Browsing Department of Strategic Management and Globalization (SMG) by Year Published
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Foss, Nicolai J.; Mahoney, Joseph T. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Knowledge governance is characterized as a distinctive research subject, the understanding of which cuts across diverse fields in management. In particular, it represents an intersection of knowledge management, strategic management, and theories of the firm. Knowledge governance considers how deployment of governance mechanisms influences knowledge processes: sharing, retaining, and creating knowledge. We survey the papers in this volume of the special issue, and discuss the remaining research challenges. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8030 Files in this item: 1
CBS_Forskningsindberetning_SMG_250.pdf (138.6Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper offers a critical perspective on Israel Kirzner’s basic analytical framework. Specifically, we characterize Kirzner’s emphasis on processes of equilibration as a departure from the causal-realist price theory developed by Menger and his nineteenth- and twentieth-century followers. In this context, we contrast Kirzner’s interpretation of entrepreneurship as discovery with a more realistic, and operationally meaningful, idea of entrepreneurship as action. Finally, we discuss an inconsistency in Kirzner’s treatment of the antecedents of entrepreneurial behavior. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8029 Files in this item: 1
CBS_Forskningsindberetning_SMG_247.pdf (249.8Kb) -
Minbaeva, Dana B.; Pedersen, Torben (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The emerging Knowledge Governance Approach asserts the need to build microfoundations grounded in individual action. Toward this goal, using the Theory of Planned Behavior, we aim to explain individual knowledge sharing behavior as being determined by the intention to share knowledge and its antecedents: attitude toward knowledge sharing, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. In addition, we consider managerial interventions (governance mechanisms) that managers can employ to influence the identified antecedents and thereby govern individual knowledge sharing behavior. We test the model arrived at on a dataset collected among individuals engaged in knowledge sharing in two competing firms. Results of the LISREL analysis show that the use of rewards affects attitudes toward knowledge sharing negatively, while the use of reciprocal schemes and communication mechanisms have a positive effect on subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, respectively. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8017 Files in this item: 1
CBS_Forskningsindberetning_SMG_245.pdf (357.8Kb) -
Minbaeva, Dana B.; Mäkelä, Kristiina; Rabbiosi, Larissa (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The knowledge-based view has recently been criticized for overlooking individual-level action and interaction in favor of an over-emphasis on the firm-level capabilities. This paper seeks to respond to that criticism by providing some individual-level explanations for a collective-level phenomenon – intraorganizational knowledge transfer. We suggest that variations in individual ability, motivation and the use of interaction opportunities provided by the organization explain part of the variation found in individuallevel knowledge acquisition and use, and that this has an influence on organizational level knowledge transfer within a firm. More specifically, we find that ability and intrinsic motivation are important drivers of individual level knowledge acquisition and use, while extrinsic motivation has no impact. Furthermore, the extent to which an individual uses interaction opportunities provided by the organization influences knowledge transfer both directly and through a moderator effect with ability and person-to-person interaction. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8001 Files in this item: 1
SMGWP2010_1.pdf (278.4Kb) -
Schneider, Cédric (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper describes and analyzes the occurrence and extent of oppositions initiated against plant biotechnology patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). The opposition mechanism is a legal procedure that allows any third party to challenge the validity of patents awarded by the EPO. Results indicate that the opposition rate is far greater in plant biotechnology than in other emerging industries. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the empirical findings suggest that opposed patents are disproportionately those that score high on features that proxy for their “value” or “quality”. In contrast to previous findings, however, the results show that large-volume applicants are more likely to be opposed. Because the boundaries of plant biotech patents are ill-defined, large patent portfolios do not promote cooperative behavior such as licensing or settlements. The analysis rejects the hypothesis that awardees are subject to “nuisance” or “frivolous” oppositions. Instead, the opposition procedure serves as an error correction mechanism. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8220 Files in this item: 1
wp6-2010.pdf (208.9Kb) -
Benito, Gabriel R. G.; Petersen, Bent; Welch, Lawrence S. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: An enduring characteristic of extant literature on foreign operation modes is its discrete choice approach, where companies are assumed to choose one among a small number of distinctive alternatives. In this paper we use detailed information about the operations of six Norwegian companies in three key markets (China, UK and USA) as the basis for an exploration of the extent to which, and how and why, companies combine clearly different foreign operation modes. We examine their use of foreign operation mode combinations within given value activities as well as within given countries. The study reveals that companies tend to combine modes of operation; thereby producing unique foreign operation mode “packages” for given activities and/or countries, and that the packages are liable to be modified over time – providing a potentially important optional path for international expansion. Our data show considerable variation across cases; ranging from extensive use of mode combinations to a singular focus on a specific mode of operation. The study contributes to a refinement of our understanding of the path of internationalisation, and throws up a number of awkward theoretical questions about the process. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8219 Files in this item: 1
Benito_Petersen_Welch_SMG_WP_9_2010.pdf (237.6Kb) -
