreneurial firms and thus adds to the understanding of the role of human capital in creating and sustaining competitive advantage in dynamic environments. He received his Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley and his research has appeared in outlets including Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Journal of Management Studies, Industrial Relations, and Industrial and Labor Relations Review. He has served the community of scholars as co-organizer of multiple conferences, including the Strategic Human Capital Interest Group’s mini-conference on the Value Proposition of Human Capital, as a member of the Research Committee of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, and as a member of the editorial board of Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.

 

What Do I Take With Me?: The Mediating Effect of Spin-out Team Size and Tenure on the Founder-Firm Performance Relationship

 

Abstract: In order to reconcile literatures that treat distributed knowledge within teams as either limiting knowledge transfer through employee mobility, or facilitating knowledge transfer to ventures created by employees, we highlight the catalyst role of founders in team formation.  Arguing that higher performing founders are better able to take with them larger and more experienced teams, we develop a theory of the mediating effect of team size and tenure on the effect of founder performance on parent firm and spin-out performance. The support for our hypotheses, through use of linked employee-employer US Census data from the legal services industry, has theoretical and practical implications for the knowledge-based view and human resource strategies for both existing and entrepreneurial firms.

 

Assistant Professor Rafael Corredoira  - October 10th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Professor Paula Caligiuri  - October 8th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Associate Professor Maria Guadalupe  - October 6th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Maria Guadalupe is an Associate Professor in the Economics and Political Science department at INSEAD. She obtained a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics in 2003. Prior to joining INSEAD, she was an Associate Professor in the Economics and Finance department at Columbia Business School where she held the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Chair in Leadership and Ethics. Maria has also been a visiting scholar at MIT and Princeton and is currently a faculty research fellow at the NBER, and a research affiliate at the CEPR and IZA.

Professor Panish Puranam  - September 30th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

PhanishPhanish Puranam is the Roland Berger Chair Professor of Strategy & Organization Design at INSEAD.

Professor Alexander Eapen  - September 25th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Dr Alexander EapenDr. Alex Eapen earned his doctoral degree from Tilburg University, The Netherlands in June 2007, and is currently a senior lecturer in Strategy at the Research School of Management at ANU.

Professor Torbjørn Knudsen & Professor Massimo Warglien - August 29th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Thorbjørn Knudsen is Professor of Marketing & Management at the University of Southern Denmark. Thorbjørn’s research addresses issues at the Department of Marketing & Management, and particularly strategic organization, decision making in organizations, and economic evolution.

Massimo Warglien is a faculty member at the University of Venice. His research and teaching activities focus on organization theory, behavioral economics and international business strategy.

Title: Economics of Narrow-mindedness: Strategic Implications of Powerful Oversimplification

Professor Margarethe Wiersema  - May 9th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Margarethe F. Wiersema holds the Dean’s Professorship in Strategic Management at The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California,  Irvine. She has an MBA and Ph.D. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Professor Margarethe Wiersema  - May 9th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Margarethe F. Wiersema holds the Dean’s Professorship in Strategic Management at The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California,  Irvine. She has an MBA and Ph.D. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Professor Julian Birkinshaw - April 23th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Research Seminar with Julian Birkinshaw on Organizational Complexity and Innovation: Operanationalizing the Tension Between Emergence and Entropy in Large Organizations

Julian Birkinshaw is Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School. He is co-Founder and Research Director of the Management Lab (MLab).

He has PhD and MBA degrees in Business from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Durham. He has worked at the University of Toronto, the Stockholm School of Economics, Price Waterhouse and ICI.

Julian’s main area of expertise is in the strategy and management of large multinational corporations, and on such specific issues as corporate entrepreneurship, innovation, subsidiary-headquarters relationship, knowledge management, network organizations, and global customer management.

Title: ORGANIZATIONAL COMPLEXITY AND INNOVATION:  OPERATIONALIZING THE TENSION BETWEEN EMERGENCE AND ENTROPY IN LARGE ORGANIZATIONS

Professor Jay B. Barney - April 8th 2014

Professor Dries Faems - April 4th 2014

Assistant Professor Daniela Blettner - February 28th 2014

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Daniela Blettner is Assistant Professor at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University.

Research topic:

Adaptive Aspiration as a Driver of Performance Heterogeneity: A Model of Attention Allocation Among Multiple Reference Points.

Abstract: Adaptive aspirations that are a function of three reference points (prior aspiration, prior performance, and reference group’s prior performance) are central to A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (BTOF). In the empirical literature, the weighting of these reference points has generally been assumed to be homogenous both across organizations and within individual organizations across time. Based in the BTOF, we build a recursive feedback model of learning from organizational experience that explains heterogeneity of attention allocation to the reference points in adaptive aspirations. In a longitudinal sample of the German magazine industry (1972–2010) we test and find support for six hypotheses based on this model. Important implications involve the possible origin and management of sustainable competitive advantage.

Professor Mari Sako - November 29th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Mari Sako is Professor of Management Studies at Saïd Business School, Co-Director of the Novak Druce Centre for Professional Service Firms and a Professorial Fellow of New College, Oxford. Mari’s research focus has been on comparative business systems, global value chains in business services and professions and professional service firms, most recently including the impact of outsourcing.

How Do Firms Make-and-Buy? The Case of Legal Services Sourcing by Fortune 500 Companies

Abstract
Recent strategy research explains why firms sometimes make-and-buy (not make-or-buy) products simultaneously, but lacks explanations of how they strike the make-buy balance. We respond by developing a framework featuring two determinants of the balance: resource co-specialization and supplier portfolio selection. Analyses of in-house lawyers at, and law firms doing work for, Fortune 500 firms provide evidence that firms tilt the balance in favor of ‘make’ whenever opportunities for resource co-specialization exist, and in favor of ‘buy’ when they can reduce contracting costs by selecting a concentrated portfolio of suppliers with broad capabilities. We contribute new insight on firm boundaries by integrating capabilities and transaction cost theories of the firm, and by examining inter-related transactions within a corporate function to determine the make-buy balance.

Professor Sendil Ethiraj - November 22nd 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Sendil Ethiraj is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Professor Ethiraj’s research is built on the basic premise that firms are bundles of interdependent choices or complex systems. He unites his interest in understanding firms-as-complex-systems with the central questions in strategy that revolve around generating and sustaining competitive advantage. His research may be partitioned into two related themes. The first focuses on how complexity affects firm strategy and the unique tradeoffs that complexity imposes. The second examines firm capabilities and why they are complex and hard-to-imitate.

Innovation management and employee mobility: A study of scientist departures following project termination

Abstract: We examine how firm-level policies for managing the uncertainties of innovation – sequential investments and portfolio diversification – affect ex post R&D scientist behavior. We argue that midway project termination, a consequence of sequential investments and portfolio diversification, creates a sorting process that separates scientists who disagree with the termination decision and those who do not. The likelihood of disagreement is systematically higher in projects characterized by higher uncertainty and for scientists with higher research quality. These scientists are more likely to depart to found entrepreneurial startups following such disagreements. Using longitudinal scientist level data on pharmaceutical discoveries, we find evidence consistent with our hypotheses.

Junior Professor Thorsten Grohsjean - November 15th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Thorsten Grohsjean is Junior professor of strategy and organization in technology intensive industries at LMU Munich. His research interests cover organizational learning, knowledge transfer, innovation, teams and social networks.

Hiring from Rivals and Competitive Behavior

Abstract: We study how hiring employees from rival firms affects competitive behavior. Specifically, we discuss how informational and psychological ties to former organizations and colleagues may influence employees’ competitive behavior towards them. Using data on the National Hockey League we find that employees perform worse when competing against former organizations and colleagues. Second, we isolate the influence of psychological ties by studying aggressive behavior and find that employees exhibit less aggressive behavior against former colleagues but more against former organizations. We conclude that hiring from rivals may have detrimental effects on competitive behavior and that psychological ties play a significant and nuanced role. We contribute to research on learning-by-hiring that has previously only identified positive effects of hiring from rivals and has not yet analyzed competitive behavior. We also contribute to research on competitive dynamics by introducing individual employees as a new level of analysis.

Professor Tomi Laamanen - November 8th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Tomi Laamanen is a Chaired Professor of Strategic Management and Director at the Institute of Management of the University of St. Gallen . Prior to his present position he was Professor of Strategic Management and Director of the Institute of Strategy of Aalto University. Tomi Laamanen’s research focuses on strategic management with a special emphasis on acquisition programs, strategy processes and practices, capability dynamics, and management’s cognition. Tomi Laamanen is one of the associate editors of the Strategic Management Journal and an editorial board member in the Journal of Management.

Institutional Determinants of Acquisition Strategies: The Role of Informal Institutions in Russia

Abstract: We contribute to an improved understanding of the effects of informal institutions on local firms’ acquisition behavior in an emerging economy context. We compare the different regions of the Russian Federation and propose that an environment that allows for interactions between businesses and local political decision-makers through corrupt practices, called state capture, can form an informal institutional framework that is supportive of acquisitive growth. We argue that the autonomy and continuity of regional political leadership strengthens this effect. Moreover, we find that a disruption caused by a change in regional political leadership – a central element of informal institution – can deter acquisition behavior, irrespective of the extent to which state capture is possible. Results from an analysis of the behavior of 2,981 firms established in 40 different regions of Russia during 2001-2008 support most of our predictions. We extend the existing research on institutional determinants of behavior and the importance of informal institutions for stability and predictability when businesses have to cope with institutional voids.

Professor Margarethe Wiersema - October 25th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Margarethe F. Wiersema holds the Dean’s Professorship in Strategic Management at The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine. She has an MBA and Ph.D. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Professor Wiersema is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts on corporate strategy and CEO succession and replacement. She has published extensively in the premier journals in the field including the Harvard Business Review, Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Journal, and Administrative Science Quarterly. Her research is widely acknowledged by over 3500 citations and she has been quoted by the New York Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, Fortune, Business Week, the Washington Post, and her research has appeared in The Economist Intelligence Unit for their “Executive Briefing”.

CEO Appointments: the Role of Investment Analysts

Abstract: The appointment of a new CEO is among the most pivotal and visible decisions made by the board of directors. Yet while much research explores how firm performance, governance structures, and types of succession affect the appointment decision, we have less understanding of the influence of contextual factors such as external constituents. This paper is the first to explore how one key constituent –investment analysts –may shape the appointment decision, specifically through serving as an information intermediary for the board. Because CEO succession creates uncertainty regarding the firm’s future leadership and its strategic direction, we propose that investment analysts, as knowledgeable experts who provide research coverage on the firm, provide the board with information that may influence not only the succession decision, but also their selection of a new CEO. Using panel data on S&P 500 companies for the 2000-2005 period, we find evidence that analyst recommendations convey information about a firm’s top management and the appropriateness of its strategy that is reflected in the appointment decision. More negative analyst ratings lead to a higher probability that the board will appoint an outsider CEO and also make the board more likely to appoint a high status CEO.

Professor Anders Frederiksen - October 11th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Anders Frederiksen is Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center for Organizational Architecture (ICOA) at Aarhus University. His research interests include society and politics, working life and the labour market and labour market policies.

Subjective Performance Evaluations and Employee Careers

Abstract: Firms commonly use supervisor evaluations to assess the performance of employees who work in complex environments. Doubts persist whether their subjective nature invalidates using these performance measures to learn about careers of individuals and to inform theory in personnel economics. We examine personnel data from six large companies and establish how subjective ratings, interpreted as ordinal rankings of employee performances within narrowly defined peergroups, correlate with objective career outcomes. We find many similarities across firms in how subjective ratings correlate with base pay, bonuses, promotions, demotions, separations, quits and dismissals and cautiously propose these as empirical regularities.

Anders’ full profile can be read here.

PhD Fellow Eucman Lee - September 27th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Eucman Lee is a PhD candidate in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. His dissertation is titled: “Three Essays on Organization Design Competence”.

CEO Functional Background, Organizational Structure and Performance: Evidence from the U.K. Healthcare Sector

Abstract: I develop and test a theory of how and to what extent the bounded rational CEOs influence the organizational performance through their impact on organizational structure. I examine the relationship between the CEOs’ functional background and the changes of reporting structure across multiple levels and segments of the administrative hierarchy. I found that CEOs increase the number of direct reports in their area of expertise and delegate to those not in their area of expertise. Subsequently, the CEO’s first layer design choices generate cascades down the hierarchy. I also find that these choices are associated with impacts on different domain specific measures of organizational performance. My theory and results contributes to the strategy literature by fully articulating the mechanisms linking CEO attributes, organizational structure and performance. More importantly, I provide a novel perspective on organization design by showing how local micro-structural design choices at the top of the organizational hierarchy are aggregated into the macro-structure of organization.

Professor Richard Langlois - August 20th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Richard Langlois is a Professor of Economics at the University of Connecticut. His principal research areas are the economics of organization and the economic history of technology. Since May 2008 Professor Langlois has been a contributor to the blog Organizations and Markets, which was co-created by SMG Head of Department Professor Nicolai Foss.

Business Groups and The Natural State

Abstract: Recent revisionist accounts of corporate governance in both business history and finance are challenging the tradition narrative, associated with Berle and Means (1932) and Alfred Chandler (1977), in which the American model of diffuse ownership and coherent diversification is both an inevitable outcome of economic development and perhaps a normative standard for the world to follow. This essay is an attempt to rethink that narrative in light of the continued significance of the pyramidal business group as a governance structure around the world. Drawing on the North, Wallis, and Weingast (2009) theory of the state, I argue that the evolution of corporate governance can be understood only in institutional terms and that institutional development is driven by the coalitional structure of the polity. This is true as much in open-access orders like the U. S. as in the “natural states” that rule most of the world. In the end, I endorse the view that the much-discussed and oft-misunderstood exceptionalism of the U. S. in corporate governance has its roots of the differential effect on the U. S. of the collapse of globalization during the middle years of the twentieth century.

PhD Stefano Tasselli - June 28th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Stefano Tasselli is a doctoral candidate in Management Science at Cambridge Judge Business School. His research interests are social networks in organizations, organization and management theory, and network structure and individual agency.

Abstract

Social networks can be considered patterns in the mind (and subject to cognitive biases) or social networks can be considered patterns in the world (and important for leadership and careers). But how are these two patterns – the cognitive and the actual- related? We bring together the two strands of network research in showing that cognitive biases generated by human motivations – in terms of status striving and communal striving – predict how the actual network changes. Using longitudinal data on advice relations from a hospital department in the North of Italy, we show that people who strive to get ahead distort perceptions so as to conform to expectations of their own importance; by contrast, people who strive to get along with others distort perceptions of social relations so as to conform to expectations of their own sociability. Further, we show that distorted perceptions may affect actual networking patterns: people striving for status are more likely to become brokers, whereas people striving for social acceptance tend to become more central in the actual network through the indirect effects of distorted perceptions of advice interactions. We suggest therefore that cognitions in the minds of individuals can result in actual outcomes.

Associate Professor Shad morris - June 21th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Shad Morris (Ph.D. Cornell University) is an Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University. Professor Morris teaches and conducts research in the areas of international business and strategic human resource management, particularly focusing on how global firms create value through people and knowledge.

“Creating and Capturing Value through Geographically Dispersed Employees”

Abstract: One of the unique characteristics of the multinational enterprise is that it is comprised of a geographically dispersed, heterogeneous workforce that embodies local knowledge or location-specific human capital.  This paper develops a framework to describe the process of how organizations engage the local workforce in knowledge combination and exchange in order to transform their human capital into a more globally relevant portfolio of knowledge.  We explicate how new value is created for customers through this transformation process, and how the MNE may capture some of this value.  Implications for theory are discussed and a research agenda is introduced.

Associate Professor Stewart Miller - June 19th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Dr. Stewart Miller is an Associate Professor of Management in the Department of Management at The University of Texas at San Antonio. His research interests are international strategy, liability of foreignness, international strategic alliances,
internationalization and emerging markets.
Stuart Miller will give a presentation of his recent paper forthcoming in Journal of Management. Additionally, he will share his experiences and reflections on publishing in top journals.

“Financial Implications of Local and Non-Local Rival Isomorphism: A Signaling Paradox”

Abstract: We develop an isomorphism-signaling framework to explain the likelihood of isomorphic behavior (and nonconformity) by a focal firm toward local rivals and nonlocal rivals and then predict financial performance associated with the action.  In the presence of asymmetric information, we predict a causal relationship between rival isomorphism and financial performance that reveals a paradox – that is, we theorize and show conditions in which ”conforming” reflected by rival isomorphic behavior is a signal that “separates” high quality from low quality firms.  We consider a firm’s costs and benefits of local and nonlocal rival isomorphism and assert that a firm can signal its quality, which affects financial performance of the equity offering.  We test and find support for our hypotheses using a sample of firms raising capital abroad from 1994 to 2005.

