Spotlight on new research publications / July
07/01/2020
Photo: Bjarke MacCarthy
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The following is a rough list. If you need more information, please contact the researcher.
The academic articles have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been judged by other researchers within the same area.
THE FOLLOWING IS THIS MONTH’S PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH – ENJOY YOUR READING:
Find the abstracts under each heading..
Financial Constraints Influence How Consumers Evaluate Approach-Framed versus Avoidance-Framed Messages
Abstract: Many people experience financial constraints in their lives that affect their well-being and behaviors. This raises the question of whether individuals’ financial constraints will affect their responses to positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages in ads. We examined the effects of consumers’ financial constraints on their responses to ads that had positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages. We hypothesized that consumers with financial constraints would have more positive responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed (versus a negative avoidance-framed) message and that the depth of information processing would mediate their responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed message. Across six studies, including field and online experiments, these findings supported the predictions. The findings advance the literature on both message framing in ads and financial constraints, and they generate actionable guidelines for marketing practice and public policy.
Abstract: Many people experience financial constraints in their lives that affect their well-being and behaviors. This raises the question of whether individuals’ financial constraints will affect their responses to positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages in ads. We examined the effects of consumers’ financial constraints on their responses to ads that had positive approach-framed (versus negative avoidance-framed) messages. We hypothesized that consumers with financial constraints would have more positive responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed (versus a negative avoidance-framed) message and that the depth of information processing would mediate their responses to an ad that had a positive approach-framed message. Across six studies, including field and online experiments, these findings supported the predictions. The findings advance the literature on both message framing in ads and financial constraints, and they generate actionable guidelines for marketing practice and public policy.
Journal: Journal of Advertising
Published: June 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Gülen Sarial Abi
WTO Law and Prices of Pharmaceutical Products: Rule of Law Gaps and the Unclear Balance between Trade Protection, Human Rights, and IP Protection
Abstract: Price of medicine is subject to discussions from ethical, legal, political, and economic perspectives.This Article takes a rule of law perspective. Rule of law gaps in political systems cause legal uncertainties for investors and increasetransaction costs for pharmaceutical producers. That can cause prices ofpharmaceutical products to go up. This Article discusses rule of law gaps inWorld Trade Organization (“WTO”) law. First, this Article provides a briefdiscussion of the conceptual challenges with the rule of law, in particular when itis applied at international level. Next, it highlights rule of law problems for pharmaceutical producers concerning access to justice and administration of WTO law. This Article gives examples of unclear law in the relationship between the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”) and competition law; between health protection and TRIPS; and between WTO law and human rights.
Abstract: Price of medicine is subject to discussions from ethical, legal, political, and economic perspectives.This Article takes a rule of law perspective. Rule of law gaps in political systems cause legal uncertainties for investors and increasetransaction costs for pharmaceutical producers. That can cause prices ofpharmaceutical products to go up. This Article discusses rule of law gaps inWorld Trade Organization (“WTO”) law. First, this Article provides a briefdiscussion of the conceptual challenges with the rule of law, in particular when itis applied at international level. Next, it highlights rule of law problems for pharmaceutical producers concerning access to justice and administration of WTO law. This Article gives examples of unclear law in the relationship between the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”) and competition law; between health protection and TRIPS; and between WTO law and human rights.
Journal: The University of the Pacific Law Review
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Henrik Andersen
Stakes and Stakeholders in the Climate Casino
Abstract: This essay advances a critique of the stakeholder concept based on the relative function of stakes and stakeholders in games of risk and reward such as roulette, cockfighting, and, if economists are right, climate negotiations. It asks what happens when corporate sustainability and other marketbased “solutions” to socio-ecological crises such as climate change and mass extinction are perceived as a kind of casino. Dispossessed stakeholders become background props at sustainability conferences and other events where dramatic doom-and-gloom narratives of catastrophe serve as a way to reinforce global geographies of power and extraction. Being honest about the effects of categorizing such diverse actors as stakeholders or, alternatively, being clear about what exactly the word stakeholder means in terms of power and responsibility, is an important step in reaffirming the agency of the communities who stand to lose the most in the anthropocene.
Abstract: This essay advances a critique of the stakeholder concept based on the relative function of stakes and stakeholders in games of risk and reward such as roulette, cockfighting, and, if economists are right, climate negotiations. It asks what happens when corporate sustainability and other marketbased “solutions” to socio-ecological crises such as climate change and mass extinction are perceived as a kind of casino. Dispossessed stakeholders become background props at sustainability conferences and other events where dramatic doom-and-gloom narratives of catastrophe serve as a way to reinforce global geographies of power and extraction. Being honest about the effects of categorizing such diverse actors as stakeholders or, alternatively, being clear about what exactly the word stakeholder means in terms of power and responsibility, is an important step in reaffirming the agency of the communities who stand to lose the most in the anthropocene.
Journal: GeoHumanities
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Matthew Archer
The Hague 2019 Judgments Convention - From Failure to Success?
Abstract:The author discusses the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters adopted on 2 July 2019 by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. After tracing the history of the Convention, the author discusses its scope of application, and concludes that although the scope is relatively narrow, it will in return improve the possibility of a more widespread acceptance of the Convention. The author also finds that the rules of indirect jurisdiction are likely to be acceptable globally. Although most provisions have been inspired by civil law, common law concepts have had a significant impact. The author stresses that the Convention together with the Hague Choice of Court Convention of 30 June 2005 should be taken as “a package”. The author finds that the provisions on recognition and enforcement by and large are uncontroversial, as they to a large extent have been copied from the 2005 Convention. In relation to the possibilities under the Convention for States to deposit declarations and reservations, and to make use of the Convention’s flexible bilateralization mechanism, the author concludes that the Convention is based on political realism making the likelihood of success for the Convention feasible.
Abstract:The author discusses the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters adopted on 2 July 2019 by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. After tracing the history of the Convention, the author discusses its scope of application, and concludes that although the scope is relatively narrow, it will in return improve the possibility of a more widespread acceptance of the Convention. The author also finds that the rules of indirect jurisdiction are likely to be acceptable globally. Although most provisions have been inspired by civil law, common law concepts have had a significant impact. The author stresses that the Convention together with the Hague Choice of Court Convention of 30 June 2005 should be taken as “a package”. The author finds that the provisions on recognition and enforcement by and large are uncontroversial, as they to a large extent have been copied from the 2005 Convention. In relation to the possibilities under the Convention for States to deposit declarations and reservations, and to make use of the Convention’s flexible bilateralization mechanism, the author concludes that the Convention is based on political realism making the likelihood of success for the Convention feasible.
