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A growing body of literature has emphasized the importance of innovative strategy as a source of competitive advantage. Drazin and Shoonhoven summarized the literature using multilevel theoretical perspectives (community, population, and organization) that affect organizational innovative behavior. In parallel, Fiegenbaum et al. developed an organizational level theory, based on prospect theory, to explain how risky strategies are determined within organizations. They argued that organizational reference points delineate organizational attitudes toward risk‐taking into two polarized regimes: risk‐aversive whereas below it is risk‐assertive. They described the organizational mechanism that converts attitudes toward risk‐taking into actual risk‐aversive and risk‐assertive strategic behavior. A three‐dimensional space is provided that illustrates the spectrum of strategic reference points (SRP). The current study extends SRP theory. It is proposed that the nature of the industry, organizational strategy, and performance impact the kind of reference points used, which, in turn, impact risk‐taking behavior towards innovative strategy.

This study aims to investigate the influence of personality characteristics (risk-aversion and self-consciousness) on skepticism toward online services information (STOSI), consumer stress and health.

A between-subjects experiment (n = 228) was designed to compare effects based on third-party organization endorsement (TPO endorsed vs nonendorsed).

Results revealed that personality characteristics positively influenced STOSI, which in turn escalated consumer stress. Furthermore, consumer stress predicted detrimental effects on consumer health (increased blood pressure and heartbeat). Regarding TPO endorsements, both the risk-aversive and self-conscious consumers showed lesser STOSI when exposed to TPO-endorsed ads compared with nonendorsed ads.

This study is one of the first to examine the effects of consumer personality on consumer health through STOSI and consumer stress. In addition, the remedial roles of TPO in coping with STOSI and consumer stress also accumulate to the novelty of this study.

This article examines the changes in the relationship between government departments and the UK construction industry brought about by the privatisation of the Property Services Agency (PSA). In particular, it shows that while there has been some encouragement for closer, and more long‐term, collaboration, in reality government departments seem to be stuck in a short‐term, win‐lose orientation. The article concludes by arguing that this is a product of four factors: the lack of experience among both purchasers and providers of long‐term partnership arrangements; the risk‐aversive nature of the Civil Service; the pressure on departments from ministers to minimise risk; and government guidelines on competitive tendering which make it difficult to enter into long‐term agreements.

Uses The Wizard of Oz as a metaphor for a workforce comprising of Scarecrows, Tinmen and Cowardly Lions. Specifically addresses the topics of disempowered workers, barriers to empowering employees, steps to empowerment, and benefits to organizations of having self‐directed and empowered employees. The three qualities to empowerment are brains, a heart and courage; without these the workforce is composed of people who are passive and unmotivated. Employees who are empowered are less risk‐aversive, more creative, and more willing to suggest bolder solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the customer's risk aversion and its relationship with brand loyalty and to test empirically whether this relationship is mediated by brand trust and brand affect.

A randomly selected sample of Austrian mobile phone users was drawn. Their risk aversion, two forms of loyalty (attitudinal and repurchase loyalty), brand trust and brand affect have been measured with existing and tested scales. The hypothesized model has been tested using PLS (Partial least squares).

Customer's risk aversion is significantly related to the two forms of loyalty (attitudinal loyalty and brand loyalty). When brand affect and brand trust are introduced into the model, the previously highly significant relationship between domain‐specific risk aversion and attitudinal loyalty becomes insignificant and the risk aversion‐repurchase relationship becomes much weaker, while risk aversion strongly influences brand trust and brand affect.

The findings are limited to mobile phone users. The generalisation of the results could be extended by broadening the list of products, for example with other durable products and services in which brand affect and brand trust may be even more important in developing brand loyalty.

This paper explains why certain customers have more trust and experience more affect than others and how this is related to loyalty. Hence, marketers can increase brand loyalty by targeting more risk aversive customers.

From a theoretical point of view the results of this study illuminate the relationship between enduring individual differences and important brand related constructs. From a practical point of view, they explain why certain customers have more trust and experience more affect than others. It is hypothesized and demonstrated empirically that risk aversion is also related to loyalty via brand trust and brand affect.

The paper aims to examine the relationship between changes and volatility of China's Renminbi (RMB) exchange rates and its agricultural export.

A GARCH(1, 1) model is specified to measure the exchange rate volatility and autoregressive distributed lag regression with structural break dummy variables is estimated based on the results of unit root test with structural break.