Associate Professor Juan Alcacer - June 14th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Juan Alcacer received his Ph.D. in International Business and Strategy and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan. He also holds an MBA in Finance and Economics from IESA. Professor Alcacer’s research interests are in international strategies of firms in the telecommunications industry. His current research focuses primarily on the effect of competition on the location decisions of multinationals. He will present the paper entitled “Spatial organization of firms and location choices through the value chain”.

“Spatial organization of firms and location choices through the value chain”

Abstract: We explore the impact of geographically bounded, intra-firm linkages (internal agglomerations) and geographically bounded, inter-firm linkages (external agglomerations) on firms’ location strategies. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Business Database, we analyze the locations of new establishments of biopharmaceutical firms in the U.S. in 1993–2005. We consider all activities in the value chain and allow location choices to vary by R&D, manufacturing, and sales. Our findings suggest that internal agglomerations have a positive impact on location. The effects of internal agglomerations vary by activity, and they arise both within an activity (e.g. among plants) and across activities (e.g. between sales and manufacturing). Our results also suggest that previous estimates of the effect of external agglomerations may be overestimated because the existing literature abstracted from internal agglomerations.

Professor Todd Zenger - June 7th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Professor Zenger’s research focuses on topics in corporate strategy, organizational design and incentives, and organizational boundaries. He currently serves as Academic Director for the EMBA program and has previously served as Senior Associate Dean for the Olin School. At the seminar he will present the paper entitled “Do Managers Face a Uniqueness Paradox in Crafting Corporate Strategy? Evidence from mergers and acquisitions”.

“Do Managers Face a Uniqueness Paradox in Crafting Corporate Strategy?”

Abstract: Using mergers and acquisitions as a testing ground we examine whether managers face conflicting incentives in selecting the uniqueness of their corporate strategy. We argue that firms that pursue strategies which assemble commonly-bundled assets may pay more for these assets, perhaps as a reflection of the greater degree of competition among rivals for them. On the other hand, firms that pursue common business strategies may receive more favorable stock market response to these asset acquisitions, as market participants may possess greater information about the value to assign to these asset acquisitions. We find that acquirers, who at the time of an announced acquisition are more similar to their rivals, receive a significantly higher positive announcement return. A decrease from the top to the bottom decile of the measure of uniqueness of the corporate strategy of the post-merger company is associated with an increase in abnormal announcement returns (within -1 to +1 days around the announcement) of 1.01%. At the same time acquirers in the bottom decile of our uniqueness measure pay on average 13.6% more for their targets than acquirers in the top decile; they also have subsequent one-year-post-merger-closing profitability which is about 1.25% lower than their peer group with more unique corporate strategy. These findings are stronger for a measure of uniqueness that compares the post-merger company to the primary industry rivals that are covered by analysts. Overall we interpret our results to suggest a managerial paradox in selecting strategy between unique strategies that permit a discounted acquisition of assets and high long run performance, but poor market response, and more common strategies that enjoy strong short run market performance, but elevated acquisition prices and poor long run performance.

Professor Tobias Kretchmer - May 31th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Professor Tobias Kretschmer is Head of the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization, Munich School of Management at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. His research interest are complex technologies, complex organizations, and their interaction as well as competitive strategy and industrial organization of high-technology industries.


“Firm Resources and Managerial Risk Taking”

Abstract: We address the mixed empirical evidence on the relationship between firm resources and managerial risk taking and argue that the availability and strategic mobility of firm resources influence how managers perceive risks and learn from performance feedback. Using an unbalanced panel of 67 video game publishers over an average period of 8 years we find that specific resources lower risk taking by biasing risk perception toward the potential gains from existing alternatives, while flexible resources shift managerial attention to the pursuit of new alternatives. Further, flexible resources shield slow learning processes from short-term environmental and organizational pressures. Hence, larger stocks of flexible resources make managerial risk taking less sensitive to performance feedback.

Research Fellow Maximilian Pamie - May 24th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Maximilian Palmié is a Senior Research Fellow from University of St. Gallen. His research focuses on the strategic management of innovation, especially on organizational arrangements to support innovation and knowledge processes.
 

“Realizing Subsidiary-to-Parent Knowledge Transfers: Channeling Attention Towards a Focal Subsidiary by Organizational Architecture”

Abstract: This paper provides a theoretical account and empirical test of the relationship between formal organizational architecture and ‘reverse’ (i.e. subsidiary-to-parent) knowledge transfers in multinational corporations (MNCs). Building on the attention-based view, it develops seven hypotheses arguing (a) that elements of organizational architecture affect the extent to which a focal subsidiary receives attention from the MNC’s parent firm, (b) that this extent of parent firm attention affects the extent of reverse knowledge transfers, and (c) that parent firm attention mediates the relationship between the elements of organizational architecture and reverse knowledge transfers. Testing hypotheses on three elements of formal organizational architecture (autonomy, assignment of international responsibilities, and competence-creating objectives in the subsidiary’s mission) with a unique sample of approximately 300 subsidiaries, we find broad support for our theoretical account and highlight implications for academia and practice.

Professor Jackson Nickerson - May 17th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Jackson Nickerson is a Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Professor Nickerson’s research focuses on leadership issues around why firms choose different organizational structures and the performance implications of these choices; with a special emphasis on knowledge, innovation, and problem formulation and solving.


“Dominant Designs, Innovation Shocks, and the Follower’s Dilemma”

Abstract: A dominant design is thought to usher in a period of intense competition based on cost, causing an often fierce industry shakeout. We aim to challenge some of the foundations of the dominant design literature, and develop new insights about the evolution of competition. We develop the argument that strategic repositioning and elevated exit rates are often observed long before the emergence of a dominant design, and that a key cause is the introduction of a particular product for which demand is unexpectedly high (an “innovation shock”). This introduction creates a dilemma for followers, which we suggest is strategically resolved based on followers’ adjustment costs. We test implications of these ideas on data from the early U.S. auto industry. We treat Ford’s Model T as the innovation shock.

Research Fellow Emre Yildiz - April 19th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Emre Yildiz is a research fellow at the Stockholm School of Economics. His research interests are socio-cultural integration in cross-border M&As, micro-foundations of inter-unit knowledge transfer in MNCs, and extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation in organizational contexts.

Emre Yildiz will be presenting the paper alongside college and co-author Adis Murtic, also from the Stockholm School of Economics.


“Untangling Absorptive Capacity’ – the Salient Context of Projects”

Abstract: This paper advances the understanding of absorptive capacity by disentangling its four distinct sub-dimensions. Most of the studies in extant literature have treated absorptive capacity as unidimensional concept and as a firm-level construct without paying due attention to its organizational antecedents. Based on the observation that deliberated inter-unit knowledge transfer processes are mostly executed through projects in practice, we suggest that project specific characteristics (i.e., task, time and team) should be considered as salient and relevant antecedents of absorptive capacity. In that regard, we discuss how scope of task, composition of team and perceptions of time have varying and somewhat conflicting effects on acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation dimensions of absorptive capacity.

Assistant Professor Michelle Rogan - April 12th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Michelle Rogan is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD. She received her PhD in Strategic and International Management from the University of London (London Business School). Professor Rogan’s research centers on corporate entrepreneurship. In particular, she focuses on firm growth and renewal via acquisitions of social capital – i.e. how firms use acquisitions of target firms to gain valuable inter-organizational relationships to customers – suppliers and other business partners, in the advertising industry.

 


“Knowledge Networks, Partner Departures and Client tie Performance in a Law Firm”


Abstract: Scholars have shown that the departures of individual managers can have negative consequences for the performance of the firm’s inter-organizational ties. Yet, variation exists in when and to what extent individual departures affect performance. To better understand this variation, we develop an internal knowledge network perspective on the impact of individual departures on tie performance. Using fine-grained original data from a large law firm, we examine the internal knowledge networks formed to maintain client ties. We propose that two characteristics of the networks – knowledge diversity and status conflict – modify the effect of client lead partner departures on the performance of client ties. Ironically, we find that the very characteristics that were associated with high performance of client ties before the partner’s departure were associated with the lowest performance post-departure. Thus, professional service firms appear to face a dilemma between encouraging the development of knowledge networks that deliver the greatest value to the firm when partner mobility is low and protecting the firm from performance losses associated with such networks when mobility is high. This study also contributes to research on network dynamics by showing how networks that contribute to performance under conditions of stability can detract from performance under conditions of change.

Assistant Professor Fan Xia - April 5th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Fan Xia is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. He received his PhD degree from University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Xia’s research interests lie in the fields of Strategy and IO, especially corporate growth, corporate ownership structure, innovation, diversification, M&A, corporate inertia and corporate financial risks.

 

“How Much Does Owner Type Matter for Firm Performance? Manufacturing Firms in China 1998-2007″

Abstract: Who owns the firm (the state, corporations, private individuals, foreign investors) has long been an important topic for research on organizations. This paper estimates how much ownership contributes to firm performance, compared to other factors, including industry, size, the year of measurement and unobserved attributes of the firm itself. The data are on manufacturing firms in mainland China from 1998 to 2007. Ownership has been a salient topic of research on China as the country has undergone an intensive process of privatization. We find that the effect of owner type is statistically significant but smaller than the effect of the firm itself. This result suggests that in China the interests of a firm’s owner are less important for performance than the firm’s specific capabilities. We also show that the ownership effect is only marginally moderated by the firm’s size and geographical region. Finally, which industry a firm belongs to within the Chinese manufacturing sector explains a significant but very small amount of performance variation, a result that runs counter to studies of companies in the United States.
 

Professor Harry Bowen - March 18th 2013

Assistant Professor Vincenzo Pisano  - March 15th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Vincenzo Pisano is an Assistant Professor at University of Catania, School of Economics. His main research interests are corporate strategy (international strategy), entry modes (acquisitions, alliances and greenfield investments), and post-acquisition integration (organizational and strategic fit in M&As).

“Facilitating Acquisition Integration Processes through the “Champion of Acquisitions” – As an “Out-insider” Director in the Board of the Acquirer”

Abstract: The paper focuses on a case of cross-border acquisition implemented by an Italian privately held firm operating in the telecommunication industry. Through its analysis, we aim to examine the acquirer’s decision process and, in particular, the logic involved in top management’s decision to appoint a champion (or integration manager) for the acquisition as member of the acquiring firm’s board of directors. A key result of our investigation, the reason for this manager’s appointment was to ensure a more effective entry of the acquiring firm into the new country and to facilitate the integration process between the two organizations. Hence, our paper focuses on the relationship between the board of directors’ activities and the performance of a specific international market entry using acquisitions.

Professor Michael Mol - March 8th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Michael Mol is a Professor of Strategic Management at Warwick Business School. His research interest are the strategic management of larger firms, especially management innovation, open innovation and outsourcing/offshoring strategies with a focus on how these phenomena occur and influence performance outcomes.
Michael Mol is a visiting professor at SMG from January 2013 to March 2013.



“Offshore and Domestic Subsidiary R&D Sourcing: Its Antecedents and Innovation Outcomes”


Abstract: Other than through outsourcing and internal R&D businesses often rely on sourcing R&D inputs from other subsidiaries. We seek to understand under what conditions such subsidiary sourcing takes place and how it is related to innovation outcomes. We argue that subsidiary sourcing, especially when undertaken offshore, adds to the heterogeneity of knowledge inputs a business has available because of a larger cognitive distance. Furthermore, what constitutes a heterogeneous knowledge inputs depends on the recipient: For host subsidiaries offshore R&D sourcing provides less heterogeneity than for domestic units. More cognitively distant inputs add to a firm’s propensity to innovate, and therefore offshore subsidiary sourcing is most beneficial for domestic firms. But due to myopic search patterns foreign subsidiaries engage in offshore subsidiary R&D sourcing more, as do export intensive firms and firms near the border. This framework is only partially supported empirically in tests on a large number of businesses in France, as we find no differences between foreign and domestic firms.

Assistant Professor Donal Crilly - February 22nd 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Donal Crilly is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. His main research areas are stakeholder theory, managerial cognition, boundaries of the firm, and corporate social responsibility.
 

“The Psycholinguistic Foundations of Responding to Stakeholder Pressures”

Abstract: Research at the interface between linguistics and cognitive science reveals relationships between linguistic processing and knowledge representation. Building upon these insights, I apply natural language processing to interviews with 88 senior executives from nine multinational enterprises grouped in matched pairs and triads to identify the link between linguistic style and how well firms respond to divergent stakeholder pressures. Executives from the firms that best satisfy a broad range of stakeholders use exclusive connectives (‘but,’ ‘only,’ ‘if’) that imply a narrow categorization of the issue at hand and specialized attention. Simultaneously, they and their colleagues have a more convergent linguistic style than peers in low socially performing firms, implying a role for language in fostering coordination among individuals with distinct foci of attention. The contribution is an initial understanding of how cognitive linguistics can advance organizational scholarship by identifying the linguistic markers of specialization at the individual level and coordination at the group level.

Professor Sonja Opper - February 8th 2013

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Sonja Opper is the Gad Rausing Professor of International Economics and Business at Lund University. Her research interests are entrepreneurship, economic development and privatization. 

Reflexive Reputation, Networks, and Social Norms

Abstract: That reputation provides a social mechanism in explaining the rise of cooperative norms and indirect reciprocity, is well established both in game-theoretic and experimental research (Dixit 2004; Fehr 2004). However, the fact that reputation resides in networks - in the opinions and assessments of others - poses a dilemma for explaining the behavior of agents in real life situations.

The problem is informational asymmetry; it is costly, if not often impossible, for agents to know what their audiences are actually thinking about them. However, agents need not have accurate and timely information about their reputation to behave purposively in conforming to expectations of their audiences. Reputation is directed back to agents as reflexive reputation when agents self-assess what others probably expect from them.  It is thus a form of reputation that resides in the mind of agents, and not in the multiplex networks that comprise an agent’s audiences. Because reflexive reputation functions as social capital, promising either monetary or subjective payoffs,  agents consider the future cost of action as they self-assess the effect of their behavior on their reputation

We examine the link between reflexive reputation and the rise of cooperative norms using a stratified random sample of 700 entrepreneurs we surveyed in 2009 in seven metropolitan areas in the Yangzi delta region in China. Our survey instrument asked respondents what they think others expect from them, which we treated as agent’s self-appraisal of the reputational effect of their action. We find that entrepreneurs’ reflexive reputation is robustly correlated with agent’s expectation of norm enforcement within their community. The higher the self-perceived reputation, the stronger the entrepreneur’s expectation, that defectors would be facing community sanctions within their locality. In particular, having a reputation for providing business advice to others, and a reputation for informing others about ongoing malfeasance is associated with the prevalence of community sanctions in standard forms of business malfeasance. In other words, we identify a strong link between an individual’s reputation to contribute to the public good and local norm enforcement. Those who do not contribute to the public good do also not expect to benefit from community enforcement of business norms.

PhD Eliane Choquette - January 18th 2013

Research Seminar: 12:00-13:15
Room: k2.75

Eliane Choquette is a PhD Student from the Department of Business Administration at Aarhus University. In 2012 she was awarded the SMG Copenhagen Prize for best paper written by a young scholar in international business. Eliane has been invited to give a research seminar at SMG to present her award winning paper.

Inward-Outward Linkages in the Internationalization Process of Firms: Their Impact on Export Survival

Abstract: This study provides a new angle as to how firms’ importing activities influence their export activities by looking at survival in individual export markets. Duration models on a panel of Danish exporters in the manufacturing sector are used to investigate this relationship. The results reveal, on the one hand, that firms with importing experience from a specific market prior to initiating exports to this market have a shorter export spell. This in line with the thesis that prior importing experience facilitates firms’ outward internationalization by reducing the sunk costs associated with export market entry and that export survival is negatively correlated with these sunk costs. Only importing experience within the same market affects (shortens) a firm’s export spell, which also is in line with the argument that a priori import experience reduces firms’ export market specific sunk costs. On the other hand, firms’ current importing activities increase their chance of export survival. This finding is in line with the argument that efficiency gains are experienced by importing firms, enabling them to be more competitive in international markets and thereby being more likely to remain active in these markets. In this case, the origin of imports does not play a role in identifying the positive effect ongoing importing activities have on the chance of survival in a particular export market.

PhD Francesco Di Lorenzo - December 14th 2012

Research seminar 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75   

Francesco Di Lorenzo is a Ph.D. candidate in Management Science at ESADE Business School.
His main research interests are in the Strategic Management and Economics and Management of Innovation areas. More specifically, they include the theories of the firm (main on evolutionary economics), alliances portfolio, mergers and acquisitions, co-evolution of the corporations with their environment, innovativeness of the firms and regions.  

