Journal of Management Studies

Acedo, Francisco José; Barroso, Carmen; Casanueva, Cristóbal; Galán, José Luis

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00625.xpmid: N/A

In recent decades there has been growing interest in the nature and scale of scientific collaboration. Studies into co‐authorship have taken two different approaches. The first one attempts to analyse the reasons why authors collaborate and the consequences of such decision (Laband and Tollison, 2000). The second approach is based on the idea that co‐authorship creates a social network of researchers (Barabási et al., 2002; Moody, 2004; Newman, 2001). In this study we have carried out an exploratory analysis of co‐authorships in the field of management from the two aforementioned approaches. The results obtained show a growing tendency of the co‐authored papers in the field of management, similar to what can be observed in other disciplines. Our study analyses some of the underpinning factors, which have been highlighted in the literature, explaining this tendency. Thus, the progressive quantitative character of research and the influence of the collaboration on the articles' impact are enhanced. The network analysis permits the exploration of the peculiarities of the management in comparison with other fields of knowledge, as well as the existing linkages between the most central and prominent authors within this discipline.

Möller, Kristian; Svahn, Senja

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00626.xpmid: N/A

abstract This paper focuses on the role of knowledge in intentionally created business networks called nets. Nets are seen to offer firms collective benefits beyond those of a single firm or market transaction. We propose that the types of knowledge and learning required in the management of different types of business net are dependent on the value creation characteristics of the net types. Based on this we suggest a classification of three generic net types –‘current business nets’, ‘business renewal nets’, and ‘emerging new business nets’– and argue that they pose different conditions for management in nets. Using this framework and integrating notions from the industrial network approach, strategic management and dynamic capabilities view, and organizational learning we make a number of observations and propositions about the role of knowledge and learning in the three types of business net. The paper contributes to the emerging theory of network management.

Haleblian, Jerayr; Rajagopalan, Nandini

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00627.xpmid: N/A

abstract Extant literature that examines the role of boards in the CEO dismissal process has focused on the impact of board composition. However, it has rarely considered the influence of sense making and interpretation on CEO dismissal. This paper draws on the strategic change literature, which demonstrates a link between cognitions and action, to develop a three‐stage framework in which we articulate how sense making (stage 1) and interpretation (stage 2) impact the decision to dismiss a CEO (stage 3). More specifically, the board's perception of performance, its attributions of performance and efficacy assessment of the CEO, and the board's composition impact the decision to dismiss the CEO. The resulting model illuminates the domain of board cognitions and board composition within CEO dismissal decisions and facilitates future empirical research.

Hong, Jacky F. L.; Easterby‐Smith, Mark; Snell, Robin Stanley

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00628.xpmid: N/A

abstract Qualitative interviews and observations were conducted to study the cross‐border transfer of organizational learning systems to the subsidiaries of five Japanese manufacturing companies operating in South China. This paper develops a holistic model of the overall process, by integrating knowledge‐oriented, routine‐oriented, and social/contextual perspectives, each of which plays a necessary role in explaining essential aspects. One feature of the transfer of organizational learning systems entailed arranging local access to, and opportunity to replicate, various types of knowledge repository that contained corporate values as well as technical expertise. A second feature involved the development of collective learning routines through dynamic interplay with evolving, locally based, knowledge repositories. A third feature, in two companies, entailed the creation of enterprise contexts that reproduced the socialization and corporate culture maintenance rituals, and the open plan factory and office designs, that were hallmarks of the respective parent companies, and which appeared highly conducive to the transfer of collective learning routines to the local sites. Findings indicate that successful cross‐border transfer of organizational learning systems entails the development and implementation of an overall heuristic design for cultivating collective learning routines through the engineering of enterprise contexts and the responsive management of knowledge repositories.

Heracleous, Loizos

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00629.xpmid: N/A

abstract This study drew from a structurational view of discourse and employed a discourse analysis approach based on rhetoric and hermeneutics to analyse the organizational discourses operating in the UK operations of a global human resources consulting firm, People Associates. The aims were firstly to understand in what sense we can speak of ‘modes of discourse’ in organizational settings; secondly to explore the potential existence and nature of interrelations among different modes of discourse; and thirdly to explore the constructive potential of modes of discourse on their social and organizational contexts. The results suggest that modes of discourse can usefully be seen as rhetorical enthymemes constituted of relatively stable, normative structures and flexible, action‐oriented structures; that modes of discourse can interrelate through their deeper structural features, and can have mutually co‐optive or antagonistic relationships; and lastly that the constructive potential of discourse is based primarily on its deeper structures, and on the consonance of surface communicative actions with these structures. This research thus sheds light on fundamental definitional and substantive issues in organizational discourse; in particular offering a novel conceptualization of the nature of discourse, a further understanding of discursive interrelations, and finally one way to understand its constructive effects on social organizations.