Journal: Journal of Private International Law
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Peter Arnt Nielsen
The Topographical Imagination: Space and Organization Theory
Abstract: We live in a time of space, also in the study of organization. This review essay reflects on the state and the potential of organization theory’s spatial turn by embedding it in a wider movement of thought in the humanities and social sciences. Reading exemplary studies of organizational spatialities alongside the broader history and renaissance of spatial thinking allows us to identify and discuss four twists to the spatial turn in organization theory. First, organization is understood as something placed or sited. Second, it is a site of spatial contestation, which is constitutive for (and not merely reflective of) organizational life. Third, such contestation is itself an outcome of a spatial multiplicity that encompasses affects, technologies, voids and absences. Fourth, such an excess of space is beyond (or rather before) representation and thus summons a spatial poetics. In following these twists, increasingly complex and speculative topographies of organization take shape.
Abstract: We live in a time of space, also in the study of organization. This review essay reflects on the state and the potential of organization theory’s spatial turn by embedding it in a wider movement of thought in the humanities and social sciences. Reading exemplary studies of organizational spatialities alongside the broader history and renaissance of spatial thinking allows us to identify and discuss four twists to the spatial turn in organization theory. First, organization is understood as something placed or sited. Second, it is a site of spatial contestation, which is constitutive for (and not merely reflective of) organizational life. Third, such contestation is itself an outcome of a spatial multiplicity that encompasses affects, technologies, voids and absences. Fourth, such an excess of space is beyond (or rather before) representation and thus summons a spatial poetics. In following these twists, increasingly complex and speculative topographies of organization take shape.
Journal: Organization Theory
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Timon Beyes, Robin Holt
The Virtue of Simplicity: On Machine Learning Models in Algorithmic Trading
Abstract: Machine learning models are becoming increasingly prevalent in algorithmic trading and investment management. The spread of machine learning in finance challenges existing practices of modelling and model use and creates a demand for practical solutions for how to manage the complexity pertaining to these techniques. Drawing on interviews with quants applying machine learning techniques to financial problems, the article examines how these people manage model complexity in the process of devising machine learning-powered trading algorithms. The analysis shows that machine learning quants use Ockham’s razor – things should not be multiplied without necessity – as a heuristic tool to prevent excess model complexity and secure a certain level of human control and interpretability in the modelling process. I argue that understanding the way quants handle the complexity of learning models is a key to grasping the transformation of the human’s role in contemporary data and model-driven finance. The study contributes to social studies of finance research on the human–model interplay by exploring it in the context of machine learning model use.
Abstract: Machine learning models are becoming increasingly prevalent in algorithmic trading and investment management. The spread of machine learning in finance challenges existing practices of modelling and model use and creates a demand for practical solutions for how to manage the complexity pertaining to these techniques. Drawing on interviews with quants applying machine learning techniques to financial problems, the article examines how these people manage model complexity in the process of devising machine learning-powered trading algorithms. The analysis shows that machine learning quants use Ockham’s razor – things should not be multiplied without necessity – as a heuristic tool to prevent excess model complexity and secure a certain level of human control and interpretability in the modelling process. I argue that understanding the way quants handle the complexity of learning models is a key to grasping the transformation of the human’s role in contemporary data and model-driven finance. The study contributes to social studies of finance research on the human–model interplay by exploring it in the context of machine learning model use.
Journal: Big Data & Society
Published: January 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Kristian Bondo Hansen
Energy Systems Integration: Implications for Public Policy
Abstract: Energy Systems Integration (ESI) is an emerging paradigm and at the centre of the EU energy debate. ESI takes a holistic view of the electricity, gas, and heat sectors to deliver a clean, reliable, and affordable energy system. By using the synergies within and between sectors, ESI aims to increase flexibility in the energy system, maximise the integration of renewable energy and distributed generation, and reduce environmental impact. While ESI-enabling technologies have been studied from a technical perspective, the economic, regulatory, and policy dimensions of ESI are yet to be analysed in depth. This paper discusses ESI in a multi-step approach. We first focus on the economics of ESI-enabling technologies. Then we briefly discuss how the EU national regulators incentivise their adoption. Major economic and policy barriers to ESI are identified and policy solutions to overcome these barriers are proposed. We conclude that current regulatory frameworks in the EU do not sufficiently stimulate ESI investments and only through proper design of incentives ESI can be adopted.
Abstract: Energy Systems Integration (ESI) is an emerging paradigm and at the centre of the EU energy debate. ESI takes a holistic view of the electricity, gas, and heat sectors to deliver a clean, reliable, and affordable energy system. By using the synergies within and between sectors, ESI aims to increase flexibility in the energy system, maximise the integration of renewable energy and distributed generation, and reduce environmental impact. While ESI-enabling technologies have been studied from a technical perspective, the economic, regulatory, and policy dimensions of ESI are yet to be analysed in depth. This paper discusses ESI in a multi-step approach. We first focus on the economics of ESI-enabling technologies. Then we briefly discuss how the EU national regulators incentivise their adoption. Major economic and policy barriers to ESI are identified and policy solutions to overcome these barriers are proposed. We conclude that current regulatory frameworks in the EU do not sufficiently stimulate ESI investments and only through proper design of incentives ESI can be adopted.
Journal: Energy Policy
Published: August 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Tooraj Jamasb, Manuel Llorca
Redistribution in a Political Union: The Case of the EU
Abstract: A key function of centralized budgets in federal and political unions is to act as an equalizing mechanism to support economic and social cohesion. This is also the case with the European Union’s budget, which operates as a redistributive mechanism that counteracts the cross-national and cross-regional inequalities created by the single market. Despite the limits on cross-national redistribution imposed by a centrifugal system of representation, the net fiscal position of member states - what they pay to the EU budget minus what they receive from it - is very diverse, and has changed quite remarkably over the last decades. In this paper, we investigate how and why the net fiscal position of each member state towards the rest of the EU changes over time. Using a novel panel dataset
(1979-2014), we study how key national and EU-level political and economic variables affect the EU redistributive dynamics. We find that redistribution via the EU budget primarily targets inequality across and within EU member states, and that an increase in domestic unemployment may also improve the country’s fiscal balance. Moreover, we find that voting power in the Council is unrelated to a more positive fiscal balance. However, governments that are more opposed to the EU and further to the right in the ideological spectrum are, generally, better able to capitalize those ideological positions to improve their redistributive position to the advantage of their home country. This may create a problem of budgetary ‘rent extraction’ driven by the most eurosceptic governments.
