Business Commons^™

From Grain To Glass To Covid 19, Angie Bidlack, Jenny Fisher, Lascelles Hussey, Alyssa Rudner, Jane Siegler

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

The case examines the business operations of Midwest Whiskey, MWW, focusing on the downstream supply chain. This includes examining the risks, efficiencies, and modes of distribution for all of the MWW products, before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Questions of interest include: Considering the downstream supply chain for MWW, where would you suggest Casey invest in the B2B and B2C Channels? Would your answer change had the pandemic not occurred? What risks does MWW have? Why did you choose each? What capabilities, and subsequent actions, can MWW use to mitigate these? What are positives and negatives to investing in a …

Go Global Or Stay Local? Understanding How Fiscal Incentives Reshape Supply Networks, Ricardo Silveira Martins, Janaina Siegler, Armando Souza-Junior, Barbara Flynn, Guilherme Silveira Martins

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study investigates the way firms reconfigure their supply base and reshape their production network to capture value from Free Trade Zone incentives to capture value from incentives. Six production networks located in Manaus, Brazil are analyzed using the Global Production Network framework and factors related to plant type and supplier relationships. A multiple case study was conducted. Data was collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews administered in loco, and the selected the firms were leaders in three different industries: transportation, mechanical assembly and chemicals. The results indicate that, if effectively applied, incentives can impact production network configuration from an embeddedness …

Building Country-Specific Advantages (Csa): Understanding How Ftz Incentives Impact Strategic Plant Location And Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Armando Araújo Souza-Júnior, Ricardo Silveira Martins, Jane Siegler, Afrânio A. F. Soares-Filho

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

We explore how leading companies manage relationships in supply chains that are not formed by natural market forces. Rather, they were stimulated by exogenous forces, such as the Free Trade Zones that are created by the Government’s policy initiatives for purposes of regional development. We researched electronic industry in Manaus, located in the Brazilian Amazon Rain Forest. Multi-methods using qualitative, structured interviews, and quantitative approaches, structural modeling equation, were used. Results indicated that the companies settled for a location that they would not do under normal conditions and, secondly, that there was an expectation of externality as the makers of …

Challenges And Opportunities For The Development Of River Logistics As A Sustainable Alternative: A Systematic Review, Ademar Vilarinho, Lara Bartocci Liboni, Jane Siegler

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

In the last decades there has been great concern about sustainability, especially in companies, where the concept of sustainable development is no longer a trend, but a reality. In the logistics field it should not be any different, since it´s importance to the movement of goods and people. This movement is carried out by four transportation modals, road, air, rail and river. The road transportation is widely used in relation to the others, bringing some problems in large urban centers like traffic jams, climate change, pollution, high CO2 emissions, among others. Thus, it is currently a great challenge to make …

The “Indy Way”: Lessons From Brazilian Sugarcane Ethanol And Indycar Partnership, Christian Santiago, Jane Siegler, Marcelo Martins Sa

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This paper explores how the Brazilian sugar-energetic processors used Indycar racing to increase exports to the United States and create value by transforming the Brazilian ethanol from a commodity fuel to an advanced biofuel, between 2009 to 2012. This case study uses the relationship between Brazilian Sugar-cane Industry Association (UNICA), Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX-Brazil), and the IndyCar Racing League (IRL), to show the ability to learn and perform in a competitive scenario. Absorptive Capacity (ACAP) theory is used to understand how the Brazilian sugar-energetic processors identified, assimilated, transformed, and exploited knowledge from this relationship, as well as …

Effectuation, Not Being Pragmatic Or Process Theorizing, Remains Ineffectual: Responding To The Commentaries, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the provocative Dialogue pieces of Read, Sarasvathy, Dew, and Wiltbank (2016; henceforth, “RSDW”); Reuber, Fischer, and Coviello (2016; henceforth, “RFC”); Gupta, Chiles, and McMullen (2016; henceforth, “GCM”); and Garud and Gehman (2016; henceforth, “GG”), each of which makes several claims in defense of effectuation, as well as describes several ways forward in entrepreneurship- and process-related theorizing. We respond in a manner consistent with the traditional perspective in management theorizing that “good theory is practical” (Lewin, 1945), where “theory is theory” (Simon, 1967; Van de Ven, 1989) based on our discipline’s collective commitment to …

Banco Solidario S.A.: The Recovery Strategy, 2000–2004, Karina Caballero, Mauricio A. Melgarejo, Enrique Ogliastri

