Virtual HR Departments: Getting Out of the Middle

In this chapter, we explore the notion of virtual HR departments: a network-based organization built on partnerships and mediated by information technologies in order to be simultaneously strategic, flexible, cost-efficient, and service-oriented. We draw on experiences and initiatives at Merck Pharmaceuticals in order to show how information technology in establishing an infrastructure for virtual HR. Then, we present a model for mapping the architecture of HR activities that includes both internal and external sourcing options. We conclude by offering some recommendations for management practice as well as future research

Corporate decision-making in R&D outsourcing and the impact on internal R&D employment intensity

This article aims to assess whether firms’ strategies of R&D outsourcing determine changes in their internal R&D employment intensity. Four strategic decisions are investigated: to start, increase, decrease or stop outsourcing. It is found that internal R&D employment intensity decreases when firms decide to start, to increase, or to stop R&D outsourcing. However, this finding hides important differences according to the type and the location of the contractor. In general, firms prefer a mix of different types of contractors at different locations. Started outsourcing of R&D to research centers within the nation and increased R&D outsourcing to research centers within the region appear to decrease the internal R&D employment intensity. Decreasing outsourcing to national universities in another region also has a negative impact on internal R&D employment intensity. A corporate decision to stop R&D outsourcing to other firms within the nation but outside the region has a positive impact on the internal R&D employment intensity. The latter is the only effect that is not only statistically significant but is also substantial in magnitude

Net versus combinatory effects of firm and industry antecedents of sales growth

This study examines antecedents of sales growth using a two-step mixed-method approach including analyses of net effects and combinatory effects. Based on a sample of 453 respondents from manufacturing and service firms, this article shows how the combination of structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) provides more detailed insights into the causal patterns of factors to explain sales growth. This article contributes to the extant literature by highlighting fsQCA as a useful method to analyze complex causality (specifically combinatory effects of antecedent conditions) and by discussing options regarding how this approach can be used to complement findings from conventional causal data analysis procedures that analyze net effects

Introducing conflict as the microfoundation of organizational ambidexterity

This article contributes to our understanding of organizational ambidexterity by introducing conflict as its microfoundation. Existing research distinguishes between three approaches to how organizations can be ambidextrous, that is, engage in both exploitation and exploration. They may sequentially shift the strategic focus of the organization over time, they may establish structural arrangements enabling the simultaneous pursuit of being both exploitative and explorative, or they may provide a supportive organizational context for ambidextrous behavior. However, we know little about how exactly ambidexterity is accomplished and managed. We argue that ambidexterity is a dynamic and conflict-laden phenomenon, and we locate conflict at the level of individuals, units, and organizations. We develop the argument that conflicts in social interaction serve as the microfoundation to organizing ambidexterity, but that their function and type vary across the different approaches toward ambidexterity. The perspective developed in this article opens up promising research avenues to examine how organizations purposefully manage ambidexterity

Sustainable and traditional product innovation without scale and experience, but only for KIBS!

This study analyzes the ideal strategic trajectory for sustainable and traditional product innovation. Using a sample of 74 Costa Rican high-performance businesses for 2016, we employ fuzzy set analysis (qualitative comparative analysis) to evaluate how the development of sustainable and traditional product innovation strategies is conditioned by the business’ learning capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation in knowledge-intensive (KIBS) and non-knowledge-intensive businesses. The results indicate two ideal strategic configurations of product innovation. The first strategic configuration to reach maximum product innovation requires the presence of KIBS firms that have both an entrepreneurial and learning orientation, while the second configuration is specific to non-KIBS firms with greater firm size and age along with entrepreneurial and learning orientation. KIBS firms are found to leverage the knowledge-based and customer orientations that characterize their business model in order to compensate for the shortage of important organizational characteristics—which we link to liabilities or smallness and newness—required to achieve optimal sustainable and traditional product innovation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Inertia and Change in the Early Years: Employment Relations in Young, High Technology Firms

[Excerpt] This paper considers processes of organizational imprinting in a sample of 100 young, high technology companies. It examines the effects of a pair of initial conditions: the founders\u27 models of the employment relation and their business strategies. Our analyses indicate that these two features were well aligned when the firms were founded. However, the alignment has deteriorated over time, due to changes in the distribution of employment models. In particular, the \u27star\u27 model and \u27commitment\u27 model are less stable than the \u27engineering\u27 model and the \u27factory\u27 model. Despite their instability, these two blueprints for the employment relation have strong effects in shaping the early evolution of these firms. In particular, firms that embark with these models have significantly higher rates of replacing the founder chief executive with a non-founder as well as higher rates of completing an initial public stock offering. Some implications of these findings for future studies of imprinting and inertia in organizations are discussed

Domestic transport cost reductions and firms’ export behaviour

Transport infrastructure investment reduces the cost of distance and enables firms to establish and maintain contacts over larger distances. Spain has developed an ambitious road building programme over the last decades, which has considerably reduced transport costs to access European markets. In this paper we depart from the traditional aggregate approach in analysing the impacts of transport infrastructure investment. In particular, we examine the export decision of Spanish manufacturing firms and test how domestic transport cost reductions affect firms’ probability of becoming exporters. We estimate models that control for unobserved heterogeneity among firms, endogeneity and initial conditions problems. Our results provide some support for a positive effect of domestic transport improvements on firms’ exporting probability. However, the magnitude of this effects is small, being the strongest effect the one due to previous export experience which suggests high entry costs into export markets