Abstract: A key function of centralized budgets in federal and political unions is to act as an equalizing mechanism to support economic and social cohesion. This is also the case with the European Union’s budget, which operates as a redistributive mechanism that counteracts the cross-national and cross-regional inequalities created by the single market. Despite the limits on cross-national redistribution imposed by a centrifugal system of representation, the net fiscal position of member states - what they pay to the EU budget minus what they receive from it - is very diverse, and has changed quite remarkably over the last decades. In this paper, we investigate how and why the net fiscal position of each member state towards the rest of the EU changes over time. Using a novel panel dataset
(1979-2014), we study how key national and EU-level political and economic variables affect the EU redistributive dynamics. We find that redistribution via the EU budget primarily targets inequality across and within EU member states, and that an increase in domestic unemployment may also improve the country’s fiscal balance. Moreover, we find that voting power in the Council is unrelated to a more positive fiscal balance. However, governments that are more opposed to the EU and further to the right in the ideological spectrum are, generally, better able to capitalize those ideological positions to improve their redistributive position to the advantage of their home country. This may create a problem of budgetary ‘rent extraction’ driven by the most eurosceptic governments.
Journal: European Journal of Political Research
Published: April 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Manuele Citi, Mogens Kamp Justesen
Entrepreneurship and the Firm: A Conversation on Foundations and Prospects
Abstract: Entrepreneurship has emerged as a major research theme across a number of disciplines and fields, including the industrial dynamics tradition. Entrepreneurship is often seen as closely linked to firms and firm formation. However, the links between economic organization and entrepreneurship are unclear. Do entrepreneurs always need firms to realize their plans? If so, why? Can firms be “entrepreneurial”? If so, what is the difference between an entrepreneurial and a non-entrepreneurial firm? More broadly, how can entrepreneurship be informed by the theory of the firm and vice versa? These foundational issues in both the theory of the firm and the field of entrepreneurship have not been resolved. This dialogue between two scholars who have worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm for more than 20 years addresses such key questions as: What is the meaning of “uncertainty” and what is its role? What are the features and roles of resources? How are resources linked to property rights and the firm? On what basis can we say that firms differ in the extent to which they are “entrepreneurial”?
Abstract: Entrepreneurship has emerged as a major research theme across a number of disciplines and fields, including the industrial dynamics tradition. Entrepreneurship is often seen as closely linked to firms and firm formation. However, the links between economic organization and entrepreneurship are unclear. Do entrepreneurs always need firms to realize their plans? If so, why? Can firms be “entrepreneurial”? If so, what is the difference between an entrepreneurial and a non-entrepreneurial firm? More broadly, how can entrepreneurship be informed by the theory of the firm and vice versa? These foundational issues in both the theory of the firm and the field of entrepreneurship have not been resolved. This dialogue between two scholars who have worked at the intersection of entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm for more than 20 years addresses such key questions as: What is the meaning of “uncertainty” and what is its role? What are the features and roles of resources? How are resources linked to property rights and the firm? On what basis can we say that firms differ in the extent to which they are “entrepreneurial”?
Journal: Industrial and Corporate Change
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Nicolai J. Foss
Diaspora Ownership and International Technology Licensing by Emerging Market Firms
Abstract: The liability of origin makes participation in international technology licensing challenging for emerging market firms. We draw on signaling theory to propose that diaspora ownership – diaspora members’ equity investments in their homeland firms – constitutes a reliable third-party signal of emerging market firms’ trustworthiness, which facilitates the access of these firms to international technology licensing. We further hypothesize that the efficacy of diaspora ownership as a third-party signal varies with the firm’s subnational context. Specifically, the relevance of diaspora ownership signal increases with the degree of homogeneity of the within-industry R&D effort in the firm’s sub-national location. This is because, under these conditions, additional signals are required to differentiate between local firms operating in the same industry. In contrast, the diaspora ownership signal has a smaller effect in dysfunctional institutional contexts due to their prohibitive transaction costs. We test our arguments on a matched sample of 597 Indian firms operating between 2006 and 2015, and find general support for the predicted relationships. Our study advances research on the liability of origin of emerging market firms, the work on subnational dimension of international business, and the literature on the benefits diasporans bring to their homelands and resident countries.
Abstract: The liability of origin makes participation in international technology licensing challenging for emerging market firms. We draw on signaling theory to propose that diaspora ownership – diaspora members’ equity investments in their homeland firms – constitutes a reliable third-party signal of emerging market firms’ trustworthiness, which facilitates the access of these firms to international technology licensing. We further hypothesize that the efficacy of diaspora ownership as a third-party signal varies with the firm’s subnational context. Specifically, the relevance of diaspora ownership signal increases with the degree of homogeneity of the within-industry R&D effort in the firm’s sub-national location. This is because, under these conditions, additional signals are required to differentiate between local firms operating in the same industry. In contrast, the diaspora ownership signal has a smaller effect in dysfunctional institutional contexts due to their prohibitive transaction costs. We test our arguments on a matched sample of 597 Indian firms operating between 2006 and 2015, and find general support for the predicted relationships. Our study advances research on the liability of origin of emerging market firms, the work on subnational dimension of international business, and the literature on the benefits diasporans bring to their homelands and resident countries.
Journal: Journal of International Business Studies
Published: April 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Aleksandra Gregorič, Larissa Rabbiosi, Grazia D. Santangelo
Ownership Concentration and Stock Returns: Evidence from Family Firms in India
Abstract: Public family firms in India represent an interesting case of relatively high ownership concentration combined with high growth opportunities, less competitive product markets and less developed capital markets. Investigating the relationship between ownership concentration and stock market performance, our initial analysis indicates insignificant average abnormal stock returns at low levels of family holdings but weak positive performance at high levels of ownership in the full sample of family and non-family firms and the family subsample. These aggregate results appear robust to alternative metrics of abnormal performance, controls for founder, descendant, and outside CEOs. Further analysis of subsamples of less and more competitive product markets indicates that while the vast majority of family firms enjoying high growth opportunities in less competitive market environments exhibit poor performance at lower ownership levels, those firms with higher family holdings are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns. However, the relation between family ownership and firm valuation under high growth prospects becomes insignificant for a much smaller fraction of firms facing high product market competition. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that positive alignment of interest effects offset family entrenchment effects on firm performance at high levels of ownership concentration common in India where most firms face high growth opportunities and less product market competition. These results challenge the evidence in western developed economies marked by relatively weaker growth rates and stronger product market rivalry that the performance of family firms tends to decline at high ownership concentration due to entrenchment.
Abstract: Public family firms in India represent an interesting case of relatively high ownership concentration combined with high growth opportunities, less competitive product markets and less developed capital markets. Investigating the relationship between ownership concentration and stock market performance, our initial analysis indicates insignificant average abnormal stock returns at low levels of family holdings but weak positive performance at high levels of ownership in the full sample of family and non-family firms and the family subsample. These aggregate results appear robust to alternative metrics of abnormal performance, controls for founder, descendant, and outside CEOs. Further analysis of subsamples of less and more competitive product markets indicates that while the vast majority of family firms enjoying high growth opportunities in less competitive market environments exhibit poor performance at lower ownership levels, those firms with higher family holdings are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns. However, the relation between family ownership and firm valuation under high growth prospects becomes insignificant for a much smaller fraction of firms facing high product market competition. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that positive alignment of interest effects offset family entrenchment effects on firm performance at high levels of ownership concentration common in India where most firms face high growth opportunities and less product market competition. These results challenge the evidence in western developed economies marked by relatively weaker growth rates and stronger product market rivalry that the performance of family firms tends to decline at high ownership concentration due to entrenchment.
