W.P.M. De Silva, Suranga Jayasena, Piyumi Thennakoon and B.A.K.S. Perera
The construction industry is responsible for over 30% of natural resource extraction and 25% of global waste generation. Modular construction (MC) offers an opportunity to move…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction industry is responsible for over 30% of natural resource extraction and 25% of global waste generation. Modular construction (MC) offers an opportunity to move towards a circular economy (CE), enhancing the value at the end-of-life stage through reuse and disassembly. However, a gap remains, prohibiting the full realisation of this potential. This study aims to bridge this gap by developing a strategic framework that enhances the end-of-life value of MBs by integrating CE principles by investigating key parameters, identifying relevant CE principles and formulating integration strategies to maximise their effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a qualitative research approach, using two Delphi rounds with experts selected through purposive sampling. The qualitative data were analysed using manual content analysis.
Findings
The research identifies six parameters that influence the end-of-life value of MBs and aligns them with suitable CE 9R principles. In total, 41 strategies are provided for integrating these principles with 6 parameters to enhance the end-of-life value of MBs.
Originality/value
The study findings present a systematic approach to integrating CE principles to enhance the end-of-life value of MBs. Identifying specific strategies integrating CE principles for each key parameter distinguishes it from previous research, which often lacks this level of focus on end-of-life parameter-specific strategies. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of the practical application of CE concepts in MC. Further, it offers practical strategies for enhancing the end-of-life value of MB to promote a sustainable built environment.
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Haiyan Zhou, Hanwen Chen and Zhirong Cheng
In this paper, we investigate whether internal control and whether corporate life cycle would affect firm performance in the emerging markets of China.
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we investigate whether internal control and whether corporate life cycle would affect firm performance in the emerging markets of China.
Methodology/approach
We use Chen, Dong, Han, and Zhou’s (2013) internal control index on the effectiveness of internal control and Dickinson’s (2011) definition on firm life cycle. We use multivariate regression analysis.
Findings
We find that the internal control improves corporate performance. When dividing firm life cycle into five stages: introduction, growth, mature, shake-out and decline, we find that the impacts of internal control on firm performance vary with different stages. The positive impact of internal control on firm performance is more significant in maturity and shake-out stages than other stages.
Research limitations/implications
Our findings would have implications for the regulators and policy makers with regards to the importance of internal control in corporate governance and the effectiveness of implementing standards and guidelines on internal control in public firms.
Practical implications
In addition, our findings on the various roles of internal control at different stages of firm life cycle would help managers and board of directors find more focus in risk management and board monitoring, respectively.
Originality/value
Although the prior literature have examined the link between internal control, information quality and cost of equity capital (Ashbaugh-Skaife, Collins, Kinney, & LaFond, 2009; Ogneva, Subramanyam, & Raghunandan, 2007), our study would be the first attempt to investigate the link between internal control and firm performance during different stages of firm life cycles.
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The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is…
Abstract
The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.
Alessandro Gabrielli and Giulio Greco
Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), this study investigates how tax planning affects the likelihood of financial default in different stages of the corporate life cycle.
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), this study investigates how tax planning affects the likelihood of financial default in different stages of the corporate life cycle.
Design/methodology/approach
Collecting a large sample of US firms between 1989 and 2016, hypotheses are tested using a hazard model. Several robustness and endogeneity checks corroborate the main findings.
Findings
The results show that tax-planning firms are less likely to default in the introduction and decline stages, while they are more likely to default in the growth and maturity stages. The findings suggest that introductory and declining firms use cash resources obtained from tax planning efficiently to meet their needs and acquire other useful resources. In growing and mature firms, tax aggressiveness generates unnecessary slack resources, weakens managerial discipline and increases reputational risks.
Practical implications
The results shed light on the benefits and costs associated with tax planning throughout firms' life cycle, holding great significance for managers, investors, lenders and other stakeholders.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature that examines resource management at different life cycle stages by showing that cash resources from tax planning are managed in distinctive ways in each life cycle stage, having a varied impact on the likelihood of default. The authors shed light on underexplored cash resources. Furthermore, this study shows the potential linkages between the agency theory and RBV.
