A Business Model View of Strategy

We argue that while the business model construct may not be entirely new, it can still provide a novel lens, complementary to Resource Based View and Market Positioning, to develop new theoretical insights in strategy. We propose that the consideration of interdependencies among the activities of a business model provides such a lens. We show that by starting strategy development with interdependencies among activities, we can: (1) develop new insights on how to build superior strategies; and (2) explain company performance variance especially when heterogeneity in resources and capabilities is not strong and barriers to imitation are weak. Overall, we propose that a promising research avenue for the business model literature is to integrate complexity theory with demand‐side and supply side theories of strategy to generate more nuanced insights on what activities to connect and how to develop superior interdependencies among activities that can form the basis of superior strategies

The Role of Industry Dynamics in the Persistence of First Mover Advantages

We advance first mover advantages literature by adding novel insights into the conditions that affect the persistence of first mover profitability and market share. We investigate the role of two industry dynamics — market growth and technological discontinuity — and we argue that they will negatively affect the persistence of first mover performance. We test our hypotheses in the context of the European mobile communications industry, by estimating System GMM models on a longitudinal panel of 65 companies in 19 markets, over the period 1998–2008. Model estimations confirm that industry dynamics affect the persistence of first mover advantages. For instance, we find robust empirical evidence that technological discontinuity is detrimental to both first movers’ market share and profitability

Entry-timing strategies: The road ahead

We argue that, despite significant progress, the extant entry timing literature still suffers from several shortcomings and, in particular, it fails to integrate into a coherent and integrative framework the latest findings from contiguous management literature streams. We propose that entry timing literature can be significantly enriched and its predictive power enhanced by incorporating insights from institutional theory, industry life-cycle, categorical dynamics, and by further elaborating on the implications of these theories for the firms' entry timing decisions. Our review also suggests that our understanding of early movers advantages can be improved by considering more explicitly the strategies and business models pursued by later entrants

Product Technology Imitation Over the Product Diffusion Cycle: Which Companies and Product Innovations do Competitors Imitate More Quickly?

We contribute to the imitation literature by shedding light on product imitation dynamics over the market evolution, a hitherto-overlooked level of analysis. First, we introduce product diffusion within a more integrative theory of product imitation. Second, we investigate the time to imitation of a new product technology: our baseline hypothesis is that the time to imitation decreases as the product diffusion in the market increases. Third, we extend our prediction by differentiating by the type of innovator—i.e., the market leader and a member of the same strategic group—and by the type of product technology—i.e., functionality-defining technologies and substitute technologies. We hypothesize that, over the product diffusion cycle, product technologies launched by market leaders are copied more quickly than ones launched by non-market leader firms; product technologies launched by members of a focal firm's own strategic group are copied more quickly than ones launched by outsiders; and substitute technologies are copied more quickly than functionality-defining technologies. We test our hypotheses in the context of the UK mobile phone industry, by exploiting a unique database on twenty-two product innovations introduced by thirteen mobile handset manufacturers between 1997 and 2008. The model estimations provide support for most of our hypotheses

Shared exposures or management fashions? Drivers of cross-industry convergence of textual risk disclosures

We contribute to the study of systemic risk, by introducing quantitative measures for the convergence in the attention of decision-makers across industries, and for its contextual antecedents. Our analysis is based on textual data (10-K reports from Securities and Exchange Commission of insurers and banks, 2006-2018), giving a snapshot of decision-makers priorities and contexts. First, we theoretically connect systemic risk with the context of decision making through the lens of the Attention-Based View of the firm. Second, through strategic management theory, we establish a framework for antecedents of convergence in attention, and therefore, systemic risk. These antecedents include common trends in the macro environment, threat of substitution, and management fashions. Third, we combine the theoretical framework with machine learning tools to create quantitative measures of convergence in attention and its antecedents. Finally, based on regression and sensitivity analyses, we identify the dominant antecedent of inter-industry systemic risk. We show that shared risk management fashions largely drive convergence in attention. This finding underlines the need for responses to systemic risk engaging a wide range of stakeholders through inclusive governance and raises the spectre of a type of systemic risk being induced by shared legitimacy concerns