Journal: Pacific-Basin Finance Journal
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Rama Seth
When a First‐ and Second‐Order Election Collide: The 2019 Danish Election to the European Parliament
Abstract: Since 1979 elections to the European Parliament (EP) have been held on a fixed set of days every fifth year all over the European Community/European Union (EU) (Jensen 2015). In Denmark, the most recent EP election took place on 26 May 2019. However, compared to previous EP elections in Denmark, this election was different. The term of the national parliament approached its end, and the then Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen decided on 7 May 2019 – in the midst of the election campaign for the EP – to call for a national election to be held on 5 June 2019. Thus, the campaigns of the EP and national parliament overlapped for 19 days. This contribution examines the Danish EP election with special emphasis on the interaction effect of the partially concurrent national election. It shows that the national election indeed overshadowed the EP election but may well have helped to increase turnout at the latter.
Abstract: Since 1979 elections to the European Parliament (EP) have been held on a fixed set of days every fifth year all over the European Community/European Union (EU) (Jensen 2015). In Denmark, the most recent EP election took place on 26 May 2019. However, compared to previous EP elections in Denmark, this election was different. The term of the national parliament approached its end, and the then Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen decided on 7 May 2019 – in the midst of the election campaign for the EP – to call for a national election to be held on 5 June 2019. Thus, the campaigns of the EP and national parliament overlapped for 19 days. This contribution examines the Danish EP election with special emphasis on the interaction effect of the partially concurrent national election. It shows that the national election indeed overshadowed the EP election but may well have helped to increase turnout at the latter.
Journal: Scandinavian Political Studies
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Mads Dagnis Jensen
Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Management Research: A Literature Review
Abstract: Natural language processing (NLP) is gaining momentum in management research for its ability to automatically analyze and comprehend human language. Yet, despite its extensive application in management research, there is neither a comprehensive review of extant literature on such applications, nor is there a detailed walkthrough on how it can be employed as an analytical technique. To this end, we review articles in the UT Dallas List of 24 Leading Business Journals that employ NLP as their focal analytical technique to elucidate how textual data can be harnessed for advancing management theories across multiple disciplines. We describe the available toolkits and procedural steps for employing NLP as an analytical technique as well as its advantages and disadvantages. In so doing, we highlight the managerial and technological challenges associated with the application of NLP in management research in order to guide future inquires.
Abstract: Natural language processing (NLP) is gaining momentum in management research for its ability to automatically analyze and comprehend human language. Yet, despite its extensive application in management research, there is neither a comprehensive review of extant literature on such applications, nor is there a detailed walkthrough on how it can be employed as an analytical technique. To this end, we review articles in the UT Dallas List of 24 Leading Business Journals that employ NLP as their focal analytical technique to elucidate how textual data can be harnessed for advancing management theories across multiple disciplines. We describe the available toolkits and procedural steps for employing NLP as an analytical technique as well as its advantages and disadvantages. In so doing, we highlight the managerial and technological challenges associated with the application of NLP in management research in order to guide future inquires.
Journal: Journal of Management Analytics
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Chee-Wee Tan
Beyond Cyberutopia and Digital Disenchantment: Pragmatic Engagements with and from Within the Internet
Abstract: In this introduction, we describe how this special issue looks at contemporary digital political practices. It highlights the pragmatic engagements employed by political movements and subjects as they negotiate infrastructural entanglements with visions of resistance, subversion, and survival. The contributions to the special issue are characteristic of such engagements that operate beyond the spectacles of cyberutopia and digital disenchantment. They opt instead to embody or subvert digital infrastructures and offer new political imaginaries and realities.
Abstract: In this introduction, we describe how this special issue looks at contemporary digital political practices. It highlights the pragmatic engagements employed by political movements and subjects as they negotiate infrastructural entanglements with visions of resistance, subversion, and survival. The contributions to the special issue are characteristic of such engagements that operate beyond the spectacles of cyberutopia and digital disenchantment. They opt instead to embody or subvert digital infrastructures and offer new political imaginaries and realities.
Journal: First Monday
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Anna Leander, Nanna Bonde Thylstrup
An Unstructured Big Data Approach for Country Logistics Performance Assessment in Global Supply Chains
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for the development of a country logistics performance assessment approach based upon textual big data analytics. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs design science principles. Data were collected using the Global Perspectives text corpus that describes the logistics systems of 20 countries from 2006–2014. The extracted texts were processed and analysed using text analytic techniques, and domain experts were employed for training and developing the approach. Findings – The developed approach is able to generate results in the form of logistics performance assessments. It contributes towards the development of more informed weights of the different country logistics performance categories. That said, a larger text corpus and iterative classifier training is required to produce a more robust approach for benchmarking and ranking. Practical implications – When successfully developed and implemented, the developed approach can be used by managers and government bodies, such as the World Bank and its stakeholders, to complement the Logistics Performance Index (LPI). Originality/value – A new and unconventional approach for logistics system performance assessment is explored. A new potential for textual big data analytic applications in supply chain management is demonstrated. A contribution to performance management in operations and supply chain management is made by demonstrating how domain-specific text corpora can be transformed into an important source of performance information.
Journal: International Journal of Operations and Production Management
Published: March 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Kim Sundtoft Hald, Raghava Rao Mukkamala, Ravi Vatrapu
Constitucionalizando a Conectividade: A Articulação Constitucional da Sociedade Mundial
Translated title of the contribution: Constitutionalizing Connectivity: The Constitutional Grid of World Society
Abstract: Global law settings are characterized by a structural pre-eminence of connectivity norms, a type of norm which differs from coherency or possibility norms. The centrality of connectivity norms emerges from the function of global law, which is to increase the probability of transfers of condensed social components, such as economic capital and products, religious doctrines, and scientific knowledge, from one legally structured context to another within world society. This was the case from colonialism and colonial law to contemporary global supply chains and human rights. Both colonial law and human rights can be understood as serving a constitutionalizing function aimed at stabilizing and facilitating connectivity. This allows for an understanding of colonialism and contemporary global governance as functional, but not as normative, equivalents.
Translated title of the contribution: Constitutionalizing Connectivity: The Constitutional Grid of World Society
Abstract: Global law settings are characterized by a structural pre-eminence of connectivity norms, a type of norm which differs from coherency or possibility norms. The centrality of connectivity norms emerges from the function of global law, which is to increase the probability of transfers of condensed social components, such as economic capital and products, religious doctrines, and scientific knowledge, from one legally structured context to another within world society. This was the case from colonialism and colonial law to contemporary global supply chains and human rights. Both colonial law and human rights can be understood as serving a constitutionalizing function aimed at stabilizing and facilitating connectivity. This allows for an understanding of colonialism and contemporary global governance as functional, but not as normative, equivalents.
