Asia Pacific Journal of Management最新文献

In this study, we draw from the conservation of resources theory to develop and test a model on the processes through which resiliency influences two entrepreneurial strategies, product differentiation and international diversification. Results from 226 entrepreneurs in Pakistan demonstrate that psychological resiliency predicts product diversification and international diversification through entrepreneurial alertness. Also, we find that institutional voids moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial alertness, product diversification, and international diversification. Our theorizing advances entrepreneurial alertness as a lynchpin variable for operationalizing founders’ characteristics to affect innovation and expansion efforts. Furthermore, by demonstrating the complementary effect of institutional voids on the entrepreneurial alertness–product differentiation and entrepreneurial alertness–international diversification relationships, we draw the attention of entrepreneurs to the brighter side of institutional voids. This is an important addition to international entrepreneurship literature and a critical contextual contribution to entrepreneurial alertness theory development because limited attention is devoted to examining how resiliency promotes entrepreneurial alertness for facilitating product differentiation and international diversification strategies in the Asia Pacific region.

Entrepreneurial alertness (EA) is pivotal in opportunity recognition, yet the origins and processes underlying EA remain elusive. Drawing upon key insights from the neuroscience and entrepreneurship streams of literature, our study classifies EA into intrinsic and phasic components to delve into the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process. Intrinsic EA—a self-initiated top-down control mechanism—continuously processes information to generate unconstrained associations from entrepreneurial schemata. As gatekeepers, intrinsic EA pre-processes external stimuli and internal thoughts, aiming to produce novel insights that may manifest as potential opportunities or threats. This triggers phasic EA, a short-term, bottom-up process with a selective focus on the insights. Phasic EA employs experiments to assess the attractiveness of first-person opportunities, refining entrepreneurial schemata. Utilizing 52 video interviews of 11 mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, Singaporean, and Indian entrepreneurs, our research distinguishes between intrinsic and phasic EA, delves into their origins, and presents a unified framework to elucidate their respective roles in entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in organizations, and more and more employees are talking about AI with their coworkers (i.e., AI talk). However, we have limited knowledge of what effects AI talk has on employees’ psychological states and subsequent behaviors. Drawing on self-efficacy theory, we propose that talking about AI is positively associated with AI self-efficacy (i.e., the degree to which individuals think they can successfully complete AI-related tasks), which in turn increases proactive coping behavior to adapt to AI (i.e., AI crafting). Furthermore, we suggest that leader AI-focused attention moderates these positive indirect effects such that these relationships are strengthened when leaders focus more attention on AI (i.e., leader AI-focused attention is high). To test our theoretical model, we conducted an experiment and a multi-wave field study in organizations using AI. This research reveals the effects of AI talk on AI crafting via AI self-efficacy, which expands the existing AI literature and job crafting literature and provides a more comprehensive understanding of AI in the workplace.

Because of information asymmetry in the capital market, analysts find it difficult to obtain accurate internal information of the enterprise and usually only rely on signals conveyed by firms to predict firms’ value and future development trends. Previous researchers have focused more on the impact of signals about quality on analyst recommendations and ignored the impact of signals about intent. Based on signaling theory, we study how digital orientation, a typical signal about intent in the digital economy era, affects analyst recommendations; we also explore how three dimensions: dynamism, complexity, and munificence from a signaling environment perspective affect the signaling process. Using a mixed-methods approach and in the unique context of the Chinese digital economy, we find that the digital orientation can increase the analyst recommendations. Industrial uncertainty and industrial digital heterogeneity both strengthen the positive effect of digital orientation on analyst recommendations. On the contrary, industrial growth weakens the positive effect of digital orientation on analyst recommendations. This study provides new insights for understanding the transmission of firm signals about intent and the evaluation of external stakeholders in the era of the digital economy.

Scholars have recognized governmental and political influences on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting activities. However, whether such activities subsequently result in governmental support to firms remains unchecked. We theorize that due to governments’ multiple demands and developmental agenda, state investments with divergent underlying incentives respond differently to firms’ CSR reporting. Using a panel data analysis on 1462 Chinese private firms from 2014–2018, we find that CSR report quality is positively associated with further state investment with a socially-beneficial incentive, and negatively associated with further state investment with a profit-seeking incentive. We further reveal that the relationship between the quality of CSR report and two types of state investments are weakened by chief executive officer (CEO) succession and strengthened by a local CEO. Our study contributes to research on CSR and stakeholder theory.

