Pub Date : 2025-02-08DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102511
Peter J. Buckley , Thomas D. Craig , Ram Mudambi
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in a complex environment characterized by the interplay of macro factors from the external environment and firm-specific micro factors. Both sets of factors have important temporal elements, specifically industry clock speed at the macro level and firm activity duration at the micro level. We argue that the temporal alignment of these factors has a crucial effect on firm performance. We explore the theoretical foundations of this phenomenon and propose the concept of temporal coupling as a mechanism for resolving temporal misalignments. Temporal coupling is defined as the ability of an MNE to effectively synchronize its internal processes with external temporal rhythms. The effective implementation of temporal coupling is a higher-order adaptive capability that provides competitive advantage in global value chain organization.
{"title":"Time and MNE strategy: Managing temporal misalignments in global value chains","authors":"Peter J. Buckley , Thomas D. Craig , Ram Mudambi","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102511","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102511","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operate in a complex environment characterized by the interplay of macro factors from the external environment and firm-specific micro factors. Both sets of factors have important temporal elements, specifically industry clock speed at the macro level and firm activity duration at the micro level. We argue that the temporal alignment of these factors has a crucial effect on firm performance. We explore the theoretical foundations of this phenomenon and propose the concept of temporal coupling as a mechanism for resolving temporal misalignments. Temporal coupling is defined as the ability of an MNE to effectively synchronize its internal processes with external temporal rhythms. The effective implementation of temporal coupling is a higher-order adaptive capability that provides competitive advantage in global value chain organization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 2","pages":"Article 102511"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143395247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-07DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102512
Gonzalo Molina-Sieiro , Steve Lim , David R. King , Michael A. Hitt
When managers anticipate synergy gains from an acquisition, they may pay more for target firm assets than their fair value, creating goodwill on an acquiring firm's balance sheet. If synergy is not subsequently realized and the fair value of goodwill falls below its book value, goodwill write-downs result from annual impairment tests. Managers and investors may be able to avoid value destroying acquisitions if goodwill write-downs can be predicted from information at acquisition completion. We use purchase price allocation information from SEC 10-K filings to evaluate goodwill write-downs of prior acquisitions. For a sample of 421 U.S. acquisitions with a subset of 49 that experienced deal-specific goodwill write-downs, we find that firms acquiring target firms with larger relative size are more likely to experience goodwill write-downs. However, this effect is mitigated when a target firm's value resides in identifiable intangible assets (e.g., brands and patents), suggesting acquirers may have private information about intangible asset combinations. Implications for management research and practice, as well as government policy are discussed.
{"title":"Predicting acquisition specific goodwill write-downs","authors":"Gonzalo Molina-Sieiro , Steve Lim , David R. King , Michael A. Hitt","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102512","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102512","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>When managers anticipate synergy gains from an acquisition, they may pay more for target firm assets than their fair value, creating goodwill on an acquiring firm's balance sheet. If synergy is not subsequently realized and the fair value of goodwill falls below its book value, goodwill write-downs result from annual impairment tests. Managers and investors may be able to avoid value destroying acquisitions if goodwill write-downs can be predicted from information at acquisition completion. We use purchase price allocation information from SEC 10-K filings to evaluate goodwill write-downs of prior acquisitions. For a sample of 421 U.S. acquisitions with a subset of 49 that experienced deal-specific goodwill write-downs, we find that firms acquiring target firms with larger relative size are more likely to experience goodwill write-downs. However, this effect is mitigated when a target firm's value resides in identifiable intangible assets (e.g., brands and patents), suggesting acquirers may have private information about intangible asset combinations. Implications for management research and practice, as well as government policy are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 2","pages":"Article 102512"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143376694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-02DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102507
Sebastian Brenk , Christian Burmeister , Kathleen Diener , Dirk Lüttgens
Increasing digitization and global interconnectedness provide firms with new opportunities for openness in value creation, generating new sources of competitive advantage. We investigate the competitive advantage of open value creation (OVC) and the influencing role of novelty- and efficiency-oriented business model (BM) designs as unique logics of guiding collaborations to access and utilize external resources for value creation. We further examine the role of trust in such collaborative relationships to navigate the relational uncertainties in boundary-spanning transactions within BMs. Based on a survey study with secondary data triangulation, we investigate how companies gain competitive advantage through OVC by adopting an appropriate BM design and relational governance of trust in partners. Our results prove a positive effect of openness in value creation on competitive advantage while the strength of this positive effect is moderated by the BM design and relational trust. Our paper provides guidance on managing openness in value creation under the divergent designs of BMs and relational trust.
{"title":"Boon or bane of open value creation: The impact of business model design and relational trust on competitive advantage","authors":"Sebastian Brenk , Christian Burmeister , Kathleen Diener , Dirk Lüttgens","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102507","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102507","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing digitization and global interconnectedness provide firms with new opportunities for openness in value creation, generating new sources of competitive advantage. We investigate the competitive advantage of open value creation (OVC) and the influencing role of novelty- and efficiency-oriented business model (BM) designs as unique logics of guiding collaborations to access and utilize external resources for value creation. We further examine the role of trust in such collaborative relationships to navigate the relational uncertainties in boundary-spanning transactions within BMs. Based on a survey study with secondary data triangulation, we investigate how companies gain competitive advantage through OVC by adopting an appropriate BM design and relational governance of trust in partners. Our results prove a positive effect of openness in value creation on competitive advantage while the strength of this positive effect is moderated by the BM design and relational trust. Our paper provides guidance on managing openness in value creation under the divergent designs of BMs and relational trust.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 2","pages":"Article 102507"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143510820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102494
Kaili Li , Renjing Liu , Jiamin Dong
In this study, we seize the prevalent phenomenon that demographic attributes serve as representative indicators of social status, leading to status differences among team members due to demographic dissimilarities. Therefore, we reconsider how top management team (TMT) demographic faultline strength affects managerial risk-taking from a status perspective. We hypothesize that high TMT demographic faultline strength makes status boundaries among subgroups more distinct, increasing TMT members’ status perceptions, status conflict, and motivation to change their current status positions, which in turn stimulate them to take more risks to pursue or maintain high status. Findings from a sample of Chinese listed firms support our hypotheses, demonstrating that TMT demographic faultline strength positively affects managerial risk-taking, and the positive relationship is weakened by state ownership and strengthened by institutional development. Additionally, institutional development weakens the negative moderating effect of state ownership. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for better managing demographic faultlines and managerial risk-taking.
{"title":"Striving for superiority: A status perspective on the relationship between top management team demographic faultline strength and managerial risk-taking","authors":"Kaili Li , Renjing Liu , Jiamin Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102494","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102494","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we seize the prevalent phenomenon that demographic attributes serve as representative indicators of social status, leading to status differences among team members due to demographic dissimilarities. Therefore, we reconsider how top management team (TMT) demographic faultline strength affects managerial risk-taking from a status perspective. We hypothesize that high TMT demographic faultline strength makes status boundaries among subgroups more distinct, increasing TMT members’ status perceptions, status conflict, and motivation to change their current status positions, which in turn stimulate them to take more risks to pursue or maintain high status. Findings from a sample of Chinese listed firms support our hypotheses, demonstrating that TMT demographic faultline strength positively affects managerial risk-taking, and the positive relationship is weakened by state ownership and strengthened by institutional development. Additionally, institutional development weakens the negative moderating effect of state ownership. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for better managing demographic faultlines and managerial risk-taking.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 1","pages":"Article 102494"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143162465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102497
Yu Wang , Jie Ma , Xiaoying Chang , Tienan Wang
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling — the misalignment between reported and actual CSR performance — represents a significant challenge in emerging markets. While existing research treats government as a monolithic entity in shaping CSR practices, we argue that varying priorities across governmental levels create multiple government demands that systematically affect firms' CSR decoupling behaviors. Drawing upon neo-institutional theory, we examine how administrative hierarchical distance influences CSR decoupling in China’s regionally decentralized authoritarian regime. Using data from Chinese publicly listed companies, we find that greater administrative hierarchical distance increases firms' propensity to engage in CSR decoupling. This relationship is attenuated in regions with more developed institutions and economies. Our study advances neo-institutional theory by demonstrating how vertical complexity within governmental systems shapes organizational responses to institutional pressures. These findings extend our understanding of CSR decoupling in emerging markets by revealing how layered governmental influences, rather than unified governmental pressure, affect firms' CSR practices.
