The interplay between social capital and international opportunities: a processual study of international ‘take-off’ episodes in Chinese SMEs

The paper presents a processual analysis of international take-off episodes in Chinese SMEs. In considering the dynamics of pre-internationalization, the paper posits four temporally finer-grained, phases based on an actor’s orientation towards international opportunities. Based on a sample of twenty Chinese SMEs, the paper theorizes 12 temporally fine-grained take-off episodes, or which appear in practice as a series of tactical moves through which Chinese SMEs advance through the four phases in the longer pre-internationalisation of the process. By considering the multi-dimensional nature of social capital in international take-off, the findings contribute to a greater understanding of how forming international relationships work in the context of pre-internationalization in SMEs, also adding insights into the dynamics of internationalisation as an entrepreneurial and networked endeavour

Acceleration and Deceleration in the Internationalization Process of the Firm

By adopting a processual and dynamic view on internationalization, we develop the concepts of acceleration and deceleration, providing analytical tools to enhance our understanding of the non-linearity and multidimensionality of internationalization. We argue that acceleration and deceleration are embedded in the internationalization process and are a consequence of the firm’s capability to absorb and integrate acquired knowledge, and to find and exploit opportunities. In addition, we advance the idea that changes in speed are further influenced by how the firm integrates and coordinates the resources it has deployed within and across various internationalization dimensions. Thus, it emerges that the overall evolution of commitment to internationalization is more complex than received theories tend to present; therefore, empirical studies should aim to include a wide set of international activities and processes embedded in time

IMG 305 - PEMBUNGKUSAN MAKANAN NOV.05.

We discuss the use of Agent-based Modelling for the development and testing of theories about emergent social phenomena in marketing and the social sciences in general. We address both theoretical aspects about the types of phenomena that are suitably addressed with this approach and practical guidelines to help plan and structure the development of a theory about the causes of such a phenomenon in conjunction with a matching ABM. We argue that research about complex social phenomena is still largely fundamental research and therefore an iterative and cyclical development process of both theory and model is to be expected. To better anticipate and manage this process, we provide theoretical and practical guidelines. These may help to identify and structure the domain of candidate explanations for a social phenomenon, and furthermore assist the process of model implementation and subsequent development. The main goal of this paper was to make research on complex social systems more accessible and help anticipate and structure the research process

Business network connections and the atmosphere of dyadic business relationships

Based on exchange network theory and business network concepts this paper hypothesizesthat five kinds of network connections affect three different dimensions of the atmosphereof dyadic business relationships. In other relationship studies these atmosphere dimensionshave been regarded as important links between relationship antecedent and outcomevariables. The results of our empirical study demonstrate that network connections havesignificant effects on the business relationship atmosphere. It also shows that differentconnections have different effects on four different atmosphere dimensions. The resultsindicate that relationship strategies have to be designed differently depending on thebusiness network contexts.During the last decade a number of studies have contributed to ourunderstanding of interfirm relationships in business markets (Anderson and Narus 1990;Anderson and Weitz 1989; Dwyer, Schurr and Oh 1987; Frazier 1983; Håkansson 1982;Hallén, Johanson and Seyed-Mohamed 1991; Heide and John 1988; Morgan and Hunt1994). Typically those studies have analysed the continuity of the dyadic relations againstthe background of characteristics of the parties and the products exchanged. It has beensuggested, however, that dyadic relations in business markets do not exist in isolation butare connected to each other and can fruitfully be considered within a network context(Achrol, Reve and Stern 1983; Anderson, Håkansson, and Johanson 1994, Baker 1990;Gadde and Mattsson 1987; Iacobucci and Hopkins 1992; Thorelli 1986; Webster 1993).The underlying assumption is that the commitment of a firm to a dyadic relationship tosome extent is contingent on the firm’s involvement in relationships with other parties.Case studies have provided a number of examples of the impact of thesurrounding network on single dyadic business relationships (Forsgren and Olsson 1992;Hertz 1993; Lee 1991). But so far no empirical studies have been reported about moregeneral impacts of networks on dyadic relations. This paper is an attempt to studyempirically some important aspects of business relationships and their networkconnections in such a way that it would be possible to analyse the impact of the network.The first section outlines the theoretical conceptualizations of relationships and networksemployed. The second section describes how the concepts have been operationalized andhow data have been collected and analysed. The third section shows the empirical resultsof the study. In the final section the results are discussed

An attention-based view on managing information processing channels in organizations

This paper investigates how information processing channels can be managed such that relevant and novel information about the environment is gathered despite attention biases of top managers and challenges to maintain motivation levels of information providers. We argue that organizations need open and transparent information processing channels, which make top managers accountable. Furthermore, middle managers dedicated to managing these channels who act as a bridge between the information providers and the top managers help to reduce the information overload for top managers. This increases the likelihood that top managers will take appropriate action on the information provided and give suitable feedback to the senders. Lastly, these actions will only be beneficial when they are aligned with company strategy and values

Intraorganizational Communication of Business Ideas

Information about the external environment is of great importance for future planning and strategic decision making, especially in geographically dispersed organizations. Employees who have direct contact with key actors external to the organization are an important source of novel information about the environment that cannot be obtained through data scanning by top managers. This type of knowledge contributes to the top managers’ existing knowledge about the environment. However, novel information from employees can be ignored by top managers because they have biases in attention selection and decision making. In addition, top managers need to provide employees with satisfactory feedback to motivate them to continue sharing information. Hence, we study the design of an organizational system that helps top managers manage these challenges. The Idea Box at Handelsbanken is used as a single case study, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. We conclude that information sharing from employees to top managers is likely to work well when there is a) an increase in the transparency of the system, b) reduction in the quantity of information and increase in the fit between expertise and the information received by top managers, c) increase in the probability and “information value” of the feedback from the top managers and d) a culture in the organization that fosters such behaviour from the employees