Market Demand, Technological Opportunity and Research Spillovers on R&D Intensity and Productivity Growth

This paper uses sales and patent distribution data to establish the market and technological "positions" of firms. A notion of technological proximity of firms is developed in order to quantify potential R&D spillovers. The importance of the position variables and the potential spilover pool in explaining R&D intensity, patent productivity and TFP growth is explored.I find that both technological and market positions are signifi-cant in explaining R&D intensity, and that the technological effects are significant in explaining patent productivity. I cannot distinguish between the two effects in explaining TFP growth. Spillovers are important in all three contexts. Firms in an area where there is a high level of research by other firms do more R&D themselves, they produce more patents per R&D dollar, and their productivity grows faster, even controlling for the increased R&D and patents. These effects are present controlling for both industry and technological position effects.

Rethinking the relationship between high-performance work systems and firm performance: A meta-analysis

In the highly competitive global marketplace, organisations are paying increasing attention to the formation and sustention of competitive advantages through the enhancement of human capital. High-performance work system (HPWS), a synergised system of human resource management (HRM) practices, has been commonly recognised as a useful tool to improve firm performance (FP) to support the competitiveness of businesses. This study examines the HPWS-FP relationship using the quantitative research technique of meta-analysis. The study analyses 192 primary studies, and contributes to the extant literature in four aspects. Firstly, it confirms a positive relationship between HPWS and FP. Secondly, in response to the recent call for investigating country-level factors that affect the HPWS-FP relationship, the study examines the role of country of origin in moderating the HPWS-FP relationship, and finds that the positive HPWS-FP relationship is stronger in developing countries than in developed countries. Thirdly, the study finds that the HPWS-FP relationship is stronger when operational measures are used as FP indicators than when financial measures are used as FP indicators. Lastly, the study looks into detailed individual components of HPWS, and finds that training and development practice is the most robust component which plays a vital role in influencing the HPWS-FP relationship. The study discusses implications of these V findings for firm managers, including 1) firms need to make great efforts to develop HPWS to stay competitive; 2) firms in developing countries have a latecomer advantage in leveraging HPWS to enhance performance; 3) firms need to focus on the long-term rather than short-term performance impact in developing HPWS; and 4) firms must place a great emphasis on employees training and development practices in developing HPWS, and make significant investments in this area. The study concludes by pointing to limitations of these findings, and highlighting some directions for future research

The impact of semantic knowledge management system on firms' innovation and competitiveness

D.B.A ThesisIn the knowledge economy, knowledge is increasingly becoming the primary factor of production and foundational component of innovation. Firms must improve their capabilities of handling knowledge in line with its recent explosive growth to stay competitive. This research addresses the effects semantic technology-based knowledge management system (Semantic KMS) can have on firms’ performance. Based on existing literature, a conceptual model covering Semantic KMS, KM, innovation, and competitiveness was designed to test the validity of the hypotheses. A total of 640 survey questionnaires were sent to the companies that practice KM actively. 178 usable responses were received. Pearson’s correlation, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that Semantic KMS is positively related to the KM effectiveness. Organizational KM is positively linked to innovation and competitiveness directly. In the context of KM, innovation's effect on competitiveness is not convincing. Moreover, the study could not identify that KM has any strong relationship with organizational competitiveness mediated through innovation. Being one of the first significant studies of Semantic KMS and its impact, the study adds to the growing literature on the use of semantic technology in various fields. It develops a new theoretical model which has never been tested before. The study used data collected from single respondent of each firm in a snapshot and did not consider feedback effects. It examined Semantic KMS as a holistic system, but in many cases, companies only deploy certain KM related tools supported by semantic technology. A different research approach could investigate the impacts of those tools on relevant business processes. This study demonstrates that deployment of semantic technology is beneficial for companies and allows them to take advantage of the use of advanced technologies in their KM quest. It brings significant benefits to the firm thanks to improved capabilities of the new KMS in knowledge discovery, aggregation, use, and sharing. The study also confirms that for a successful KM initiative, KM processes need to be optimized and supported by KMS. Semantic technology is a set of advanced tools used lately in many information systems. This study is one of the first in-depth research about their impacts on KMS. It will guide KM managers in their decision-making process when they consider developing or integrating newKMS tools. For academics, this research highlights the importance of investigating KM from the new technology perspective.