The digital transformation of search and recombination in the innovation function: tensions and an integrative framework*

Search and recombination are important mechanisms in the creativity phase of innovation. Digital transformation and the resulting pervasive digitalization of the innovation function have often been associated with increasing possibilities for search and recombination. In this paper, by systematically integrating the search and recombination literature with the literature on digitalization, we demonstrate that digitalization may engender new idiosyncratic tensions in the organizational antecedents of search and recombination and, by implication, in their likely outcomes. We propose that, depending on the interactions among the idiosyncratic tensions identified herein, knowledge recombination might spur very different outcomes, including knowledge layering, knowledge integration, knowledge grafting, or even no recombination at all (which we label “search for the sake of search”). These outcomes may not always be the initially planned desired outcomes. Finally, we provide implications of our integrative framework pertaining to product development and to organizing for innovation

Cholesterol Serum Levels and Use of Statins in Graves' Orbitopathy: A New Starting Point for the Therapy.

Graves' Orbitopathy (GO) is the most frequent extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves' disease (GD). Its ultimate cause remains unclear, but it is commonly considered an autoimmune disorder due to self recognition of autoantigens constitutively expressed by orbital fibroblasts (OFs), and thyroid epithelial cells. High dose intravenous glucocorticoids (ivGC) are the most commonly used treatment for moderately severe and active GO. However, based on the complex pathogenesis of GO, a number of factors may have a protective and maybe a therapeutic role. The use of other medications improving the effect of GC may increase the overall effectiveness of the therapy and reduce GC doses, thereby limiting side effects. Recently, a possible protective role of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme reductase inhibitors, the so-called statins, and perhaps of lowering cholesterol levels, has been proposed. Thus, statins have been reported to be associated with a reduced frequency of GO in GD patients and in recent cross-sectional and retrospective studies a significant correlation was found between the occurrence of GO and both total and LDL-cholesterol in patients with a GD of relatively recent onset, suggesting a role of cholesterol in the development of GO. Moreover, a correlation was found between the GO clinical activity score and total as well as LDL-cholesterol in untreated GO patients, depending on GO duration, indicating a role of cholesterol on GO activity. Therefore, statin treatment may be beneficial for GO. Here we review this subject, which offers new therapeutic perspectives for patients with GO

Unlocking value from AI in financial services: strategic and organizational tradeoffs vs. media narratives

One of the sectors that AI is expected to transform more radically is financial services. In this Chapter, first, building on the extant literature, we develop a general conceptual model of the strategic and organisational tradeoffs inherent in extracting value from AI. Second, we use a topic modelling approach on two sources of data (a “corpus” of articles published in the global business press and a “corpus” of web articles concerning AI in financial institutions located in the City of London) to identify the narratives about AI in financial services from 2013 to 2019. The comparison between our model of AI value creation and the narratives emerging from our topic models reveals a significant divide. We elaborate on the implications of this divide and we offer suggestions on how to manage AI adoption for value creation

Impact of CEO’s Digital Technology Orientation and Board Characteristics on Firm Value: A Signaling Perspective

Integrating signaling research with the institutional perspective on capital markets we argue that, in conditions of radical technological change, investor perceptions about firm value are enhanced by the CEO’s orientation towards digital technologies that exceeds the firm’s industry peers. This base relationship is moderated by board characteristics, so that the board members’ digital expertise and knowledge diversity enhance the effect of the CEO’s relative digital technology orientation on firm value. Furthermore, the monitoring power of independent board members that do not have digital expertise negatively moderates our baseline hypothesis, whereas board monitoring exerted by independent board members with digital expertise has a positive moderating effect. To test our theory, we use advanced Natural Language Processing techniques to develop the CEO’s relative digital technology orientation construct combined with a unique, hand-collected, set of measures associated with board members’ digital expertise and knowledge diversity in a sample of S&P 500 companies. Our paper offers novel insights on how technology-related signals associated with the CEO’s communications to shareholders interact with board characteristics in determining investor perceptions of the firm’s value in conditions of high technological uncertainty