Aspirations, Performance, and Changes in Partnering Behavior: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry 1990-2006

Abstract: Building on the prior research on aspiration levels and managerial decision making, we examine the conditions under which pharmaceutical firms change their partnering behavior across time. Using insights drawn from behavioral theory and evolutionary theory of the firm, we argue that any change in partnering behavior is considered risky, and is triggered by the gap between actual performance and aspirational performance. Testing a sample of 988 pharmaceutical firms from 1990 to 2006, our results confirm the central idea of the paper - that the type of performance (financial or innovative) has a strong influence on the associated feedback loop and subsequent organizational action. When financial performance deviates from aspirations (either above or below), pharmaceutical firms decrease the extent of change in partnering patterns; in contrast, when innovative performance deviates from expectations (either above or below), pharmaceutical firms increase the extent of change in partnering patterns. Our results are stronger for aspiration levels based on historical comparisons than those for social comparisons.

PhD Magdalena Cholakova - December 7th 2012

Magdalena Cholakova is a Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration and Management at Bocconi University.
Her main research interests are in the Microfoundations of Entrepreneurial Decision Making, Cognitive & Affective Processes in Start-Ups' Evaluation, and Microfinance & Angel Investing.

The Adaptive Decision Maker: Cognitive Structural Configurations for Effective Entrepreneurial Judgement

Abstract: Past research on decision making under high uncertainty highlights the tendency of boundedly rational individuals to rely on effort-saving strategies based on cognitive shortcuts, fast and frugal heuristics or quick and simple rules in order to make decisions. In contrast with this prevailing view, in this paper I focus on a set of effortful and effective heuristics, which have been shown to positively influence decision makers’ judgments in entrepreneurial and strategic contexts. Whilst some of these effortful heuristics are traditionally viewed as opposite to each other, recent work has shown that not only can they be complementary, but that complementarity increases their effectiveness. What remains unclear, however, are the factors that support our ability to successfully integrate and apply these heuristics within the decision making process. In this paper, I explore these factors through a study of business angels’ evaluation of entrepreneurial start-up projects. I adopt a cognitive structural approach, and rely on interview data and verbal protocol analysis to capture individuals’ decision making process and to map their ability to structure their mental representations of the problem space and of themselves. I hypothesize that a high level of cognitive complexity of their representations of both their external and self domains will foster individuals’ ability to use effective heuristics in their evaluations. My results support these hypotheses, and contribute to our understanding of effective heuristics under high uncertainty and the cognitive structures that allow decision makers to integrate these heuristics and apply them in order to form correct judgments.

Professor Michael Dahl - November 30th 2012

Research seminar: 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75   

Michael S. Dahl (MSD) is a Professor of the Economics of Entrepreneurship and Organizations at the Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Denmark. He has a PhD (2004) and a MSc in Industrial Economics both from Aalborg University (1999). Previously, he held visiting scholarships at Carnegie Mellon University, SCANCOR at Stanford University, and Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.

He has been awarded with the Spar Nord Foundation Research Award 2005, the Tietgen Gold Medal Research Award 2006, the Tuborg Foundation Business Research Award 2001, and the European Management Review Best Paper Award 2009. He is a member of the board of directors of the Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics (DRUID).

MSDs research focuses on broad issues related to the organization and performance of new businesses, economic geography, migration, population ecology and health outcomes. This research has been published in journals such as Management Science, Social Forces, Journal of Urban Economics, Research Policy, European Management Review, Industry and Innovation, Journal of Evolutionary Economics, and International Review of Applied Economics.

 
The Impact of HRM Practices on Employee Stress from Organizational Change

 
Abstract: Prior research has argued that organizational change at the firm-level can have negative effects for employees. Empirical studies have found that considerable organizational change lowers employee retention and increases the use of stress-related medication among employees. For decades, the HRM and change management literatures have argued that delegation, employee involvement and other HRM practices smoothens the change process. We argue that high performance HRM practices generally lowers the negative effects of change, but hypothesize that certain types of practices are more important moderators. Using a unique combination of information on change and the use of stress-related medication among 92,000 employees in 1,500 large Danish firms, we find that HRM practices involving a moderate degree of employee empowerment have stronger moderating effects on the risk that employees get stress-related medication following organizational change.

Assistant Professor Brian Pinkham - November 9th 2012

Research seminar: 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75

Brian Pinkham holds a Ph.D. in Organizations, Strategy and International Management and an MBA with a concentration in Strategic Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.

His research includes formal institutions, strategic decision-making, strategic alliances, emerging economies, entrepreneurial orientation, legal environment and international commercial arbitration.
 
 

Legal Astuteness and International Expansion Modes

Abstract: How does CEO background shape firm international expansion modes? By drawing on upper echelon and transaction cost theories we develop a model that incorporates CEO demographics in the analysis of the choice of acquisitions versus strategic alliances in international decision making. The data include 113 international CEOs who made 1,322 cross-border CEO-transaction decisions between 1992 and 2007. Drawing on the legal astuteness construct, we hypothesize that CEOs who are legally astute are more likely to choose international acquisitions, and that this relationship will be stronger (more positive) relative to highly educated CEOs and CEOs from throughput functional backgrounds alone. Our findings largely support these relationships. We also predict that CEO tenure will decrease the likelihood of choosing international acquisitions. However, we do not find support for this relationship. Overall, CEO demographics appear to influence international expansion decisions and some CEO demographics may be more important relative to others in the cross-border setting.

Professor Laurence Capron - October 26th 2012

Research seminar: 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K2.75   

Laurence Capron is the Paul Desmarais Chaired Professor of Partnership and Active Ownership at INSEAD and Director of INSEAD Executive Education Programme on “M&As and Corporate Strategy”. Her teaching and research activities focus on M&As, Alliances, Corporate Development and Business Portfolio Strategy. She teaches in MBA, Executive MBA, Executive Education and Ph.D programmes.

Professor Capron sits on the Editorial Board of the Strategic Management Journal, the leading academic journal in the field of strategy.
 
 

“Build, Borrow or Buy” and Firm’s Selection Capabilities

 
Abstract: Laurence Capron will provide a synthesis of her recent studies on how firms select their modes for obtaining new resources: Internal development (build), alliances (borrow) and acquisitions (build). Field work shows that firms commonly face constraints, notably path dependency and organizational misalignement, in their ability to make appropriate selection decisions about modes for obtaining new resources. Her analysis based on survey and archival data in the global telecommunications industry suggests that a firm’s making choices reflecting resource constraints and governance needs of the resource-seeking firms are more likely to survive. Selection decisions about when to use one resource-sourcing mode rather than another become more likely to reflect resource constraints or governance needs as the firm gains experience across the different resource-sourcing modes.   
 

Professor Timothy Devinney - October 22nd 2012

Research seminar: 16:00 - 17:30
Room: K2.75

Timothy M. Devinney is an Australian-American management scholar and a Professor of Strategy at the School of Business, University of Technology, Sydney. He is a Co-Editor at the Academy of Management Perspectives, co-editor of the Advances in International Management book series, and head and editor of the of the International Business and Management Network SSRN.

Besides being on the editorial board of more than 10 of the leading international journals, he has published seven books, including “Managing the Global Corporation” (with J. de la Torré and Y. Doz, 2000), “The Myth of the Ethical Consumer” (with P. Auger and G. Eckhardt), as well as the forthcoming “Knowledge Creation and Innovation Management” (with D. Midgley and C. Soo).

At the seminar Professor Devinney will address the topic of ethical consumerism , and present his view on the topic.
 

Professor Grazia Santangelo - October 19th 2012

Research seminar: 12:00 - 13:15
Room: K3.41

Grazia Santangelo is Professor at The University of Catania - Department of Political and Social Science.

"Coping with Regulative Environments: The Strategic Management of Subsidiary Relational Embeddedness in External Value-Chain Networks"

The institution-based view (IBV) of firm strategy argues that formal and informal institutions combine to govern firm behavior and suggests a predominant reliance on network-based informal relationships when formal institutions are absent or deficient. Our knowledge on how formal and informal institutions combine to govern firm behavior remains scant when formal institutions are present and show varying degrees of non-market-supporting regulations. This issue gains great relevance for foreign subsidiaries which in these institutional settings have also to confront with the liability of foreignness.

To advance IBV, we draw on industrial organization and transaction costs economics. In particular, we propose and test a conceptual model illustrating a U-shaped relationship between the extent of institution-induced factor market concentration and the degree to which subsidiaries embed with value chain partners. Our model also suggests that this U-shaped relationship is steeper for subsidiaries with a center of excellence role within the multinational network, and greatly embedded subsidiaries are superior performers.

Post. Doc Bongsun Kim - October 11th 2012

The Impact of the Timing of Patents on Innovation Performance.

In the context of industry standard-setting, firms face the strategic decision of whether to move faster than competitors or wait for more information that reduces uncertainty. These decisions are even more challenging if there are multiple standards, and there are benefits to belonging to more than one standard. This paper examines the effect of the timing of patents on a firm’s innovation performance. The strategic logic of real options posits that patent timing is determined by the tension between the value of preemption and the value of waiting. We analyze 680 DVD disc patents in DVD patent pools to test the effect of the timing of patents on innovation performance. Consistent with real options logic, under high uncertainty, the later the timing of the patent, the higher the innovation performance, while under low uncertainty there is early-mover advantage.

Associate Professor Marta Geletkanycz - June 29th 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00-13:30
Room K2.75

Publishing in AMJ:  Joining in and Advancing a Theoretical Conversation

Marta Geletkanycz is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Boston College. She holds a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University, an M.B.A. from New York University, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University.

Her research examines the social influences surrounding top management teams and corporate governance, and has been published in various journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Strategic Management Journal. She currently serves as an Associate Editor of Academy of Management Journal and also as a member of the editorial board of Administrative Science Quarterly.

Professor Melissa Schilling - June 18th

Research seminar: 14:00 - 15:30
Room Ks71

Melissa Schilling is a professor of management and organizations at New York University Stern School of Business. Professor Schilling is widely recognized as an expert on innovation and strategy in high technology industries. Her textbook, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, is the number one innovation strategy text in the world, and is available in seven languages.

Her research in innovation and strategy has appeared in the leading academic journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Economics and Management Strategy and Research Policy. She also sits on the editorial review boards of Organization Science and Strategic Organization.  

The Dynamics of the Global Technology Collaboration Network:
Why, Who, and So What?

This presentation will discuss the lessons from three different (closely related) research projects that explore the dramatically shifting topology of the global technology collaboration network. When organizations form technology collaborations, they weave a larger overall network that structures the flow of information and other resources among connected members. By assembling the public data on technology collaborations between all kinds of organizations (firms, non-profits, universities, government agencies, and more) and across all nations, one can construct and visualize the global technology collaboration network. This network has changed dramatically over time, fusing together into a large single mass in some periods, and shattering into many disconnected clusters in other periods. Different players also emerge as major hubs during some time periods, and then quietly fade into less significant roles in others. The patterns of collaboration across different nations also changed in interesting ways over the time period studied. Comparing network graphics and statistics to other economic time series data reveals a number of suggestive findings, that highlight important new areas for research.
 

Professor Nicolaj Siggelkow - June 13th

Research seminar: 14:00 - 15:30
Room Ks71

Nicolaj Siggelkow is the David M. Knott Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is the Department Chair of Wharton’s Management Department and a Co-Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at Wharton. He studied Economics at Stanford University and earned an M.A. in Economics from Harvard University. He received a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University and the Harvard Business School.

His research has been published in the leading management journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Industrial Economics, Management Science, Organization Science, and Strategic Organization. In 2008, he received the Administrative Science Quarterly Scholarly Contribution Award for the most significant paper published in ASQ five years earlier. Nicolaj is a member of the Editorial Review Boards of Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Organization, and Academy of Management Perspectives.

 
Consequences of misperceiving external and internal interdependencies: The effects of neuroticism and blind spots

 
Mental models that reflect the assumed interdependencies among managerial choice variables and between managerial choice and environmental variables often guide managerial decision making. These mental models are, however, not always correctly specified. Managers might have mental models that miss interdependencies that are present, i.e., contain blind spots, or managers might have mental models that include interdependencies that are not present in the real world, i.e., have mental models that reflect a certain degree of neuroticism.

Using a simulation model, we study the effects of such under- or overspecified mental models. We find that under- and overspecification of mental models have opposite effects on exploration, and thereby on performance. Moreover, these effects are also opposite for external and internal interdependencies: Overspecified (or slightly neurotic) mental models increase exploration in the case of external interdependencies, but decrease exploration for internal interdependencies. In contrast, underspecified mental models (i.e., blind spots) decrease exploration for external interdependencies, but increase exploration for internal interdependencies.

In organizations that tend to underemphasize exploration, an increase in exploration caused by misspecified mental models may improve organizational performance. Lastly, we find a substitution effect between the exploration induced by misspecified mental models and exploration that is created by other means. Thus, the value of investments in exploration is affected in subtle ways by misspecified managerial mental models.  
 

Assistant Professor Thomasz Obloj - June 8th 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00-13:00
Room K2.75

Tomasz Obloj is an Assistant Professor in the field of Strategy and Business Policy at HEC Paris. He completed his Ph.D. in Strategy at INSEAD (France).  

His research interests cover the areas of organizational incentives, contract theory, agency theory, learning, and value-based models.

Marcus Møller Larsen - 21st May 2012

Pre-defence seminar: 13.00-15.00
Room K143

As part of the PhD education, Marcus will give his PhD pre-defense to the project "The Organizational Design of Offshoring" on Monday, May 21, 2012. The project explores different aspects of the organizational design of relocating firm activities to foreign locations, such as complexity, 'hidden costs', coordination, organizational  reconfiguration, decision-making, and knowledge. The project consists of four papers. These are:

1."Uncovering the hidden costs of offshoring: The interplay of complexity, organizational design and experience"

2."Organizational reconfiguration and strategic response: The case of offshoring"

3."The attractiveness of a reactive strategy to offshoring: A simulation study"

4."Strategic decision-making in offshoring: The moderating role of coordination"
 

Professor Rodolphe Durand - April 27th 2012

Research seminar: 12:00 - 13:00
Room Ks71

Rodolphe Durand graduated from HEC Paris (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) and La Sorbonne (MPhil). He is the GDF-Suez professor of Strategy at HEC Paris where he chairs the Strategy department, and is in charge of the MBA and Ph.D. specialization.

His primary research interests concern the social and institutional sources of competitive advantage and organizational performance, in particular in settings where conformity pressures are strong.

His works have been published in journals including American Journal of Sociology, Academy of Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal. Rodolphe received national and international awards including the "R. Scott Award" (American Sociological Association, 2005), the "HEC Foundation Best paper of the year (2006 and 2009), and the "Euram/Imagination Lab award for innovative scholarship" (2010). He initiated the "Society and Organizations" research center at HEC (www.societyandorganizations.org). Rodolphe is also a prolific author of books, including Guide du Management Stratégique (Dunod, 2003), Organizational Evolution and Strategic Management (Sage, 2006), Strategor (co-editor, Dunod, 2009) and L'Organisation Pirate (Bord de l'Eau, 2010, coauthored with JP Vergne).  
 

Assistant Professor Xavier Castañer - 20th April 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00 - 13:00
Room K2.75

Xavier Castañer holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota and is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He also held faculty positions at ESADE and HEC Paris. At SMS Xavier Castañer served as elected Rep- at- Large of the Corporate Strategy & Governance IG (2007-2009); during this period he organized several sessions on alliances and acquisitions and participated as invited faculty in the Doctoral Workshop. In recent years, he has served as session chair, in the program and award committees for the annual conference and the recent Special Conference in Finland.

He has published articles in leading journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, as well as several book chapters. His research and teaching revolves around corporate governance, strategy and development, investigating the determinants and consequences of corporate scope as well as of the choice of development modes, and the implementation success factors of acquisitions. He reviews for many journals, both North-American and European-based.  

The contingent and direct effects of make-or-ally choices on project performance: A study of collaborative and autonomous governance for product innovation in the worldwide aircraft industry 1942-2000

We examine the performance impact of make-or-ally decisions. Based on an enlarged discriminating alignment approach, which adds the resource requirements of activities to the traditional framework, and combining it with the alliance literature, we argue that, relative to autonomous governance, collaborative governance has not only a contingent effect on project performance but also unconditional advantages and disadvantages. We test our predictions on 291 new aircraft projects undertaken either via horizontal collaboration or autonomously. When firms choose the mode that best fits the production and exchange conditions of the project, unit sales are highest while time-to-market is shortest. Nevertheless, collaborative projects systematically exhibit greater unit sales and longer time-to-market than single-firmprojects. We contribute to the literature on alliances and the performance of governance mode decisions.
 

