Argumentation Rationality in the German and Korean Automotive Industry

To be successful and to gain support by their reference groups, managers back their decisions by arguments. These managerial argumentations mirror the thoroughness of the decision preparation. In short, they reveal the decisions argumentation rationality. Obviously, the argumentation rationality or the thoroughness of the decision preparation, respectively, can vary. Among other things, cultural and institutional factors will impact the level of argumentation rationality in management decisions. Studying Germany and Korea, this paper identifies differences between the two countries with regard to certain aspects of national culture and corporate governance which can be related to decision preparation behavior. Based on this research, hypotheses on the argumentation rationality differences between German and Korean management decisions are developed and tested using data drawn from publicly available accounts. Altogether 356 accounts were selected which report on three types of change actions in the German and Korean automotive industry and were published between 1990 and 1997. Intra- and inter-country analyses were carried out for revealing typical patterns and country-specific differences of argumentation rationality. Inter alia, it turns out that differences between the decision preparation of German and Korean managers cannot be captured in a simple black-white manner. Rather results of comparing argumentation rationality in the two countries vary with the aspects of decision preparation considered and indicate the usefulness of a differentiated perspective on the studied phenomen

Configurations of capacity for change in entrepreneurial threshold firms: imprinting and strategic choice perspectives

Imprinting theory suggests that founding conditions are 'stamped' on organizations, and these imprinted routines often resist change. In contrast, strategic choice theory suggests that the firm can overcome organizational inertia and deliberately choose its future. Both theories offer dramatically different explanations behind an organization's capacity for change. IPO firms provide a unique context for exploring how imprinting forces interact with strategic choice factors to address organizational capacity for change as a firm moves from private to public firm status. Juxtaposing imprinting and strategic choice perspectives, we employ fuzzy set to examine the multi-level determinants of organizational capacity for change. Our cross-national data reveals three effective configurations of organizational capacity for change within IPOs, and two ineffective configurations. Our results suggest that the antecedents of organizational capacity for change in entrepreneurial threshold firms are nonlinear, interdependent, and equifinal

The effects of private equity investors on the governance of firms

Companies that receive external equity typically experience a separation of ownership and control, where owners who are not involved in the company (principals) have to rely on the management team (agents) for achieving expected goals and target levels. Theoretical literature argues that when ownership and control are separated, principals develop governance structures to reduce agency costs and align agents’ incentives (Berle and Means, 1932; Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Grossman and Hart, 1986; Zingales, 1995). Likewise, optimal financial structure design by financial intermediaries can effectively help to mitigate agency problems by identifying self-enforcing equilibria (Diamond, 1984; Fama and Jensen, 1985; Stiglitz, 1985; Bhattacharya and Thakor, 1993; Barry, 1994). In general terms, governance and financial devices can be thought of as either internal control mechanisms (such as the board) or external control mechanisms (such as the market for corporate control). An increasingly important external control mechanism affecting the governance of young and fast-growing companies worldwide is the emergence of institutional and private equity investors, as equity owners. Institutional investors have the potential to influence management’s activities directly through their ownership, and indirectly by trading their shares (Gillan and Starks, 2003). In this respect private equity investors are differentiated from institutional ones in the longer-term view and in the significantly more hands-on approach that they pursue when investing in a portfolio company. As a result, companies backed by private equity investors represent a fruitful environment to investigate the use and efficiency of a multitude of control mechanisms. The surge over the last 30 years in investment activity by private equity investors at large has given rise to an increased specialization of this class of investors conditional on the risk return profiles associated with different investment and firm life cycle stages. For instance, business angels supporting the archetypical ‘paper company’ start-up face a risk exposure that in terms of both magnitude and characteristics is significantly different from that incurred by a private equity investor acquiring control of a mature company. Yet, investors in this market share common traits such as a value maximization approach, risk‒return informed decisions, and a deep knowledge of governance mechanisms. As such their influence on portfolio company governance mechanisms is largely similar in terms of depth and breadth. In this chapter we aim at presenting an up-to-date review of the main theoretical contributions and empirical results in this active and growing field of research

Does board independence influence financial performance in IPO firms? The moderating role of the national business system

Prior evidence suggests that board independence may enhance financial performance, but this relationship has been tested almost exclusively for Anglo-American countries. To explore the boundary conditions of this prominent governance mechanism, we examine the impact of the formal and information institutions of 18 national business systems on the board independence-financial performance relationship. Our results show that while the direct effect of independence is weak, national-level institutions significantly moderate the independence-performance relationship. Our findings suggest that the efficacy of board structures is likely to be contingent on the specific national context, but the type of legal system is insignificant

Entstehung und Befolgung von sozialen Normen: eine theorieorientierte Uebersicht

Summary in EnglishAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, D-21400 Kiel W 66 (1997.12) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Impact of multimodal treatment (MMT) between 1998 und 2013