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The behaviour of an enterprise (including ethical behaviour) strongly depends on the organization’s culture, values and beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that…
Abstract
Purpose
The behaviour of an enterprise (including ethical behaviour) strongly depends on the organization’s culture, values and beliefs. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that organizational culture differs according to enterprise life cycle stage. Also the importance of the knowledge and awareness of these differences to enterprises’ management in order to be able to ensure enterprises’ success is argued.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study research methodology was applied to explore the differences in the type of organizational culture as well as cultural strength depending on the enterprise’s life cycle stage. For the empirical testing, the author have selected Slovenia, one of the most developed European post-socialist transition countries.
Findings
The research revealed differences in the types and strengths of enterprises’ organizational cultures and showed their dependence on the enterprises’ life cycle stages.
Practical implications
Knowledge of differences in organizational culture in relation to an enterprise’s life cycle stage can significantly contribute to the behaviour of the enterprise’s key stakeholders by ensuring the long-term and sustainable success of the enterprise.
Originality/value
The available literature does not provide similar research of differences in organizational culture in relation to an enterprise’s life cycle stages.
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Gökberk Can, Rezart Demiraj and Hounaida Mersni
The purpose of the article is to examine the effect of life cycle stages on capital expenditures, using Borsa Istanbul-listed companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the article is to examine the effect of life cycle stages on capital expenditures, using Borsa Istanbul-listed companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The panel data estimation procedure was used as the primary method to test the hypothesis. The authors used four additional analyses to check the robustness of the results. The model was tested for endogeneity using the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation. Quantile regression was utilized for the non-parametric test of the model. In the third robustness test, the sample was divided into two using financial constraints with the Size-Age (SA) Index proposed by Hadlock and Pierce (2010). The last analysis removed the global financial crisis (GFC) years from the sample.
Findings
Borsa Istanbul-listed companies tend to invest less as they move forward in their life cycle stages. The results show that market capitalization, operating cash flow levels and leverage positively affect capital expenditure investments. The empirical evidence also revealed that cash holding levels have a negative effect on capital expenditure decisions. Robustness tests support the results.
Practical implications
The findings are potentially useful for investors and managers. Having the information that decreasing capital expenditures signals that the company is in the last stages of its life would be a sign for managers to improve their investment strategies to avoid getting out of business and survive. They need to find options and solutions to propel their companies back on a path of growth. Additionally, the same information could be vital for investors' investment decisions.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by providing evidence about the effect of life cycle stages on capital expenditures from an emerging market. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first paper to investigate empirically how moving forward in the life cycle stages affects capital expenditures in an emerging market.
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Donald L. Lester, John A. Parnell, William “Rick” Crandall and Michael L. Menefee
This exploratory study seeks to bridge a gap in the literature by exploring the life cycle‐strategy relationship to discover the preferred strategy for high and low performing…
Abstract
Purpose
This exploratory study seeks to bridge a gap in the literature by exploring the life cycle‐strategy relationship to discover the preferred strategy for high and low performing firms in four of the five stages of the organizational life cycle.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 600 managers randomly chosen from chamber of commerce membership lists in the southern USA were mailed an extensive scale that included items to measure life cycle stage, generic strategy, industry attractiveness and stability, size, and satisfaction with performance. The instrument included 20 life‐cycle items, four items for each of the five stages.
Findings
Partial support was found for the expected relationship between strategy and performance as firms move through the organizational life cycle. New, high‐performing organizations that were satisfied with their performance preferred first mover strategies, while renewing organizations categorized as high performers also emphasized the first mover strategic approach. Mature high performers preferred a uniqueness strategy over one based on efficiency.
Research limitations/implications
The fifth proposition, concerning declining firms, could not be adequately tested. Other limitations of this study include the limited sample size, the limited size variance of participating firms, and the cross‐industry nature of the sample. Combining the research stream of organizational life cycle with generic strategies and satisfaction with performance complicated the project.
Practical implications
Life cycle and performance research provides managers with a snapshot of high and low performing firms and an understanding of how their situation, decision‐making style, strategy and structure fit. High performers focus on proactive, first mover strategies.