Bjørnskov, Christian; Foss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The economics of growth has shown that countries not only grow by deploying higher levels of inputs to production, but also by better allocating whatever resources are at their disposal and by introducing productivity-enhancing innovations. We proffer arguments as to why and how entrepreneurship as well institutions of liberty (i.e., economic freedom, including the rule of law, easy regulations, low taxes and limited government interference in the economy) positively impact total factor productivity (TFP): These institutions allow entrepreneurial experimentation with the combination of factors to take place at low transaction costs. We test these ideas on a unique panel data set derived from Compendia, World Bank data and the Fraser Institute’s economic freedom data. We find that while entrepreneurship positively impacts TFP, the marginal contribution of entrepreneurship to TFP is strongest in economies with substantial government activity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8174 Files in this item: 1
CBS Forskningsindberetning SMG 263.pdf (373.1Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Stieglitz, Nils (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We survey the resource-based view in strategic management, focusing on its roots in economics. We organize our discussion in terms of the Gavetti and Levinthal distinction between a “high church” and a “low church” resource-based view, and argue that these hitherto rather separate streams are increasingly overlapping. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8172 Files in this item: 1
CBS Forskningsindberetning SMG 261.pdf (200.4Kb) -
Origins, Attributes, CritiqueFoss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Israel Kirzner’s concept of entrepreneurship as alertness to profit opportunities is one of the most influential modern interpretations of the entrepreneurial function. Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000: 218) influential assessment defines entrepreneurship research as “the scholarly examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited.” As such, “the field involves the study of sources of opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them.” Shane’s General Theory of Entrepreneurship (2003) cites Kirzner and “Kirznerian opportunities” more than any writer other than Joseph Schumpeter. More generally, the entrepreneurial opportunity, rather than the individual entrepreneur, the startup company, or the new product, has become the centerpiece of the academic study of entrepreneurship. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7755 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-02.pdf (317.2Kb) -
Hotho, Jasper J. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Three varieties of institutionalism currently dominate International Business studies: new institutional economics, new organizational institutionalism, and comparative historical institutionalism. Yet currently applied measures of institutional country distance predominantly build on the thought of the first two strands of institutionalism. This paper sets out to address this underrepresentation of comparative historical institutional thought in currently available measures of institutional distance. Building on Whitley’s business systems framework, a measure of institutional distance is developed and validated which captures intrinsic, substantive institutional differences in economic organization, rather than differences in institutional effectiveness. The results of the two-stage cluster analysis used to validate the selected indicators closely approximate the business systems typology, which is both indicative of the validity of this measure and of the distinctiveness of the business system types that make up the business system framework. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7946 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-07.pdf (975.7Kb) -
Nielsen, Bo Bernhard; Nielsen, Sabina (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Nationality diversity and international experience constitute two related yet distinct sources of competence among upper echelons. While both TMT international experience and nationality diversity increases the likelihood of firms expanding outside their home region, our results show that TMTs with international experience are more likely to expand abroad via greenfield investments, whereas nationally diverse TMTs are more likely to engage in international acquisitions and joint ventures. This highlights the need to treat TMT nationality diversity and international experience as two different characteristics influencing foreign entry mode decision. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7938 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-08.pdf (316.1Kb) -
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Abstract: Much had happened since the CEO of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Ditlev Engel, broadcast the company’s new corporate strategy – The Will to Win 2005-2008 – from headquarters in Randers, Denmark to all Vestas employees worldwide in 2005. Vestas, the market-leading producer of high-tech wind turbines, had since a merger the year before with a Danish turbine producer experienced financial difficulties, and management was therefore replaced with fresh leadership that could bring the Danish company to new heights. With the new management came a radical reorganization and the announcement of several new strategic initiatives. As Engel stated, “These initiatives are aimed at increasing effectiveness in all areas of Vestas’s business. We will professionalize our dialogue with the customers, we will improve the quality of our products and we will be much more effective in all that we do.” 1 The charismatic CEO also argued that “by the implementation of The Will to Win, we create a new global Vestas. This work will, no doubt, be exciting and very hard. At the same time, it will require the will to change in all of us and I am confident that we at Vestas can meet this challenge.” URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7825 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-05.pdf (401.3Kb) -
Ledelsesmæssige udfordringerArlbjørn, Jan Stentoft; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum; Johansen, John; Pedersen, Torben (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
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Pedersen, Torben (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