Journal: Passagens: Revista Internacional de História Política e Cultura Jurídica
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Poul F. Kjær
Why Do Business Losses Cause Conflict?
Abstract: Evidence suggests that conflicts between contracting parties are more prone to occur when a party has suffered a significant loss. It is argued that the phenomenon is difficult to understand within conventional contract theory, which assumes full rationality, while behavioral theories based on the concepts of motivated reasoning and reciprocity provide interesting explanations. Thus, losses can trigger motivated, self-serving perceptions and beliefs, which in turn are likely to induce negative reciprocity as well as counter-productive acts aimed at bolstering self-image. These explanations are demonstrated to be well supported by experiments.
Abstract: Evidence suggests that conflicts between contracting parties are more prone to occur when a party has suffered a significant loss. It is argued that the phenomenon is difficult to understand within conventional contract theory, which assumes full rationality, while behavioral theories based on the concepts of motivated reasoning and reciprocity provide interesting explanations. Thus, losses can trigger motivated, self-serving perceptions and beliefs, which in turn are likely to induce negative reciprocity as well as counter-productive acts aimed at bolstering self-image. These explanations are demonstrated to be well supported by experiments.
Journal: Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation
Published: June 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Henrik Lando
A Nested Copula Duration Model for Competing Risks with Multiple Spells
Abstract: A copula graphic estimator for the competing risks duration model with multiple spells is presented. By adopting a nested copula structure the dependencies between risks and spells are modelled separately. This breaks up an implicit restriction of popular duration models such as multivariate mixed proportional hazards. It is shown that the dependence structure between spells is identifiable and can be estimated, in contrast to the dependence structure between competing risks. Thus, by allowing these two components to differ, the model is not identifiable. This is an important finding related to the general identifiability of competing risks models. Various features of the model are investigated by simulations and its practicality is illustrated by an application to unemployment duration data.
Abstract: A copula graphic estimator for the competing risks duration model with multiple spells is presented. By adopting a nested copula structure the dependencies between risks and spells are modelled separately. This breaks up an implicit restriction of popular duration models such as multivariate mixed proportional hazards. It is shown that the dependence structure between spells is identifiable and can be estimated, in contrast to the dependence structure between competing risks. Thus, by allowing these two components to differ, the model is not identifiable. This is an important finding related to the general identifiability of competing risks models. Various features of the model are investigated by simulations and its practicality is illustrated by an application to unemployment duration data.
Journal: Computational Statistics & Data Analysis
Published: October 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Ralf Wilke
How TNC Subsidiaries Shine in World Cities: Policy Implications of Autonomy and Network Connections
Abstract: The study examines the relationship between performance and patterns of autonomy and the network relationships used by the foreign subsidiaries of transnational corporations (TNCs) in world cities compared to those subsidiaries outside these locations. This is done by exploring if these patterns differ in foreign subsidiaries in Greater Copenhagen compared to elsewhere in Demark. The findings reveal that there are important differences in the relationships between performance and the autonomy and network structures in foreign subsidiaries. These findings are discussed and policy implications distilled. The study finds that the scope of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) policy could be usefully extended to encompass urban development thereby helping cities develop assets, institutional support and infrastructure that can enhance agglomeration benefits and global connectivity. The findings indicate policies, aimed at helping subsidiaries embed in host location networks and incorporate these networks into other parts of the parent company, could be beneficial. The paper also discusses economic and social inequality that can stem from network patterns and the inclination of subsidiaries to operate autonomously in world cities. It proposes policy options that can lead subsidiaries to undertake high-value activities and innovation in world cities.
Abstract: The study examines the relationship between performance and patterns of autonomy and the network relationships used by the foreign subsidiaries of transnational corporations (TNCs) in world cities compared to those subsidiaries outside these locations. This is done by exploring if these patterns differ in foreign subsidiaries in Greater Copenhagen compared to elsewhere in Demark. The findings reveal that there are important differences in the relationships between performance and the autonomy and network structures in foreign subsidiaries. These findings are discussed and policy implications distilled. The study finds that the scope of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) policy could be usefully extended to encompass urban development thereby helping cities develop assets, institutional support and infrastructure that can enhance agglomeration benefits and global connectivity. The findings indicate policies, aimed at helping subsidiaries embed in host location networks and incorporate these networks into other parts of the parent company, could be beneficial. The paper also discusses economic and social inequality that can stem from network patterns and the inclination of subsidiaries to operate autonomously in world cities. It proposes policy options that can lead subsidiaries to undertake high-value activities and innovation in world cities.
Journal: Transnational Corporations
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Jens Gammelgaard
What Managers Need to Know About Data Exchanges: The Era of Big-data Silos is Fading. Shared Data is the Future
Abstract: The era of big-data silos is fading. Shared data is the future.
Abstract: The era of big-data silos is fading. Shared data is the future.
Journal: MIT Sloan Management Review
Published: June 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: José Parra Moyano
Beslutningsprocesser under EU-formandskaber: En komparativ analyse af det polske, danske og cypriotiske trioformandskab i 2011-20121
Abstract: Denne artikel analyserer beslutningsprocesserne i centraladministrationerne under varetagelsen af formandskaberne i den Europæiske Union (EU). Gennem et Most Different Systems Design sammenlignes det polske, danske og cypriotiske EU-formandskab i årene 2011-2012, som tilsammen udgjorde en såkaldt Trio. De tre lande adskiller sig politisk, administrativt og geografisk. På trods af disse forskelle og forskelle i politiske reaktionsmønstre kan der også spores betydelige ligheder landene imellem. De viser sig, når man inddrager hele formandskabspro-cessen og embedsmændenes meget centrale rolle heri. Med et datagrundlag bestående af interviews med over 80 embedsmænd i alle tre medlemslande dækkende en periode på cirka tre år, påvises det i artiklen, at der er generaliserbar viden om EU-formandskabernes beslutningsprocesser.
Abstract: Denne artikel analyserer beslutningsprocesserne i centraladministrationerne under varetagelsen af formandskaberne i den Europæiske Union (EU). Gennem et Most Different Systems Design sammenlignes det polske, danske og cypriotiske EU-formandskab i årene 2011-2012, som tilsammen udgjorde en såkaldt Trio. De tre lande adskiller sig politisk, administrativt og geografisk. På trods af disse forskelle og forskelle i politiske reaktionsmønstre kan der også spores betydelige ligheder landene imellem. De viser sig, når man inddrager hele formandskabspro-cessen og embedsmændenes meget centrale rolle heri. Med et datagrundlag bestående af interviews med over 80 embedsmænd i alle tre medlemslande dækkende en periode på cirka tre år, påvises det i artiklen, at der er generaliserbar viden om EU-formandskabernes beslutningsprocesser.