Ellis, Paul D.

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00630.xpmid: N/A

abstract Quantitative evidence drawn from a meta‐analysis of 56 studies (58 samples) conducted in 28 countries reveals that market orientation is a generic determinant of firm performance. However, stronger effects were found for studies set in large, mature markets and when market orientation was measured using Kohli, Jaworski and Kumar's (1993) MARKOR scale. The meta‐analysis also revealed that the value of a market orientation weakens in proportion to the cultural distance separating the home market from the USA. This study thus extends previous research by: (1) providing evidence of measurement moderators that inhibit the generalization of results obtained from studies using different scales and performance variables; (2) establishing benchmark effect sizes for specific regions around the world; and (3) revealing that the managerial value of a market orientation is significantly affected by the cultural and economic characteristics of the host country.

Meyer, Klaus E.

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00631.xpmid: N/A

abstract Globalization is changing the competitive terrain on which companies develop their corporate strategy. On the global stage, key competitive advantages are gained through internationally fungible resources. Consequently, diversified conglomerates are converting to global specialists in narrower niche markets and competing with a small number of multinational enterprises operating worldwide. Their internationalization and their reduction of product diversification are opposite sides of the same coin: globalfocusing. I extend Penrosian resource‐based theory to analyse this change process, notably by distinguishing country and industry specificity of firms' core competences, and by integrating divestment as part of firm growth processes. Globalfocusing is driven by shifts in the relative importance of country‐specific and industry‐specific resources and capabilities due to changes in the internal and external environment, notably the globalization of markets and supply chains. The argument is developed using case studies of restructuring of two Danish manufacturing enterprises. On this basis, I analyse the forces driving globalfocusing processes and suggest propositions for empirical testing.

Carter, Suzanne M.

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00632.xpmid: N/A

abstract This study examines when a firm's members are most likely to promote and defend its reputation. Building on past research in impression management theory and the upper‐echelons perspective, I argue that firms facing increased visibility among different stakeholder groups will increase corporate reputation management activities towards those groups and decrease activities towards other groups. I further argue that top management group characteristics will moderate these relationships, suggesting that certain top management groups are more attuned to the situational needs of reputation management. A set of hypotheses are tested using pooled cross‐sectional time‐series data on a set of Fortune 500 companies. Results indicate that firms generally directed reputation management activities towards their more visible stakeholders. However, the type and extent of reputation management behaviour varied. Specifically, for firms whose top management groups were more highly educated or output oriented, highly visible situations with the media were more likely to be associated with a higher use of press releases. Moreover, those same firms devoted more resources to mass media advertising under situations of high consumer visibility compared to firms whose top management groups were less educated or throughput oriented.

Chen, Guoquan; Tjosvold, Dean; Liu, Chunhong

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00633.xpmid: N/A

abstract This study proposes that when top management team members are convinced that their leader is committed to people and productivity, they conclude that their leader is effective and contribute to making their organization innovative. Cooperative goals among top management team members may be credible evidence that their leader has people and production values. Executives from over 100 organizations in China completed measures of their cooperative, competitive, and independent goals, their leader's people and production values, and their leader's effectiveness. CEOs from these firms rated their organization's innovativeness. Structural equation analysis suggested that cooperative goals among top management teams convince them that their leader values people and production and that these values in turn result in leader effectiveness and organizational innovation. Results, coupled with previous research, were interpreted as suggesting that cooperative goals and leader people and production values are foundations for leader and top management team effectiveness in China.

Ruigrok, Winfried; Peck, Simon I.; Keller, Hansueli

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00634.xpmid: N/A

abstract Boards of directors have a number of roles. The board's monitoring function has been the subject of much work. Less examined is the role that the board has in setting company strategy. This paper uses agency and network perspectives in developing and testing the relationship between board characteristics and involvement in strategic decision making. Using primary and secondary data, our results suggest that the level of board involvement in strategic decision making is related to a number of governance variables. We demonstrate that involvement is generally lower where boards are highly interlocked. We also show that certain types of board interlocks – namely horizontal (same industry) and those involving direct links with the banking sector – are particularly associated with this negative effect. There is weaker evidence that board strategic involvement is lower where the roles of company chief executive and chair are combined. We find no evidence that factors such as board size, or the percentage of outside directors per se are related to board involvement in strategic decision making. In doing so, this paper adds to the growing literature synthesizing the structural features and processes of boards.