Essays on psychological ownership, digital transformation, and sustainability in the retail industry

Scholars emphasize the importance of psychological ownership (i.e., a feeling of possession towards an object independent of legal ownership) for desired behaviors and attitudes in corporate contexts. Psychological ownership is a multi-level phenomenon, meaning that the emotional attachment it implies might pertain to the overall organization as well as to organizational sub-units (e.g., business units). Hitherto, however, there is little empirical evidence on the antecedents, consequences, and vertical spillover effects of psychological ownership. To address this research gap, our paper presents arguments explaining how psychological ownership positively affects organizational performance by diffusing from higher levels of the organization towards lower levels. Furthermore, we suggest that error management culture and high affective commitment within teams, constitutes environmental conditions that let psychological ownership thrive. To test our theorizing, we created a unique dataset combining archival data with two surveys among 1,536 employees and 66 managers of an organization. Our results indicate that psychological ownership towards the business unit indeed enhances performance and mediates the effect of psychological ownership towards the entire organization. Additionally, our findings suggest that error management culture and the increase of affective commitment in teams pose mechanisms that can enhance psychological ownership towards the business unit. With these findings, our study yields important theoretical and practical implications.The success of the ongoing sustainability transformation depends in large parts on both the sustainability in firms’ production of goods and the consumption choices of individuals. While firms and consumers already separately contribute to sustainable development, a key challenge still lies in accelerating collaborative efforts. In this study, we develop a conceptual model to demonstrate how firms can motivate sustainable consumption behavior amongst their customers by involving them in their sustainability activities. In particular, we introduce psychological ownership as the underlying mechanism that explains how customer involvement in sustainability activities translates into changes in individuals’ consumption choices. We further argue that this mechanism depends on the type of sustainability that a firm undertakes, i.e., whether it is embedded in or peripheral to a firm’s core business. Results from two scenario experiments and one field experiment broadly support our theorizing and contribute to management research by showing how firms can go beyond delivering sustainable products and services toward actively shaping consumption behavior. Our results additionally reveal that firms can derive further benefits from customer involvement in embedded sustainability since it incites higher extra-role behavior in the form of feedback-giving than involvement in peripheral sustainability, which firms can exploit to develop their sustainability strategy further.New technologies and enhanced information systems are fueling digital transformation in many industries, including through the creation of new digital interfaces to communicate with and involve customers and suppliers. Information systems and management scholars have emphasized the far-reaching consequences of these endeavors for such areas as strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The success of digital transformation depends on the willingness of the individuals involved, including customers, employees, and suppliers, to embrace these new technologies. Digital transformation is particularly difficult for family firms, as they usually follow conservative strategies, show resistance to change, and face resource restrictions, factors that limit their ability to pursue such substantial change to their business model. However, other factors can help family firms as they seek to transform and thrive: their strong and continuous organizational culture and their sustainable business activities, both of which are rooted in their socioemotional wealth considerations and strong social capital. Drawing on the technology acceptance model, we set out to explore the following research question: How do organizational characteristics of family firms shape the acceptance of new technologies among members within their supply chain? Our grounded theory model contributes to the literature about digital transformation in family firms by linking firm-level strategy to organizational and individual attributes; identifying factors that facilitate or hinder family firms’ digital transformation, such as a culture of innovation and change, as well as social capital embedded in inter- and intra-organizational relationships; and guiding managers of family firms on how to enhance their digital agenda

Industrial dynamics and economic geography: a survey

We review the literature on clusters and their effects on industrial dynamics as well on various lifecycle dynamics underlying the process of cluster formation and cluster dynamics. The review shows that there is little evidence that clusters enhance firm growth and survival. In the absence of localization economies, the emergence of clusters is best understood as an evolutionary process of capability transmission between parents firms and their spinoffs. We discuss various future research avenues and call for theorising based on firm heterogeneity as well as empirical research based on common methodological standards.entry, exit, cluster, localization economies, lifecycle, firm heterogeneity

High Growth Firms in Scotland

High growth firms (HGFs) are widely thought to be a key force driving economic growth in modern advanced economies (Acs et al, 2008; BERR, 2008; Henrekson and Johansson, 2010). One of the central aims of the current economic strategy of the Scottish Government is to provide responsive and focused enterprise support to increase the number of highly successful, competitive businesses (Scottish Government, 2007). Hence, for the past decade there have been a number of policy initiatives designed to stimulate high growth entrepreneurship in Scotland. Many of these policies have had a strong technology focus. Given the importance these firms have for a region’s economic growth potential and the policy attention they are beginning to receive, it was felt to be important that Scottish Enterprise develops a deeper understanding of these important generators of wealth creation in the Scottish economy. This report examines HGFs in Scotland from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives