Manoj Bayon and Pablo Aguilera
Highlighting the important role of managerial action in resource orchestration, the purpose of this paper is to explore how differences in managerial perceptions about the…
Abstract
Purpose
Highlighting the important role of managerial action in resource orchestration, the purpose of this paper is to explore how differences in managerial perceptions about the strategic relevance of resources and capabilities influences the resource configurations in SMEs from an emerging economy context.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a survey-based instrument that was developed by the Global Competitive project (www.gcp.org), the authors identify 62 Mexican SMEs and perform a cluster analysis based on firm size and age and estimate the competitiveness of the SMEs in each cluster.
Findings
The results of our cluster analysis indeed suggest the existence of four configurations of SMEs based on the managerial perceptions of the value creating potential of the different resources and capabilities at the firms' disposal. The authors find evidence that managerial perception of the strategic relevance of resources and capabilities at a firm's disposal could influence firm-level competitiveness. Managers of firms that perceive high value or importance to the resources and capabilities, considered the ten resource pillars for competitiveness in this study, are also likely to be the most competitive.
Research limitations/implications
This study is exploratory in nature and intends to provide an initial and more descriptive analysis of SME competitiveness in an emerging economy context. Additionality, the study does not take into account the effect of industry membership.
Originality/value
The choice of an emerging economy that are often characterized by asymmetric information and informal rules and regulations provides an original context for an understudied area of research in firm-level competitiveness.
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Javier Aguilera-Caracuel, Jaime Guerrero-Villegas and Encarnación García-Sánchez
The purpose of this paper is to use stakeholder theory as the theoretical reference framework to study the influence of internationalization (geographic international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use stakeholder theory as the theoretical reference framework to study the influence of internationalization (geographic international diversification) and social performance on multinational companies’ (MNCs) reputation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors confirm the research hypotheses using a sample of 113 US MNCs in the chemical, energy and industrial machinery sectors during the period 2005-2010.
Findings
This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, it incorporates literature on internationalization to study the possible connection between geographic international diversification and social performance in MNCs. Second, it sheds light on the debate between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the reputation of MNCs in a very diverse transnational context in which MNCs must meet the needs of stakeholders at both local and global levels. Third, it incorporates the mediating role of social performance in the relationship between geographic international diversification and the firm’s reputation.
Originality/value
Prior studies have hardly analyzed this relationship, which becomes especially relevant for MNCs, since their implementation of advanced CSR practices in the different markets in which they operate will gain them a good reputation, not only in specific local contexts but also globally, benefitting the organization as a whole and enabling it to gain internal consistency (improvement in internal efficiency), transparency and legitimacy.
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Irvin Dongo, Yudith Cardinale, Ana Aguilera, Fabiola Martinez, Yuni Quintero, German Robayo and David Cabeza
This paper aims to perform an exhaustive revision of relevant and recent related studies, which reveals that both extraction methods are currently used to analyze credibility on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to perform an exhaustive revision of relevant and recent related studies, which reveals that both extraction methods are currently used to analyze credibility on Twitter. Thus, there is clear evidence of the need of having different options to extract different data for this purpose. Nevertheless, none of these studies perform a comparative evaluation of both extraction techniques. Moreover, the authors extend a previous comparison, which uses a recent developed framework that offers both alternates of data extraction and implements a previously proposed credibility model, by adding a qualitative evaluation and a Twitter-Application Programming Interface (API) performance analysis from different locations.
Design/methodology/approach
As one of the most popular social platforms, Twitter has been the focus of recent research aimed at analyzing the credibility of the shared information. To do so, several proposals use either Twitter API or Web scraping to extract the data to perform the analysis. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations are performed to discover the advantages and disadvantages of both extraction methods.
Findings
The study demonstrates the differences in terms of accuracy and efficiency of both extraction methods and gives relevance to much more problems related to this area to pursue true transparency and legitimacy of information on the Web.
Originality/value
Results report that some Twitter attributes cannot be retrieved by Web scraping. Both methods produce identical credibility values when a robust normalization process is applied to the text (i.e. tweet). Moreover, concerning the time performance, Web scraping is faster than Twitter API and it is more flexible in terms of obtaining data; however, Web scraping is very sensitive to website changes. Additionally, the response time of the Twitter API is proportional to the distance from the central server at San Francisco.
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Gustavo Morales-Alonso, Yilsy Núñez Guerrero, Juan Francisco Aguilera and Carlos Rodríguez-Monroy
This study aims at shedding light on entrepreneurial aspirations on both developed and developing economies, in terms of contextual and individual values. Among the former…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at shedding light on entrepreneurial aspirations on both developed and developing economies, in terms of contextual and individual values. Among the former, economic development and inequalities are sought after, while among the latter national culture is the variable under study.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used are extracted from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for a panel of countries, where the entrepreneurial aspirations of individuals of each country are measured through the Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA). The influence of cultural values as defined by Hofstede (individualism-collectivism (IDV), masculinity–femininity (MAS) and uncertainty avoidance (UAI)), moderated by the development level of the country and the existing inequalities are analyzed through artificial neural network (ANN) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) techniques.
Findings
Results show that in the post-crisis era, entrepreneurial aspirations are negatively linked to individualism in developing countries. In developed countries, however, entrepreneurship is not linked to individualism but to inequalities.