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Five years passed since, in April, 2000, Kurt Koenigsfest took over as the Chief Executive Officer at Banco Solidario S.A. (BancoSol), in La Paz, Bolivia. BancoSol had become the top Latin American bank specializing in providing microbusiness services. Since its beginning in 1992, BancoSol achieved excellent results and became an international reference in the microcredit area. In mid-2000, external and internal factors caused its performance to deteriorate. Kurt and his management team set and implemented a strategy that led the bank to be rated as the best financial institution in the Bolivian financial system in 2004. The time had come …

Effectuation As Ineffectual? Applying The 3e Theory-Assessment Framework To A Proposed New Theory Of Entrepreneurship, Richard J. Arend, Hessam Sarooghi, Andrew C. Burkemper

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Effectuation is a proposed new theory of entrepreneurship, with insufficient empirical testing and critical analysis. Drawing on a new, comprehensive set of theory-building criteria—sourced from and complementing those of Robert Dubin and others—we provide the first formal assessment of effectuation as a theory. We highlight its strengths and weaknesses, leveraging the former to address the latter in five different directions that would build on the existing work to improve this theory. The assessment exercise also displays the value of our assessment framework in guiding the evaluation and development of other existing and future theories in entrepreneurship and management.

Gender Effects On Perceptions Of Individual And Corporate Social Responsibility, Courtney Droms Hatch, Sheryl-Ann Stephen

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

There has been an increasing importance for both individuals and companies on acting in a socially responsible manner. This study demonstrates that gender plays an important role in perceptions of social responsibility, such that the effect of an individual’s social responsibility on their perceptions of a company’s social responsibility is moderated by the gender of the respondent. Specifically, we find that women have higher levels of Internalized Moral Identity than men. Moreover, we find that women believe that organizations should be more beneficial to society than men, which translates into a higher quality of corporate social responsibility. The theoretical and …

Fragmentação Do Conhecimento Científico Em Administração: Uma Análise Crítica, Jane Siegler, Cristiane Biazzin, Aline Rodrigues Fernandes

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study aims to rescue the discussion of science fragmentation, exploring how this phenomenon manifests itself in Management Science and Business Administration and what its implications for the advancement of scientific knowledge. As an illustrative case, we used the interface between Operations Management and Human Resources Management fields. The methodology adopted was a bibliometric research through a structured mapping of the scientific production of these two major areas. The results indicated that both evolved independently, with little synergy, given the paucity of works found in two decades of research. The study highlights some factors that can enhance the fragmentation: epistemological …

When Do Domestic Alliances Help Ventures Abroad? Direct And Moderating Effects From A Learning Perspective, Hana Milanov, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

While the importance of strategic alliances for new venture internationalization is well acknowledged, the effect of domestic partners remains less understood. Building on organizational learning theory's vicarious learning arguments, we suggest that internationally experienced domestic partners positively influence new ventures' international intensity. Moreover, acknowledging that ventures may have multiple learning sources, we argue that the effect is more pronounced when substituting for the lack of new ventures' top management teams' international experience, or when complementing the insights about foreign markets received from foreign alliance partners. The analysis of 194 publicly held new ventures largely supports our hypotheses.

Entrepreneurial Orientation And International Scope: The Differential Roles Of Innovativeness, Proactiveness, And Risk-Taking, Li Dai, Vladislav Maksimov, Brett Anitra Gilbert, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This research integrates the international business and entrepreneurship literatures by examining the independent influences of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking on the ability of a firm to broaden its scope across international markets. For each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation, a cost–benefit framework is applied to highlight the trade-offs associated with different levels in the internationalization context. Based on a unique dataset of 500 SMEs spanning 10 industries, the results reflect the consequences of being “stuck in the middle” with respect to their strategic posture on innovativeness and proactiveness, but reveal a nuanced role for risk-taking behavior. The non-uniform and non-linear relationships …

Is More Always Better? Risk Trade-Offs Among Internationalizing New Ventures, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall-Covin

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

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Design/methodology/approach

Responsiveness In The Supply Chain: A Possible Decision-Driver For Location Of New Subsidiaries?, Ronald Tavares, Cristiane Biazzin Villar, Jane Siegler

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study explores possible new drivers that may be integrated into the decision-making models for establishing the location of subsidiaries. More precisely, it seeks to answer the following research question: "Does the degree of responsiveness in the supply chain influence decisions regarding decisions the location of multinational subsidiaries?" Based on the theoretical approaches of the Uppsala School, the Eclectic and RBV, this research in the case of a large multinational agribusiness sector, aiming to explore the recent decision-drivers for the location of new subsidiaries and the influence of the current competitive market in this context.

Take It Back: Dynamic Consumer Goals In Retail Customer Service Transactions, Courtney Droms

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Product returns and exchanges are an important part of a consumer’s postpurchase decision-making process and have economic and psychological consequences. Based primarily on a participant observation research, a conceptual model is developed that portrays two distinct process paths that occur during return transactions. The analysis incorporates previous research regarding goal-directed behavior and role and script theories in understanding the complexity of a return transaction. Consumers are identified as having both economic and social goals, and the change catalysts promoting shifts in goal focus as well as the interplay between these goals are represented in the model.