Professor Helen de Cieri - 13th April 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00 - 13:00
Room K2.75

Helen De Cieri (PhD) is a Professor at the Department of Management at Monash University, Australia. From 2004-2011 she was the Director of the Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work at Monash University. She has presented on university and executive programs in Australia, China, Malaysia, and the US. Helen's current research partnerships include global companies, government departments, and non-profit organizations. Helen has researched, consulted, and published on a wide range of topics related to strategic and global human resource management (HRM).

Her current research projects include: global mobility management and the Asian region and the relationships between HRM, employee wellbeing, and organizational performance. In addition to her university activities, Helen is a member of the Advisory Council for The 100% Project
www.the100percentproject.com.au , a non-profit organization in Australia that provides leadership on the advancement of women in management.  

Global Mobility: Managing Risks and Challenges   

Events over the past decade, such as terrorism, the global financial crisis, and large-scale ecological disasters have increased the need for managers in global companies to develop strategies for managing the risks associated with global mobility management (the management of employees across national borders). Based on research conducted with companies operating in the dynamic Asian region, Professor Helen De Cieri will first discuss the challenges faced by global companies managing across a range of risky environments, dealing with the local workforce as well as developing expatriate managers. She will then report on research conducted in cooperation with expatriate managers and present their views on working in Asia. Finally, Helen De Cieri will discuss ways in which 'best practice' global mobility management can enhance opportunities and build resilience for companies and their valued employees.
 

Associate Professor Timothy B. Folta - March 30th 2012

Research seminar: 14:00 - 15:30
Room K2.75

Timothy B. Folta is the Brock Family Chair of Strategic Management at Purdue University. His research and teaching efforts examine both entrepreneurship and the strategic management of interactions across functional and product boundaries within a firm. His work analyzes, first, how uncertainty constrains behavior, and second, how managers and entrepreneurs use organizational design and scope decisions to cope with uncertainty.

His scholarly work has appeared in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Business Venturing, Management Science, and Strategic Management Journal.  

Market Inducements and Resource Redeployability

Our paper elaborates the effects that inducements for redeployment, differences in potential returns in markets where resources might be applied and where they are applied, have on firm value. We emphasize that the value results from a dynamic interplay of inducements and another determinant of resource redeployability, switching costs. This view extends the existing theory postulating that redeployment of firm resources to the most related alternative markets generates value. We use a dynamic valuation model to explicate how value derives from the interplay of the two determinants of resource redeployability. We formally evaluate separate and joint effects of the two determinants. This explication enables us to demonstrate how they interact with each other and substitute for each other in determining value. In this sense, we illuminate value in firms that has been previously undiagnosed. In addition to providing theoretical insight, our results have important empirical and managerial implications.
 

PhD Fellow Jose Balarezo - March 23th 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00-13:00
Room K2.75

Jose Balarezo, CFA, holds a Master's degree in  Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and has recently started his industrial PhD research in cooperation with Novozymes and CBS.

Prior to his PhD research, Jose spent more than 10 years working for banks and corporations in South America, United States and Denmark in areas such as risk management, strategy, capital allocation and corporate finance.

Jose's prior working experience and current position in Novozymes - one of the leading Biotechnology companies in the world - give him an inside track in understanding how companies make strategic decisions and what could work in practice when proposing a viable framework for optimal capital allocation for strategic projects in highly uncertain environments.

Scenario planning as supporting method to enhance optimal portfolio allocation of strategic investments under high levels of uncertainty

In his first seminar, Jose will present his research project and the main questions that he will try to answer with his PhD research.  

Companies face highly dynamic and uncertain environments, this is especially true for companies working in technology-intensive industries such as Novozymes. How a company spend its limited resources in a portfolio of strategic investments is paramount for its future competitive position and survival. The strategic decision making becomes even more complex if we consider the time lag needed for many of the investments to pay off. In this sense, once an investment decision has been made, the ability to change direction is limited.  In this complex and uncertain context, traditional forecasting techniques that are based on historical trends and extreme simplification of reality are bound to fail.

It has been argued that scenario planning is a viable technique to aid decision makers. Yet, despite the relatively rich literature and anecdotic evidence for successful implementation in some companies, no consensus has been reached into how to apply scenarios methodology, and most importantly, how to implement scenarios within a overarching framework to systematically aid top management with complex investment decisions under high levels of uncertainty.

Professor Gerard Hodgkinson - March 16th 2012

Research seminar: 14:00 - 15:30
Room Ks48

Strategic cognition and dynamic capabilities:
Building on advances in the social neurosciences
 
Gerard P. Hodgkinson is Professor at the Marketing and Strategic Management group at Warwick Business School, and a leading scholar on the analysis of cognitive processes in strategic decision making. Among others, his work has focused on the development and validation of methodological techniques for eliciting and representing strategic knowledge, such as cognitive mapping procedures.

In this seminar, Hodgkinson will present an overview of his recent work on strategic cognition and dynamic capabilities, emphasizing the shift that is taking place in the light of recent advances in the social neurosciences. Hodgkinson’s research has appeared in a number of the world's leading scholarly applied psychology and management journals, such as the Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of Management Studies and the British Journal of Management. He serves on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior and Organization Science, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Management’s Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division (MOC).  

This seminar will be followed by a small reception.

Assistant Professor Steffen Korsgaard and Associate Professor Henrik Berglund - March 15th 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00 - 13:00
Room K2.75

Beyond Discovery and Creation: Opportunities in Entrepreneurship Research

Recent years has seen the emergence of numerous diverging views on the nature of opportunities. Reviews have conceptualized the debate as a dichotomous confrontation between two views: discovery and creation. This dichotomous framing has been helpful in bringing out a number of decisive questions and challenges for entrepreneurship research, yet also suffers from serious drawbacks, as it overlooks alternative views and exaggerates the internal homogeneity of the discovery and creation views. Also, the two views as presented in reviews do not readily lend themselves to empirical research. In this seminar we will discuss the limits and potential of the opportunity concept in entrepreneurship research, drawing on recent critiques of the discovery view, new developments at the intersection of Austrian economics and entrepreneurship research.

Steffen Korsgaard is Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Administration, Aarhus University. His research interests include entrepreneurial processes, opportunities and the spatial dynamics of entrepreneurial activities. His work has been published in Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and International Small Business Journal. Current research projects focus on entrepreneurship in rural areas and entrepreneurship education.

Henrik Berglund is Associate Professor at the Center for Business Innovation, Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. His research interests include Austrian economics and entrepreneurship studies and methods for customer centric business innovation. His work has been published in the Journal of Managerial Psychology and Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. Current research projects focus on the lean start up model and business model innovations.
 

Assistant Professor Stacey Fitzsimmons - February 27th 2012

Joint research seminar with IKL: 12:00-13:30
Room K2.75

Stacey Fitzsimmons is Assistant Professor of Management at the Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University. She specializes in cross-cultural management research, with a particular interest in understanding how bicultural and multicultural individuals contribute to global business. She received her doctorate in International Business from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Organizations are experiencing a rise in a new demographic of employees – bicultural and multicultural individuals. These are individuals who have internalized two or more cultures, such as German-Danes, Chinese-Canadians or Arab-Americans. Despite promising findings about the skills multicultural employees bring to their positions, they remain an untapped resource in most companies, because managers first need to understand how they can contribute to organizations. The framework developed in this paper draws on cognitive and motivational mechanisms from social identity theory to explain how multicultural employees organize their multiple cultural identities into patterns, and in turn, how those patterns influence benefits and challenges for themselves, and for their organizations.

Associated Lecturer Dr. Jörg Claussen - February 24th 2012

Brown Bag seminar: 12:00-13:00
Room K2.75

Jörg Claussen's research interests include questions of organization design as well as of applied industrial organization. His main research question in the field of organization design is in how far environmental turbulence affects the relative performance of markets versus hierarchies. This question is tackled both with a formal modeling approach and with a large-scale dataset from the US video game market. Looking even deeper into organizations, his research also investigates how far an individual's connectedness from prior team collaboration leads to knowledge spillovers in new projects.

Market Leadership Through Technology – Backward Compatibility in the U.S. Handheld Video Game Industry, by Jörg Claussen, Tobias Kretschmer and Thomas Spengler.

Abstract:
The introduction of a new product generation forces incumbents in network industries to rebuild their installed base to maintain an advantage over potential entrants. We study if backward compatibility moderates this process of rebuilding an installed base. Using a structural model of the U.S. market for handheld game consoles, we show that backward compatibility lets incumbents transfer network effects from the old generation to the new to some extent but that it also reduces supply of new software. We examine the tradeoff between technological progress and backward compatibility and find that backward compatibility matters less if there is a large technological leap between two generations. We subsequently use our results to assess the role of backward compatibility as a strategy to sustain market leadership.  
 

PhD Fellow Søren Bering - 12:00-13:00, February 17th 2012

Brown Bag seminar 12:00-13:00
Room K2.75

The PhD project of Søren aims to provide “Effective Corporate Strategies in Vertically integrated Companies” When companies expand, one of the first ways has been to integrate part of the supply chain or to integrate part of the distribution channel. This is known as vertical integration (VI). Theory provides conflicting views of when VI is viable and actually delivers shareholder value. Furthermore theory suggests that VI can increase corporate control and hence deliver shareholder value in the form of increased profits or reduced volatility of its profits. But, under market uncertainty operational and strategic risks are transferred directly from its customers to the company.

If VI also leads to reduced corporate flexibility and reaction to markets changes this should destroy shareholder value. Despite these constrains many companies still choose to expand its activities beyond its original competencies and founding ideas and vision.  

This essential raises the question of how to create strategies for Vertical Integration which also takes into account the dynamics of today’s globalized world where changes in a complex environment occurs with higher frequency and impact. The theoretical foundation of the project will be corporate strategy, strategic risk management, corporate financing and from a management perspective - organizational architecture, business unit management, control and incentives.
 

Søren Bering has had several leadership roles within the private sector. Today he is ”Head of Commercial Services” at MAN Truck and Bus Center Scandinavia. He has previously worked as Sales Director at MAN Truck and Bus in Denmark, and as Sales and Marketing Director at DHL Express A/S Denmark. Søren has a FT MBA from Copenhagen Business School  
 

 Lisa Nishii-November 17th 2011

Seminar

Lisa Nishii, Cornell University

Lisa Nishii has a PhD and an MA in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from University of Maryland and a B.A. in Economics and Psychology from Wellesley College. She has conducted research on cross-cultural issues in conflict and negotiation, strategic human resource management, and most extensively on diversity and inclusion. Her research focuses primarily on the interplay of organizational practices, culture, and leadership in determining the outcomes associated with diversity (discrimination and engagement at the individual-level of analysis, and group dynamics and performance at the unit-level of analysis). She has won numerous awards from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Academy of Management, and the International Association for Conflict Management for her research. She consistently publishes in the most prestigious management journals, and has received over $5 million in research funding from the U.S. federal government and from the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Foundation. She regularly presents her research at international conferences and private multinational corporations, and is on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Journal of Management.

Marion Festing-November 4th 2011

Seminar

Marion Festing, ESCP Europe

The Janus Face of IHRM in Russian MNEs

Marion Festing (Ph.D, University of Paderborn, Germany) is Professor of Human Resource Management and Intercultural Leadership at ESCP Europe in Berlin and European Associate Dean of Research of this institution. She has gained educational, research and work experience in France, Australia, Tunisia, Taiwan and the USA. She serves as the co-editor of the German Journal of Research in HRM and is member of several editorial boards. Her current research and teaching interests are concerned with International Human Resource Management and Intercultural Management. She has co-authored a number of articles and books including Dowling, Festing & Engle International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context (5th Ed.,Cengage, UK 2008). 

Abstract: There is evidence that MNEs from developed markets manage their subsidiaries in a different way than MNEs from developing markets since the latter have to overcome the liability of their country of origin (Chang, Mellahi and Wilkinson, 2009). Indeed, the “perceived weakness and lack of global dominance of the home country's economy” is an important concern for MNEs from developing markets (Chang et al., 2009, p. 76).

The amount of research devoted to “emerging market MNEs” is constantly rising. However, the focus of the studies often lies in the area of strategy (e.g. Guillen and Garcia-Canal, 2009; Mathew, 2006; Li, 2003; Rugman and Li, 2007). The literature on MNEs originated from developing markets regarding their choices and applications of human resource management practices is still scarce. Further, the researchers often have used China as the context of their empirical investigations, leaving other developing countries less attended.

This paper addresses this research deficit by investigating the HRM approaches used by Russian MNEs. Using the lens of neo-institutional theory, we theorize about the variation of HRM practices implemented in the subsidiaries of Russian MNEs in developed and developing countries. We use a qualitative approach based on six in-depth case studies. Interviews have been conducted in the HQs in Russia as well as in subsidiaries in developed (USA and France) and developing (Kazakhstan and Ukraine) countries. Our findings confirm that Russian MNEs tend to adopt HRM practices of Western origin. However, the implementation of those practices differs in different context. The results indicate that Russian HQs will simply impose their home-grown HRM approach in developing (CIS) countries, while in developed countries they will rather “shake-and-mix” HQ-originated practices with local and global best practices. 

Saras Sarasvathy-October 17th 2011

Seminar

Saras Sarasvathy, University of Virginia

Entrepreneurship as Method: Open Questions for an Entrepreneurship Future.

Associate Professor Saras D. Sarasvathy is a member of the Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Ethics area and teaches courses in entrepreneurship and ethics in Darden’s MBA program. In addition, she teaches in doctoral programs not only at Darden, but also in Denmark, India, Croatia and South Africa. In 2007, Sarasvathy was named one of the top 18 entrepreneurship professors by Fortune Small Business magazine. A leading scholar on the cognitive basis for high-performance entrepreneurship, Sarasvathy serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Venturing and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal and is advisor to entrepreneurship education programs in Europe and Asia. Her scholarly work has won several awards, including the 2001 William H. Newman Award from the Academy of Management and the 2009 Gerald E. Hills Best Paper Award from the American Marketing Association. Her book Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise (book overview) was nominated for the 2009 Terry Book Award by the Academy of Management.

Abstract: The leading thinker behind the effectuation approach in entrepreneurship, Saras Sarasvathy will present a new paper about "Moving forward with entrepreneurship as a science of the artificial" in which she will discuss about roads taken and paths yet to be traversed. As a science of the artificial entrepreneurship can be understood and discussed in three different ways: understanding opportunity as made as well as found; moving beyond new combinations to transformations; and developing a new nexus around actions and interactions.

Lilach Nachum-October 7th 2011

Seminar

Lilach Nachum, Baruch College

But how does distance affect FDI? And why does it matter?

Lilach Nachum is Professor of International Business at Baruch College, New York. Her research interests lie at the intersection of IB and economic geography, with a particular focus on location and distance effects on MNE such journals as the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Strategic activities. She has published on this in Management Journal, Journal of Management studies, Management Science, and many others.Lilach is an editorial board member of, among others, the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of International Management and the Global Strategy Journal.  
 

Abstract: I seek to reconcile the theoretical ambiguity and conflicting empirical findings regarding the impact of geographic distance on the attraction of countries for FDI. I relax common assumptions that underlain the theorization of these relationships regarding the direct and causal effect of distance on FDI, and identify factors that mediate and moderate them. Longitudinal analyses of FDI flows to 163 countries during four decades show that distance affects FDI only non-linearly and mostly indirectly, via its impact on a number of country characteristics. Political, informational, cultural and human connectivity to other countries turns the impact of distance insignificant. These findings shift the attention from geographic distance as a determinant of FDI to endogenous country characteristics that are subject to government policies, and require adequate strategic responses by MNEs

Michael Leiblein-September 5th 2011

Seminar

Michael Leiblein, Ohio State University

By  Michael Leiblein, Ohio State University Michael Leiblein is Associate Professor in Strategic Management at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. His research focuses on international strategy, innovation, organizational governance and entrepreneurship, among others, on which he has published extensively in such journals as the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and the Journal of Management. Michael is associate editor at the Journal of Management, and sits on the editorial board of the Strategic Management Journal and Academy of Management Review.

RESOURCE STOCKS, INNOVATION ACTIVITY & PERFORMANCE: WHAT DRIVES TEMPORARY AND PERSISTENT ADVANTAGE?

Abstract: Many strategy scholarsbelieve that variance in competitors’ resources and capabilities largely determine differences in firm performance. It also is widely accepted that when conditions isolate a firm’s resources and capabilities from imitation, advantages associated with these factors may translate into sustained differences in performance. Yet, the existing longitudinal empirical work often investigates whether how resources and/or capabilities increase or decrease performance rather than how these factors contribute to enduring performance differences among rivals. In an analysis of firms competing in the global semiconductor industry (1990-1999), we find that own-firm experience and collaborative experience contribute to the persistence of above average innovation activity and that innovation activity contributes to the persistence of superior profits. The findings also indicate that patent stocks do not contribute to durable differences in innovation activity and that own-firm experience has a larger influence on firms’ abilities to sustain a lead in above average innovation activity as compared to collaborative experience and patent stocks. 