Journal: Politica
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Mads Dagnis Jensen
Between Constituent Power and Political Form: Toward a Theory of Council Democracy
Abstract: This essay goes beyond the dominant conception of constituent power developed by Emmanuel Sieyès and Carl Schmitt by excavating an alternative through the practices of twentieth-century workers’ councils and the interpretations of council democracy by Cornelius Castoriadis and Hannah Arendt. Interpreters of the constituent power often agree on its fundamentally antagonistic relation to constituted power, hereby making constituent politics a momentary experience, which cannot be sustained in constituted politics. Council democracy, instead, discloses a modality of politics, which bridges the gap between constituent power and political form in order to provide institutional means through which the spirit of revolution can survive the founding moment. With this alternative concept of council democratic constituent power, this essay contributes to radical democratic theory by stipulating ways in which institutions can be rethought radically democratic as a way in which constituent power (creativity, novelty, freedom) can be institutionally approximated and continually reexperienced.
Abstract: This essay goes beyond the dominant conception of constituent power developed by Emmanuel Sieyès and Carl Schmitt by excavating an alternative through the practices of twentieth-century workers’ councils and the interpretations of council democracy by Cornelius Castoriadis and Hannah Arendt. Interpreters of the constituent power often agree on its fundamentally antagonistic relation to constituted power, hereby making constituent politics a momentary experience, which cannot be sustained in constituted politics. Council democracy, instead, discloses a modality of politics, which bridges the gap between constituent power and political form in order to provide institutional means through which the spirit of revolution can survive the founding moment. With this alternative concept of council democratic constituent power, this essay contributes to radical democratic theory by stipulating ways in which institutions can be rethought radically democratic as a way in which constituent power (creativity, novelty, freedom) can be institutionally approximated and continually reexperienced.
Journal: Political Theory
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Benjamin Ask Popp-Madsen
Analyzing the Impact of the Coronavirus Crisis on Business Models
Abstract: In the light of the current coronavirus crisis, business-to-business firms face a variety of challenges in a complex and fast-changing environment. In order to provide structured analysis and to guide strategic decision-making, we present a novel, five-step approach for analyzing the impact of a crisis on a firm's business model. We applied the approach with eight business-to-business firms and find support for its usefulness. The evidence suggests very different impacts of the coronavirus crisis on business-to-business firms, and that understanding these differences is important for strategizing during the crisis but also to navigating successfully into the future. We also describe six different types of crisis impacts on business models. We conclude by developing managerial implications and questions for future research.
Abstract: In the light of the current coronavirus crisis, business-to-business firms face a variety of challenges in a complex and fast-changing environment. In order to provide structured analysis and to guide strategic decision-making, we present a novel, five-step approach for analyzing the impact of a crisis on a firm's business model. We applied the approach with eight business-to-business firms and find support for its usefulness. The evidence suggests very different impacts of the coronavirus crisis on business-to-business firms, and that understanding these differences is important for strategizing during the crisis but also to navigating successfully into the future. We also describe six different types of crisis impacts on business models. We conclude by developing managerial implications and questions for future research.
Journal: Industrial Marketing Management
Published: July 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Thomas Ritter, Carsten Lund Pedersen
Understanding, Seeing and Representing Time in Tempography
Abstract: I discuss in this article how ethnographers understand, see and represent time by presenting a research study of a newly established cardiac day unit. Previous discussions of time in relation to ethnography mainly revolved around choosing an appropriate tense for writing up the text, and few studies attempted to develop a framework for conducting time-oriented ethnography in organizations, i.e., tempography. I argue that doing tempography requires considerations in several phases of the research process: how we understand time through theory; how we see time in different qualitative methods; and how we represent time in writing. I present empirical findings that illustrate different ways that time emerges in the ethnographic research process, for example, in observational accounts, through depictions and narratives that support different temporal conceptualizations, patients' stories about their trajectories and as ethnographic accounts of professional work. I contend that ethnographers need to consider: 1. methodological temporal awareness as recognition of coexisting temporal modes in qualitative data; 2. temporal analytical practices as understanding time and temporality through different theoretical concepts; and 3. multi-temporal merging as a matter of representing diverse perspectives in ethnographic writing.
Abstract: I discuss in this article how ethnographers understand, see and represent time by presenting a research study of a newly established cardiac day unit. Previous discussions of time in relation to ethnography mainly revolved around choosing an appropriate tense for writing up the text, and few studies attempted to develop a framework for conducting time-oriented ethnography in organizations, i.e., tempography. I argue that doing tempography requires considerations in several phases of the research process: how we understand time through theory; how we see time in different qualitative methods; and how we represent time in writing. I present empirical findings that illustrate different ways that time emerges in the ethnographic research process, for example, in observational accounts, through depictions and narratives that support different temporal conceptualizations, patients' stories about their trajectories and as ethnographic accounts of professional work. I contend that ethnographers need to consider: 1. methodological temporal awareness as recognition of coexisting temporal modes in qualitative data; 2. temporal analytical practices as understanding time and temporality through different theoretical concepts; and 3. multi-temporal merging as a matter of representing diverse perspectives in ethnographic writing.
Journal: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung
Published: May 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Vibeke Kristine Scheller
A Cliometric Approach to Market Structure and Market Conduct in the Car Carrier Industry
Abstract: Today, products from the automotive industry represent an important share of international trade. Each year, millions of brand new and second-hand motor vehicles are being shipped in completely built-up condition by a variety of specialized deep-sea vessels called car carriers, with roro ramp access providing cargo space for more than 2000 car equivalent units (CEU).
Following a cliometric approach, the paper examines this market of seaborne motor vehicle transportation over the last three decades from 1985 to 2016 backed by extensive historical data about seaborne motor vehicle trades and shipping operators active in this rather small, but very demanding segment of the maritime transport domain. More specifically, market structure and theoretical market conduct of these shipping operators active in a rather oligopolistic transport market environment firstly explored by common market structure metrics and further analysed by structural, parametric statistical methods in sense of the New-Empirical-Industrial-Organization (NEIO) Theory. Accordingly, the theoretical market conduct is estimated by a simultaneous equation model, which includes a demand function for seaborne vehicle trades, and a market conduct function of the shipping operators including an implicit cost or productivity function of the car carrier fleet employed.
For the given time frame, some interesting findings are as follows: (1) volatile demand for shipping of motor vehicles overseas can be explained well through shifts in trade flows to a high extent; (2) overall transport capacity, average size, operating speed and age of vessels in service are the main measures of the shipping operators available to adjust to this volatile demand on a short to medium run; (3) despite significant merger and acquisition activity, market exits and entries, this transport market got slightly less concentrated as today more shipping operators are active there than in the past; (4) estimated market conduct of the shipping operators seems to show a price setting slightly over their marginal costs with a strong trend towards a fully competitive market after 1996. Finally, the approach developed in this paper can be useful to get more insights about market structure and theoretical market conduct in similar rather concentrated transport markets.