M-Commerce Development In Developing Country: Users’ Perspective, Hongjiang Xu

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

M-commerce (mobile commerce) is growing increasingly popular, and China has a huge potential to develop m-commerce technology. This study focuses on users' perspectives of m-commerce development in China. The development of m-commerce was measured by the extent of m-commerce businesses adopting business intelligence. A research framework was developed for users' perceptions on m-commerce development, survey questionnaires were used to collect data, and ANOVA was used for data analysis.

International Exposure Through Network Relationships: Implications For New Venture Internationalization, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Dan Li

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Drawing on the network literature and attention-based view, we examine the extent to which international exposure from key informal (geographically proximate firms) and formal (alliance partners) network relationships impacts new venture internationalization. Our findings are three-fold. First, international exposure from both types of network relationships positively influence new venture internationalization, and serve as substitutes for each other. Second, the effects differ based on the age of the venture. While older ventures benefit more from international exposure from alliance partners, younger ventures are more influenced by international exposure from geographically proximate firms. Third, our analysis confirms a three-way interactive effect of …

Untangling The Relationship Between New Venture Internationalization And Performance, Stephanie A. Fernhaber

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

To help untangle the inconsistency in prior performance studies for new venture internationalization, the dynamic capabilities perspective is revisited to consider whether the relationship is more complex than previously assumed. While internationalization requires the reconfiguration of routines and resources, survivability is argued to peak at moderate levels of internationalization where the associated resources and risk is balanced between local and foreign markets. In contrast, sales growth is suggested to peak at either low or high levels of internationalization where a singular market focus and set of capabilities is being exploited. The results confirm that the level of new venture internationalization …

Beating Competitors To International Markets: The Value Of Geographically Balanced Networks For Innovation, Pankaj C. Patel, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Patricia P. Mcdougall-Covin, Robert P. Van Der Have

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Being able to launch new products internationally is critical for technology-based ventures to recoup the high costs of R&D and to exploit their innovations fully. Despite the widely recognized importance of networks within the innovation development process, there appear to be contrasting viewpoints as to whether local or foreign network partners contribute more in the race to internationalize. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of comparative advantage, we propose and empirically confirm that ventures pursuing a balance of local and foreign network connections for the development of an innovation are able to bring the product more rapidly into the international marketplace. …

Organization’S Top Management And Other System Users’ Perceptions Towards Data Quality Performance And Expectations, Hongjiang Xu

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Across all levels in an organization, from CEO, executives, middle management to day-to-day operators, everyone relies on high quality information for decision making. This paper proposes frameworks for testing the alignment of organization's top management and other system users' perceptions towards and data quality for for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of data quality management. The frameworks not only have contributions to the theory but also have implications for organization's top management and practitioners in the fields.

Education And Ecotourism: A Framework And Analysis Of Education In Ecolodges In Costa Rica And Panama, Gregory E. Osland, Robert D. Mackoy

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Education of tourists at nature-based lodges is an important but under-researched component of ecotourism. This paper proposes a framework that identifies and develops a typology of possible educational goals and activities in an ecotourism context. Using data from interviews and participant observation at fourteen leading ecolodges in Costa Rica and Panama, the paper describes, classifies and compares educational efforts directed toward ecolodge guests, with a particular emphasis on the role of nature guides in the educational process. Relationships among several educational goals, tourists' satisfaction, and views of the performance of nature guides are uncovered and explicated. Multiple managerial implications and …

How Do Young Firms Manage Product Portfolio Complexity? The Role Of Absorptive Capacity And Ambidexterity, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Pankaj C. Patel

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Building a complex portfolio of products can be beneficial for young firms due to increased sales growth and competitiveness. Yet, the benefits from product portfolio complexity (PPC) are often outweighed by rising costs, leading to an inverted U-shaped relationship between PPC and performance. Recent research has called for an increased understanding of how firms are able to better manage higher levels of PPC. We suggest that absorptive capacity and ambidexterity are vital to enhancing the benefits and mitigating the costs of increasing PPC. Using a sample of 215 young high technology firms, we find support for positive moderating effects of …

The Challenge Of Implementing An Erp System In A Small And Medium Enterprise – A Teaching Case Of Erp Project Management, Hongjiang Xu, Patrick J. Rondeau, Sakthi Mahenthiran