The export supply model reveals that the net trade effect of RMB exchange rate movements relies on the comparison of exchange rate level change (appreciation or depreciation) effect and exchange rate risk effect. The empirical examination results, taking China's agricultural exports to Japan as a case, show RMB depreciation against yen will promote export growth while appreciation hinder export, and exchange rate volatility positively stimulates agricultural exports to Japan. However, the effect of exchange rate volatility on the export is much smaller than that of exchange rate level, which leads to a negative net effect to the export.

The constructed model and applied methodology contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between changes and volatility of China's RMB exchange rates and its agricultural export.

This paper aims to explore how neo‐liberalism shapes income support policy and lone mothers' experiences in Canada and the USA.

A critical comparative analysis is undertaken of how Canadian and US governments take up sociological concepts of risk, market citizenship, and individualization, whether explicitly or implicitly, in the design and administration of neo‐liberal income support policies directed at lone mothers. Specifically, the contradictory life circumstances that Canadian and American lone mothers experience when they access income supports that are designed ostensibly to construct/reconstruct them as citizens capable of risk taking in their search for employment and self‐sufficiency are compared.

The paper finds that the realities for poor lone mothers are remarkably similar in the two countries and therefore argue that income support policies, particularly welfare‐to‐work initiatives, underpinned by neo‐liberal tenets, can act in a counter‐intuitive manner exposing lone mothers to greater rather than lesser economic and social insecurity/inequality, and constructing them as risk aversive and dependent.

The economic and social implications/contradictions of neo‐liberal restructuring of income support policies for lone mothers is revealed.

This paper contributes to broader scholarship on the gendered dimensions of neo‐liberal restructuring of welfare states in late modernity.

The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of corporate governance, social issues and capital markets by distinguishing between the socially responsible investing phenomenon and mainstream investing with respect to social issues. It attempts to clarify the domain by casting it in the theoretical frame of prospect theory and mental modeling. With a qualitative study done among large institutional investors in the Canadian securities industry, the article derives a proposed mental model of these institutional investors' cognitive model of social issues as they impact investments.

The institutional investors in this study know exactly where value is derived from social investments suggesting that there may be more alignment between directors, investors and societal expectations than has been previously suggested.

The limited number of organizations in the study reduces the generalizability of the findings.

Managers and directors must have an understanding of how shareholder value and responsibilities intersect. In our research, we have found that these executives positioned their firms as leaders on the social responsibility front. Interestingly, their major shareholders also understood how responsibility and shareholder value intersected and as a result, financial performance was not sacrificed.

The findings from this research shed light on previous scholars' questions regarding the alignment of interests between managers, directors and social expectations. The firms analyzed make strategic investments that are considered to meet social expectations but that are also perceived to add value to the organization making the firm more attractive to institutional investors.

Although research on managerial third‐party dispute intervention has made considerable progress during the past two decades, an implicit assumption of rationality has permeated the conceptualizing and modeling of such behaviours. This paper explores the role of cognitive biases and heuristics in managerial intervention, and draws out the implications for outcome selection and third party behaviours.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, using the case of Finnish small business advisors (SBAs), it aims to clarify a controversy in entrepreneurship policy about using public funds to foster solo and micro entrepreneurship. The study reveals the SBAs’ belief systems to facilitate policy-relevant conclusions about their advisory competence, counseling tendencies and probable impact on nascent entrepreneurs and macro consequences like firm displacement. Second, methodologically, the study’s cognitive perspective and method enable researchers to assess the approach and its potential.

The SBAs’ (n=15) belief systems were elicited by interview-based causal mapping. They are summarized using aggregated causal maps and analyzed to understand the SBAs’ dominant mindset and to draw conditional inferences about their professional competence and impacts.

The SBAs have convergent belief systems about the causes and consequences of micro entrepreneurship. They are generally competent to detect and foster viable solo and small micro firms. From a policy viewpoint, however, they ignore indirect effects like firm replication and appear risk aversive, less inclined to promote their clients’ growth intentions and plans.

For entrepreneurship policy makers, the study clarifies a controversial issue. It finds clear grounds for public funding of SBA type services, but this may depend on policy goals and local conditions. For the SBAs, the study suggests proactive, income-generating services for improved financing and legitimacy. For entrepreneurship researchers, it demonstrates the potential and limits of the cognitive approach and causal mapping.