Matthias Tyssen-June 24th 2011

Seminar

Matthias Tyssen, EBS Business School

RESPONSIVENESS IN TURBULENT TIMES: THE ROLE OF 'DISTANT TIMES', FLEXIBILITY AND INNOVATION

Abstract: Firms are more and more confronted with changes and disruptions in their business environment. Moreover the speed, at which changes take place, increases. To be able to adapt in a timely manner, firms must detect signals in their environment at an early point of time in order to alter their resources. Concepts of organizational learning, local/distant search and more recently dynamic capabilities are dealing with these challenges. Abilities to sense changes in the business environment take a major role as antecedents in recent dynamic capabilities frameworks. However hardly any empirical work analyzed the impact of searching and sensing on dynamic capabilities. Therefore this study focuses on the role of future-oriented scanning as an antecedent or microfoundation of dynamic capabilities using data from German business-to-business manufacturing firms. Our results show that intensive future-oriented scanning significantly affects innovativeness and strategic flexibility of firms. The direct affect of strategic flexibility on firm performance is significant but becomes insignificant when integrating the mediating role of organizational responsiveness. Our data confirms a strong positive relationship between responsiveness and firm performance. Additionally it shows that when integrating environmental dynamism as a moderator, firms faced with high dynamism benefit from responsiveness to a higher degree. The data doesn’t confirm a significant relationship between innovativeness and firm performance but a significant effect of innovativeness on responsiveness. Thus it can be concluded that sensing changes in the business environment increases the ability of firms to adapt, which leads to firm performance especially in dynamic environments.

Werner Hoffmann-June 17th 2011

Seminar

Werner Hoffmann, WU Wien

HOW ALLIANCE PORTFOLIO DIVERSITY AFFECTS FIRM PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF FIRM STRATEGY

Mark Casson-June 10th 2011

Seminar

Mark Casson, University of Reading

INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MANAGING BUSINESS GROWTH IN HIGH-RISK ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract: This paper examines the role of entrepreneurship in the growth and diversification of established firms. It argues that it is not a preference for risk, but an ability to evaluate and manage risk, that underpins successful growth. While subjective risks can be reduced by collecting additional information, objective risks must normally be addressed by developing a range of strategies to manage difficult situations. This paper focuses on the objective risks faced by a firm expanding its operations into a risky foreign environment.

Three main objective sources of risk are identified: competitive, institutional and natural. Four key risk-management strategies are analysed - avoidance, prevention, mitigation and withdrawal – each of which can take a variety of forms. Previous research has tended to focus on institutional risks and the withdrawal option. Using a more general framework, entry into a high-risk environment is analysed as a multi-stage decision-problem. The key hypotheses derived from the analysis are then investigated using historical case studies of foreign direct investment. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for both contemporary management strategy and government policy-making.

Richard L. Priem-June 3rd 2011

Seminar

Richard L. Priem, TDU, Neeley School of Business

DOES FACTOR MARKET COMPETITION AFFECT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESOURCE QUALITY AND VALUE CREATION?
EVIDENCE FROM THE ITALIAN FEATURE-FILM MARKET

Abstract: The resource-based view (RBV) of strategic management has specified resource characteristics that can guide firms in attempting to obtain “superior” resources in factor markets. Yet little attention has been paid to the reciprocal issue of how factor markets may influence the value of resources for firms. Recently, RBV scholars have focused on how resource quality and managerial ability affect firm performance. We instead investigated – in the context of the Italian feature-film industry – how competition in factor markets affects the fundamental relationships between a firm’s resource quality, its managers’ coordination ability and its ability to create value for customers. We found that the positive effects of resource quality on value creation are greater when factor markets are more competitive. Joint effects of resource quality and managers’ coordination ability as complements or substitutes, however, dampen these individual effects when factor markets are less competitive. We discuss the implications of our results for scholars and practitioners.

Srikanth Kannan-May 19th 2011

Seminar

Srikanth Kannan, Indian School of Business

PATENTLY DIFFERENT? HOW DOES THE STRENGTH OF PATENTS INFLUENCE GLOBALIZATION OF R&D? - EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM INDIAN PATENT REFORMS

Abstract: There is an increasing trend for Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) to off-shore R&D activities to developing countries where Intellectual Property regimes (IP) are weak. Prior work in international trade theory suggests that there is limited technology transfer by MNE to destinations with weak IP regimes. However, there is considerable evidence that MNE offshore significant levels of R&D, over and above what is required for local customization or government enforced technology transfers. In this paper, using a unique natural experiment that relates to the recently enacted patent reforms in India, we contribute towards understanding how IP regime strength influences the division of labor in technology generation activities within a firm but across locations.

Jerker Denrell-May 13th 2011

Seminar

Jerker Denrell, Oxford - Saïd Business School

ARE THE HIGHEST PERFORMERS THE BEST?

Abstract: The relation between performance and ability is a central concern in discussions of imitation and learning - should we imitate and learn from the highest performers? Past research has illustrated how social mechanisms, combined with noise, can produce a weak or even non-existent association between performance and ability. The implication is that even high performance may not tell us much about the ability of the agent. Still, if performance and ability are positively correlated, it makes sense to imitate the highest performers. In this paper we point to a different effect of noise. We show that high levels of noise can in fact lead to a negative association between performance and ability for high levels of performance. The implication is that the highest performers are not the most impressive - instead, agents with moderately high performance are expected to have the highest ability. We first demonstrate how this conclusion can be derived from a formal model. We then illustrate that the basic results are consistent with the game results of the U.S. Major League Baseball between 2000-09. Our findings imply alternative explanations and predictions for three phenomena: post-hiring surprise, management fashions, and the decline of dominant firms.

Lisa Gärber-May 6th 2011

Seminar

Lisa Gärber, SMG / University of Vienna

KNOWLEDGE AND THE DUALITY OF POWER IN NESTED ORGANIZATIONS: A STUDY OF SUBSIDIARY AUTONOMY AND STRATEGIC INFLUENCE IN THE MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISE

Abstract: Integrating resource-dependency and social network approaches to power, we explore the effect of different forms of knowledge control on a subsidiary’s power position within the MNE. Unlike previous studies that have analyzed the relationship between knowledge and power primarily through the lenses of resource-dependency theory, we integrate knowledge brokerage as a second source of power next to knowledge ownership. We further go beyond the one-dimensional treatment of subsidiary power, highlighting that subsidiary power has two distinct manifestations, which are reflected in a subsidiary's autonomy and strategic influence within the network. Examining a subsidiary’s autonomy and strategic influence jointly as two independent outcomes of subsidiary power confirms that subsidiaries can be powerful in different ways. Our analysis of 166 marketing & sales subsidiaries belonging to three European MNEs reveals that knowledge ownership and brokerage influence a subsidiary’s ability to achieve autonomy and strategic influence differently. Interestingly, our results show that there are no advantages associated with knowledge brokerage per se and that a subsidiary’s degree of autonomy and strategic influence is ultimately contingent upon its knowledge ownership.

Michael Friis Pedersen-February 18th 2011

Seminar

Michael Friis Pedersen, SMG, Copenhagen Business School

An Empirical Analysis of Access to Finance for Danish Farms: Understanding Investment and the Absence of Risk Management

Abstract: We develop a non-parametric measure suited to track the development in access to finance over time. Our measure is a quantitative complement to the qualitative kind of surveys that are conducted by central banks today. The objective of the paper is to propose an alternative method to measure access to finance and measure this development in Danish agriculture over time. We propose that the increasing external finance for investments and absence of risk management institutions in Danish agriculture are related to the easy access to finance in recent decades. We use the Data Envelopment Analysis and the dynamic Malmquist index on an unbalanced panel dataset consisting of 92,000 farm accounts from Danish agriculture. The results show that the access to finance almost doubled from 1996 to 2007, and increased further in 2008 and 2009. A bootstrapping method is used to assess the statistical significance of the result. The increase in access to finance has diminished the demand for risk management because risk management has not been a prerequisite for access to finance in the period of credit expansion. In a future with tighter credit supply, development of risk management institutions might however be needed. Both lenders and regulatory authorities might find the presented method a valuable tool in the monitoring of the development of access to finance in important sectors, such as agriculture and real estate.

Jody Hoffer Gittell-January 28th 2011

Seminar

Jody Hoffer Gittell, The Heller School - Brandeis University

Relational Bureaucracy: On the Boundary of Relational and Bureaucratic Organizing

Abstract: We conceptualize a hybrid organizational form – relational bureaucracy – distinguished by its ability to achieve the rapid, caring and relatively efficient responses of the relational organizational form while achieving the sustainability and replicability of the bureaucratic organizational form. The key to relational bureaucracy is using formalization to embed reciprocal relationships between worker-worker (relational coordination), worker-manager (relational control) and worker-client (relational co-production) into work roles themselves, by providing participants visibility into how they connect with the whole.

Stefan Linder-December 17th 2010

Seminar

Stefan Linder, SMG - Copenhagen Business School

Building a Brighter Future: Does Doing Badly Motivate Middle Managers to Engage in the Autonomous Strategic Action?

Abstract: Autonomous strategic actions inside an established firm can be a powerful source of strategic renewal fostering firm longevity. Whereas literature generally acknowledges this benefit, not much however is known about what triggers middle and lower-level managers in an organization to engage in such bottom-up activities. An organization’s economic situation might be one of these triggers: Low performance and growth in a firm’s existing businesses should spur search for new opportunities and attempts to redefine the firm’s current strategy in a bottom-up manner.
The present paper investigates the role of performance in triggering middle-level managers’ engagement in autonomous strategic actions based on a sample of the 500 largest firms in Denmark. Results suggest, however, that middle managers do not react much to slowing growth or sluggish performance by engaging in autonomous strategic action. Internal factors of autonomy and leadership style seem to play a stronger role.

Martine R. Haas-December 3rd 2010

Seminar

Martine R. Haas, The Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania

Which Boundaries Matter Most? Geographic, Nationality, Structural and Demographic Barriers to Knowledge Seeking within Teams

Abstract: To advance understanding of the barriers to knowledge sharing in multinational corporations, we introduce an integrative “person-position” framework for understanding the various boundaries that separate their members from each other. Focusing on the implications for knowledge seeking within teams, we utilize this framework to examine the relative effects of geographic, nationality, structural and demographic boundaries. We theorize that boundaries that are position-based create greater barriers to knowledge seeking between team members than those that are person-based, because they are associated with greater gaps in task-relevant mutual knowledge. Consistent with our dyadic view of knowledge seeking, we use the Social Relations Model to study 12,720 dyadic interactions among 2,051 members of 276 teams in a large multinational corporation. As predicted, the results reveal that geographic and structural boundaries created greater barriers to knowledge seeking than nationality and demographic boundaries. However, familiarity from a previous team reduced barriers created by position-based boundaries more than those created by person-based boundaries, suggesting that the boundaries that pose greater impediments to knowledge sharing in multinational corporations may also be more readily addressed by managerial interventions.

Chirantan Cahtterjee-November 26th 2010

Seminar

Chirantan Cahtterjee, Heinz College - Carnegie Mellon University

Absorptive Capacity, Firm Capabilities & Destination in Learning by Exporting: Fresh Evidence from Indian Pharmaceutical Producers, 1994-2007

Abstract: This paper offers new insights on learning by exporting in emerging economy firms based on a novel dataset of Indian pharmaceutical producers between 1994 and 2007. We find that, exporting per se, results in enhanced firm level technical efficiency as measured through reduced costs. Exporting also betters firm-level ability to launch new products in domestic markets. These broad gains in addition to improved R&D efficiency are manifested especially when firms export to US rather than to non-US destinations. Finally, among exporting firms, ones with a higher level of absorptive capacity and firm-capability (in manufacturing or in marketing) were the ones who gained most from exporting activity than others.

Tamara Stucchi-November 19th 2010

Seminar

Tamara Stucchi, SMG - Copenhagen Business School

South-north Acquisition Strategies: The Importance of Initial Conditions

The first purpose of the study is to provide a coherent and detailed conceptual framework of Indian firms’ Initial Conditions (ICs) that influence their acquisitions undertaken in Advanced Markets (AMs), in terms of capacity to absorb the technological and/or marketing knowledge sought.

The second purpose of the study is to analyze how these factors influence the different types of acquisition that Indian firms can undertake: four acquisition strategies derive from the analysis, based on combinations of the augmenting and exploitative perspectives, declined on the type of knowledge sought and coherently linked to the ICs of the firms.
The conceptual framework is built on the key concepts of “ICs” and “learning-related acquisitions”.

Chihmao Hsieh-November 5th 2010

Seminar

Chihmao Hsieh, University of Amsterdam

"Why can’t we move there too? Intercultural communication channel use, overestimated knowledge sharing needs, and the capacity for future R&D relocation"

Lydia Bals-October 15th 2010

Seminar

Lydia Bals, SMG - Copenhagen Business School

R&D Globalization: Insights from the Pharmaceutical Industry

The presentation will highligh recent changes within the pharmaceutical industry as well as ongoing and future trends. The competitive setting is increasingly leading firms to investigate possibilities to optimize their business models further, which is the focus of a research project initiated.

Marcus Møller Larsen-October 1st 2010

Seminar

Marcus Møller Larsen, SMG - Copenhagen Business School

The Organizational Complexity of Offshoring: The Role of Modularity and Organizational Learning

Abstract: Many firms are increasingly experiencing that new and unexpected costs of offshoring business tasks and activities might eventually undermine initially expected benefits. Through a set of propositions, this theoretical paper argues that these “hidden costs” of offshoring can largely be explained by the organizational complexity of offshoring, defined by the level of value chain disaggregation and global dispersion. Grounded in an organizational design perspective, we moreover suggest that offshoring research can be advanced by drawing on the concepts of modularity and organizational learning to conceptualize why some firms are better at managing the complexity of offshoring than others: Faced with high organizational complexity through increasing value chain disaggregation and global dispersion, companies that adhere to modular design principles (i.e. loosely coupled organizational architecture) are better at keeping escalating hidden costs at bay. Firms’ recognition of the need and the mechanisms to undertake a modularization of an organizational system, however, is dependent on their degree of organizational learning.

Massimo G. Colombo-September 24th 2010

Seminar

Massimo G. Colombo, Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Technological Relatedness, Post-Acquisition Reorganization and Innovation Performance: Looking inside the Black Box

Abstract: Studies examining the innovation impact of acquisitions have emphasized the key role of the technology relatedness between acquiring and acquired firms. This paper aims to extend our understanding of the link between the type of technology relatedness (technological similarity or complementarity) and post-acquisition innovation performances. For this purpose we combine insights from the value creation view with those offered by studies of the acquisition implementation process, and we develop a conceptual model that highlights: (i) how the type of technology relatedness of the combining firms influences the extent of the post-acquisition rationalization of the R&D operations of target firms and the retention or replacement of their R&D top managers, two key aspects of the post-acquisition reorganization; (ii) how the innovation impact of post-acquisition reorganization decisions is mediated positively by the improvements of the efficiency of the R&D operations and negatively by the loss of key inventors. In the empirical section of the paper we use in depth information from 31 case studies of horizontal acquisitions in high- and medium-tech industries to test the conceptual model through PLS techniques.

Laurel Austin-September 10th 2010

Seminar

Laurel Austin, Copenhagen Business School

The structure of medical decisions: A framework for informed decision making

Abstract: Historically, medical decisions concerned treatment for relief from existing, undesirable symptoms. Increasingly, technologies offer alternatives to examine ourselves for evidence of hidden or future conditions; sometimes we must then consider intervention to prevent or postpone possible, sometime-in-the-future, undesirable conditions. The more uncertainty there is in an assessment that a person has or will have a given condition, the less certainty there is that treatment offers possible benefit to that person. People will differ in their willingness to consider treatment at some level of uncertainty, but can only do so if they are aware of it. In this work we illustrate and discuss the normative structures and associated uncertainties that underlie five distinct types of situations in which we assess the hypothesis that a person has, or will have, a given condition. The uncertainty estimate that is an output from this assessment becomes an input into assessing expected treatment benefit. The five situations we consider are: 1) assessing a symptomatic patient; 2) assessing an individual for an asymptomatic condition; 3) assessing an individual for risk of a future condition; 4) assessing an individual for multiple risks simultaneously (shot-gun assessment); and 5) assessing an individual for a population-based intervention (e.g., vaccination). Using examples from the literature, we show that if decision makers – whether individuals, medical professionals, or policy makers - behave as though an asymptomatic condition or risk factor decision situation is structurally the same as the symptomatic decision situation, they will systematically underestimate uncertainty and thus systematically overestimate any treatment’s expected benefit.