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation projects are notoriously risky. While large-scale ERP cases continue to be developed, relatively few new ERP cases have been published that further ERP implementation education in small to medium size firms. This case details the implementation of a new ERP system in a medium sized manufacturing firm. As students explore the case, they will be required to address the many ERP-related project management, procurement, human resource, and management involvement issues raised by it. This case highlights the ERP implementation problems experienced by case company in one of their two divisions. The firm is considering …

The Impact Of Early Imprinting On Evolution Of New Venture Networks, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Hana Milanov

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Given the argued importance of networks to new ventures, this paper is intended to fill a noted gap in the literature pertaining to the factors that influence the evolution of new ventures' alliance networks. Drawing on the imprinting literature, we propose that one has to look beyond the first partner per se, and instead focus on the extant relationships the initial partner has with other firms. More specifically, we argue and find that the network size and centrality of a new venture's initial alliance partner influence the subsequent size of the new venture's network.

Racing To Success By Identifying Key Performance Drivers, Kathy Paulson Gjerde, Susan B. Hughes

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This article focuses on ways to identify key performance drivers (KPDs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). Unfortunately, lists of KPIs published in the past often focus on one industry and assume a generic business strategy. In addition, an overemphasis on financial measures will mean that KPIs will reflect past activities rather than signaling future performance. Managers need to develop meaningful metrics for their own businesses, not use generic KPIs. This is particularly important in small and medium-sized enterprises. How adept are you at this task? Do you know what drives net income for your organization?

The Role Of Emotional Labor In Performance Appraisal: Are Supervisors Getting Into The Act?, Samantha A. Ritchie, Allison L. O'Malley

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Researchers have issued a call for research on emotional labor to move beyond service roles to other organizational roles (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1993). The present paper proposes that emotional labor plays a pivotal role during performance feedback exchanges between supervisors and subordinates. We suggest that the emotional labor supervisors engage in while providing performance feedback is a vital mechanism by which leaders impact followers' perceptions of the feedback environment (Steelman, Levy, & Snell, 2004) and, subsequently, important outcomes (e.g., employee satisfaction with the feedback, motivation to use feedback, feedback seeking frequency, and LMX quality).

Virtual Transfer Price Negotiations:Unintended Interactions With Incentive Systems, Greenberg H. R., Greenberg S. P., Sakthi Mahenthiran

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Despite decades of research concerning the impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on decision-making, the potential interaction with the organization's management control system has just recently received attention. Media naturalness theory is used to develop hypotheses concerning the interactions of communication medium with the incentive pay scheme, a ubiquitous aspect of management control systems. A laboratory experiment was used to examine the interactions between two treatments: face-to-face negotiations versus virtual (computer-mediated) negotiations and cooperative versus competitive incentive pay schemes. Buyer-seller dyads negotiated the price and quantity of the transferred goods. Results indicate that while virtual negotiations are more efficient in terms …

Can Leaders Step Outside Of The Gender Box? An Examination Of Leadership And Gender Role Stereotypes, Margaret Y. Padgett, Craig B. Caldwell, Andrew Embry

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

This study examined gender stereotypes for leaders using a more indirect method than is typical in stereotype research. Rather than reveal the leader's gender, this study used vignettes in which the leader's gender was unknown. Consistent with their hypothesis, the authors found that participants were more likely to infer a male (female) gender identity than a female (male) gender identity when presented with a leader using a masculine (feminine) style. They also hypothesized that a leader using a gender-consistent leadership style would be viewed more positively than a leader using a gender-inconsistent style. Contrary to this hypothesis, results revealed that …

International Entrepreneuship And Geographic Location: An Empirical Examination Of New Venture Internationalization, Stephanie A. Fernhaber, Brett Anitra Gilbert, Paticia P. Mcdougall

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

In this paper, we argue that geographic location may be one reason why some ventures are able to acquire the resources needed to internationalize while others cannot. We use ecological arguments to predict an inverted U-shaped relationship between the concentration of industry clustering within a geographic location and the venture's internationalization. We also explore whether venture characteristics influence the nature of this relationship. Our hypotheses are regressed on international intensity and scope, and analyzed through a sample of 156 publicly held new ventures. Results confirm that location influences new venture internationalization, and firm characteristics impact the nature of the relationship.

Tracking Performance: When Less Is More, Kathy Paulson Gjerde, Susan B. Hughes

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

With or without a balanced scorecard, it is easy for managers to become inundated with metrics and measures. In this article, we first highlight the differences between lagging and leading measures. Second, we illustrate the importance of differentiating the strategic leading indicators-the key leading measures-from those that may improve operational efficiency without significant improvements in profitability. Third, we use a business simulation to demonstrate that focusing on and improving the key leading measures has the greatest impact on profitability, but getting lost in the secondary measures dilutes the effect. Combined, the results illustrate that less may be more when it …