Originality/value
Entrepreneurial aspirations have not been thoroughly studied in the post-crisis era. We prove that entrepreneurial orientations have changed, together with the world, in the last decade. Cultural differences between countries tend to moderate, especially among developed ones, which speak of homogenization of national cultures. In this regard, inequalities are the determining factor. Contrarily, in developing countries, the differences in individualism are noticeable when it comes to analyzing entrepreneurial aspirations.
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The contribution revisits existing research on human impacts on the performance of mergers and acquisitions. Findings are grouped into three categories: individual-…
Abstract
The contribution revisits existing research on human impacts on the performance of mergers and acquisitions. Findings are grouped into three categories: individual-, organizational- and managerial-related factors. Results show that while research seems various and abounding, influential factors are often studied as static setting approached in isolation, without measuring their direct relation to post-acquisition outcomes.
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Leticia Pérez-Calero, Ma del Mar Villegas and Carmen Barroso
The purpose of this paper is to examine in greater depth the concept of “board capital”, which the authors consider to be a bundle of three types of capital, and believe to be a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine in greater depth the concept of “board capital”, which the authors consider to be a bundle of three types of capital, and believe to be a clear antecedent of the board’s ability to perform its roles, which have positive consequences for the firm’s performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Through 83 firms listed on The Madrid Stock Exchange during the period 2005-2010, the authors test empirically the relationships between different dimensions of board capital and firm performance, and specially how internal social capital moderates the relationships between board human capital and external social capital with firm performance.
Findings
The results show that certain characteristics of human capital (average board tenure) and external social capital (directors’ interlocks) are positively related to the firm performance. The empirical findings also indicate that the internal social capital, measured by board density, is positively related to the firm performance and moderates these above relationships, increasing the potential of the resources contributed by the board members and influencing to a large extent on a firm’s performance.
Practical implications
The results of the investigation will help both executives and scholar in two ways. First, they will assist firms when they have to select board members, as they can now understand how the resources that board members bring with them can affect the firm performance. To be more effective, boards need to have members that have experience as firm’s directors, external connections to other boards and many internal ties among them. Second, in this context, internal social capital is especially relevant, so the firms should look for possible ways of encouraging internal ties between directors. In this paper, the authors have opted for study the participation of directors in committees.
Originality/value
The authors propose that these three types of capital (human, external and internal social capital) need to be synergistically combined to create a group of directors with access to a complete set of skills, knowledge and connections, but which can still work as a compact social group when making decisions.
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“A knowledge of different literatures is the best way to free one's self from the tyranny of any of them.” Jose Marti, Cuban writer, poet and statesman.
David R. King, Wei Shi and Brian L. Connelly
An obvious way to improve acquisition performance is to avoid completing value-destroying acquisitions. However, once announced, manager motivations often focus on completing…
Abstract
An obvious way to improve acquisition performance is to avoid completing value-destroying acquisitions. However, once announced, manager motivations often focus on completing acquisitions. The authors develop how external governance actors can interpret acquisition characteristics and make counter-signals that acquiring firm managers could use to improve acquisition outcomes. The authors specifically develop how managers may react to counter-signals by shareholders, media, analysts, and short sellers. While there is limited research considering these external governance actors, evidence suggests that managers’ reactions to these actors may vary. A more integrated assessment of external governance actors’ influence on acquisition completion offers an opportunity to better understand acquisition processes and performance.
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This one-year qualitative study examined the role Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim, 2014) had on secondary pre-service teachers in an urban school. This…
Abstract
This one-year qualitative study examined the role Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim, 2014) had on secondary pre-service teachers in an urban school. This study examined the journey of six pre-service urban high-school teachers in Arizona as they enact Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) in a year-long student teaching residency. Pre-service teachers worked with and learned from English Language Learners in various contexts. Factors that influenced their CSP practices are discussed through themes that emerged from interviews and classroom observations.
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Gloria Cuevas-Rodriguez, Jaime Guerrero-Villegas and Ramón Valle-Cabrera
The purpose of this paper is to analyze certain organizational changes that occur after privatization. More specifically, the authors analyze from an agency theory perspective how…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze certain organizational changes that occur after privatization. More specifically, the authors analyze from an agency theory perspective how changes at the corporate governance level (ownership type/structure and board of directors) influence firm strategy, and what implications these issues have for the design of compensation mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology employed in the study can be described as a longitudinal multiple case study approach. A multiple case study enables the comparison of pre- and post-privatization periods in five Spanish companies. This methodology is especially suitable to track the organizational changes occurring in relation to the firms’ internal management.
Findings
First, the variables that traditionally relate to greater board independence in monitoring do not suffer from variation after privatization. Second, the interests of the firms’ new ownership have an impact on firm strategy after privatization. Finally, compensation system design clearly aligns with firm strategy after privatization.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a multiple case study approach, which limits the scope and generalizability of the findings.
Originality/value
Whereas research in privatization generally adopts a macroeconomic or political perspective, organizational and managerial implications are current aspects in need of further examination. This research offers a study that integrates three sets of variables (corporate governance, strategy and compensation) that have been rarely analyzed in this context.