Abstract: Today, products from the automotive industry represent an important share of international trade. Each year, millions of brand new and second-hand motor vehicles are being shipped in completely built-up condition by a variety of specialized deep-sea vessels called car carriers, with roro ramp access providing cargo space for more than 2000 car equivalent units (CEU).
Following a cliometric approach, the paper examines this market of seaborne motor vehicle transportation over the last three decades from 1985 to 2016 backed by extensive historical data about seaborne motor vehicle trades and shipping operators active in this rather small, but very demanding segment of the maritime transport domain. More specifically, market structure and theoretical market conduct of these shipping operators active in a rather oligopolistic transport market environment firstly explored by common market structure metrics and further analysed by structural, parametric statistical methods in sense of the New-Empirical-Industrial-Organization (NEIO) Theory. Accordingly, the theoretical market conduct is estimated by a simultaneous equation model, which includes a demand function for seaborne vehicle trades, and a market conduct function of the shipping operators including an implicit cost or productivity function of the car carrier fleet employed.
For the given time frame, some interesting findings are as follows: (1) volatile demand for shipping of motor vehicles overseas can be explained well through shifts in trade flows to a high extent; (2) overall transport capacity, average size, operating speed and age of vessels in service are the main measures of the shipping operators available to adjust to this volatile demand on a short to medium run; (3) despite significant merger and acquisition activity, market exits and entries, this transport market got slightly less concentrated as today more shipping operators are active there than in the past; (4) estimated market conduct of the shipping operators seems to show a price setting slightly over their marginal costs with a strong trend towards a fully competitive market after 1996. Finally, the approach developed in this paper can be useful to get more insights about market structure and theoretical market conduct in similar rather concentrated transport markets.
Journal: Case Studies on Transport Policy
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Hans-Joachim Schramm
The Dynamics of Political Incivility on Twitter
Abstract: Online incivility and harassment in political communication have become an important topic of concern among politicians, journalists, and academics. This study provides a descriptive account of uncivil interactions between citizens and politicians on Twitter. We develop a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of incivility at three distinct levels: macro (temporal), meso (contextual), and micro (individual). Using longitudinal data from the Twitter communication mentioning Members of Congress in the United States across a time span of over a year and relying on supervised machine learning methods and topic models, we offer new insights about the prevalence and dynamics of incivility toward legislators. We find that uncivil tweets represent consistently around 18% of all tweets mentioning legislators, but with spikes that correspond to controversial policy debates and political events. Although we find evidence of coordinated attacks, our analysis reveals that the use of uncivil language is common to a large number of users.
Abstract: Online incivility and harassment in political communication have become an important topic of concern among politicians, journalists, and academics. This study provides a descriptive account of uncivil interactions between citizens and politicians on Twitter. We develop a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of incivility at three distinct levels: macro (temporal), meso (contextual), and micro (individual). Using longitudinal data from the Twitter communication mentioning Members of Congress in the United States across a time span of over a year and relying on supervised machine learning methods and topic models, we offer new insights about the prevalence and dynamics of incivility toward legislators. We find that uncivil tweets represent consistently around 18% of all tweets mentioning legislators, but with spikes that correspond to controversial policy debates and political events. Although we find evidence of coordinated attacks, our analysis reveals that the use of uncivil language is common to a large number of users.
Journal: Sage Open
Published: April 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Zoltán Fazekas
Identifying, Analyzing, and Finding Solutions to the Sales Lead Black Hole: A Design Science Approach
Abstract: In this paper, we apply a design science approach to help a business-to-business product-solution provider find solutions to the sales lead black hole. Our proposed solution emerges by leveraging insights from decision-making literature and operations management literature. The proposed design rules help marketing representatives assign leads more effectively to sales representatives, thereby fostering follow-up of marketing generated leads. In addition to our efforts to solve the sales lead black hole, we gain insights into how authentic marketing problems can be addressed through design research. By outlining a five-step procedure we illustrate how marketing scholars and practitioners jointly can address practical problems in a rigorous manner. The approach ensures that relevant research is conducted using state-of-the-art research methodologies. As such, the design science research approach is multi-method, multi-source, and multi-step in nature. Finally, by developing normative design rules we not only provide managers with prescriptive knowledge on what to do in certain problem situations, but also provide testable propositions that researchers can validate in other contexts. As such, the authors build on and extend the rich marketing research tradition.
Abstract: In this paper, we apply a design science approach to help a business-to-business product-solution provider find solutions to the sales lead black hole. Our proposed solution emerges by leveraging insights from decision-making literature and operations management literature. The proposed design rules help marketing representatives assign leads more effectively to sales representatives, thereby fostering follow-up of marketing generated leads. In addition to our efforts to solve the sales lead black hole, we gain insights into how authentic marketing problems can be addressed through design research. By outlining a five-step procedure we illustrate how marketing scholars and practitioners jointly can address practical problems in a rigorous manner. The approach ensures that relevant research is conducted using state-of-the-art research methodologies. As such, the design science research approach is multi-method, multi-source, and multi-step in nature. Finally, by developing normative design rules we not only provide managers with prescriptive knowledge on what to do in certain problem situations, but also provide testable propositions that researchers can validate in other contexts. As such, the authors build on and extend the rich marketing research tradition.
Journal: Industrial Marketing Management
Published: July 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Michel Van der Borgh
Unpacking the Difference between Digital Transformation and IT-enabled Organizational Transformation
Abstract: While digital transformation offers a number of opportunities for today's organizations, information systems scholars and practitioners struggle to grasp what digital transformation really is, particularly how it differs from the well-established concept of information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformation. By integrating literature from organization science and information systems research with two longitudinal case studies-one on digital transformation, the other on IT-enabled organizational transformation-we develop an empirically grounded conceptualization that sets these two phenomena apart. We find that there are two distinctive differences: (a) digital transformation activities leverage digital technology in (re)defining an organization's value proposition, while IT-enabled organizational transformation activities leverage digital technology in supporting the value proposition and (b) digital transformation involves a new organizational identity compared with IT-enabled organizational transformation that enhances an existing organizational identity. We synthesize these arguments in a process model to distinguish the different types of transformations and propose directions for future research.
Abstract: While digital transformation offers a number of opportunities for today's organizations, information systems scholars and practitioners struggle to grasp what digital transformation really is, particularly how it differs from the well-established concept of information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformation. By integrating literature from organization science and information systems research with two longitudinal case studies-one on digital transformation, the other on IT-enabled organizational transformation-we develop an empirically grounded conceptualization that sets these two phenomena apart. We find that there are two distinctive differences: (a) digital transformation activities leverage digital technology in (re)defining an organization's value proposition, while IT-enabled organizational transformation activities leverage digital technology in supporting the value proposition and (b) digital transformation involves a new organizational identity compared with IT-enabled organizational transformation that enhances an existing organizational identity. We synthesize these arguments in a process model to distinguish the different types of transformations and propose directions for future research.
