Digital economies at global margins

The research presented in this publication was carried out with the financial assistance of Canada’s International Development Research Centre. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.This book brings together new scholarship that addresses what increasing digital connectivity and the digitalization of the economy means for people and places at economic margins. As you read through the book, you might find it useful to think about the roles digital connectivity plays in transforming these economically peripheral areas: whether digital tools and technologies are simply amplifying existing inequalities, barriers, and constraints, or allowing them to be transcended; who is actually benefitting from processes of digitalization and practices of digital engagement; who engages in digital production and where does it occur; whether changes in digital economies at the margins really match up to our expectations for change; and ultimately who are the winners and losers in our new digital and digitally mediated economies

Power play in television: a political economy analysis of power balances in broadcasting markets

In this dissertation, the focus is on the (evolving) configurations of power and control in broadcaster-to-distributor markets. Technological developments, as well as changes in the institutional framework, are in the process of fundamentally transforming legacy TV business models and have transferred power to ‘gatekeepers’ which derive a dominant position by controlling competitive bottlenecks. Since technology shocks might disrupt established power relationships in television, interactions between TV broadcasters and distributors incur tensions and conflicts of interests. It is argued that each party controls crucial platform resources and that the broadcaster-to-distributor market is organized around two converging TV platforms that unfold enveloping strategies and thus provoke power conflicts. One of the major assumptions of this dissertation is the mutual dependency between broadcasters and distributors, which leads to the conclusion that the market is marked by bilateral bargaining power, and needs to deal with double-marginalisation problems. Although both parties may have bargaining power, relationships between broadcasters and distributors are often characterised by power asymmetries, either in favour of the broadcaster or distributor. In the ever-increasing complex TV ecosystem, broadcasters as well as distributors are looking for outside opportunities to lessen dependence on their counterparty, and build strategic advantage during carriage negotiations. However, pricing power usually remains with the distributors, which eventually decide about the possible carriage and the package (basic or upgraded), and the position of the channel in that package (or in the electronic programming guide). A gatekeeping position allows distributors to pressure broadcasters to demand lower wholesale (input) prices. On top, distributors leverage bargaining power through the ownership of affiliated channels that directly compete access-seeking broadcasters. In a similar vein, owners of premium rights or must-have channels leverage their popularity and exclusivity in order to bargain higher retransmission payments from distributors. Whereas existing frameworks hold that competitive advantage essentially rests on the activities a firm performs within the value chain, it is claimed here that a firm’s position in the value chain does not adequately explain why different firms with similar activities have different levels of bargaining power. Rather than sticking to hollow aphorisms like ‘Content is King, but Distribution is King Kong’, it is assumed that the allocation of power between broadcasters and distributors crucially depends on the politico-economic context of broadcasting and its distribution, including the set of complex relationships between different parties in the business ecosystem. Since bargaining power in the broadcaster-to-distributor market tends to be context-specific and varies between different local settings, it is determined by the allocation of scarce resources in the industry, the individual nature of the broadcaster-to-distributor relationship and potential path dependencies in media and telecommunication policies. Hence, the major research objective is to study the interactions between broadcasters and distributors, and identify, in a qualitative way, those contextual variables that define bargaining power in broadcaster-to-distributor relationships. Although Porter’s model is still relevant for analysing the industry environment, the complexity of broadcasting and distribution markets and the speciality of carriage negotiations demands for a more specific framework to examine relationships and power conflicts between broadcasters and distribution. Following a resource-centric perspective, the ownership and control of strategic assets are considered determinants of bargaining power. Based on a literature review and interviews with 36 media managers and experts, it was possible to come up with a multidimensional and multilevel approach to bargaining power and to construct a complex of interrelated power attributes (clustered in five dimensions) that influence a firm’s competitive position in carriage negotiations. On the macro level, a number of legal provisions and regulatory requirements strongly affect the carriage negotiations. Reference is made to telecommunications rules, competition law, media-specific regulation and copyright law. On the meso level, the model suggests that the market structure forms an important factor in the creation of bargaining power. Industry concentration, number of business partners, entry barriers and the threat of technological progress are identified as critical parameters. On the micro level, the structure of the negotiating firms needs to be taken into account to assess bargaining power. Hence, firm-specific characteristics of broadcasters and distributors involved in a carriage negotiation include relative firm size, conglomerateness, vertical integration and financial resilience. Next to firm characteristics, emphasis is put on product differentiation as a source of a bargaining power. Product characteristics are related to the market and industry structure, and predominantly refer to product differentiation, exclusivity, bundling and switching costs. On the individual level, psychological, emotional and interpersonal issues play a decisive role in carriage negotiations