Originality/value
The organizational life cycle is operationalized, demonstrating characteristics for high and low performing firms in each stage except decline.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the organization’s life-cycle stages influence the venture capital investor’s decision. The present study also aims to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the organization’s life-cycle stages influence the venture capital investor’s decision. The present study also aims to explore the relationships between life cycle stages and financing decisions of investors of an organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The research focuses on a qualitative approach and adopts descriptive and case study methods to perceive the data collected. By the multi-case research approach, the authors conducted interviews in analytics and technological companies. The data originates from semi-structured interviews and publicly available data with various venture capital firms.
Findings
In this research, 10 stages of the organization’s life cycle from the Adizes theory have been considered. It starts from the first two stages as courtship and infancy to bureaucracy and death to the final stages. The results and findings indicate that life cycle stages influence venture capitalist financing decisions.
Research limitations/implications
The implications of the current research help venture capitalist to take investment decisions according to the life cycle stage of the organization. Furthermore, according to the stage of the organization, the owner of a venture capital firm can approach various venture capitalists for the betterment of the organization.
Originality/value
The novelty of this research is to consider a case-based approach involving Adizes’ life cycle in all 10 stages of venture capital firms that affect venture capitalists.
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This study aims to describe and explain the design of management accounting and control systems (MACS) in the growth and revival stages of the organizational life‐cycle of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe and explain the design of management accounting and control systems (MACS) in the growth and revival stages of the organizational life‐cycle of the firm. In addition, it explores how the presence of equity capital investors affects the design of MACS in the case firm in its growth and revival stages.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study method is adopted to illustrate the design of MACS in the growth and revival stages. The data are analyzed to describe events in the two organizational life‐cycle stages, which are then compared to identify special features of the design of MACS.
Findings
The results show that, in contrast to a growth stage, a revival firm develops MACS for the firm's internal managerial and organizational purposes, such as a more diversified business strategy and more diversified organizational structure, as well as for external reasons, such as a more challenging business environment and investors' requirements. Investors require more detailed management accounting information to know how to get a better return on their investments in a revival stage, while investors ensured that the case firm was only using formal MACS in a growth stage.
Research limitations/implications
The life‐cycle approach is the main perspective in data gathering even though this may bias the data. Therefore, not everything may be observed. Even though Friesen and Miller's life‐cycle model allows firm to be established through a merger of several declining firms, the birth of the case firm differs from a typical birth of the firm. This study is exploratory in nature, suggesting new insights that could be followed up in future research.
Practical implications
The information produced by MACS is, at a minimum, equally important in the revival stage as in the growth stage even though MACS are used for different reasons. Therefore, MACS cannot be used in the same way in the revival stage as in the growth stage.
Originality/value
The study describes and explains the design of MACS by comparing the growth and revival stages, while the accounting literature does not traditionally distinguish between growth and revival stages in this respect.
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Ajid Ur Rehman, Tanveer Ahmad, Shahzad Hussain and Shoaib Hassan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how corporate cash holdings changes across firm life cycle and how firms undergo heterogeneous dynamic cash adjustment as they advance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how corporate cash holdings changes across firm life cycle and how firms undergo heterogeneous dynamic cash adjustment as they advance from one stage to the next stage.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses an extensive data set of 2,994 Chinese A-listed firms. The authors use generalized method of moments (GMM) and Fisher Panel unit root testing to investigate the targeting behavior of Chinese firms.
Findings
The uni-variate investigation reveals that firms in the growth stage exhibits the highest cash levels and firms in the decline stage report the lowest cash levels. As growth firms have high investment needs, they may require raising external capital to meet investment needs. To avoid the costly external financing, firms in growth stage tend to hold more cash. The GMM estimation reveals that along all the phases of firm life cycle there are evidences of trade-off behavior of corporate cash holdings. The authors report that adjustment rate increases as firms enters into the growth stage.
Practical implications
The findings provide both theoretical and practical insight to align cash policies with the available strategic choices along firm life cycle in an emerging market characterized by market imperfections.
Originality/value
The study is unique from the context that it is applying robust methodology to one of rarely investigated area in corporate cash policy. The peculiar Chinese study setting characterized by higher information asymmetry, high cost of external financing and heterogeneous access to financing sources provide theoretical and empirical underpinnings to investigate and gain insight about how corporate cash policy can be aligned with strategic choices available across different stages of life cycle.