{"title":"The multifaceted government influence on CSR activities: CSR decoupling in an emerging market","authors":"Yu Wang , Jie Ma , Xiaoying Chang , Tienan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102497","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102497","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling — the misalignment between reported and actual CSR performance — represents a significant challenge in emerging markets. While existing research treats government as a monolithic entity in shaping CSR practices, we argue that varying priorities across governmental levels create multiple government demands that systematically affect firms' CSR decoupling behaviors. Drawing upon neo-institutional theory, we examine how administrative hierarchical distance influences CSR decoupling in China’s regionally decentralized authoritarian regime. Using data from Chinese publicly listed companies, we find that greater administrative hierarchical distance increases firms' propensity to engage in CSR decoupling. This relationship is attenuated in regions with more developed institutions and economies. Our study advances neo-institutional theory by demonstrating how vertical complexity within governmental systems shapes organizational responses to institutional pressures. These findings extend our understanding of CSR decoupling in emerging markets by revealing how layered governmental influences, rather than unified governmental pressure, affect firms' CSR practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 1","pages":"Article 102497"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143162463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102495
David B. Dose , Ronny Reinhardt , Maria Krämer (née Schwabe) , Gianfranco Walsh
Firms face a fundamental and persistent challenge in balancing the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability, where elements that seem logical individually become contradictory when juxtaposed. Individual decision makers' beliefs about the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability can shape decision outcomes, offering an intriguing micro-foundation for strategic choices. This article conceptualizes and proposes a scale to measure decision makers' beliefs about the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability. Across three studies, we develop a reliable, valid, parsimonious 12-item environmental sustainability–profitability beliefs (ESPB) scale. Three further studies demonstrate its ability to predict evaluations of sustainable new product ideas, investment success in markets with different crowdfunding platforms, and information search efforts for sustainable new product ideas. Overall, the findings emphasize the important influence of individual-level beliefs about sustainability and profitability for determining strategic decision outcomes, enhancing the understanding of key micro-foundations of firms’ sustainability practices.
{"title":"Environmental sustainability–profitability beliefs among firm decision makers: Measurement and consequences","authors":"David B. Dose , Ronny Reinhardt , Maria Krämer (née Schwabe) , Gianfranco Walsh","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102495","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102495","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Firms face a fundamental and persistent challenge in balancing the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability, where elements that seem logical individually become contradictory when juxtaposed. Individual decision makers' beliefs about the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability can shape decision outcomes, offering an intriguing micro-foundation for strategic choices. This article conceptualizes and proposes a scale to measure decision makers' beliefs about the tensions between environmental sustainability and profitability. Across three studies, we develop a reliable, valid, parsimonious 12-item environmental sustainability–profitability beliefs (ESPB) scale. Three further studies demonstrate its ability to predict evaluations of sustainable new product ideas, investment success in markets with different crowdfunding platforms, and information search efforts for sustainable new product ideas. Overall, the findings emphasize the important influence of individual-level beliefs about sustainability and profitability for determining strategic decision outcomes, enhancing the understanding of key micro-foundations of firms’ sustainability practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 1","pages":"Article 102495"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142889000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102496
Zhi Li , Jia Xu , Qianwen Shao , Nengzhi Yao , Li Xia
We examine how the two dimensions of corporate reputation stock, i.e., generalized favorability (GF) and being known (BK), and disaster donation strategies, i.e., response time (RT) and donation level (DL), affect the corporate reputation increment, i.e., being known for the sense of social responsibility (SSR) embodied in corporate disaster donations (CDD). By analyzing 493 COVID-19 donations made by listed firms in China, we find that GF, BK, and DL can positively affect being known for the SSR embodied in CDD, while the RT has a negative effect. Meanwhile, the negative effect of BK is also revealed when GF is low. Additionally, the RT's positive effect is also revealed when GF and BK are low, while the DL's positive effect is weaker when GF is high. Furthermore, we discuss our contributions to research on corporate reputation and corporate social responsibility management.
