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Case studies of four important automobile firms are used to understand how the performance of both diversifying and new entrants into the automobile industry was conditioned by their pre-entry experience. Various conjectures based on the four firms are then tested using a unique data source on the pre-entry backgrounds of all entrants into the automobile industry from the commercial inception of the industry in 1895 through 1966. In addition to analyzing the types of pre-entry experiences that affected the longevity of entrants, the analysis also focuses on the conduits by which pre-entry experience influenced the performance of entrants and the extent to which pre-entry experience had enduring effects.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify whether the age-productivity curve is different for low-waged and high-waged employees.

Productivity growth is decomposed at the firm level into contributions by hired, separated and staying workers. Based on a matched employer-employee database of Estonian firms from 2006 to 2014 and considering the age as well as wages of employees, a panel data model with fixed effects is constructed to show the relative productivity of each cohort of employees.

High-waged employees appeared to be relatively more productive than low-waged employees and middle-aged were more productive than young or old employees. However, the productivity difference between young and old employees was not statistically significant. The age-productivity curve of high-waged employees appeared to be flatter than that of low-waged employees. Only in knowledge intensive services were the low-waged old employees statistically significantly less productive than high-waged old employees. In the manufacturing industry, the young were more productive than in services, in knowledge intensive services the old were less productive than in traditional services.

The productivity of employees is only analysed for cohorts of employees.

Employers can be encouraged to hire older employees because old employees are shown to remain at least as productive as young employees.

The decomposition of labour productivity at the firm level is further developed, as the statistical difference between the productivity of different groups of employees is analysed.

THE purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which managerial ages may affect a company's growth rate. A brief discussion of the possible links between age of management and company growth is followed by presentation of the results of an empirical investigation of four UK Industries and fifty large US corporations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the degree of innovation in employment relations (ER) between emerging and established firms,

A large national telephone survey (N=1,416) of both emerging (<5 years) and established firms was conducted.

Emerging firms were more casualised, less unionised, and experiencing higher levels of market expansion and unpredictability. Despite these differences, younger firms showed otherwise remarkable similarity to older firms across a range of ER practices, and both categories showed a reliance on business networks, rather formal training, for ER knowledge. While introducing ER changes more rapidly than older (and larger) firms, they were converging towards a suite of ER practices similar to that adopted by older firms. The results suggest that, if anything, established firms may have been engaged in greater innovation in more unusual ER practices.

Only managers were surveyed. The data are cross-sectional rather than longitudinal. As the study was undertaken in only one country, replication in other settings would be desirable.

The results raise major doubts about the notion that new firms represent the cutting edge of innovation, and highlights the degree to which newer firms match or mimic older firms’ ER architecture.

Most American businesses operate in mature markets. That's an economic fact of life. In order to grow in the decade ahead, these businesses will have to innovate rather than rely so heavily on acquisitions as they have done in the past.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that describes three contending market regimes in converging industries, and to use this framework to study clashes between different regimes and the implication they have on firms' competitive strategies. More specifically, the challenges of competitors simultaneously acting in accordance with a competitive, a cooperative, and a co‐opetitive market regime.

An exploratory case study of the interaction between firms within the IT and telecom industry is conducted.

The paper brings forward clashes between different market regimes in converging industries and six propositions are formulated. The study furthermore shows how firms respond differently to a demand‐driven convergence, some act in accordance with a competitive regime and try to exclude others whereas others act in accordance with the co‐opetitive regime and cooperate with competitors to develop new product offers.

The paper concludes that there are several challenges in transforming from a competitive to a co‐opetitive regime, and there is therefore a need to further explore the clashes observed in this study.

Few empirical studies have been conducted of the converging IT and telecom industries and this paper reveals several new insights about this market context and the challenges it provides. The paper develops a theoretical framework for an analysis of converging industries and provides an insight about clashes that develop between different market regimes. It also describes the challenges firms are facing as a result of these clashes.

British technologists have eliminated the possibility of nuclear ‘leaks’ at power stations during the critical refuelling stages—using the same process that controls the mixing of the secret recipe of Coca‐Cola drinks. This particular development is a good example of the way many advances in technology hinge on a marriage of existing engineering principles, rather than the application of some new fundamental principle.

This article is concerned with the role of theory in explaining the inter‐industry variation of vertical integration (VI). Why, for example, is the world aluminium industry highly integrated (Stukey, 1983) whereas the tin industry is not (Hennart, 1982)? The article is not concerned with explaining differences in the average level of VI across countries, although these are undoubtedly significant (Chandler and Daeins, 1980).

Purpose – This paper focuses on a unique historical case study of industry evolution in order to develop a road map where historical and strategic research could develop a common ground for trans-disciplinary inquiry.

Design/methodology/approach – The industry I explore is the Universal Credit Card Industry since its inception with the Diners Club in 1949 until its maturity in late 1990s. My empirical objective here is to develop a historically detailed and theoretically rich case study in which evolutionary processes are discovered as a result of the historical narrative.

Findings – The historical account of the industry demonstrates how the evolution of alternative business models as organizing forms has led to the establishment of interorganizational platforms with unique ecosystems. These alternative business models, through various experimentations, have ultimately produced two critical interorganizational organizations, one based on an open-loop system represented by Visa and MasterCard, and the other based on a closed-loop system represented by Diners Club and the American Express. The historical account also shows that in a given industry competition is not only among specific firms in the industry but also among the business models and the platforms created by these models.

Originality/value – I conclude that historical analyses reveal the nature of competition not only among firms but also among alternative business models where traditional strategy research rarely covers.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationships between distribution strategies and the level of innovation propensity in the winemaking industry. It intends to identify the existence of patterns around the way wineries innovate and the way distribution channels are used. These determinants can support or constrain wineries’ behaviors in their strategic choices related to distribution channels.

The sample comprised 191 Italian small- to medium-sized enterprises in the wine industry. First, a two-step cluster analysis was used to identify patterns in the level of innovation propensity and differences in distribution channel strategies. Second, the research question was tested using multinomial logit regression.

Five clusters of innovation propensity were identified, varying from “no propensity to innovate” to “propensity for radical innovation”, and three clusters of distribution channel strategies were found. A significant negative relationship between innovation propensity and distribution channel strategies was revealed. This means that the greater the propensity to innovate, the smaller the need for a wholesale distribution option.

As with most research, there are limitations to this study. First, the sample is from only one country. A second limitation is the sample size (191 Italian firms). A sample including large firms can be used to further validate the findings. Linked to the sample, another possible limitation is that all respondents were small- and medium-sized enterprises from a single industry.

This study contributes to the current innovation research by showing the existence of a negative relationship between innovation propensity and the choice of distribution channel in the wine industry. This knowledge is precious to entrepreneurs and managers in the wine sector, allowing them to better consider not only the type of strategies related to distribution channels but also the importance of building the firm’s propensity to innovate into the strategic decision-making process. Furthermore, the paper provides an opportunity for practitioners to reflect upon the fact that changing the distribution channel is more than just changing the outlet for their product; it might also require a revision in their innovation propensity to better facilitate the process.

There are also social implications, in particular providing an advantage for consumers. The major advantage is based on the fact that consumers are now aware that the level of innovation propensity in a wine industry is directly linked to the type of distribution channel adopted. Therefore, wines with low-innovation propensity are most likely found to adopt wholesale distribution strategy, while the more innovative wineries adopt the wine expert and direct distribution channels.

For the first time, a cluster analysis approach was used to review different typologies of Italian wineries based on their propensity toward to innovation and subsequent distribution strategies. This study further explains the direct relationship between innovation propensity and the strategic choice toward between long or short distribution channels.