Von der präoperativen, 5-Fluorouracil(5-FU)-basierten Chemoradiotherapie (CRT +/- Oxaliplatin; OX) bei lokal fortgeschrittenen Adenokarzinomen des Rek tums (cUICC-II/-III-Stadien, LARC) werden eine bessere Resektabilität, mehr sphinktererhaltende OP-Verfahren, niedrigere Rezidivraten sowie Überlebensvor teile erwartet. Gegenüber einer alleinigen OP (Heald et al. 2017) sind synergistische Auswirkungen einer Multimodaltherapie (+/- prä- oder postoperativer MMT) auf die UICC-abhängige Prognose umstritten. Für UICC-II/-III-Karzinome im oberen Rek tum (≥ 12 cm ab ACL) wird der Nutzen einer präoperativen MMT bezweifelt. Zwischen 1998 und 2013 wurden 402 LARC-Patienten (Männer: 67,2%, Frauen: 32,8%; medianes Alter: 64 Jahre) standardisierten MMT-Regimen zugeführt. Die LARCs lagen im unteren (33,8%), mittleren (33,3%) und oberen (32,9%) Rektum als cUICC-II/-III-Stadien in 28,4% und 68,7% vor. Es erfolgten in 9,0% anteriore (ARR; mit partieller mesorektaler Exzision, PME), in 68,6% tiefe anteriore (TARR; TME oder PME) und in 22,1% abdomino-perineale Rektumresektionen (APR). In 98,5% wurde ein R0- und in 88,8% ein negativer CRM-Status (tumorfreier Rand saum ≥ 2 mm) erreicht. In 77,8% lag eine optimale Resektatqualität vor. Die 60- Tage Krankenhaussterblichkeit betrug 1,2%. Nach primärer OP (n = 180) wurden die Stadien pUICC-I bis -IV in 13,9%, 40,0%, 41,7% und 4,4% sowie eine CRM-Positivität (tumorfreie Distanz < 2 mm) in 30,3% ermittelt. Nach präoperativer CRT (n = 222) lagen die Stadien ypUICC-0 bis -IV in 14,9%, 19,4%, 33,6%, 33,1% und 5,7% vor. Die CRM-Positivität war auf 7,2% ab gesunken. Während der 91-monatigen Nachbeobachtung (Median) traten 119 Re zidive in 30,0% der Patienten auf; davon alleinige Lokalrezidive in 1% und zusam men mit Fernmetastasen in 5,3%. Anhand von multiparametrischen Überlebenszeitmodellen wurden potentielle Prä diktoren für das OS, DFS und CSS (mit Tod anderer Ursache als competing risk) untersucht. Für jeden Risikofaktor und Überlebensendpunkt wurden multivariable proportionale Cox-Regressionsmodelle angepasst, die den Risikofaktor, die Vorbe handlung, die Tumorlokalisation und deren 2-Wege-Interaktionen berücksichtigten sowie die Therapieregime der CAO/ARO/AIO-94-, CAO/ARO/AIO-04- und GAST 05-Studien. 105 Es zeigte sich aus den paarweisen Kontrasttestungen für das OS (Tabelle 31) ein signifikanter Effekt für den Einsatz der präoperativen CRT zugunsten der Stadien ≤ pUICC-II (HR: 0,37; adjustierter p-Wert: p < 0,001). Ebenfalls war ein positiver Ef fekt der präoperativen CRT bei Karzinomen (≤ pUICC-II) im oberen Rektum (HR: 0,16; adjustierter p-Wert: p = 0,004) festzustellen. Dieser Effekt schien synergis tisch zu sein, da auch nach primärer OP (Kontrollarm) das OS in den Stadien ≤ pUICC-II vs. > pUICC-II überlegen war (HR: 0,37; p = 0,018). Für das DFS (Tabelle 33) ergab sich ein ähnlicher Effekt durch die präoperative CRT zugunsten der Stadien ≤ pUICC-II (HR: 0,37, adjustierter p-Wert: p < 0,001). Ebenfalls positiv wirkte sich die präop. CRT bei Karzinomen im oberen Rektum (HR: 0,22; adjustierter p-Wert: p = 0,014) aus. Dieser Effekt war jedoch geringer; Patien ten mit ≤ pUICC-II-Karzinomen hatten ein besseres DFS (HR: 0,42; p = 0,024) vs. Patienten mit > pUICC-II-Stadien. Auch im CSS (Tabelle 35) ergaben sich positive Effekte der präop. CRT zugunsten der Stadien ≤ pUICC-II (HR: 0,22; adjustierter p-Wert: p < 0,001) im unteren und mittleren Rektumdrittel sowie für Karzinome im oberen Rektum (HR: 0,0096; adjus tierter p-Wert: p = 0,001). In dieser Tumorlokalisation hatten Patienten in den Sta dien ≤ pUICC-II vs. > pUICC-II per se ein besseres CSS (HR: 0,029; p = 0,007); der tatsächliche Nutzen der präop. MMT blieb somit fraglich. Die präoperative MMT, insbesondere die MMT + OX, führte zu Überlebenvorteilen für Patienten mit ≤ ypUICC-II-Status, insbesondere bei Karzinomen in den unteren Rektumdritteln (< 12 cm ab ACL). Patienten mit residuellen Stadien ≥ ypUICC-III wurden als Non-Responder auf die präop. MMT identifiziert. Für Patienten mit Karzinomen im oberen Rektum ergab sich unter Verzicht auf die präop. MMT kein Nachteil im Überleben der Patienten mit ≤ pUICC-II-Status. Ob Patienten mit einem pUICC-III-Status nach primärer OP evtl. von einer intensivier teren adjuvanten Therapie (vs. FOLFOX) profitieren können, sollte in weiteren klinischen Studien geprüft werden.Preoperative 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT +/- oxaliplatin; OX) for locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the rectum (LARC; clinically staged as stages II and III) is expected to improve resectability, sphincter-preserving surgery and survival. Compared with surgery alone (Heald et al. 2017), synergistic effects of multimodality therapy (+/- pre- or postoperative MMT) on UICC-dependent prog nosis are controversial. For stage II and III carcinomas in the upper rectum (≥ 12 cm above anal verge), the benefit of preoperative MMT is doubtful. Between 1998 and 2013, 402 LARC patients (male: 67.2%, female: 32.8%; median age: 64 years) underwent standardized MMT according to phase-II/-III clinical trial protocols. LARCs were present in the lower (33.8%), middle (33.3%), and upper (32.9%) rectum as clinical stages II and III in 28.4% and 68.7%, respectively. Ante rior (ARR; with PME), low anterior (TARR; with TME or PME) and abdomino-peri neal resections (APR; with TME) were performed in 9.0%, 68.6% and 22.1%, re spectively. R0 and negative CRM status (tumor-free margin ≥ 2 mm) were achieved in 98.5% and in 88.8%, while optimal quality of the specimen was confirmed in 77.8%. The 60-days hospital mortality was 1.2%. After primary surgery (n = 180), stages pUICC-I to -IV were identified in 13.9%, 40.0%, 41.7%, and 4.4%, respectively, and CRM positivity in 30.3%. After preoper ative CRT (n = 222), stages ypUICC-0 to -IV were present in 14.9%, 19.4%, 33.6%, 33.1%, and 5.7%, respectively. CRM positivity had decreased to 7.2%. During 91- months (median) follow-up, 119 recurrences occurred in 30.0% of patients; of these, local recurrences had been detected in 1% (alone) and 5.3% (combined with distant metastases). Multiparametric survival models were used to examine potential predictors of OS, DFS, and CSS (with death from other causes as competing risk). Multivariable pro portional Cox regression models were fitted for each risk factor and survival end point, accounting for risk factor, pretreatment, tumor location, and their 2-way inter actions, as well as the treatment regimens (CAO/ARO/AIO-94, CAO/ARO/AIO-04, and GAST-05 trials). There was a significant effect for the use of preoperative CRT in favor of stages ≤ pUICC-II from the pairwise contrast tests for OS (HR: 0.37; adjusted p < 0.001; 107 table 31). Likewise, there was a positive effect of preoperative CRT for carcinomas (≤ pUICC-II) in the upper rectum (HR: 0.16; adjusted p = 0.004). This effect ap peared to be synergistic, as OS was also superior after primary surgery (control arm) in stages ≤ pUICC-II vs. > pUICC-II (HR: 0.37; p = 0.018). For DFS, there was a similar effect of preoperative CRT in favor of stages ≤ pUICC-II (HR: 0.37; adjusted p < 0.001, table 33). There was also a positive effect of preoperative CRT for carcinoma of the upper third (HR: 0.22; adjusted p = 0.014). However, this effect was smaller; patients with ≤ pUICC-II carcinomas had better DFS (HR: 0.42; p = 0.024) vs. patients with > pUICC-II stages. In CSS, there were also positive effects of preoperative CRT in favor of stages ≤ pUICC-II (HR: 0.22; adjusted p < 0.001; table 35) in the lower and mid rectum and for carcinomas in the upper third (HR: 0.0096; adjusted p = 0.001). In this tumor location, patients with stages ≤ pUICC-II vs. > pUICC-II per se had better CSS (HR: 0.029; p = 0.007); the true benefit of preoperative MMT thus remained questionable. Preoperative MMT, especially MMT+OX, resulted in survival benefits for patients with ≤ ypUICC-II status, especially for carcinomas in the lower and mid rectum (< 12 cm from ACL). Patients with residual stages ≥ ypUICC-III were identified as "non-responders" to preoperative MMT. For patients with carcinomas in the upper rectum, there was no disadvantage in stages ≤ pUICC-II status when preoperative MMT was omitted. Whether patients with pUICC-III status after primary surgery may benefit from a more intensive adjuvant therapy (vs. FOLFOX) should be assessed in further clinical trials.2022-05-3

Board involvement in the strategic decision making process: a comprehensive review

The separation between ownership and control creates many challenges for the modern-day firm, and the board's role in the strategy formation process is arguably the seminal governance challenge confronting boards today. Board Involvement in the Strategic Decision Making Process: A Comprehensive Review examines this seminal challenge