{"title":"The interactions of multidimensional corporate reputations and disaster donation strategies: How a firm can be known for its sense of social responsibility embodied in disaster donations","authors":"Zhi Li , Jia Xu , Qianwen Shao , Nengzhi Yao , Li Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102496","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2024.102496","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examine how the two dimensions of corporate reputation stock, i.e., <em>generalized favorability (GF)</em> and <em>being known (BK)</em>, and disaster donation strategies, i.e., <em>response time (RT)</em> and <em>donation level (DL)</em>, affect the corporate reputation increment, i.e., <em>being known for the sense of social responsibility (SSR) embodied in corporate disaster donations (CDD)</em>. By analyzing 493 COVID-19 donations made by listed firms in China, we find that <em>GF</em>, <em>BK,</em> and <em>DL</em> can positively affect <em>being known for the SSR embodied in CDD</em>, while the <em>RT</em> has a negative effect. Meanwhile, the negative effect of <em>BK</em> is also revealed when <em>GF</em> is low. Additionally, the <em>RT's</em> positive effect is also revealed when <em>GF</em> and <em>BK</em> are low, while the <em>DL's</em> positive effect is weaker when <em>GF</em> is high. Furthermore, we discuss our contributions to research on corporate reputation and corporate social responsibility management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 1","pages":"Article 102496"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143162464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102498
Jeroen P.J. de Jong , Max Mulhuijzen , Brita Schemmann
Bootlegging and creative deviance studies have described “underground” innovations, which employees develop without managerial consent but with company benefits in mind. This phenomenon is explained by structural strain theory: when organizations have innovative goals but limited resources, some employees may pursue these goals without permission. Anecdotal observations, however, reveal underground employee behaviors that do not fit this pattern; underground innovations may serve different purposes and remain permanently invisible. We therefore conducted an explorative study of why and how employees develop underground innovations. Based on interviews and survey data at a multinational automotive company, underground innovations have three orientations: missionary (aimed to change company practices), user (to solve work problems), and exploratory (to cater to developers' passion for exploration). The three orientations differ in their involvement of others, deployed resources, and dissemination efforts. Without missionary orientation, underground innovations are not proactively diffused, inhibiting organizations from reaping their full benefits. We infer a refined theory based on constraints that prevent employees from being openly proactive. Specifically, underground innovation may be triggered by 1. lacking resources to pursue organizational innovation goals, 2. lacking resources and thresholds to improve work processes, and 3. the organization's inability to match work tasks with innovation workers' preferences. The last two constraints are easily overlooked, and organizations will capture more value from their human capital by stimulating the diffusion of user and exploratory-oriented projects.
{"title":"The nature of underground innovation: Missionary, user, and exploratory orientation","authors":"Jeroen P.J. de Jong , Max Mulhuijzen , Brita Schemmann","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102498","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102498","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bootlegging and creative deviance studies have described “underground” innovations, which employees develop without managerial consent but with company benefits in mind. This phenomenon is explained by structural strain theory: when organizations have innovative goals but limited resources, some employees may pursue these goals without permission. Anecdotal observations, however, reveal underground employee behaviors that do not fit this pattern; underground innovations may serve different purposes and remain permanently invisible. We therefore conducted an explorative study of why and how employees develop underground innovations. Based on interviews and survey data at a multinational automotive company, underground innovations have three orientations: missionary (aimed to change company practices), user (to solve work problems), and exploratory (to cater to developers' passion for exploration). The three orientations differ in their involvement of others, deployed resources, and dissemination efforts. Without missionary orientation, underground innovations are not proactively diffused, inhibiting organizations from reaping their full benefits. We infer a refined theory based on constraints that prevent employees from being openly proactive. Specifically, underground innovation may be triggered by 1. lacking resources to pursue organizational innovation goals, 2. lacking resources and thresholds to improve work processes, and 3. the organization's inability to match work tasks with innovation workers' preferences. The last two constraints are easily overlooked, and organizations will capture more value from their human capital by stimulating the diffusion of user and exploratory-oriented projects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 1","pages":"Article 102498"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-29DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102509
Daniel Ehnes , Lars Schweizer , Cornelia Storz
Guided by an institutionally embedded resource-based view, this paper addresses two under-researched questions. First, what effects do flexible strategies for labor-cost retrenchment (e.g., wage-based and functional flexibility) have on firms' market value as compared with rigid strategies (such as pure downsizing)? Second, what effects do flexible strategies have, compared to rigid strategies, when firms have a high level of knowledge assets? We answer these questions by focusing on firms in the research context of a stakeholder-capitalism environment. The dearth of studies on flexible strategies is surprising when one considers that firms in many advanced economies deploy them widely to reduce labor costs during times of crisis. We address this research gap with a novel data set of 220 retrenchment announcements by Japanese firms. We find that announcing the adoption of flexible strategies is significantly and positively associated with a greater likelihood of the firm’s market value increasing. Further, flexible strategies are evaluated more positively if they protect knowledge assets. We attribute these effects to flexible strategies being perceived not only as a capability but also as a legitimacy signal – that is, as an effort to maintain capabilities in an environment characterized by long-term in-house employment and to align with the norms of the broader institutional landscape.