Ram Mudambi-September 6th 2010

Seminar

Ram Mudambi, Temple University, Philadelphia US

Breakthrough innovation in the global pharmaceutical industry: Innovation, knowledge stocks and market success, 1993-2008

Abstract: Breakthrough innovations are the Holy Grail of knowledge-intensive firms, being characterized as significant departures from currently available technologies, products and services. Such innovations are valued by firms as they expect them to generate significant streams of privately appropriable rents (i.e., market success). Since it is presumed that large knowledge stocks are the basis of breakthrough innovations, firms are incented to invest in knowledge creation. In this paper, we study these issues in the context of the global pharmaceutical industry. We generate novel measures of breakthrough innovation and market success by analyzing the population of 3,596 drugs that were rated and approved by the U.S. FDA during period 1993-2008. We find that breakthrough innovations as well as innovations characterized by market success are significantly more likely to emerge from joint ventures and less likely to emerge from mergers and acquisitions when compared with those that are generated by the firm’s internal R&D. However, we find that breakthrough innovations are associated with smaller knowledge stocks as compared to incremental innovations while the opposite is true for innovations successful on the market. Our findings point to the importance of organizational form in breakthrough innovation and market success. They also highlight some caveats in the linkage between firm knowledge and innovative outcomes.

Dr. Dries Faems-August 27th 2010

Seminar

Dr. Dries Faems, University of Twente, Netherlands

Alliances as Conduits for Organizational Change: Toward a Meso-Level Co-Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract: Over the last decades, an increasing number of researchers has been exploring alliance processes. Contributions to this literature generally recognize that changes within organizations may trigger critical events within alliances. Surprisingly, the reverse relationship – i.e. alliance events causing changes in partner organizations – has hitherto received only scant attention though. Building on insights from four in-depth case studies, we: (i) show to what extent and under which circumstances alliance events are most likely to provoke changes within partner organizations; (ii) disentangle when partner organizations are able and willing to conduct the necessary internal changes in response to alliance events; and (iii) demonstrate how the absence/presence of such adjustments influences the continuity of alliances. These findings serve as important building blocks for a meso level co-evolutionary perspective on alliance processes that complements previous micro level and macro level co-evolutionary alliance research.

Dr. Haiyang Li-June 7th 2010

Seminar

Dr. Haiyang Li, Rice University

Performance Differentials between Returnee and Home-Grown Entrepreneurs: Evidence From China’s Technology Industries

Abstract: It has been observed that a growing number of migrants have gone back to their home countries in emerging markets to found or head new ventures after they received an education and/or worked in developed countries. In this study, we examine whether new ventures headed by returnee entrepreneurs perform better than those headed by home-grown entrepreneurs. With panel data on a sample of new ventures in China’s technology industries, we find that on average new ventures headed by returnees outperform those headed by home-growners. More important, such performance differential is context specific: It is stronger in industries with a higher level of foreign direct investment (FDI) penetration and it exists only in private-owned ventures but not in state- and collectively-owned ventures. These results suggest that returnee entrepreneurs are more likely to create value when they are in an institutional context that is more similar to the Western contexts where the returnees have developed and accumulated their skills and experience.

Tobias Kretschmer-June 4th 2010

Seminar

Tobias Kretschmer, University of Munich

Coordination Experience and Team Performance in the Electronic Game Industry

Abstract: Team design significantly impacts organizational performance in knowledge and creative industries, in which products are developed by project-based teams. Critical to teams’ success is the ability to coordinate complementary expertise and interdependent activities, which may become easier when team members are familiar with each other. Most project teams are fluid, however, hampering the development of team familiarity and raising the question of how team members coordinate effectively. In this paper we propose and investigate the performance consequences of two alternative coordination mechanisms: shared experience with firm-specific coordination routines, and general experience interacting and coordinating within teams. Using data on development teams working on electronic games released in the U.S. between 1995 and 2007, we find that shared firm experience and teaming experience are positively associated with the commercial success of electronic games, and that these effects are important for teams with both low and high levels of familiarity. Our results have implications for the theory of learning and coordination in teams, and for the practice of team design in project-based organizations.

Devi R. Gnyawali-May 28th 2010

Seminar

Devi R. Gnyawali, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech

Wilfred Dolfsma-May 21st 2010

Seminar

Wilfred Dolfsma, University of Groningen School of Economics and Business

Knowledge Transfer within firms: Informal, Formal and Multiplex ('rich') ties

Abstract: The informal contacts in organizations are often emphasized as the main or even only conduit for knowledge transfer within firms. We find, however, that formal networks also contribute substantially to knowledge transfer. Additionally we find that the multiplex combination of a formal tie and an informal tie contributes to knowledge transfer beyond the effect of either in isolation. Such multiplex, or, as we coin them, /rich/ ties we find to have a strong effect on knowledge transfer in an organization. In addition to informal networks, formal networks and in particular ties between employees that combine informal as well as formal contacts (‘rich’ ties) thus help constitute the dynamic capabilities that firms in turbulent economic circumstances require, to be competitive on the global market. Knowledge transfer previously attributed to informal (or formal) networks only, may in fact be due to multiplex, or rich, ties.

Lasse Lien, NHH-May 7th 2010

Seminar

Lasse Lien, NHH, Department of Strategy and Management

Why There? Decomposing the Choice of Target Industry

Abstract: How do diversifying firms chose their target industries? We provide a quantitative characterization of how diversifying firms chose target industry, with emphasis on the relative importance and tradeoffs between target market characteristics and the diversifier’s resources and capabilities. We avoid some key restrictions in earlier work by using a measure of relatedness that is unrestricted in terms of the types of relatedness we can capture, by using unrestricted population level samples, and by including measures of resource strength in addition to resource relevance. Our findings document that it takes enormous increases in target market attractiveness to compensate for small changes in the resource/capability match.

Jacob Lyngsie-April 29th 2010

Seminar

Jacob Lyngsie, SMG, Copenhagen Business School

Organization Design for Firm-level Entrepreneurship:
Towards a Multi-level Framework

Abstract: This paper builds theory on organization design for firm-level entrepreneurship, defined as firms’ discovery, evaluation, and capture of opportunities. We argue that understanding firm-level entrepreneurship is inherently a multi-level undertaking. Propositions are developed that relate to how firms can design organizations and deploy instruments of organizational control to shape the motivation, opportunity and ability of firm members to engage in the discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Ognjenka Zrilic-April 23rd 2010

Seminar

Ognjenka Zrilic, Politecnico di Milano

Implementation Strategies of High-Tech Acquisitions

Abstract: Acquisitions of entrepreneurial firms by established firms have become important means for technology transfer through which incumbents accumulate upstream capabilities to enter new product domains. This paper focuses on high-technology acquisitions with an aim to develop a better understanding of how incumbents can realize technology acquisition potentials by accounting for acquisition implementation process, deal and firm specific attributes. We consider two dimensions of acquisition reorganization; acquired firm integration as structural aspect and non-structural aspect of acquired top manager retention. Empirical literature shows that acquirers who buy small technology firms for their innovative potential often discover that the postacquisition integration can diminish the acquired firm’s innovative potential that was the crucial motive behind the acquisition. On the other hand, structural integration is claimed to be important since it serves as a mechanism of coordination between acquirer and acquired firm, what is particularly significant when high interdependence exists between the two firms. Another important aspect of acquisition implementation is the extent to which the target resources are replaced with acquirer’s resources. In the context of high technology acquisitions, the important resource is the human capital of acquired firm top manager. Starting from the resource and competence based perspectives, the likelihood of structural integration and retention of acquired firm’s top manager is predicted. Specifically, we consider the following factors: i) the motives of acquisition (explorative vs. other motivation), ii) the product relatedness between the acquiring and acquired firms, iii) the existence of prior alliance with target, iv) whether the target’s technology was a component toacquirer’s system. 

Claus Rerup-April 16th 2010

Seminar

Claus Rerup, Richard Ivey School of Business

Prospective attention: Synchronizing top-down and bottom-up attention to non-salient issues

Abstract: Research on attention in organizations focuses mainly on top-down senior management processes. Bottom-up processes at the shop floor level have received less attention. To examine the interrelationship between top-down and bottom-up attention processes, I use longitudinal, qualitative data to show how organizations can synchronize these processes to non-salient threats. My data illustrate how attention delays to a non-salient threat resulted in a crisis at Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care. My study develops the concept of “synchronized prospective attention,” which involves proactive knowledge sharing among different hierarchical levels through which organizational members consider the future impact that currently non-salient threats might have on the organization. 

Jennifer Kunz-March 26th 2010

Seminar

Jennifer Kunz, Goethe University Frankfurt, Main

Long-term performance of individual- and group-level exploration and exploitation

Abstract: Organisational research has studied the tension between exploration and exploitation for years. In essence, this body of research agrees on the necessity of a balance between explorative and exploitative processes to prevent an organisation from falling into a learning trap. Thus, to enhance the active management of this balance in organisations, a deeper theoretical understanding of the factors that influence the development of exploration and exploitation has to be gained. One of the recently discussed factors is the interplay between individual and group-level exploration and exploitation. This paper picks up this discussion. It provides an in-depth analysis of the different impacts of groups characterised by an interpersonal learning dimension in contrast to isolated individuals on long-term development and performance outcomes of exploration and exploitation under contingent aspects. 

Claudio Panico-March 19th 2010

Seminar

Claudio Panico, Bocconi University

Joint seminar between Center for Strategic Management and Globalization (SMG) and Department of Economics (ECON)  

On the Management of Research Collaborations: Which Form of Governance?

Abstract: The management of research collaborations is challenging in many respects. It is hard to specify in advance the research output to be obtained and how to share the resulting gains. The research efforts of one party are hard to monitor for the other party and the collaboration may fail to deliver any gain. The parties may also decide to interrupt the collaboration at a later stage and proceed separately. All these aspects pose big governance challenges. On the other hand, it is increasingly more common to observe contractual forms of collaborations. Formal contracts give birth to a large variety of forms of governance by specifying a configuration of control and an allocation of ownership.

We build a simple model to develop a normative analysis of the contractual governance of a research collaboration between a customer firm and a research unit. We set up a principal-agent model that integrates agency theory and the property-rights approach to endogenize the form of governance, that is to say an allocation of control and ownership rights.

The customer initially has all the bargaining power and designs the governance. The initial governance shapes the parties' relative bargaining position in the ex post negotiation and affects the unit's ex-ante incentives. Following property-rights economics, we first address the case when the parties always agree to stay together when negotiating over the allocation of the quasi-rents. We say that the collaboration in this case is stable. But we also address the case when the collaboration is unstable as the parties might prefer instead to break it up and proceed separately. We identify trade-offs in the initial choice of the form of governance that have gone unnoticed in the literature and provide new insights into the functioning of research collaborations.

Peter Abell-March 12th 2010

Seminar

Peter Abell, London School of Economics and Copenhagen Business School

History, Statistics and Case Studies

 

Abstract: When case studies are constructed as narratives, then causal explanation can be achieved without either comparison or generalization. Narratives provide paths of causal links on a chronology of actions or events. The links, in turn, can be studied as Bayesian inferences generating Bayesian narratives. The causal paths in a narrative have a Boolean structure.

Sjoerd Beugelsdijk-March 5th 2010

Seminar

Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, University of Groningen

When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, but what if they all do different things? Host-Country Value Heterogeneity and U.S. Outward MNE Activity

Abstract: A key assumption in international business and management theory concerns the notion of adaptation to foreign host country environments. This is reflected in the importance attached to the construct of cultural distance, and the associated underlying assumption that host countries are culturally homogeneous. This study examines the role of host country cultural diversity. Following the liability of foreignness argumentation, we argue that once allowing for heterogenous foreign cultures, the typical negative effect of cultural distance on MNE activity can be hypothesized to be smaller. Using the full sample of aggregate US MNE activity between 1983-2004 in a sample of 31 countries, our results suggest that within-(host) country cultural diversity, as determined by the newly developed cultural diversity index, has a significantly positive and moderating effect on cultural distance. Extensive robustness tests confirm that the negative effect of cultural distance is significantly smaller when moving to host countries that are culturally diverse. We extrapolate this finding on within-country diversity to the role of cultural diversity in general and discuss implication for international business and management theory, concluding we need a paradigm shift from cultural distance to cultural diversity. 

Simon Torp-February 26th 2010

Seminar

Simon Torp, Handels- og Ingeniørhøjskolen and Center for Strategic Management and Globalization, Copenhagen Business School

The Antecedents of Employee Stock Ownership

Abstract: Based on a survey among the 500 biggest companies in Denmark the author tests the prevalence and antecedents of Employee stock ownership (ESO). While earlier studies has shown a 5 % prevalence in 1991 and 21 % in 2000, this study document that 33 % of Danish companies employee ESO. 11 % employee broad-based schemes and 22 % a narrow-based scheme, indicating a decliner in the use of broad-based schemes and an increase in the use of narrow-based schemes. The study reveals that the definition of ESO has a significant impact on the antecedents of ESO companies. While the construction sector is an antecedent of all three definitions of ESO, stock listing, dynamism, sector-dummies, different bonus systems, formal planning and size all are antecedents of only one or two of the definitions.

Alessandra Perri-February 12th 2010

Seminar

Alessandra Perri, Luiss University

Subsidiary heterogeneity and FDI-mediated knowledge spillovers:
Some insights on the role of technological capabilities and knowledge strategies

Abstract: Along the last decades, foreign direct investment has become a pervasive phenomenon in the global economy. Indeed, in 2007, global FDI inflows reached $1,833 billion, overcoming the peak level of $1,411 billion realized in 2000 (UNCTAD, 2008). The activity of multinational corporations investing abroad is especially relevant for the knowledge flows that take place between the MNCs and their host countries, as a consequence of the set-up of their foreign subsidiaries. While there is plenty of analyses regarding the country-level and sector-level factors affecting this phenomenon, scarce attention has been paid to the firm-specific profile of foreign investors, which may influence the knowledge diffusion due to their localization. Moreover, on a more theoretical level, the knowledge spillover effect has been traditionally assumed to happen through the so-called “pipeline-model” (Marin and Bell, 2006), as an automatic outcome of the international transfer of the superior knowledge developed by the parent companies, with no role for the subsidiaries in the dynamics of this phenomenon. Only very recently, scholars have begun to recognize that also subsidiaries may influence the patterns of knowledge flows within their host country (Branstetter, 2006; Marin and Sasidharan, 2008). Building on these insights, and combining IB literature and recent findings on agglomeration dynamics, I explore the subsidiary technological capabilities and knowledge strategies that affect the extent of knowledge spillovers to host-country organizations. 

Ingmar Björkman-February 5th 2010

Seminar

Ingmar Björkman, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki

The Determinants of Top Management Internalisation of HRM Practices in MNC Subsidiaries

Abstract: In spite of the importance attached to the roles played by line managers in the HRM literature, little theoretical and empirical research exists on factors influencing how line managers perceive HRM. In this study we investigated factors that influence the extent to which subsidiary top managers internalise HRM practices. Based on data collected from top managers and HR managers in 117 subsidiaries within 12 Nordic multinational corporations, we tested whether the level of internalisation was influenced by two sets of factors, the first related to the professional credibility of the subsidiary HR managers and the HR function, and the second set dealing with the interpersonal similarity (homophily) between the subsidiary top manager and the HR manager. The findings support most of the hypotheses relating to credibility since the work experience of subsidiary HR managers both within and outside of HR, as well as the perceived strategic HRM capabilities of the subsidiary HR department, were related to higher levels of general manager internalisation. The hypotheses relating to homophily were not supported, the data instead showing a negative relationship between gender-based homophily and internalisation.

Marcel Bogers-January 29th 2010

Seminar

Marcel Bogers, University of Southern Denmark

Exploring the Drivers of Learning-by-Doing and Process Innovation: Evidence from Swiss Manufacturing Firms

Abstract: This paper explores the drivers of learning-by-doing and process innovation to better understand the origins of innovative capabilities and thus firm heterogeneity. Using survey data on Swiss manufacturing firms, we conduct a factor analysis to explore which systems of complementary (individual, collective, capability- and incentive-based) human resource and organizational practices firms implement to promote production floor workers’ contribution to process innovation. We subsequently use these factors in a system of simultaneous regressions to show how they drive learning-by-doing for major and minor process innovation. In line with our theoretical framework, we find that autonomy and decentralization as well as collective rewards have the broadest impact on both major and minor process innovation. While active support and monitoring as well as relationships particularly foster major process innovation, individual and monetary rewards only enhance minor process innovation. We also find that too much monitoring and support is detrimental for process innovation. 