Innovation in arm's length & embedded ties: A study of manufacturing SMEs in the North East of England

This comparative study explored the process by which SMEs innovate in embedded and arm’s length relationships. In particular, this research asked how the nature of problem-solving, knowledge creation, innovation drivers and innovation outcomes differ in arm’s length and embedded (collaborative) ties. Contemporary strategy research recommends organizations manage close collaborative relationships to innovate and achieve a competitive advantage; however these relationships are resource intensive, prone to failure and often fail to provide an adequate return on investment. By investigating the under-researched innovative potential of low maintenance arm’s length relationships this research aimed to inform more sustainable SME innovation strategy, as these organizations are especially vulnerable to the perils of close collaboration. This thesis followed a qualitative research design utilizing a mono-method strategy of enquiry and conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with senior engineers, designers, MDs and management level staff across 10 north east-based manufacturing SMEs. The main findings based on thematic analysis of the data highlight that knowledge creation occurs via externalization, combination and internalization modes in arm’s length ties, whilst embedded ties also facilitate socialization knowledge creation. Incremental process innovation was most typically associated with collaborative relationships which often tended to be driven by isomorphic pressures, these pressures also manifest during initial problem-solving activity. In contrast, arm’s length ties were associated with both radical and incremental product innovation and the identification of new markets; this activity was exploratory in nature and primarily explained via organizational learning theory. These findings provide an alternative solution to addressing the challenges of networked SME innovation and help orientate future research into more sustainable innovation strategy

Impact de la crise financiere de 2008 sur la remuneration des derigeants Canadiens

L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser l’impact de la crise financière de 2008 sur la rémunération des dirigeants des sociétés canadiennes. Pour ce faire, les données sur la rémunération incluses dans les Circulaires de sollicitation de la direction ont été analysées et comparées à plusieurs indicateurs de performance financière et ce, sur la période de quatre ans comprise entre 2007 et 2010. Les résultats obtenus tendent à démontrer que, en général, la rémunération des dirigeants canadiens a été affectée par la crise financière de 2008. Les résultats financiers de l’entreprise semblent donc avoir un impact sur la rémunération de leurs hauts dirigeants

Influence of venture capital syndication on governance and performance of new ventures

The research examines the effectiveness of governance systems in venture capital (VC)–backed technology-based new ventures that are not yet at the initial public offering stage. The novel study from 98 VC-backed technology-based new ventures examines how the role of Founder-CEO and venture performance varies in venture capital syndicated new ventures. Strategic innovation enables the new ventures to position their products differently from their competition and achieve strategic financial rewards, which compensates the investors and founders for their willingness to take risks. The research finds that VC-Syndication results in more Founder-CEO succession than solo VC new ventures. Additionally, foreign VCSyndication encompasses more professional-CEOs than domestic VC-Syndication. Consistent with our theoretical framework of VC-Syndication and the involvement of foreign venture capitalists, not only results in changing the CEO role, but also influences the innovative and financial performance. Changing the Founder-CEO reflects the strategic challenges new ventures face in their development. The results are consistent with the assumption that governance factors are important tools used to provide resources and capabilities, while being involved in mitigating agency risks associated with venture capital involvement in new ventures, and reflect positively on new venture performance

University selection in Maritime Canada: studies of millennial students across four universities suggest that it should not be business as usual

This paper examines the criteria by which university students choose a particular university. With a dataset of 456 first-year millennial undergraduate business students, from four institutions located in Canada’s Maritime Provinces, factor analysis helped identify the drivers of decision-making reported by females and males, and in-province and out-of-province students. These results may facilitate change in the recruitment strategies of undergraduate university administration and recruitment officials

An illusion of independence - a working paper on the 5 threats

The audit profession has long held independence to be a key value and hallmark of the profession. This is perhaps especially true for legislative auditors, or auditors general. This working paper details a case study of two Canadian jurisdictions where provincial comptrollers were appointed as auditor general, raising questions on the perception of independence. It uses the five threats to independence as a framework to determine if the perceptions of a possible conflict are valid. Building on the literature of the social construction of independence, it proposes some initial conclusions and sets the stage for a second phase of this work