Journal: Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Abayomi Baiyere, Tina Blegind Jensen
Evolutional and Transformational Configuration Strategies: A Rasch Analysis of IT Providers’ Service Management Capability
Abstract: While providers of information technology (IT) services widely rely on reference models for IT service management (ITSM) practices, little is known about the actual configurations of these practices, referring to the patterns in which service providers adopt these practices at different maturity stages. We analyze how practice configurations reflect a provider’s ITSM capability and how this capability contributes to provider performance. This study addresses two gaps in the ITSM literature. First, empirical approaches to measuring a capability that manifests in configurations of ITSM practices and potentially different nonlinear configuration strategies are missing. Second, no theory explaining the resulting performance differences of alternative configuration strategies exists. We analyzed data from 315 IT service providers on the configuration of practices described in the widely regarded ITIL (formerly IT Infrastructure Library) reference model for ITSM. With this data, we conducted a Rasch calibration—a psychometric method for modeling latent traits based on noninterval scaled data—to measure practice maturity thresholds and providers’ ITSM capability on the same scale. Further, we regressed this measure of ITSM capability on service provider performance. Our findings contribute to the ITSM literature by uncovering two strategies for configuring ITSM practices with distinct capability scales. Drawing on prior theory, we characterize these as evolutionary and transformational configuration strategies. Service providers in the transformational class obtain higher performance gains from building ITSM capability than those in the evolutionary class. This supports our key argument that underlying practice complementarities are a key source of performance gains.
Abstract: While providers of information technology (IT) services widely rely on reference models for IT service management (ITSM) practices, little is known about the actual configurations of these practices, referring to the patterns in which service providers adopt these practices at different maturity stages. We analyze how practice configurations reflect a provider’s ITSM capability and how this capability contributes to provider performance. This study addresses two gaps in the ITSM literature. First, empirical approaches to measuring a capability that manifests in configurations of ITSM practices and potentially different nonlinear configuration strategies are missing. Second, no theory explaining the resulting performance differences of alternative configuration strategies exists. We analyzed data from 315 IT service providers on the configuration of practices described in the widely regarded ITIL (formerly IT Infrastructure Library) reference model for ITSM. With this data, we conducted a Rasch calibration—a psychometric method for modeling latent traits based on noninterval scaled data—to measure practice maturity thresholds and providers’ ITSM capability on the same scale. Further, we regressed this measure of ITSM capability on service provider performance. Our findings contribute to the ITSM literature by uncovering two strategies for configuring ITSM practices with distinct capability scales. Drawing on prior theory, we characterize these as evolutionary and transformational configuration strategies. Service providers in the transformational class obtain higher performance gains from building ITSM capability than those in the evolutionary class. This supports our key argument that underlying practice complementarities are a key source of performance gains.
Journal: Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Till J. Winkler
The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Critical Discussion of a Tourism Research Agenda
Abstract: Unquestionable, the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is one of the most impactful events of the 21st century and has tremendous effects on tourism. While many tourism researchers worldwide are currently ‘Covid-19 research gap spotting’, we call for more deliberateness and rigor. While we agree that the coronavirus pandemic is unique and relevant to research, we argue that not all effects are worth researching or novel to us. Previous research on crises and disasters do show similar patterns and existing theories can often very well explain the current phenomena. Thus, six illustrative examples are shown how a research agenda could look like. This includes parts where theoretical explanations from tourism are missing, as well as where we think existing knowledge might be subject to a tourism paradigm-shift due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Abstract: Unquestionable, the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is one of the most impactful events of the 21st century and has tremendous effects on tourism. While many tourism researchers worldwide are currently ‘Covid-19 research gap spotting’, we call for more deliberateness and rigor. While we agree that the coronavirus pandemic is unique and relevant to research, we argue that not all effects are worth researching or novel to us. Previous research on crises and disasters do show similar patterns and existing theories can often very well explain the current phenomena. Thus, six illustrative examples are shown how a research agenda could look like. This includes parts where theoretical explanations from tourism are missing, as well as where we think existing knowledge might be subject to a tourism paradigm-shift due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Journal: Tourism Management
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Sebastian Zenker, Florian Kock
Ekonomiska åtgärder i samband med COVID-19 och Danmarks exkludering av företag registrerade i skatteparadis
Abstract: The paper examines the Danish economic response to the COVID-19 crisis. Despite being closely connected in both geography and law, with their legal systems sharing many important characteristics, Denmark has taken a different approach to the pandemic compared to Sweden. This paper therefore concerns the Danish COVID-19 state aid packages with an emphasis on state aid measures of a fiscal nature along with the internationally acknowledged anti-tax avoidance measures attached as conditions for receiving aid, in order to provide some comparative lessons for a Swedish audience.
Abstract: The paper examines the Danish economic response to the COVID-19 crisis. Despite being closely connected in both geography and law, with their legal systems sharing many important characteristics, Denmark has taken a different approach to the pandemic compared to Sweden. This paper therefore concerns the Danish COVID-19 state aid packages with an emphasis on state aid measures of a fiscal nature along with the internationally acknowledged anti-tax avoidance measures attached as conditions for receiving aid, in order to provide some comparative lessons for a Swedish audience.
Journal: Svensk Skattetidning
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Yvette Lind
Implementing Sustainable Purchasing and Supply Management (SPSM): A Delphi Study on Competences Needed by Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) Professional
Abstract: This research is about a Delphi study that was conducted in the context of the development of a competence model for sustainable purchasing and supply management (SPSM). Based on the findings of a systematic literature review (SLR), it addresses the research gap in this area with the aim to foster the integration of sustainability in purchasing and supply management (PSM) in higher education and in professional training approaches for PSM professionals. The qualitative study was conducted with 16 Delphi experts in the field of PSM and sustainability, applying the critical incident technique (CIT). Together with the findings of the SLR, it led to a specific set of SPSM competences. The theoretical background is based on PSM research, educational sciences and organizational psychology.
Abstract: This research is about a Delphi study that was conducted in the context of the development of a competence model for sustainable purchasing and supply management (SPSM). Based on the findings of a systematic literature review (SLR), it addresses the research gap in this area with the aim to foster the integration of sustainability in purchasing and supply management (PSM) in higher education and in professional training approaches for PSM professionals. The qualitative study was conducted with 16 Delphi experts in the field of PSM and sustainability, applying the critical incident technique (CIT). Together with the findings of the SLR, it led to a specific set of SPSM competences. The theoretical background is based on PSM research, educational sciences and organizational psychology.
Journal: Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management
Published: 2020
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Contact CBS researcher: Lydia Bals
The page was last edited by: Communications // 04/04/2022