{"title":"Labour-cost retrenchment strategies in times of crisis: Comparing market reactions to flexible and rigid strategies","authors":"Daniel Ehnes , Lars Schweizer , Cornelia Storz","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102509","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102509","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Guided by an institutionally embedded resource-based view, this paper addresses two under-researched questions. First, what effects do flexible strategies for labor-cost retrenchment (e.g., wage-based and functional flexibility) have on firms' market value as compared with rigid strategies (such as pure downsizing)? Second, what effects do flexible strategies have, compared to rigid strategies, when firms have a high level of knowledge assets? We answer these questions by focusing on firms in the research context of a stakeholder-capitalism environment. The dearth of studies on flexible strategies is surprising when one considers that firms in many advanced economies deploy them widely to reduce labor costs during times of crisis. We address this research gap with a novel data set of 220 retrenchment announcements by Japanese firms. We find that announcing the adoption of flexible strategies is significantly and positively associated with a greater likelihood of the firm’s market value increasing. Further, flexible strategies are evaluated more positively if they protect knowledge assets. We attribute these effects to flexible strategies being perceived not only as a capability but also as a legitimacy signal – that is, as an effort to maintain capabilities in an environment characterized by long-term in-house employment and to align with the norms of the broader institutional landscape.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 3","pages":"Article 102509"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143636865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this study, we employ a multilevel analysis to investigate the relative importance of industry, business group, corporation, and business unit effects on the performance of business units that are nested within business group affiliates. Empirical results demonstrate that business unit effects explain (1) about four times as much variance as does the corporate effects, (2) over four times as much variance as the industry effects, and (3) over eighteen times as much variance as the business group effects in business unit performance. Moreover, the results provide evidence that corporate effects are distinct from business group effects and it is imperative to study the complex interplay between the two distinct headquarters to understand the impact of business group as an organizational form. These findings extend our theoretical and empirical understanding of performance variability in the context of business groups.
{"title":"Towards a deeper understanding of performance variance in the context of business groups: A multilevel analysis at the business unit level","authors":"Sarada Devi Gadepalli , Arindam Mondal , Somnath Lahiri , Sougata Ray","doi":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102508","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.lrp.2025.102508","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we employ a multilevel analysis to investigate the relative importance of industry, business group, corporation, and business unit effects on the performance of business units that are nested within business group affiliates. Empirical results demonstrate that business unit effects explain (1) about four times as much variance as does the corporate effects, (2) over four times as much variance as the industry effects, and (3) over eighteen times as much variance as the business group effects in business unit performance. Moreover, the results provide evidence that corporate effects are distinct from business group effects and it is imperative to study the complex interplay between the two distinct headquarters to understand the impact of business group as an organizational form. These findings extend our theoretical and empirical understanding of performance variability in the context of business groups.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18141,"journal":{"name":"Long Range Planning","volume":"58 2","pages":"Article 102508"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143077678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号