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In the absence of well-developed, formal institutional frameworks, informal network-based strategies have been argued to be especially viable in emerging economies. However, some empirical research has challenged these earlier theoretical arguments. In light of new evidence, this chapter develops a contingency perspective differentiating firms' networks as strong ties and weak ties. It suggests that while strong-tie networks are typically found during the early phase of institutional transitions, weak-tie networks are more likely to be developed and leveraged during the late phase of transitions. The upshot is that as the performance benefits of strong ties decline during institutional transitions, emerging weak ties' impact on firm performance is likely to increase.

Extending the proposition that boards of directors influence firms’ mergers and acquisitions (M&As), studies have investigated how board interlocks – network ties formed by directors — may shape M&A processes and outcomes. While board interlocks and M&As are two streams of research, each underpinned by voluminous studies, their cross-fertilization has been relatively limited. In this chapter, the authors take stock of prior research investigating the relationship between board interlocks and M&As. Specifically, emphasizing the network features of board interlocks, the authors highlight a connection aspect and a structure aspect of board interlocks in appreciating their effects during pre-acquisition and post-acquisition phases. Based on this framework, the authors then lay out a research agenda that can further bridge board interlocks with M&As. Overall, this chapter endeavors to integrate and expand our knowledge on the acquisition implications of board interlocks.

The Fabry-Perot sapphire optical fiber sensor is an excellent choice for high-temperature sensing in civil and military fields, such as oil exploitation, engine and turbine. The purpose of this paper is to study the high-reflective film system withstanding high temperature in Fabry-Perot sapphire optical fiber high-temperature sensor. To improve the performance of the sensor and reduce the difficulty of signal acquisition, one of the key ways is to enhance the normalized light intensity of F-P sensor, which can be achieved by coating the high-reflective film system on the fiber end.

The high-reflective film system can be achieved by a multilayer film with alternating ZrO₂ and Al₂O₃ film layers whose refractive indexes are different. In addition, the optimum film alternating sequences and the influence of the number of film layers, incident angle and temperature should be obtained by numerical analysis.

With the increase of the number of film layers, the reflectivity rises gradually and the change trend is more and more gentle. A minimum of the spectral reflectivity will occur at a certain incident angle depending on the design of the periodic multilayer system. Temperature affects the reflectivity of high-reflective film system. The normalized light intensity of the F-P sensor coated with high-reflective film system enhances greatly which is helpful to the signal demodulation. The temperature response of the F-P sensor is mainly determined by the characteristics of the F-P cavity.

Higher reflectivity, lower cost and easy signal acquisition are the most important features of the introduced high-reflective film system for the Fabry-Perot sapphire optical fiber high-temperature sensor.

This chapter explores how the recognition of opportunities regarding developing technology and entering a new market is influenced by the systemic effect of social forces. These include institutions, social networks and the entrepreneur’s cognitive frames. This study adopts a longitudinal perspective by capturing and analysing the phenomenon in two moments: first, when the businesses started to operate domestically and second, when they began to internationalise. The cases of five Brazilian technology firms are analysed. The findings reveal the systemic and mutually reinforcing effect of these social forces on the recognition of opportunities. The entrepreneurs’ cognitive frames were particularly vital in recognising opportunities to enter the Brazilian market. The institutional support provided by universities along with government mechanisms and entrepreneurs’ social networks were essential to accrue experiential and non-experiential knowledge of international markets, therefore contributing to the recognition of international opportunities. The temporal perspective employed in this research assists the understanding of how historical events shape entrepreneurs’ capabilities to recognise and change company discourse to pursue the recognition of international opportunities. The results provide guidelines for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers, particularly in the emerging economies in Latin America, to support the growth and flourishing of entrepreneurial ventures through pursuing international opportunities.

Building on resource dependence theory and the dynamic institution-based view, this paper examines the influence of government affiliations on firm product innovation in a dynamic institutional environment.

Using unique panel data of Chinese manufacturing firms covering a period of 12 years (1998–2009) with 2,564,547 firm-year observations, this study chooses the panel Tobit model with random effects to explore the influence of government affiliations on firm product innovation, followed by an analysis to test the moderation effects of dynamic institutional environments.

The study findings suggest that Chinese firms with higher-level government affiliations have a relatively high product innovation performance. It finds that this innovation stimulating effect is contingent on the dynamic nature of the institutional environment. To be specific, a high speed of institutional transition may depress the positive innovation effects of government affiliations, while a more synchronized transition speed of institutional components may enhance the positive innovation effects of firms' government affiliations.

