The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that notwithstanding the fact that stewardship theory embraces things like trust of directors, their professionalism, loyalty and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that notwithstanding the fact that stewardship theory embraces things like trust of directors, their professionalism, loyalty and willingness to be concerned for the interests of others, as well as rejecting the foundations of classic agency problems that are asserted by agency theory, board accountability is as relevant to stewardship theory as it is to agency theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies the theory underlying board accountability in corporate governance, which is so often applied both in the corporate governance literature and in practice with agency theory in mind, to stewardship theory.
Findings
While the idea of accountability of boards is generally associated with an explanation and conceptualisation of the role and behaviour of directors as agents within classic agency theory, the paper demonstrates that board accountability is a necessary part of board life even if the role of directors is explained and conceptualised in terms of stewardship theory.
Practical implications
The paper suggests some accountability mechanisms that might be employed in a stewardship approach.
Originality/value
While many authors have talked in general terms about board accountability and its importance, this is the first paper that has engaged in a substantial study that links board accountability directly with stewardship theory, and to establish that accountability is necessary.
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Abstract
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To investigate the relationship between technological diversification and firm performance as a function of varying levels of technological coupling and internal technological…
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the relationship between technological diversification and firm performance as a function of varying levels of technological coupling and internal technological change.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal study of US-based bio-pharmaceutical companies.
Findings
Technological diversification improves invention performance. However, high levels of technological coupling reduce this effect.
Practical implications
Firms with highly diversified technological portfolios should strive to keep their technologies at low levels of technological coupling.
Originality/value
This is the first study to show that technological coupling reduces the positive effect of technological diversification on firms' invention performance.
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Aleksey Martynov and Nader Shafti
The paper reviews existing empirical research where long-term performance (LTP) of firms is the dependent variable. The purpose of this paper is to structure and classify the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper reviews existing empirical research where long-term performance (LTP) of firms is the dependent variable. The purpose of this paper is to structure and classify the existing research, outline the shortcomings, and chart the avenues for future research in the area of LTP.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a review of the existing empirical literature. It surveys the existing studies and proposes new directions of empirical research.
Findings
The paper argues that there is a disconnection between the principal theories in strategy and the existing empirical findings. In particular, while the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities view aim to predict sustainable competitive advantage and sustainable firm performance, few empirical papers examine the LTP consequences of resources and dynamic capabilities.
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows where future research efforts should be concentrated by outlining shortcomings in existing research.
Practical implications
The paper compares ways to measure LTP that will be useful to corporate executives. The paper also outlines factors that have been shown to affect LTP. These findings can be used by executives planning their strategy.
Originality/value
The paper is a first review of LTP. It also contributes to the debate in strategy on the RBV and dynamic capabilities.
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Aleksey Martynov and Dina Abdelzaher
This paper aims to evaluate the effect of knowledge overlap, search width and problem complexity on the quality of problem-solving in teams that use the majority rule to aggregate…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the effect of knowledge overlap, search width and problem complexity on the quality of problem-solving in teams that use the majority rule to aggregate heterogeneous knowledge of the team members.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses agent-based simulations to model iterative problem-solving by teams. The simulation results are analyzed using linear regressions to show the interactions among the variables in the model.
Findings
We find that knowledge overlap, search width and problem complexity interact to jointly impact the optimal solution in the iterative problem-solving process of teams using majority rule decisions. Interestingly, we find that more complex problems require less knowledge overlap. Search width and knowledge overlap act as substitutes, weakening each other’s performance effects.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that team performance in iterative problem-solving depends on interactions among knowledge overlap, search width and problem complexity which need to be jointly examined to reflect realistic team dynamics.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that team formation and the choice of a search strategy should be aligned with problem complexity.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on problem-solving in teams. It is the first attempt to use agent-based simulations to model complex problem-solving in teams. The results have both theoretical and practical significance.
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The research on shared mental models (SMMs) focuses on the importance of all team members holding similar mental models to realize team performance. However, for a perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The research on shared mental models (SMMs) focuses on the importance of all team members holding similar mental models to realize team performance. However, for a perceived decomposable task, it is not required for all team members to have similar mental models to achieve team performance. Moreover, unnecessary overlapping mental models among team members may engender information overloading, translating into suboptimal team performance. Absent from the current literature is an understanding of the factors that determine the minimal overlapping mental models required across specific members for team performance. The purpose of this study is to yield an understanding of these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study highlights that the requirement to hold similar mental models across specific team members depends on the task decomposition mechanisms used: task complexity and decomposability, subtask assigned and layer, task modularity, workflow interdependence type and tool attributes.
Findings
Unlike much prior research which measured the relationship between SMMs and team performance at the team level, our conceptualization suggests that the measurement of SMMs and team performance needs to be conducted across a team and subsets of the team or individuals depending on task complexity and decomposability. This current research offers an important viewpoint regarding when team members need to hold similar mental models to realize task performance.
Originality/value
By suggesting new insights into when mental models should be similar across specific team members, this research also provides understanding of why some empirical SMMs studies do not yield positive relationships between similar SMMs and team effectiveness while others do.