Existing literature suggests that family ownership (FO) reduces exploratory innovation (ERI). Contrary to this conventional view, some family firms are among the world's innovation leaders. Our study aims to reconcile this discrepancy by examining the role of restricted and extended socioemotional wealth in the relationship between FO and ERI. We posit that while FO may inhibit the capacity for ERI due to rigid mental models and cognitive convergence, it fosters the willingness for ERI owing to a long-term orientation. We argue that FO exhibits an inverted U-shaped effect on ERI. Empirical evidence from 938 Chinese-listed family firms between 2011 and 2021 supports our hypothesis. Our findings indicate that FO's influence on ERI is not uniformly detrimental and that a moderate level of FO can promote ERI. Additionally, the latter generational stage (GS) attenuates the inverted U-shaped curve, implying that family firms in the latter GS may exhibit lower levels of ERI. This study offers theoretical and practical insights into FO and technological innovation research domains.

Although current research has demonstrated that executive verbal communication could shape shareholders’ expectancy and responses, the hazards of executive communication and firms’ follow-up responses are largely neglected. Based on expectancy violation theory, we explore how different levels of managerial tone trigger a firm’s risk-taking to avoid violating shareholder expectancy. Using a computer-aided approach to identify managerial tones, our empirical study based on Chinese listed firms indicates that managers tend to take more risks (illustrated by higher performance volatility and acquisition spending) after delivering high-level (optimistic) or low-level (pessimistic) linguistic tones at an earnings communication conference. The results are robust by employing several endogeneity checks. We also identify a mediating role of shareholder reactions and the moderating role of firm prominence. These findings contribute to the executive communication literature by suggesting firms adopting risky strategies in response to shareholder reactions led by managerial tone.

Distributor whistleblowing, which involves disclosing peers’ misconduct to the manufacturer, plays a crucial role in the governance of distribution relationships. This study focuses on the interfirm relationship between a potential distributor whistleblower and a manufacturer to explore the effects of manufacturer characteristics on distributor whistleblowing. In particular, drawing on relational exchange theory and transaction cost economics, this study examines the effects of manufacturer trustworthiness and opportunism on distributor whistleblowing, along with the moderating effects of transaction contexts (distributor relative transaction-specific investment and relationship duration). Data from 211 senior distributor managers reveal that manufacturer trustworthiness has a positive effect on distributor whistleblowing, which is weakened by distributor relative transaction-specific investment and strengthened by relationship duration. In contrast, manufacturer opportunism has a negative impact on distributor whistleblowing that is undermined by relationship duration. These findings provide new insights into how to encourage distributor whistleblowing.

Drawing on the target-behavior mechanism and victim precipitation theory, we investigated the effect of the Dark Triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) on exposure to workplace ostracism. Through experimental and field studies, we found that individuals with high levels of Dark Triad traits were at high risk of being ostracized. Self-serving cognitions mediated the relationship between the Dark Triad traits and exposure to workplace ostracism, and collectivism orientation alleviated the relationship between self-serving cognitions and exposure to workplace ostracism. Our findings extend research on the impact of personality dispositions on workplace ostracism, providing implications for theory and practice.

This study addresses an understudied research area in current voice research—the employee voice gap, defined as the extent to which employees perceived actual voice falls short of their demand for voice. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that the employee voice gap can be a significant reason for turnover intention, and such a relationship is mediated by employees’ perceptions of working conditions and industrial relations climate. We also argue that these relationships exist at the firm level and that the aggregated voice gaps are associated with organizational turnover rates. We provide empirical evidence for the relationships using the 2019 China Employer-Employee Matched Survey data of 4602 employees from 301 firms. The findings of our study point to similar voice gap patterns to those found in the North American context, indicating the universal effects of workplace voice gaps. In addition, our analysis reveals that having more voice than needed is not associated with these outcomes. Our study enriches the employee voice literature in general and in the Chinese context specifically through an interdisciplinary lens.