Dr. Amanda Goodall-January 22nd 2010

Seminar

Dr. Amanda Goodall, Warwick Business School

Socrates in the Boardroom: Why Research Universities Should be Led by Top Scholars'
Highly Cited Leaders and the Performance of Research Universities  
 

Abstract: There is a large literature on the productivity of universities. Little is known, however, about how different types of leader affect a university’s later performance. To address this, I blend quantitative and qualitative evidence. First, I show that the most outstanding research universities in the world are led, overwhelmingly, by top scholars. Second, by constructing a new longitudinal dataset, I demonstrate that the research quality of a university improves some years after it appoints a president (vice chancellor or rector) who is an accomplished scholar. To try to explain why scholar-leaders might improve the research performance of their institutions, I draw from interview data with twenty-six heads in universities in the United States and United Kingdom. The findings have policy implications for governments, universities, and a range of research and knowledge-intensive organizations.

Amanda’s main work is on leadership and productivity. She focuses on knowledge-based organizations -- such as research universities and hospitals -- where the core business is reliant on expert knowledge. She uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative evidence to try to identify what kinds of leaders improve organizational performance. She has a book on the topic, ‘Socrates in the Boardroom: Why Research Universities Should be Led by Top Scholars’ (Princeton University Press, October 2009). During the first half of 2008 Amanda was a Research Fellow at Cornell University, and she spent the latter part of the year as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Zurich. She gained her PhD in 2007 at Warwick Business School.

Amanda’s journal publications and CV are available at www.amandagoodall.com . 

Gianmario Verona-January 12th 2010

Seminar

Gianmario Verona, Bocconi University

(De-)Institutionalizing Organizational Compentence. Olivetti's Transition from Mechanical to Electronic Technology.

Abstract: This article analyzes the competence-destroying transition from mechanical to electronic technology at Olivetti, a leading Italian office machines firm. It develops a unifying framework of the organizational process by which a new technological competence displaces an existing technological competence. It shows how a technological competence becomes institutionalized through the increasing convergence of its cognitive, moral, and pragmatic legitimacy, the power of organizational agents, and attainment and allocation of organizational resources. However, the reinforcing relationships between legitimacy, power, and resources may also be broken to aid in the deinstitutionalization of an incumbent technology while placing the building blocks of its alternate. The study identifies four levers of technological transition: organizational separation, cooptation, exploiting contradictions and dissensus, and resource diversion.

Taco H. Reus-December 11th 2009

Seminar

Taco H. Reus, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

Transfer Effects in Large Acquisitions: How Size-Specific Experience Matters

Abstract: Building upon transfer theory of learning, we examine whether size-specific experience influences performance following large, related acquisitions. Our results suggest that while prior experience in making large, related acquisitions transfers positively to this focal situation, experience in small, related acquisitions hurts firm performance. Further, we find that dissimilarity in product offerings and geographic reach, and similarity in organizational cultures, exacerbates the negative effects of having experience in small, related acquisitions. Finally, we find that retaining acquired top managers and engaging in lower levels of integration in large, related acquisitions aids acquirers in better drawing on experiences from smaller related acquisitions. 

Davies, A., Frederiksen, L., Hartmann, A.-November 27th 2009

Seminar

Davies, A., Frederiksen, L., Hartmann, A.; the presenter will be Lars Frederiksen.

The Road to Replication: A case study of highways agencies in England and the Netherlands

Abstract: Replication is a process of leveraging new knowledge to reproduce an organizational practice across a large number of units across time and space. As such reuse process of knowledge, replication is frequently a mitigating factor for the cost of innovation (Langlois, 1999). We extend research on strategic replication by examining the life cycle of activities involved in generating a practice in preparation for replication and transferring that practice across multiple outlets. Building on Winter & Szulanski’s (2001) observation that replication is a process involving a life cycle of activities, we explore the dynamics of knowledge generation and transfer along two dimensions: (1) the exploration of new a “working example” or template and exploitation of this template across many simultaneous examples; and (2) the interaction between dynamic and operational capabilities as the template is created, refined and prepared for rollout. The research setting is a qualitative comparative study of two large public sector highways agencies: the RWS in the Netherlands and Highways Agency in England. A conceptual framework is developed inductively based on our analysis and interpretation of the case study material. We demonstrate how the two organizations followed different roads to replication. Our replication lifecycle framework is useful for identifying problems that occur when an organization involved in transitioning from idea generation to replication tries to accelerate too quickly (little time for reflection), misses out a stage in the process, or moves too slowly.

Sathyajit Gubbi-November 20th 2009

Seminar

Sathyajit Gubbi (Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta)

Do Business Groups Facilitate or Constrain Affiliates' Adaption to Institutional Transitions in Developing Economies?

Abstract: Drawing from organizational ecology and institutional theories, we examine whether business groups facilitate or constrain affiliate firms’ adaptation to institutional transitions emanating from economic and market reforms. Empirical results from a panel of firms from the Indian pharmaceutical industry during the period 1992-2007 support the inertia arguments proposed by these theories. That is, we find that given their embeddedness in past institutional contexts, business group affiliated firms are less likely than independent firms to adapt through exploration of new markets. However, we also uncover important contingencies related to the scope of institutional transitions and within-group dynamics that temper inertial forces prevalent in business groups. In particular, we find that business group affiliation militates against firms’ adaptation only when institutional changes are specific to the affiliates’ industry, but not when changes are broad-based and impacting the business group as a whole. We also find that amongst affiliated firms, those occupying a prominent position within the group or externally in the industry are able to bargain for and get the necessary business group attention and support for new strategic initiatives. 

S. Morris; Scott A. Snell; Ryan Hammon-November 6th 2009

Seminar

S. Morris (The Ohio State University); Scott A. Snell (University of Virginia); Ryan Hammon (MIT). Shad Morris will present the paper.

Meeting Transnational Objectives through Individual Knowledge Search

Abstract: We develop a micro-foundations learning approach to the transnational framework. In a study of 105 globally dispersed projects in a multinational enterprise (MNE), we examine the internal, external, and codified knowledge search of project leaders and link these activities to the transnational objectives of responsiveness, learning, and efficiency. Consistent with learning and MNE literatures, we find that searching outside the organization for help with specific tasks of a project increases learning. Codified search helps ensure that the project is done efficiently and that learning occurs as well. Finally, we find that when project leaders search inside the organization for help in completing a project that the project is much more responsive and impactful to the client. These findings show how different transnational objectives require different knowledge search activities, as well as provide a task level understanding of how individuals might facilitate the achievement of these seemingly paradoxical organizational objectives. 

Jochen Schweitzer-October 21st 2009

Seminar

Jochen Schweitzer, University of Technology, Sydney

The Role of Governance and Leadership for Capability Development in Strategic Alliances

Abstract: "This study aims to verify whether heterogeneity in alliance capability development and performance can be attributed to the use of certain intra-firm governance practices and associated leadership behaviors. We suggest that transformational leadership behavior has a significant influence on the development of dynamic capabilities and subsequent alliance performance when it co-occurs with stewardship governance, whereas transactional leadership behavior has a significant influence on the alliance when partnering firms choose principal-agent type governance. Data from 369 alliances show that the positive relationship between transformational leadership and the development of dynamic capabilities is stronger with stewardship governance, and weaker with agency governance. In the case of stewardship governance, transactional leadership behavior too is significantly associated with dynamic and operational capability development."

Jochen is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Business at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and a Researcher at CMOS, the Centre for Management & Organisation Studies. Before joining UTS he worked as a strategist and management consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM where he gained extensive experience in strategy development and implementation, process improvement, and change management. At UTS Jochen teaches Marketing Strategy in the MBA program. His research focuses on questions of strategic management and marketing; it concentrates on understanding the role and importance of governance, managerial behaviour and capability development in enhancing strategic organisational performance. This work is applied, for example, to the context of strategic alliances, the management of creative organisations and service businesses. Jochen's work has been published in academic journals and books and has been presented and recognised at a number of international conferences. In 2008 he won the Strategic Management Societies' Best PhD Paper Award and an Honorable Mention as Best Conference paper, and in 2009 he was awarded an Honorable Mention as finalist for the Academy of Management Dissertation Award of the Business Policy and Strategy Division.

Oliver Baumann and Nils Stieglitz-September 18th 2009

Seminar

Oliver Baumann (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich) and Nils Stieglitz (University of Southern Denmark)

"How do incentives influence organizational search?"

Prior research suggests that organizational capabilities emerge from processes of variation, selection, and retention within firms. In this context, internal variation is of particular importance, as it provides the grist for selection and retention. At its core, variation stems from the members of an organization that engage in (boundedly rational) search for novel decision alternatives. Little is known, however, about how organizational search and, in turn, the generation of variation, are affected by organizational incentives.

Drawing on insight from organizational economics, we develop a simulation model to address this issue. In our model, incentives serve to induce search for “projects” (and for their refinement) among the members of an organization that compete for selection by upper management. Our modeling structure rests on two opposing effects of organizational incentives. On the one hand, higher-powered incentives stimulate more intensive search; on the other, they increase the competition for limited resources and managerial attention among the new alternatives. In this paper, we thus ask: What are the trade-offs between these effects, and how can they be effectively balanced?
Our preliminary results suggest that for most organizations, higher-powered incentives may not be the panacea to increase innovativeness. While they do increase internal variation, they come at a hefty price, as the organization not only shares a substantial part of the created value with the inventor, but also creates excessive internal variation. Here, superior projects crowd out many good projects. Small firms, in contrast, are different, as they face the problem of sustaining internal variation and thus benefit from higher-powered incentives. Furthermore, if strong persistence is required for developing a new idea, only higher-powered incentives provide the long-term motivation for slow learning and sustained determination in large organizations. 

T.L. Hill and Ram Mudambi-June 23rd 2009

Seminar

T.L. Hill (Temple University) and Ram Mudambi (Temple University)

Longing To Belong and The Governance Of Knowledge-Intensive Organizations

We develop theory to account for innovations in organizational form – such as network organizations, research alliances and open-source communities – in knowledge-intensive settings. Drawing on transaction cost economics, knowledge, evolutionary psychology, social identity and embeddedness theories, we propose a parallel relational dimension of governance, fuelled on the existential search for belonging, to complement the transactional dimension of governance. This leads us to suggest a novel form – democracy – to round out the market, hierarchy, clan array. The resulting taxonomy offers insight into the fit between organizational forms and the task and motivation environments and into the evolution of organizational forms.

Cristina Rossi Lamastra-June 22nd 2009

Seminar

Cristina Rossi Lamastra (Politecnico di Milano)

"Does Firms' Involvement in The Open Source Movement Ask For New Organisational Forms? The Case Of Employees' Empowerment” (co-authored with M.G. Colombo and E. Piva)

The Open Source (OS) phenomenon has evolved from an ideological-oriented movement to a well grounded economic reality, involving more and more firms in the software sector. Software companies are getting increasingly aware that OS communities constitute an important source of new ideas and knowledge, as their permeable boundaries and self-organisation behaviours make them a powerful locus of collective innovation. Given the peculiar structure of OS communities, firms aiming at proficiently interacting with them have to design governing mechanisms allowing overcome the paradoxical tension between control and cooperation. In this framework, the paper explores which firm-specific characteristics and features of firm-community interaction shape the adoption of new organisational forms, leading companies to delegate to their employees discretionary control over the relationships with OS communities. A set of hypotheses, grounded in the wide literature on Organisational Design, is developed and tested on a dataset drawn from a survey taken in 2004 on 290 European software firms doing business out of OS. The estimates of a two-steps Heckman Probit model reveal that the likelihood of empowerment increases with firms’ size, number of OS product categories offered, and radical innovation outcomes. Conversely, the number of OS projects the firm participates in negatively affects the delegation of decision authority to employees. 

Niklas L. Hallberg-May 20th 2009

Seminar

Niklas L. Hallberg (Lund University)

Towards a Resource-based Theory of Value Appropriation: An Appropriation Factor Framework

This paper highlights the problem the resource-based view faces in explaining value appropriation and proposes a framework that addresses how resources affect bargaining power and value appropriation. The appropriation factor framework presented in this paper states that particular resources, termed appropriation factors, affect bargaining power, and thus the possibility for economic agents of appropriating a larger share of rents. Based on this framework, it is argued that investments in heterogeneous and immobile appropriation factors that facilitate value appropriation through elevated bargaining power can constitute an alternative avenue to sustained competitive advantage. 

Philip C. Nell-May 15th 2009

Seminar

Philip C. Nell

The Evolution of Regional Management Centres over Time - An Information Processing Perspective

Early work on regional structures in multinational corporations (MNCs) focused on explaining why such "area divisions" are adopted instead of product or matrix structures. These early contributions by Stopford and Wells (1972) and Egelhoff (1982) drew on contingency theory and its application entitled the information processing approach. While this stream of research produced important insights into the motives of adopting regional structures, it disregarded the types of regional management centers available for MNCs. Furthermore, these investigations did not capture differing information processing requirements or structural responses between MNC regions - a claim frequently made by scholars advancing the idea of semi-globalisation (e.g. Rugman 2005). Due to cross-sectional data, early work also suffered from a survival bias and did not explain how MNCs achieve organisational fit, that is the process of matching information-processing requirements with respective information-processing capacities. Therefore, the present study details a process of structural adaptation over four decades by examining the evolution of regional management in one European MNC. We develop a systemic model of regional information processing capacity and discuss its theoretical implications for the role of corporate headquarters, the survival of individual regional management centres, and the challenges of organisational misfit and structural adaptation. 

Oliver Gottschalg-May 4th 2009

Seminar

Oliver Gottschalg

Motivation and the Determinants of Firm Boundaries

This paper offers novel insights into the determinants of firm boundaries. Drawing on motivation theory as the primary analytical tool, we identify several sources of diseconomies of scale and scope that decrease the likelihood of task integration. The underlying model points to the role of (a) motivional preferences of employees, (b) motivational requirements of different sub-tasks, (c) employees’ tolerance for inequality and (d) motivational capabilities of the organization as factors that influence the choice of firm boundaries. The corresponding arguments are complementary to the insights offered by transaction-cost based and competence-based approaches to the question of firm boundaries. Their joint consideration enables us to increase the accuracy and explanatory power of our predictions regarding make-or-buy decisions. 

Peter Ø. Jensen

Seminar

Peter Ø. Jensen

A Passage to India: Process Models and Advanced Services Offshoring to India

This paper addresses a recent strand of offshoring research that concerns the processes of evolution and change that appear in offshoring partnerships after the launch of offshoring operations. Based on longitudinal case studies of offshoring of advanced IT and engineering services from Danish firms to Indian firms, I identify a process model with three stages that captures the evolution of the initial 1-2 years of the offshoring partnership. Overall, the data portray a rapid development of the Danish-Indian offshoring partnerships which show that once trust is established and offshoring firms gain experience, the offshoring firms will increase the sophistication as well as expand the range and volume of advanced work done offshore. The dynamics of the process therefore suggest that at a broader scale, advanced services offshoring will increase in the coming years. 

Stephanie Schleimer-April 17th 2009

Seminar

Stephanie Schleimer (Griffith Business School)

The value-adding nature of collaborative workflows and collaborative ownership: A test of intra-firm and inter-firm collaboration in new product development

Larissa Rabbiosi-April 3rd 2009

Seminar

Larissa Rabbiosi

The impact of subsidiary autonomy on reverse knowledge transfer: moving from single to interdependent explanations

Henrik Dellestrand-March 20th 2009

Seminar

Henrik Dellestrand

Innovation characteristics, transfer management and headquarter involvement in the transfer of innovations between MNE subsidiaries

Lydia Bals-March 13th 2009

Seminar

Lydia Bals

Offshore Outsourcing of Services: An Evolutionary Perspective

Offshore outsourcing is gaining increasing importance and attention in both theory and practice. The purpose of this research is to use nine in-depth case studies to analyze the evolution of offshore services outsourcing with regard to how expectations and governance structures change over time. Five testable propositions are presented, building on institutional theory, transaction cost, and resource-based perspectives. The cases demonstrate that offshore outsourcing is initiated because of increasing internal and external pressure to conform and reduce costs. Moreover, companies “chase” efficiency improvements in other geographic locations. But after reducing costs, companies discover more strategic benefits such as the potential to increase quality and market share. Importantly, as buyer-supplier relationships move from tactical to more strategic, expectations and governance structures change.