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Lyudmila Y. Bogachkova, Lidiya S. Guryanova and Shamam G. Khurshudyan
The energy efficiency policy is a priority component of the overall economic policy of different countries striving to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of national…
Abstract
The energy efficiency policy is a priority component of the overall economic policy of different countries striving to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of national economic development. The improvement of energy efficiency represents an important economic task for the post-Soviet countries, characterized by excessive energy intensity of the economy, and the solution of this task requires proper information and analytical support: a system for accounting and analyzing energy consumption indicators. The present research is aimed at developing the tools to support decision-making in the sphere of evaluation and estimation of performance of the State energy efficiency policy of territories and testing these tools on the example of Russian regions. The study has been carried out using the methods of statistics, economic, mathematical and econometric modeling, structural, dynamic and comparative analyses. The following tools have been proposed: the method for differentiated accounting of various factors’ influence on the dynamics of energy consumption in the regions and for estimating the index of technological efficiency of electricity consumption; the method for the empirical classification of territories by types of their energy and economic development. We’ve revealed the general trend and typological features in the dynamics of electricity consumption efficiency indicators in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and carried out the decomposition factor and comparative analysis of energy consumption patterns of the Volgograd region over 2005–2014 on the basis of the proposed tools.
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Manuel Guisado-González, Jennifer González-Blanco and María del Mar Rodríguez-Domínguez
This research aims to study the impact that the interaction between internal R&D and R&D cooperation has on the technical efficiency of firms, as well as to analyse whether firms…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to study the impact that the interaction between internal R&D and R&D cooperation has on the technical efficiency of firms, as well as to analyse whether firms belonging to a group achieve any additional level of technical efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
We employ the stochastic frontier version of a knowledge production function, particularly the inefficiency model, and we combine the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and the complementarity approach.
Findings
The interaction between internal R&D and R&D cooperation has a positive and significant impact on technical efficiency when the complementarity test is applied between companies belonging to a group, and there is no interaction when they do not belong to a group.
Practical implications
Knowing this type of information in advance is critical for managers and policymakers, as it allows them to avoid undesirable combinations of innovation strategies or contexts not favourable for their implementation, as well as the formulation of policies leading to an efficient allocation of public resources.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper contributes an original approach in evaluating the complementarity of internal R&D and R&D cooperation from the perspective of technical efficiency and group membership, combining the SFA and the complementarity approach.
研究目的
本研究擬探討內部研發與研發合作之間的相互作用會如何影響公司的技術效率;研究亦擬分析屬於集團的公司會否達致更高一級的技術效率。
研究設計/方法/理念
研究人員採用一個知識生產函數的隨機前沿方法,尤其是低效模型,研究人員並且把隨機前沿分析和互補法結合起來進行探討。
研究結果
研究結果顯示,若互補法在屬於集團的公司之間應用,內部研發與研發合作之間的相互作用會對技術效率產生積極和重大的影響;但是,如果公司不屬於任何集團的話,則沒有任何相互作用。
實務方面的啟示
預先了解這方面的資料和信息對管理人員和政策制定者至關重要,這是因為這可讓他們避開不良的創新策略組合,以及那些不利於推行創新策略的環境;而且,能否制定可為公共資源高效分配的政策,也有賴於了解這方面的信息和資料。
研究的原創性/價值
據我們所知,本研究從技術效率和組成員身份的角度去評定內部研發與研發合作的互補性,在這方面提供了新穎的研究方法;而且,本研究結合了隨機前沿分析和互補法,這也是創新的做法。
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Andrew Inkpen and Kannan Ramaswamy
While much of the debate and discourse on sustainability and environmentally friendly practices have focused on privately owned and operated organizations, enterprises owned by…
Abstract
While much of the debate and discourse on sustainability and environmentally friendly practices have focused on privately owned and operated organizations, enterprises owned by the state have escaped scrutiny. This study focuses specifically on the oil and gas sector to explore the drivers that propel state-owned oil and gas producers, the national oil companies, to embrace sustainability practices. We find that the proportion of independent directors, international exposure, and international involvement influence sustainability practices.
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Berend van der Kolk, Henk J. ter Bogt and Paula M.G. van Veen-Dirks
The purpose of this paper is to examine how management control (MC) within governmental departments is used in times of austerity, and how insights from agency and stewardship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how management control (MC) within governmental departments is used in times of austerity, and how insights from agency and stewardship theory can enhance the understanding of this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors distinguish two types of MC (constraining and facilitating) based on their different assumptions regarding human behavior (agent-like and steward-like). The authors empirically analyze changes in the use of these types of MC in four cases located in two municipalities. The collected data consists of 51 semi-structured interviews, desk research and multiple field observations.
Findings
The authors find that MC at the departmental level becomes more constraining in times of austerity. The authors suggest that an overemphasis on constraining MC has negative consequences. It can, for instance, evoke agent-like, opportunistic behavior while it disregards potential steward-like behavior. These negative consequences are less prevalent when there is a simultaneous increase in emphasis on the use of facilitating MC elements.
Originality/value
The authors acknowledge “human ambivalence,” i.e. an employee’s recurring choice between agent-like and steward-like behavior, and illustrate the dangers of overly relying on constraining types of MC. The authors also contemplate alternative strategic managerial responses to austerity in a public sector context.