Contract specificity and its performance outcomes

Governance theories, such as transaction cost economics, argue that systematic deviations from an attribute–governance alignment should influence performance. This article investigates the performance implications of contract specificity for the procurement of information technology products. The authors argue that parties choose a level of contract specificity that economizes on both the ex ante contracting costs and the ex post transaction costs and that deviations between the observed and the predicted levels of contract specificity are an important determinant of these transaction costs. The authors test the hypotheses using a comprehensive archival data set of information technology transactions and employ a two-step estimation procedure. First, they estimate the “predicted” level of contract specificity, which accounts for key transactional attributes. Second, they study the consequences of deviating from this predicted level of contractual specificity. The results provide the first explicit demonstration of the trade-off between ex ante contracting costs and ex post transaction problems and suggest that parties need to economize jointly on these costs when choosing the governance form

Process innovation and performance : the role of divergence

Process innovation is a key determinant of performance. While extant literature paints a clear picture of the drivers of process innovation, the effect of process innovation on performance has received little attention. This paper contributes to theory building in this important area and examines how divergence of process innovation impacts performance. Divergence concerns the extent to which the observed level of process innovation diverges from the expected level of process innovation. Positive (negative) divergence occurs when the observed level of process innovation is higher (lower) than expected. In turn, we consider how divergence acts as a driver of performance. This approach is useful and important for managers and theory development as it provides insight into situations where a firm may have “too little” or “too much” process innovation. We use survey and archival data from 5,594 firms across 15 countries and find negative divergence to reduce performance under high competitive intensity, whereas positive divergence is detrimental under high environmental uncertainty. Thus, divergence advances understanding as, in contrast with previous work, we do not suggest that more innovation is always better. These findings contribute to understanding the process innovation-performance relationship and has important implications for strategic management research and practice alike

Mobilizing the Temporary Organization: The Governance Roles of Selection and Pricing

Many marketing transactions between buyers and suppliers involve short-term collaborations or so-called temporary organizations. Such organizations have considerable value-creation potential but also face challenges, as evidenced by their mixed performance records. One particular challenge involves relationship governance, and in this respect, temporary organizations represent a conundrum: On the one hand, they pose significant governance problems due to the need to manage numerous independent specialists under time constraints. On the other hand, temporary organizations lack the inherent governance properties of other organizational forms such as permanent organizations. The authors conduct an empirical study of 429 business-to-business construction projects designed to answer two specific questions: First, how are particular selection and pricing strategies deployed in response to monitoring and coordination problems? Second, does the joint alignment between the two mechanisms and their respective attributes help mitigate cost overruns? The authors follow a formal hypothesis test with a series of in-depth interviews to explore and to gain insight into the validity of the key constructs, explanatory mechanisms, and outcomes. Managerially, the authors answer the long-standing question of how to mobilize a temporary organization. Theoretically, they develop an augmented “discriminating alignment” heuristic for relationship management involving multiple governance mechanisms and attributes.acceptedVersio

Deciding Fast:Examining the Relationship between Strategic Decision Speed and Decision Quality across Multiple Environmental Contexts

Rapid innovation, shortened product life cycles and fierce competition place great pressures on top managers to make fast strategic decisions. However, a key question in strategic decision-making research is whether decision speed helps or harms decision quality, and there is a shortage of theory and evidence concerning the consequences of decision speed across different environmental contexts. We develop new theory by considering the effects of decision speed on decision quality under conditions of environmental munificence, under conditions of dynamism, and under the joint conditions of munificence and dynamism. We test our theory through analysis of multi-informant survey data drawn from top management teams and secondary databases, in 117 UK firms. Our findings demonstrate that munificence is the central generative mechanism which moderates the relationship between decision speed and decision quality, and markedly alters the previously theorized positive effects of decision speed in dynamic contexts

Fast and high-quality decision-making:The role of behavioral integration

Decision speed and quality are both vital for organizational survival and prosperity. However, they are assumed to be in tension, and there has been limited theory development concerning whether, and if so how, both are attainable. To address this gap, we turn to behavioral integration which captures the intensity of intra-team interactions. While behavioral integration is considered an antecedent of decision quality, it is presumed to slow decision-making, and overall, there remains a “black box” surrounding the mechanisms, behaviors, and processes which transmit behavioral integration to decision outcomes. Our theoretical account challenges the notion of behavioral integration being an impediment to decision speed, and we present new theory and evidence—comprising a mixed-method field study—explaining how behavioral integration acts as a key driver of both decision speed and quality, while theorizing decision uncertainty as a new and important boundary condition