This study adds to a better understanding of the drivers of product innovation in Chinese firms that are situated in environments that are characterized by institutional change, using and contributing to resource dependence theory and the dynamic institution-based view.

The impact of network centrality on innovation performance is inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to examine how formal and informal institutions affect the influence of network centrality on firms’ innovation performance in emerging economies by integrating social network theory and institutional theory.

Multisource and lagged data from 234 technology-based entrepreneurial firms listed on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market were leveraged to test a proposed research model.

Results suggest that formal institutions (marketization) positively moderate the relationship between network centrality and innovation performance, whereas informal institutions (social cohesion) negatively moderate this relationship. Moreover, formal and informal institutions have a strong joint impact on such relationship, that is, the effect of network centrality on innovation performance is most positive when marketization is high and social cohesion is low.

This empirical research provides new insights into whether and how firms can grasp the innovation benefits of network centrality by exploring institutional contingencies. It further sheds on light the scope of the network centrality–innovation issue by extending its research context to Chinese entrepreneurial firms.

In order to improve the braking safety of mine hoisters, this paper aims to focus on the continuous repetitious emergency braking conditions to investigate an abnormal frictional phenomena called “Frictional catastrophe (FC)” and its mechanisms.

The non‐asbestos brake shoe of a mine hoister was selected as frictional material and its paring material is 16Mn steel. The tribological properties of the brake shoe were tested on the pad‐on‐disc friction tester by the simulation of continuous emergency braking conditions. The thermal analysis experiments, the temperature field simulations and the SEM analysis of the brake shoe were accomplished to reveal the mechanisms of the FC.

It was found that the friction coefficient of the brake shoe sometimes falls suddenly during braking. This abnormal frictional phenomena is called “Frictional catastrophe (FC)”. It is considered that the friction heat, which is accumulated rapidly by the braking on the surface of the brake shoe, makes the surface layer material qualitatively change from the solid state to a mixed state composed of gases, liquids and solid. The frictional modality of the braking changes accordingly from dry friction to lubrication with gases and liquids. The sudden lubrication makes the friction coefficient fall suddenly and induces the FC phenomena.

An abnormal tribological phenomena called “Frictional catastrophe (FC)” was found in this paper. The investigations about the behaviors and mechanisms of the FC are considered helpful for improving the braking safety of mine hoisters and other machines.

Integrating social network theory with signaling theory, the purpose of this research is to examine the impact of corporate political connections and executive’s international experience on Chinese firms initial public offerings (IPOs) performance in the USA.

This study used Securities Data Company (SDC) New Issues database to identify all Chinese firms that went public in the USA between 2003 and 2014. Consistent with previous research, IPO firms excluded from the sample include merger or acquisitions, spin-offs and initial stage listed firms. The final sample size is of 142 Chinese foreign IPOs in the US markets.

This study finds that firms with political connections perform significantly poor than firms without political connections. It shows that US stock markets react to the signals of political connections of Chinese foreign IPOs. In response, the Chinese foreign IPOs can signal international work experience of top executives to US investors. The results show that the executives’ international work experience has significant positive relationships on foreign IPO performance of Chinese firms. Moreover, this study finds that the interaction between corporate political connections and international experience pursues positive effects on the performance of foreign IPOs.

This research intends to extend the knowledge of how corporate political connections and international work experience affects the performance of Chinese firms attempting to access US capital markets. To date, scholars have not investigated the influence of corporate political connections on the amount of capital raised by foreign IPOs.

It is widely accepted that business excellence comes from firm-specific factors. However, it is still unclear how institutional relatedness – the degree of embeddedness with the dominant institutions that confer resources and legitimacy, influences the business excellence of the firm. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of three kinds of institutional relatedness, i.e. home government ties, initial public offerings (IPOs) and alliances with foreign firms, on the business excellence of Chinese firms.

This study uses a sample of firms enlisted on the “Most Respected Companies” rank in China during the period 2002–2015 and their paired firms who are absent from the list, by means of ordinary least square regression estimator, to explore the relationship between institutional relatedness and business excellence.

The empirical results suggest that IPOs and alliances with foreign firms significantly strengthen firms’ business excellence. Furthermore, home government ties have positive effects on outbound IPOs and alliances with foreign firms but hinder business excellence.

This study extends the business excellence literature by characterizing institutional rather than firm-specific factors from an institution-based view. It also enriches research on outcomes of institutional relatedness through investigating empirically its impact on business excellence. The findings provide new insights into the dual role of home government ties in achieving business excellence.