Jasper Hotho-March 6th 2009

Seminar

Jasper Hotho (University of Groningen)

A Measure of Comparative Institutional Distance

Three varieties of institutionalism currently dominate international business studies: new institutional economics, new organizational institutionalism, and comparative historical institutionalism. Yet corresponding measures of institutional country distance are only available for the first two strands of institutionalism. This paper addresses the under-representation of comparative historical institutional thought in currently available measures of institutional distance. Building on Whitley’s business systems framework, a measure of institutional distance is developed and validated which captures intrinsic, substantive institutional differences in economic organization, rather than differences in institutional effectiveness. The results of the two-stage cluster analysis used to validate the selected indicators closely approximate the business systems typology, which is both indicative of the validity of this measure and of the distinctiveness of the business system types that make up the business system framework. 

Alexander Stremitzer-February 27th 2009

Seminar

Alexander Stremitzer (University of Bonn)

Standard Breach Remedies, Quality Thresholds, and Cooperative Investments

When investments are non-verifiable, inducing cooperative investments with simple contracts may not be as difficult as previously thought. Indeed, modeling “expectation damages” close to legal practice, we show that the default remedy of contract law induces the first best. Yet, in order to lower informational requirements of courts, parties may opt for a "specific performance" regime which grants the breached-against buyer an option to choose "restitution" if the tender’s value falls below some (arbitrarily chosen) quality threshold. In order to implement this regime, no more information needs to be verifiable than is implicitly assumed in Che and Hausch (1999).
Keywords: breach remedies, incomplete contracts, cooperative investments. 

Riccardo Fini-February 27th 2009

Seminar

Riccardo Fini (University of Bologna)

The Foundation of Entrepreneurial Intention

Individual intentions influence human behaviors and, as a consequence, organizational outcomes. Therefore, the ability to understand and to predict intentions becomes a central issue in the managerial literature. In this contribution we study the formulation of entrepreneurial intentions. Drawing on a widely used intentional paradigm, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), we model the influence of individual characteristics and contextual variables on the intention formation process.
Relying on a sample of 200 entrepreneurs, founders of 133 new-technology-based firms, we test a theoretical model of the micro-foundation of entrepreneurial intention. Our results show that entrepreneurial intention is influenced by psychological characteristics, by individual skills and by environmental influences. Managerial implications related to the creation of the conditions fostering entrepreneurial intentions within companies are discussed.

Robert Kaše-February 4th 2009

Seminar

Robert Kaše

Practical Issues of Adopting Social Network Perspectives and Methodologies in HRM Research

In the seminar the research project »Effects of HR Practices on Knowledge Transfer in Knowledge-Intensive Firms: The Mediating Role of Social Network Dimensions« will be used as an example of how social network perspectives and methodology can be used in human resource management research. Decisions that a researcher has to make when adopting social network perspectives and the tools that are available will be presented and discussed. The emphasis will be on developing appropriate research designs, gathering actor-based and relational data, selecting appropriate methods for data analysis, and performing confirmative social network analyses (MRQAP, p*). The seminar will conclude with a discussion about opportunities and limitations of social network perspectives and methodology for management research in the near future. 

Simon Torp-January 30th 2009

Seminar

Simon Torp (AU-HIH/CBS)

How does employee stock ownership affect the strategic management process and performance in dynamic industries?

James Hayton-January 23rd 2009

Seminar

James Hayton (Bocconi University)

HRM and Corporate Entrepreneurial Capabilities: The role of people management in building strategic entrepreneurship in SMEs around the world

This seminar will describe results from an ongoing research program that examines how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices influence the entrepreneurial capabilities of small and medium sized enterprises. To illustrate the progress and current status of the program, two studies will be presented: one from China, and one from Italy. In the China study (n=142 firms) we examine how HRM practices at two levels (management level and employee level) can exert different influence on entrepreneurial performance. We find evidence of two faces of HRM: HR practices that stimulate organizational managers to engage in internal and external network building interact positively with an innovation strategy to produce higher levels of entrepreneurial performance; However, at the employee level, a strict adherence to formalized and individualized HR practices acts to constrain entrepreneurial performance under an innovation strategy.

In our second study, we present a model and data that illustrates how individualist and collectivist cultural characteristics are related to three corporate entrepreneurial capabilities: opportunity identification, knowledge integration and opportunity exploitation. Drawing on the ability, motivation, opportunity framework, we argue that culture influences these capabilities indirectly through HRM policy choices. We adopt a two dimensional view of individualism and collectivism which allows these dimensions to vary independently of each other, and creates the possibility for a firm to exhibit high or low levels of each. We hypothesize that firms high in both individualism and collectivism will create compatible HRM systems which together influence opportunity identification and knowledge integration. Thus HRM is a mediator of the effect of culture on corporate entrepreneurial capabilities. Our empirical study involves data from multiple respondents in 81 Italian SMEs. Hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression and path analysis. The evidence strongly supports the hypothesized influence of both culture and HRM on these entrepreneurial capabilities.
Currently, no paper is available 

Guido Bünstorf-January 21st 2009

Seminar

Guido Bünstorf (Max Planck Institute of Economics)

Opportunity and necessity in spin-off entrepreneurship

This paper conceptualizes the process of spin-off entrepreneurship out of incumbent firms. It proposes a distinction between opportunity and necessity spin-offs, which is based on the events triggering spin-off formation. Differences and commonalities between the two spin-off types are explored for the German laser industry. Necessity spin-offs play an important role in competitive market dynamics, as they limit the devaluation of human capital brought about by adverse shocks to individual firms. This role of spin-offs in reusing employee competences appears most relevant in situations where it is particularly hard for the respective individuals to find new employment in existing firms.

These situations include growth crises of innovative firms, but also more macroeconomic crises such as the liberalization of formerly protected industries and the transition from centrally planned economies to capitalist systems.

Go Global - men hvordan?

Globaliseringen er ikke noget, der går væk igen. Den er kommet for at blive og er i dag et vilkår for at drive forretning. Men hvordan gør man, og hvilke konsekvenser har globaliseringen for din forretningsmodel? Det er temaet for seminarrækken 'Fra internationale til globale forretningsmodeller' arrangeret af CBS og Valcon.
 

HVORFOR OG HVAD
 

Første seminar i juni 2012 fokuserede på, HVORFOR globale forretningsmodeller kommer og skal på den strategiske agenda.

 

Læs takeaways
 

Andet seminar i oktober 2012 fokuserede på, HVAD den globale udvikling betyder for vores måde at drive og tænke forretning på.

 

Læs takeaways
 

TREDJE SEMINAR: HVORDAN
Det tredje seminar gennemføres onsdag den 13. marts 2013 på CBS. Det er gratis at deltage.
 

Her er der fokus på, HVORDAN vi kan gribe udvikling og eksekvering af globale forretningsmodeller an i praksis. Seminaret vil indeholde hands-on workshop og inspirerende oplæg ved:

•     Peter Kürstein, adm. direktør i Radiometer
•     Mogens Nyborg Pedersen, director global sourcing i Siemens Wind Power samt
•     Steffen Busk Jespersen, adm. direktør i AH Industries

Kom og vær med på CBS. Det koster kun dit engagement og din nysgerrighed!
 

2nd Valcon Seminar-October 30th 2012

Business Seminar

This will be the second seminar in the Valcon seminar series on globalization. From International to Global Businessmodels.

Globalization has come to stay, and is in today's world a inevetable condition when driving a business. Is your company ready for the new global reality?

This second seminar, in the seminar series on globalization, addresses how globalization affects supply-chains and business models.

At the seminar you will get to hear CEO Thomas Hofman-Bang from NKT speak about how NKT has handled the global challenges and opportunities.

Program

14:00 - 14:15 Welcome and introduction to the seminar by Professor Torben Pedersen, SMG, and Director Einar Scholte, Valcon.

14:15 - 15:00 Presentation by CEO Thomas Hofman-Bang, NKT Holding A/S.

15:00 - 15:15 Coffee break

15:15 - 16:00 Presentation by former CEO Per Bækgaard, Chipset Unit, Sourcing and Procurement, Nokia.

16:00 - 16:15 Coffee break

16:15 - 16:45 Worksessions

16:45 - 17:00 Closure and conclusions.

17:00 - 17:30 Sandwiches and networking

1st Valcon Seminar-June 21st 2012

Business Seminar: 13:00 - 17:00

Room: Ks43

Valcon Seminar series on Globalization. From International to Global Business models 

Globalization is not something that will disappear. It has come to stay and is today an unavoidable factor when driving a business. Modern business IS global.
Are our business models actually global? And how global do they need to be?

The first seminar will address a series of claims and questions, concerning the step from being "international" to "global".

Program

Moderators are Prof. Torben Pedersen, SMG, and director Einar Scholte, Valcon.  

13:00 - 14:10 David P. Meyer, CEO, VELUX A/S
Lars Bo Hansen, director, Valcon
 
 

14:10 - 14:30 Coffee break.

14:30 - 15:30 Worksessions in groups.

15:30 - 16:30 Closure and conclusions.

16:30 - 17:00 Sandwiches and networking.  

Next seminars in the series:

•October 2012: 2. seminar.

•November 2012: 3. seminar.

Seminar

Innovating Organization & Management – New Sources of Competitive Advantage - March 29th 2012

Business Seminar: 15:00 - 16:30

Room: SPs01 BG aud.

Innovating Organization & Management – New Sources of Competitive Advantage

Professorerne  Nicolai J. Foss  og Torben Pedersen  fra SMG, professor Majken Schultz fra IOA , CBS  og Head of Sourcing Development & Projects fra Nordea Jacob Pyndt , er forfatterne til den nyligt udkommende bog "Innovating Organization & Management - New Sources of Competitive Advantage" . Seminaret foregår på dansk. Arrangementet vil forløbe som følgende:

15:00 - 15:10 Majken Schultz byder velkommen

15:10 - 15:30 Introduktion til bogen af Nicolai J. Foss

15:30 - 16:00 Præsentation af Chr. Hansen og interview ved Jacob Pyndt

16:00 - 16:30 Præsentation af Coloplast og interview ved Torben Pedersen    

16:30 - 17:00 Dagen afsluttes med en mindre vin reception i foyeren.

 Lars Frederiksen, CEO, Chr. Hansen

Lars Rasmussen, CEO, Coloplast

"Innovating Organization and Management - New Sources of Competitive Advantage"

Udkommer i marts 2012.

Jagten på konkurrencemæssig fordel tjener som grundlag for organisatorisk strategi. Denne bog hævder, at organisatorisk design og management processer kan være strategiske ressourcer i deres egen ret. Denne nye måde at se på organisation og ledelse kræver en søgen efter nye måder at structering organisatorisk design og ledelsesmæssige processer.
Pointerne kommer fra case studies af danske firmaer som LEGO Group, Vestas Wind Systems, Coloplast, Chr. Hansen, IC Companys og NKT Flexibles.

Denne bog:

- Leder ledelsesstuderende og praktikeres opmærksomhed hen på betydningen af ​​ledelsesmæssige innovationer, for at forstå vellykket performance på virksomhedsniveau

- Forklarer vigtigheden af ​​ledelsesinnovation gennem virkelige sager, ikke kun som et teoretisk begreb

- Inkluderer reflekterende spørgsmål og diskussioner på tværs af cases, så de kan danne grundlag for klasse diskussioner.

Cambridge University Press: Bestil bogen  her.
   

Forfattere
Professor Nicolai J. Foss , CBS
Professor Torben Pedersen , CBS
Head of Sourcing Development & Projects Jacob Pyndt , Nordea
Professor Majken Schultz , CBS 

Building Strategy from
the Middle - November 1st 2011

Steven W. Floyd
Professor, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts – Amherst

Presentation cph_business_school_1_nov_2011.pdf
 

Novo Nordisk's krisestyring - May 31st 2010

Lars Rebien Sørensen
CEO, Novo Nordisk

Danfoss krisestyring - March 16th 2010

Niels Bjørn Christiansen
Koncernchef, Danfoss

Invitation to seminar: niels_bjoern_christiansen.pdf

Business seminar with Niels Smedegaard Andersen - January 21st 2010

Nils Smedegaard Andersen
Group CEO, A.P. Møller - Mærsk

Invitation to seminar: nils_smedegaard_andersen.pdf

Carlsbergs Kristestyring - December 1st 2009

Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen
CEO, Carlsberg

Invitation: invitation_business_seminar_joergen_buhl_rasmussen.pdf

Danske Banks Krisehåndtering - November 10th 2009

Peter Straarup
Ordførende Direktør, Danske Bank

Invitation: invitation_business_seminar_peter_straarup.pdf

Business seminar with professor Philip Bromiley - June 17th 2009

Professor Philip Bromiley
Dean's Professor in Strategic Management at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California - Irvine

Invitation to seminar: invitation_to_business_seminar_philip_bromiley.pdf

Business seminar with Lars Kolind - March 4th 2009

Lars Kolind
Management konsulent og forfatter

Invitation to seminar: lars_k._business_seminar_invitation.pdf

Business seminar - Fall 2008

Thomas Hofman-Bang
Adm. Direktør for NKT

Konglomeratet - multidimensionel vækst i en globaliseret verden.

Business seminar with Tom Knutzen - November 5th 2008

Tom Knutzen
Adm. Direktør for Danisco

Danisco's strategiske rejse og ledelsesudfordringer: Globalisering og nye samarbejdsstrukturer

Business seminar with Professor Bent Petersen - October 16th 2008

Presenters:

Bent Petersen
Ravi Ramamurti
Torben Pedersen
Ram Mudambi
Michael W. Hansen
Professorer fra CBS, Northeastern University og
Fox School of Business

Dansk-Indisk virksomheds-samarbejde: Partner i innovation og videns-skabelse
Lokale: Augustinus D4, Solbjerg Plads.
 

 Program: program-cbds-smg-india-businessseminar-sept18_3.pdf

Inaugural lecture by Jørgen Vig Knudstorp - September 8th 2008

Mandag d. 8 sep. 2008
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp
Adm. dir. Lego

Tiltrædelsesforelæsning:
Strategiske grænser for virksomhedens tilpasning til og formning af global konkurrence

Business seminar with Jan Leschly - August 22nd 2008

Jan Leschly
Partner i Care Capital LLC

Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry in Transition

Slides from seminar: cbs_aug_222008-final.pdf
 

Business seminar with Torben Juul Andersen & Jørgen Bardenfleth - April 22nd 2008

Torben Juul Andersen Professor med særlige opgaver & Jørgen Bardenfleth Adm. Direktør for Microsoft Denmark.

Effective Risk Management Practices

Business seminar with Sten Scheibye - February 6th 2008

Sten Scheibye
Adm. Direktør for Coloplast

Strategic Initiatives in a Global Perspective

Presentation: presentation_-_sten_scheibye.pdf
 

Business seminar with Sammy A. Haroon - October 18th 2007

Sammy A. Haroon
Associate Director, Procter & Gamble, Global Innovation

Innovation Strategies of Global Companies

Business seminar with Finn Helmer - September 4th 2007

Finn Helmer
Iværksætter, Adm. direktør ComX. (Tidligere direktør for GIGA)'

Lokale Ks71, Kl. 08.30-10.00
Corporate Entrepreneurship

Presentation: download_finn_helmers_presentation.pdf

Business seminar with Bjarne Nielsen & Lars Bo Hansen - July 6th 2007

Bjarne Nielsen
Direktør Nielsencompany

&

Lars Bo Hansen
Valcon Management Consultants

Business seminar with Jørgen Mads Clausen - April 4th 2007

Jørgen Mads Clausen
Adm. direktør Danfoss

Lokale Ks71, Kl. 13.30-15.00
 

The transformation of Danfoss A/S from a European to a global company - now moving towards clean tech

Business seminar with Torben Ballegaard Sørensen - January 1st 2007

Torben Ballegaard Sørensen
Adm. direktør B&O

Lokale: Ks71, Kl. 08:30-10:30
 

Positioning and Business Development in a global World

Business seminar with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp - December 12th 2006

Business seminar with Anders Bech - November 13th 2006

Anders Bech
Direktør FLSmidth Indien

Lokale: PH408, kl.16.00-17.30
 

Offshoring til Indien

Business seminar with David Karabinos - September 19th 2006

David Karabinos
Harvest Business Advisors LLC

Eliminating outsourcing failure with effective governance

Business SEMINAR With Lars Guldbæk Karlsen - September 4th 2006

Lars Guldbæk Karlsen
Senior Vice President, Head of Global Development Division, Novo Nordisk A/S

Lokale: PH408
 

Offshoring af F&U aktiviteter

Business seminar with Klaus Holse Andersen - April 10th 2006

Klaus Holse Andersen
Vice President Microsoft Business Solutions, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

Lokale: PH408
 

Inshoring og offshoring af IT-aktiviteter med dansk perspektiv