Changes in epidermal radiosensitivity with time associated with increased colony numbers

Epidermal clonogenic cell survival and colony formation following irradiation were investigated and related to radiosensitivity. A rapid in vivo/in vitro assay was developed for the quantification of colonies arising from surviving clonogenic cells in pig epidermis after irradiation. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labelled cells in full thickness epidermal sheets were visualized using standard immunohistochemistry. In unirradiated skin, approximately 900 BrdU-positive cells mm(-2) were counted. In a time sequence experiment, BrdU-positive cell numbers increased from an average of 900 cells mm(-2) to approximately 1400 cells mm(-2) after BrdU-labelling for 2-24 h. In irradiated skin, colonies containing >/=16 BrdU-positive cells were seen for the first time at days 14/15 after irradiation. The number of these colonies per cm(2) as a function of skin surface dose yielded a cell survival curve with a D(0)-value (+/-SE) of 3.9+/-0.6 Gy. This relatively high D(0)-value is possibly due to a rapid fall off in depth dose distribution for the iridium-192 source and consequently a substantial contribution of hair follicular epithelium to colony formation. At 14/15 days after irradiation, the ED(50) level of 33.6 Gy for the in vivo response of moist desquamation corresponded with 2.7 colonies cm(-2). Surprisingly, the number of colonies increased with time after irradiation with an estimated doubling time of approximately 4 days, while the D(0)-value remained virtually unchanged. This increase in colony numbers could be due to migration of clonogenic cells, to the recruitment of dormant clonogenic cell survivors by elevated levels of cytokines, or to both. Although frequent biopsying caused increased cytokine levels, which had a systemic effect on unirradiated skin, it had no influence on colony formation in irradiated skin. Smaller colonies, containing 4-8 cells or 9-15 cells, were abundant, particularly after higher doses, which resulted in higher D(0)-values. The majority of these small colonies were abortive and did not progress to larger colonies. There was no statistical evidence for significant variations in the interanimal responses

Political behavior does not (always) undermine strategic decision making : theory and evidence

Political behavior pervades strategic decision-making, often damaging decision quality and undermining organizational performance. However, little is currently known about how top management teams (TMTs) cope with such behavior. To address this shortfall, we draw on the upper echelons literature to advance a contingent account of the factors that differentiate well-functioning and dysfunctional TMTs. Focusing on the psychological context surrounding the TMT, we theorize that cognitive consensus, power decentralization, and behavioral integration are key generative mechanisms that enable TMTs to countermand the potentially deleterious consequences of political behavior. We corroborate our theorizing using a field study of 117 strategic decisions, drawn from multiple TMT informants and secondary databases. Confirming the majority of our hypotheses, our findings indicate that behaviorally integrated and decentralized TMTs are better equipped to attenuate the potentially damaging effects of organizational politics, thereby safeguarding the quality of their decision processes

Exploring the constraint profile of winter sports resort tourist segments

Many studies have confirmed the importance of market segmentation both theoretically and empirically. Surprisingly though, no study has so far addressed the issue from the perspective of leisure constraints. Since different consumers face different barriers, we look at participation in leisure activities as an outcome of the negotiation process that winter sports resort tourists go through, to balance between related motives and constraints. This empirical study reports the findings on the applicability of constraining factors in segmenting the tourists who visit winter sports resorts. Utilizing data from 1,391 tourists of winter sports resorts in Greece, five segments were formed based on their constraint, demographic and behavioral profile. Our findings indicate that such segmentation sheds light on factors that could potentially limit the full utilization of the market. To maximize utilization, we suggest customizing marketing to the profile of each distinct winter sports resort tourist segment that emerge

The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first register of the marine species of the world and used this baseline to estimate how many more species, partitioned among all major eukaryotic groups, may be discovered. Results: There are ∼226,000 eukaryotic marine species described. More species were described in the past decade (∼20,000) than in any previous one. The number of authors describing new species has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new species described in the past six decades. We report that there are ∼170,000 synonyms, that 58,000–72,000 species are collected but not yet described, and that 482,000–741,000 more species have yet to be sampled. Molecular methods may add tens of thousands of cryptic species. Thus, there may be 0.7–1.0 million marine species. Past rates of description of new species indicate there may be 0.5 ± 0.2 million marine species. On average 37% (median 31%) of species in over 100 recent field studies around the world might be new to science. Conclusions: Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century

Market research : the process, data, and methods using stata

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