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The Strategic Human Resource Management DimensionFoss, Nicolai J.; Minbaeva, Dana B. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: SHRM increasingly emphasizes HRM practices as means to build strategic knowledge resources such as superior capabilities. While the knowledge-based view increasingly pays attention to micro-foundations, the SHRM field neglects these and emphasizes collective constructs such as “human capital pools,” “HRM architectures”, etc. As a result, causal links between HRM practices, knowledge and organizational performance are black-boxed. We propose a program for research and identify some of the key issues that future research must deal with. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7756 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-03.pdf (348.1Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The emergence over the last two decades or so of "knowledge” as an important part of the explanatory structure of management research is an intellectual breakthrough that is comparable in terms of its transforming impact to the behavioral revolution of the 1960s. A veritable "knowledge movement” has emerged that spans several fields in management. I take stock on alternative research strategies with that movement, distinguishing between "capabilities first”, "networks first” and "individuals first” strategies. Reasons are given why more research attention need to be allocated to the latter strategy if the knowledge movement is to continue making progress, but that the aim should ultimately be to reach towards multi-level research that combines aggregate constructs with top-down processes and bottom-up processes. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7449 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2009-01.pdf (238.2Kb) -
How To Realize Its Potential in the Organization FieldVolberda, Henk W.; Foss, Nicolai J.; Lyles, Marjorie A. (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this Perspective Paper is to advance understanding of absorptive capacity, its underlying dimensions, its multi-level antecedents, its impact on firm performance and the contextual factors that affect absorptive capacity. Nineteen years after the Cohen and Levinthal 1990 paper, the field is characterized by a wide array of theoretical perspectives and a wealth of empirical evidence. In this paper, we first review these underlying theories and empirical studies of absorptive capacity. Given the size and diversity of the absorptive capacity literature, we subsequently map the existing terrain of research through a bibliometric analysis. The resulting bibliometric cartography shows the major discrepancies in the organization field, namely that (1) most attention so far has been focused on the tangible outcomes of absorptive capacity; (2) organizational design and individual level antecedents have been relatively neglected in the absorptive capacity literature; and (3) the emergence of absorptive capacity from the actions and interactions of individual, organizational and inter-organizational antecedents remains unclear. Building on the bibliometric analysis, we develop an integrative model that identifies the multi-level antecedents, process dimensions, and outcomes of absorptive capacity as well as the contextual factors that affect absorptive capacity. We argue that realizing the potential of the absorptive capacity concept requires more research that shows how “micro antecedents” and “macroantecedents” influence future outcomes such as competitive advantage, innovation, and firm performance. In particular, we identify conceptual gaps that may guide future research to fully exploit the absorptive capacity concept in the organization field and to explore future fruitful extensions of the concept. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7955 Files in this item: 1
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Transaction cost and property rights perspectives on entrepreneurshipStieglitz, Nils; Foss, Nicolai J. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Entrepreneurs in a competitive economy face three fundamental problems. They need to search for and discover a business opportunity (Kirzner, 1973), evaluate it (Knight, 1921), and then seize the opportunity to reap entrepreneurial profits (Schumpeter, 1911) (Langlois, 2007). The problem that we address is how the ability to exploit business opportunities is influenced by entrepreneurial search and the economic organization of entrepreneurship (Arrow, 1962; Lippman & Rumelt, 2003; Aghion et al., 2005; Foss et al., 2007). In many cases, the discovery for a new business opportunity needs to be motivated by expected gains, since the search and evaluation of business opportunities is a costly, resource-consuming process (Denrell, Fang & Winter, 2003; Nickerson & Zenger, 2004; Foss & Klein, 2005; Teece, 2007; Foss & Foss, 2008).1 We show the critical role of expectations for understanding of the economic organization of entrepreneurship, and argue that transaction cost economics, with its insistence on bounded rationality, but far-sighted contracting offers useful insights and presents rich opportunities for further theoretical and empirical research (cf. also Furubotn, 2002). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7784 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-04.pdf (208.1Kb) -
A Critique of Behaviorist and Empiricist ApproachesFelin, Teppo (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We discuss the behaviorist and empiricist foundations of the organizational routines and capabilities literature, specifically the extant emphasis placed on experience, repetition and observation as the key inputs and mechanisms of behavior, learning and change in organizations. Based on this discussion we highlight several concerns associated with specifying experience and repetition as antecedents of routines and capabilities, namely, (1) the problem of origins and causation, (2) the problem of extremes, (3) the problem of intentionality, (4) the problem of new knowledge, and (5) the problem of the environment. We highlight the “poverty of stimulus” argument and more generally discuss how internalist or rationalist, choice-based approach might provide a more fruitful (though preliminary) foundation for extant research on organizational routines and capabilities. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7954 Files in this item: 1
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Implications of Strategic Management TheoryAgarwal, Rajshree; Barney, Jay B.; Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Macroeconomic theory assumes that factors of production in the economy are homogeneous and fungible. As a result, it may be ill-suited for developing policy responses to the recent financial crisis. Theories of strategic management and organization, with their emphasis on heterogeneously distributed resources and capabilities, may be better positioned. Examples of where macroeconomic theory may lead policies astray, and where theories of strategic management may be more appropriate, are provided. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7906 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-06.pdf (470.7Kb)