Essays on the impact of different forms of collaborative R&D on innovation and technological change

R&D alliance is a multifaceted phenomenon, in which various socio-technological mechanisms operate in the interaction of partner firms. This dissertation is composed of three studies to shed light on different dimensions of firms’ resources and performance in different forms of R&D collaborations. These studies consider (1) how the partner firms differences with respect to different dimensions of their knowledge bases influence inter-firm learning in dyadic R&D alliances, (2) how the partner firm differences in their resources across locales influence the multi-partner alliance performances at both alliance and firm levels, and (3) how firms leverage R&D collaboration to navigate the dynamics of technology selection during technology change. The findings of these studies tie together to the extent that they clarify the complex dynamics that exist between individual firms and their alliance partners in order to realize individual and joint value. In general, this dissertation contributes to the strategy and technology management literature by elucidating the less-explored dimensions of the firm’s resources and performance in R&D collaborations

Use of Enforcement Techniques in Eliminating Glass Ceiling Barriers

Glass Ceiling ReportGlassCeilingBackground9UseofEnforcement.pdf: 3253 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Shareholder voice and its opponents

This paper has shown that some of the principal arguments against shareholder voice are unfounded. It has shown that shareholders do own corporations, and that the nature of their property interest is structured to meet the needs of the relationships found in stock corporations. The paper has explained that fiduciary and other duties restrain the actions of shareholders just as they do those of management, and that critics cannot reasonably expect court-imposed fiduciary duties to extend beyond the actual powers of shareholders. It has also illustrated how, although corporate statutes give shareholders complete power to structure governance as they will, the default governance structures of U.S. corporations leaves shareholders almost powerless to initiate any sort of action, and the interaction between state and federal law makes it almost impossible for shareholders to elect directors of their choice. Lastly, the paper has recalled how the percentage of U.S. corporate equities owned by institutional investors has increased dramatically in recent decades, and it has outlined some of the major developments in shareholder rights that followed this increase. I hope that this paper deflated some of the strong rhetoric used against shareholder voice by contrasting rhetoric to law, and that it illustrated why the picture of weak owners painted in the early 20th century should be updated to new circumstances, which will help avoid projecting an old description as a current normative model that perpetuates the inevitability of "managerialsm", perhaps better known as "dirigisme"

Theories of Asbestos Litigation Cost - Why Two Decades of Procedural Reform Have Failed to Reduce Claimants\u27 Expenses

In twenty years of asbestos litigation, procedural reforms at all levels of the civil litigation system have failed to reduce plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. The result has been dramatic undercompensation of asbestos tort victims. This paper attempts to explain this remarkable fact using economic methodology. The paper offers three theories: First, that the continuing difficulty of assessing causation in asbestos and other mass tort cases predictably impedes the efforts of procedural reform to reduce costs; second, that changes in defendant and insurer risk attitudes have generated costly litigation; third, that collusion of plaintiffs’ attorneys to maintain prices cannot be ruled out. Each of these theories has some empirical support. Further, regardless of which turns out to be correct, the continuing high costs of civil litigation mean that resolution through the bankruptcy system will predictably harm future claimants, an unfair outcome. In the final assessment, civil procedure reform, the favored mechanism for resolving the asbestos case backlog, cannot achieve its objectives. Rather, reform must take into account substantive law and the motives and incentives of actors in the legal system. Holistic analysis of this type lends support to a comprehensive administrative remedies scheme, which has the best chance of decreasing the costs of compensation

Measuring competitiveness in Europe: resource allocation, granularity and trade. Bruegel Blueprint Series Volume XVIV, January 2016

One of the most important lessons learned during the 2008-09 financial crisis was that the informational toolbox on which policymakers base their decisions about competitiveness became outdated in terms of both data sources and data analysis. The toolbox is particularly outdated when it comes to tapping the potential of micro data for the analysis of competitiveness – a serious problem given that it is firms, rather than countries that compete on global markets

An Examination of Middle Manager Innovation Behaviors and Institutional Factors Impact on Organizational Innovation in the USA and Mexico

Several scholars have suggested mid-level management is an important factor that explains strategic outcomes (Wooldridge, Schmidt, & Floyd, 2008), but little research has investigated how this relationship actually works in multiple institutional environments. The resource-based view of the firm argues that competitive advantage is a function of resource heterogeneity and immobility (Barney, 1991) and the discretionary decisions made by managers about resource creation, development, and allocation (Amit & Shoemaker, 1993). These boundedly-rational managers (Simon, 1957) make these decisions facing an uncertain and complex internal and external environment. Thus, this dissertation extends the current research by developing and testing a new comprehensive model of middle management innovative behavior and organizational innovation that contemporaneously incorporates the isomorphic pressures of the institutional environment; and subsequent impact on organizational performance. The extant literature on middle managers is reviewed and research gaps in the literature are identified. The resource-based view and institutional theory are used to develop nine hypotheses, which are empirically tested. Findings show that middle manager innovation behavior positively impacts organizational innovativeness. This study also shows a positive relationship between organizational innovativeness and organizational performance. The findings also breaks new ground by finding that organizational context, in terms of participatory decision-making and organizational trust, is an important moderating factor that influences middle management\u27s role in organizational innovation. This study also considers how the external environment influences innovation outcomes, and introduces the importance of subnational regions on organizational middle manager innovation behavior and organizational innovation. Results show that urbanized settings moderate the middle manager innovative behavior and organizational innovation relationship. However, the national context does not appear to systematically influence middle managers impact on organizational innovation. For practitioners, this study identifies specific mid-level managerial behavior that contributes to organizational innovation and the firm-, regional-, and national level variables that impact the mid-manager-organizational innovation relationship